I don`t own SVTFOE.
English is not my first language so I apologized for any grammatical errors and repeating words you would see while reading this fanfiction.
As they made their way back to their room to have their lunch, the two earth natives discusses animatedly with one another while occasionally looking over their shoulder to look at Sharp-claw who silently followed behind them with a neutral expression on her face. The two teens hurriedly ate their lunch as quickly as possible as they grew uncomfortable from the stare they are receiving from the imperial legate. "So… Nice weather we are having." Marco said rubbing the back of his head with his head unable to handle the awkwardness that now permeates from the room.
Hearing the statement from her partner, Jackie shoots Marco with a blank look that screams 'You`re seriously going with that?'. "Really, Marco?" Jackie said which a shrugged from the Hispanic teen before returning their gaze towards the native who`s looking at them with curiosity.
The native tears her gaze from the two before looking at the balcony for a minute before returning back at the two teens. "I guess so?" Sharp-claw said unsure with her answer. "Excuse my bluntness, followers but what are those droplets of clear liquid on your skins?" She said pointing at their face.
Following the direction, the legate is pointing at, Jackie wipes the sweat on her forehead before looking back at the legate. "Did you mean this?" Jackie asks gesturing at the hand she use to wipe off her sweat. "Uhh… this is called sweat. We produce this when our body needs to cool itself down." She explained to the native.
Sharp-claw after hearing Jackie`s explanation quickly look at the two with an amazed look. "Incredible! I expect nothing less from the followers of Heku." Sharp-claw said in amazement before quickly gathering herself after her sudden outburst. "Sorry about my outburst, followers of Heku but it is really amazing that you can call upon Eredar subconsciously."
Not knowing how to reply to the legate, Jackie just gives a nod before going back to her lunch.
After the two finished their lunch, the three made their way back to the room occupied by Wisdom-tooth. With a quick knock on the door, Sharp-claw entered first announcing their arrival to her father. "Ahh...good you`re all back. Come, sit and we can continue with the lessons." Wisdom-tooth said as he gestures at the chairs in front of the large table.
The lone moon of the world has once again overtaken the skies before their lesson with the old scribe has come to a close and the two teens couldn't wait to get back to their shared room and fill their growling stomachs and sleep through the night.
"Jackie, look! Heaven`s gift!" Marco said pointing at the tray of food at the center of their room. Jackie chuckles in amusement as she watches him beeline towards their dinner. "Suddenly I feel like living again after dying!" Marco said as he gorged himself with food.
"Seriously dude? It wasn't that bad, was it?" Jackie said in amusement before popping a piece of meat into her mouth. "I am tired as well but it`s just history lessons."
"I don`t have a problem with it being history, I only have a problem with it if the lesson takes an entire day to finish!" Marco complained with a huff. "I don`t know how you powered through it but tell me your secret, please."
Jackie shrugged and simply say she just like learning about history earning a raised brow from Marco who mutters she was a weird nerd which in turn earns him a playful shove from Jackie. "Anyway, señorita, what`s our verdict for the day?" Marco asks holding a half-eaten drumstick towards Jackie.
Stopping mid chew, Jackie stares at Marco with a pleased glint in her eyes. "Uhh… Jackie, you still there?" Marco asks waving his hand in front of Jackie`s face.
"Yes! I mean yes, I am completely fine." Jackie said completely flustered. Marco looks at her with concern for a minute not sure why she suddenly spaces out before shrugging it off as an effect of fatigue and repeating his question. "They`re cool, I guess but I still don`t completely trust them. Something feels off about them being friendly with complete strangers. How about you, what`s your verdict?"
"Your right about it being weird that they easily trust strangers easily but I think we can trust them." Marco stated.
"What makes you trust them that easily, Marco?"
Marco looks pensive for a moment before answering her question. "Well first they treat us fair, second they haven`t killed us yet although their methods of inviting us are questionable at best- "Marco said before being cut off by a snort from Jackie. Marco chuckled softly agreeing with her about the craziness of their method before proceeding to continue with his verdict. "Third they are teaching us about their culture and history- "
"Yeah, and thank god they didn`t teach us about their biology, I can`t still get over that time w- "Jackie cuts him off after the vivid memory of them learning a certain topic in school but was also quickly cut off by Marco saying that she shouldn`t mention it ever again as he too was present when that happened.
"And last but not least, they are willing to teach us martial lessons, if they have any ill plan towards us, they shouldn`t be giving us all of these benefits."
While Marco states his answer, Jackie listens carefully and hummed from time to time and after he finished with his statement, Jackie processes his words before accepting his reasoning but not before saying that they should still be cautious around the natives which Marco agrees with.
A loud bang ripple through the room startled Marco and Jackie awake as Sharp-claw strode towards the middle of their room with an excited grin etched on her face. The two teens stare at the native with bleary eyes wondering why she was in their room this early in the morning. "Good morning, followers! Are you ready to learn life changing lessons?" Sharp-claw said looking at the teens expectantly.
Jackie and Marco look at one another as if communicating with their eyes before tiredly staring at the native and uttering a simple 'No' before trying to return back to the realm of dreams. The legate frowns at the two sleepy teens before quickly disappearing and replace again with excitement. "Don`t be like that, followers! Let`s go and touch some grass!" Legate said as she walks towards the two teens with the intention of dragging them out of the room.
The two suns are now peeking through the horizon when the three finally make it to their destination. In front of them, a vast acre of land could be seen with tents littering the area, erected wooden walls and towers could be seen in the distance while a column of imperial soldiers could be seen performing drills on the left side of the field.
Although she and Marco use weapons on their own, Jackie couldn`t help but stare at the state of the weapons wielded by the marching legions. Compare to the weapons they scavenged, the arms own by the legion are in a far better state and even a bit different. A sense of fear boils in the pits of her stomach as the thought of becoming an enemy of the empire. They know how brutal and deadly their soldiers are on the battlefield, they saw it multiple times from afar, their skirmishes with the tribal villages usually ended with a brutal victory for the imperials.
Marco on the other hand looks in awe at the passing soldiers around them before tearing his gaze to the multiple pitched tents in front of them. Lost in his own thought he didn`t see Jackie standing in front of them until he collided with her back sending sprawling on the dirt earning curious glances from the natives. Marco flush in embarrassment before quickly standing up and patting himself clean. A painful yelp reaches him, he turns towards Jackie who was kneeling on the ground clenching her right hand. "Jackie! I am so sorry, I didn`t mean to- "Marco apologizes as he kneels beside her in worry.
"Don`t worry Marco, I am ok, it`s just a…" Jackie said reassuring Marco but quickly stops herself when she notices the natives looking at them curiously. "I am fine, nothing to worry about." Jackie said. Marco asks her again if she was really alright but Jackie quickly answered him saying that she`s completely ok.
Jackie looks around them again and sees the natives staring at them for a moment before going back to their task, her eyes then went towards Sharp-claw whom like the others of her kind was looking at her with wide eyes as if she has grown a second head. The two of them made eye contact with one another.
Jackie unable to break away from the gaze of the legate feel dread growing inside her as seconds passed by. Fortunately for her Sharp-claw tore her gaze away from her when a growl garnered her attention. Looking to their right, she notices a native wearing the same uniform worn by Sharp-Claw.
Now standing beside the legate, the two look at the newcomer and see a man with multiple scars visible on his scaly face. Looking a bit closer they notice that the man was a head taller than Sharp-claw as the legate has her head tilted to make eye contact with the older male.
The two wonders if the man was a friend of the legate but was quickly answered when they see the scowl on the legate`s face was growing deeper and deeper the longer the two natives talk with one another but the man`s face had a grin growing bigger on his face.
The two teens stood in apprehension as they look back and forth at the two natives, fearing that they would come to blow as they see Sharp-claw shaking in anger as she talks with the man. To the teens` relief, the two natives ended their conversation before the man walk away but not before staring at the two teens with a strange look.
The three watch the man walk away before they lost sight of him from a certain distance. A tired sigh escapes the legate before she looks back at the two earthlings and points at a large red tent in the middle of the tent city, telling them to enter it. Jackie and Marco quickly obeyed and silently made their way towards the tent. Jackie looks over her shoulder and saw Sharp-claw staring at the spot she fell down on before using her foot to cover it with dirt.
Time quickly passed by as they listened to the basic lessons revolving around the art of war. Even though she like the lesson being thought to them, she couldn`t help but feel a bit relieved of the fact that Sharp-claw say they wouldn`t learn anything about wielding weapons expertly much to Marco`s disappointment.
Throughout the day, Jackie could feel Sharp-claw`s gaze land on her right hand from time to time, and throughout the times that happened, she would instinctively hide her hand by shoving it into her pocket and glancing towards Marco to see if he notices Sharp-claw`s glances but seems to be to focus on the lesson to notice anything.
Once back at the confine of their shared room, Jackie let out a sigh of relief as she flops on their bed making Marco stop his excited speech about learning more martial lessons in the future. "You seem tired compared to yesterday. Anything you want to share?" Marco asks as he sits beside Jackie.
"I can`t focus much on the lessons, I spent the majority of my time earlier hiding my hand from Sharp-claw." Jackie explained. "I am not sure if Sharp-claw saw the wound on my hand. Hopefully, she didn`t because that would be really problematic for the two of us."
"How would your injury be problematic for us? I don`t think a small scratch on your hand would stir up trouble."
"We are the followers of 'Heku' Marco." Jackie stated as she uses air quotes when saying the word 'Heku'. Seeing that he hasn't connected the dots just yet, Jackie continues with her reminding Marco that the natives worship Hekapoo as a goddess and them as her 'followers'. "Do you remember the lessons we receive from Wisdom-tooth?" Jackie asks.
" I remember most of it, although I kind of dozed off near the end. It was really boring, no offense to their history." Marco said as he remembers their lessons yesterday with the old scribe.
"We are seen as mythical beings by them. That's why I am worried if they saw my injury their image of us might break and turn them hostile towards us." Jackie stated clenching her uninjured hand.
Marco apologizes again saying that she wouldn't have received her injury if he had been focusing on where he was going. Jackie quickly dismissed him before saying it was not his fault what happened as she know he didn`t do it intentionally. "How`s your hand anyway? I didn`t get to ask you about it earlier, I was a bit hanged up on the lessons."
Jackie shoots him an amused look as she sits up with a smirk. "'A bit' Marco? A bit is an understatement. "Jackie stated with a chuckle. "But yeah, my hand`s alright now. It doesn`t seem to be infected, thank goodness for that." Jackie continued as she examined her injured hand.
"Your mark seems different than before." Marco said tearing Jackie`s gaze from her towards him. "It was a full moon when I first saw it, now it`s a crescent." Marco said. Jackie looks at her marked hand and sees that he was right as her tattoo is now representing a crescent moon. Jackie remembers the night where they first slept in the imperial city, it was when the adrenaline in her body from waking up alone finally fizzle out leaving her to focus on other things she didn`t realize she was overlooking.
Her necklace, the same necklace given to her by her late father was missing and was nowhere to be seen. She quickly stumbles inside their room frantically searching for the seashell leaving Marco alone on the balcony looking at her in curiosity. It was then where Marco notices the markings on her hand but kept quiet about it for a moment as he chose to calm her down first and stating that they`ll look for it together once they are allowed to go outside of the city which Jackie debated if she should tell him the truth but reluctantly agreed as remembering the earlier talk they had. Once Marco was able to calm her down, he asked about the mark on her hand to where Jackie hesitantly told him the truth regarding how she got it but leave out the curse that is currently binding him to Star.
Marco paled when he heard her that she encountered an unknown woman without him knowing but Jackie immediately calmed him down when she notices him starting to panic saying that the woman doesn`t seem to be looking on hurting them and that she hasn`t seen the mysterious woman since she gave her the mark.
Although not fully convinced, Marco relented but asks Jackie to tell him when she feels something odd regarding the mark or when she sees the woman again. Jackie agreed but felt horrible about not fully telling him the truth but shook the feelings off, telling herself that Marco has already on his plate with Hekapoo`s trial.
Back to the present, Jackie was looking at her hand before agreeing that the mark has indeed changed. Marco asks if she feels anything odd from the tattoo to which Jackie shakes her head before saying that she doesn't feel anything from it.
Hearing her response, Marco nods before reminding her to notify him if something happens to which Jackie gives him an eye roll before teasing him by calling him her 'mom'.
Far away from the imperial city, a familiar horned figure could be seen standing on top of a plateau giving a full view of the city. The figure tense when she felt someone appear behind her but didn`t turn around to see who it was when she felt the aura coming from the newcomer. "Enjoying the view, Hekapoo?" The newcomer asks as she walks towards the figure who is now revealed to be the forger of scissors.
Hekapoo didn`t answer but turned around to face the newcomer with a glare. "Oh? No greetings? Don`t be like that 'Heku'. "The newcomer taunted. "I came all the way here to visit you but here you are just glaring at me."
Hekapoo growled in annoyance before opening her mouth to answer the newcomer. "Cut the crap, Mayari, and tell me the reason why the two of you are meddling on their trial!" Hekapoo exclaimed pointing an accusatory hand towards the woman now known as Mayari.
The teasing smile from Mayari`s face vanish and was then replaced by a scowl after she heard Hekapoo`s question. "You know damn well why we are here!" Mayari exclaimed getting angrier by the second. "The moment you dragged those two in your stupid 'Trial' we are obligated to step in!" Mayari continued as she makes her way towards the equally angry Hekapoo. "All of us agreed to pull away from the mortals. All of us except for your group."
Hekapoo scoffed. "Pulled away? That`s rich coming from you Mayari. Your group is one of those who intermingled with the mortals creating half- breeds." Hearing the word half-breed something snap within her and quickly close the distance between the two of them summoning two eskrima sticks in her hands.
"I dare you to utter that word again in front of me." Mayari said in a harsh whisper pointing one of her weapons to Hekapoo`s throat. Hekapoo didn`t utter a single word but didn`t break away from Mayari`s hate filled gaze. A beat passed by before Mayari`s glowing eyes pulse for a second before Mayari scowl and slowly lowered her weapon and step away from the forger of scissors. "This is not over, Hekapoo. Don`t think for a second we forgotten the sin you and your group had committed on a particular civilization." Mayari said as she walks away from Hekapoo missing the regret that made its way on the forger`s face.
Hekapoo watches silently as Mayari walk towards a portal made of wood and vines sprout up from the ground. She didn`t utter a single word even after Mayari and the portal disappeared from her view. Minutes have passed before Hekapoo tore her gaze away from the spot where Mayari and the portal disappeared from, she then returns her gaze back at the city before regretfully saying. "You don`t have to remind me, why do you think I am doing this."
A big thank you again for reading my story, I really appreciate it.
I am open to criticism, so feel free to leave a review.