Author's Notes:
So, I decided to write one of those OC insert stories were a person from our world somehow gets put into the show, but I knew that if I started one then there was a good chance I wouldn't have finish it. So, I decided to write this very long one-shot OC-insert story. It took me over a month to think about the plot and write it out, but I think it was worth it.
This takes place in ancient Perim, so I made up a few culture related things and some other stuff. The cartoon never did gave much background information on some characters and the Tribes' cultures, so that gave me free rein in making stuff up.
Also there will be a lot of time skips.
Hope you guys like it and please write a review.
Born with Future Knowledge
Najarin is a very respected Muge within the newly built Kiru Village. Every one knew who he was, not only just in the small Overworld village, but also all across Perim as well. Ever since he was little, it was clear as day that he was a prodigy when it came to Mugic (or any other subject for that matter). Even with no one to teach him, Najarin became one of the best Muges of Perim.
He was Kiru Village's first Muge and he made almost all the mugix the warriors used in battle to protect their home. But he was currently the only muge within the village.
Muge was a hard profession that many did not want to become apart of. Being a Muge is a noble career and Muges were normally looked upon with high respect, but the reason many did not want to become one was because Muges were walking targets for rival villages and tribes. Another hazard to the job was that if something went wrong when making a mugic it can lead to some major damage to the Muge or any creature nearby.
Yes, being a Muge is very dangerous and most don't live long enough to have children of their own.
So when it was known throughout the village that Najarin's wife was with child, the villagers were overjoyed. It went unsaid that many wished Najarin's unborn child would also be a mugic prodigy like his/her father. There were very few Muges within the Overworld and with the growing threat of Kaal's army, they needed all the Muges and mugix they could get.
But Najarin and his wife did not care what career their child would like to pursue, as long as the child was healthy and happy.
Najarin's wife unfortunately became ill close to the end of the pregnancy.
The midwife was blunt with Najarin when she told him beforehand that his wife would not make it through the delivery and there was a high chance that she and the child would not live. It was a devastating blow to the Overworld Muge.
He didn't have the heart to tell his ill wife of her impending demise, but instead used all the little time they had left together to make her last days in this world the best. He stopped working on his projects and would spend the whole day beside her bed.
He would make her laugh and smile at jokes he made up, he would get her anything she requested and he made sure she did not figure out why he was doing these things for her.
But something told him that she did know, but did not want to talk about it.
His best friend, Kiru, was understanding that it would be best for Najarin to be with his wife instead of helping with defense against the village's enemies. Kiru also knew that even if Najarin would have continued to help defended the village, he would have been little help to them, because his mind was always focused on his dying wife.
When it was finally time for the delivery of the child, Najarin was in tears as their tiny son came into the world. It was hard to tell if the tears were of joy over the birth of their son or tears of sadness, because his wife would not get to see their son grow up into a young adult.
The baby boy came out screaming with a pair of powerful lungs. The midwife said that it wasn't as bad as what she thought it would be and that their son was healthy.
His wife was still alive, but very pale and he knew it would not be much longer until it was time for her to pass away. It wasn't a surprise that she was going to die. He and the midwife were a little surprised, but very happy that the boy was as healthy as he was.
But then something happened that no one foresaw.
"I think there is another coming." Najarin's wife said weakly.
The midwife swiftly gave Najarin the newborn and went to work, instructing the new mother on what to do.
The most stressful moments of Najarin's life ticked away as his wife used the last bit of strength she had left to bring the second child into this world. Their newborn son was crying nonstop during the entire birth of his younger sibling.
The second child - a girl - came into the world of Perim. Her mother died the moment she was born.
Unlike the first child who was still crying in his father's arms, the girl was silent. Najarin feared the girl was dead just like her mother.
"Is she?" he manages to say, but unable to voice any other words. He looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
The midwife cheeks for signs of breathing, a heartbeat or anything that would indicate life within the too tiny body.
"She has a heartbeat, but isn't breathing!" the midwife said then hit the girl on her back, trying to get the child to breath. It works and soon the girl begins to cry weakly.
"She'll live, but more than likely have some problems." the midwife tells Najarin.
A small smile forms on Najarin's face, then he looks over at his wife's lifeless body and begins to laugh while crying at the same time. His son continued to cry.
.
Three days later, they had already burned the body that use to be Najarin's wife and the ashes were scattered on the hillside overlooking the village.
Najarin was lost without his beloved wife and cried the past three nights when his twins were asleep.
He was at home where his wife died giving birth. It is very small compared to what he will have in the future. It was a hut made of wood, straw and mud; even if it was the bedrooms, kitchen and living room rolled up into one room, it was still larger the what many of the other villagers had. In fact only Kiru's home was larger, making Najarin's the second largest in the village.
His son was asleep, but his daughter was not. She was a quiet child who sleeps less than her brother.
The midwife told him that his son would be normal, but his daughter was a different story. She explained that his wife's body had given more effort to keep the boy alive, so the girl was given less nutrition and as a side effect was smaller then normal. Plus, because the girl was deprived of air longer than her brother it would more than likely affect her mind. She then went into more detail of how she might be different, but they would have to wait and watch her for the first few months to know for sure.
His daughter does not cry like her brother does. Oh, she would cry sometimes, but it wasn't the same crying an infant would make to get attention or food. It was more like weeping in a way and to Najarin it sounded like how he has cried these past three nights.
Najarin was setting, staring at his twins and wondering if his daughter was also mourning the loss of her mother or if she was just like that because she would not be normal.
His son begins to cry meaning that he was hungry. Since his daughter doesn't cry when she is hungry, Najarin feeds them both when the boy is hungry. Najarin stood up to get the two bottles of milk.
.
The next day, Kiru is at Najarin's home to visit and hopefully be able to cheer up his depressed friend like he has been doing ever since his friend's wife died.
"So, what's their names?" Kiru asked. He was holding the twins in each arm and was sitting down across from his friend.
"The boy is called Afjak and the girl is Jackifa." Najarin said.
"Those are nice names." Kiru commented.
"She picked them out you know. Afjak if it was a boy and Jackifa if it was a girl. At first I wanted different names, but I change my mind in the end. And we got to use both of the names." Najarin said.
He sounded so weak and sad. Kiru wanted to help, but he wasn't good with these kind of things.
"I'll start working again tomorrow." Najarin said. " I've hired a female who will watch over the twins while I work. I had to explain Jackifa's special conditions, which made her ask for more money, but it wasn't like I could not tell her about them and she would have figured them out anyways if I had not. She is very experienced with childcare and even has eight of her own, but their all grown up."
"Najarin, I know the past few days have took their toll on you. You don't have to make any mugix or help with battle plans if you're not ready." Kiru said.
Najarin was about to say something, but before a single word could leave his lips, Afjak began to cry out for his father. The Muge stood up and took his son from the leader's hold and began to rock him in his arms back and forth.
"It's okay little one. You're father is here. I'll keep you safe." the inexperienced father began to say.
As Najarin was trying (unsuccessfully) to calm his son, Kiru was staring at the baby girl who also looked upset, but was not crying like her brother.
"Does the girl not cry?" he asked.
"Yes, she does, but not as much as her brother and I think she cries for different reasons, but I don't know why." Najarin answered, thinking how Jaclifa's cries sounded like she was in pain over something she lost, but that's impossible. The only thing the girl has lost would be her mother, but she died before they could form a bond. "I talked to the midwife yesterday about it and she said that Jackifa more than likely has mental problems, so I need to keep a close watch over her."
"That's a shame." Kiru said, still looking at the infant in his arms. "Well, I must leave. Running a village takes up a lot of time you know." He stands up and puts the girl in her crib. "I'll see you tomorrow and please take care of yourself." with those last words he left the Muge's home.
Najarin shuck his head. He knew that Kiru didn't want him to start working, but he had to. Who else was going to make the mugix?
His son would not stop crying. He looked over at his daughter who was now asleep. He was thankful that his son's crying never seemed to bother his daughter, which from what he was told was not normal for one infant to cry and the other to not be affected by it.
.
As his children got older, it became more and more evident how different Jackifa was when it came to her mental health.
It sadden, Najarin to see her to be so antisocial. She would spend most if not all of her day inside their home, rocking back and forth while sitting with her arms wrapped around her.
There were many other odd things about her. Like how she could not talk even though her brother has already learned to talk in complete, but basic sentences. And another example is that it would sometimes be a battle to get her to eat her food. Najarin or the female he hired would normally have to force mashed up food down her throat on Jackifa's bad days.
Her brother, Afjak (bless his soul) would try everything to get her to play with him and his friends. He is just too young to understand what is wrong with his beloved little sister.
The villagers rarely see her, but on those rare days were she steps out of their home, they would look and star at her. Najarin wasn't a mind reader, but he could tell from some of the looks they give her that they thought she should just be put out of her misery. On some days, Najarin was ashamed to think that maybe it would be better to let his daughter die because she clearly wanted to.
What was even sadder was that Jackifa looked so much like her mother even at her young age. With her red eyes, pale blue skin and purple hair that was black at the ends; she was a constant reminder of what Najarin's wife looked like and it made it more difficult for Najarin to move on, but he somehow managed. He thought maybe that's way he wants her to live because if she did die then it would be like losing his wife allover again and he didn't think he could live through that.
.
Today was one of Jackifa's bad days and the female he hired was sick, so she could not come and help him with her.
"Come on sweetheart, aren't you hungry?" he said, holding a spoon to her lips. The bowl containing the liquid like soup Najarin was trying to feed her, was setting on the table. Jackifa has not eaten all day and Najarin tried to get at least one meal in her everyday.
Jackifa would not open her mouth or look at her father, which the latter was something she always does. She hated being here and wanted nothing more than to die again. If starving herself was the only way out then so be it.
She thought she was insane or hallucinating and could not accepted that she had died painfully in life just to be reborn in a strange new world that was too familiar to a certain cartoon she use to watch.
"Please, my little girl. Do it for daddy please." He pleaded feeling worn out. Suddenly and without warning, Jackifa slapped the spoon out of her father's hand and then grabbed the bowl throwing it across the room, hitting the wall.
She then began to go through one of her mental breakdowns were she would cry and in some of the more worse cases hyperventilate to the point were she could no longer breath.
Quickly, Najarin picked up his daughter and tried to calm her down.
"It's okay Jackifa. It's okay." he began to say over and over while rocking her in his arms.
But it had no effect on the little girl. In her mind, she thought of how much she wanted to wake up in her human body with her real family there beside her. She just kept thinking of that other life and how this world cannot be possible.
Najarin was glad, Afjak was outside playing with some of the other village children right now. It scares Afjak when Jackifa gets this way and he always tries to help, but there is little he can do.
Her panic attack grew so bad that she couldn't hardly breath anymore.
Najarin, knowing that she wasn't going to calm down on her own, went to get a mugic that he had invented himself just to calm down his disturbed daughter when she gets this way.
Opening up a basket, he took out a silver mugic and casted it while saying: "Song of tranquility, please calm my beloved daughter down."
A blue muge came out of his body and went into the mugic, making it play it's sweet and relaxing melody. A green light hit, Jackifa and she immediately calmed down then slowly fall asleep in Najarin's arms.
Najarin sighed in relief, then put Jackifa on her bed. He knew she would stay asleep for at least two hours giving him time to work on making mugix for Kiru and the other Overworlders.
"It's okay, Jackifa. Everything will be okay." He said more so to himself than to her. He then left to get some work done.
.
The hands of time continued to turn and life went on. Afjak grew, made friends with other kids within the village and did other things young boys his age did. Jackifa on the other hand remained the same. She wouldn't talk to anyone and she would stay inside all the time; no matter how hard her family tried, there was no change in her.
Najarin had already given up on the idea that his daughter would get better, but Afjak did not loss hope. He was determined to help his only sister get better and live a normal life.
But he needed to learn to one day be able to live on his own and learn to work for his living, so he may one day help his father make mugix for the Overworld. And the days of learning have begun.
Afjak being the ripe age of ten years old was now old enough to start his Muge apprenticeship.
To say, Afjak was excited would be an understatement. He had always wanted to become a great Muge just like his father and now he could learn from the best of the best. The main reason he couldn't wait to become a Muge is so he could help his father with money and hopefully find a way to help his twin sister have a normal life.
Najarin knew that the first day of his son's training would be interesting, but he had no idea just how extraordinary and astonishing the day would be.
The whole family of three were inside their home. Najarin was teaching Afjak how to read, which is the first step to becoming a Muge. Not many creatures could read or write, simply because they never learned how to. Creatures only learn the skills that would be needed for their future career, so skills like reading and spelling were for Mapmakers, Leaders and Muges like Najarin who needed to write down ever new thing he discovers.
They were sitting at the table going over scrolls containing letters and the different rules on how to spell properly, while Jackifa was sitting down on the floor. She was doing what she normally did, which was just sitting with her arms wrapped around her.
Lately, she has been doing better and hasn't have one of her mental breakdowns in weeks. Today was turning out to be a very good day for her, she even eat earlier without fighting her father ever step of the way. Normally Najarin has to forcibly spoon feed her, but she eat without her father forcing her. She also wasn't rocking back and forth, but was just sitting down on the floor with a blanket underneath her.
There were a few toys around her that Najarin had bought for her, but she never was interested in playing with them even on her good days.
With his daughter in a great mood (great by her standards) Najarin would be able to go through the lesson without his son being worried or distracted by his twin sister.
"Now, Afjak you need to memorize every one of these symbols and what they sound like when spoken." Najarin said.
"But there is so many Father, how could I." Afjak stopped his complaining when he looked up at his father who was giving him a stern look.
"Afjak, if you think you cannot do something before you even try then you will never be able to learn or do anything new." Najarin scolded him.
"Sorry, father." Afjak said lowering his head in shame.
Najarin let out a sigh. "Afjak, you are my apprentice now. You can't call me your father. Even though I am still your father, I'm now also your teacher and you need to refer to me as such."
Najarin never did like being harsh to his son, but it was necessary for him to grow up a respectable young adult. He also hated some of the older traditions such as the apprentice calling his teacher master. It felt wrong for his son to no longer call him father, but breaking away from tradition would not go well for them.
"Yes, Master. I'm sorry." Afjak said.
"Good. Let's start." Najarin said. "Take a look at this first one." He was pointing to a small circle with a dot in the middle. "This first letter makes a 'rwh' sound, but when added with other letters it can change the sounding a little. We'll go over that later, but right now just remember what the letter sounds like."
Afjak nodded to show that he understood.
"Now this next one-" Najarin began to say, but stopped when he felt something grabbing and pulling at his cloths.
Looking down, he was shocked to see his troubled daughter pulling his cloths with one of her hands and looking up at him.
This had never happened before. Normally, she would always preferred to be left alone by herself and would never go seeking the attention of others. But yet there she was, looking up at him as if she was asking him for something.
Afjak - wide eyes with his mouth hanging open - looking even more surprised at his younger sister's behavior than his father. He could only wait and watch what will happen next since he lost his ability to think properly.
"Yes, sweet-heart? What is it?" Najarin managed to asked, putting the scroll on the table.
He thought proheps, she was hungry and wanted something to eat; she never had in the past, but that was the only reason he could think of for her to valintarly go up to him and ask for something.
Jackifa to her father and older brother's absolute shock, took the scroll that was laying on the table. Using her finger, she pointed at the scroll with a face that was asking if she could also join her brother in learning to read and write.
Flabbergasted, Najarin didn't know what to say. He thought that he was imagining his daughter's questioning look and that her gestures meant something else.
But then, she did something that made her earlier out-of-character actions just the tip of the iceberg.
Looking at the scroll, she somehow found the letter Najarin had shown Afjak earlier. While pointing at the letter and turning the scroll so to show them which one she was pointing at, she made the sound, "Rwh."
Najarin and Afjack just stared at her like she had grown a second head.
.
Weeks later, Najarin continued to teach his son how to read and write with the added addition of his daughter also participating in the lessons.
It still felt odd to Najarin that Jackifa was capable of learning how to read and write at the same pace as her brother and as bizarre as it sounded Najarin would say that his mentally ill daughter was learning faster than his normal son. Not only that, but Jackifa may have the ability to speak. After she perfectly pronounce the letter and understood what it was, Najarin knew she could speak if she wanted to. But of course if she did not want to speak then there was nothing he could do to get her to speak up (he and Afjak already tried at least a hundred times before they realized that).
Looking back on that first day of his son's lessons, Najarin didn't know why he agreed to include Jackifa in the lesson or the lessons after that, but seeing the positive effect it had on her made him glad he did.
Now instead of her spending all day sitting down on the floor hugging her knees and doing nothing, she would get up and work on learning as much as possible. Right now, her reading level wasn't high enough to understand all the words in the scrolls that she tried so hard to read on her own, but she was determined to master the written language.
Her attitude and behavior did not completely change. She was still very antisocial and of course would not talk to anyone, which made it somewhat harder to teach her since she wouldn't answer or ask questions.
Since his daughter was more manageable these days, Najarin didn't see the need to continue paying the older female any longer and besides he was now spending so much time teaching his children that there was no longer any time of day that the caregiver could come over and watch Jackifa.
If someone were to ask why his daughter had changed so much, then he couldn't give them an answer. He didn't even know that she was capable of learning, let alone that she would want to learn.
Afjak was just as surprised as Najarin was about Jackifa's sudden change, but once he got over the shock he became overjoyed. After all, his little sister was finally doing something and they were doing it together. He wasn't even jealous that his ill sister was learning things faster than him. It didn't bother him in the least bit, since he thought the reason for her learning faster was just because she spent more time reading through the scrolls than he.
The reading and writing lessons wouldn't last forever though. No, Najarin predicted that within a few more months his son and daughter would know all there was needed to know about the written language. When that time comes, Najarin plans on beginning to teach Afjak deferent subjects such as those connected to math and mugix.
There was no question about Afjak's future in his apprenticeship, but what about Jackifa's future?
Najarin had thought long and hard about the question, but he still didn't have an answer. Should he continue teaching her after she masters the written language or stop and see her sulking in her corner all day long? What kind of father would he be if he allowed her to go back to that state. Sure no matter what he does Najarin knows his daughter would never be normal, but at least she would be doing something.
So in the end he finally decided that he would also teach Jackifa how to be a Muge. But then that left another question...does she want to become a Muge?
.
A year later, the twins had mastered the written language and had moved on to other subjects.
Math was a bit hard for Afjak, but he would get the answers right if given enough time and as for Jackifa, well she turned out to be a genius when it came to mathematics. Not even Najarin had learned and understood mathematics at the level his daughter is at when he was her age.
All Najarin had to do was show her how to write the numbers and the rest she already knew.
It seemed like when it came to learning facts and solving problems she was a prodigy. Her brother on the other hand had a much harder time in anything that needed brain power, but he wasn't dumb. Far from it, he was very bright for a child his age, but he wasn't a prodigy.
Though Afjak wasn't as smart as his sister, he did have a few advantages over her. His body was stronger and faster than her and that was also important when training to become a Muge. Muges needed to learn how to defend themselves when enemies attacked them and to learn how to fight their enemies if necessary.
The twins had started to build their bodies' strength, endurance and flexibility a little over five months ago.
Right now they were running around the village as fast as they can and as long as they can before they could run no more.
Najarin was running beside them...well it started out with him next to both of his kids, but Afjak was running faster than Jackifa and he was now a good thirty meters ahead of them.
Looking at his daughter, Najarin knew that she could not keep running for much longer. She wasn't even running any more; her speed was closer to walking. The only reason why Afjak has not over lapped them already was because he felt bad for his sister and didn't want to out run her so much as what he could have done.
They had started their run before the sun had started to come up and it was now getting close to noon. About fifty odd laps later and Jackifa was breathing way too hard and sweating so much that the sweat could fill a bucket.
"Stop Jackifa that is enough for today." he said, knowing that if she did try to push herself any more then she would pass out from exhaustion.
She stopped and was trying to catch her breath. The break was much appreciated, she had felt that she was going to die again. Part of her wanted to continue, but she new that would only giver her a heart attack.
Afjak looked back and saw his family had stopped, so he called out: "Is Jackifa okay?!"
"She's fine!" Najarin yelled, "I don't recall telling you to stop! Continue running until I say you can rest!" he ordered.
His son did what he was told to do, but he didn't want to; he wanted to go back and see if his little sister was okay, but he knew she would be.
Seeing his son running away, Najarin turned back to his daughter.
She was doing much better than when they started out. On their first run, she couldn't even make it half way around the village which showed how weak her body had been. Every child her age could run at least five laps around the village with no problem, but she looked like was going to die five minutes into that run.
It wasn't hard to figure out why she was so weak, after all she spent all her life inside their home doing nothing. That run was the first time she actually ran (in this life).
Looking back Najarin knew he really should have made her do easier exercises, but she never gave up until he told her to stop, so he didn't see any harm in it and continued to give her the same exercises as her brother.
The improvement she made was good and even though she would never be as strong as her brother (he had a head start and being male just give him a better body when it came to strength) she could still fight if need be.
"Sweet-heart, why don't you go home while I watch your brother train." Najarin said when Jackifa was breathing normal again.
Nodding her head, she began to walk home where she would most likely read until her family returns.
.
The stars the villagers were giving her as she was walking, were really starting to bug her. If it was up to her, she would have stayed at home and study rather than to have to walk to Kiru's home with her father and brother.
The only reason why she didn't just stay home and avoid the villagers who still think she was mentally retarded, was because her father had said they would be leaving the village on some kind of mission to find special plants to use to make more mugix.
They just need to go tell the leader that they would be leaving soon.
This would be her and her brother's first official mission outside the village and both were happy about it for different reasons.
Afjak thought of the mission as a sort of right of passage while Jackifa was just happy to get out of the village for a few days so she would be away from all the villagers she didn't like. There were a few she was okay with like her family, Kiru and all the others who didn't think of her as a mentally ill girl.
She kind of regretted how she acted the first few years of her new life here, but she was a woman in mourning and she needed time to get over her grief of losing everything and everyone she knew in a life she had lived fifteen years ago.
The pain of dying was the worst pain her body ever went through and it was not a quick death. But that pain was physical and it could not compare to the emotional pain she went though after realizing what had happened.
Back then she could not believe that she was reincarnated into this new world and a large part of her still could not believe it.
It did not take her long to realize the world she was reborn in was fiction in her old world. That knowledge just made it harder for her to except her 'reincarnation' if that was the right word to use.
This being something her mind made up while her body is in a coma and probably slowly dying in some hospital bed made much more sense to her than being reincarnated into a cartoon she watched as a preteen.
But everything looked so real! It looked nothing like a cartoon and every sound, smell, taste and touch was just too real to think it was all a dream. She couldn't explain it, but deep down she knew she had dead. Even if she really was in some kind of coma, she knew she would not be waking up in a hospital no matter how much she wished she could.
She wasn't over the pain of dying, not yet and she may never. It would have been easier to let the past go if she could have talked about it to someone, but who would believe her? Everyone in the village thought she had problems and to be honest she knew she had problems, but not the kind they think she has. Even if there was someone out there that would understand, she doesn't think her vocal cords would work anymore; it's been way to long since she last spoke and if she did manage to say something it would sound horsed.
Sighing, she tried to forget about her problems and thought what she would do in the future.
She remembered that at one point in the cartoon humans come back in time to get scans for their games and her twin finds out how the humans traveled back in time then he tries to go back in time himself, but he is never heard from again.
That was a sad thought, she always wanted to find out what happened to him, but then the cartoon ended. But now it wasn't just some mystery that never got solved. Her brother will be lost and probably dies in the future or past (she gets confused when thinking about time travel).
Another problem she had was that she had no idea when that would happen. If she had known how old Afjak was when the humans came it would have been much more easier. He kind of looked like he was in his teens in the cartoon, but this world wasn't a cartoon and looked nothing like it. She'll just have to wait a few more years until it happens, but what will she do when the time comes?
She may not think this is real, but she got attached to him so she knew she had to do something about it; she just doesn't know what to do, yet.
Jackifa was so deep in her thoughts that she almost didn't notice that they could now see Kiru's house which was only ten meters away. Scolding herself for not paying attention she looked at brother and father.
Afjak is smiling like he just won a prize and Najarin also looks happy, but he was hiding it a little more than his son. As for Jackifa, well she just had a blank face almost like a mask.
"This is going to be so great! What do you think Jackifa? Wont it be great to go so far outside of the village?!" Her brother asked, even though he knew she would not say one word.
Jackifa nodded to show she was looking forward to it.
.
It was raining a lot and the sky was showing no signs that it would lighten up any time soon.
The family of three had spent two days traveling until they made it to a rain forest location that was located in the River Lands.
Najarin had not given the twins a specific name belonging to the location only that it was in the River Lands and this was the only known place to have the plants they were looking for.
Jackifa wanted to ask the name of the place, but she had never spoken a word (in this life) before so why start now?
Normally Afjak would be the one asking all the questions. He was actually asking all kinds of questions since the beginning of this trip, but oddly the one question he did not ask was the one his sister wanted to know.
"Is this one of the plants?" Afjak asked their father as he held up a purple plant that looked like a miniature tree with red dots on its leaves.
Yes, they were searching for the plants in the cold and heavy rain, because according to Najarin, it always is raining like this here. So there is no point for them to wait for nicer weather that will never come.
At least all three were wearing rain cots that Najarin had made to kept them dry and warm as they searched for all the plants that were on the list of plants they needed.
Jackifa had looked away from her search to see what plant her brother had fond and then rolled her eyes when she saw that the plant he was holding looked nothing like any of the plants they were searching for. She quickly went back on her search and half listened as their father had to explain again what the plants looked like.
"Then what is this plant?" Afjak asked. Jackifa was beginning to believe that Afjak was picking the wrong plants on purpose so Najarin would tell him what the plant was and if it could be used for something.
"I do not know, Afjak." Najarin said. "Put it down; it could be poisonous for all you know." He sounded a bit irritated and who could blame him. This was the tenth time Afjak asked the same question about a plant that was obviously not any of the kinds of plants they were looking for.
Najarin liked to encouraged his children to be curious and ask any questions to their heart's content, but when he is in the cold rain trying to find rare plants and his son keeps interrupting the search just because he wants to know what a plant is called, his encouragement runs out and so does his patience.
"Master, if you do not know then may I give it a name and test it to see if it could be useful?" Afjak asked.
"You may after we are done with our task." Najarin said as he was looking around some bushes. "Now put that plant away and get back to work. The sooner we are done the sooner we will go home where it is warm and dry."
Afjak seeming to sense Najarin's mood, did what he was told and went back to work.
.
Their mission was completed three days later and they were on their way home with bags stuffed with all the plants that they needed, plus a few of those purple tree plants that Afjak named purple twin Jackifa after his little twin sister. Not the best of names, but the kid loved his sister.
Even though she did not show it, Jackifa was flattered he named the plant after her. The plant wasn't anything special or noteworthy, but if the plant was never named before and Afjak had been the first to discovered it (that was a high probability, since over half the plants fond in that location had never been named or studied before at least to their knowledge) then her name would automatically be remembered for years to come. That is if Afjak were to officially be the first to discover and name the plant.
He could have named it after himself, but no instead he named it after his sister to show how much he really did care for her.
Najarin had told Afjak the plants may not be able to live in Kiru Village's climate and temperatures, but Afjak was not deterred and said he would find a way to keep at least one plant alive.
They were only a few hours away from home and all of them couldn't wait to finally be able to rest after all the work and traveling they had done, but they had to take the longer paths to avoid anyone whom may wish to do harm on the trio.
Unfortunately they were not aware they were being followed.
.
The Overworld sun was blazing down upon the family trio as they sat down, taking a quick rest from all the walking they had done today. There was no shade to hid them from the desert's blistering heat, but they were too tired to go any further without water. The land surrounding them was basically nothing but rock and sand. The one good thing about where they had stopped at was that there was an underground wall and the wall was the only water source within ten miles.
Najarin had said their fellow tribe brethren have only known about the underground wall for a little over a year now and that to keep their enemies from finding out about the life saving wall (this location wasn't called a desert for no reason) they would always cover the wall back up with rocks and dirt.
But with the wall being underground made it challenging to get to.
So after they had rested for a few moments, Najarin and Afjak quickly went to work in digging to reach the wall. Of coarse, Jackifa - being a young female - didn't have to lift a finger.
She never really understood why just because she was female meant she didn't have to do certain physical labor, but she wasn't going to complain if it meant she got out of digging up a wall in the hot sun. Besides, she did enough labor work during there plant finding mission ( at least in her opinion, she did enough work on this trip).
"How deep is this wall?" Afjak asked, sweat dripping down his face. The young Muge in training was getting tired and wanted nothing more than to get to the water to then drink and rest in some shady area.
"Only a few more feet." Najarin said as he lifted up another shovel full of dirt and sand out of the hole. It was slowly working and they would have been done already if only there was just dirt, but with sand added to the mix it made the job harder, because the sand would fill the hole again.
As the father and son worked, the daughter was looking around the landscape and admiring the beauty of the desert location. There was not much plant life to speak of in this part of the location, but the rock formations were breathtaking.
She wasn't too far away from her father and brother, but with their backs turned away from her, they couldn't see her. So they didn't notice when someone ambushed her and had dragged her away before she could make a sound.
Najarin - still unaware of his daughter being kidnaped - struck the ground with his tiny shovel and water came up from the ground.
"Finally!" Afjak yelled in victory, then he quickly scooped up a handful of water and drunk it in less than a secant.
"Ha, Afjak, save some for the rest of us." His father laughed, but then all of a sudden his smile melted away as he noticed something was wrong. Standing up, he looked around and realized he couldn't see his daughter anywhere.
"Master, is something wrong?" Afjak asked, sensing his father's mood.
"I can't see your sister." He said, quietly. Afjak's eyes went wide at finding out his twin was gone. "Don't panic, she couldn't have gone far. Let's look around for any sign of where she might have gone."
Nodding, Afjak got up and helped his father search for Jackifa. It didn't take long for them to find something.
"Who would take her! She never did anything to no body!" Afjak angry yelled, looking at the message written in the sand.
The message read: I have your friend, give me all that you have and I'll let her go. Meet me one mile west from here next to an old dead tree that looks like a hand.
"It's not that she did something to them." Najarin said, his face looking distraught, but in control. "Who ever took her is greedy and steals from innocent creatures. Come we need to hurry."
The two followed the directions towards where they hoped Jackifa was at and was unharmed.
.
They made it to the dead tree that looked like a hand, but no one was there; only another message left by Jackifa's kidnapper.
Like the last message this one was written in the sand and it read: Leave your stuff next to the tree. Follow the arrows and you'll find the girl.
"What will we do master?" Afjak asked.
"We can do nothing, but do what the message tells us to." Najarin said. "Look there is an arrow pointing north, we need to leave our stuff here and walk in the direction of where the arrow is pointing to."
Afjak hated that they had to do what the message said to do. He thought who ever it was that took his sister must be lying and there was only a trap waiting for them at the end of this chase, but he was too young and inexperienced when it came to things like this.
They left their things and began to quickly walk away.
A few minutes after they had went out of sight, a small figure who was wearing a mask came out of hiding and went towards the goods that were left next to the dead tree.
The creature picked up one of the bags then said: "Those idiots didn't realize that I was behind the rocks all along. And to think Najarin is one of the wisest creatures in the village; how pathetic for him to be so easily outwitted."
Since, he could not carry all that was there, he began to look through the bags to see what the most valuable items were. Putting his hand inside one of the bags, he felt something prick his finger.
"Man, that stings!" He yelled, taking his hand out of the bag while shaking it as if it would make the stinging stop. As he tried to stop the stinging, he became lightheaded and began to see black spots in his vision. "What the hack was that?"
Within seconds he could no longer stand up and fall down on to the ground. When he hit the ground his mask fall off, revealing his green face. Vlar's vision continued to darken until he completely lost conscious.
.
"He should have thought a bit more about his plan especially if he was going after you, master." Afjak said, as he picked up his bags. Jackifa was also there getting her bags and being quiet as usual.
Vlar had taking Jackifa and had hidden her inside a small cave while he went back to get his treasure. It only took Najarin and Afjak ten minutes to find Jackifa, tide up in the cave and when they came back to where they left their things they found Vlar passed out on the ground.
"Yes, well Vlar could have gotten away if he had not touched the poisonous thorn on the sleep flower. But he certainly will not be getting off the hook this time; I can only guess as to what punishment Kiru will give him." Najarin said as he made sure the rope was nice and tight around the sleeping Vlar.
Afjak, having all of his bags, looked down at Vlar and felt sorry for him. Not that Afjak wasn't angry at him for kidnaping his sister and trying to steal the plants that they had worked so hard to get, he was actually furious and a part of him was looking forward to seeing Vlar punished. But like Afjak and Jackifa, Vlar didn't have a mother or a father for that matter. With no family, Vlar had started stealing food at a young age and as he grew older he began to steal more than just food.
As for how Jackifa felt about being kidnapped, well she wasn't a happy camper to put it bluntly and her father was ten times angrier than her, he was just hiding it. Najarin really wanted Kiru to have Vlar executed for the kidnapping and attempted robbery, but he knew Kiru was too forgiving to kill Vlar, since no one was hurt.
"All right that should be tight enough." Najarin said as he stood up. "Now let's hurry and get home before anyone else tries to rob us."
.
Back at Kiru Village, Kiru had sentenced Vlar to seven days in the pit with only a glass of water and one piece of breed a day. The pit was the only thing the village had to hold the law breakers and it was just basically a large hole twenty feet deep into the ground with guards watching it around the clock.
Najarin was hopping for a harsher punishment like ten lashings from the wipe, but given Vlar's young age, Kiru went easy on him.
Jackifa was a bit curious about where Vlar had learned to write, but didn't ask and figured, since he would one day be a scout he would need to learn to read in order to make maps.
The plants they had obtained were a big help to the village, since some of the plants were not just used to make mugix, but they were also used in making medicines to heal the sick and injured. As for the newly named purple twin Jackifa plant, sadly some of the ones Afjak had died on the way home and many more died at home even though Afjak tried his hardest to keep them alive.
He only had ten live plants left (though only one looked remotely healthy) when he finally realized that Kiru Village wasn't a good place to keep them, so he moved them to a different location called Lake-Ken-I-Po.
His father was the one who told him Lake-Ken-I-Po would be a much better location to keep the plants, because of the mist the lake creates, makes the environment much more like a rain forest than Kiru Village. There is, of course, better locations to keep the plants, but Lake-Ken-I-Po was the closest and would only take five hours on foot to get there from Kiru Village.
Afjak had to go on his own free time, since Najarin was too busy to waste most of the day going to the lake to plant some purple plants. For some reason, Jackifa really wanted to go with her bother to Lake-Ken-I-Po and wouldn't take no for an answer. Not that Afjak minded, it was just odd that Jackifa was so determined to do something not evolving her studies.
.
Years passed by and the twins continued to learn about the art of making mugix. Afjak was still stronger and faster than his sister and Jackifa was still ahead of her brother in anything involving brain power, so to speak.
They went on many more missions and explorations with their father, but not on the more dangerous ones that Najarin decided the twins were not ready for just yet.
The twins had learned a lot through the years, but so far they have only made five mugix and their father had to tell them step by step what to do when making them.
With Najarin not letting them go on some journeys and not letting them make mugix, Afjak began to feel as if their father thought he was not doing a good job as apprentice, which made him want to prove that he could be a great Muge just like his father.
Jackifa understood that it wasn't because Najarin thought they were not progressing as what they should, but rather it was because Najarin was being a protective father. After all many of the places Najarin goes to were beyond dangerous and making mugix could also be just as dangerous as the places Najarin goes of to. But still Jackifa did think sometimes that it would be nice to make one mugic were Najarin wasn't looking over her shoulders. Having Najarin as a father had its ups and downs and being cuddled could be considered one of the downsides.
The twins were now thirty years old and they only looked like they were fifteen at the most. Jackifa was a bit surprised by the fact that the type of creature she was turned into could live up to 2,000 years. Though once she thought it over it did explain why Najarin was so old in the cartoon. But unfortunately for her the new information on her and Afjak's lifespan confused her even more on the timeline of future events. If Afjak looks fifteen years when he is thirty years old then how old was he when the humans come to the village?
She first thought he might have been between eighteen to twenty years old, but now with her first guess proven to be wrong by over ten years and counting, she wasn't sure if any other of her guesses could be right.
So, instead of trying to guess when the humans come (if they come), she'll just wait patiently and see what happens in the future.
.
For the past year, Kaal has been attacking the Overworlders more and more everyday, making all the citizens of Kiru Village uneasy.
Najarin and his family have been trying to help anyway they could, but they weren't warriors. Yes, they could fight if need be, but they were the only Muges in the village (well, Najarin was still technically the only Muge since, the twins weren't done with their apprenticeship) and the village couldn't risk losing them.
It wasn't just Kiru Village that was being attacked; all the other Overworld villages were also being assaulted by the Underworlders.
It seemed that the Overworld hasn't learned team work yet or else they would have realized if the villages came together they could defeat Kaal. Jackifa couldn't help, but to think when the Overworld will become powerful enough to actually be able to fight back. In the cartoon it looked like the Overworld was just as powerful as the Underworld if not more so.
On a brighter note, the purple twins (shorter for purple twin Jackifa plant) that Afjak planted at Lake-Ken-I-Po were thriving. Not only that, but Afjak discovered that they could be used to make medicine useful against burn wounds. Najarin was very proud of his son's discovery.
.
At the age of thirty-eight, the twins were finally allowed to go on a quest that would take a month to complete. The longest they have been away from the village was only two weeks and three days.
They were at home when Najarin told the twins about where they were going and what the mission was about, Afjak nearly fall over his chair at the news and couldn't stop asking questions. Jackifa couldn't remember a time were her brother looked more exited than on that day, but her feelings towards the news were far different than his.
It wasn't that she wasn't happy about the trip to Eye of the Maelstrom lands, it was just that she couldn't shake this feeling that something about that location was important.
.
Their quest went well; they didn't run into any unwanted company and made it there and back without any injuries. But Afjak and Jackifa were a bit disappointed that their father didn't let them actually get near the Eye of the Maelstrom. The twins had to once again stay at the sidelines as their father went to complete the mission on his own.
Afjak was in a depressing mood all the way back home; Jackifa being the only one to notice her twin's less than cheerful spirit. Their father was too busy thinking over whatever it was that he saw at the Eye of the Maelstrom, to pay much notice of his children.
Jackifa wanted to cheer up her twin brother, but that nagging feeling never left her alone and she was starting to think something - wither bad or good - was about to happen.
As they walked inside Kiru Village, Korg - an Overworld guardian who resembles a chunk of earth and wood with leaves on top his head - came running up to the family trio.
"Najarin! Good to see you!" Korg said with his deep, earthly voice.
"It's good to see you as well, Korg." Najarin said, as they shook hands. Korg then turned his attention to the twins standing behind Najarin.
"And how are the little Muges in training? Hope everything went well." Korg said as he walked past Najarin to ruffle the two twins' hair earning him a laugh from Afjak and a frown from Jackifa.
"We're good, Korg." Afjak said. "Everything went well on our end. Anything new in the village?"
"Nothing serious, but we did get some odd visitors." Korg said, thinking back to when the four humans came. "There was four of them. They were young and wear strange cloths like nothing we have ever seen before. I believe they called themselves Chaotic players. Whatever that means; funny name isn't it. Oh, look! Jackifa thinks so too!" Korg pointed to Jackifa.
Najarin and Afjak looked at her and saw that Jackifa was making an odd expression. Her left eye was twitching a bit and her eyes were looking up into space with her mouth curved into a deep frown.
Her father and brother were immediately concerned; Jackifa has never made a face like that before and they were scared she might possible go through one of her old temper tantrums.
"Jackifa, what's wrong?" Afjak asked, putting his hand on her shoulder.
She snapped out of her mental shock and knocked her brother's hand off her shoulder then smiled. It was a fake smile and they knew it wasn't real, but she made it to try not to make them worried about her.
For once, she wish she could just tell them what she knew was coming, but something was holding her back.
.
Ever since, they came back from their month long quest, Jackifa has been acting very odd. Well, odd for her anyways and her family was getting worried. Everyday, she would try to hid her stress by smiling all the time, which didn't work on her family. They knew her too well, not to know there was something wrong.
They didn't know what she knew about the future and it was eating at her that any day now Kaal will come and attack the village. Kaal himself has never came to Kiru Village, but Jackifa remembered that he had in order to kidnap some of the villagers to use as slaves in his mines.
It was suppose to happen before that one human comes on his second visit. There was so little to go on that Jackifa couldn't tell how many more days there was until Kaal attacks and the only thing she could do was be prepared for when he comes.
.
One week later, Kaal attacked the village.
The day had started out normal with the villagers just starting to awaken. Kiru had came by their house early morning before the sun had began to risen, to give the Muge family a small mission that would only take an hour at the most to complete.
Kiru had told, Najarin to complete the mission as soon as possible, because many of the village's warriors were away on important missions, leaving the village almost defenseless. If the mission wasn't so impotent then, Kiru would have waited for some of the warriors to get back before sending Najarin.
As soon as the village leader left, the family quickly went to work on packing their mission bags and left the village.
When they came back the village was in shambles with many of the younger villagers crying over their lost loved ones. Many of the children were now orphans either, because their parents had died in the attack or were taken by Kaal.
The Muge family went to work in helping heal the injured creatures.
The fake smile, Jackifa had been wearing was now gone. Knowing that that human boy would be coming sometime that day only made her think hard on what she was going to do.
.
Hours later, all the injured creatures were seen and healed. After that Najarin began working on a new mugic with his two children assisting him anyway they could, which was just bringing him stuff he needed like wood for the fire or herbs for the mugic potion.
Afjak tried to add some of his ideas on how to make the mugic, but every idea was shoot done by Najarin explaining how it couldn't work.
"Master, I brought more wood to help the transformation of the new mugic. May be the extra heat will speed up the transformation." Afjak said, looking down at the boiling liquid that would soon become a solid hexagon crystal.
"But too much heat could stop the process entirely. Be more patient, Afjak." Najarin said, crushing his son's sprits yet again. Afjak - looking defeated - walked away and put the wood up to be used later when Najarin deemed it the right time.
Knowing that her father would need her help any time soon, was using the little time she had left to make a few special arrows with the arrow heads coated in poison. The bow and arrow was her main weapon of choice. The only other weapon that she owned was a small dagger she carried around every where she went.
"Najarin!" one of the villagers shouted, as he ran up the hill to get to the Muge's house. All three of the family members looked up from what they were doing to see what the villager wanted. "One of those strange creatures has returned!"
Siftly, Najarin turned to his two children and said: "Afjak, Jackifa. Bring me the visitor at once."
Both of the twins bowed to their father, then left. It only took a minute from them to find the stranger.
Jackifa was surprised at seeing him; it has been so long since she last saw a member of her old race that she nearly forgot what they looked like. The human was talking with a group of villagers. Jackifa hard him ask who Vlar was, but didn't think anything of it. She was trying to remember his name, but it's been years since she last watched the show and she couldn't remember the small details of what happened.
"Excuse me, please!" Afjak said to get the human's attention. The human turned around and to see how had been the one addressing him. "I am Afjak and this is my twin sister, Jackifa." He point his arm towards his sister. "Our Master was not here when you and your friend came visiting and he would very much like to meet you."
"Not as much as I would like to meet him." the human said, but he looked nervous and his voice was shaking.
The twins brought the young human back to their home where Najarin was still working on the mugic. Najarin thanked his two children and the twins left, knowing that Najarin didn't want them there when he talked with the stranger. But, of course, Afjak and Jackifa would be eavesdropping no matter what Najarin wanted.
Jackifa was making sure to hear everything that was being said between her father and Tom (she heard him say it was his name).
As the twins listened in on the conversation, Jackifa could see Afjak's curiosity peaked up at learning that Tom was from the future. So much so that he forgotten that his sister was also eavesdropping and heard everything that he heard.
Tom left and Najarin had no idea that his two children were planning on making a trip to a certain location with floating rocks.
.
Two whole weeks went by before Afjak had a chance to sneak away. Najarin was called on a mission and would not be back for three days. The mission he was to go on was too dangerous (in Najarin's opinion) to bring the twins with him.
The moment Najarin left was the moment Afjak got began to write his note for his father. He did this away from his sister, because he didn't want her to find out what he was planning on doing, but she already knew and was planning to follow him.
Afjak gave her the note and told her to give it to Najarin when he returns. When he left, she put the note on the table and wrote one of her won then followed her brother.
.
It took Afjak four days to find Dranakis Threshold; his sister was always a few meters away from him, but he never knew.
She waited patiently for her twin to figure out which mugic notes were the right ones to activate Dranakis Threshold's time traveling powers. She had brought with her supplies that could least her and her brother a week, knowing that they would never return home again.
This plan of hers was made up years again when she decided it was best if Afjak go to the past, but she wouldn't let him go alone. She didn't want to mass with the future any more than what she already had done by just by being born.
It only took Afjak an hour to activate Dranakis Threshold just in time for Najarin to come flying at high speeds (Jackifa wished her father would have taught het to fly too).
Quickly, Jackifa jumped unto the giant time machine and ran towards her brother.
"Jackifa! What are you doing her?!" Afjak yelled in surprise as his twin grabbed onto his arm tightly and wouldn't let go no matter what.
They could hear their father yell something, but couldn't understand what he was say because of all the noise Dranakis Threshold was making.
"Master!" Afjak said then began to walk towards his father with his sister still holding onto his arm. Suddenly, a stream of electricity hit the twins and transported them to a different time.
Najarin watched in horror as he only children disappeared from his eyes and there was nothing he could have done to stop them.
.
Years later, Najarin was at Lake-Ken-I-PO, tending to the large garden of purple twin Jackifa plants.
"Najarin!" Tom yelled as he came running to the old Muge. Najarin could tell that the young chaotic players wanted something from him.
"Yes, Tom?" Najarin said as he was watering the plants.
"I came here to get another scan of the Jackifa plants. They're great to have when battling Underworlders or any creature good at fire attacks." Tom said. " I know that you grow the best ones, so could you point out which one is the best out of your garden?" Tom politely asked.
"Perhaps, if you could tell me who had discovered them and who he named them after." Najarin said, knowing the young chaotic player wouldn't know the answer.
"Come on Najarin how could I know that?" Tom asked, trying to get Najarin to change his mind. "I don't think anybody knows the answer to that."
"I know." Najarin said. " Now, unless you tell me the answer, I will not show you which one has the strongest healing abilities."
Giving up, Tom took a scan of a random Jackifa plant, said bye to Najarin and transported back to Chaotic.
Author's Notes: I got tired of writing it at the end so I shorted it as much as I could.
I'm thinking about making some one-shots about some of Jackifa's adventures in ancient Perim, but I don't have any ideas for a one-shot yet.