by Mara Frost
I bite my tongue and curse her foolhardiness. That’s it. After we get off this planet, I’m dumping her somewhere. She’s too much work.
“You know…it’s not your fault, right?”
Okay, we are dead.
“Dani!” I growl.
“Just go with it,” she replies in hushed tones.
The leader’s head shoots up and his stern eyes stare her down. I silently prepare myself for the upcoming bloodbath. As long as I get to the leader first, I might actually be able to push her out of harm’s way while I work on the rest of the group.
The war leader takes one step towards her, leaving only inches between them. Apparently, finally regaining some of her senses, she visibly stiffens. Total silence sweeps across the group, across the entire jungle even. The warmth of Dani’s expression is still present, but I can see that she’s holding her breath now. Yep, she’s scared shitless.
Completely unreadable, the little man looks her up and down and then bares his sharp little teeth in a hiss. And then all of his men hiss as well. Dani jumps, takes a step back and looks around.
And then he speaks.
“Yes.”
“Y-yes…what?” she stutters while eyeing everyone nervously, me most of all.
“Yes, you right.”
She freezes, as if unsure of what she’s right about.
“I am?”
The warrior nods silently.
I hesitantly look around and it actually looks like some of the tension has disappeared. While their spears are still pointed at us, the warriors surrounding us look more relaxed and not so ready to shove their weapons through my back. Unbelievable. Is it possible that her ridiculous…bonding with the leader has gotten us out of a fight?
“Oh,” she replies with unsure smile. “So you understand that women are mothers…and sisters…and not objects to be traded?” she asks somewhat timidly, as if knowing full well that she’s treading on uncertain ground, but she still wants to try her damndest to prove her point to an angry war leader.
You have to give her credit – she’s a brave little human, even if she’s a complete idiot and we’re probably going to die because of it.
“Yes.”
My head shoots up at the unexpected response. I look at Dani and the look of shock on her face would suggest that she’s just as surprised as me.
“Yeah? You do?” she asks excitedly.
“Yes.”
“Yes?” She repeats as she eyes me happily.
The little warrior nods his head once. “Yes. And you are free to go through our lands. You are sister-orphan.”
He then turns to me and nods in my direction.
“Blue dum-dum will go in the Daaga pits and fight 20 giant wooly xer’taks for his passage through lands.”
The eager and happy smile on her face slowly disappears as she glances back at me. “Oh…shit…” she mutters at me.
Yes, shit indeed.
Chapter 3
Dani
We walk silently through the jungle for about an hour. After I made all buddy buddy with the little warrior man, I didn’t have much opportunity to say anything else. He rounded Big Blue and me up and we’ve been trekking through the forest ever since.
Frankly, I’m shocked that I managed to bond with the guy and wiggle my way out of being the personal property of an alien again. My luck has got to run out soon. You can only escape alien slavery so many times. I’m sure I’m going to end up being the property of some scary Jabba the Hut type of guy at the end of all this.
Maybe I should cut my losses and just stay with the sad orphan war leader and save Big Blue’s life in the process? Aside from the freaky shark teeth, the weird hairless white skin and his penchant for killing, he doesn’t seem like an awful person. I mean, a girl can’t be -
“You did well,” a low growly voice says next to me and it snaps me out of my weird train of thought – which was probably a good thing.
“Heh, it doesn’t feel like I did a great job. I somehow managed to get out of being a toll, but you now have to fight 20 hairy monsters. Yay! I’m the master negotiator…”
“No. You did good,” he repeats and shakes his head stubbornly. “If you didn’t have that peculiar conversation with the leader then I would have had to fight and kill all the men and I wouldn’t have been able to guarantee your safety. This is good.”
“Remind me how fighting 20 monsters is better than fighting 20 smaller men? And what about your injured side? How are you going to fight with an injured side?”
I can hear traces of concern and emotion in my voice, but he doesn’t say anything. He just stares ahead, emotionless and stoic, like the perfect soldier. If it weren’t for the fact that I can see his super huge jaw muscle twitching, I would have thought he was a statue.
We walk for only a few more minutes before the dense forest starts to thin. My stomach tightens nervously as I hear the busy noise of activity and people talking. I angle my neck awkwardly, trying to catch glimpse of what is ahead of us. I have no idea what to expect and even though my butt is no longer on the chopping block, I still don’t like the unexpected.
Big Blue still looks like a stoic constipated statue though.
“Aren’t you nervous?” I whisper at him while keeping my eyes ahead.
“What is the point? Will it make my situation better?”
I look up at him in mild frustration.
“Are you cyborg? Seriously? Does nothing get to you? Sometimes being a little –“
“Look.”
“What?” I bark back, annoyed that he cut me and my little rant short, and look to where he’s pointing. I look at the forest ahead of me and the sight catches me by surprise. I cover my mouth with my hands.
“Oh my…”
For some reason, me and my silly Earthling delusions expected to see huts and fire pits scattered around like a small rustic village, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. First of all, it wasn’t small…or rustic at all. It was huge and bustling. And IN the trees.
It was a giant tree city. I look above and see bridges and interconnecting pathways bringing hundreds of giant trees together in a huge wooded metropolis. And from what I can tell, all the trees are still very much alive and healthy. There are portions of trees that appear to be hollowed out a bit, allowing for the use by the people, but the trees are so big that the hallowing doesn’t disrupt the root or core of the tree.
“Wowie…”
I try to absorb the vision in front of me as best I can, but it’s just so expansive and there’s so much going on. The tree city is bustling with people. I can see hundreds, maybe even thousands of people running around going about their business.
“You are easily impressed.”
Without looking away, I say, “Hey! This is every 10 year old’s dream! An elaborate tree city?! Are you kidding? This is cool. I should have let them buy me.”
The big blue barbarian abruptly stops walking, causing our escort to stop as well and look at us questioningly. I look back at him and see the unique look of disbelief and anger painted on his face.
“What? I’m kidding! I’m kidding!” I say quickly. “It’s just…neat looking. Geeze.”
He continues to walk, but eyes me critically as if he doesn’t quite believe me. I just shake my head and smile to myself. I also get the distinct feeling that he’s now probably wishing that he traded me for entry through their land now. Too bad for him!
As we walk closer to the city, I can see how elaborate everything is. The “houses” and “buildings” in the trees are artfully designed with detailed carvings and sweeping designs. It’s beautiful. If it weren’t alien, I’d say it was magical. It almost feels like elves should be living here or something.
“You’re drooling,” Big Blue says dryly.
“It’s beautiful,” I snap back.
“You appreciate our city. That’s good. Blue idiot is dumb,” the alien war leader says, interrupting our little conversation.
I swallow back a ch
uckle and look up at the “blue idiot”, wondering if he’ll be able to keep his temper in check. His clenching jaw looks like it’s about to pop, but other than that he says nothing. I relax and breathe a small sigh of relief.
“Yes, it’s really beautiful. It’s amazing what your people have done here. The trees are so big…and it’s just…wow!”
Appreciative of my comments, but remaining the ever-steady warrior, the alien warrior only nods his thanks.
“Can I ask you question though?” I ask while we begin to weave through a growing crowd that is slowly surrounding us.
He nods again.
“Why in the trees? Your city? It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but why did your people choose to build your city in the trees versus on the ground? Wouldn’t it have been easier?”
The warrior nods knowingly and a brief but alarming smile flashes across his shockingly white face. “Yes, this makes sense, but trees give life to Tah-doori and the Tah-doori give life to trees. Not necessary to live, but both thrive more harmoniously when living together.”
“Oh…okay. I understand...I think…”
I don’t understand at all. That crap makes no sense to me. They give life to each other? They thrive harmoniously together? Yep, don’t get it.
I hear a smirk behind me and I look back and see Big Blue with an annoying smug smile on his face. Yeah, whatever. Like HE has any clue what the Hell any of that means either.
Regardless, seeing an opportunity to talk to the war leader and possibly convince him not to throw Dakhar into a giant pit of death and despair, I step in a little closer to him. “So, Roktari, why is there such a high toll to travel through your land? And why does it involve being thrown into a pit with big monsters?”
Without skipping a beat, he replies, “Toll is required. Is law.”
“Okay, but why –“
“And the pit is entertainment. More fun.”
Alrighty then, well that’s horrifying and to the point. How do I argue with that? I’ll have to think about it…right after I’m finished being a public spectacle for the locals…
“Uhm…”
A crowd is now completely surrounding us. I look around and see nothing but ghostly white faces and bald heads. Even the females are hairless, but they’re faces are softer and more feminine and their bodies actually look pretty similar to a human woman’s.
A young girl next to me stares at my hair with wonder and I gently side-step her reaching hand…only to bump into an old man who ends up touching my hair instead.
“Heh…they seem nice…” I mumble.
I look around and smile nervously, instantly showcasing my straight and flat teeth. This naturally fascinates them all instantly and now I have probing fingers trying to violate my mouth.
“Oh dear God!” I cry out while I lift my chin from their grasping hands. Big Blue growls in response. I look back at him and my eyes widen. He’s got it worse than me. Half the inhabitants of the city seem to be crawling all over him.
And coincidentally they all seem to be female - which I find to be surprisingly irritating.
With a crowd of the little white alien women surrounding him, Big Blue stands completely still at the center, stiff as a board and with a look of quiet and awkward discomfort. I watch as the women’s hands grab at him, pulling at his vest and stroking his big blue muscles in fascination. And based on the cooing and the noises that they’re making, it’s probably from something else as well.
“Enjoying yourself, big guy?” I yell out at him over the crowd. If I didn’t find it so weirdly annoying, I probably would have found it pretty funny.
But I don’t find it funny and it IS annoying.
He moves his head stiffly towards my direction and replies, “No. I don’t know what’s happening.”
I can’t help but chuckle-snort.
“What do you think? Obviously they’re impressed by your skill as a warrior.”
“They haven’t seen me fight yet,” he replies lowly as they paw at him.
“Oh. Well, then they probably just like your huge blue muscles,” I reply drily and then turn away. He’s a big boy, he can deal with a group of handsy women on his own. Besides, I have my own little fan club to deal with – arguably it’s now a much smaller group since they all noticed Big Blue, but whatever.
Just then I feel a very sharp pinch on my left butt cheek. I whip immediately around and see what looks to be a little boy giggling with his mouth full of baby shark teeth.
“Hey!” I cry out accusingly. He just laughs more before running away.
And there goes my one and only “fan”. Now, I’m all alone while intergalactic Mick Jagger over there is being swarmed by groupies. Oh well. This gives me a chance to get a lay of the land. I look around and see people going about their busy work while sending curious glances and smiles my way.
I smile, struck by the unexpected warmth of the city. Two complete strangers…Hell, aliens, have walked into their home and instead of being irrationally scared, they’re curious and strangely kind. It’s sort of nice and unexpected.
Too bad they consider watching a man fighting 20 monsters as “entertainment”. That’s a bit of a downer. I glance over Dakhar. The crowd seems to be dying down around him and the look on his face looks a little less like he’s got an uncomfortable stick up his butt. Now, he just has his regular I’m-eternally-constipated look.
One would think that there isn’t much difference between those two looks, but I can distinguish the subtle differences.
“So what now?” I ask Roktari.
“Now, I present you to the leader. And then go to the pits.”
My stomach lurches and then jumps to my throat. Now? It’s happening now? I wasn’t expecting it to happen as soon as we got here. Seriously? We can’t even have a breather?
“Now?! What? Why so soon?”
“Almost dark soon. More dangerous for blue dum-dum if it’s total darkness. Better for him to have some light.”
“Oh,” I reply, struck by the little man’s oddly placed concern for the “blue dum-dum’s” safety. They want him to die an entertaining death, but they want to make sure that he can SEE the monsters that are about to gobble him up? How considerate.
“Well, that’s nice…of you…”
The alien warrior nods his head in acknowledgement, as if he is in full agreement. We continue to walk deeper into the city until we reach what appears to be the city center - at least, I think it’s the city center. I look up and see what has to be the biggest tree in the entire universe. Or at least the biggest one that I’ve ever seen.
I circle around and see how every surrounding tree seems to be drawn it. The vines, the branches, all the other trees…they all seem to be gravitate towards this wooden giant.
It was breathtaking. I crane my neck back and look up, but I’m not able to see the top – the branches are too big and the leaves are just too dense. Plus, it looks like the top might actually be above the clouds.
“Woah,” I manage to articulate oh so eloquently while I gape openmouthed at the tree.
I hear Big Blue grunt. I can’t tell if he’s actually impressed or if the sound is just from sheer disinterest. His face is almost unreadable - per usual - but his eyes travel along the length of the tree slowly, as if sizing up the old giant like a fellow seasoned warrior.
I smile to myself. It looks like the big guy isn’t made entirely of hard emotionless stone. I guess he can be mildly impressed by amazing things every once in a while. And for some reason, I find that oddly comforting…and endearing. I always kind of had a feeling that underneath the hard blue Terminator exterior, he might actually have a beating heart.
“Wait here. Wait for Chieftain.”
I feel a hand grip hard onto my arm, forcing me to stand back. The strong fingers dig into my skin and make me jump.
“Hey! Ow!” I reply as I swat at the man who just grabbed my arm. It wasn’t the war leader and his grip was a little harder than it probab
ly needed to be.
A loud growl erupts from behind us and I whip around and see Big Blue’s eyes zoning in on the man who has my arm.
“You so much as bruise her skin and I swear I will rip yours off while you’re still screaming and wear it as jacket,” he says evenly.
Yep, like I said - a big giant psychopathic ball of mush on the inside. Sigh. The entire group surrounding us responds almost immediately. Under Dakhar’s deadly gaze, they all point their weapons at us once more, including the guy who is holding my arm.
“Hey! Hey! Hannibal Lechter, it’s fine! I’m fine! No need to wear anybody’s skin!” I yell over the growling crowd. I motion with my hand for him to cut it out by making a sharp slicing motion against my neck.
And after I do that, I almost instantly realize my mistake.
Big Blue’s eyes widen as he repeats my movement questioningly, as if I’m giving him the silent go ahead to start chopping heads off. With his finger, he makes the slicing movement across his own neck. And you know what? To be fair, after seeing him do that, I can see how it might look like I was telling him to slice everyone’s neck…off.
Naturally, I watch with horror as he braces myself, as if readying to do battle with about a million aliens.
“No! No! Don’t do that! That’s not what I meant! I just meant to cut it out! Calm down! Can everyone just relax please? Damn…” I say to everyone, stretching my arms towards everyone, trying to physically stop anyone from stabbing…or slicing anyone up.
There is silence. Nothing. Everyone is quiet for the longest second ever while we all stare each other. I stare at Big Blue in particular, trying to telepathically tell him to chill the fuck out. He just looks at me, annoyed and ready to explode.
Poor guy. He should probably save that for the 20 wooly monsters.
And then an eerie squeaky cackling-like noise breaks the silence. It fills the air like an alarm clock and snaps everyone back from their blood-thirsty haze. Startled by the sound, I tear my eyes away from Dakhar and search for the owner of the noise, and I’m quite shocked when I see that it belongs to a tiny little old woman who looks older than the ancient tree that we’re standing in front of.