Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or The Dark Crystal; Brian Froud does I believe. Aletha however, is my own character and she does "belong" to me.
Author's Note: I know many have awaited more chapters for Strangers From Outside, so I just decided to upload the last three chapters. Originally, I wrote 7 chapters and then stopped for some reason. I guess I lost interest in writing this piece. For now, this is ALL the material I have ever written for this story. As you can tell, I think it went downhill...just didn't seem good to me, so that's probably why I stopped writing. Maybe one day I'll end up going back to it and writing a few more chapters. But right now, there are far more important things in life for me to worry about...writing my upcoming novel which probably won't be done for many, many years, and then working on my geology major in college.
But for the love of the gods, please read and review!
5
"Come on Fizzgig," Aletha called to the little ball of fur standing below her landstrider. Fizzgig cried and whined; Aletha had expected Fizzgig to be stubborn. Fizzgig stared at the mounted Gelfling with his somber eyes. "Dammit, Fizzgig," swore Aletha. "Are you coming or not?" Fizzgig opened his jaws and began to cry again. He's so loud, she thought, covering her sensitive ears. The landstrider Fijj became nervous from the wailing Fizzgig, and made a snort of resentment.
"Come on Fizzgig, jump up." As soon as his wailing started, Fizzgig stopped and met his eyes with Aletha's. His look was of uncertainty. "Fizzgig, is something wrong?" Truly, Aletha didn't know why Fizzgig was misbehaving so much today. It was bad enough that Fizzgig tore up all of Jen's clothes, and then nearly destroyed Aughra's books in the Castle Studies. Aletha laughed at the thought of how both Aughra and Jen reacted to Fizzgig's vile behavior. Her father yelled loud enough for everyone and everything in the Castle to hear. Aughra simply threw all the torn up papers right back at Fizzgig.
"As old as you are boy, you still got the stuff." Fizzgig barked happily, and launched himself up onto Fijj's back. He settled comfortably on Fijj's warm skin. Kicking at Fijj's sides, the three of them were on their way. Aletha knew the Valley well, and decided to travel along the different forks of the River. The River's parts either ran through solid swamp, forest, or rolling hills. Knowing Fijj, Aletha decided to stick with surveying the hills, since that was where she first sighted Them.
Aletha rode for hours, well past noon and into early evening. The Three Suns wouldn't set for a couple more hours, so Aletha enjoyed her time out in the country. Eventually, her ride became boring, since she saw nothing in site. She had spotted no sign of Them, nor really much of anything. Fijj began to pant after several hours of riding.
"We'll stop for a rest," Aletha reassured him. "Go drink from the River." After dismounting Fijj, Aletha collapsed on the ground. Fizzgig ran up and cuddled beside her. The winds were strong that day, and blew the long, thin grasses that were glued to the hills. "This was a waste of time. Maybe it is better that I left though, so I can stay away from my parents and Aughra."
Aletha laid down in the soft hill-grass and day dreamed. She imagined herself living in the Castle at an early age, playing with other Gelfling. It was a soothing thought, to finally not be alone. The clouds slowly moved across the sky, making different shapes that might've resembled trees or swampland animals. Everything was oddly quiet, until...
Zzzzziiiiiiiinnnnnngggg!
Aletha woke with a gasp, knowing that something flew past her in the blink of an eye. Fizzgig barked uncontrollably, adding to the chaos that was beginning to wake. Aletha saw Fijj at the base of the River, with a long piece of wood stuck into his back. Fijj shrieked in agony as ten more wooded sticks zinged past. Aletha screamed as loud as she could, and blindly, began to run. She didn't bother to look at her landstrider, as he already fell dead.
6
Dark shapes followed behind, calling out in an unknown language. The figures had stopped shooting arrows, but pursued after the Gelfling girl escaped. There were about a six or seven of Them, very tall and erect. Unfortunately, Aletha couldn't see what these figures looked like since they were entirely cloaked. All of the tall hidden figures were female; Aletha could at least guess that. The only thing she was concerned with was getting to safety, wherever that was.
Fizzgig whimpered, cradled in Aletha's arms. They killed my landstrider, she thought. If they killed my landstrider, now They're going to kill me. Tears flowed freely from Aletha's eyes. She didn't know why these strangers were trying to kill her, let alone know what they looked like. There was no where she could run though, since there were no rocks, foliage, or any form of hiding place that would provide ample cover. Aletha didn't bother to turn back, knowing if she did she would probably die.
Her small Gelfling legs couldn't go much farther, and soon she began walking up and down the mounted terrain. She struggled to breathe, panting and panting and panting. She halted her movement, and looked back toward the horizon. The figures who had followed her stopped pursuing, but They stood visible in the sunlight. One of the figures rode on an odd creature with horns and a body of fur, but that was all Aletha could make out.
Hours passed, and Aletha continued to walk among the rolling hills of the Valley. To her annoyance and caution, the figures began to follow her, from a safe distance. Aletha stopped caring, knowing that one of Their arrows could easily pierce through her heart. Fizzgig followed behind, not making a sound. Yet he continued to look back more than Aletha did, to see if the figures were moving or not.
Aletha could distantly hear Their voices. The language the dark shapes spoke was no where near being similar to Gelfling or Podling. It sounded much more complex, almost modern. The Gelfling language was thousands of years old, almost unchanged from the time the Gelfling had moved into the Valley. The Podling language changed constantly, almost a dozen dialects spoken by different Podling clans in the Valley. Aletha held no trust for the strangers. They killed Fijj so I couldn't get away. They want me in their sight. So Aletha mused.
The Three Suns were beginning to set. The sky was turning almost black, and some of the stars were visible in the early night. Aletha would be practically alone in the dark, not knowing if she would survive to the morning.
7
The stars bathed their twinkling lights across the skies of Thra. The wind didn't blow too harshly, but still added to the cold of the night. Aletha had traveled enough to get out of the hillsides, and camped near the River. Fizzgig huddled right next to her, giving her what comfort the little creature had. "I'm hungry," Aletha whispered. "Mother or father should have come to find me right about now."
An hour earlier, Aletha had given up on her trek across the Valley. It would take her a few days to get home on foot, that is, if she survived that long. There was the constant fear of the strangers always looking over her, always watching her feeble form. Aletha shuddered at that thought, thinking of those tall, dark beings. She still didn't know who or what They were, or why They were in the Valley at all. To Aletha's luck, she found a small outcropping of rocks beside a fork in the River. It wasn't much shelter, but it may have been enough to shield her from the figures' sight.
As the night wore on, the weather continued to be a hassle. Aletha knew how to start a fire, but didn't dare so in the fact that the strangers might find her. Fizzgig was her only means of warmth, so she continued to hug him in his sleep. I don't dare sleep, Aletha feared. Those things could get me; snatch me up underneath Their cloaks. They are probably very few in the Valley, maybe not more than twenty of them. But They could still get me and take me away. And I have nothing to protect me. Although Aletha knew that wasn't completely true; Fizzgig was still with her.
Aletha stared wonderingly at the stars. She became entranced in their light, their constant twinkling in the heavens. The thought of watching made her feel exhausted for the first time. She fought not to close her eyes, but it was so tempting. Finally, Aletha gave up and closed her eyes like Fizzgig had done. She wasn't sure if she dreamed or not, but she felt like someone or something was approaching her quietly. Before she could react, several hands grabbed around her body. Aletha woke with a scream, but the hands fighting against her prevented that scream from coming out fully.
The strangers had caught her, Aletha thought for sure. Kill me now, she cried in her thoughts. Kill me now so I can get it over with. Aletha kicked non-stop, trying to escape the ropes the dark figures were trying to get around her. She opened her mouth to try and scream again, but a cloth was gagged into her mouth and tied around the back of her head.
She could hear Fizzgig barking, growling, and panicking. One of the strangers kicked the poor animal, and Fizzgig went into an uncontrollable whimper. Aletha's hands and legs were bound together, and Fizzgig was being held by his tail. Before Aletha could think about some form of escape, blackness suddenly came to her in the form of a plague.