Chapter 4: Telling the Future, Telling the Past
Making their way through the trees was a lot easier by full daylight. They also had an advantage in Ketiya, since she knew where she was going and she was a better tracker than Jack.
She had changed since he had met her more than a year ago, although some of those changes had happened during the time that they were together. She had not been a coward, but she had not been very courageous either, until Aku's soldiers had threatened the town they were staying in at the time. Then, she told him, she had found new courage within herself, mostly due to his own influence on her – but exactly how and why she had done so, she had not told him.
After that, it seemed, other changes had followed. She wore different clothes, and carried a different bow, but those were only the most obvious things. There was something else about her, something ephemeral and impossible to name, that was not what it had been before. He wondered about what she had done in the time since they'd parted company last summer, and whether that had something to do with it. Aku had put a price on her head, he knew that, but he wanted very much to know why.
But even more, he wanted to tell her about his own adventures. He could only imagine what her reaction might be when he told her about flying in space, or fighting the three blind archers, or rescuing the Woolies. There were many things he wanted to tell her. But now was not the time. Perhaps later, when they could speak privately. He would just have to be patient.
At the moment, she was interested in the three young time travelers. So, where and when do you three come from, anyway?" Ketiya asked them as she ducked under a branch.
"The kingdom of Guardia in the year 1000 A.D. But from what Jack's told us, Guardia never existed in this timeline," Lucca answered. "We ended up here by accident." She explained about the Epoch, but didn't go into the backstory behind it. It was, after all, too much to tell all over again in the same day. Jack decided that he would tell his friend the details at a better time.
Ketiya seemed satisfied with this minimal explanation. "The Lady told me that you three are great warriors in your own world. Watch out for the ditch here," she remarked.
"Never really thought of ourselves as warriors," Crono commented. "But I suppose you could call us that. How does your Lady know about us, anyway?"
Ketiya rolled her eyes. "I've been trying to figure that one out since I met her. But she's not one to give straight answers." She climbed over a log. "She just sees things."
"Like the future?" Marle asked.
Ketiya shook her head. "Not really. She would say that she can see possibilities."
"But just about anyone can see possibilities," Lucca objected. "By making reasonable assumptions based on the current situation and the likelihood of a given…"
Ketiya held up a hand and Lucca fell silent. "You're right, but that's not what I meant. She can see possible futures through magic, but the future isn't definite until it's happened already." She looked at Jack thoughtfully and added, "And sometimes not even then."
They pushed through a final clump of trees and came upon a weathered gray standing stone, half again as tall as Jack himself. There were symbols carved on its surface, but Jack could not even guess what language it might be, let alone what it said. He noticed that a fairly broad, dirt path began at the foot of the stone and continued in the direction that they had been walking. Ketiya brought them to a halt.
"This stone marks the boundary of the Lady's domain," she announced. "From here on, we take the path. It's not the quickest route, but it's the safest. Even in the best of times there are evil things in this part of the forest, but now Aku's creatures are wandering around as well." She looked at each person in turn, making sure she had their absolute attention. "Do not, for any reason, leave the path until I say it's safe. Okay?" Everyone nodded affirmatively.
Ketiya stepped onto the path. "All right. Let's go." The others joined her on the road. The path was wide enough, so Jack walked beside the ranger, with the other three following behind. It was a lot easier than trekking through the trees, and he was grateful for it.
But after a few minutes, he began to have the uncomfortable feeling that he was being watched. He instinctively gripped his sword hilt – Ketiya had said that the path was safe, but old habits are not easily broken. He looked behind him and saw that the three youths were uneasy as well. Jack narrowed his eyes and searched the trees by the side of the path, trying to find the unseen spies in the branches. He could find none.
Then it dawned on him. "The trees are watching us?" He had not meant to say it out loud, but it was a very unsettling revelation.
He looked at Ketiya, who was blushing with embarrassment. "Whoops. I ought to have warned you about that. It's just that I'm used to it." No wonder she seemed different. She could not possibly have remained unchanged after spending a long time in a place like this.
"Are all the trees…do they all think?" Marle asked, darting furtive glances from tree to tree.
"No, the majority of them are just regular trees," Ketiya answered. "Maybe a third of them have minds of their own. You learn how to tell the difference after a while." She chuckled. "They scared me the first time I came here, too. But the trees won't do you any harm, if you leave them be."
As they continued along the path, Jack saw other strange creatures, such as little people with wings and animals that peered up at them with very human eyes. They passed a fox that was regarding them curiously. Jack was reminded of his mother's stories about fox sprits, and he wondered if this particular fox was one of them.
Marle, at least, seemed to be getting more comfortable with her surroundings. She took Jack's mind off the strangeness of the place by changing the subject. "So, I'm curious…how did you two meet each other, anyway?" Jack and Ketiya exchanged glances and came to a consensus. Ketiya dropped back to walk beside Marle.
"Like many tales, this one starts with the phrase 'It was a dark and stormy night.' Very dark and stormy. So I decided to stay at this inn…" She had the three youngsters hooked before very long, and even Jack himself was entertained by the way she told the story, even though he had lived it with her. Every now and then he confirmed or corrected certain details in the narrative, but for the most part he let Ketiya tell the story; he did not have much talent for storytelling himself. He was somewhat nervous, though, for wondering just how much she would tell. Much to his relief, she omitted those details that he thought were best left untold.
The story was enough to occupy everyone's attention for a while, even through their stop for a midday meal in a glade by the path. By the time she finished, it was late afternoon, with only an hour or two to sunset.
Marle whistled appreciatively. "That's one heck of a story! Maybe you should write it down? If you're both okay with it, I mean." She grinned happily.
Jack expected for Ketiya to smile, but she did not. Instead she looked at the sky, her eyes distant. "Maybe someday," she said softly. Jack looked at her, wondering what it was that might be bothering her so, but he could not tell.
After a sharp bend to the right they suddenly came upon a large, circular clearing. On either side of the path there were small stones set upright in the ground, miniatures of the standing stone that had been at the beginning of the path into the forest. Runes were carved on them as well, but only on the side that faced the trees. There were many more of these stones set at regular intervals around the clearing. Not far from them was a small fort – also circular - with a watchtower in the center. He could also see guards posted along the high stone walls. As they approached the gates, one of the guards looked down at them.
"Password?" he asked in a soft but firm voice.
Ketiya saluted him and spoke, "Gentles, do not reprehend: If you pardon, we will mend. Good evening to you too, Marcus. These folks are with me."
Marcus returned Ketiya's salute. "Good evening, Sergeant." Since this individual was friendly – although there was definitely something odd about him - Jack greeted him with a polite bow. Marcus' eyes widened and he almost toppled over the wall. "Is he…who I think he is?" Ketiya nodded, and Marcus bowed politely from the top of the wall. "It is an honor, sir. Welcome to our land, and the blessings of the Lady be upon you." He turned to shout down "Open the gates!" to someone inside the wall.
"Thank you," Jack said to him as the gates opened. The group entered, with Ketiya in the lead. She turned around with a smile on her face and her arms spread wide.
"Welcome to Fort Aellewan. I'll have someone see about getting you all sleeping pallets and dinner, not necessarily in that order." There were many people in the outpost, male and female, most of them dressed and armed as Ketiya was. They were going about various tasks, but some of the people turned their attention to the newcomers and started whispering excitedly among themselves. At first, Jack took them for humans, but he was wrong – when one of them came near to speak with Ketiya, he noticed that the man had pointed ears. He heard one of the girls – Lucca – utter a gasp of surprise. But Jack had seen much stranger things than this in his travels. It did not bother him at all. Ketiya held a brief, whispered conversation with the soldier, who saluted her and jogged to one of the buildings along the walls, presumably to see to accommodations for them.
"Are they elves?" Marle whispered when Ketiya rejoined them. Jack had heard of elves, but the definition of "elf" varied from one culture to another, and in any case he had never seen one before.
"They're called that, yes," Ketiya answered. "But they call themselves the aiewan, and they think of the word "elf" as a sort of slur."
"What are the stones outside for?" Crono asked, jerking a thumb in the direction of the closing gates.
"Protective enchantment," Ketiya answered, "Like the path. The fort is named after the person who carved and enchanted the stones."
Lucca's brow furrowed. "But you have walls – why do you need the stone circle too?"
"There are things," Ketiya said in a low voice, "That can't be stopped by walls. Only by magic. Another stone was recently installed at the top of the watchtower to give us a protective dome of sorts." She started walking toward one of the buildings on the other side of the central tower. "Come on," she gestured for them to follow her, "It's not long before dinner now, and we should wash up first."
Jack and the others followed her. Everyone they passed saluted Ketiya respectfully, and most of them watched the newcomers curiously. In truth, most of them were watching Jack. Although he knew them to be friendly, it made him more than a little apprehensive.
They passed the watchtower and the well that supplied the fort with water, then came to a small building that Ketiya identified as the bathhouse. "I'm sorry to leave you, but I have to report to the Captain. Just tell the attendants that I sent you and they'll take care of things. I'll meet you back here later, all right?"
Crono and his friends nodded and entered the bathhouse, but Jack stopped Ketiya before she left. She looked at him expectantly, and only then did he realize that he had no idea how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Ketiya…will we be able to speak later? I have much to tell about the past year, and I know that you do as well."
At her resulting smile, he could not help but smile himself. "Of course. After dinner, we'll do some catching up." She winked and continued on her way.
Jack would have a difficult time deciding which story to tell her first, but he did not mind the task at all.
~***~
Aku was very frustrated.
During the last several hours, he had made a number of attempts to find the three juvenile time travelers. He had sent some drones to take care of them, but had been occupied by other matters shortly after sending out the order and had been unable to observe the fight. Later on, when he had been able to check on them again, he found that they had escaped his drones – and they had joined up with that thorn in his side, Samurai Jack.
By that time, they were too deep into the woods for him to send any of his forces that way. And they were uncomfortably close to her territory. He had decided to wait – after all, the younger travelers required fuel for their ship, which meant going into a city, where Aku had firm control. But they had surprised him by going into her land. Now he was unable to see them at all.
But that would not be a problem for long. He was already preparing to send a substantial army to invade and destroy her land. He would take out all his enemies in one blow.
~***~
Ketiya knocked politely on the door of her commanding officer's study. A voice within replied by saying "Enter." Ketiya opened the door and stepped into Captain Maelwar's office, making sure to close the door behind her. She walked up to the desk, stood at attention and saluted. "Ranger Sergeant Ketiya reporting as ordered, ma'am." The flaxen-haired aiewan sitting at the desk nodded, indicating that Ketiya should stand at ease.
Maelwar's study was spare but elegant. The walls, floor and ceiling were of pale wood. Medals, awards and some painted scrolls were displayed around the room. There was a large window to the left of the Captain's desk (at least, to the person seated at that desk; to Ketiya it was on the right), which looked out over the fort's courtyard. The desk itself was always neat and organized, from the top down to the bottommost drawer.
The owner of said desk, Captain Amys Maelwar, was a spare, blond-haired, brown-eyed woman of fifty years (just entering middle age and not yet showing gray hairs – the aiewan were a long-lived people), very precise and meticulous but not overbearingly so. Ketiya had been under her command since she'd joined the Rangers seven months ago, and though she was by nature averse to taking orders from most people, she had no problem with taking them from Captain Maelwar.
"Good evening, Sergeant. I have already heard the news." The captain placed her elbows on the desk, interlaced her fingers and propped her chin on them thoughtfully. "I still have trouble believing it. The greatest warrior in the world, here in our land! In my fort, no less!" There was a smile in her eyes. "What of these three young travelers you brought? I know nothing of them."
"They are warriors as well, ma'am," Ketiya answered. "From a different time…excuse me, an alternate time, as I understand it. They arrived here by accident, in a time machine, and Jack came across them last night. They have said that they will help us as well."
Maelwar sat up in her seat. "Perhaps it was a lucky accident that brought them to us, then. We will need all the allies we can get." She lowered her eyes for a moment. "We have heard no messages from Fort Kuelwan for some time. We can only assume the worst."
The two women were silent as they pondered the implications of this. Little more than a week ago, scouts from Fort Kulewan in the north had discovered a large force of demons on the border. After that news came to them, there had been nothing more from the fort, although many demons had been sighted in other parts of the land since then.
The Captain looked up at Ketiya again. "Tomorrow, you must take them to the valley. I will have horses ready for you, so you should reach the Underpass in the next couple of days. For tonight, though, I ask you to extend to them an invitation to dine at my table – you too, of course. We must show proper respect for such guests."
Ketiya nodded. "Yes ma'am. I will inform them as soon as they are ready."
"Good. That is all." Maelwar gave a salute, which Ketiya returned before walking out the door. She wondered what the Captain would think when she found out that Jack ate with chopsticks. Maybe she should have…nah. It would be a surprise. She grinned to herself as she went to wash up for dinner.
~***~
The meal had been simple but tasty. Unfortunately, it had also been rather formal and unexciting. Well, there had been a couple of interesting moments. Captain Maelwar had obviously been surprised when Jack pulled his chopsticks out of his sleeve, which had been a source of some small amusement for Ketiya. Once the Captain had gotten over the initial shock, she had raised an eyebrow at Ketiya, but not as if to say that her subordinate officer was in trouble – she had a sense of humor, after all. Maelwar had also seemed a little intimidated by Jack, which was interesting, because as far as Ketiya knew she was never intimidated by anyone. Jack, for his part, was quietly polite to his host.
The Captain had asked some questions of the three younger guests, concerning the circumstances that had brought them to their present situation. Crono and Lucca didn't seem to know how to talk to her, but Marle had handled the whole situation with surprising finesse. It was she, not Lucca, who supplied the answers to Maelwar's questions. Ketiya had hoped to hear more details about the three kids and what had brought them here, but Marle did not say anything more than Lucca had earlier that day, which was disappointing.
But later on, when supper was over and Crono, Marle and Lucca were exploring the fort, Ketiya finally got to talk to Jack about his adventures over the last year and some-odd months. They sat in the hayloft of the stables, where it was peaceful and warm (the night outside was chilly) and flipped a coin to see who would tell their story first. Jack had many tales to tell – and though he was not very good at telling stories, they were all fascinating. Some of them were sad, and some of them were more than a little silly, but they were each and every one worth hearing.
"Now it is your turn," Jack said after he finished relating his last adventure. Ketiya wondered what he would think of her story. She took a deep breath and thought it out a bit before she began.
"I spent about a month recovering from that wound after the battle. I would have left earlier, but Nathan the physician wouldn't let me. His daughter – remember her, the shy one? – she actually cried when I left. She'd sort of gotten used to me, I guess. I thought I should try and join up with you again, so I went west to try and find you. In the next town – Garemont – I got myself in trouble. I have a knack for it." Ketiya smiled.
Jack smiled too, and nodded for her to continue. "Well, I came across a house raid – some of Aku's police had found a guy keeping banned books. To make a long story short, I started my career as a rebel right then and there." Ketiya's brow furrowed in thought. "Well, no. I started with you, but it was the first thing of that nature that I did on my own. I helped the man get away with his books – and a few weeks and several other rebellious exploits later, I saw my face on a wanted poster."
Ketiya proceeded to tell her friend about her adventures – most of them were a little flat in comparison to Jack's, but there were enough heroic rescues, narrow escapes and humorous moments to make it all interesting both to tell and, judging by the reactions of the audience, to hear.
"Sometimes," she reflected, "When I'm in a really bad situation, I wonder if it's all worth it. But in the end, when all is said and done and I've done something important for someone…the answer is always yes." Ketiya clasped her hands and looked down at them. "I have to remind myself sometimes," she admitted, "That it's always worth it."
There were a few moments of silence. "So do I," Jack said gently, "Every once in a while." Ketiya looked up at him and smiled, feeling grateful that she was not alone in her doubts.