"Rrrrrring! Rrrrrring! Rrrrrrring!"
"Ayo! Hezekiah! Pick up the phone, man. I'm tryna call you but it's goin' straight to voicemail! It's ya Uncle Trey! We've been calling you for the past week!"
"Don't tell me they got you on some weirdo-shit over there in the Marines, boy. Shootin' muthafuckas and shit. You always wanted to be just like your daddy, since you was knee-high to a cockroach…"
"Shit… remember when you was sixteen years old? You came over around my house, askin' me what happened to your father. And I told you… the easy part about being a soldier was becoming one. Anybody can do it. The hard part is stayin' alive."
"And always remember. Uncle Sam gonna promise you anything. What do you want? A house? A car? Anything. Uncle Sam got yo ass covered better than a baby in blankets. But you have to decide if that promise is worth it. If you wanna sacrifice everything for that promise. You feel me? Your father thought it was. Yeah, we both thought it was… if we don't hear back from you… shit… If we don't hear back from you… say hi to your father for me and your momma. 'Cause you gonna be a dead muthafucka too."
----------------------------------------
Hezekiah's eyes blinked open. His face felt like it was burning, his eyes were tearing up, and it all felt swollen. Like all the blood in his body was rushing to his face and brain.
As he woke, his world was blurry. From what he gathered, it was morning… had he been out that long? And who was his assailant? He didn't ponder too long on those questions, however, as he quickly realized the situation he was in.
His face was looking down at the dirt, which of course was odd. It wasn't until Hezekiah noticed the placement of his hands, tied together with some form of restraint, and his feet above him, did he realize that he was dangling upside-down.
In front of him, was a black body. Hanging just like he was. The antlers on its head, and yellow band around its eyes… it was that deer-thing Hezekiah saw last night. Something was wrong with it… Its beautiful glowing eyes were shut. Frozen in time. On its neck, was a deep red gash, and a stream of blood had flowed downwards from the wound, covering its soft black fur with a deep crimson red. It dripped from its slightly agape muzzle and collected in a pool over its head.
Hezekiah instantly recognized that his situation wasn't too far from the creatures' own predicament, and he began to panic. But with his hands tied, quite literally, he couldn't do anything but squirm. It caused his body to swing around and pained his face, which already felt ready to burst.
He heard something behind him, like a voice of some sort. His mind jumped to the conclusion that they were his captors, and would soon end his life just as they did the animal in front of him. His heartbeat was hard, which was terrible, as it only made his face burn even more. His lungs had a hard time breathing, pushing against the organs that were now sitting on top of them. Hezekiah could feel himself slowly suffocate… he had no idea whether suffocation or having his throat slit open would be preferable. Both seemed bad, but maybe suffocation would kick in now and end him quick?
Behind him, he saw boots crunch on the snow. Two feet… they weren't Marine boots. Covered in white and grey fur, and brown leather pants. That was all Hezekiah could see, he felt something move his feet, and he could feel the constraints that held him in his position wobble, with the person behind him doing something with them.
Hezekiah heard a couple of things snap, and then the ropes let go. Dropping him right onto the cold snow. His body breathed a huge sigh of relief, and he could instantly felt his face cry in relief as the blood flowed back throughout his body. The snow almost felt comforting, despite it stinging his face. But he was not allowed any rest at this moment, as he was picked up from behind and forced to stand.
"Hey! Who are you, people? What do you want with me? Where is my squad?" He yelled out, angrily. Trying to resist, though his hands were still tied. He realized that two people were holding him around his arms, forcing him to walk. Looking on either side, they were human but…
They weren't. The 'human' on his left had a black-purple skin tone that resembled obsidian, its eyes held no iris, only a grayish circular lens filled the white jelly of what Hezekiah knew should be an eye. Candy blue hair sprung from its head like a curtain, wrapped in a bun held in with sharp sticks.
To his right seemed the exact opposite, pure white skin stretched over the face like paper. Like the one to his left, this one had no iris. The eye color was a lime green color with a paler green circle in the center. It too had blue hair, though he could only see a few strands of it at a time, a large fur-based hat covered its head.
Their clothing was thick, suitable for the winter weather. Dressed in mostly browns, greens, and whites. Not too dissimilar in color from the winter uniforms the Marines wore. Around their waists were belts carrying axes, sheathed swords, and supplies.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Jarta! Yegg Dun la ebati?"
"Gar, jomana," The two elves conversated between the two… seemingly in response to Hezekiah's questions. They had to be talking about him, right? The one on his left, judging from the voice, was female. On the right, a male. He was going off of normal human standards though, and he wouldn't be surprised at all if he was completely wrong. After all, his squad had almost been killed by a giant man-eating crab, and Quinn had suffered a second-degree burn just by… touching a bird? That didn't even make any sense. But nothing made sense anymore.
Speaking of Quinn, where the hell was Unity?
"Where is my squad? Oh god, please don't tell me you've killed them!" Hezekiah panicked, temporarily resisting against his captors, but stopping once he remembered it was futile.
"Gar, Jevos anna kap jugar?" Said the woman, it provoked the man to chuckle. He was laughing. Hezekiah was being held captive with his life in danger and his squad missing, and the man was laughing? What could she have possibly said that would make the man laugh in such a fucked up scenario? What kind of twisted world was this was even acceptable?
After a not-so-long journey down a dirt path, they came upon a large wooden building. It was made of large wooden logs, held together by tightly wound tree branches, and sealed with a mixture of leaves and tar. It was a long structure, Around half the size of the taller trees surrounding it. The length of which had to be at least 50 feet. On either side of the structure's entrance were cages, in which small glowing particles were captured, providing illumination to the surrounding area. Like fireflies with the luminosity of a light bulb. In the center of the structure, it bulged out into a circular shape. Smoke puffed through a chimney in the center.
A circular clearing had been made for it, from which the rising sun was visible and the morning sky shone done. Like an upside-down pond, though the water had been replaced with a morning sky with not reflection offered to those looking up. The sky was clear now, the clouds had passed, and the dark blue sky was waning. Stars in the night burned out, as a lighter blue slowly absorbed them. Turning night, into the morning with the time of the rising sun.
Hezekiah watched ahead, as more of the "human" beings carried him inside the building. He was led through a leather curtain that separated the exterior and interior of the building, and he was immediately hit with a wave of heat as he walked inside.
He took a good look at the room around him as he was led deeper inside the building. A trench had been built in the center of the building, where a well-contained fire provided heating to the people inside. Speaking of people, they immediately stood upon his arrival, watching him cautiously. Observing his features. His clothing. Speech. Everything so foreign to them… and the feeling was mutual.
Hezekiah's eyes observed every minute detail. From the intricate work, they made into their artwork, which hung from rafters around the ceiling to the furniture that seemed to be carved out of a mixture of wood, animal hide, and bone. He noted the small sculptures of animal faces into the wooden timber supports and the hanging gardens of plants that barely reached his head. Two floors were present from what he could tell. The current floor he walked in was flanked on both sides by an interior mezzanine that encircled the edges of the structure. Doorways lining both floors hinted at rooms within the walls. The pure size of the structure was impressive, given that these people built it from the natural resources alone. Not a single stone or clay brick seems to have been used in the construction.
Hezekiah was led into far into the back of the building, right outside a doorway entrance to a dark room, another wooden lounge chair sat in the corner. The room was long and featured enough space to hold at least ten people. He was of course seated all the way at the end. At the doorway of the room, was a blue humanoid. Wearing a lavish dress of fur, cloth, and colorful beads. An elaborate headpiece wrapped around the head, with large feathers and more beads creating a crown of sorts, all covering the white-colored hair of the humanoid. The skin was old and wrinkled, and this one appeared to be the oldest of all the other inhabitants in the tribe. At least from what Hezekiah could tell so far.
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"Kolinda…hor abo butani," The man holding his right spoke first. Bowing his head submissively to the apparent leader, "Ja kokamundai."
The leader sounded pleased, as it looked Hezekiah straight into his own eyes, observing him, "Tu elak! Mugabe eswa nar je lumbo," it said to his two captors. The leader had a female voice to her, that was grainy and stretched. Like the speech of the elderly, unsurprisingly.
The two bowed, and returned to their original posture, as they entered the room. They seated him on the chair softly. The man held his hand over a small outlet in the wall, and blue energy surrounded it, causing a fire to start in the outlet, and bringing light to the room.
The leader walked in, looking down at Hezekiah with a disconcerted expression on her face. She held out a hand and a wave of blue light briefly flooded the room.
"You…" Hezekiah's ears picked up the English word. He originally looked around to see where who said it, but then his eyes landed back on the leader. She had spoken… English? Hezekiah figured it had something to do with the blue light that she summoned, these people appeared to be supernatural in every way, "Do you understand me now?"
Hezekiah looked again at her, confirming that it was indeed her who had spoken to him, "Where am I? Where are my men?"
"We'll be the ones asking questions, and you'll be the one answering them. Human. Do you understand?" Asked one of his captors who walked next to the leader.
Hezekiah said nothing, as he just stared up into his eyes. The man gave a disapproving puff, "Who are you?"
"Fuck you!"
"What nation do you serve?"
"Kiss my ass!"
The leader shook her head, her face still confused staring down at him. His male captive went over to her and whispered something just barely audible, "Mother, we found his group stranded in the mountains… They very well might be Falkish."
"They aren't Falkish, look at his clothes… his language. I know the ways of the Falkish people, and his aren't it."
"But he is a human… and he certainly isn't an Iscariot battle thrall!"
"Hey! What the hell are you two talking about over there!"
The woman held out her hand to the other man, and looked impatiently at Hezekiah, "Who are you? I'll ask once more, or I'll extract the information myself."
Hezekiah wondered what that could mean… did she mean, mind-reading?
'She's bluffing' He thought. But the idea quickly evaporated, when he remembered their supernatural powers beforehand. If they could start fires, and somehow translate his language with a flick of their hands… telepathy wasn't too far out of the ballfield.
"I'm Staff Sergeant Hezekiah Brooks, the United States Marine Corps… 1st Battalion, happy?" He spat out.
The woman leaned back, raising a hand and caressing her chin. Deep in thought.
Suddenly, footsteps echoed through the halls, and a green-skinned Humanoid walked in. He instantly ran up to the leader, and bowed his head before speaking, "Mother! We've spotted an Iscariot Army moving south towards the Delta."
The woman turned her full focus on this now, "Iscariots? This far down south? What are their intentions?"
"We have no idea, they are marching along the Palisades, right next to the river. They don't seem interested in us… for now."
"How far along are they?"
"five miles North. They have long since passed the trail to the Five nations. They seem more interested in the Peninsula."
One of his captors turned to Hezekiah, "Do you have any connections to the Iscariots?"
"The who?" Hezekiah asked, looking up at her.
"The Iscariots! Don't you know who they are?"
"I don't know… anything right now. All I know is that I woke up, upside-fucking-down next to a deer that had its throat cut out, after being kidnapped. And now I'm being interrogated by the fucking Na'vi! What the hell is going on? I'm lost, and I don't know where my squad is…" He looked to the leader, pleading now, "Please… I don't know who you are. I don't know what's going on. Please just don't hurt them!"
The 'mother', as they called her, grew a rather sympathetic look on her face. She took a few steps towards Hezekiah and held her arm out to the man. She held out her hand over Hezekiah, placing her palm on his temple. Hezekiah immediately recoiled, "Don't touch me-"
"Relax. And hold steady…" The mother told him.
Hezekiah felt a strange feeling grow in his head, it was almost like a haze but… the opposite. His mind became clearer, his thoughts and imagination became incredibly vivid in color. Extreme clarity came to his mind, and he could recall almost anything in his life at the snap of a finger.
She wasn't kidding. She could read minds.
When the woman was done, she staggered backward. Almost fearful of Hezekiah, "Y-you are… no, it wasn't supposed to be Humans…"
"I'm not supposed to be what, lady? What? What am I?" Hezekiah demanded, "What am I, diseased?"
The mother paused and looked down at him, a mix of bewilderment, curiosity, and fear in it, "I see now… you are from the other world. Right?"
Hezekiah took a few looks both ways, probably just to see if any of this was real. This utter madness. Hezekiah never tried drugs, but he had the idea that he was on a trip. This was all just too surreal, "Yeah… sure. I'm an alien. A gray. What's it to ya?"
"You've spoken to the Mirrorface?" the woman asked.
Hezekiah was about to make another sarcastic remark… but then stopped. The image of that… thing… came back to him.
How did she know? It was only a dream. It was only in his mind. He couldn't be real… that isn't how this works. How any of this was supposed to work. Nothing made sense anymore! Everything was wrong… so wrong. Everything real was gone, and everything that didn't exist was materialized. It was so inside-out, so backward.
Hezekiah looked down as if he had been punched in the gut, by the sudden realization that the snake-like god creature-thing, was real. He started breathing hard upon the realization, and repeatedly shook his head, left and right. None of it made sense. It just didn't. Hezekiah wasn't even trying to understand any of it anymore, but now it was just ridiculous.
"How…do…you know?" He slowly looked up at her.
The woman seemed to take pity on him, "You are so lost," she said looking into his eyes, "The burden that your mission weighs was never meant to be carried by a human soul. I deeply apologize… Temetet! Release him from his restraints!"
"Are you sure? He's still…" the snow-white humanoid imitated a circular motion around his head.
"I'm not the crazy one…" Hezekiah muttered. He took slight comfort in the fact that maybe, he wasn't alone. The 'mission' that he was assigned in his dreams did have a real meaning after all. And somebody else knew of it. But still, everything was being kept secret from him.
"He isn't hostile. Otaes, my daughter, reunite him with the others. He belongs with them. The E'Aethal must be desperate… to bring a human into their call," Said the woman. Temetet nodded, slowly walking over to Hezekiah, very cautiously.
"You won't hurt me, right?" Asked Temetet.
Hezekiah gave him a sarcastic look, "Don't worry. I don't bite."
Temetet puffed again, taking out a knife, and releasing Hezekiah's hands from their imprisonment. Hezekiah immediately felt around his wrists, taking in the relief of having his arms freed. He leaned back and managed to relax for the first time in a while. A gloved hand was extended to him, covered in an elaborate mural of stitches that covered the leather surface.
"Come with me, I'll bring you to your unit," the woman, Otaes, offered. Hezekiah at first hesitated, but soon put his hand into her gloved hand.
"I'll join you in a moment… but first there is someone I must talk to," The Mother left the room in a hurry, which seemed to bother the other guards around.
Otaes led Hezekiah out of their current room, out again into the main room, and another side room. It was bright inside of this one, another fire burned in a small pit in the center. Another chimney funneled the smoke and the ash outside. Gathered around the fire, was a group of four men. Unity.
"Sergeant Brooks!" He heard Brian call out, "You're finally here!"
Hezekiah took a few steps into the room, fully enclosing himself inside. The situation his squad was in… was unexpected, to say the least. They seemed comfortable, as they sat around the fire.
"Where were you, man? We were begging them to try and figure out where you were!" Flint asked him, as he stood there.
"Where was I? I was busy being interrogated by these guys! Where were you?" Hezekiah demanded from them.
Flint shrugged, "We all kinda just woke up in this village. They asked us who our leader was, and we told them you were. At first, we didn't really like them, but they are actually pretty chill."
"Pretty chill, huh?" Hezekiah mumbled.
"They gave us cookies and beer!" Quinn said, nodding to a plate full of the brown circles on the floor and holding up a big mug full of liquid in it.
"Well don't eat it! They are our captors, remember?"
"Oh please…" said a familiar voice behind Hezekiah, "If we wanted to kill you, we would've done so ages ago." said the mother with a rather sly grin.
Hezekiah looked behind her, taken aback that she was back so soon, "Who are you-"
"Before we start with the questions, it'd please me if you would take a seat," she interrupted him before Hezekiah could get worked up. Hezekiah looked at an empty spot next to Lafayette and moved over next to him, plopping himself down in front of the fire.
"We so deeply apologize for our initial meetings… I don't think we've been properly introduced," she began, "We are the Raritans of the Albya River Valley. Only one of the five nations here. We have to act with caution when dealing with outsiders, you never know who is just venturing through the forest and who is an Imperial scout."
"Well, we don't know anything about any of that," Hezekiah told her.
"I know," she said, "Your consciousness told me everything we needed to know, and I know you are telling the truth. Forgive us please, for acting in such a manner, but we have a duty to keep our forest safe. If there is anything that we can do for you, please say."
The soldiers looked amongst themselves, "Yo, Q. How's that arm of yours?" Flint asked. Quinn held up the bandaged right arm, the bandage work was well-done by Brian.
"It's itchy as hell. Still stings like a bitch," He said, Hezekiah could see a large bloodstain soak the white bandages. It looked old, and some even began to yellow around… not good.
"We need medical attention for Quinn, immediately. But the only place where he can get proper treatment is back at our base, which would take hours for us to get back to if we still had our truck. There's no way we can get there in time on foot," Hezekiah spoke up. He doubted that they would be able to help, the stage of infection that would follow if Quinns wound didn't heal could kill him out here. He had no idea what the Raritan's powers were capable of, and he didn't know if rapid healing was one of them. Though… maybe it was? He wouldn't be surprised in the slightest, though he would be thankful.
The mother gestured for Quinn to bring the wound closer for her observation, and Quinn leaned in, letting her take his arm, "Otaes! I require your assistance, please."
The woman came back into the room, taking Quinn's arm. She slowly unwrapped the bandages… what came under was blackened skin, pink flesh, and yellow pus surrounding the wound. Despite the efforts that Brian made in putting alcohol and antiseptic on the wound, it still managed to become infected under the bandages. How?
Quinn's faced turned into one of disgust, but Oates' didn’t at all. She kept the same stoical face as she observed the wound, "It's a firebird burn," she said after a while, "I can still see some of the bird's wax on his arm."
"Excuse me?" Quinn asked.
The mother took the opportunity to explain, "Have you ever been in contact with a bright red bird, large in size, flying in flocks through the forest?"
Quinn nodded, "Yeah. I tried to shoo it away and it exploded."
"Then you have been burned by a firebird. To some, a Phoenix," Quinn nodded, "The bird burns by secreting a highly flammable liquid from its feathers onto their assailant. Any light friction against the liquid will cause it to combust. The bird itself can survive the extreme heat, but most other creatures cannot. Consider yourself lucky to be alive."
"Well shit… that's kinda hardcore," Quinn chuckled, but winced in pain when Oates touched the wound with a small rod, "What are you gonna do, doc?" He asked her.
"I'm going to heal it," she replied plainly. She closed her eyes, and a deep blue aura came from her hands.
"Do try and stay still, this will only sting a bit." Said the woman, who looked on. The rest of the squad also observed carefully, Brian even had his phone out to record the event. Would their magic really be able to heal his wound?
Hezekiah looked intently at her actions, wondering…
Quinn's arm clenched as a thin green aura covered the exterior of the burn, and slowly marched inward to the core of the exposed flesh. As it marched, it left behind completely rejuvenated skin, just the same olive color as the rest of it. Healthy, new, and fresh. It soon grew to the point where any evidence of the wound only existed as a recent memory.
"There, it has been healed."
Unity was stunned. Nothing had ever healed that fast before. Brian took off his glasses to make sure he was seeing right, and sure enough, he was. Quinn was flabbergasted, as he looked at his arm with a boyish wonder in his eyes. He touched it and felt around, pulling the skin, even scratching it. It was all the same as the rest of his arm.
"Now… is that all?" The mother asked with a pleasant smile.
Hezekiah looked up at her in pure wonder… "Who are you, people?"
The elderly woman giggled, "We are the Warrior Elves. The Raritan Tribe, one of the Five Nations. We have much to go over," She smiled.
Hezekiah was now reassured that they were in good hands.