A/N: Well… I just got my first commission! Yay me! I'll have to think of a decent price. I need the cash…. Grr…. I hate money…

I got to see the Two Towers! My favorite scene was Helm's Deep. I especially loved watching the elves fight. I looooove watching the elves fight… they've got such cool weapons!



Chapter Eight





Tavik sat in the high chair of his brother's. Rosie stared at him and gave him a sympathetic look. He wasn't prepared for this.

"Bring them in…." he called to Feera.

Bova, Freya and Radu walked in from behind Rosie. "What's going on?" asked Radu. Rosie noticed that his hair was still curly, but it was quite a bit relaxed and wasn't as fuzzy anymore.

"Someone was trying to invade our forest, Mr. Radu…" said Tavik. "I hope it's some of those Zeeks…."

Rosie bit her lip. "What if it isn't, Tavik….?"

Tavik bowed his head. "We'll just see who they are…."

Feera returned. She brought in two tall people with black bags over their heads. Their hands were tied behind their backs and the taller one had a couple of cuts in his grey jumpsuit. The smaller one had twigs in their jumpsuit.

They stood in front of the makeshift throne where Tavik sat. Feera kicked them down to their knees. "Kneel before our chief, infidels!"

"We're people, not punching bags!" growled the taller one.

"Take their masks off, please, Feera…." Said Tavik. He sounded somewhat regal.

Feera threw off the masks on the two people. Rosie gasped. Bova nearly choked. Freya stared oddly at them. Radu was the only one to say anything.

"Commander Goddard! Miss Davenport!" Radu shouted in a startled fashion. "What are you two doing out here?!"

"Radu! Rosie! Bova! Freya!" coughed Commander Goddard. "What are you four doing out here?!"

Feera hit Commander Goddard on the back on his head with her pole arm. "SHUT UP!"

"Feera…. Don't hurt them…" Tavik said calmly. He turned to Rosie and smiled. "You know these two?"

"Yes…. That one… is Commander Goddard and the woman is Miss Davenport, our teacher…." She said.

"What are these people…. They look old!" growled Feera.

"I beg your pardon! I am not THAT old!" screeched Miss Davenport indignantly.

"You are by their standards, Miss Davenport…." Drawled Bova.

Commander Goddard took over as calmly as he could. "Please release us… we only came out here to look for the children…."

"Indeed you have found them…." Said Tavik. He stood up and snapped his fingers. Feera reluctantly obeyed.

She drew her knife and cut the ropes of their bonds. Commander Goddard took Miss Davenport by her shoulders and held her away from Feera. "Excuse us…." He made his way toward the throne and was stopped by Tavik.

"I have not given you permission to come closer, strangers…" Tavik said in a warning voice.

"Tavik… we know them!" Rosie declared. "Please! We need to speak with them!"

Tavik looked as though he was having a very vicious internal struggle. Then, he calmly sat down in the chair. Commander Goddard and Miss Davenport walked forward.

"Does anyone mind telling us what the hell is going on…!" hissed Miss Davenport.

"Ma'am… Commander…. These people are the Tirateem… They're one a few tribes on this planet." Rosie said.

"The worst of which are the Zeeks. They attacked last night…" said Radu.

"They killed these people's other chief… Tavik's brother…." Said Freya as she pointed to Tavik.

"So that's who was running through the woods…." Said Commander Goddard. "We came out here last night and I heard things moving around. I heard a battle going on…."

"Those were the Zeeks…." Said Tavik. "They want to destroy or enslave the other tribes. They are the keepers of machines… we are the keepers of the forest….. The Sertina are the keepers of the sands…. And the Lokalit are the keepers of the ocean."

Commander Goddard turned to the four in front of him. "I only see you four… where are Suzee and Harlan…?"

"Harlan and Suzee went into the city…" said Radu.

"Which means they will have been captured by the Zeeks…." Said Tavik. "We'll have to go find them…"

"And how do you propose that, Tavik…." Said someone next to Tavik.

"Coward! Would you just sit here and let a friend be tortured because it was hard to get him back! Pathetic!" Feera sneered at the boy who spoke. "Tavik… what do you suggest… I will be behind you!"

Tavik put a finger to his lips. He thought for a minute as to what to do. Then, he spoke. "We shall go…"



Zanathos sat in his chair in his visual room. The various screens all had one subject on them. Suzee slept on each screen.

The image of her was like a dream. Her fine features, her almost black eyebrows, and her hair, how it was striped with not one color, but two. She was fascinating.

She even had psychic abilities. It was a rare thing on his world to have such a trait. He and a rare few had this trait. He had even built a device that would lure those with the ability to his planet.

She came with others, though. None of them with the ability. Especially this boy. Zanathos punched the screen that showed Harlan on it. He too was sleeping peacefully.

The screen shattered and the shards cut Zanathos' hand. His blood ran blue. He was unlike the rest of his kind. He didn't have the striped hair or their blood color. He had blue blood, where they all had red.

He wondered what Suzee was dreaming. He stepped into her mind. She was dreaming of being on a ship called the Christa. He saw the boy, Harlan, making remarks about how she ran the engine room.

She saw a girl with red skin. She had no hair. She was much younger. She smiled a lot in this dream as well.

There was another boy. He had short black hair, tanned skin and a large symbol on his forehead. He was sleeping.

There was another boy in the dream. He had large swirls where his ears should be. He also had long, very curly hair.

Then, Zanathos came out of her dream. He would not wake her yet. He would let her have a rest from him.



Feera led Commander Goddard to a secluded area. The bush hid them from the sight of the Zeek guards. She motioned to Radu and Freya to up. "What now?" asked Freya.

"We have to get past those guards there… They have those laser guns, so be careful…." Feera said.

"Lasers? Piece of cake… they can't hurt me…." Freya said gleefully, then, she stood up.

She walked closer to the two guards outside the main entrance. "What the hell is she doing!? She'll get herself killed!" Feera grunted. She was about to get up, when Goddard shoved her back down with a hand on her shoulder.

"Watch…."

Freya walked up to the guards. "Hello, guys… I'm kinda new around here, so.. could you show me around?"

The two boys stared at her. Then, they brought up their weapons. "Who are you….."

"No one special…" She said with a smile. Her eyes went red for a second. It was too fast for the two guards to catch.

"Aw… you aren't much older than me…. how sweet.. how about we go to the local chocolate shop and have a nice shake?" she said sweetly to one of them.

She came closer to the one on her right. Too close, actually. She caressed a hand against the boy's cheek. He had black hair and yellow stripes in it. "I'm sure you won't mind…"

"That's close enough…." The boy said. His gun was pressed firmly against her stomach.

Feera cursed. "She's gonna get killed!"

"Just watch…. From what I have observed of her… she has picked up quite a lot about how to control some of her abilities." Said Goddard. "Amongst other things…." He added as a side note.

Freya gave the boy a smile. "Now.. that's not nice…." She turned that section of her body into water and stepped closer as the barrel protruded out from her back. The boys were no less surprised.

The other boy shot at her. Her entire body became liquid. She only had her form left. She hardened her foot and kicked the other boy on the jaw.

Then, she detached herself from the boy in front of her. "Neat-o trick, huh?" She said cheerfully as she hardened the rest of her. "Nighty-night!" She kicked the boy in front of her. He fell to the ground in a heap.

Freya jumped up and down gleefully. "YAY! I did it!" Then, a second later, she jerked suddenly. "Wow… where am I…"

Goddard hit himself on the forehead. Radu was in a similar state. Feera turned to him. "Is she always like this…"

"Yeah, yeah… we know…" said Goddard. "Unfortunately."



Zanathos sat. He felt the mind of Suzee become awake. He wanted her to stay asleep. He drove into her mind. He drove through her defenses.

She stirred, her mouth open, crying for help. He heard her even without the microphones in the room. Harlan would wake soon. He would try to comfort the girl, but it would fail. She was his and that was that.

Suddenly, the alarm sounded off. He was snapped out of her mind like a rubber band. He dizzily looked at the screens as he tried to regain his mind.

He saw on the screen, four people were running into the prison. One was the boy with the curls, his hair was much shorter and the curls were smoother.

There was a girl with short black and red hair. One of the Tirateem, he guessed. There was a tall man with graying, short cropped hair. "An adult? How did he get here…!" cried Zanathos.

That was when he noticed the fourth one. If the adult was dangerous, so was this one. Dangerous for HIM. It was a girl that looked to be a bit younger than Suzee. She had long, wispy green hair, and she had a strange brain signature.

Then, it hit him. "An EMPATH! ARRGH!" he cried in his rage. "She'll ruin everything!"



"Looks like these are computerized locks…" said Commander Goddard. Then, he shot them with the gun he got off of one of the guards. "Not anymore…."

"Suzee!" said Radu. He looked in the other cell to see Harlan already stirring. "Harlan!"

He ran in and helped Harlan to his feet. "What happened…."

Harlan coughed. "Long story, pal… let's just get Suzee out of here before that Treya chick comes in here… she'll make minced meat out of all of us…"

Freya ran into the cell with Suzee lying on the floor. "Time to wake up, Suzee…" she beamed. Then, she picked Suzee up and carried her over to Feera and Commander Goddard.

"Radu, just pick him up, we need to get out of here!" Commander Goddard barked.

Radu looked at Harlan sighed. "Easy up!" Harlan was now riding much like Suzee was. Then, they carried them out.



"TREYA! GET THEM BACK! HURRY!" barked Zanathos.

Treya's earpiece was sounding off and hurting her ears. "Got it, sir!" she said as she winced from the pain.



Feera led them out. Unfortunately, Treya knew where they were. Shots fired through the air as the foursome ran across the open ground toward the forest.

"Hurry! We can lose them in the forest!" shouted Feera.

Treya wasn't about to give up so easily. She ran after them, firing her gun along the way. "GIVE UP NOW!" she cried.

The foursome, now with two more being carried, ran as fast as they could. Radu was having some difficulty running with Harlan in his arms. Harlan was bigger than he was.

"Hurry! Hurry!" cried Feera.

The forest was within a few meters of them. They would be in it before Treya could catch up with them. Unfortunately, Treya knew the forest as well. She had been a Tirateem when she was a child.

They ran into the brush and the trees. "Hurry!" was all that Feera could say at the moment. She wasn't really used to running, but she saw no other alternative.

They ran through the various bushes and leaves that scattered everywhere as they trumped through. Treya was hot on their tail. "If only we had something that could stop her…." Gasped Commander Goddard.

"She's going to come after us, no matter where she is… what needs to happen is to… have her brain reorganized! Only a reader can do something like that and we don't…. have any!" Feera gasped out.

Freya suddenly tripped on something. Suzee fell on the ground unconscious, next to Freya whose brain was starting blink out again.

Treya saw one of them fall. She smiled. At least she could bring two more back.

Freya stood up. She brushed herself off. Then, she turned. "What hell is going on?" she said as she saw Treya coming. Treya came closer, her weapon poised ready.

Radu noticed that Freya wasn't behind him. He looked back and saw Freya standing in front of Treya. Treya was walking closer to her with her gun raised.

Then, Treya suddenly put down her weapon and walked away. "Hold on! Freya and Suzee are behind us…" Radu said.

Commander Goddard stopped and turned. He saw Freya standing in front of an unconscious Suzee. "What the hell?"

They walked back and noticed that Treya had disappeared. Radu saw Freya wandering around aimlessly. He saw the blank expression in her eyes and walked up to her. Then, he hit her on the back of her head. A second later, she yelped and then rubbed the back of her head. "Owie… that hurt, Radu…"

"Let's get back to the tribe…" said Feera.