Cecilia

XXX

They led them through the woods, which grew thicker and larger as they entered. The ground began to slope upward; they were climbing up a mountain ridge. One of the ones Sanjin went up? she thought feverishly. Part of her felt dreamlike, her hands bound in a black vine, connected to the others with Lysander in the front and Magnus behind. One of them picked up Kennex and carried him over a meaty shoulder.

They. They. Crist. She had heard stories of them, and it was those very stories that kept her eyes always on one of their guards. They were tall, the shortest being the same height as Magnus. Their spears, tipped with a blue shard of some sort, stood a full and a half over their leafed heads. Some sort of paint of many colors were put over their skin. The closest to her, on her right, had a stark black under his eyes like sleep bags, with tear-drop like brushes going down to his chin. Another on her right bore red circles around his eyes, but more circles going, again, down to his chin, like tears.

Bloody tears. Maybe actual blood. A story, told by the retired miner Jarrel to his grandchildren one night while the orphans had sought to raid his household, ran through her mind. Savage, marauding, primal beings who sought only to kill so that they might drink the blood of-

A firm hand caught her shoulder and steered her back in line; she had begun to lean away, and the closest Crist, the one with the black paint, put her in her place soundlessly.

She looked up at him, searching for anything in the menacing orange eyes, like Adelia's but brighter. But all she found was an unreadable, blank look back. The hand released her, however, and they continued down the cleared path they had created. She dared not speak to either Lysander or Magnus, but she knew she wouldn't gain any new information.

Not even the stormtroopers. And as much dislike as there was for them, they were the law.

Or had been.

The trees suddenly thinned, and she heard Lysander in front of her mumble something that sounded like a half curse, half whimper. She peered around him-

"I'll take it from here, lads." A man lacking any of the woven, white and green garb of the Crist sauntered forward. He wore a jacket of some sort of black leather, a brown smock beneath it, with equally jetblack, flexible pants going down to his midnight shoes. A blonde, scruffy beard crawled all across his white and pink face. The only thing that resembled Crist was two dark, straight lines of paint streaming down to his chin.

He was the last thing she'd expected to see.

"Alright, lissen' up." The man pulled the five of them into a semi circle around them, while the Crist entered the clearing, from which she could see hints of some sort of settlement camp. "Yer' friend 'ere- Maggot? Magnum?- already knows me, but res' of ya' don'." He gave them a mixed yellow and white smile. "Names Thurst. Yer' gonna be alrigh'."

The face of someone from a civilized background almost brought a wave of relief to her. She felt her knees grow watery, but she made herself stay upright. The way he was dressed, his slurred speech…

"Who are you?" Magnus challenged. "You never told me that when you caught me."

The man called Thurst waved a finger at him, and on it two shiny silver rings twinkled. " 'Notha time, Maggy. Now come on, I gotta take ya all to Vynus."

"Vynus?"

Thurst shrugged. "What I call him, and he seems to like it." He walked forward, his black boots leaving deep imprints on the soft, muddy ground. Lysander looked back at all of them; Adelia, at the back, gestured him forward. "We're still bound; you lead."

The other flinched at the last word, and turned his head sharply and yanked them all forward. Cecilia's shoes soon became filthy, her feet feeling squishy as mud tracked in. The ground was soaking wet, but the Crist seemed to embrace it. As they followed Thurst, she took in what she guessed was the home of their captors.

Their guards melted into a crowd of other tall Crist, their light brown skin the same shade as the woods surrounding their encampment. More shades of paint covered the faces of male and female, but she noticed they all bore the teardrop style. Mourning? She wondered to herself. At least they don't seem to be drinking blood.

Together, with Kennex still being carried by one of the Crist, they walked to a massive tree, large enough to step inside. Indeed, as they got closer she saw what looked like a cot and table inside. It's occupant, however, stood outside with two other Crist.

Their leader. It must be. He looked powerfully built, and stood taller than even the others; she reasoned eight or nine feet, looking down upon Thurst with, oddly, light green eyes instead of the orange every other Crist had.

With a half-hearted bow of his head, Thurst gestured to the five of them. "Vynus, I 'ave the prisoners, as ya asked fer'." He paused. "Ah, do as ya will."

"You said we'd be alright!" Gallis said indignantly.

"I did?" Thurst shrugged, the discolored smile back. "Ah, well just the way the galaxy works, innit? Now, ya should probably listen to Vynus 'ere."

Cecilia shivered, the small relief gone like it never had been. The enormous Crist called Vynus stepped forward, a spear the width of her wrist and three times her height. The light green eyes looked at each of them in turn, and she did her best to look calm. This was worse than being caught by Vash at the Market; who knew what the Crist might do to them? Slavery? Torture?

"You are young." The words came out loud and powerful, but spoken slowly. Vynus's tongue rolled awkwardly in his mouth, and his eyebrows furrowed with what she would have guessed was annoyance. "Why do you come to our forest?"

Silence. She was shocked; she turned to see the others reaction, and saw all but Magnus, who stared at Thurst with hateful eyes, were equally surprised. Lysander tentatively asked, "Y-you speak Basic?"

"I speak your words," Vynus said heavily. "Another, young, came seasons before and helped me learn." He gestured offhandedly with his spear, swinging it about as if it weighed nothing. "He left before I learned full. But I speak." He narrowed his eyes on Lysander fully. "Why do you come to our forest?"

Lysander cleared his throat, and Cecilia inwardly groaned. She would've much preferred if Magnus or Adelia was speaking, but Adelia was remaining silent, while Magnus continued to flare silently. Thurst, for his part, looked bored with the results so far, unaware of the gaze.

But the young son of the police chief spoke clearly, calmly. "We had to run from our home. The police- guards- chased us because we were framed. We had to run, or die."

Vynus frowned his pale brown lips. "They would kill you? Young?"

"Yes. We had to run- and we came here. To hide."

It was mostly truthful; the framing was a blatant lie, they knew they'd done wrong, but that was all. Bragg most certainly would've killed them had they stayed. There hadn't been much choice at all. And for Vynus's obvious basic understanding of their language, he seemed to have made the other understand well.

But the Crist leader hadn't replied yet. He continued to look down, frowning. Thurst rolled his eyes and stepped forward. "Vynus, buddy. Just send them back, ay? Don' need tha 'assle-"

"They are young. The young are precious here, Thurst. You know this."

"So you're gonna just, wha, keep 'em 'ere?"

"You'd rather throw us back out there to die?" Magnus demanded. "When you caught me, you said you'd help! I know what you are- you're just a criminal, a pirate!"

"Shut your porthole, kid," Thurst said, not even turning to look. "Ya don' want any trouble-"

Vynus held up his free hand, and Thurst subsided reluctantly. He and Magnus traded ugly looks. Please don't start something, you hothead.

The Crist leader turned around and entered the massive trunk, and the pirate rolled his eyes. "Oh boy, 'ere we go."

"What's he doing?" Cecilia asked, her voice sounding tiny in her eyes. It didn't sound like they were going to die, but there were plenty of fates just as bad-

"Talkin' to his… 'advisor.'" Thurst spat on the ground. "'Nother one from high above. Never even seen the bloke, came here months afta' me but he gets more leverage ova' me."

"I suppose we should be grateful he has more power than you," Magnus snarled. "You basically betrayed us!"

"You should be grateful," Thurst said darkly. "He's tha' one who knew ya were out there in tha' furst place."

Cecilia stared into the depths of the tree trunk. Vynus's two bodyguards shielded most of the inside still, but she could see the massive Crist looking down at something on the cot. Someone sick in the bed? Or maybe talking through holo?

They stood in silence for a full painstaking minute, the sounds of the Crist settlement behind them, their language utterly incomprehensible to her. Just like the entire mess they were in.

Finally, Vynus emerged. "You will stay with us," he said slowly, not looking either pleased or annoyed. "We will help you adapt, and treat your half-dead friend. And the one with the pourfifis."

"The what?" Lysander aksed.

Vynus shrugged, pointed to Gallis. "Come with me, I will treat him myself. Thurst, show the rest to a shelter."

"'Course, 'course." Thurst pulled out a small vibroblade from behind his waist, and it flicked on with a piercing yellow glow. "C'mere, ya lot. I'll remove yer bonds."

Cecilia gratefully extended her wrist, and Thurst sliced through them with some force.

"These must be tough, for you to need to apply effort," Lysander remarked. "The blade of those can cut through all sorts of things."

Thurst gave a grunt of acknowledgement while Cecilia rubbed her freed hands. The pirate- well, I guess he might be. Smells like what I think one would at least- finished freeing them, ending with Magnus whom he gave a leering smile. Magnus returned with a false smile, and thanked him with a similar bow to the one he'd given Vynus.

"You, follow Vynus," Thurst grumbled to Gallis. "He'll heal you up."

Gallis looked terrified to go off on his own, and Adelia swiftly said, "I'll come with you."

"No." Vynus's deep tone rattled them all, but Adelia resolutely said, "No, I must. I need to know how to treat in the future, if something like this happens again."

"You use medecine?" Vynus questioned, for the first time sounding genuinely interested.

"Yes. I was treating him before you came. I would like to witness."

The Crist leader seemed to consider this, then nodded. "You come, then. The rest, to Thurst."

XXX

Gallis Iscander

XXX

He followed the large Crist through their settlement, and quickly began to notice details that had escaped him before. Many of the cries he had taken to be wild cheers of some celebration were in fact not so. As Vynus steered them towards another hollowed tree, he saw that several smaller ones held wounded Crist. They wore massive leaves strained over shiny red spots on their body.

Were they attacked? Gallis wondered. Or did they do the attacking?

Adelia must've noticed as well, for she leaned to his ear and whispered, "It looks like they just fought a war. Maybe that's why Thurst didn't want us around."

"Thurst is learning our ways still," Vynus said, not turning around as he ducked his massive form inside the tree. "We always value young of our people- even if you are not of us, you remain important."

"How so?" Gallis asked.

"You will one day take the place of your elders. Sit here." Vynus gestured to one of three stumps, and Gallis did so. The illness he'd contracted wasn't as painful as it had been in the morning, but it still stung and burned. The puffiness in his eyes hadn't lessened either. He subconsciously raised a hand, and Adelia slapped it away. "Don't!"

Vynus turned around, holding a wooden bowl with what looked like sap inside. "Yes, do not itch," he said in his strong, if awkward tone. Gallis found he was already getting used to it. The Crist leader dabbed two fingers into the solution. "Close your eyes, boy."

He began to do so, then opened them again. "I… can't you do it with them open?"

The massive alien looked down, green eyes passive. And tried as he could, the strange little danger sense that had flared up time and time again refused to do so.

"You may trust me. Or you may continue this way."

He looked at Adelia, and she gave a small nod. Taking a deep breath, he closed them. The darkness seemed all encompassing, different than before, not knowing what was happening before him-

Cool, gooey substance smeared on his eyes, and he gasped with relief. It was as if fresh water had splashed across the afflicted area and doused the flames of irritation. Vynus applied it to his other eye, and the same feel repeated. "Oh man," he moaned. "What is this stuff, anyway?"

"The residue of a Clissern- you would call them 'bear.'"

Gallis's brow furrowed. "Residue?"

For the first time, what sounded like a rumbling laugh came from within Vynus. "Perhaps it's better you do not discover it."

Gallis squinted his eyes open, and found the puffiness was already fading. It was a strange sensation, his eyes slowly opening more and more as his skin retracted.

"Amazing," Adelia wondered. "Is it possible I can have some? Or show me the tracks of where you usually find them?"

"Yes, another healer of ours will show- when they have time." Gallis noticed his gaze traveled to the other hollowed trees and tents that houses the wounded. "Which will be soon. Hopefully." He looked back down at them, and incredibly his lips curled into a smile. Gallis found himself giving one back. "Thank you, Vynus."

The smile faded a little. "Do not get so comfortable yet, boy. There is still much to be done of you and your friends stay here. For now you are welcome- in time, we shall see."