Don't Forget

#25 Friendships Forged in Fire

     Jason sits with scrap pieces of metal and wood all around him. Although it's a little mundane compared with his previous childish antics, the fence still needs to be fixed. It's something to try and keep himself occupied while being useful. Testing the different minerals in the cave wall isn't going to help keep the cows in their pen.
     The last nine years have been fairly peaceful for the half Zemrlt, all things considered. The underground base is the best place for him to be. At fourteen and as small as he is, there's no pressure for him to join one of the five army camps.
     Jason doesn't even remember very much before the castle was taken. He was only seven when Mitch carried him out of the war zone. This base was fully established only a month after.
He misses the people the most. Jason is sure that his dad is locked up somewhere in the castle, waiting for him. His cousins Don and Sub must be so worried about him. But most of all, Jason misses Prince Adam.
Jason only had two people to play with in the massive GoldenEye castle. The late prince always seemed to make time for him. If Jason had kept his best friend in that lab even three more minutes, they both could have escaped together. All the blame goes to that castle servant, and himself.
      The fence is an easy fix. Jason just nails in a board across the opening. The base is entirely self sufficient. Growing and crafting supplies for the army is a small repayment for escaping the squid army. The enemies are not kind to humans. Many in the rest of the kingdom suffer from high taxes and poverty. Only a few lords were able to keep their titles if they hadn't allied with the squids before the castle fell.
      Jason uses the fence to pull himself up. One of his legs is braced in a stiff boot rising above his knee. As he's gotten older, the half breed's limp has gotten worse. The boot actually helps by keeping his leg straight.
      True to his heritage, Jason has a slimmer build and pasty white skin. His human mother gave him his chocolate brown hair rather then a darker color. He doesn't have any of the Zemrlt's external rib armor, but he does have the gray eyes.
Seeing Zemrlt in GoldenEye is still very uncommon. It took a while for all the people to get used to him, but no one would complain about him now.
Jason feels that he has a debt to repay. Mitch saved him when they were looking for the prince. The Zemrlt did nothing to help stop the war, and yet he's here. That kindness has to be paid back.
      All the farms are set away from the houses. They're also the farthest from the waterfall to help with the noise. A small tunnel leads to the surface from this end. It's just big enough for a horse to pass through.
Picking up the scattered tools, Jason makes his way back over the buildings. He's not able to do a lot of heavy lifting with his leg. The smaller chores and upkeep of the town are more suited to him.
      Jason can't help but notice how dark it's gotten outside the waterfall. It's hard to always keep track of time when you can't see the light.
      But..... there is a bit of light. Jason squints at the waterfall in confusion. Muted lights are floating around from the other side. It's way too bright to just be fireflies. He drops his armful of tools when the entire waterfall begins to split down the middle.
Jason turns to run the rest of the way to the town. With his limp and stiff boot, it's not much faster then a jog. He still tries to be quick.
"There's something coming through the waterfall!", Jason screams when he gets close enough. A farmer on the edge of town hears his shouting and looks up to see an army rearranging at the other end of the cave. They get up and sprint down the streets, looking for the leader.
Jason gets into town just as the panic is starting to spread. He's tired and out of breath, but he practically tears open the door to his one room house. The room is messy and unkept, but there's no time for the Zemrlt to worry about tripping over clothes.
       He practically tears the walls apart to uncover a pile of stiff metal pieces. The blue accents match the brace on Jason's leg. The entire set is like skin tight armor. Chain male covers his elbows and and one knee. Strangly, Jason leaves his face uncovered. The last touch are the metal plates strapped to the palms of his hands. He pulls a sword out from a pile of junk on the way out. No one knows that he has it.
     Jason has a debt to be repaid. He's dead set on the idea that the other people around him deserve to live more then he does. He's fully prepared to put his life on the line. And with his limp, fighting should be impossible.
     "The tunnel is guarded! There are more squids out there!", someone shouts. The entire main street is crowded by scared civilians. Many of the older men had the same idea as Jason. Someone grabs the teen by the shoulder and spins him around.
"Jason!? What are you wearing? With the tunnel blocked, we're getting everyone barricaded in the main hall", she speaks up. Jason recognizes her as one of the teachers from the GoldenEye school. The main hall is a large wood building used for gatherings or celebrations.
      "Then you need to go there without me. I can fight, too", Jason insist. He pulls his stolen sword halfway out of the scabbard as if that somehow gives him any combat skill.
     "Did you forget? How do you expect to protect anyone when you can't even walk properly?", she snaps at him. Jason feels like she just stabbed him.
      It's always been this way. Everyone seems to know what he can and can't do without him even trying. He's never been like other kids, Jason knows that, but he refuses to let his disability control him. His stubbornness may be the death of him.
The army assembled at the waterfall seems to be almost reorganized. They don't have much time left to plan. Jason turns away from the teacher and focuses his attention on the town's leader. They're issuing orders to the few soldiers, and try to get everyone else into the main hall.
A sharp and consistent noise breaks through the chaos. It echoes from the small tunnel and bounce around the cave walls. Jason shoves his way to the front of the crowd as everyone surges away from the tunnel in fear.
Two horses burst out of the cramped space. Jason almost falls over trying to get out of the way in time for them to stop.
"Who's in charge? We just cleared the tunnel entrance. Has the attack started!?", one of the riders yells, practically throwing himself off the horse. His hair is messy and swept to one side, and he wears a GoldenEye soldier's uniform.
The other dismounts in silence. He's dressed in all black with a pair of wicked looking swords at his belt. The GoldenEye crest is nowhere on his outfit. The upper part of his right arm has a makeshift bandage.
      "Is the army here!?".
     "The squids came through the waterfall!".
More people yell out their questions, drowning each other out. Jason sees the black clad stranger cringe at the noise. The other seems completely over whelmed.
"Hey! Didn't you hear them?", Jason yells, his voice cutting through the noise of the crowd, "It's ok to use the tunnel now! Everyone needs to get our before the squids get too close".
     "Ty, make sure everyone gets up to the surface, and that no more squids are hiding up there", the stranger turns to the soldier when it gets quiet.
      "Come one! You're already hurt. Let me help, Sky", the soldier, Ty, argues.
"You're needed here. You take your orders from me, remember?", Sky coldly replies. He seems rude, but he can't make himself risk Ty's life. "I need a few volunteers to help me distract the squids during the evacuation".
     Jason has been deep in thought ever since the stranger's name was spoken. Sky, right? It's a bit unusual for somebody to be named like that. But the name means something to Jason.
     When he was little, Jason's dad helped him write out a code. It was crudely done and pretty complicated, but everybody was given a different name. Sky was one of those.
      When Ty and the town leader start evacuating the people, Jason stays. He ducks beside one of the houses to watch Sky. He had asked a few of the older men with weapons to help him plan something. Jason is definitely not sitting out. If Sky is who Jason knows him to be, just the possibility wipes away his fear. He would never have let anyone hurt Jason.
     "This entire area is compromised. The squids know the base is here, so we can never come back", Sky explains to the men, "It will look suspicious if everyone disappears at once. We're staying as a distraction".
      "What happens when we leave, and the squids come up the tunnel?", one of them asks. Two trained fighters aren't going to turn the battle around.
     "I need five minutes. Don't fight anyone, just try to lead them around in circles. Meet back here in four minutes and head up the tunnel even if I'm not here. I'll make sure the squids don't follow", Sky explains his plan a bit more.
     Jason pulls himself around the corner and takes off down the side street. He's somehow convinced himself to find Sky by himself. It doesn't really cross Jason's mind that he can't run away if he needs to.
      Squid soldiers are coming at the village now. There's way too many to fight, and Jason's not sure how Sky plans to trap them in here. But if anyone can do it, it's him.
      Deep in thought, Jason yelps when someone turns a corner and crashes into him. They both fall to the ground in a heap of limbs.
"Who are you!? Get away!", the stranger shoves Jason away. They're scared and confused, the entire situation overwhelms their senses.
"Who am I? Who are you!? Shouldn't you be evacuating with everyone else?", Jason awkwardly punshes himself into a sitting position. His armor must make him look pretty weird.
The stranger looks even more out of place. His hair is an odd combination of black, blue, and neon orange. His eyes are bright with the same shade of orange. A large gray coat covers up the set of his plan clothes. The collar is pulled up over his neck.
      What Jason noticed first was the odd shackles around the boy's wrists. They look like two pairs of handcuffs, neither of them holding his hands still.
"Well.... I'm Jason", he grabs onto the house wall nearby, struggling to get his stiff leg underneath him. "You aren't from around here, are you? What's your name?".
"Um, they call me Four........", the boy is looking at Jason's leg brace.
"Four? That's not really a name. You're wondering about my leg, right? I actually have a worse time walking without the brace", Jason awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. It's strange to see someone new, but Jason has no reason to be suspicious of him.
"Quinten. That's my real name...... Do you..... Do you know what's going on in this place?", Quinten stands up uneasily. Jason is the first friendly face he's met since the lab. He's the first person Four's ever seen without gills.
      "What's going on? Well, my best friend is somewhere around here trying to fight off the squids", Jason's expression turns sour, "If he hadn't of shown up to save everyone, there'd be no fighters here to stop everyone".
      "So this place isn't an army camp?", Quinten's face pales. Could he have just killed an entire town of innocents? His own people use him as a tool.
Jason is about to answer, but he's startled when a squid walks into the ally with their sword already drawn. This is the first time that he's actually had to fight. Jason fumbles with his sword in a panic.
"Get back to the Captain, number. I'll take care of this one", the squid walks right up to Quinten, roughly shoving him away to get to Jason.
The half Zemrlt doesn't understand at first. Quinten said his name was Four? A number? Jason had slipped into his own thoughts, only snapping back when a sword is swinging for his head. He only has time to bring up his arm in defense.
The sword bangs into Jason's armored arm, sending a shock throughout his body. The tight fit allows him to move faster and use every piece as a shield. The squid recovers from the shock quickly, kicking Jason in the chest and sending him to the ground. He can't get up or move away fast enough with his leg.
The squid suddenly lunges back with a scream. Quinten has one arm around their neck, hanging off the squid's back. His other hand is coated in a thin layer of boiling water. He's burning the side of the squid's face.
       With a last shriek, the squid throws Quinten off. He lands hard on his side just behind Jason. The soldier falls back and hits their head one the ground with a small crack. They don't get up.
       "Holy crap! Are you ok?", Jason flips around, disregarding his own sword. Quinten groans as he sits up. He can already feel a large bruise forming on his side. In the scuffle, the number's jacket has become much more disheveled.
Jason backs up a few inches when he first sees it. Quinten sees his reaction, immediately looking down at his hands. One of his coat sleeves is pushed up enough to reveal a slight blue tinge. The slits on his neck are also clearly visible.
      "N-No! I'm not like them! I don't even know what's going on. I look more like you then a squid", he starts to babble, pulling his coat tighter. Everything is just too new and strange for him to handle. Jason quickly recovers.
      "Hey, I don't really care what you are. I'm not even completely human", Jason tilts his head, "You fought back, so that's good enough for me".
     Quinten is put off by Jason's quick acceptance. Not entirely human? What's does that mean? One thing is for certain; Four will never go back to the squids if it means being Jason's enemy.
       "I'm with you. What do we do from here?", Quinten pushes himself up. When Jason struggles, he pulls him up as well.
      "I'm looking for Sky! He's somewhere saving everybody right now. I bet that he'll be so happy to see me!", Jason beams.
     "He sounds pretty cool", Quinten smiles back. A slight smell in the air makes him pause. It smells like how coal would taste.
     Both boys look up to see smoke building on the cavern roof. Some part of the town is on fire. The five minutes are up. With a stumbling gant, an armed figure enters the ally, eyes locked onto the two boys.