Tolly: Ta-da! Flashback!...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Professor Borden and his two grown children had been working as a team ever since the twins were old enough to dig. Both Jared and Julia were avid archaeologists, just like their father, although both of them took after their late mother when it came to appearances.
Now, they were working on the site of a lesser Mayan temple, one that was small enough to go unnoticed for centuries, and one whose purpose was shrouded in mystery. Some stories spoke of it being a training ground for specialized warriors, while others said the priests there practiced strange magic. Whatever the case, the Bordens and their team were eager to uncover its ancient secrets.
Late in the day, only a half-hour from the end of the excavating shift, Julia called across the site to her father and brother. They hurried over to see what she had found.
"Figures," sighed Jared. "I find a piece of pottery, and she finds five whole jars."
Professor Borden glanced at him.
"Not that there's a contest going on," Jared said hastily. "Especially not one involving an immature dare like streaking across the camp."
His father merely raised an eyebrow and turned his attention to Julia's find. "Hmm," he said, picking up one of the stone jars and dusting some of the dirt off.
"What?" asked Julia.
"According to these inscriptions, each of these jars contains the spirit of an animal, and when it's unleashed, can turn a person into a warrior with all the powers of that animal." He smiled at his daughter. "I guess now we know what went on in this temple."
Jared scowled. "Figures." he said again. But Julia could see the laughter in his dark eyes.
"Let's get that photographer over here to take a picture, then we can bring them inside." she suggested.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
That evening, Julia was inside one of the excavation site tents, working on restoring the jars, for they were headed for a museum exhibit. Picking up each of the jars in turn, she looked at the pictures on them, every one depicting a half-human, half-creature being. "Jaguar…" she said softly. "Snake…Eagle…Scorpion…Bat." She smirked. "The five animal spirits."
"Julia?" Her brother's voice from outside startled her and the bat spirit's jar slipped from her fingers. She watched in horror as it fell and shattered on the hard ground. She quickly bent to pick up the pieces, but stopped short when she saw the shadow that was seeping from the shards. The black mist swirled, rising to eye-level and taking the shape of a bat. Julia was frozen as she stared at the spirit for what seemed like hours, but was merely seconds. Without warning, the spirit swooped, melting into her chest.
Julia cried out, and saw Jared run into the tent before losing consciousness.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Julia awoke, finding herself lying on her back on the ground, with her arms spread out to each side. Pushing away confused dreams, she opened one eye, only to close it with a high-pitched screech; it was daylight, and the sun was shining in her eyes.
"Julia?" she heard her father's anxious voice, but her was much, much too loud for her aching ears. "Are you awake?" he said.
"Why are you shouting?" she mumbled, opening her eyes, and staring at the blue sky that was peeking through rainforest leaves. Before she could turn to look at her father, he put his hands on each side of her head, holding it straight.
"Don't look yet," he said. Although his hands were covering her ears, Julia could hear him loud and clear. "Before you do, I want you to promise that you will not scream."
"What?" asked Julia, bewildered.
"Promise me. We cannot risk anyone seeing you like this."
Julia's heart beat faster. She didn't like the sound of that. "I promise." she said, at the same time wondering why her arms felt as if they had been stretched.
"Alright." Professor Borden took his hands away. Julia took a deep breath and turned her head to one side. Stretching at least seven feet from her body was a huge, black, bat-like wing. Fighting the urge to pass out, she tried to wiggle her fingers: the bat wing fluttered. Julia turned her head to the other side, and saw another wing. Then, feeling something strange, she craned her neck to look down at her feet. She had to clamp her mouth shut to keep from screaming, and laid back to gaze at the sky. Her feet had changed into giant claws.
Despite her efforts to remain silent, a single squeak escaped her lips, and Julia suddenly could not only see, but sense the forest canopy above her. But the colorless image in her mind's eye quickly faded. Amazed, Julia closed her eyes and squeaked again. Once more the image of the trees filled her mind, every leaf outlined perfectly.
Eyes still shut, she turned her head and emitted the high-pitched squeak. This time, she was struck by an image of Jared standing just beyond her wings. Julia felt a slight flutter in her chest, right over her heart, and smiled, despite her terrifying transformation. She had the bat spirit inside her, and had become one of the spirit warriors, with all the abilities and powers of a bat.
The moment Julia understood what she had become, she felt something spread across her body. There was the odd sensation of her bones shrinking as her wings became arms once more, and the rather uncomfortable feeling of muscles and bones shifting from claws back into human feet.
With her new and improved ears, Julia heard her father and brother gasp as she changed from bat to woman. She opened her eyes and sat up.
"I'm guessing you're alright, then." said Jared, fighting the shock in his voice.
Julia nodded. "How long was I out for?"
"Just since last night," her father answered. "Julia, what happened? How did you change into that beast?"
"Nice, Dad. Calling your own daughter a beast." Jared said in a voice inaudible to Professor Borden's aging ears, but perfectly heard by Julia.
"One of the jars I found earlier, the bat jar," Julia explained. "It broke, and the spirit came out."
"You mean the spirits were real?" The Professor was astounded.
Julia nodded, and then her eyes grew wide. "The other spirits! We have to keep them safe! Things like that are too dangerous to put on display!"
"You're right. But first we must discuss what has happened to you." said their father.
"I told you, Papa, I'm one of the ancient warriors."
"Just like that, you're a warrior?" asked Jared.
"Don't ask how, don't ask why." Julia was more worried about the other jars than about herself. "Let's go!"
"Alright," said the Professor, knowing that Julia would keep wanting to save the jars, for she had inherited her mother's determination.
"Wait!" Julia snapped, as the Bordens were about to leave. She heard a strange, yet familiar, thumping in the forest around them, as if many muffled drums were beating to many different tunes.
"Leaving so soon?" came a sneering voice from the bushes. A man stood. He was the leader of the militant team that had accompanied the Borden's expedition, and the look on his face meant no good.
"I heard and saw everything," he continued, as his mean emerged from the forest. "When you three disappeared, did you honestly think I wouldn't follow you?"
The Bordens were stunned, and said nothing. Julia's dark eyes smoldered angrily.
"Now, where are the other jars?"
This question caught Julia off guard. She had assumed that the four spirits were already being sent off to the government to be used as weapons.
"Come now," said the military leader when nobody answered. "Tell me where they are. Young Mr. Borden, what did you say?" For he had seen Jared's lips moving silently.
Nearly silently, anyway. Julia's bat hearing caught his whispers. "Go, Julia. Get jars from cave trail. Fly away."
Julia whirled to face her brother, ignoring the soldiers. His eyes were insistent. "Go. We'll be fine." he whispered again. She followed his order, taking off at a run through the rainforest and catching the militia by surprise. Quickly, they shot off in pursuit, but Julia had scrambled up a tree and was hidden from view.
She heard the sound of a struggle where her father and brother were, but thankfully, no gunshots. As soon as the group began heading back to camp without her, she started running towards the place Jared had mentioned, a cave on the trail to the site.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Night fell, and Julia still hadn't left the site. Jared had placed the four remaining jars, and the shards of the fifth, into the cave after finding Julia inside her tent, half bat. He was just as smart as she was, and had guessed at the cause, even through his complete shock.
Now, he and their father were being held as bait for Julia to come back. She listened, hidden, to the militant leader shouting into the night.
"Surrender yourself or they will die! Do you have any idea how valuable those jars are?" he yelled.
Julia looked down at them, wrapped in a sheet on the ground. Does he? she wondered.
"Come out and your family will go free!"
"What will happen to me?" she replied defiantly. She knew without seeing that his troops were making their way through the rainforest to her.
"Your life will be a small price to pay for those spirit warriors."
"No!" Jared screamed. "You're part bat, Julia! Use your wings and fly! Only you can save the—" He words were cut off, but Julia had already transformed. The shouts from the camp site carried through the air as she struggled to use her wings.
"Shut up, you idiot!" said the soldier.
"Don't look back, child!" her father's voice cut through the night. Julia started getting the hang of flying and picked up speed, carrying the sheet-wrapped jars in her claws. Despite her efforts to fly away as fast as she could, her super-sensitive hearing picked up the gunshots echoing over the rainforest. Blinded by tears, she relied on the powers bat spirit to carry her away.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Tolly: Kind of long, but necessary. I couldn't make it as good in first person. Need I remind you to review?