Adored by Tulari

by Amelia Wilson

  But the end never came. She opened her eyes to find the Nulani barely holding the creature at bay. He roared in agony as the beast locked onto his arm with its jaw. He pounded away at the beast, but it refused to release its jaw. She stood still frozen. He maintained his gaze on the beast but yelled something unintelligible to her. The melodic tune carried into her ears and the fear that froze her broke.

  The beast flailed, attempting to drag the Nulani into the river to drown him. It took considerable effort, but it slowly backtracked towards the river. The Nulani continued to pound away at the beast, but he knew its victory was at hand. She first jumped to the Nulani’s aid and tried to assist in dislodging the jaws from his arm, but even with their strength combined, it was a futile effort. She took her sidearm and aimed it directly on the eye. She pulled the trigger.

  A splat of blood burst out of the eye. The beast reeled in pain and released its grip on the Nulani. Though his arm was free now, he would not stop until this beast was dead. With new bolstered strength he pounded away at the wounded eye. Each hit caused the beast to hiss and scream.

  He kicked it over onto the ground. With incredible strength, he grabbed the top and bottom of its snout and pulled in opposite directions. He roared as his blue blood flowed forth from the wound with the strain he put on his body. The beast roared and the Nulani pushed more and more until he snapped the jaw of the beast. The corpse of the reptile fell limp to the ground. Its giant tongue hung out of its newly slack jaw, while its eyes dulled and rolled back into its head.

  Chapter Ten

  Jennifer collapsed to the ground, her mind reeling at what just happened. The Nulani’s blood still flowed freely from the bite mark on his arm. He staunched the flow by wrapping his hand around his arm. He didn’t even wince at the pain.

  “Hey,” Jennifer said.

  He turned toward her. His strong body resembled that of all Nulani, but unlike the Prime Coordinate, he was a lighter blue. His eyes didn’t shift every color of the rainbow like the others, either. His eyes remained a shade of bright gold. She figured he must not be too old based on the light color. “Let me help you.”

  He stared at her, confused. She patted the rocks next to her, motioning for him to sit down. She wasn’t afraid of him. He wouldn’t have nearly died saving her unless he wanted the pleasure of doing so, but that didn’t make sense to her. She would help him, now that they both worked together to take down that reptile.

  He waited a moment and then complied. She jumped up and ran towards the trees. She scanned and searched for any thick leaves to use. It didn't take long for her to find and rip off a large piece of leaf for a bandage. She rushed back to him and peeled away his arm to see the wound had closed. He shrugged at her.

  Another new lesson she learned. She knew now at least there was some form of minor regeneration. Her heart sank at the thought of Tali who would not be able to recover, because of the sniper shot that ended his life. If she hadn’t failed, he might be still alive; or not, she wouldn’t ever know. But she marveled at this new lesson this Nulani taught her.

  "Fascinating," she said, finding that this species continued to amaze her. He smirked at her. He rose and ignored the broken staff. He wouldn't need it anymore. He began to walk upriver. She hastily picked up her supplies and ran up to catch him. "Wait." He mostly ignored her and continued forward at a leisurely pace. She kept up with him, but he disregarded any attempt at communication.

  He seemed pleased that he had done a good deed and was going back home. Without her rifle, she figured strength in numbers, like the prowlers. Tali was friendly, maybe she could have him keep her safe. The pang in her heart pointed in the direction they walked, perhaps they were going to the same destination. Being ignored was better than being killed or left alone, so she dealt with it.

  "You were quite impressive back there," she said after ten minutes of walking. He didn't say anything. "Why did you save me? You should hate humans." Silence. She gave up for now.

  After hours of walking and with the sun setting, they came to an ancient stone bridge that arched over the river. They passed over it and ventured into the jungle again. She felt much safer with the Nulani at her side. Together they could fight anything, or mostly he could, but she could help. They walked until night fell. It seemed that he was perfectly fine sitting next to a tree and sleeping, but Jennifer needed shelter.

  She searched around for any type of log to prop up against a tree. After many minutes spent sifting through the jungle floor, she hefted a large tree branch almost the size of her. She struggled to drag it along the ground towards a neighboring tree to the Nulani. He only watched curiously as she struggled with the branch. He didn’t feel the need to help her, plus it was funny to see her work.

  She tipped the branch and leaned it at a forty-five-degree angle at her target tree. She fastened it down into the trunk to make sure it wouldn't collapse on her during the night. She walked around their little campsite for smaller branches to lean against the larger branch. After she found branches of varying sizes to line up against the most extensive branch, the frame of her basic tent was finished. She sifted through the jungle floor for large leaves. At that moment she was glad she went through all the difficult survival training.

  She picked out some leaves already ripped apart, but those wouldn’t be usable for her tent. Any leaf she found wasn’t large enough to act as a roof. She turned her attention from the ground upwards. Though the trees were massive, they had many branches with the leaves she needed. Now the question was how to get up to them.

  She figured it would be about ten to thirteen feet before she could reach a branch. She calculated multiple approaches to get to the branch. In the back of her mind, she knew none of them would work, but she needed shelter. She dashed towards the tree. Before she hit it, she leaped at the trunk and wrapped her arms around the trunk. Her arms only partially rounded the tree before she stopped. She moved her arms up and attempted to drag herself up the trunk. She climbed a solid few inches before she lost her grip. She fell back first to the ground. The air in her lungs rushed out of her as she crashed against the ground.

  What she could only hear was a loud song-like laugh from the Nulani, who was still observing her. She snapped a gaze toward him. He went quiet and looked away innocently as she turned toward him. She staggered up and brushed the dirt and leaves off of her suit. She backed up and ran towards the tree again. She jumped at the trunk again and kicked off the trunk to jump in the air. She swiped up at the branch but still couldn’t come close to the branch. She crashed against the ground again.

  Frustrated she turned over and drew her sidearm. She aimed at the branch, determined to get the leaves, but calmed herself. Making a loud noise would attract predators. She threw her sidearm to the side with a huff. She stood again and prepared herself. She backed up even farther this time and charged at the tree.

  She jumped again, but this time she flew. She looked around confused until she realized it wasn't by her doing. In her frustrated fixation on the tree, she didn't even notice her traveling companion stand and approach her. The Nulani had picked her up by her waist as if she had the weight of a feather. He hoisted her up high enough to reach the branch. She grabbed as many leaves as she needed before he lowered her to the ground.

  "Thanks," she said. She didn't know the proper way to thank him if he didn't understand her. She could try the memory sharing like Tali, but she didn't know the specifics of such a thing. Would he have to initiate, or had to be willing? She did what was so well received by Tali. She gave him a thumb up and smiled at him. Jennifer lined the giant leaves up around the foundation of the branches and successfully finished her tent. Their surroundings began to darken even more. Night was here.

  Chapter Eleven

  Darian trekked through the jungle with his rifle aimed up. Unlike Jennifer's suit, his was fully functional. His visor scanned and highlighted everything the wilderness had to offer, and even graced him with night vision. He could e
asily gauge his surroundings and see any potential threats. He turned his attention toward the ground. His visor highlighted human footprints in light green. He tracked the path forward. Jennifer had to have come through here. She must be terrified. It was now his mission to go and save her.

  “Eve, where’s the closest base?” The visor processed the information before responding.

  “Fort Leonard is fifty miles east of here. Processing travel length… At walking speed, it would take roughly seventeen hours to arrive,” she replied in a feminine voice.

  “She’s not even going the right way. Damn. Eve, is there anything this direction?”

  “Failed to find code name Charlie Team’s scouting report. It is unknown what is in this direction.”

  "Thanks, Eve." He continued following the tracks northward. He would find her, and they both would go back to Fort Leonard. He would either find her alive and well, or his tracks would yield a corpse. He didn't wish to think about seeing her dead body, but she was a survivor. She would be okay. He doubled his efforts northward.

  “I’ll save you, Jenny.” he said.

  Jennifer sat near a growing fire. She had dug out a small pit where the fire wouldn't catch the other trees. The light from the fire only illuminated the nearby trees and bounced off her blue companion. He still sat against the tree that he had picked out before for himself. She took a swig out of her fruit canteen. She still had about half to go before it would empty. She would have to hope it wouldn't rot first.

  Her stomach growled loudly. The Nulani quickly jumped to attention ready and assumed a defensive stance. He slowly turned, awaiting an enemy attack to come out of the trees at any moment. She couldn't help but laugh at his attentiveness but understood why. Anything out here could attack at any time. There could be even more prowlers stalking them as they rest. She had even dipped her head in the rushing river that the reptile had crawled out of. She would have to develop more awareness if she wasn’t going to become prey.

  She wished that beast hadn't eaten her prowler. The reptile itself would have been too much of a hindrance to carry out this far. She would just have to go hungry for the night and keep an eye out during their travel tomorrow. She still felt the frequent pang in her heart. They were going the right way. She wondered if he felt the pang as well in whatever would constitute his heart. Even as translucent beings, she couldn't see any visible organs. Perhaps their organs shifted within their bodies as well, ever moving in the roiling flow of their body. If he would ever talk to her, she would ask him at some point.

  She coughed several times. She felt her forehead to find that she might be running a fever. She couldn't be getting sick, not now. She felt her side where the bandage was. The wound itself was numb; she couldn't risk showing weakness to the Nulani and be left behind, so she refused to look at it. Whether or not she liked to admit it, she needed him even though it was evident he didn't need her. She just had to stick with him until she got close to or directly to the city.

  The Nulani approached her and sat down next to her almost directly against her body. He didn't say anything but just gazed into the fire with his golden eyes. He hovered his hand near to feel the heat brush against him.

  “You did well back there to defend yourself,” The Nulani said. She stared wide-eyed at him.

  “Wait. You can understand me?”

  “Of course I can. I just didn’t want to talk to you.” He chuckled to himself again. She playfully hit his shoulder.

  “Gee, thanks.” She looked up toward the tree canopy. Only a small sliver of light from the moon shined through. Though she couldn’t make out the whole moon, she could tell it was a clear night sky full of stars. She looked back to the Nulani to see he was in a standard silver and grey human suit, minus the helmet.

  He has taken the form of someone she recognized from Charlie Team. He had a handsome face with short dark hair and five o’clock shadow. The suit masked any other details he might have, but it was the spitting image, just as she had come to know from them. She smirked.

  “So that’s how you already knew. What’s your name, stranger?” He shifted back to his glorious true form. He continued to stare into the fire.

  "My name is Tulari." She reached out her hand for a handshake with a smile on her face. She now had a name to attach to her savior and traveling companion.

  "The name's Jennifer Raynor, nice to meet you." He knew it was human custom to shake hands when meeting someone, based on his memory share with the member of Charlie Team. He hesitated, but met her handshake. The grasp was firm, and they shook. She didn't feel the memories flash like when Tali had copied her memories, so she deduced that the memory share didn’t happen only on contact.

  She brought her legs to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She pressed her face into her legs while staring at him. The crackling of the fire was the only sound in the air for a while. He seemed insistent on not talking or was it that his mind was preoccupied?

  “Where are you headed?” She finally asked

  “Home.”

  “And where’s that?”

  “North of here.”

  “I’m going north as well.” She said. At that, he turned his attention from the fire to her. Their eyes met.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “I can’t go back from where I’m from.” She said.

  He tilted his head at her, his stoic expression turned to concern. She reached out her hand in an open palm toward him. “Work your magic.”

  “It’s not magic.”

  “You know what I mean. It’s easier to show you.” Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of living through the memory again, but she didn’t want to tell it, not yet. He placed the palm of his left hand on hers and clasped it with his right. Her mind flashed. The memories from her birth flashed at a hundred miles an hour like someone flipping through a book of photos. She witnessed the death of her mother, all the pain of growing up, and her trials again. The memories slowed around the recent events. She watched it all play out still: the meeting with her father, the conversation with Santiago on the wall, the meeting with Oosoluc Tali, and his demise. She witnessed her final conversation with Santiago and the explosion of the base.

  His hands ripped away from hers as he stared around, clearly in distress. He staggered back until he inadvertently stomped over Jennifer's tent. She stood and held her arms up to him to calm him, but he was lost. For the first time ever to her, tears streamed out of Nulani's eyes. He roared, but it wasn't his war cry. He howled in pain.

  A deep, melodic tune laced his agony as he screamed over and over. He didn't care how loud he was. He turned toward the tree and slammed his fists against it. His fists broke at the repeated impact, but he didn't care. After he had blown a chunk out of the tree, he collapsed to his knees. His arms crashed to the ground. Already the hands were displaying the acute regeneration properties she had witnessed before with the reptile bite. She stayed away from him while he had his moment, but as he stopped, she walked to him. With tears streaming down both of their faces she approached slowly. He stared blankly at her. She clasped her hands on his cheeks.

  “Show me,” she said gently.

  Another flash brought her in the middle of a hill overlooking the grand city that she was journeying to with Tali. The moon shone upon Tulari's blue form as he stared upon the city. On this hill, the city was even more massive than she could have imagined. Opulent, vibrant buildings stretched far as the eye could see. The city itself emitted light from the combined lights within. She even heard the bustling of citizens from there. He turned around to Oosuloc Tali with the same ornate jeweled looped crown. Tulari paced around, visibly frustrated.

  “I refuse to take up the mantle of leadership. I wish to remain free,” Tulari said. He glowered at Oosuloc Tali. Despite the anger, Tulari displayed toward him, Oosuloc Tali's face softened at the boy.

  “My son, you fail to understand. I will not be around forever. You haven’t even begun the Coordinate trials y
et. Who do you expect to lead our people when I’m gone?”

  “You have other children who gladly take the crown.”

  Tali shook his head. “They lack the vision and patience to lead all of our people. They will only care about the factions they lead. I was once like you, but that feeling passed. You must be the one to carry the mantle.”

  Tulari pointed out over the city. “This is my home, here is where I belong.”

  Oosuloc knelt down and dug out a fist-full of soil. He presented to Tulari. “This world is your home, my son. We are its protectors. We must maintain the balance and serenity of the land.”

  “Keep your crown.” Tulari ran down the hill into the jungle.

  “Wait,” Oosuloc called out, but it was too late.

  Chapter Twelve

  Another flash brought Jennifer back into the present. Tulari lowered his head. Jennifer knelt down in front of him. She clasped her hands. She didn’t know that Tali was his father. How could she have known? She hadn't directly seen her father die, but she knew the feeling all the same. They had both suffered a catastrophic loss. If they didn't share the same skin, they shared the same pain. He had seen her past, the pain, and loneliness, but he had also seen her happiness. She had only seen his outburst toward his father. She still didn't even know him.