Greetings to all reading this. This is my first story of hopefully many and I am open to criticism so that I know how to refine my skills. It's only up from here and I hope you enjoy!
In the peak of the night a strong storm is erupting with rain drops that could pierce armor. A Nigerian man is running in an undisclosed rainforest in central Africa. He hears the heavy footsteps of a black jaguar gaining closer. The deep pound made from the impact of the big cat's paws pierced the man's heart with fear, that of which he used to fuel the adrenaline left in his body. With the last of his energy, he prepares to do one last push before giving in to the exhaust. The jaguar gains close enough to pounce on its prey but right before he sunk claws into his back, the man hits a hard object, breaking his ankle into pieces causing him to wail out in pain. Taking this as a challenge the jaguar offered its own roar as a rebuttal.
As the jaguar slowly walked up to the man, the object that broke his ankle began to rise. The man couldn't see clearly through the heavy rain but could see something the size of a newborn child but it stood like a prideful man with his chest up. The beast instantly went into a defensive state but it still wanted the man. It pounces and the man closes his eyes in preparation of his inevitable death. But something isn't right, where is the excruciating pain and gore? The man looks to see the jaguar in front him. It was caught midair by the mysterious object. What seemed to be its arm and hand has grown big enough to grab the jaguar from its stomach around to its back with a closed fist.
The object lets out a childish giggle as it violently shakes the jaguar as if it was a personal toy. It is then thrown above the tree line with ease. The rain stops and the moonlight shines through the gaps of the trees. The man in awe crawled up to the object and it put into a state of shock. It was a beautiful baby girl. Even while covered in mud, her skin glistened in the moonlight like faint glitter was spread across her body. Her eyes glowed like they were made from pure gold because he couldn't spot an iris. She had a shiny mini curly afro that looked like it had been moisturized constantly for months.
Amazed by her beauty the man put his arms to signify that he wanted to hold her. She started to walk up to and all the man could think was: "How can this newborn baby walk?!". The baby girl walks up to him and gives him a hug and the man can feel her tight grip bending his bones. He tries to get but his ankle causes him to fall back down. The little girl sees this and walks up to a tall wet tree whose branches were at least 100 ft. up. She then proceeds to climb the tree without any hesitation and with speed unlike any animal he has ever seen. The man crawls up to the tree to see four tiny sets of holes the size of baby fingers and toes going all the way up the body of the tree. She rips a whole branch with ease and jumps from the tree and perfectly lands on her feet. The impact from the jump created a crater width 5 times her size.
She breaks the branch twice to where it is the size the man can hold. He props himself up and looks down at the girl but he still has a feeling of inferiority. He puts his hand out and she grabs it gently this time and they walk.
As they begin to leave the forest twelve jeeps with their high beams surround them and four men out of each car come out. They point their guns at them. "Les mains en l'air(Hands Up!)" yells one of the soldiers. "Please don't shoot, I don't speak French!" the man said with his hands up. "Aller sur le terrain!(Get on the ground!)", the soldier said while walking with his sights not leaving the man. The soldier hits the man in the head with butt of his, knocking him out in the process. In a visible rage the baby levitated in front of the men. "Au feu! Au feeeuuuuuuu!(Fire! Fiirrreee!)", yelled the leading soldier and the unit began firing. The bullet's momentum was immediately stopped when they hit her body, but the men continued firing.
"Continuez à t-(Continue fir-)" the soldier's order was cut off by the clicks of empty guns. The baby lets out a deafening scream making the soldiers cover their ears in pain. While the men are stunned the child quickly rushed towards them. The Nigerian man slowly regains consciousness. His vision is blurred and he can barely move. All he can hear is the blood curdling screams and the tearing of limbs. He props himself up with his make-shift cane and all he could experience is the smell of the bodies. His eyes watered with disgust as he took a look at the damage. The man was horrified when he saw the organized piles of limbs. Even while in this state he came to the realization that this baby is greatly intelligent. He turns to see the baby girl sitting innocently on the hood of one of the cars playing with the windshield wiper. He catches himself questioning his own existence. Why did she save him? Why did she protect him? How can something this innocent and cute be so destructive?
He limps with his cane towards the girl and tries to pick her up. A strained "huegh" comes out the man's mouth. It feels like she weighs 200 lbs. As he attempts to hold her. All of sudden she gets lighter. "Did she know I was struggling," the man said to himself. He proceeded to walk away from the carnage with the intention to stop at the nearest civilization he could find. He looks at the baby and says, "My name is Banji, what would yours be?" To his surprised hear the baby trying to talk. " a-a-A-L-A," the girl tried her best to say.
He arrived in the village and people began to flock to the injured man and blood/mud covered baby. Before they walked up Banji looked at Ala and her eyes weren't golden anymore. They looked like normal human's eyes. They helped Banji to the nearest bed and wrapped his ankle up. The women took the baby to clean her up. The night ends and Banji falls asleep. He is awakened by loud knocks at the door of where he was sleeping. He grabbed his cane and walked to the door. It was a beautiful light-skinned woman holding Ala. She was an American volunteer who came to help out in the village.
"We cleaned your daughter up, if she wasn't yours I would take her home and love her forever," she said with a blushing smile. "Actually she isn't mine, I found her in the woods," Banji said in a laughing tone. The woman gave him a concerning side eye. Before she could say anything, ten cars similar to the one they had encountered before pulled up in the village.
"Hide her!" Banji said in a harsh whispering tone. "Why?," the woman asked. Banji pulls her inside quickly and says "Listen, those men tried to apprehend us last night. They knocked me out and when I woke up they were all dead. I think the baby did it." "What?," the lady said loudly. Banji covered her mouth quickly. " Please don't think I'm crazy. When I tried to wake up all I could hear was screaming," Danji said quietly. " Maybe it was a jaguar, there have been a lot of attacks lately," the woman said in a quieter tone. "A jaguar doesn't make meat piles organized by the types of limbs!" Banji wanted to yell but said it in a loud whisper tone.
" A baby isn't capable of doing that, it is impossible", the woman said. Before Banji could say anything, more knocks were heard at the door. "Ouvre la porte! (Open the door!)" was yelled from the outside of the door. "They've found us," Danji said frightently. "Go through the back and I'll distract them," He turns towards them before he walks out the door and says, " Please take care of her." You could see the seriousness in his eyes, like he came to terms with his fate that was waiting for him behind that door. She nods and runs towards the back door as she opens the back door she hears the front door open.
As she runs to her car she can hear the faint yelling echoing in the distance. She straps the baby in with the seatbelt and she was comically small compared to the seat of the car. She drives away from the village to the nearest city to find the nearest airport so they fly to the United States and hide. As she rides she looks at the baby girl and says, "I'll take care of you as if you are my own daughter. What shall I name you?" The baby tried to say her name but before she could finish she was cut off by a sudden "Gaia! That's what I'll call you."
That is the conclusion of the initial origin of Gaia. Tune in next time when story continues 15 years later when Gaia starts high school.
