by Melanie Ray
Well, the faster I remember, the faster we can get M-Win back. Wye looked over at Zar and Cooey who were still picking on each other. Of course, then there is them. He let that drift off his mind. One thing at a time. He picked up the Chronicle and watched the chains and lock fall off.
"Hold it!"
Wye and X looked back to see an angry Foggy.
"Oh," X chuckled nervously as he rubbed his ear. "Foggy, good to see you. How are you doing?"
"Quite casual. I see you’re remembering." Foggy crossed his arms. "No wonder you want to disobey me now."
"It worked for me, I'm sure it'll work for Wye." X said quickly.
"There's a big difference, and you know it." Foggy looked disapprovingly at X. "I know what you're up to."
"We're just trying to save Muin!" X rebuttaled.
"Xiamipoc!" Foggy moaned disapprovingly. "Not even a warning. You still can't accept it, can you?"
X crossed his arms. "I never said that. Besides, once we go home everything will disappear anyhow." X looked down at the table like it had called him a bad name. “Everything.”
"That sad line won't work," Foggy growled. "You want to overload his circuits, get him quite uncomfortable, make him just get to the point where he'll concentrate on fighting and nothing else. Then just go home and forget everything else."
X threw a nearby kitchen knife right by the door next to Foggy. "What if I am? We don't have time, I know it. You can't hide that from me, I remember. Not to mention it's over and done with. Wye shouldn't remember any of it. It wasn't meant to be then, and it's not now."
Wye tilted his head back in shock at what X just did; he'd never seen him so angry. "Why are you acting like this? Throwing knives? We’d never even try that in Aryu. I am so tired of being out of the loop." He opened up his Chronicle.
"Wye, it may not be the best way to get your memories back." Foggy warned.
"I don't know what you two are all upset about,” Wye said, “but either way, X cares about M-Win, and if you are hiding something, then I'll follow his lead instead. Besides, it sounds like we don't have a long time for my memory to piece together. Do we?"
Foggy sighed. "I know," He looked over at Wye. "If the old you knew, he'd take that risk too."
X watched as Wye started to read his Chronicle. He was just beginning the first sentence when his brother interrupted. "Wait!" X yanked Wye's Chronicle and threw it across the room. "I can't do it. It was hard enough on me, but it could fry your brain. It's too much." He looked over at the Chronicle he threw. "Your mind is not human, it is warno. You look human, but you're not. You're mind, if it's pressured too fast to remember a past as painful as yours, it may not make it. You could become fully scrambled, and unlike before, not able to return." He closed his eyes. "I want you to know, I truly do, but he’s right. We do have to wait."
Wye looked over at X. X's worried, but something else is going on that made him risk frying my brain?
"Anyhow, Grammy Fornot, I was wondering if you could take these two back to where it happened?" Foggy asked Fornot. "It might help Wye remember at his own speed." He pointed at Zar and Cooey. "I'll watch the little ones then I'll make my way back home."
Tiger was awake at the first sign of someone approaching the door. "Quiet, Carress, and hide," he instructed her as they heard the intruders entering their secret basement.
"This is where it happened."
"Ringing any bells, Wye?"
"I don't know. This place is extremely small and cramped."
Tiger silently loaded up his slingshot. If they got too close, he'd have to take them out.
"Look at the crib. It's still here."
"Too close," Tiger growled as he ran out from behind the crib. He kept his slingshot focused on the unwelcome guests. "Go away, this is ours now."
"Oh my stars?” An old woman exclaimed. She did a double take and looked back at him. "Why Tigeravich, is that you?”
"Who are you?" Tiger said as he kept his slingshot focused on the intruders.
"Tiger, I'm your Grammy Fornot. I haven't seen you since were a baby. Oh, look at you," the Ancient clapped. "Oh, I lost track of Happy some time ago, but she said you were good as gone."
"I don't have a Grammy Fornot," Tiger said. "I don't have family, go away." He grabbed Carress' hand from behind the crib. In seconds they would be out of there.
"No, no, no," The woman quickly ran upstairs to shut the door. "You two aren't getting away."
"Ezra's kids?" Xiam asked in disbelief. "I thought you were hurt, I can’t believe you two are alive. I'm your Uncle Xiamipoc.."
"And I'm Wye," Wye said as he looked at the little tykes. "So, you're related to X, huh?"
Tiger looked at Wye completely confused. "Nuh uh, you guys are lying. We don't have family."
"Yeah," Carress spoke up. "Our mom and dad were hurt in The Great Destruction. You are trying to trick us."
"And we don't like being tricked," Tiger hissed.
Wye tried not to laugh at the little hiss Tiger gave. A little kid trying to look dangerous wasn't always easy to pull off, but the kid had spunk. He looked at the tail, half black while the upper part had some turquoise shining through. Hey, they had matching hair colors. He looked over at the little girl holding on tight to her brother. How old must they have been? They wouldn't be toddlers on Earth, they spoke too well. Definitely not teenagers, they had soft voices and cute features. I wonder, would they be pass kindergarten? The Third grade? Quite similar to Cooey and Zar actually, but he didn't quite care the same way. He felt like scratching his brain, these kids gave off a different vibe. His thoughts were interrupted as a voice announced itself and the locked door swung open with brute force. He turned around and caught the look of a Sleek.
The boy hissed even more at the new intruder as he held tightly onto his sister's hand.
Grammy Fornot growled bitterly, a primal warning worse than Wye had heard before. "What do you want, Sleek?”
"Oh, those two warno’s in front of you," the Sleek grinned. "Eluded us for awhile, but not forever."
"They aren’t going with you," X said to the enemy. "Those are my sister's kids, and you can't take them."
"Brats don't have any parents," the enemy corrected him, "they were sacrificed from the Dens, they now belong to us."
"No offense dude, but you're an idiot," Wye laughed as he twisted his fingers by the side of his head. "You shouldn't mess with the crazies. It's a well known rule for a reason," He took a step forward and gave him a quirky smile, "No one ever knows what we're capable of. Hell, we never know what we're capable of," he said as a toothy grin made its way on his face. "So back off, bud."
"What?" The enemy scoffed, "are you going to fight me?"
"Crazies don't fight," Wye corrected him, "we bite." He chattered his teeth. "As well as other things. Want to find out, 'cause I'll show you." He cracked his fingers one by one. "There's a reason straightjackets are preferred when strangers visit us."
"Only for you," X corrected him. "Although the wrestling match was quite impressive."
"Yeah, I floored that guy and won the champion belt," Wye agreed. "The gladiator match was easy, but he didn't get hurt as bad. He fell into a vat of ice cream."
"I don't remember that one," X said, "was that when you were fighting over the tables with a lamp?"
"A lamp? I don't remember, how should I know? Who cares, I'm kind of busy here," Wye complained as he paid attention to the enemy again. "I used to be some kind of Protector guy, and I can kick butt when the occasion calls for it. So turn around and back off."
"Oh yeah, Mr. Crazy?" The enemy frowned. "Who are you then?"
"I'm Wye Warno," Wye smiled. "Well, on Earth anyhow. Here, I’m Yeducavich Smilliat." Wye heard motion behind him and looked over at the two kids, giving him nasty looks. "What?"
"That's not funny," Tiger hissed.
"He's him, Tiger." X said. His voice sounded hoarse. "He's forgotten his memories, but he's him. He's uuhhh...oh, really w
asn't expecting to run into you two," he nervously laughed for some reason.
Wye looked over at X. "What's wrong with you?" He looked back up at the enemy. "Are you going to stand there all day? Isn't that kind of boring?"
"Grammy Happy wouldn't lie to us. That's not true," Tiger yelled as he grabbed Carress' hand again and bolted toward the enemy.
"What the heck, what are they doing?” Wye yelled as he and X ran up the stairs as fast as possible. Tiger and Carress had leaped right over the enemy. Smooth. The enemy chased them but so did Wye, X, and even Grammy Fornot tried to keep up.
"Leave us be, we haven't done anything wrong!" Tiger yelled back. Carress started to laugh. “I mean, not real bad." His sister laughed again. "Well, I mean not lately."
"Hey, somebody stop that guy," Wye yelled.
"Get them Protector!" Grammy Fornot yelled as she stopped. The old gal didn't have the energy to keep up.
"Stop you little...” The enemy had to stop too, but Wye and X continued to run.
"Dang! They know how to- run!" Wye said in between pants. "I haven't run like this in years. Not - since - before - Aryu."
"Wye, there's - Something- I honestly got to-tell you-" X panted.
"In a second," Wye looked out toward the kids. "Hey, come on, we're serious. I - overworked the crazy bit, we don't - bite that hard."
"Should have done your homework, spy." Tiger stuck his tongue out at Wye. "If Ezraponia Cattral was our mom, who would you be?”
"Well, I was her Protector," Wye yelled out to him.
"And?” Tiger and Carress both stopped and looked back for a few seconds.
Wye ran up to them and panted. Those kids were fast. They'd be Olympian runners on Earth. "And what?"
"If you were her Protector, what would that make you?" Tiger asked in an obvious fashion. "Geez, this guy didn't do any work."
"He lost his - memories, but - he is - Yeducavich Smilliat." X came up beside Wye and tried to catch his breath.
"The Protector would have taken down the enemy before he even came in the room," Carress spoke up. "He was really brave Grammy said."
"Yeah, and he died 'cause he was brave," Tiger nodded.
"Died?" Wye raised an eyebrow. "Naw, I went into a transporter with your Aunt Muin and your Uncle Xiam."
"Listen, Tiger-"
"Tigeravich to you," Tiger warned him.
X began again. "Tigeravich, your mommy only thought he died because all the other Protectors were ambushed," X said gently. "That was the last time she spoke to anyone else but us. He doesn't remember though. Leaving to a planet without inhibitors, it wiped out our memories, and we couldn’t think straight."
"Then how come you remember?" Tiger asked. "Anyhow, I'm getting hungry. We'll play with you later," he winked as he began to take off.
Until Wye instinctively grabbed Carress' other hand. "Hang on there, little girl.”
"Will you ask me first?" X bent down to Carress. "I only have my memories back because I've been reading my old Chronicle. Chronicles can't be opened by anyone but the owner. Come back and I’ll prove I’m Xiamipoc.”
"You're serious?” Tiger groaned. "You expect us to believe you're our Uncle?"
Wye gestured Tiger over. "Come with us, okay? Later on, we'll get your Aunt Muin, and we'll go back home to Earth."
"Arth?" Carress said slowly. She pulled on Tiger's hand. "Tiger? Trick? Not?"
“If the owner of a Chronicle is dead, anyone could open it. Taking us there won’t prove a thing. We're going to talk to Grammy Happy," Tiger announced before he and Carress took off.
X groaned. "They're stubborn."
"Well, let's follow them again." Wye shrugged his shoulders. "We'll eventually wear them down." He watched as the two tykes laughed and jumped over a fallen tree with no sweat. Strange how much they were like Earth kids, but not. Then again, they were even more different. Cooey and Zar couldn't have jumped over a huge fallen tree like that. Something special about those two...
"Grammy Happy!"
"Ah, Tiger, Carress," Happy ran up to the duo and gave them a big hug. "I knew you'd be back, although, I wish I were wrong."
"Grammy? Mommy Ezraponia, Daddy Yeducavich, Uncle Xiamipoc, and everyone else died in The Great Destruction, right?" Tiger questioned her.
"Yes," Grammy Happy's voice was soft. Considering she should be more happy they were back, there was no spark in her eyes. "Yes, they did." She held onto him tighter, almost squeezing the life out of him. He wanted to tell her to back off, but something was off.
Carress asked, "Was there a transporter involved at all?"
"A transporter?" Happy questioned, "how did you kids know about that?"
"Did they die in the transporter," Tiger asked, "or after?"
"The word is hurt Tiger, and your mommy and your uncle did. Your daddy got hurt beforehand, remember?" Grammy Happy patted his shoulder, as she looked behind him. "Now, what is this, have you been rubbing your tail up on something? Your colors are-"
"There they are, get them."
"No, you cannot take them-" Grammy Happy yelled as a swarm of Furries came toward her. "They're just children, the Pinks' aren't even around, stay back." No wonder Grammy was still nervous. Tiger knew it was risky to come back so soon, but he had to know for sure. Besides, he wasn't going to lose his last home because he was afraid of an enemy attacking. Safe places were far and few between for kids like him.
"We don't care. They'll come back, to take someone, and they aren't taking my kids."
"Nor mine."
"Tie them up good and tight this-oh my-look at the boy's tail, it's colored. They are Rings?"
"Oh, we definitely need to get them out!"
Just a little behind, Wye and X were doing their best to keep up, when they heard the commotion. Wye watched an old lady shoo Carress and Tiger off. She yelled for them to run and don't look back. Not a good sign so he picked up his speed faster.
"What's going on?" X yelled at the crowd, finally catching up with Wye. "What are you doing to my niece and nephew?"
Wye took a moment studying the enemies tail. It was black, but not sleek. He tried to remember what Fornot said, he missed a significant portion the first time. Only four kinds. Rings, Furries, Sleeks, and Pinks. Not a Pink, those have rat tails she said...it's still furry. Must be a Furry. He hadn't cared much about learning the types before, but he had to learn this world's ways before he'd make it back to Earth.
The old woman that shooed the kids away stared at Wye and his brother. "X-xiamipoc?"
"Let go!"
Wye turned from looking at the Furry and heard the boy Tiger's voice. They had been caught by some strange smooth looking black tailed guys. Sleeks. Sleeks were both good and bad on Pagnia apparently. The kids wiggled and kicked like crazy as they were thrown in the back of a weird vehicle resembling a cross between a truck and a dog pound van. There were three enemies guarding the caged door on the truck before Wye or X could reach them. One of them had a sickening ratlike tail. Wye realized it was a Pink, one of the nastiest enemies there was supposed to be. Simply looking at the strange almost dead-looking pink eyes almost made him shiver. Still, there was no one helping those kids. Not that he could do anything either, but he used to be a Protector. "Hey, what's going on?" Wye questioned. Since the crazy approach didn't make a dent with his last run in with an enemy, he decided to play it straight. "Let them out, those are only kids." Tiger and Carress stared at him from inside the cage, their expressions bordering on confusion and fright at the same time. "Why are you caging those kids, answer me."
"Ignoring the obvious fact we know they're Rings?" A Sleek answered him. "Only so many kids are allowed in these Dens. These were chosen last time as the sacrifices."
Grammy Happy hissed, her voice barely coherent through the growling deep within. "But they got away. They were so close."
"Someone had to go," A Furry insisted as he held a boy tight in his arms. "If it had to be someone, it's best to be them. They don't have
any parents, no one actually cares for them. My kid is not going to take some orphans place."
"Neither is mine."
"Nor mine."
"You're barbarians," Wye yelled as he tightened up his fists. "Orphans or not, those are just kids."
"Oh great," The Sleek groaned, "another parent fight." He dusted his arms. "Just to warn you of all the parents we fought, at least one is always killed along with the kid of course. You Furries, you're no challenge just a pain in our ass. Actually, looks like you don't even have a tail...But hey, if you want to get the rest of your body cut off a limb at a time, we'll be happy to help you out."
Wye felt anger inside. Everyone was rooting for those kids to get taken. It was...it was...like they didn't care at all. You really want to challenge little ol' me? You don't know anything about me. I'll die before I'll let that happen. The two Sleeks stood in Wye and X's way as the truck took off.
"Nothing personal, fella," the Sleek said, "just doing our job."
Wye felt a primal growl free itself from great depths somewhere inside.
"Wye," X took a deep breath and clenched his fists together. "I should tell you, I'm not an expert fighter. If you don't remember anything, we're dead."
"Gee thanks, I wasn't under enough pressure." Wye said with sarcasm. In all reality, he knew he should run. If he were on Earth, surely he'd run instead of do this. One is always killed. Either him or X? Was it really worth it? Yes.
Just then, a strange ring was heard on a Sleek. Wye watched a little surprised by the cell phone. Cell phones like on Earth?
"Oh yeah," The Sleek answered. "Oh. Okay then, we'll be back shortly." He hung up the phone and placed it back in his pocket. His voice was casual, but the words he spoke were not. "Ring kids are forbidden. We're not even going to take them back to our king, he wants us to gut them right now. They're pulling over as we speak." A sick and maniacal grin twisted itself onto his face. "I guess we're done here."
Who do you think you are? Do you know who you're messing with? Touch her and your digging your own grave. Stay the hell away from my family!
"Stay the hell away from my family!"
Above on the hill, where the truck parked.