Domino watched in pure shock and disbelief as the younger Thunderchild was tied to a torture rack. The device was designed to slowly stretch the victims arms and legs until they broke. Thunderchild had obviously been in it before as he grimaced as they tied his hands to the device.
The older Thunderchild looked away as the wheels were turned and the ropes tightened up.
A man dressed in dark leather entered the room, the people manning the rack saluted.
"So…it's you again." groaned Thunderchild
The small man laughed sharply
"Yes…me," he walked over to Thunderchild and looked into his eyes, Thunderchild returned the cold stare with one of his own. "I will break you Khit, it's only a matter of time."
The man then indicated to the torturers to begin the turning. Slowly but surely Thunderchilds arms and legs were pulled. Thunderchild grimaced as the pain started to shoot through his body but did not make a sound.
"Tell me Thunderchild, what other plans does the Klatchian Army have in store for us?" said the man
"No…I…don't….know." gasped Thunderchild
"But you're a commander, the leader of your squad. You should know."
The wheel turned inexorably on and Thunderchild began to sweat with the pain.
"I'm not…. are lying Khit…we don't like liars here…do we men?" asked the interrogator, the rest of the men agreed nervously, knowing that any wrong words and they might well land up in the rack.
The man pulled out a fine knife which gleamed in the otherwise gloomy cell.
The older Thunderchild completely broke down into tears at this point, shaking uncontrollably. The interrogator slowly placed the knife blade first on the younger Thunderchilds chest and held it there, as Thunderchilds chest rose and fell the knife threatened to cut into him.
"So Khit…it's your last chance here. Tell us now…or we can make your life incredibly difficult." He said, twisting the knife very slowly on the word 'incredibly'
"I…cannot tell…you what…I do not….know!"
The interrogator made a tutting noise in the back of his throat
"I'm disappointed in you Khit, I thought we could hit it off together. But alas no…"
He pressed the knife down into Thunderchilds chest, the pain which flowed through Thunderchild proved too much for him to contain and he gasped for air, his eyes wide as he watched the blade push into his body, the blood pulsed out of the wound and flowed down the side of his chest and onto the rack.
The interrogator left the knife in the wound for a moment and then pulled it back out, stuffing a bloodied rag in it instead.
"Take him back to his cell, make sure he lives. I'm sure I'll have more for him tomorrow." Said the interrogator as he left the room.
The two 'heavies' which had brought the younger Thunderchild to the torture room, now poured vinegar into the wound and wrapped a dirty bloody rag over it. As the vinegar hit the wound Thunderchild shouted with the pain, but he also shouted another word that took all three of them by surprise. He shouted
"Jara!"
The older Thunderchild turned suddenly
"What the..? I don't remember saying that!" he exclaimed, wincing as he saw his younger self lying on the rack.
"And yet you did…" said Reiganna "These are your memories, as remembered by you, not anyone else."
"How the…" wondered Thunderchild aloud.
Domino had been quiet throughout the whole of Thunderchilds torture and remained so, very visibly shocked at the scenes of violence she had witnessed.
The younger Thunderchild was dragged out of the torture cell, the blood dripping out of the bandaging and trickling in small lines down his chest. He was dragged down a corridor, he couldn't support himself and so was pulled by his capturers back to his cell.
They opened the door and kicked him inside, Thunderchild just fell down the steps and lay on the floor as they slammed the door shut again. Then and only then did he start crying and as he did he repeated one word over and over again.
"Jara…Jara…" he cried as he sobbed.
The older Thunderchild was astonished
"But I don't remember any of this!" he protested
"It had been suppressed by your conscious, and besides without the knowledge of your past life on Terra you would have dismissed it as the ravings of a near-broken man." Explained Reiganna
"But…" started Thunderchild but he couldn't find the words to describe his emotions so he couldn't continue.
The scene changed but remained the same, Thunderchild hadn't moved from his place on the floor, he couldn't and so he had stayed through the entire night lying face down with a small puddle of blood around him.
It was early that morning, although Thunderchild couldn't tell what time it was as there were no windows at all in this prisoner of war centre, that the door opened and the two 'heavies' came back. He prepared himself for another round of humiliating and painful torture and offered no struggle as the guards picked him up.
"You are free to go Khit…the war is over." Said the interrogator which had tortured Thunderchild the previous day.
Thunderchild merely stared at the interrogator, unable to comprehend what was being said to him. The interrogator chuckled and indicated for the heavies to remove him from the cell.
"Put some rags on him and chuck him outside." He instructed
And so the younger Thunderchild was chucked outside in the pouring rain on the alien streets of Ankh-Morpork in clothes that even a beggar would be ashamed of.
It was while he was lying in the gutter at the side of the road that he had met Proeliator.
Thunderchild had been lying there, gathering his strength and his sanity back together when the sound of running footsteps got closer and closer. Suddenly a small weight struck Thunderchild in the ribs and he was aware of someone falling on the other side of his body. Turning his head he saw a figure roll over and sit up again.
"Bloody drunks" cursed the figure in a language Thunderchild could barely understand.
Two figures suddenly ran up to the fallen man and grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up.
"Right, that's your warrior days over me lad!" said one as he drew a sword.
The other man reached down and pulled out the victims own sword, thus disarming him, but they hadn't reckoned on the victims hand-to-hand skills and as the first attacker went to stab the victim he twisted out of the way and brought the second attack around, thus making the first attacker stab the second in the arm.
As both the men screamed the figure went to get back his sword but was unable to reach it.
Thunderchild watched this and then summoning his strength, he got up and smashed his closed fist into the head of one of the attackers, as he fell to the ground Thunderchild reached down and snatched the victims weapon out of the other attackers hands and slashed the attackers chest with it. The wound wasn't deep or fatal but it was enough to make the attacker reconsider his next move.
By now, the victim had disarmed both of the attackers and he held a dagger to the other attackers throat.
"Ok lads…now that the tables are turned, how about we let bygones be bygones and I ever see either of you two again then I shall kill you where you stand. Understand?" said the victim, once again in a language Thunderchild could only just comprehend.
The two attackers ran for it, the victim chuckled and gave the dagger to Thunderchild as he returned the victims fine rapier.
"Thank you my friend, my name is Proeliator…what is yours?"
Thunderchild just stared at him but then tried raising his hand in a handshake, Proeliator took it and looked closely at his face.
"Blimey, you've been through a lot haven't you? What the hell happened to you!"
Thunderchild turned and looked back at the doors through which he had been thrown earlier, Proeliator saw him looking and managed to understand what he was trying to say."
"Aha, a foreigner eh…Klatchian?" he asked
Thunderchild nodded, finally understanding a word.
Proeliator sighed and then spoke in fragmented Klatchian to Thunderchild saying.
"Well…welcome to Ankh-Morpork my friend. You have suffered much I can see, the first thing we need to do is to find you some lodgings…Mrs Palms should be vacant during the daylight hours, we'll try there."
"Thank you…Proeliator." Said Thunderchild, examining his new weapon
They walked over to Mrs Palms lodgings, Mrs Palm examined Thunderchild and declared that he could have a room providing he found himself some better clothing.
"Dressed like that he's going to put the punters off!" she declared.
So, Proeliator and Thunderchild walked down to the local market and brought some reasonable clothing and a better weapon for Thunderchild, as they walked Proeliator explained life in Ankh-Morpork to Thunderchild and as he listened he realised how different life in the big city was, and how much more dangerous it was.
Finally they walked down to the Mended Drum inn and Proeliator ordered a round of drinks for everyone present and asked Thunderchild to relate his story.
Thunderchild told him of his time in the Klatchian army and the disaster that was Operation Bazaar Oasis. Other people in the pub who could understand Klatchian listened into the story and related it to other people sitting around. By the end of the night many people knew of Thunderchilds struggle. Then Proeliator asked him a question.
"What is your name stranger?"
"Khit-Ghot-Jip."
Proeliator looked puzzled at Thunderchild and then ran the name through his mind
"Child of the Storm?"
Thunderchild nodded
"I don't know why. I think it is because I was born during a violent storm."
Or you were found during one thought the older Thunderchild as he watched the scene play out.
"Then I suggest….Thunderchild." said Proeliator
"Thunderchild? I like it, I definitely like it. From now on I shall be known as Thunderchild."
The two smiled and finished the last dregs of their beers.
There the vision ended and Thunderchild returned to his place deep inside Reigannas Twilight Forest and the two genomes returned to the crystal cave.
Domino still said nothing but walked over and sat on the edge of the raised platform and curled her tail around her.
"I am sorry that I showed that to you Domino…but it was necessary for you two to fully understand each other…for you to fully understand him, the pain in his past."
Domino nodded but still said nothing, Reiganna walked over to her and sat down next to her putting her arm around Dominos shoulder.
Domino started to sob.
"I never knew…I could never have thought…Not that badly…"
Reiganna nodded, it was one thing to know about it and another completely to see it with your own eyes.
Meanwhile as Domino was being comforted by Reiganna, Thunderchild was leaning against a tree sobbing quietly himself. The vision that Reiganna had evoked had brought back too many emotions that he had repressed over the years and these emotions now overwhelmed him completely, creating a whirlpool of helplessness and despair in which he was in danger of being sucked down into.
Weep not my mortal friend said a voice For we all experience pain some times in our lives, it is a necessity in order to gauge our reactions to what life will throw at us.
Thunderchild suddenly looked up and around him
"Reiganna?" he asked
We are not the guardian, more the guardians. We are what she protects and in turn we protect her said the voice which sighed, like the wind blowing through…the trees!
Thunderchild turned around and looked at the tree he was leaning on, it looked no different than any of the other trees there, and yet he felt a towering presence that humbled him, a wisdom that surpassed the constrictions of mortal age limits.
"You are the trees?"
We are the forest. The spirit of all forests everywhere. Without us there cannot be life. Said the voice.
"Cannot be life?"
No, the mortals depend on us to live. Their breath our breaths, they use our bodies and our blood. In turn we are replanted and continue living. It is the order of things, well, it was the order of things
"Was? What has changed?"
Some mortals are more powerful than others, they crave more than they can reach. Their black hearts seek power all the time. These mortals cannot continue to exist.
"You mean Jara?"
She is one of many. Mortals are becoming an increasing threat to our existence. All throughout the universe our fellow trees are cut down and not replaced, their graves are built upon with mortal constructions. This order of things cannot be allowed to continue.
"What are you speaking about?"
Mortals must be halted. They must stop now, if we have to do this by force then so be it!
"What are you going to do!"
The whole forest spoke as one, the whispering of the trees growing to a crescendo
Destroy the mortals like they destroy usThunderchild was shocked. He wasn't expecting to have to talk the trees out of mass genocide, but then he realised that was exactly what the mortal humans and other creatures had been doing to the trees all of these years. Surely the trees had a right to strike back, but then again surely the mortals had a right to expand.
"You said yourself that mortals require your breaths to breath, right?" he asked
This is true answered the forest
"Well, then surely to live we need you to live. To kill you would surely be killing ourselves!"
The forest thought for a time
This is true but mortals often decide to end their lives over a trivial matter"You mean suicide?"
That is the mortal term for it yes.
Thunderchild turned around and thought for a moment and then turned back to the trees.
"Look, I can't speak for all of mortal kind when I say these things but…we mean no harm, many of us do not have the connection with the forest as I do. We see a resource and harvest it, I'm sorry if I offend you but to us that is what you are, a resource. Maybe on some planets they have discovered just how valuable you are and do not use you. Sometime on my planet they probably will too. I can't change mortal kind but you can."
How so? Inquired the trees
"I don't know, make yourselves a little harder to cut down or make more of an effort to spread. I have not the wisdom or the patience of yourselves so I cannot see a long term solution but I can see a short term solution for your problem with Jara."
Which is?
"I will stop her. I vow it. She has gone too far, she has constantly meddled in my life far longer than she should have. She cannot move on, will not move on. It is time she was forcibly moved on."
The trees thought for a while and then said
We expect too much of you, it is true you cannot change mortal kind but it is refreshing to see such an open mind in a mortal, we can only wish there are more with your knowledge and understanding of us.
"Maybe one day I could return and study with you?"
Maybe one day, but your journey lies not with us yet. You have other roads to walk, the path ahead is long and twisted but do not tempted to stray from it for danger lies around every corner and travellers that journey into the wilderness seldom return alive.
Blimey thought Thunderchild You can tell this is Reigannas home
"I will rid the forest of the armies of Jara, this I promise to you and I will try my best to teach a further understanding of the forest but the main task is yours. You must persuade mortal kind that you're going to stand up for yourselves. We're a learning kind, we need a gentle nudge occasionally to get us back on track."
Your knowledge has been assimilated, thank you
Thunderchild winced Assimilated he thought bad choice of words.
He nodded and then wondered how the hell he was going to get out of here when a bolt of light shot out of the nearest tree and engulfed him. The brightness of the light temporarily blinded him and when his eyesight cleared he was standing just outside a crystal room inside which he could just make out Reiganna and Domino
Reiganna hugged Domino
"I am truly sorry sister…but it was needed and I'm sure you will agree."
Domino nodded weakly
"Well…it answered some questions. But how will he ever be able to forgive me for prying into his life like that?"
"I'm sure I can try," said a voice behind them "After all, it is only mortal nature to wish to know the affairs of others."
Both Domino and Reiganna turned to see Thunderchild leaning against the doorway.
Domino stood up and ran over to her husband, grabbing in a tight embrace
"Oh Thunderchild, I'm so, so, sorry. I never knew…"
"Hey, it's ok," he said, returning the embrace "Everything's turned out for the best."
"But what about Jara?" asked Reiganna
"Well…that's our next problem," said Thunderchild "We're got to figure out how to get rid of her and her army. Although I'm beginning to formulate a plan. But it will take every power this place has…"
They turned and walked back to the crystal control room. One odyssey had ended and now another one had begun. It was time to strike back at someone who had been on the offensive ever since Thunderchild had arrived on Gaia.
And this time thought Thunderchild I'm going to make her pay!