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Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Blackout Part 3

Horton halted the car on a dusty driveway, where a misshapen hut leaned against a crooked tree.

"Hopefully, he's home. Otherwise, you'd after to pull a few thousands from your wallet." Horton sighed, extinguishing the car's ignition.

I shoved the door open, stepping out of the moldy seats. Horton carefully walked up the steps to the house, gripping the aged rail. I trailed him, stepping lightly up the steps as they cried out in painful agony, making long, eerie squeaking noises.

Horton rapped on the door, afraid that hitting it too hard may break it off it's hinges. Footsteps approached the door on the other side. The door swung open to reveal a pint-sized Baeku with a scrunched up face.

"What do you want?" It spoke out, a heavy British accent vibrating in his throat, "Oh, it's you, Horton. Come on in, have a cup of coffee or something." We stepped inside, still light on our feet.

The tiny Baeku warmed up the oven burner, practically reaching for the knob. He placed a pot on the burner and poured coffee grinds inside.

"Who is this lovely creature you brought?" He complimented, flattering me a bit.

"She's a friend of mine. I help her out in her job." Horton explained, "Her name's Saffire. She's a Raider."

"Ah, How do you do, Saffire. My name is Johnson. Such a dangerous but fun job you have, and at such a young age! You must've gotten a a scar or two out of it, I presume."

"Yeah," I gloated, "Most of them from their dumb ass guards. One stabbed me in the shoulder once with a pen, another tried to knock me out with a bamboo stalk, which are surprisingly sturdy."

"You must be one tough soul." He smiled, "At least your not like Professor wets-his-bed here."

Horton looked appalled, "You promised to keep that a secret!"

"Yeah, well. Looks like the other cousins know as well." He laughed a tiny laugh. He scuttled over to the pot and checked the coffee. Not done. He scooted back over to us.

"Have a seat and tell me why you are here." He offered. I sat down on a dirty white couch, reminding myself to wash my hands afterwards.

"You see," I began, "I get most of my requests from a extremely rich guy named Dr.Wexton. He gave me a request to go to this island where a hidden jewel called the Dark Eye is located. We can't go alone, though. We have to team up with these two more "professional" Raiders to get to the island. We need your help to fly to the Western Plains and drop us off there. Please?"

He paused, "I do have a full tank at the moment... It's my old war plane, though, so we have to fly stealthily."

"Sounds good to me."

. . .


We sweat in the scorching sun of the outskirts, loading luggage on to the steel war plane. I lifted my suitcase from the trunk of Horton's car, carrying it back to the plane. I looked around to see if anyone was near, nobody. I plopped the suitcase on the rocky ground and unlatched it open. I pulled out a petite, fully-charged game system from under the clothes. I won't enjoy this ride without something entertaining. I stuffed it in my pocket and clicked the suitcase back clothes.

After the loading was finished, we hopped into the pod seats. Two in the front and one in the back. Of course, I took the back seat. That was the one with the huge, bad ass turret gun.

The plane revved up to life, making booming sounds from it's engines. I held tightly to edges of the pod window. The plane jolted to momentum, slowly lifting into the air. My stomach balled up, squeezing and churning everything inside. Blood raced down We sloped into the air, reaching sky-high levels.

"Are you alright back there?" Johnson buzzed on the intercom planted in the pod.

I pressed the button under the speaker, "That was awesome!" I cheerfully replied.

He laughed, "Then I'm sure you'll enjoy the rest of the trip."

The trip seemed to go in slow motion, the tiredness of nothing to do weighted my eyes. Not even the game system could pry them open.

Flying over the beautiful apricot thistles and dried grass. Johnson carefully dipped the plane closer to the surface. The wheels barely grazed the ground. The landing was a harsh bump, sending me flying a few inches into the air.

I unlatched the pod and jumped out, crunching dry thistles underneath my feet. I scanned the area, only seeing a sea of tan.

"How are we supposed to find them in this mess?" Horton whined.

"With this!" Johnson called out, handing him a miniature device, "It's a GPS. A spare one that's close to the same functions as mine. Use it well."

"Thanks." Horton grinned, examining the midget device. We unloaded the plane, moving it a decent distance from the plane.

"I hope I see you two again." Johnson spoke out, waving goodbye from the plane. The plane launched into the air, blasting my hair with a humongous gust of wind.

"Power it on." I told Horton. Horton pushed one grubby hand onto the power button. The GPS woke up, a title glowing across the screen. It located us, showing us the exact coordinates of our location. I snatched the GPS from Horton's hands, using the obnoxious touch screen to search for nearby communication. A few miles north of us was a small town.

I turned to the correct direction and began walking.

"Hey, lazy!" Horton snapped, I turned around to see him struggling to hold the luggage all at once, "Are you gonna help?"

I smirked, grabbing only my luggage from him, "Should'a thought before you packed."

After a horrifyingly long journey across identical thistles, I grew annoyed with GPS, the thistles, my briefcase, and walking! I stopped in my tracks and lay the briefcase flat on the ground, sweat dripping down my snout.

"Got any water?" I asked, my throat cracking from dryness.

"I drank it all." Horton panted.

"You freakin' dumb ass." I seethed, wiping sweat from my hair.

"Come on the sooner we get to that town, the better."

I weakly stood up, grasping the handle of my suitcase. Walking now burned my thighs. My feet disappeared, I no longer felt them. I set the suitcase down again and sat back on it.

"Why is it so freakin' hot out here!" I yelled.

"Your just getting dehydrated, Saffire. Come on, get up." Horton encouraged, grasping my shoulder and hauling me to my feet. I immediately fell again, my whole body being sucked into nothingness. Finally, my vision enclosed itself into total darkness, an eerie feeling running up my spine.

My senses ambushed me, filling my body with shooting pains, dizziness, and a whole bunch of confusion. I lifted my head and looked around. I was laying on top of a hard wooden bed inside a clay hut.

Someone next to me placed their palm on my head, "Lay down. Lay down." They cooed, gently pushing my head back. I eyeballed whoever the person was, spotting a bald Kee with huge, gem incrested earrings. I followed her instructions, softly laying my pain stricken head on the animal-skin pillow. She rubbed a cottony paste across my forehead. It soothed my forehead, cooling it to a relaxed state. She lifted my head off the pillow and poured frigid water down my throat. I coughed up a few gulps, gagging the water out of my throat.

"Ah, you're awake!" Horton called out from the entrance of the hut, "You gave me a heart attack our there. How are you feeling?"

"Like crap." I answered sickly, sitting up on the bed.

"Yes, I know this. But can you walk?"

I turned my legs to the edge of the bed, jumping on my feet. I stumbled over a bit, the Kee catching me and setting me upright again. I stabilized my balance, then began walking again. I was like a giant two-year-old, waving my hands swiftly from side to side as I walked.

After getting a tad used to it. I followed him outside to a tiny village. Everyone seemed to be working, carrying baskets, mashing food, caring for the young ones, repairing hut damages, almost every occupation.

Horton lead me into a beautifully decorated hut aligned with bird feathers, river stones, and hot pink paint which was slightly peeling.

We barged inside, sweeping a curtain of smooth rocks out of our way. Inside was as heavily decorated as the outside. At the end of the hut a chair was placed on a mountain of petals. feathers, and other soft, eye-catching things. On the throne sat a stocky Wather wearing a fruity crown.

"This is Chief Ukalosa," Horton introduced, "He's the only one who knows in this tribe that knows English."

"How you do?" The chief grinned, greeting me in a native hand gesture, "You are they one who was sick? You be careful in these lands, its very dangerous."

My stomach rumbled, emitting painful pulses through out my belly, I had to ask, "Chief, do you think we can have something to eat?"

He snapped his fingers at a servant I barely noticed, speaking some inaudible language. The servant ran out of the hut, kicking up dust.

"Chief Ukalosa, I have something to ask you." Horton told.

"Go ahead." The Chief replied.

"Do you know who the Raiding Brothers are?"

The chief's face went blanch. The chief leaned back on his chair, rubbing his forehead. "Are you police?" He questioned.

We shook our heads. He exhaled a sigh of relief. "Listen," He continued, "They are infamous brothers. Police want them bad. Don't tell anyone else location, okay?"

We nodded, interested in the location.

"East, there is forest not far from here," He pointed past our heads, "Follow the rocks marked with a G."

"Thank you so much, Chief." I thanked, pressing my hands together. The servant brought in a wooden platter filled with exotic fruits.

"Eat up before you go." The Chief chuckled, watching us dive for the food. The food tasted wonderful, A mix between sweet and tangy, but succulent and juicy on the meat.

After gorging our food, The Chief gave us our luggage and a few weapons. A sharp pointed spear and bone knife. We began our journey, walking across the same deathly plains, but in the cool afternoon breeze.

The forest grew out of the hill, revealing lush greens and rugged browns. Excited, I ran into the trees, searching for a marked rock.

"Saffire!" Horton yelled, pointing to a rock at the entrance, "You past it!" I walked over to Horton and examined the rock. The rock was marked with a G, sure enough. There was also an arrow pointing in a diagonal direction back to the way we came from.

"This isn't right." Horton sighed, "Did the Chief lie to us?"

"No..." I murmured, studying the arrow, "The brother's are trying to throw us off! Maybe the arrow is pointed the opposite way of where were going." I traced the direction of the arrow to the other side of the rock, pointing into the forest as I traced. Faintly in the distance, there was another rock waiting for us.

"Right there!" I cheered, running for the next rock.

After playing a lengthy game of connect the rocks. We came across a trap door right next to the final rock. Covered our luggage in huge emerald tree leaves, preparing to met these "infamous" brothers.

I deliberately opened the trap door, peeking down into the darkness. A ladder shot down into the darkness, where a tiny light flickered at the bottom. I gingerly stepped on the first foot-step of the ladder, climbing down with choked up fear. Horton stayed up, waiting to see if the coast was clear.

The more I approached the bottom, the more I could hear voices, clearer and clearer...

"Goddammit, jus' change the channel. I don't wanna watch these miserable people sing for an entire two hours!" One deep voice sighed.

"This is the third episode towards the season finale! I want to see if that singer Jesse gets off or not!" Another voice replied, this one more scratchy.

"You are jus' like mom. You're gonna regret making me skip my favorite show."

"Pfft. What're you gonna do?"

There was a short pause, I touched down on the soft dirt floor. The air a lot more cooler than outside.

"Don't you dare break that!" The scratchy voice yelped, "If you break that I will whoop-" There was a shattering sound, like some small silverware or dish.

"You son of a-" Before finishing the sentence, there was a sound of quarreling. Growls, pushing, and cursing. I signed Horton to come down, quickly. Horton was swift to climb down, despite his stout legs, dropping the bag of supplies and weapons. I yanked the bone knife out, passing the spear to Horton.

"Come on, the bone knife is cooler." He whined.

"Shut up!" I hissed. I cracked the opening to the door, seeing a tumbleweed of punches and curses. I kicked the door opened and aimed the knife at them. Horton gave out a battle cry is he jerked the spear forward, faking a stab.

They immediately stood up, raising their hands in self-defense. One of the brother's was a slightly buff Libow, a lot taller than any of us. The other was a shaggy haired Kee, with a scar running across his snout.

For some out-landish reason, this amused me. I laughed, "Wow! Infamous raiders I see! Afraid of a girl and a nerd!"

Horton laughed as well, suddenly stopping in realization to what I said.

Suddenly, the shaggy one leaped into the air, kicking the bone knife out of my hand. The huge Libow grabbed Horton's spear, snapping in it in half as he yanked it from Horton's grimy hands. They stepped toward us, threatening us.

A tad scared, I raised my hands, giving them small little smirks of forgiveness.

The tall one grabbed the sharp end of the spear and pointed it at Horton, who gasped a high-pitched gasp.

"Skace! Get that knife!" He ordered. Skace, the shaggy one, hestitated for a bit. Then grabbed the knife and pointed it at me. His eyes filled with sorrow.

"Why are you here?" The tall one interogated, making small jabs at Horton, who was close to having a heart attcak.

"We're here because we want to make an offer!" I called out.

The tall one peered at me, tripping Horton to the ground, "What offer?"

"To go to the uncharted island to search for the Dark Eye."

"How do you know this."

"I know a few people."

There was a pause, then the tall one grabbed my shoulder and held the point at my throat, "Who do you work for?" He grumbled.

"Vee, stop!" Skace snapped.

"I know what I'm doing! She works for the police!"

"No, I don't you freak! Go ahead! Check my pockets! I have no badge."

Vee let go, "You're pretty persuasive, but I'm taking no chances."

"Listen, if I go with you, I promise the reward will be yours."

"What's that?"

"Five grant."

"Hmm.... Double that and we have a deal."

I knew I would ditch them anyway, so I shook his hand, "Deal."

"Okay... Must've taken you a while to get here. Do you wannaa stay here until tommorrow, when we leave?" Vee offered, "You're gonna have to sleep on the floor though."

"Yes, please!" I begged, "We'll go get our luggage."


Night blanketed the sky above us. The underground room got dark, covering the small kitchen, the table and sofa, and the two beds. Vee snored loudly on the nearby bed. Horton slept on the floor, his snores sounding like a lame car starting. I held a candle over my journal and wrote about today, just like I do everyday.

"What are you doin'?" Skace asked, appearing behind me with a candle.

"Just...writing in my journal," I answered, a little shaken by his appearance.

"Maybe you should get some sleep, I mean, tommorrow's gonna be a huge day for us."

"I will in a minute. Now you just go back and lay on your soft, comfy bed."

"You know you don't have to be a A-hole the whole time."

"Look who's talking"

He scoffed, blowing out the candle, "Better be prepared for tommorrow, I'm not waiting up for you."

I smiled, writing one last word in my journal: Idiots...

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