The Six Guns

Chapter Thirty-Six: Resistance

The group of people that Jack/Siran met keep Siran with them. However, they were not quick to trust him. They tied his arms together with a rope that kept his hands behind his back. They made Siran walk in front of them so they could not only watch Siran's every step, but also watch his hands. They didn't know what he was and was not capable of.
  "It's kind of hard to know where I'm supposed to be going" Siran says, "...when you're supposed to lead the way and I'm supposed to follow you. I can't exactly follow you if you're not in front of me".
  "Can't you just locate the beast" the man who first spoke to Siran says, "-er Naris, whatever you called him?".
  "What? No..." Siran replies in confusion, "do you think I have a GPS in my brain or something that'll just lead me to him?".
  "I mean... kinda" the man replies.
  "Unbelievable" Siran says, "look, there's five of you altogether. Why don't one of you lead the way, and the rest watch me? I know you don't exactly trust me, so whatever works".
  The group talked amongst each other in secrecy for a short moment, before the same man who was talking earlier walks up to Siran. "I'll lead then. You stick next to me".
  They continued walking aimlessly for hours in awkward silence. Eventually, Siran asks the man "What's your name? Or should I just call you 'dude' from here on out?".
  "Mason" the man replies.
  "Just Mason?" Siran asks.
  "Mason Phelloma" Mason replies, "but that'll just be Mason to you".
  Siran thinks to himself while loudly saying "Hmmm...." until eventually, he says "alright, Mason. Where are we going from here?".
  "No idea" Mason replies.
  "... you've gotta be kidding me" Siran says. "I just got here on this planet, I have no idea where Naris was last. Shouldn't you guys know that?".
  "Most forms of communication have been shut down" Mason says. "In terms of information, we're in the dark. We only know what we see at this point, with the exception of proximity transponders. We call these Walkie-Talkies".
  "... Neat" Siran says sarcastically "So you look like you've seen combat. Have you seen Naris in person?".
  "In person?" Mason asks, "no I haven't. I've seen him appear all over the news during the first two days of the attack in America. But shortly after that, all television broadcasts were shut down".
  "What makes you so willing to fight back?" Siran asks. "You look well prepared, so where did you get your experience?".
  "I was in the military" Mason says. "United States Marine Corps".
  "Oh wow!" Siran says, sounding impressed. "By the way, you have rifles... but do bullets even work on Naris?".
  "Dunno" Mason says. "Probably not".
  "Then you'll need another form of defense" Siran says. "I can teach you magic".
  "Oh no" Mason says, suddenly stopping and forcing everyone to stop walking as well. "We're not releasing you".
  "And if I told you I can teach you even with my hands tied behind my back?" Siran asks.
Mason thinks to himself before asking "Does magic even exist? I mean... I guess it's possible if something as terrible as Naris exists. But even so, you sure you could teach stuff even while being held as a prisoner?".
  "Sure" Siran says. "I don't see why not?".
  "What are you planning?" Mason asks.
  "Just trying to help" Siran replies.
  "Why would you help us?" Mason asks.
  "Because I want to" Siran replies.
  "But why!?" Mason yells.
  Siran just thinks for a moment before he says "it's not that I particularly care about... humans. I do, however, like this world. If humanity is the best bet to saving the world, then I'm fine with that".
  "Well..." Mason says as he thinks and scratches the back of his head. "You have been strangely cooperative. I guess we'll give it a shot".

  Thereafter, Siran spends night after night trying to teach his methods to Mason and the rest. They picked up on magic a lot faster than Siran did, but at the same time it was also easier to access Endoindustria and channel it because of the broken seals. One night, in the middle of a lesson, another group of people found their camp. However, these people were a group of looters. They didn't come to help, they came for their supplies. There were six of them, and before Siran and the rest knew they were approaching, the looters had already pointed their guns at them.
  "Don't move!" One of them shouts, "give us everything you have and no one gets hurt".
  "You'll get nothing!" Mason says with his hands on top of his head.
  "But Mason!" One of the others say, "it's not worth risking our lives".
  "We'll risk our lives if we go without supplies" Siran says in agreement with Mason, "don't give them shit".
  "You asked for it" The looter says as he loads his gun. Siran squints his eyes in fear and frustration. He thinks hard about ways to protect himself, and then remembers what he learned from Naris about digital magic. He creates a wall behind them of digital magic, the digital shield, and the bullets bounce off of the shield. The looters jump back in surprise. As Siran stands up and turns around, the looters cower in fear due to Siran's black and red glowing eyes. His appearance struck fear into them, and immediately, Siran uses a speed buff spell to lunge at the man who shot the gun. Siran planted his feet firmly in the looter's chest, knocking him onto the ground.
  "Don't kill them" Siran says to himself, "they won't trust you if you start killing humans". The rest of the looters run away in fear as the one who was knocked down scrambled to get back up and run away as well. As Siran walks over back to where he was sitting, he thinks to himself "I can't believe I did that. I can't believe I casted a spell without a charm. How'd I do that?".
  "That was impressive" Mason says, "if you could do that at any time, then I guess you could've done that to us long ago".
  "Think you can trust me now?" Siran asks. "Because my arms are really sore from being tied for so long".