Deep in the barren Tarkatan wastes, there stood a lone village. 'Village' may have been too strong of a word. The occupant's attempts at building houses consisted of shoddy replicas made out of sticks, mud, and bones.
Inside of one of these particular houses, a little girl donning razor sharp claws on her hands was rummaging around inside a damaged jewellery box. Ferra, as she called herself, fished out a single eyeball. She looked it up and down, a wide grin on her face the whole time.
Ferra, along with her companion, Torr, had made it their mission in life to track down others of their fellow species. They had succeeded in some way, and now this was their home.
She dropped the eyeball back into the box, and slammed the lid shut. She turned to face Torr, the brute's giant frame easily filling out their hut.
"We go, now," she said to him, as she exited the hut.
The blistering Sun greeted her face as she stepped outside. And it wasn't the only thing to greet her, as one of the village residents stood waiting for her. It was Ferra/Torr's greatest and most hated rival… Terra/Forr!
"We hear Ferra get more eyes," the young Terra, who looked exactly like Ferra except for the obvious difference between a male and a female, said. He was perched atop his rider, Forr, who looked exactly like Torr except for see above.
"Ferra now have more than Terra!" she grinned, as she opened the box.
"How Ferra know? Ferra not know how to count."
"Me not need know how!" She replied angrily, shoving the box further towards them. "You only need look!"
Without a word, Terra reached behind his back, and retrieved his own jewellery box. As he opened it, several spare eyes bounced to the floor. Clearly, the box was filled to the brim with eyes.
Ferra gawped at her rival's collection. Terra was right; Ferra couldn't count, but it was clear to anyone he had more than her.
Ferra had fury in her eyes as Terra and Forr began to laugh hysterically at her. Even Scorpion had to join in her humiliation, as he suddenly appeared beside them to laugh and point, before teleporting away again.
"You cheat!" She spat, her claw pointing towards them. "You take eyes from dead peoples!"
"We not cheat," Terra said, his own eyes beginning to flash in anger. "We teach Ferra a lesson for saying that!"
The four of them took their battle stances, but were immediately interrupted by another of their race. A massive Brute, donned in a dirty, pink dress, came into view. Towering above her head, attached to her shoulders, was a mini sized throne. Sat atop the throne was the so called leader, who called herself Kutie Kahn.
"What going on?" She asked, adjusting her makeshift crown of sticks. "You tell leader why you fight."
"Ferra start it," Terra said, pointing at her.
She didn't reply, and instead pouted.
"Leader say you tell Terra sorry," she ordered, as she struggled to hold onto the rickety throne.
"Why you leader, anyway?" Ferra replied.
"You know why," Kutie said, her crown falling over her eyes. "You got scissor, I got rock."
"These not scissor!" She argued, pointing towards her claws. "These claws! Ferra got paper!"
"Stop talking!" Kutie screeched, now hanging from her throne by her hand. "I leader. You say sorry, or we use fatality on Ferra!"
Reluctantly, Ferra did as she was told. She watched with scorn in her eyes as Terra/Forr and Kutie/Coolie left.
"What you think, Torr?" She said, as she turned to face her companion.
He didn't reply, his vision glued to Terra/Forr.
"Torr?" She repeated, her eyebrow cocked.
He finally looked at her, before shrugging.
"Raarrroor (I believe they did, indeed, cheat. As for Kutie/Coolie, I have no time for such rabble)," he said.
Satisfied with his answer, Ferra nodded. She blushed as her stomach growled.
"Ferra hungry," she whined, holding her stomach. "We go see Gabriella/Gork, now."
"Reeaaroooo (can we not rest? We have been searching for eyes all day. I do not think I could take the trek over to the garden)."
"Ferra hungry!" She squealed, while stamping her foot into the dirt.
"Rrrrrr (very well, but I may faint from exhaustion on the way)," he sighed.
The two of them took a couple of steps to the left, and they had arrived.
It wasn't exactly The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, but it was all they had. Three flimsy carrots protruded from the dry dirt, from where Gabriella and Gork stood.
Gabriella was a young, blonde, blue-eyed girl in a green dress. She could be mistaken for any human child, as she looked absolutely nothing like the rest of their race. Gork was also unlike the others, although he certainly wasn't human. His grey skin and long white beard, from where Gabriella hung, made him stand out among them. His flat face looked like someone had smashed it with an iron one to many times.
Everyone in this village were put into a certain category depending on their role. Gabriella/Gork were The Growerers, and were responsible for growing vegetables. Kutie Kahn/Coolie were The Leaderers, while Ferra/Torr and Terra/Forr were The Hunterers.
"Gabby!" Ferra called out, happily to her friend.
"Ferra!" She called back, as Gork began to move towards them. "What was all of that shouting?"
"Terra cheat. He have more eyes than me."
"You mean he collected more eyes than you, and now you're falsely accusing him of cheating?" Gabriella corrected her friend.
Ferra hung her head in defeat.
"… Yes," she murmured.
She slowly raised her head back up, and stared at Gabriella.
"Your eyes… such pretty…"
"Don't even think about it, Ferra!" She scolded.
As the two girls chatted, Torr and Gork began to also converse.
"Rrrrghhh (so, how are things, sir Gork?)," Torr asked.
"Gorrgorr (not bad. Weather's been nice)," Gork replied, pointing a fat finger towards the sky.
"So, what brings you here?" Gabriella quizzed.
"We hungry," Ferra replied, as her hands again fell to her stomach.
"Oh, well, take this carrot," she said, as Gork lowered his chin. Still grasping his beard, she clutched hold of the carrot, and yanked it out from the soil.
Ferra rudely snatched it from her hands and scoffed it down.
"We need to water the rest, but Toshi/Yama haven't arrived back, yet," she said, turning her head to the village entrance. "Oh, there they are!"
Trudging slowly towards them was the last occupant of this village. It was a walking, talking skeleton dressed like a samurai.
Between these two and Gabriella/Gork, Ferra was beginning to wonder if they were even the same race, after all. She had begun to assume Toshi/Yama might, in fact, be a dead version brought back to life with necromancy.
Atop Yama's head was a bamboo hat. It protected his head, of which a groove filled with water lay. Going by his own words, if the water from that groove were to ever spill, Yama would drop down dead.
"Did you get the water?" Gabriella asked.
He turned to his side, revealing a giant tin canister on his back filled to the brim with water. And not only water. A smaller skeleton was bathing in it, her fingers clasping the rim. Her attire consisted of a red kimono.
"Toshi, what have I told you about bathing in the water?" Gabriella snapped.
"This is where I sit," she replied in a high pitched voice. "I've always sat here, way before we came to this place. Now we fetch water, you expect me not to sit here?"
"Oh, dear God!" Yama spoke up, his eye sockets looking towards something over Ferra's shoulder.
She followed his vision, and realised he was looking at his new 'house', which was comprised totally of bones.
"Yes, we finished building your house!" Gabriella smiled tooth fully. "Do you like it?"
"No!" He replied at once, his voice full of disgust. "You built it out of bones? That's sick! I could have known that guy!"
He bounded clumsily over to it, while Toshi was tossed around the canister. He moved his ear towards one of the bones.
"Jimmy? Is that you? Speak to me!"
"He's insane," Gabriella said, slapping her forehead.
Ferra was no longer looking at the grieving Yama, but was now focusing on the village entrance from where three Tarkatan warriors had entered.
"We got company," she said, as she pointed them out to her friends.
All ten residents of the village came to a halt at the village entrance. Kutie Kahn/Coolie took a step forward.
"You not allowed here, Barka" she said, sternly, her hands grasping desperately at the throne handles so she didn't slip. "You go now."
"You are mistaken, little girl" he growled, pointing his blade towards her. "You are the ones not allowed here. This is Tarakatan territory. Remove yourselves, at once."
"Aw, guess that means we gotta go," the Tarakatan to his right sighed.
"What are you talking about?" Baraka spat. "You are a Tarkatan, you moron!"
"We are?" The one to the left spoke up. "I thought we were the ones with the four arms?"
"Do you see four arms here?" He said, waving his arms about.
"One… two…" the one on the right pointed his finger towards Baraka's arms, before pointing towards his own. "Three… Four! Four arms!"
Baraka's breathing began to quicken.
"First of all, I'm shocked you can count," he said through gritted teeth. "Second of all…"
In a flash, Baraka sliced his fellow Tarkatan's arms off.
"Now you have no arms."
"Yes, I do," he moaned, blood spurting from him. "They're there, on the floor."
"Why was I the only Tarkatan born with a brain?" He sighed, rubbing his temples.
Ferra/Torr and the rest were still standing watching this madness take place.
"Anyway, we'll give you three days to leave," he continued. "If you don't, you're all dead."
He grabbed the other Tarkatan by the shirt and dragged him away, the other one having bled to death.
"Guess we gotta pack," Kutie shrugged.
"We not pack," Ferra said, clenching her fists. "We protect our village!"