Chapter 32

The day of the meeting dawned stormy and blustery. The first storm of the autumn scudded across the sky propelled by the winds that tugged and danced around a small tribe huddled together as they walked. The storm raced on swirling around the insignificant group unaware and uncaring of their lives and dramas, only noticing them to playfully buffet them and tug at loose clothing and hair.

The group finally reached what seemed to be their final destination, odd, as it seemed, a cliff top coved in long grass being flattered by the wind sweeping across it for a long way to either side of them . The storm clouds paused for a moment intrigued by this tiny group and their choice of destination but their attention was fleeting and soon the clouds went back to playing around each other in the wind that swept them along, the tiny group and their troubles forgotten.

The group in question huddled together nervously in the long grass.

"Where is he?" a dark haired girl with attitude asked impatiently

"He'll be here," a dark haired boy snapped at her

"Look" a vivid red head, said pointing to an old police car making its way across the long grass in silence. This silence seemed to unnerve the group as if they were expecting something else. As the car drew nearer tension showed on the faces of the little tribe who seemed to be dreading the car and its occupants. However several members of the tribe seemed a lot more scared, a girl with her hair in Zulu knots and the boy she was holding hands with, a tall bleached blonde boy, the boy who had spoken before and his partner, a short dark skinned girl.

As the car drew to a halt near the group the back door was kicked open with a sudden noise and violence that shot thought the silence that had settled on the cliff like a bullet.

What looked like a giant rag doll was tossed out of the car and into the long grass where it laid motionless half hidden by the long stalks. The doll was followed by a strangely dressed figure, even going by the standards of the group on the cliff. He was wearing a strange mixture of uniform and leather and painted across his face were great red streaks.

He bent down over the body lying in the grass and pulled a blindfold off visciously ripping the girl's head back at the same time. He threw the blindfold into the wind that joyfully carried it high above the cliff and its tiny figures, far across the sea.

Without the hindrance of the blindfold the girl began to move sitting up in the grass. She was a dark skinned girl with braids that flew freely in the wind, she was dressed in a black Lycra top and black combat trousers which were far too big for her and hung off her unattractivly. But it was when she lifted her head and the veil of braids that had fallen over her face moved that he tribe seemed most shocked. And her face was shocking. It was difficult to see what she might once have been like as her face was bruised to such an extent that it was difficult to see her actual skin color . But her bone structure showed prominently making her look like some kind of strangly colored skull. And yet on top of this horrifying image there were painted three great red claw marks ripped across her face. This horrifying face, her wild mass of braids flying about in the wind and her baggy clothes made her seem almost like some strange half breed of human but there was no aura of fear about her, just sadness and sorrow .

As the tribe and her recognized each other at the same time, sorrow and shock rippled across their faces with an extra tinge of embarrassment on the girl's .

"Ebony.!" whispered the bleached blonde boy in shock echoing the thoughts of the tiny tribe who seemed paralyzed by shock to see the girls' body and sprit broken and disfigured to such an extent.

The girl stared back, she too was deeply shocked, it seemed she ha not expected to see the group .

But the strangely dressed figure had no sympathy for either of the parties

"Shocked?" he asked them mockingly "You see your future selves in a mirror, in time I will break your tribe and brand it with the mark of Zoot as I have done to the one I once called my queen. Then you will know true power and chaos!"

As he had spoken the girl, Ebony, had begun edging away from him in the long grass obviously terrified by him and his words, but seeing her the boy reached out and picked her off the ground by the collar letting her feet dangle. As he held her the dark sky above rumbled and the first spots of the impending storm fell to the ground.

The boy held the girl close to his face as if he were to threaten her but then hissed at her

"Fine! Crawl back to the rats you came from. I have no use for you now." He tossed her on the ground just in front of him where she sprawled . Yet it seemed her sprit wasn't broken yet, defiantly she got back to her feet and shouted at him

"You haven't finished me yet!" over the sound of the rising wind and rain.

"You are finished!" the boy shouted at her "You were weak and I made you strong and now I have made you weak again!" as he spoke he began to raise his hands over his head like some ancient prophet calling on his god. As the storm began to take hold of them, screaming around the group and buffeting them the boy became buoyed by this natural power, he screamed into the wind

"Power and Chaos forever!"

Taking offence at his defiance the storm let out a mighty flash that blinded all present, before they're eyesight recovered a sudden scream cut through the wind.