"It all began as most journeys do, in a humble village..."
The skies are blue, as they always are in the afternoon. The temperature is tepid, easy enough for the breeze to counteract.
And the sun is as bright as ever, beaming down upon its children, who gallop around their village homes to play with one another.
Each child wears a wool poncho unique to themselves and lightweight clothing fit for frolicking about, while the adults watch close by, sharing tales of yore to pass the time.
A group of three children pass around a ball of tightly knit string with their bare palms, with the wind grazing the ball with its presence, wanting so much to play along too.
The children are full of laughter and merriment, hopping free from the mossy, rocky grounds beneath their feet, and returning to the ground as gently as a dandelion seed.
As their play takes them to the center of the paths, a frantic voice shouts to them from a distance, "Excuse me! Coming through!"
One child pulls away with the ball grasped between their hands as a boy slightly older than them whizzes on by, his dashing feet both as light as a feather.
The children stare in wonder about where the boy could be going.
"Hey, wasn't that?!" One inquired with scant familiarity.
"Yeah! I think so!" Said another, intrigued.
"What's he doing now?" Added the third, poking her small head forward as their target of interest rounds the corner of a braced down wooden hut.
The boy paced his breaths as his arms swayed to and fro, his poncho serving only to draw him back when faced by the wind's pressure.
But he narrowed his eyes and ventured forth, vaulting between two women chatting on a bench, and apologizing swiftly for his roughness, "Sorry! I'm in a rush!"
"Again?!" Shouted one of the ladies.
But their cry was a deaf echo in the lad's ears. He snaked his way through the lane ahead, dodging and sliding his way past all the activities his peers enjoyed.
Until he neared the end of the road, where three kids were jumping over a rope being spun by two others.
The boy opened his hands and thrust them down a foot away from their play. Then suddenly, bursts of air shot forth from the palms, letting him vault over them.
The children stopped and stared up agape with awe as the boy spun once and landed on the ground, stumbling to pick up his pace once more.
The three kids were then tripped up by the rope, tumbling onto their faces.
The boy swiveled his head to the left, where he saw a hundred foot tall stone tower getting farther away in the distance. The tower had windmill blades on each side, and was moving at a mellow pace.
"I'm almost to the edge. Just got to make it over the-"
"Baaaaah!"
"WHOA!" The boy was forced to a stop by the sound of a bleating ball of tan wool floating up in his path from a crevice, his toes dangling off the edge.
After flailing his arms around he secured his footing and stared up at the ball, which spun around until a small white head with black, beady eyes was at the front. With the help of its four small hooves it pushed its cold wet nose against the boy's cheek and let out another "Baaah!"
The boy giggled and saw that a few more of its silky ilk were floating up out of the crevice below, joining its kin in a symphony of bleats.
The boy repaid the creature's kindness by patting it on the head, which made its ears flatten down.
"Sorry fella, I need to go!" He gently pushed them aside to float off with the rest of its flock, and after a quick wave goodbye he turned and leaped right over the crevice like he hadn't lost his pace.
There were very few huts this far out, leaving a perfect view of the sea of blue skies stretching over the horizon.
And that sea...was made for him to explore.
With one last excited burst of speed he arrived at the very edge of the village, where one misstep would cave the cracked stone beneath his feet. He would know, it happened to him once before.
"But this time...I'm going to fall on my own terms!" He planted his hands on his knees and peered down over the side.
Beneath the village itself was the large whirlwind keeping the village afloat...And beneath that, the surface of the planet.
"...U-Uhh." The boy suddenly felt stiff in the knees, with the only sounds he could hear being the whipping winds below, and the loud 'Thump!' of his heartbeat.
'Gulp!' Went his throat, as he paced a couple steps away and caught his breath.
"Okay...You can do this! All those months of preparation are going to pay off, j-just..." He pushed his hands down by his waist and breathed deep, "Jump, and let the wind carry you forward. Easy!"
He was so absorbed in his motivational speech that he couldn't overhear two older ladies gossiping behind his back. For them, their poncho acted as the collars of some silky, bodily robes.
"That boy's up to no good again. Hasn't he learned by now?" One lady said with a curt scoff.
After exhaling a little mint-green smoke from her pipe, the other lady remarked, "His father needs to be more strict with him."
"Hmph," Went the lady following a sip of her lukewarm milk, "Is that even possible?"
The boy went back to the edge and this time, when the temptation to look got to him, he closed his eyes and thought happy thoughts.
"You can do this. You CAN do this!"
All that remained was TO do it. So with one quick look-over of his body, he made sure everything was in order.
His poncho was nice and clean with its faded red rim and vertical green lines spaced every few inches, a flourish added on by his mother. Underneath was a light gray button shirt with elbow length sleeves to help keep him warm. And finally, his leather pants, which had diamond holes cut into the sides to help with aerodynamic movement, and a second, thinner layer behind them for added comfort. No shoes, but it shouldn't affect much.
His hair could've looked better, there were strands dangling in front of his eyes and all, but as far as the essentials go he was all set.
"Ok...here I go!"
Without anymore hesitation the boy triumphantly bent his hands up and reached underneath his poncho, putting his three central fingers through pull strings attached to the ends of the thin wooden slats in his poncho.
One last breath, and he leaped right off the edge, plummeting down and away from his skyward home.
As the pressure enveloped him and the gale screamed in his ear, the boy was able to safely ignore his racing heart, and tug the pull strings right out, spreading his arms like a pair of wings.
The pressure broke and the wind briefly thrust him right back above his village, but now he was moving forward, leaving it far behind.
His mind blacked out from the tenseness of the moment, only for his downward gaze to elicit an excited response as he saw the surface below moving alongside him.
He swerved his head right, then left, and then glanced behind his shoulder, where he saw his home getting smaller and smaller. But even at this distance, the tower at the center seemed to be as tall as him.
And as he got further out, a V-shaped flock of four-winged birds flew past him. The boy's eyes shone with resolution, as he was now one with the rulers of the sky.
"Hahaha...! I did it! I DID I-" He thrust his hand up in cheer and began to spiral downward, "W-WHOA!"
He then stiffened his arm back out and resumed gliding forward grinning nervously.
He shook his head and looked down. He could see large stretches of dark brown ground and some sort of light tan colored lands next to an expanse of clear blue water. There were towers of stone stacked atop one another, and a giant piece of wood lodged into a chasm, which he heard was called a 'Tree'.
"No, that's not the place. Mom said 'It'll look like a bunch of green has been smashed together'."
His skin was being tickled by the winds, but he was used to that, save for the warm air.
Warm, just like how his smile looked, so carefree and mellow.
"I'm finally going to explore the surface of Genestasia..." Thinking about that made his smile grow wider, and his eyes to thrust open with vigor.
"Oh I can't wait! It should be safe to drop here!" He pulled his arms down and raised his head up so he'd descend without a risk of diving too fast.
He then pulled his arms out, now a few hundred feet closer to the ground. There were more cracks on the surface than he expected, and he didn't see any houses this far out.
"People ARE living down here, right? ...Maaaaaybe if I go lower?" He descended but in truth he just wanted to land on the surface already.
His heart was racing quickly with anticipation, but as he made this descent he was punched by a sudden gust of wind and started bobbing around.
"W-Whoa!" He quickly evened himself out and raised his head up high, "Where'd that gust come from?!"
He was struck again from the right and sent spiraling off course. He evened himself out again and shook his head, "Uh-oh! This must be a..."
Another, stronger gust of wind smashed him hard against the side, "TURBULENCE ZONE!"
He kept spinning out of control and in his desperation to regain balance his right fingers dislodged from the pull strings, which snapped back into his poncho.
"..." He gazed blankly at the hand now dangling bare in the air for a few seconds.
"OOOOOOOOH...!" His eyes widened as he was sent tumbling helplessly towards the ground, "THIS ISN'T GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!"
It DEFINITELY wouldn't be a good look for him if he died the moment he tried to leave his home.
Gritting his teeth, the boy took his outstretched hand and tried to point it downward at the ground. But finding the brown among all the swirling colors was...easier said than done.
"No time to fix this! Got to make this count!" Reaching deep inside, he fired off a powerful, concentrated gust of wind the moment he saw a hint of brown in his eyes.
A few seconds and a brief prayer later, the boy felt his body collide with a soft, pressurized force. All his weight pressed against it on impact and slowed his descent to a sudden halt. Then, when he thought it was safe to open his eyes, the bubble popped and caused him to land face first into the ground.
"Ooof!" He moaned, as a cloud of dusty dirt plumed outward from his body.
"Oooowww..." Came a muffled whimper.
He lifted his head up and the moment he tried to breathe caused him to break into a small coughing fit, "Gck...! Gck...! Ah, the air's tickling my throat...!"
It lasted about as long as it took for the dirt to settle and him to wet his throat with spit.
"Whew...! That was weird. The surface doesn't play around!" But what would scare off first comers made him excited. With a hearty grin he took a look at his immediate surroundings while mindlessly stepping forward.
His balance shifted at the toes and he stepped back, peering down to find he was standing atop one of those rock structures he saw earlier. But it's so much bigger this close. Not as big as the tower back home, but maybe about half as tall.
"...Ok so I'm technically NOT on the surface yet." The boy put his hands on his hips and the shift in movement rattled his poncho's slats a little. One felt off though.
"Uh oh," He put his hand under the poncho and saw that one of the slats had become loose, "I'll take my time...Who knows what the surface'll try next!"
His body then perked up as he heard rustling in the ground behind him, "Is someone here? A person?!"
"Hello?" Muttered a voice hesitant to speak up.
The boy's grin widened bigger than his cheeks could contain and he spun around in place shouting "Hi yourself!"
"ACK!" Whoever had snuck up on him was now stumbling back in shock towards the edge of the platform.
The boy stretched his hand out and exclaimed "Hold on!" before they fell off the side. But nature had its whimsy and broke off the side of the edge prematurely to send the person tumbling off the side.
"WHAAAAAA!" Exclaimed the figure, as Sarajin threw himself down upon the ground and tried to grab onto his wrist, only to fail. He then thrust his hand out and with some quick thinking, summoning a soft, white cloud to cushion the figure's fall.
"Whew...!" Sarajin sighed in relief, having narrowly avoided getting someone hurt.
He finally got to wind down and take a good look at his surprise guest. They seemed to be wearing similar kinds of clothes as him, with a few minor differences. His shirt was this strange, swirling blend of many colors, all faded out and dull looking. His pants were leather, but on the sides of them were these sharp, glossy looking pieces..."Scales", he thought they were called. He must also be pretty important too, cause he was wearing both socks AND shoes, and his shoes were made of wood with these metal latches that he probably had to unlock to take them off.
And either the fall messed up his hair or he was as bad at taking care of it as he was. It was down to his shoulders and charcoal black. Finally, he was wearing a pair of small lens glasses.
Despite the disoriented looks he made around he didn't seem to be in any pain and actually looked rather healthy.
"Sorry about that! Didn't mean to frighten you!" The boy shouted to his company, stretching his hand down and saying, "Here, grab my hand and I'll pull you up!"
The stranger planted his hands in the complete opposite direction and looked pale as the cloud he sat on, "Y-You created a cloud...? You're...from one of the Tribes?!"
"Huh?" The boy tilted his head aside and then pleasantly remarked, "Yeah! I'm-"
"Not another word!" The stranger proclaimed, crawling back towards the edge and shaking his hand towards him, "I'd rather become a splatter on the ground than take your hand!"
"Hehe! If I was trying to hurt you, why would I catch you?" The boy couldn't help but chuckle at how silly he was behaving, "I'm from Arc Hurricanos, we wouldn't hurt a fly!"
That made the stranger's face twist around the eyes and cause their glasses to nearly slide off their face. They pushed them back up and murmured, "Arc Hurricanos, you say?"
"Hmph...I-I mean, that's obvious...O-Of course you are!" The stranger then extended their hand out and continued to talk loudly to himself, "What with the cloud summoning and the ugly poncho, I knew that! I was merely testing you!"
The boy held on tightly to the stranger's hand and with a little effort on both their parts, they managed to get him back up to solid ground.
The boy then fell on his butt and laughed, while the stranger propped himself on hands and knees and gasped for breath.
After some moments of silence the boy then looked at the stranger and upon closer inspection, noticed that he had to be around the same age as him, but a few inches taller.
"So this is what a citizen of the surface world is like. He looks just like me!"
Once the stranger was on his knees sitting upright, the boy wasted no time in asking him, "So what's your name?!"
The stranger flinched and took his glasses off, rubbing the dirt off with his shirt while muttering slowly, "Jus...tek?"
"Jus...tek? Justek...Justek!" The boy repeated a few more times just to be clear, then with a perky smile he proclaimed, "Ok Justek! You'll be the first friend I made on the surface!"
Then Justek almost dropped his glasses on the ground, "Y-Y-Your FRIEND? Is that really how you believe friendship works?"
"Mmm hmm!" Replied the boy with a vigorous nod.
"...Did you hit your head on your way down?" Said Justek as he put his glasses on and stood up.
"No, I hit my face." The boy replied as he took a stand as well.
And then, laughing all the while, he recounted his experience to his new friend, "The winds are REALLY strong down here! I thought I wasn't going to make it!"
Justek's eyes widened like you wouldn't believe, as he just stared at this boy with a vacancy not even all the flies in the world could fill.
"...Are you real?" He then nudged his glasses up and sighed, laying the hand out to make a rather curt gesture, "And why, pray tell, were you diving face first into the ground?"
The boy crossed his arms under his poncho and chuckled, "Well, I wasn't doing it for fun."
"Ah no, I just assumed you were trying to off yourself and failed spectacularly." Replied Justek with a mild chuckle. However, the boy seemed to just stonewall his wit.
"See, I was trying to find a place that 'looks like a bunch of green smashed together'," A stroke of inspiration struck and the boy softly gazed upon Justek's face in earnest, "Hey Justek, did you come from a place like that?"
"Ha!" Justek turned to the left and waved his arm out, "Does my home LOOK like that knotted mess of greenery?"
The boy looked out and not far away from here was this walled in village with a grim and tribal atmosphere befitting the empty lands around it. The village was surrounded by this mess of sticks with pointed rocks tied on top, none of them standing perfectly upright. The gate had a row of pointed white stones sticking up from the bottom and another row sticking down from the top.
There were barely any homes to speak of compared to what he saw at home. Maybe a little over a hundred? That he could even count them all left an impression on him immediately. And the homes were so strangely built, like they had this weird, dirty pink shade to them and were held together with these large ivory pillars with a coarse surface.
So yeah, definitely not the place he wanted to go to.
"Oh...I hope I didn't go too far off course then," The boy slowly rubbed the back of his head and puckered his lower lip, only to go right back to a smile as he remarked, "Still, your home looks nice, Justek!"
Justek flinched and with a bit of canned laughter he turned and remarked, "You think THAT looks nice? It's positively odorous and so, so...rank."
"But you still called it your home, so you must like being there right?" The boy replied without hesitation.
Justek paused, winced, and then raised a smirk, "Hmph...!"
The boy then faced him once more to ask, "So you seem to be familiar with the place I'm talking about. Do you know how I can get there from here?"
"Just to be clear, you ARE referring to Tanglefae, yes?"
"I...think so? Honestly, the fall might've knocked the name out of my brain, ha ha!" The boy said with another smile.
"That's not the only thing..." Justek muttered under his breath as he slowly turned and pointed behind the boy, "If you go that way you'll see it a few miles in the distance."
The boy turned around, got on his tip-toes and cupped his hands around his eyes, "Oh, that doesn't sound too bad! I only got thrown off course a little bit!"
He then plopped back down and glanced over his shoulder, "I even got a new friend out of the deal!"
Justek lazily waved his hand around in the hair and smirked, "Oh yes, absolutely, we're the BEST of friends now."
The boy waved his hand up briefly and slapped it back upon his hip, "Well! Catch you later Justek! I'd like to stick around, but I got to-"
Not even one step forward, both their ears were assaulted by this inhumanly deep gurgling sound coming from the boy's stomach.
It put goosebumps on Justek's skin.
The boy spun back and happily rubbed the back of his head, "I...may have forgotten to eat before I left."
"Haaaaa..." Justek gave him a mildly pitying glance and said, "Fine, you can grab a bite to eat at my place."
The moment the boy's eyes lit up Justek verbally stamped his dreams to dust, "But when you're full, you'll be on your way immediately, understood?"
"Sure! Thanks for the hospitality!" The boy proclaimed, going into a quick and forceful bow.
Justek shook his head and the two went to the edge of the stone precipice. Justek froze up for a moment and that allowed the boy to wave his hand out and poof another cloud into existence.
"Let's head on down!" The boy said, waltzing right onto the cloud, and Justek following a moment after testing it with his toes.
As they made their descent, Justek lanced the boy with his glare and muttered, "You know, you still haven't told me your name..."
"Oh! I'm sorry!" The boy enthusiastically turned and extended his hand towards Justek, "My name's Sarajin Stratos!"
Though Justek did not return the gesture, he nevertheless smirked and muttered the name aloud, as though recording it in his head, "Sarajin Stratos, eh?"
Sarajin blankly fluttered his eyelashes and returned his hand to his side. The two then landed, and made their way for Justek's home, on what would be the start of a great and long journey for the both of them...
ACT 1: THE WORLD OF ELEMENTS
Chapter -161: Sarajin Stratos
They made their way past the gate. Sarajin raised his feet slowly over the strange decorations and couldn't stop looking at them as he followed Justek into the village.
Despite it being daytime there were torches lit near every hut. The flames were dark and had a slight blue tint to them, giving off a mysterious vibe in the air.
But that wasn't all that was in the air. Sarajin had to suck his nose inward and feel his stomach knot up at the rough odor in the air.
"Whoo! This stench is stronger than cow manure..." Sarajin would try to adjust, however.
Sarajin tried to take a closer look at the homes to find out what they were made of, but Justek wasn't stopping for him. He only got to feel the strangely taut pinkish walls once before being forced to scurry after his new friend.
"Hey wait up!" Sarajin waddled up aside him right as he paused. Sarajin's eyes widened and he reeled himself back as a man and woman passed in front of them.
They wore two layers of these big, draping cloaks with the same type of scales on them that Justek's pants had. But theirs covered the whole top side of the cloth, though arranged in different patterns. Dragging along the ground at the bottom of their cloaks were tiny versions of those pointed objects at the gates. They actually looked like teeth, if they were sharp.
But wow! Were these people tall! Sarajin was not short by any means, being an average five-footer, but these adults, even the women, dwarfed him by a good foot. Their faces looked so...rough though, like they had been chiseled out of rock. Their eyebrows protruded a centimeter from their heads and their pupils were thinner than normal. And their fingernails were lengthy, and sharp. It looked kind of...painful actually.
Sarajin's mouth was left agape and his gaze trailed after the people of the village for a short while after.
"Wow, everyone's so big and tough-looking here!"
"Is that really such a big deal?" Justek grumbled under his breath.
A few steps later, Justek remarked "Well we're here" and Sarajin snapped his wayward gaze towards Justek's abode.
It was a little taller than the other homes but stood out because there was this big, metallic and sharp object impaling into the house from the top.
Sarajin's eyes were practically sparkling and seeing that made Justek rub his temples and sigh.
"Do NOT act like this in front of my parents you doofus..." He mumbled.
He then headed inside and after his awe popped like a bubble, Sarajin went in with him. It was a little darker in here owing to the lack of windows, but the material the walls were made of were just thin enough for light to seep in.
There was a stone cube in the right corner with a fire lit inside of it, giving this place some much needed warmth. In the back left corner there was a tall wooden shelf filled with a bunch of these strange, rectangular objects of different sizes and colors.
In the center of the house was the rest of the object impaled through the roof. It was a pitch black metal triangle that looked so sharp it would cut Sarajin's eyes if he stared at it for too long.
And hunched over to the left of it were two figures cloaked dimly in shadow.
Justek let out a couple dry coughs, beating his fist against his mouth, then remarked in an almost meek tone of voice, "Mother, father...I have brought a guest home with me."
The temperature dropped almost immediately, as the two figures turned their heads and glared with bright, pupil less eyes. The left had eyes of amethyst, while the right had eyes of fire.
Sarajin's skin became riddled with goosebumps as the figure on the right stood, towering at a mighty six and a half feet. His hair was like a wild creature's mane, draping beyond his shoulders and blending in with his cloak. He didn't just have scales, he had two layers of them. And his slow, steady march forward left deep footprints in the ground.
"And just who be this child, whom stands before me, my son?" His voice billowed like the winds that roared below Sarajin's home. With gaze alone, he set the mood in this room, and expectations that needed to be met.
Justek's body trembled from head to toe. But despite being faced with such a towering figure, Sarajin looked right up into his eyes and didn't blink.
"Are you Justek's father?" He said in a friendly manner of speaking.
The man's head pivoted sharply towards Sarajin and locked eyes with him on the spot, "I am he, who smolders in the ashes of bone and marrow! What be your name, young whelp of the sky?!"
Sarajin's eyes widened and his heart did skip a beat, but he planted his hands on his knees and bowed his head firmly, "My name is Sarajin Stratos, sir! I'm your son's new friend!"
"Friend?!" Barked the man in abject disbelief, "You claim to be his...friend?!"
After Sarajin's hair settled back into place he lifted his head and nodded, "That's right, sir...He even invited me over to eat."
"Why...!" The loud sound of cracking filled the air, upon which the figure lunged forward and stepped into the light.
And with his face revealed, he was nothing more than an ecstatic middle-aged man with a rugged beard and nose built like a chisel.
With a hearty laugh he wrapped his big, meaty hands around Sarajin's back and effortlessly hoisted him up like a feather, "That's wonderful news! Ha ha!"
Hauling the boy back around like a trophy, the man proclaimed to the other figure in shadows, "Look honey! Our son brought home a friend!"
The other person stood and in contrast to most other people in this village, she had a slightly lighter color scheme. The scales on her clothes were more pinkish and smooth, with her also having some scales over her eyebrows. Her irises had this gem-like texture that made them sharp but refined. Her hair was amethyst with hints of black streaks near the bottom, and her arms were nice and slender.
"A friend? That IS wonderful news." Once Sarajin heard her soothing voice it was like there hadn't been any worries at all.
The man put Sarajin gently on the ground and shoved him along the back towards where they had been seated, "Come right this way boy! We were just getting ready to eat!"
Sarajin's eyes remained wide open and he had this big smile all the while, "I can't wait to see what you guys eat here on the surface!"
Meanwhile Justek was just dragging his feet along the ground, hanging his head and muttering aloud, "Could you possibly embarrass me any more..."
Sarajin was sat down with his back towards the flame keeper, where in front of him stood a pile of this red and white food. It looked similar to what the walls of the houses were made of, but more bulbous and squishy.
Justek's father sat down and shook the house, planting his hands on his knees and letting out a jolly laugh, "Go on boy! Eat to your heart's content, we have plenty of meat to spare!"
Sarajin stared at the pile as Justek's parents shoved their hands deep inside it, making visceral noises as they dragged huge lumps of meat out into their open jaws.
Sarajin grimaced with a blank look in his eyes, but then reached his hand out slowly towards the pile. He hesitated upon seeing the parents' food get spit out onto the ground, but managed to take a sizable lump of meat back with him regardless.
"So they eat meat too. Wonder what it'll taste like?" He shoved the whole lump into his mouth. Like just filled those cheeks to the brim with that squishy, meaty goodness!
"Ghhh...!" His face twisted up as this...slimy, gooey sensation wiggled around in his mouth. The food was almost alive, fighting to get out of his system. But Sarajin bit his teeth down hard on that meat and chewed, not caring that his throat was staging a revolt this very moment.
"Its raw...! But it's got so much flavor packed inside of it!" He squeezed his eyes shut and swallowed part of the meat. His throat pulsed, putting up a couple decent efforts to fight back, only to succumb to his body's desire to feed.
"Delicious!" Was his verdict.
He went for more but first caught a glimpse of Justek to his right. While everyone else was digging into the pile, he was just taking small chunks at a time and barely paying attention to putting them in his mouth. His eyes were focused more on one of those strange rectangular things from the shelves. Apparently, it could be opened up, and inside were a bunch of thin white rectangles with ink in them.
"What're you doing Justek?" Sarajin poked his head out curiously.
Justek gleamed out the side of his eyes and waved the object so Sarajin could get a better look at it, "Oh, just reading a book."
Sarajin's eyes popped and he let out a gasp, "THAT'S a book?! Wow Justek, you must be pretty smart to be able to read one of those!"
Justek's smile stretched his cheeks, and remained there as he resumed reading.
"Too smart if you ask me," Growled Justek's father, not even stopping his ravenous appetite as he gestured his hand bluntly at his son, "You should use be using that big mouth of yours to fill your gullet!"
Justek nudged his glasses up and snapped back, "I don't know how many times I must tell you this, I have no interest in acting like such a savage during meal time, father."
"Oh come off that already!" His father curtly replied, "Your friend's enjoying himself just fine, and he ain't no savage!"
"No, he's just a neanderthal...!" Justek grumbled coarsely under his breath. He then put the book on his lap so he could direct his gaze more properly towards his father, "Look, I just simply don't want to fill my stomach until it's set to burst. I'm eating enough to live, that should be good enough for you."
"You're never going to become big and strong with that attitude boy! Now put down that book and eat, or I'll..." He was getting ready to stand and that made Justek grimace. But then, his wife put both her hands around his arm.
"Not in front of the guest dear." She whispered.
"Bah, fine." He sat down with a disgruntled huff.
Sarajin glanced at both sides with his mouth stuffed with meat. He was soaking in the tension and felt the unease coming off of Justek as he returned to his books.
"Almost reminds me of back home..." When he swallowed his meat, he felt a little uneasy himself afterwards.
The subject was dropped by Justek's dad gesturing towards him and remarking, "So what's your deal boy? Ain't every day someone from the Ten Tribes comes wandering near our here village."
Sarajin took a break from eating. He was starting to feel full anyways.
"Well sir, it wasn't my intent to come here."
"As a matter of fact, he fell face first out of the sky onto that small rocky plateau in front of the village." Justek remarked.
"Face first?! Why by the founding lords, you must have a skull as hard as my blade!" Exclaimed Justek's father with delight.
Justek snickered while Sarajin feverishly shook his head and replied, "No sir, I was able to cushion my fall with the wind."
"Oh, so you're from Arc Hurricanos eh?" Justek's father rubbed his chin for a short while then wagged his fingers out, "What'd you say your name was again?"
"Sarajin Stratos, sir!"
"No kidding? And how old are you?"
"14 years old as of last month sir!"
"Same age as our son, how about that?" Remarked Justek's mom.
"Though I AM the elder of us by a month." Justek remarked like it was a matter of pride for him.
"Hmmm..." After a brief moment to think, Justek's father remarked, "So where were you trying to get to then?"
"Ummm, a place where the green looks like it's been smashed together. Justek called it...Tanglefae?"
"Ah, our neighbor to the North."
"Such a lovely place." Justek's mother added.
"And why would you want to be headed there then?" The father asked.
With an earnest look in his eyes Sarajin declared, "Well, I want to explore the entire world!"
As Justek's father opened his mouth Sarajin shook his head and corrected himself, "Oh you were asking about Tanglefae specifically, I-I'm sorry!"
Justek's father clammed up with a smirk for a moment, "Naw no need to reel it back boy. You got me interested now."
He propped his meat drenched hands on his knees and scooted a little closer, "So you want to travel the world eh?"
Sarajin nodded with a light shade of pink in his cheeks, "Y-Yes sir!"
He then looked him straight in the eyes and said, "You see, our Tribe floats high above the surface, so we don't really get to interact with the rest of the world."
Justek turned and remarked, "Makes sense. From what I read Arc Hurricanos is an isolationist society."
"Uh huh!" Sarajin gave an affirmative nod, "We were told it's dangerous to come down to the surface, but I've never been able to figure out why. Everyone I ask either doesn't know or avoids the question."
"But that just made you more curious, didn't it?" Justek's father said with a wily smile.
Sarajin nodded, "There's a friend of mine back home who seems to know a lot about the surface. Every day that we meet up he would tell me stories about these wonderful places he's explored and eventually I just...couldn't stop thinking about them! It all sounded so exciting and new!"
He stood up and pumped his fists before his stomach, "I wanted to go exploring, I just had to!"
"For the last few years I've been trying to make it down to the surface on my own. But every time I kept getting caught and scolded. My dad..." Sarajin paused with an expression lacking his usual luster.
He gave it a quick shake off and then gyrated his fists in the air, "So anyways! This morning my mom asked me to do her a favor. See, she needs this special type of herb that can only be found in Tanglefae, and she trusted ME to go and get it!"
Proudly standing tall, Sarajin propped his fists on his hips and proclaimed, "So I prepared my poncho and took a brave dive off the edge of the city."
"And THAT'S when you crashed landed on the surface?" Justek's father raised his brows and chuckled, "Surely there had to have been a better way to land?"
"Well I HAD modified my poncho to glide around in the air..." Sarajin flinched and rubbed the back of his head, "I just underestimated how fierce the winds were down here. I'll get it right the next time!"
Justek's mother giggled and said, "Still, it's amazing that you managed to come this far on your own."
"Indeed!" Added Justek's father, "But we probably best not be keeping you here much longer then, eh?"
Sarajin's eyes froze wide open and he threw his arms down in a haste, "You're right! I shouldn't be away too long, or mom might worry!"
He planted his hands on his knees and bowed, "Thanks for the hospitality! I'll repay you back some other time!"
He then made a run for the door only for Justek's father to stand up and hold him back with words alone, "Now wait just a moment."
Sarajin turned around and Justek's father put his hand on his chin, "Do you even know what you're getting into out there? Tales can only tell you so much..."
"Well, no...But I think I can figure it out as I go along!" Sarajin said with astounding confidence.
"...Perhaps, but it be against my code of ethics if I let you go about by your lonesome," The father shook his head and then stepped aside and gestured his hand towards his son, "Boy, you're gonna accompany your friend to Tanglefae."
"What?!" Justek turned his head so sharply that his glasses were almost flung into whatever meat was left.
He then slapped his book on the ground and stood up to face his dad man-to-man, "And why must I do that?! He said he can handle it himself."
"Don't talk back to me boy. You're gonna go, that isn't a request."
"A request I shall politely decline." Justek said, stiffly pushing his glasses back into place.
"Boooooy..." His father's voice started to become a growl, and his cloak levitated off the ground, splitting into two pairs that began to resemble wings.
Justek's knees trembled and his voice cracked a little, "F-Fine, I suppose if my superior knowledge is necessary..."
His father's features settled down.
Justek then placed his book back on the shelf while making some inaudible grumbles. He made sure to take his time walking past his father, tossing him an aside glance as he made his way towards Sarajin.
His mother floated over to him like a feather gently descending from the sky, and from her sleeve drew a beaded necklace that she clipped around Justek's neck.
"Don't worry honey, as long as you wear this..."
"I know mother, I know." Justek softly brushed his mother's hand aside, then tucked the necklace inside of his shirt.
"Haaaa..." He then finished making his way over to Sarajin, whose soft gaze was sympathetic to his troubles.
"You alright, Justek?"
"..." Justek's eyes narrowed with this brief, wet swell in his gaze. He then pushed his glasses up with a finger and remarked, "Let's leave soon, Sarajin. We're burning daylight."
"Ok!" Sarajin exclaimed, the two of them immediately venturing out of Justek's home, and in time, out the gate to his village.
Sarajin patted his stomach and let out a belch, which brought the smell of the meat back up with it, "Whew! I've never felt this full before! Your dad's a good cook."
Justek turned and gazed at him with eyes as wide as an owl's. Sarajin looked at him and tilted his head, pointing at his face, "What's up?"
Justek squinted at him and muttered, "You're unbelievable."
"Eh?"
"Whatever," Justek shrugged and then crossed his arms against his chest, laying one hand up and asking, "So, we're to embark for Tanglefae then?"
"Yep!" Sarajin turned around and pumped his fist straight towards the northbound skies, "The Land of the Mystic Groves! I can't WAIT to see what we'll find there!"
Sarajin marched forth across the land with a spring in his step that baffled Justek completely.
He stayed back and stared, then got this sly smile across his face, "Well if nothing else..."
The smile became a smirk, as his expression adopted a rather impish nature, "It'll be fun watching that ignorant shrimp make a fool of himself."
He kicked up his pace just enough to get behind Sarajin, upon which he kept his hands in his pockets and continued to smile.
And over the horizon, a sea of green trees awaited them...
Next Time: The Tribe of Green