Radiance Ch. 21

Chapter 21: Running with NightStalkers.

"Sister, are you sure about this?" Runs asked looking at his beloved twin sister with concern in his eyes.

His beloved twin sister had always been his source of strength growing up, he was the man and he was supposed to always be strong and supposed to be the one to protect everyone around him, but he'd always felt like it was his sister that was the one doing the protecting, Soars-With-Eagles just always had such confidence in everything she did that it was infectious.

"For the millionth time stop worrying brother we'll be fine, the tribe is under attack and we need weapons to help us fight, otherwise the White Legs are going to wipe us all out, you know this as well as I, you saw what happened to father or did you forget?" Soars said turning to glare at him with such fire in her eyes that Runs felt himself shrink under the intensity of it.

"How could I? I was the one who found him like that" he said softly letting his eyes fall to the floor as the images of his father brutalized and mutilated body flashed before his mind's eye from that fateful day.

Spears had been driven through his bruised and battered body from a great many directions forming a kind of scaffolding frame which held him aloft, Runs felt his heartbreak like it was made of fragile coloured glass as he lifted his father's chin and saw that both his eyes and his tongue had been cut from his body before having his mouth and eyelids sewn shut.

A pulse of rage shot through him like an arrow from the darkness, not only had they beaten and tortured him while he was outnumbered and helpless, but they had denied him his peace in the afterlife by stealing both his voice and his soul so that it couldn't pass on and find his spirit guide to take him on to the next life.

Suddenly a hand on his shoulder snapped him out of the dark corner of his mind and he flinched away looking up at Soars and he instantly saw that her expression had softened, "I'm sorry brother, that was not fair I did not mean to hurt you like that, I'm just angry" she said and he nodded.

"As am I sister," he said softly.

"I know and that why we have to do something about it, we have to take a stand, we have to defend ourselves, the White Legs are getting help from those white men so we need to find help for ourselves and we need to defend ourselves and we cannot do that without the weapons of the white man and we can only get those from white men" Soars said confidently.

"I agree but how can you be sure we can trust these people? they are not like us, they care only about shiny things, they have lost their connection to the spirits if they ever had it at all" he said and she nodded.

"Exactly and that we can use to our advantage," she said making Runs sighs heavily, he really did not like having to interact with white men as nothing good ever came from dealing with them.

The journey from their home in Zion into the dead city of white men had taken quite a long time and that had made Runs feel rather antsy and worried, he was worried about what was happening to the tribe in their absence, Runs also worried about what they would find in the dead city as he'd heard all the horror stories from members of the tribe that had been near it and while they frightened him he also found he had a kind of morbid curiosity about the place.

The place was an open tomb, Runs could positivity feel the spirits that lingered here, he could practically hear the screams of the dead when their lives were ended in the blink of an eye, it was like the pure fear and terror were literally burned into the very streets themselves.

Never in his life had Runs felt such an oppressive atmosphere, it was like the very place itself was crushing his lungs and trying to suck his very spirit out of him.

Oddly the place didn't seem to be affecting his sister in the same way, she was so utterly curious about the place, she seemed to want to know everything about everything, her curiosity of the world around her so to her this place was like a massive adventure, as he watched she flitted from building to building looking at everything like a songbird hopping between the branches of a tree.

"Where are we supposed to meet these traders?" Runs asked and Soars reached into the soft tanned radstag leather pouch that hung on her hip, it made Runs smile as he saw it because he had given it to her for her twentieth birthday only two weeks ago while she had given him a beautiful obsidian knife that she had carved by hand.

A knife that was currently hanging on his belt which his hand subconsciously went to and stroked gently, while from the pouch she pulled a folded piece of paper which she opened and looked at it.

"It's a large building that looks like this" Soars said showing him the picture that had been drawn on it with directions written in the language of the white men but while he couldn't read it he could, however, speak a little of it.

Runs took it and looked around himself until he picked out a building that looked exactly like the drawing on the paper and he pointed to it, "There, that one" he said and his sister looked where he was pointing.

"Yeah that one looks good, so let's go!" she said taking the paperback and the pair set off with Soars pulling her brother along by the hand towards the building in the distance.

As they approached the building Runs began to feel like something was very wrong, he could hear distant voices but they didn't sound right, not like white men at all, much deeper and just off, it didn't take them long to find out why.

As they began to approach the building they began to see light glowing between the buildings and the voices grew louder, Runs unsheathed his bow from his shoulder and grabbed his sister's hand placing a finger to his lips before she could open her mouth to ask him what he was doing.

She cocked her head curiously at him and he pointed to his ear then over to the buildings before communicating in the sign language that the tribe used while hunting as t not give away their positions that they should move silently and observe before they go in, she just looked over towards the glow then nodded both crouching down and moving in a silent crouch walk along the wall of the nearest building.

Using the deep shadows the pair managed to make their way around the building by using an alleyway behind it and creeping through the open back door of the building opposite the one they wanted using the place to cover their approach.

Runs moved as silent as a shadow, as an experienced hunter he knew how to stalk his prey as silently as its own shadow, it was part of the reason he'd earned the name he had, the other part was that a pack of feral NightStalkers had taken a liking to him as he'd saved three of its cubs from a yaoigui by grabbing them and diving into the roots of a tree keeping them safe until the huge bear simply got bored and gave up trying to smash through the roots to get to them, at which point Runs simply gave the cubs back to their mother.

Ever since that point the pack would come back to the village and would often leave gifts of small animals they had killed for him and more than once Runs had gone hunting with them as they made incredible hunting dogs for flushing out prey.

The tribal elders and shaman said this was not surprising as his spirit animal was a NightStalker and when on the day of his initiation into adulthood he had taken a vision quest and had actually met them, a giant Nightstalker with the voice of a woman who told him that his life would be filled with great pain but if he was able to endure it not only would he be able to save his tribe from great hardship but that he would go on a great journey that would so him things, teach him thing and just enrich his life in ways he never imagined possible.

Moving silently through the place that looked like once sold clothing of some kind by the fake people stood around in a verity of poses displaying items of rag bare desiccated clothing the pair got up to what had once been a window for viewing the street outside but was now just a frame.

The pair peered through the frame into the street beyond and what they saw made both of their hearts freeze like ice in their chests, across the street in the building where they were meant to be meeting the white skin traders there were a bunch of huge utterly grotesque green creatures.

Runs and Soars both stared at the creatures in utter shock, never in their lives had they imagined such horrors, the things looked like people or at least that they had once been people, but what they were now was a truly awful grotesque mirage of a human being.

That's when the true horror really hit them, they noticed that the group seemed to be eating something while sat around a large fire pit, it was only when one of them lifted up what appeared to be a leg to its large mouth that Runs blood ran as cold as ice.

It was the traders they had killed and were eating the traders.

That's when the scene really began to sink through the layer of shock that had formed in Runs mind, there was blood everywhere, torn clothing and discarded pieces of armour and weapons were littering the ground among the debris, that's also when he noticed the cages.

Stacked against the back wall behind the fire and the makeshift table full of the green creatures were what appeared to be iron cages that looked like they'd been made from bent together metal bars that had been twisted tightly together to form a cage for holding something, though by the look of what the creatures were eating it didn't take a genius to figure out what.

"This is the last humie, we needs to gets more" one of the creatures growled deeply as he threw down what appeared to be an arm bone that clattered across the street towards Runs and Soars position.

"Yes but not many humies come around here anymore, well except for them ones with the spiky hair but thems taste funny, always gives me a bad belly and makes me sees things whens me eats them," another said.

Runs turned to Soars and nudged her arm making her jump and make a squeak noise which he quickly countered by clamping his hand over her mouth.

"What was that?" one of the creatures growled looking around.

"Ahhh probably mole rats again, things always running about in shadows," another said with a dismissive wave of his large green hand.

"We have to go, now!" Runs hissed in his sister's ear and she nodded, the pair of them began to slowly back away from the grim scene but no sooner had runs gone three steps backwards than he bumped into something, something warm.

Before he even had a chance to turn he heard a snarl and with a fluid movement, he shoved his sister clear and dove to the opposite side just as a very large pair of jaws snapped at the air where he had been only a moment prior.

He hit the floor hard but let his momentum carry him into a roll which he barely had time to finish before the creature lunged at him again, this time he actually got a look at it and what he saw filled his heart with horror.

The creature was like some kind of giant hairless dog, but just like the creatures outside it had giant bulging muscles rippling over its entire body, huge strands of thick viscous saliva hung from its grotesque tooth-filled jaws as it glared at Runs with murder filled green eyes.

Runs was used to dealing with vicious predators in the form of the bears of the mountains and the wolves, even the occasional giant rad scorpion or spider that wandered into the valley as well, but this thing was on a whole other level.

Before he even realised his instincts had kicked in his bow was in his hands and an arrow was knocked, he drew the string back and fired sinking the stone-headed broad tipped arrow right into its thick shoulder sending a spurt of greenish blood from the wound.

The creature simply snarled and bit right through the shaft snapping it off before launching itself at him again making him roll out of the way, as it crashed headfirst into one of the displays he turned and fired into its back as fast as he could sticking that many arrows in the large dog's back that it began to look like an oversized porcupine with feathered quills.

But it was the last shot that had the magic touch, the creature reared its head in a howl of either pain or anger he was sure which, but as it did he loosed off his last shot and the arrow sunk itself right into the top of its skull sending the creature slumping down into a heap.

Runs was about to turn to check on his sister when something huge and green slammed into his face like a sledgehammer and his whole world spun and started to go black and grey, the last thing he heard was his sister screaming for him to help her but no matter how hard he tried his muscles refused to move and the blackness won.

When he awoke he was inside one of the large metal cages and his sister was inside the next one over, "Oh thank the spirits you're awake brother, we have to get out of here!" she exclaimed as his mind began to reattach to his body.

He looked around himself and suddenly realized what had happened to them and jumped to his feet dashing the door but as he hit it he realised it was locked up tight with a bent steel bar that he had absolutely no chance of bending straight.

He wrenched and strained at it trying his hardest to get it to budge even a little but it was utterly futile, that's when four of the creatures came up to the cage containing his sister and just stood there smiling at her while licking their lips.

"Hey, green fucks! Leave her alone!!" Runs yelled and the four of them turned to him and their grins widened.

"Don't worry little red humie you will get your turn but she looks tastier than you" one of them said before they opened the cage and wrenched his terrified sister out.

"No!! Put me down!! Let me go!!" she yelled as she kicked, fought and bit for her life.

Runs tried his hardest to grab his sister to pull her from their grasp with the hope that she could run for her life from this place but he just couldn't reach, so Runs was forced to watch as they carried his beloved twin to the table in the centre of the room and held her down on the large blood-stained table.

"No don't please!! Please don't take my sister from me!!! Please!!!!" Runs yelled begging for his twin's life but it was for nought, the last thing he saw before one of the creatures lifted a large wicked looking cleaver like blade was her terrified face mouthing 'Save me' to him but he simply couldn't hear the words as his brain shut down as the blade fell.

Runs fell to his knees and he felt his world crashing down around him as he watched his beloved twin screaming in agonized pain as they took her limbs off one by one, he could not hear either her screaming or the sickening wet crunches of the blade falling but he couldn't tear his tear-filled eyes away from his dying sister, he just kept saying "I'm sorry" over and over again but it was the last thing that destroyed his heart completely, somehow she was able to fight through what must have been the most awful pain to mouth "I'll always love you, goodbye my beloved one" before her eyes went glassy and far away, just like that his twin was gone.

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Runs had tears streaming down his face the entire time he was speaking and both Gregory and Seven had stopped massaging their claws to give him their full attention but neither of the claws minded because they too were engrossed in Runs story.

Once he was finished the young man simply broke down and began sobbing into his hands holding his head as tears leaked between his fingers, "She's gone, my beloved twin is gone, I'll never see her again" he sobbed pitifully and Seven looked up noticing Riss was fidgeting incredibly nervously, it was obvious she wanted to try to comfort him but was worried how he would react so he decided to act himself.

He stood up and walked over crouching down in front of him placing a hand on Runs shoulder causing the young native man to look up at him through red puffy eyes, "We're so sorry we didn't reach you in time Runs-with-Nightstalkers, if only we'd got there sooner we might have been able to help, you have my and our uttermost sympathy and condolences on your loss, if it means anything to you some of our group here know the pain of loss very well and I'm sure they are only too happy to offer you any help they can, in fact, we'll all help you any way we can and I think we can also work out some way for us to help your tribe as well" Seven said.

Runs sniffed heavily and looked at him curiously through his puffy eyes, "H-H-How?' he asked.

"Simple we find ourselves in need of a guide through Zion as we're on the run from very nasty people, so put simply you agree to help us and we'll help your tribe and you, trust me you aren't going to get more firepower than we can put down, you'll have a cloud girl battle droid, two proud and noble claws, an invisible human engineer who can make all sorts of things big and small not to mention handsome male claws dreams come true, me a geeky guy in power armour that can take an utter beating but has more than a few tricks up my sleeves like being able to make big sexy claw girls purr like giant kittens among other things and lastly but by no means least Riss the biggest sexiest Nightstalker girl you'll ever meet and trust me she's dynamite at this kind of thing," Seven said trying to cheer Runs up just a little.

"My beloved human tells the truth and you have our utmost sympathies both myself and my beloved brother know what it is to lose one's pack, it is a scar that never fully heals, but it is one that came make you a stronger person, it can show you who you really are," Visa said.

But it was clear that no amount of words were going to make the pain of losing someone so dear to him away, but he did seem at least interested in what Seven was saying.

"Y-Y-You'd help us? But why? You don't know us or owe us?" he said and Seven just smiled warmly.

To show off for him and to prove his point Seven held out his hand behind him and to Runs widening eyes the large bottle of water levitated off the desk and poured a cup of it before floating over to the utterly amazed Runs and plopping itself in his hands.

"It's whats we do, any enemy of the Enclave is our friend so we'll help you with your White Legs problem and you help us with our getting through Zion not dead problem, deal?" he said and Runs took an amazed sip of his water before nodding.

"Deal," he said and Seven smiled and nodded.

"Good, now get yourself some rest and I'll tell you what I'll even assign Riss here as your personal bodyguard, from this moment on she will be responsible for your protection, she will not leave your side and will look after you ok?" Seven said reaching out and taking the very surprised Riss's hand and placing it in Runs hand making him look up at the surprised NightStalker girl.

"Ummm ok if that's ok with her s-s-she a spirit guardian" Runs said sounding nervous.

"I am not a sssspirit but yessss itssss fine" Riss said smiling warmly at the confused looking human.

"Good then that's settled, Riss will take care of you don't be afraid to lean on her, once we figure out a way out of this place you can take us to your village and we'll speak to your village elders," Seven said and Runs nodded gratefully.

"I need go and see shaman, I-I-I need to know my sister happy where she is, I need to know that's she's passed peacefully to the spirit realm," he said in a very quiet voice and Seven nodded as he stood up and patted him on the shoulder.

He then turned and took his seat back in front of Visa lifting her huge feet into his lap, "Don't worry Runs we'll take good care of you, stick with us for a bit and you'll see this strange little group welcomes everyone and I'm sure your sister is looking down on you right now proud of you for make the right choice to help your people" he said beginning to rub the pair of large clawed feet in his lap making Visa go cross-eyed as the pleasure and relief hit her.