Author's Notes: I posted this chapter despite the multiple ways I tried to distract myself. Has anyone ever played "Don't Starve?" That's a fun game. I die constantly in it. Also my CD drive like to randomly pop open, and this causes a pop up that strongly suggests I play "Spore." Once escaping this, I have to spend 5 minutes separating the individual chapter from the bulk of the story which requires respacing, and this happens while I'm trying to avoid Youtube and other social media sites like Facebook.
Then sometimes when I'm in my documents I see something else in there I haven't written in a while and of course I have to read the whole thing. If I'm fortunate I won't start writing while I'm in there, but I just never know.
I've never been diagnosed with ADD, but sometimes I wonder… anyway, enough with the excuses! Onto the chapter!
Living the Heroian Way
Lard Nar was eager to change out of the Irken clothes he was wearing. It didn't matter to him that the Heroian outfits looked strange with their lightning bolt symbols and overly large belts. His uniform when he'd been the leader of the Resisty hadn't been very normal either, now that he thought about it.
He wasn't sure how Purple was going to react when he was told to change clothes. The Tallests never went anywhere without their armour... Not even Tallest Miyuki had felt comfortable enough to leave it behind.
"I can't believe this is a requirement..." Purple sighed as he stepped out from behind one of the curtains inside the tent. He rotated his shoulders and moved his arms around. "It feels weird not wearing armour."
"Yeah, I guess it would..." Lard Nar agreed. He kept his back turned to the Tallest as he finished putting on the strange purple and yellow coloured shirt that matched his pants. Apparently the current Tallest was more carefree than the others had been...
"So did you get along well with the captain?" Purple asked him curiously.
"I think he's a good person..." Lard Nar admitted.
"How much did you tell him?"
"I couldn't lie Purple... but he doesn't know anything about you..."
The Tallest nodded. "Well, it's not like I expected you to keep up this charade for very long."
Lard Nar finished putting on the belt before turning to regard Purple. "Shouldn't you return to the Empire?" he asked. "Your people are probably worried about you."
"Nah... they won't mind it if I'm gone for a while," Purple responded. "It's going to take one gutsy soldier to figure out where I've gone when I've made it obvious I don't want to be disturbed. I have time."
"But... these people hate the Empire... if they figure out who you are..."
"That's my problem. You don't have to worry about me."
"Are you ready to meet the troop Toffer, Kaenen?" The captain questioned from the entrance of the tent.
"Sure," Purple replied as he walked towards the entrance. Lard Nar followed the Tallest with his head down, biting his bottom lip nervously. They joined with the captain and continued walking towards the open field.
"Right now our numbers are small, and we don't have much equipment, but one day we hope to be able to stand against the Irken Machine," the captain explained. There was a warm breeze blowing, rustling the trees. The smell of fresh wild-flower was strong. "We wear masks to protect our identities... no one goes by their real names."
As they walked, members of the group started to gather around.
Lard Nar recognized the two who had attacked him, and he drew closer to Purple.
"You've already met my two most headstrong and irresponsible members... Crippit and Lemwor. I have them on a three day fast for their behaviour," the captain said. "Then there is Froq, Taytan, Lodi, Alya, Mitzu, Kokin, Zalph, Nalko, Rodin, Jinsi, Zenta, Benos, brothers Nuka and Naku, Zebber, Mibi, and Divis. They are all natives of Heroia. The others; Kotto, Lizsurk, Galgira, Yittivik, Malchner, Odinos, Seurin, Moe, Rudner, Kloster, Hion, and Daltz are natives from other planets." He smiled. "It's ok if you can't remember everyone right away. They'll remind you."
"I think I've got it memorized," Purple replied in disinterest.
"Really?"
"Yes," Purple responded muffling a yawn.
"Well then, go on and name everyone," one of the member's laughed.
"Starting from the one who just spoke and going around counter-clockwise, the order is: Zebber, Mibi, Divis, Kotto, Lizsurk, Galgira, Yittivik, Malchner, Odinos, Seurin, Moe, Rudner, Kloster, Hion, Daltz, Froq, Taytan, Lodi, Alya, Mitzu, Kokin, Zalph, Nalko, Rodin, Jinsi, Zenta, Benos, Nuka, and Naku."
"Well you did leave out..." the captain began, but he quickly stopped when Purple gave him an irritated scowl.
"You don't think I did that on purpose?"
Lard Nar stared at the Tallest. On the Massive, Purple never cared to remember any of his follower's names... he was a bit impressed that Purple even had the ability.
"Now tell me, what do you do exactly?" the Tallest questioned. They had all stopped in the middle of the field, near the place the ships were parked.
"At the moment we stop Irken packages from arriving at their destinations, and we try to stay in shape for when we get more members and are finally able to confront the Empire directly. We also set up refugee camps on unused planets and supply the survivors with food from Heroia.
Last year we managed to defeat the Dalmish; a group of rogue pirates who were involved in selling refugees as slaves. Since then public support has been high, but the fear of the Empire keeps many from joining." He grinned. "We can always use another ship to help us haul the big rigs though."
Purple didn't look overly thrilled. He shrugged his shoulders. "I guess it'd be something to do."
"Today we were just patrolling," the captain explained. "The rest of the day you can spend doing whatever you want. Tomorrow, we'll head out to rescue those we can from the Empire's recent conquest." He looked around at all his followers. "You are dismissed. Meet here tomorrow morning at sunrise."
Everyone dispersed. Some started walking towards the trees, while others lay down in the field to enjoy the warmth of the sun, still others went to the small brook to play in the water.
The captain returned to his tent, leaving his followers to do whatever they want. The flap closed behind him.
"Well, let's go explore," Purple suggested.
"Ok..." Lard Nar replied.
"Hey, do you guys want to come see my village?" Divis asked as he approached the strangers. The bright eyed young Heroian was brown in colour, and he wore a white and red outfit. "It's not that far away."
Purple forced a smile. "Yeah, sounds fun," he replied.
The young Heroian grinned and began running towards the trees. "It's this way! Try to keep up!"
"Oh, is that a challenge?" Purple questioned stretching a bit. "It's been a while since I've done this, but I think I can out-run that squirt."
"Are you sure...?" Lard Nar asked. "I mean... you did use a hover..."
Before the Vortian could finish his sentence, Purple had taken off through the trees.
"Belt."
Lard Nar watched as Purple disappeared from sight. Immediately he began to shake and his palms started sweating. He looked around to see if those two attackers were nearby, and he was relieved when he couldn't see them anywhere.
He wanted to run, but he didn't feel like he could. His leg was still a bit sore from earlier, and his experience in the torture chamber left him feeling weak and useless.
Instead of following Purple, he sat down in the grass and decided to wait.
Purple easily outran the boy, but he slowed down a bit to give the illusion that the child was at least keeping up. He made it to the village and waited outside the gate for his young guide.
The Heroian panted as he slowly approached the Tallest. "You know... you're pretty fast..."
"That's why you shouldn't race someone taller than you," Purple remarked. He gestured behind him. "Is this your village?"
There were a few old houses surrounded by a wooden fence that came as high as the Tallest's shoulders. The gate was also quite small in comparison to Purple. There were a few Heroians watching from their door steps, and more had paused in the fields so they could see what was going on. The children playing in the centre of the small village stopped what they were doing and stared.
"Yeah it is," the boy replied. "My mom and dad live just over there," he pointed through the gate at the house standing nearby. "And my little brother and sister are outside. I try to see them as often as I can."
"Brother you're back!" His little sister exclaimed. She ran through the gate and latched onto her older sibling before shyly looking up at Purple.
"Who's that...?"
"He's one of our new members," Divis explained. "He's uh... what were you again?"
"I'm a Miekarian from the late planet Miekar," Purple answered.
"Are those your ears?" she asked, pointing at Purple's antennae. The Heroians all had jagged white ears.
"Pretty much," the Tallest replied. He didn't feel like explaining any further.
"They look a lot different from our ears."
"Sis... we've been over this before," Divis said in slight embarrassment. "Not everyone in the Universe looks like we do."
These villagers weren't dressed in gaudy flashy clothing like the members of the troop were, Purple noted. They didn't wear masks or have lightning bolts on their outfits. Instead the men wore traditional brown, faded red, or grey shirts with loose fitting pants, and the women wore white aprons over dull coloured dresses.
"What happened to your friend?" Divis asked suddenly when he realized Lard Nar hadn't followed them.
"Ah shloot..." Purple remarked as he started walking back the way they had come. "I didn't realize he wasn't following us."
"Wait, we'll come with you," Divis said, motioning for the other kids to come over. "The kids love playing with the Captain's group."
"Do what you want," Purple replied picking up his pace. He jogged back, wondering if Lard Nar had gotten himself into trouble. For some reason, the Vortian seemed particularly good at doing that.
He sighed in relief when he saw his comrade sitting quietly by himself in the tall grass. Lard Nar was looking up at the clouds in the sky, day dreaming of pleasant things. The warm breeze and the soft rustle of grass was very soothing. He was beginning to think he could fall asleep without any interference from his nightmares.
"You're so fast uncle!" The children complained as they finally caught up to Purple who had stopped to rest on a small hill. They fell into the grass and wildflowers, and some began rolling down the slope, giggling and laughing.
Divis was breathing hard when he stopped running. He paused, noting that Purple was within sight of his friend, but he seemed to be keeping his distance. The Tallest was lying on his back (which was rather uncomfortable for an Irken usually) with his head resting on his arms.
"I thought you wanted to join up with Toffer," Divis said, and Purple glanced at him with a neutral expression on his face.
"He's fine on his own right now," Purple explained muffling a yawn. "And tell those kids to stop calling me uncle."
"Oh ha ha.." Divis rubbed the back of his head ruefully. "I can't really make them do anything..."
"Come play too brother!" Divis's sister called from the bottom of the hill. She had been one of the first to roll down it.
"Alright! Everyone better get out of the way!" Divis called as he got a running start at the slope. He launched himself into the air and started rolling even before he hit the ground. He rolled faster than any of the children had, and some of them yelped and laughed as they dove to get out of his way.
"Let's spar!" one of the boys insisted when Divis had come to a stop.
"No, I want to spar with him!" another young boy said, tugging on Divis' sleeve.
Purple let out a sigh. These people really were carefree. They wouldn't last a second if they seriously came against the Empire.
"Um... Uncle sir...?" a young girl holding a small stuffed toy said shyly as she approached him.
"Yeah?"
"Can I sit with you?"
"Don't you want to play with the others?"
"No..." she admitted looking down at her feet. "They're a bit too wild for me..."
"Come sit then," Purple replied, motioning beside him.
The little girl alien sat down and scooted as close as she could to the Tallest without touching him. She placed the little doll in her lap, and faced away from Purple so she could watch the others play.
"How old are you?" she asked.
Purple flicked one of his antennae forward a bit to show he was listening. "Does it matter?" he replied.
"No... not really..." she said, hugging her doll closer. "The captain's crew members don't usually talk about that stuff... they're always very secretive about who they are behind their masks... that's what makes Divis different."
"That boy wouldn't last a minute in a real fight," Purple told her bluntly. "And if he doesn't want to get his village involved in anything unpleasant, it would be a good idea for him to keep his identity a secret."
"But Heroia has always fought for the freedom and peace of other planets!" the little girl insisted. "Only... now not very many people take part in helping other planets... our council decided it would be better for us to withdraw from being the heroes of the galaxy... because of the Irken Empire... they got scared of the Irkens."
"I hear the Irkens can be a bit intimidating," Purple agreed. "But that doesn't mean they're an unstoppable force."
"Exactly! Evil always loses!" the little girl exclaimed, smiling brightly. "That's why a lot of us kids want to join the captain when we get older. He stands for everything our planet used to stand for."
Purple smirked. "You want to become soldiers? The Irkens haven't marked your planet yet have they? You should be enjoying the peace and freedom you have."
"But a true Heroian can't..." the little girl began. Her ears drooped and her smile faded. "We can't enjoy our freedom when we know there are others out there that don't have it."
"What a strange planet you live on," Purple remarked.
The small girl crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. "It's not strange! Why is being nice to others strange?"
Purple chuckled. This girl was kind of funny. "Because most of the known Universe isn't like that," he replied, sitting up. "It's a cruel and unforgiving place... the strongest survive while the weak are either killed or dominated."
"But that's wrong... it shouldn't be like that..."
"Why not? It's a cruel system, but it works."
"Because..." the girl paused. She couldn't think of an answer. She'd always thought it was just common sense that people, alien or not, should be treated nicely.
"It's ok," Purple told her, sighing. "I've just seen a lot more that you have."
"What do you mean?"
"It's nothing you need to worry about," Purple replied. He looked at the children playing at the bottom of the hill. "Do they really want to learn how to fight?"
"Most of them do... they've said so before. The captain won't let us train with him or his boys though... he tells us we're too young."
"You're never too young to learn how to fight, uh... well unless you really are too young, but you can hold a weapon can't you?"
The girl nodded.
"Then you're capable of learning."
"Come on Kaenen!" Divis called waving up at him. "We're going to go play in the water! You should come too!"
Purple quickly turned to look in the opposite direction. Lard Nar was lying down in the grass. The Vortian appeared to have fallen asleep. He couldn't leave his comrade just lying there like that...
"I'll catch up with you!" Purple called. He climbed to his feet and brushed some of the dirt off of his uniform. He adjusted his mask, making sure it was tied securely before regarding the little girl. "I found talking with you... kind of interesting. You should follow Divis. I'll join up with you guys later."
"Hey um... about your friend..." the little girl stood up and clutched the doll to her chest. "Why is he like that?"
"He survived something not many people survive," Purple answered. "The Empire."
The little girl gasped. Her bright eyes widened slightly. "Really?"
"Yes, he doesn't like to talk about it though," Purple said with a sigh. "I can't really say I blame him. The Tallests are horrible to their captives."
"Wow... he really survived the Empire...?"
"Do I look like I'd lie to you specifically?" Purple questioned. "Now get going. Divis is leaving."
The little girl stared at Purple a moment longer before taking off down the hill to join the others. She glanced back at the Tallest a couple times.
When they were gone, Purple took his time strolling through the field. He stopped when he came to Lard Nar who was resting peacefully. His shadow fell over the Vortian.
"Hey... wake up. You're going to have to start interacting with these people sometime or they're going to think you're weird."
Lard Nar stirred a bit. Wearily, he opened his eyes and looked up at the Tallest. He paled and curled close to himself for protection. "Sorry..." he mumbled. "I didn't mean..."
"I thought so..." Purple said as he sat down next to the shaking Vortian. "You're scared of me."
"No, no I'm not," Lard Nar immediately protested. He straightened a bit and propped himself up. "You just surprised me... Really."
"Is it because I look like him, or is it because I'm one of the Tallest?" Purple pressed, disregarding his comrade's denial.
"It's... I mean.. I don't think..." Lard Nar bowed his head. "It's a little of both I guess... I don't know why... You rescued me, so... why would I be scared of you?"
"You're safe now Lard Nar. You have to believe that."
"I'm trying... I really am trying..."
They sat in silence. For a little while, neither of them could think of anything to say.
Then Purple broke the silence. "I'll return to the Empire in three days."
Lard Nar nodded mutely as he tried to sort out his feelings. On one hand he was relieved, but then, a small shiver of fear ran down his spine. He also felt a pang of guilt and a bit of sadness.
"You need freedom Lard Nar... and I guess that's something you will never have if I hang around."
"I won't forget everything you've done for me... but I can't forgive everything you've done... I'm sorry."
"I understand." Emotions were pointless... Purple could feel. All Irkens could feel, but they simply chose to shut off their feelings. He hadn't allowed himself to feel anything when he turned in his 'brother' to be tried by the Control Brains. Even though he wanted freedom more than anything else, he stifled this desire under his obligation to the Empire.
"If we ever meet again, we will be on opposite sides."
"Will you kill me...? If you get the chance...?"
Purple chuckled dryly. "That's funny... I was going to ask you the very same thing." He stood up, and Lard Nar rose to his feet. "I told Divis we'd join him at the stream. Will you come?"
"Um... sure. Ok."
Both of them had a lot to think about, so neither of them spoke.
When they arrived at the stream, the children paused from their games to greet them. Some of the boys had started a splashing war while some of the other children were playing a game of 'call over.' There were two lines of kids, one on each side of the river for the game. The goal was to capture as many 'enemies' from the other side as the line could. The line could move to surround the child who'd been called over, or the child at the end of the row could grab onto the runner's hand, forcing them to join the line.
Both sides took turns calling each other. Divis was called the most because everyone wanted him on their side.
"Ok guys... call someone else for a bit..." Divis panted. He'd noticed the two new members watching, and he was starting to feel a bit rude that he hadn't even taken the time to say hi.
"I'm so sorry! Once they get you involved, it's really hard to leave!" Divis exclaimed as he came to greet Lard Nar and Purple. He rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "So... do you want to play?"
Purple blinked. Lard Nar stared.
"Err... with children?" Purple asked the obvious question.
"Well, yeah," Divis replied. "You can't tell me you've never played with children before."
"Well..." Purple reflected on his last memory of when he interacted with an Irken smeet. It was during Zim's trial... and he ended up locking the small Irken in the dungeons. He brought a finger to his chin. Oh great... he couldn't remember if he ever released the smeet or not. It could very well still be in the dungeons of Judgementia for all he knew.
"Let's just say I'm horrible with children."
"Oh come on, Delinca told me you two got along just fine," Divis remarked, not sounding at all convinced.
"She was a rare exception."
"Well... ok... but that means your friend participates by default!" Divis remarked as he grabbed Lard Nar by the arm and dragged him into the game.
Purple laughed. The children cheered, and despite Lard Nar's initial apprehension, he quickly picked up the rules of the game.
"He's going to fit in here just fine," Purple told himself.
More Notes: Call Over is the alien form of Red Rover. There is a slight bit more movement involved.