Shout-Outs...
Dragon Chyld: Thanks for the understanding pal. Although I must apologize, the Deer-Creature vs. James grudge match has been postponed indefinitely.
Maxmagnus20019: Hope I don't disappoint with this one.
Marching myself into exhaustion was one of the things I could have done without quite honestly. That and being stuck in a pod for six boring days... And Hyda IV being blown to bits... And the Helre being reduced to debris...
OK, so a lot of the things in the game I could do without. Of course the game wouldn't have been interesting if they didn't happen...
But your point of view sure changes when you're living in the action...
Groaning ever so softly James opened his eyes, his vision blurry as he felt a blanket pulled up to his neck. After a moment his vision cleared and he stared up at a wooden ceiling with cracked plaster. Looking around he saw the walls matched as he heard a slight 'Aa...'
"Who are you?" He heard Fayt ask turning his head to look at a short brown haired girl with pointed ears.
Meena...
"I'll leave some water here, Ok?" She said, placing a tray with a pitcher and a pair of mugs on a nightstand. After a moment she cried out 'Niklas!' and left the room.
"Cute lil' thing, ain't she?" James quipped as he sat up, Fayt turning to look at him.
"You're up?" The blue haired boy asked as James looked around. Finding his trusty hat on the bedpost he took it back, placing it on his head.
"No, I'm still out cold... I'm just pretending to be awake."
"I would hope not." A youthful voice said as a male with the same hair as the girl entered looking at them both. "Are you two all right? You were groaning in your sleep." The boy said to, looking towards Fayt.
"I... Think I'm fine, thanks. You James?" He said turning to his companion.
"Yeah... Just feel stiff is all..."
Fayt nodded turning back to the boy. "Were you the one who rescued us?"
"No, I just carried the two of you here. My sister, Meena, she insisted..."
"I see... So you were the one who rescued us."
"We owe you a big old thanks then." James said, tipping his hat slightly. In response the girl giggled slightly, moving to hide behind her brother.
"I suppose we should introduce ourselves then. I'm Fayt. Fayt Leingod. And this is my friend, James Jennings."
"Yo!"
"And who are you?"
"I'm Niklas. Her name is Meena." The two siblings looked at each other before Niklas continued. "Fayt and... James... Those are your names, right? Your clothes... and your ears... Are you two of Norton's men?"
"Norton? Is that a person's name?" Fayt asked, tilting his head slightly.
"Yes."
"I don't really understand the situation here..."
"You don't know Norton?"
"Uh, no, actually, I've never heard of him. Who is he?"
"And who'd wanna get stuck with a lame name like that in the first place anyhow?" James spoke up, pushing the blanket away and throwing his legs over the side of the bed.
"If neither of you know who he is then please, never mind. I apologize for the question."
"Hey, no harm done, right Fayt?" James said, watching as Meena ran between the two beds.
"Yeah, what he says." Fayt replied as Niklas smiled.
"You both still need to rest and recover your strength! Feel free to rest here for a while."
"Sure thing." James said as he laid back down, flipping his hat over his eyes.
"We cannot do much, but we do have food."
"I'm fine, no, really." Fayt said, despite a few grunts as he tried to stretch his body.
"No! You should stay in bed!" Meena shouted as Niklas nodded.
"Please, rest. Don't worry—it is our way to help each other in times of trouble."
"But..." Fayt began as James cut off with a firm voice.
"Fayt, our host wants you to take it easy. It would be rather rude to ignore him."
"...Yeah, you're right. Sorry... And thanks."
"It is no problem." Niklas said, turning to his sister. "Meena, let them get their rest."
"Okay!" After hearing his sister's response he nodded and left the room, his feet sounding down the hall.
"He looks so young, but he seems so mature for his age... Just like Sophia." Fayt said, almost remorsefully.
"Fayt, tell me, where are you from? Why are your ears so round? Who's Sophia, huh? Tell me! Tell me!" Meena asked excitedly.
"Ha, ha, ha... Umm... James... Lil' help... James?"
"...Zzzzz..."
"Oh, you have got to be joking..."
Fayt later told me of his conversation, or as I call it 'interrogation' by Meena. Apparently he handled the girl's endless barrage of questions well enough, not letting on the fact she made first contact with a pair of aliens. By the time I woke up from my nap it was the afternoon. Oddly my watch told me it was 3:45 AM.
Damned Space Lag...
Shortly after Fayt finished his stretching a thump sounded nearby. Shaking his head a little he saw a grumbling James groping across the floor for his hat, tangled in his blanket. He tried to hold in his laughter as James stood up, hat on head. "Yeah, go ahead and laugh..."
"So, how are you feeling?" Fayt said as James kicked the last of his arch-nemesis, the blanket, away.
"Dandy... You?"
"Still a little sore, but I'm fine... Hey, where's my sword?"
James eyebrow lifted as he looked around. "Mine ain't around either. Think Nikky's got it?"
"Probably... It might have made him nervous. Then again, we don't need them right now, do we?"
"Naw, at least I wouldn't think so, being in town and all."
We let Niklas know before hand that we were going to stretch our legs in the village. He seemed uneasy about it, but he didn't stop us. Walking around the village was more than a little... Odd though. Most of them looked disgusted, a few angry, some even afraid. A few others treated us well enough, but they probably didn't know what to make of us. Fayt was a little confused at all this.
I knew though. I had to act as if I didn't know, which I really didn't like, but I had to. Since Fayt would NEVER believe why I knew about Norton.
Eventually we both decided to go back to Niklas' place...
"What's that?" Fayt asked as we walked in the door, seeing Meena staring intensely as a little box as if her gaze would make it do something.
"It's my treasure box! Daddy gave it to me on my birthday." She said in reply.
"That music box was passed down though our mother's family." Niklas said as he entered the room. "It is the only thing we have left of our parent's." He continued as James reached up to feel his necklace. "But, alas, it is broken now and does not make a sound."
"I see... Can I have a look?" Fayt asked as James moved over to lean against a wall.
"Sure!" Meena said as Fayt moved closer, kneeling down and pulling the box to him.
After a few moments of staring he nodded to himself. "Yeah, this shouldn't be too hard. Want me to fix this for you? It'll be our way of paying you back for rescuing us."
"Really? Can you fix it Fayt?"
"Can you really do that?" Niklas asked, almost sounding cautious. "It is an expensive music box. They told us it would cost us a great deal to fix it."
"If I can get my hands on the right parts, then yes, and I think I know where to get them. It's a little ways away, but I'll get them later..."
"You'll?" James spoke up raising his hand. Fayt smiled and shook his head.
"We'll go get them later."
"But we cannot ask you to do something like that for us." Niklas said, shaking his head.
"Well... you didn't ask." James said pushing off the wall.
"And you saved our lives." Fayt continued. "It's the least we can do to repay you."
"Still..."
"And I'm sure Meena wants it fixed, right?" Fayt continued as James smiled and walked over, ruffling the young girl's hair playfully.
"Thank you... Good sir." Niklas said, relenting.
"In return, can we get our swords back? We won't be able to get through the forest without them."
Niklas looked worried for a moment before speaking. "You two swear you are not with Norton and his gang?"
"Last time I checked, nope." James said as Fayt shook his head.
"Just like he says. What... you don't believe us?" Fayt asked, tilting his head.
"No, I trust you."
"Thanks."
"But be wary, if neither of you are with Norton's Gang you will be in even more danger outside the village."
"More danger?" James said crossing his arms. "You making it sound like this 'Gang' is a buncha bullies or muggers."
Niklas bit his lower lip as Fayt stood up. "Don't worry—We'll be fine. Just pity the guy who tries to take him on." The blue haired boy jerked a thumb at James who shook his head.
"Very funny."
True to Niklas' words our swords were returned and off we were. Thankfully it wasn't as late in the day as our LAST journey, and Fayt was more than willing to take a breather now and then. Still, if I didn't know better I'd say we made better time going back than going to the village.
Of course we all knew what happened when we got there...
"What?" Fayt called out as the Escape Pod came into view. He ran up to it, kneeling beside the space vehicle.
"Looks like someone got here before us and worked it over..." James said, looking over the pod.
"Not just that, the equipment and parts have been stripped... I can't replicate the parts now..."
"Forget that Fayt..." James said walking over to his friend. "The thing was stripped... This is a backwater, out of the way, primitive planet that greatest technology is most likely a gunpowder cannon made of wood, if you stretch it a bit."
"You're right... No one from this planet knows what this stuff is, or how to remove it properly. It would make sense if they smashed it up, not stole it!"
Afterwards we found my pod in the middle of nowhere and checked it out. It had gotten the same strip and rip treatment Fayt's had received.
Say what you will about Norton, but he was a busy man.
With no replicator to make parts out of we decided the only thing to do was return to the village, bearing our failure.
"Fayt! James!" Meena called out as the two entered the house. Fayt kneeled down to her eye level.
"Hello there!" He said as James waved.
"Yo."
"What a relief, you both are well!" Niklas said, approaching. "Norton's men was lurking around the forest in the direction you left in. We were worried."
"Niklas..." Fayt began as James moved to sit down on a stool. "Can you please tell me more of Norton and his gang? Who are they?"
Niklas turned his face away for a moment before turning back with sad eyes. "I do not know everything myself. He... Norton appeared suddenly in our village about half a year past. He ordered the village to supply him with food. Of course we refused at first, the village needs it's supplies to survive the harsh winter. Norton was in fact ordering the village to die... But when people refused him, he called upon this mysterious light, and those who touched it disappeared, one after the other! Carl, Sirin, Kurt... All gone. And our father, who resisted until the very end."
"Damn..." James muttered as Niklas continued.
"Of course we told our Lord, but he said the idea of people disappearing into thin air was nonsense, and didn't want to hear about it. Now some of the villagers have even joined Norton's gang!"
"A mysterious light that makes people disappear?" Fayt said, almost repeating what he had just heard. "Niklas, when you first met us you asked about our clothes and our ears, right?"
"Ah, yes—Norton wore strange clothes made out of a strange material, neither linen nor cotton, just like what you both wear. And his ears are shaped like yours... That is why I did not trust you at first. I apologize."
"Hey, no worries." James said smiling at his host. "You gave us the benefit of a doubt and helped us out. And given what's going on, I wouldn't blame you either."
"What he says." Fayt added. "So don't worry about it." After a moment Fayt bowed his head.
This is about the point the Fayt puts two and two together, so I just thought the best thing for me to do was stay quiet.
"Is... something the matter?" Niklas asked after a pause.
"It's nothing, I was just thinking..." After a moment more he turned to look at Meena. "I'm really sorry, but it's going to take a little more time to fix your music box. Can you wait just a little longer?"
"Okay!" Meena replied, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
"That thing Norton's Gang carried off, did it belong to you?" Niklas asked.
"No-- I thought it might be, but it wasn't. Don't worry I'll fix your music box."
After a moment more Meena piped up. "Niklas, I'm hungry! Let's eat!"
James shook his head and chuckled. "Demanding lil' thing, isn't she?"
Niklas smiled, looking up at the taller James. "That she can be. Very well, let us eat."
Shortly after dinner we all went to bed. Of course I knew what the next act would be...
Just... I woke up late for it...
James stretched out slightly as he got up from the bed. Yawning he took his hat of the nightstand and placed it on his head before walking out of the room. He paused a moment as, down the hall, Meena sat, staring at the door. James tilted his head and looked back at the room, noticing an absence of the blue haired boy he traveled with. A moment later he walk down the hall and over to Meena. "Morning there."
The girl turned her head towards him and smiled softly. "Morning!" She chirped.
"Say... Where's Niklas? And Fayt for that matter?"
"I don't know... Niklas was gone when I woke up. And Fayt went to look for him..."
"That so..." James lifted his hat off his head to run a hat through his hair. After a moment he put it back and shrugged. "Well... Guess that means I have to look for the both of them." James walked over towards the door, turning his head to smile at Meena. "Stay cool, all right?"
"Okay!"
I talked to villagers who would answer my questions; most of them said they saw Fayt, but none Niklas. Eventually I came up to the man who stood near the village entrance.
"Hmm? Oh, it's you. The other man who was staying with Niklas and Meena?" He said as James walked over to him.
"That'd be me. So, have you seen Fayt, the other guy, and Niklas around, by any chance?"
The man hesitated for a moment before answering. "Niklas... Left down towards Norton's hideout with a wild look on his face. When I told this to your friend... He just ran out after him."
"What?"
Yeah, that's right... Fayt had run off to save Niklas... without me. I think I said a few questionable things to the guy as I ran out after the BOTH of them.
Why did I get stuck with a guy as headstrong as Fayt? Oh well...
I'd just have to smack him one once I caught up to him...
That's it for this chapter. For the next one? Norton! Cliff! Mirage! Oh my!
Read and Review please!