Chapter 25: Reunion.
Ryan found himself standing in a very white place, everything was white as far as his eyes could see in every direction, the walls, floor, sky, everything was white. Turning in circles to try and orientate himself his eyes managed to pick out something off to his left that wasn't white, or at least he thought it was his left but given the environment he wasn't totally sure, but he decided to head for it all the same, as he got closer he realized it was another person who appeared to be on his knees, he was wearing some sort of white looking armor with a long white cape on the back of it, if it hadn't been for the splashes of gold on it he'd have been camouflaged against the background, "Hello?" Ryan said, at his voice the figure suddenly sprung up from its knees and whirled around till it saw him, this sudden reaction caused Ryan to pause in his steps, the figure was wearing a golden hunting mask so he figured it must be a Yaujta but the voice that spoke was definitely not a Yaujta's.
"Ryan!?" the figure asked in amazement, there was something very familiar about it, in fact there was something very familiar about this whole thing and Ryan could have sworn he'd seen this white armor somewhere before,
"How do you know my name?" Ryan challenged,
"Well you'd think I'd recognize my own son when he speaks" the figure said, as he did he removed his mask as Ryan's mandibles dropped open as he saw his father's face behind the golden Yaujta hunting mask, before his brain could process the information his father flew forwards and embraced him tightly, for second Ryan stood there not moving but pretty quickly he realized everything was the same, the feel, the ooman smell, the strength everything, this was without a doubt his father and he wrapped his arms around his father's torso and embraced him tightly.
When they finally released one another Ryan and Jack stood looking at each other,
"Are you ok? Is your sister ok? Where are you?" the questions started flying out of his father's mouth, Ryan nodded,
"I'm ok well I think so anyway, I don't know where Sela is, as for where I am, I don't know I was on a planet in a jungle" he said, then he looked around himself before refocusing on his father,
"How?" was the question that came out of Ryan's mouth, his father shrugged his shoulders,
"I'm not sure, but the only thing I can think of is it must mean that you're a Dream Warrior as well" he said,
"I'm a Dream warrior like you?" Ryan asked looking confused at this little revelation,
"Trust me I still don't fully understand how it fully works myself and I've lived with it for quite a few years, but I can tell you how it started, when I was on the planet where I met your mother I started having these visions…." Jack started,
"Visions? What kind of visions?" Ryan asked,
"Ghost's mainly, people I knew to be dead, but they were reacting to me like they were still alive, then I met this ancient Yaujta warrior named Tan sel eleth…" Jack continued,
"Eleth!? That's our Matriarch's name!?" Ryan said sounding surprised, Jack nodded,
"Not as surprised I was trust me, it turned out he was Tik's great great grandfather, he'd the one who gave me this armor, said it could only be worn by someone honorable and pure of heart, he also awoke this power inside me that I never knew I had, called me a Dream Warrior which I'm still not sure I understand, but basically means that I can see and hear the dead as if they were real people, I can also see people's aura's which as far as I can understand it is the life force of every living being, it allows me to see right into their heart and know them better than they know themselves, in short they can't hide their true intentions from me" Jack said, Ryan looked impressed but he scratched his mandibles thoughtfully,
"Matriarch told me and Sela a story about Dream Warriors once, they were supposedly the most feared warriors to walk the battle field because they can see the unseen, supposedly they do not fear death because they know what's on the other side, are you trying to tell me that you are one of them? Is that how you do what you do and how you always found me when I was in trouble? And why did you never tell me or really talk to me about it?" he asked, Jack nodded,
"Yup and by the looks of it so are you, sorry for never saying the words to you and explaining it, I always figured you kinda knew especially as your sister knows, as to this place, it's a sort of purgatory, it's like a spirit realm that I come to from time to time when I need answers or I really just need to clear my mind, in fact I came here this time to try and summon a spirit to assist me and your mother in finding you, I didn't quite reckon on summoning you here" he said,
Ryan looked really confused as well as a little angry at the revelation that his beloved sister knew about their father being a Dream Warrior when he didn't, "Does that mean I'm dead?" he asked sounding surprised, his father shook his head,
"I don't think so, I'm not seeing the aura of death around you" he replied, Ryan looked relived then confused,
"Aura of death?" he asked,
"Well when I see spirits in the walking world I can always tell that their spirits because their aura is different to that of a living person, it kinda looks like smoke or a grey mist around them, a living person has a very distinct color shrouding them" Jack explained, Ryan still looked confused, Jack stepped up to his son and placed his hands on his shoulders, "I'm going to try something, I know it's a little early but given you are here it looks like your abilities are awakening so I'm going to try and do the same thing that Tan sel eleth did for me" he said, then he closed his eyes and appeared to be trying to focus, suddenly it felt like a bomb went off in Ryan's head, a huge torrent of imagery and emotions flooded his mind, it showed his father's life up to the point where they were now, everything from his childhood, to his family that he'd left behind on earth, to meeting his matriarch on that planet, to their bond growing and their love for one another, even some things that he'd rather have not seen in the form of their love making, but his father had said that this is was why dream warriors were feared because they could see everything the heart hides, then suddenly he felt a massive rush and flood of energy through him and when he opened his eyes he saw a white and gold flame surrounding his father's body.
Jack smiled as he looked at his son as he looked at his hands and arms, "You see it don't you?" he asked,
"I'm on fire!" Ryan said looking at his hands, then he looked at him, "And so are you!" he said, Jack laughed loudly,
"So it does take another Dream Warrior to awaken another, I can't believe I didn't see it before, the fire you're seeing is aura, it shows you a person's heart and allegiance, the lighter the color the better, every time a person commits an act like cold blooded murder of the innocent it stains their soul and Dream Warriors like us can see that as its represented in a color shift" he said, Ryan looked at him confused but with a much more relaxed expression in his eyes than before,
"I saw your life" he said, Jack nodded,
"I know and I'm sorry if you saw somethings in there that would have disturbed you but it comes with the gig, I know you probably saw some rather intimate moments between myself and your mother but I am not ashamed about how I feel about her or how much I love her, Dream Warriors can see everything in another's heart and things like that tend to really stand out, if it makes you feel better I saw everything from yours too so I guess that makes us even huh?" Jack said smiling, suddenly Ryan's mandibles flared and his cheeks flushed,
"You saw everything!?" he exclaimed, his father laughed out loud and then grinned at him slyly,
"Yup, she's really pretty you know, must be a like father like son thing, go to an alien jungle and meet a beautiful girl" he said grinning the whole time, Ryan got all flustered and embarrassed which entertained Jack immensely,
"I don't look at her like that…." Ryan started to say till his father held up his hand and he stopped, his father then gestured to himself,
"Dream warrior remember? I saw your memories and the feelings that went with them the same as you saw mine, so I know exactly what you felt when you saw her, don't you dare be embarrassed at those feelings my son, attraction is a natural and beautiful thing and you are growing up fast" he said smiling, Ryan looked like he might die from embarrassment at any second, then his father's face went really serious, "It looks like your waking up so I think our connection here is going to be broken any second, know this my son, we are coming for you and we will get you and your sister back from those pauking cowards and we're going to make sure that after what we do to them those bad blood cowards will never fuck with our clan again, in the mean time I trust you and your sister to conduct yourselves with honor, you give that girl Shena was it?" Jack said, Ryan nodded, "Well you give Shena any assistance you can, you protect her and you fight by her side and you show those pauking cowards why it's very unwise to pauk with the clan Mason" he said planting his hands on his son's shoulders, Ryan nodded,
"I will father I promise you can count on me" Ryan said, Jack embraced his son one last time,
"I know I can because you're a Mason and Mason's never let those we love down" Jack said, then Ryan suddenly felt cold and he heard a voice in the distance,
"Ryan! Wake up Ryan!" it said, he turned to look but there was no-one there, then he looked back at his father,
"You'd better go, don't worry we're coming for you" Jack said, Ryan nodded, then with a flash his father faded and the world went black again.
Ryan opened his eyes slowly and his vision swam in and out, but the first thing to become clear was Shena's beautiful face.
Shena was leaning over him looking at him with a rather worried expression written on her face, the first thing that Ryan noticed was that she was surrounded by a swirling white fire that flowed around her like a cloak, "Holy c'jit it was real" he said, the expression on Shena's face changed from worry to relief that he was awake to one of confusion at what he'd just said,
"What was real? What happened to you?" she asked, he sat up and blinked a few times shaking his head to clear away the swimmy feeling as his senses rebooted, then he looked at Shena who was kneeling on the ground next to him, he could see the white fire aura pulsing around her contrasting with her jet black skin, this only served to make her look even more beautiful in his eyes,
"Well?" she said looking impatient as he just stared at her, he drew his mandibles up into a sort of embarrassed smile,
"I saw my father" he said, Shena looked confused, then she looked around them,
"What? Where?" she asked,
"Not here, it's difficult to explain and I sure as hell don't know how to explain it, but he showed me a load of things and apparently I'm a Dream Warrior" he said, Shena's mandibles dropped open in shock then she jumped up and away from him, he looked at her surprised at her reaction,
"Y-y-y-you're a Dream Warrior!?" she exclaimed, he nodded slowly, then he got to his feet and dusted himself down,
"Apparently" he said,
"My Matriarch told me a story about Dream Warriors, she told me that they can see through worlds and see the dead" she said, Ryan nodded,
"Yeah that's what my father told me too, he said we can see the spirits of the dead and speak to them like they were normal living breathing beings" he said, then Shena looked thoughtful and rubbed her mandibles,
"Is that what you saw then when you saw an ooman female? Was she a spirit?" she asked, Ryan nodded,
"Yeah I think so, when she touched me I saw these things from her life, all these experiences, thoughts and feelings like it was being downloaded into my mind, Shena moved closer to him now but she was still being cautious,
"Why an ooman though? Why would an ooman female spirit seek you out?" she asked curiously, Ryan scratched his mandibles thoughtfully, this was a good question, but then the memories he'd seen filled his mind again and he saw the answer,
"I think she was my father's mate before she was killed in a battle on their home world, but she's never lost her love for him and now she follows him like a guardian watching over his life and the lives of those he loves" he said, then as he looked at Shena he saw looks of surprise and revulsion and confusion passing over her face, "What?" he asked looking at her,
"Your father mated with an ooman!?" she asked with obvious shock in her voice, he smiled at her confusion and shook his head,
"My father is ooman" he said calmly, Shena's mandibles dropped open as this bombshell exploded in her brain.
"W-w-w-what did you say?" Shena stammered looking at Ryan, her eyes searched his features for some sort of hint that he was just pulling some sort of prank on her, but his features remained the same,
"My father is an ooman, my matriarch is Yaujta" he said calmly,
"T-t-t-that's not possible! No Yaujta would willingly mate with an ooman!" Shena exclaimed,
"Well I'm living proof that you're wrong" he said with a darkness and an anger in his voice obviously from her questioning his heritage,
"You're an abomination!" she suddenly yelled then she turned and Shena ran off into the jungle leaving Ryan standing there with a really confused look in his face.
'How could she be so stupid? Of all the people she had to find on this pauking planet she had to find some half breed abomination, to think she almost started to like him as well! His matriarch was a race traitor and had laid with a dumb prey species of all things! What the pauk was she thinking?' all these thoughts swirled through Shena's mind as she ran through the jungle with tears burning her eyes, she felt so totally stupid for beginning to care about that male, she couldn't believe that she'd actually thought that he was attractive! What the pauk had she been thinking? right now she was totally unaware that at that moment she was being observed by someone from the canopy.
As she was running her mind was in such a whirlwind that she didn't look where she was going and suddenly her leg was whipped up from under and she shot upwards into the tree, "What the pauk!" she yelled as she was flipped upside down, then she spotted a shimmering figure on the ground next to where she'd been only seconds ago, it sparkled with electric before it decloaked and became visible, her mandibles clicked in both anger at being caught and fear at what had caught her, there stood a rather large bad blood male looking right at her, his armor was pitted and scared from various battles that he'd fought and his body was a patch work of ugly scars and his colors were a sickening green grey mixture.
"Well that was no fun, I thought you Shadow claw clan bitches were supposed to be expert hunters and tough? Well I guess if I can't have fun hunting you I'll have to take my fun from you some other way won't I?" the bad blood male said with a sickening leer in his voice, Shena felt sick to her stomach at what he was insinuating but also a cold rage at herself for being caught,
"I am Shena Black Crest unblooded huntress of the Shadow Claw clan and when I get down from here I will show you what I can do!" she roared, the male started laughing at her,
"Oh you have that right, you will show me what you can do, but not in the way you think" he said with a sickening leer in his voice, then with a swipe of his wrist blades he cut the rope that suspended her from the trees and she fell straight down on her head with a thud that jarred all of her senses with pain, she tried to move but her body was shaky and barely able to react, the male slammed a large foot down on her back pinning her down, "Don't worry it won't hurt for long young one and who knows by the time I'm done you may even enjoy it" he leered again, Shena had never felt so angry and scared in her life, this sickening excuse for a male was about to violate her and strip her honor away, she watched helplessly over her shoulder as he leaned down on her further and she felt him run a hand over her behind, "Hmmm it looks like you're definitely from prime breeding stock" he said as his touch made her feel physically sick, suddenly there was a whizzing noise and something passed over her head at high speed, she also felt something warm land on her back.
The bad blood male suddenly roared with pain and anger and jumped back from the stricken Shena, something landed on the floor to her left and she glanced at it, to her utter surprise it seemed to be a hand, "Get the pauk away from her you pauking coward!" a voice roared full of unbridled rage, it took Shena a second to recognize the voice, it was Ryan.
Ryan had chased Shena through the jungle, though her cruel words had shocked and angered him he couldn't let her go off on her own in a dangerous place, his father's words had echoed in his mind as he'd stood there and watched her go, "You're a Mason" he'd heard, then he'd sighed and kicked the massive corpse of the fire tiger in anger and frustration, as much as her words had hurt him it would be against every fiber of his being to let her go like that, plus he remembered something his matriarch had said to him when he and his sister were young, "There will be those that do not understand you and will treat you with distain and cruelty because of what you are, but you are the offspring of love and honor and it will be up to you to show them this, if they will not understand you pauking make them" she had said, he guessed this is what she meant and now it was up to him to make Shena see that as well, so off he'd gone into the jungle hot on her heels.
When Ryan arrived to see Shena pinned down by a bad blood male he'd been ready to storm into the clearing in full rage mode, but his father's words hit him first, "Before jumping into a situation always gain an advantage first no matter how angry you are, stop, take a breath, analyze, then act" he'd said and Ryan felt this was one of those times, so he'd silently watched and waited for an opportunity to strike, the bad blood male was massive compared to him and he was also far better armed, he could see the dual plasma casters on his shoulders from where he was, he could also see the jet black aura swirling around him as he leaned down onto Shena, then he saw him reach down and run his hand over Shena's bum and his rage boiled over but he also saw and opportunity, taking his smart disc out he aimed and sent it spinning towards the bad blood, the hit was perfect and it took the male's hand off at the wrist sending a spray of his blood onto Shena's back.
Unfortunately, the smart disc embedded itself in a tree and didn't return to its sender as they usually do so Ryan was going to have to make do with his staff, he twirled it and it extended to its full size as he stood facing the enraged bad blood male, "I'm going to tear you apart and piss on your remains abomination!" the bad blood male roared,
"My name is Ryan, unblooded hunter and son of Tik eleth and Jack of the proud clan Mason, if you label me an abomination because I am the product of a union based on mutual love and honor then I pity you because you have clearly never experienced either of those things" Ryan roared back, the male looked at him in total confusion, he couldn't understand why he wasn't scared of him, he'd expected the ooman in him to react to the mere sight of him and to run in fear but this is not what he was seeing, the air around this young male seemed to ripple like heat rising from him as he looked at him, then he spoke again, "I promise before all the gods and the spirits here present that while I still draw breath and my heart still beats you will not lay another hand on that female, you will not harm her or sully her honor I will not allow it!" Ryan roared standing tall and proud as he faced down the massive bad blood male, suddenly a shadow emerged behind the male, it was another Yaujta male but this one was dressed in white armor with a long white cape, instantly Ryan noticed the grey swirling fire around him and he realized it was a spirit, this had to be Tan sel eleth his great great great grandfather, he stood with his arms folded over his chest looking at the bad blood, the look on his face was one of utter contempt and disgust, then he turned to face Ryan and he walked towards him and placed a hand on his shoulder, his mind was instantly flooded with Yaujta fighting techniques,
"Show this coward what an honorable warrior can do and show him death" he said in a deep gravelly voice, Ryan nodded and then turned his attention back to the male just in time to see him rush him with his wrist blades raised.
To Ryan it felt like time had slowed down, he watched as the male swung the wrist blades in and arc towards him and he was able to easily side step out of the way which caused the male to sail past him and hit nothing but air, suddenly he became aware that the white fire surrounding his body had grown into a raging inferno and he felt energy rushing through him, is this why Dream Warriors were so feared? Because they could see things before they happened? Then he turned and saw the male swing at him again, this time he used the staff to deflect the male's hit away before using the blades to slice through his inner elbow now exposed by the deflection, the male roared in pain as his arm dropped uselessly to his side, suddenly Ryan saw both of his plasma casters pop up and turn, he rapidly dodged around the shots as they fizzed past him scorching the air as the bolts which looked like they were moving in slow motion passed him harmlessly by, with each dodge he moved closer and closer to the male who seemed to be growing more and more desperate with each step his foe took, then out of no-where the male reared up to kick at Ryan but in the slow motion world what Ryan was in he saw it coming a mile away and instead of being kicked flying he simply twisted out of the way and then brought his staff up and sliced through the rear of the male's knee cutting the tendons and with a quick flourish did the same to the other leg before the male was able to retract it.
Shena watched in utter surprise and shame as Ryan made his declaration and then began to fight the bad blood male, she couldn't believe what was happening here, she had said such vile things to him and yet here he was defending her, why? Why was he doing this? But then something he'd said clicked in her head, it was a name and she recognized it for some reason, Tik eleth, she knew that she'd heard that name before, then it hit her like a ton of bricks, Tik eleth was the daughter of Mak tesha one of the Shadow Claw clan leaders! This little revelation rocked her to her core as she watched him fight for her.
Then a sudden rush of energy and anger flooded through her fueled by her confusion, this restored her body temporarily and she found herself able to stand up, she watched as Ryan effortlessly dodged around the bad blood male's plasma bolts and then swipe both his legs crippling him when he tried to kick him, now the male was on his knees in front of Ryan who simply pulled both of his plasma casters from their mounts and threw them to either side of him, then he turned and looked at her, "This scum's life belongs to you as it was your honor he was going to sully, decide what his fate is" he said with a rather cold voice that for some reason stung her like a knife to her heart, but then as she saw the defeated male who was going to rape her anger flashed through her again and she charged towards him and plunged her wrist blades through his chest and straight through his heart.
Ryan watched as Shena killed the bad blood male, he saw the figure of his great great great grandfather smile and nod his approval of his honorable deed by giving the male's life to the one who he had tried to dishonor, then he balled his fist against his chest and bowed an act that Ryan returned as the ghost faded back into the shadows, as he released the bow he saw Shena standing facing him with her wrist blades dripping with Yaujta blood, "Are you really Tik eleth's son?" she asked in a quiet voice, he nodded as he looked at her,
"How do you know of my Matriarch?" he asked,
"Because she's the daughter of one of my clan's leaders" Shena said in a voice filled with confusion and rage, it was at that point Ryan realized this revelation had just rocked her to her very core and he understood why, he could see that she'd always been taught just like his matriarch had been that Yaujta must not lower themselves to cavorting with other species and must remain pure, so to now find out that the daughter of one of her clan's most respected leaders had done that very thing and the product of this union had just saved her life and protected her honor had just blown her understanding of her world to pieces, he took a step towards her and she retreated a step, but he took another one and another and another, she mirrored his movements till her back hit a tree and she could go no further and he was stood right in front of her, he took his mask off and looked right into her eyes, the brightness of the purple of his eyes made her gasp, there was a real fire in them that she couldn't deny and suddenly her mind was filled with guilt and shame at how she'd reacted towards him when she'd found out what he was, "I-I-I-I'm sorry" she whispered as she hung her head, looking away from his eyes,
"So you should be" he replied, her head shot up with a flash of rage but when her eyes met his there was something different and it stopped her from lashing out and regret instantly filled her mind again,
"I shouldn't have called you those vile names, or run away from you like that" she said quietly again,
"I forgive you" Ryan said calmly, Shena's eyes popped open wide as she searched his face for a hint of deceit but there was none,
"I am something which goes against everything that you have been taught, something that in your world should not and could not exist, so it was only natural that you would lash out and react the way you did, so I will forgive your ignorance this time and I will ask you to simply judge me based on my actions, use what you see and what you feel to guide you and not what you have been taught to believe, keep an open mind and you will see that there is far more to this life than the narrow path you have been taught to tread" he said, Shena looked confused by his words and by his compassion and empathy, these were not Yaujta traits and a true Yaujta who had been insulted in the way she had insulted him would have killed her on the spot, but something in his words appealed to her and she nodded smiling at him, then he returned her smile and stepped back from her allowing her to step away from the tree, then he extended a hand towards her, as much as her head was screaming that he was an abomination that shouldn't exist and that his very existence was an insult she couldn't deny that his actions were those of a being who fully understood the ways of honor, he had stepped in and defended her honor despite the fact that she had hurled some vile insults at him and now he had forgiven her for them and was offering her a hand in friendship, so she decided right at that moment to trust him and to listen to what he had said, while she knew she couldn't fully abandon what she'd been taught she would try to accept him and like he had said to keep an open mind, so she took his arm and they shook, "Right then let's see what we can get from this pauk and see if we can find my sister" Ryan said and Shena smiled and nodded at him, a small voice spoke in her heart she still couldn't believe that a half breed could be so good looking.