Beneath Us! (BL)

Chapter 9

Tian awoke to gentle prodding. His eyes opened sorely to greet his enemy. RT squatted in front of him, head c****d in worry. The tender emotion was gone from his eyes, replaced by steel, still eyes. It was almost like earlier hadn't happened, if it wasn't for the excruciating pain moving gave him. He was leaning against something soft instead of the cold ground. A blanket was wrapped around him, which must've been why he felt so warm while he was sleeping. His clothes were all missing and panic welled up in Tian's chest only to find them sitting folded up beside him. They were dry and cleaned miraculously. Gentle hands were at his ribs, feeling every single one before retreating.

"Your ribs are no longer broken. The Kukouk body was always filled with millions of extra stem cells to regrow and mend major wounds in only a few hours. You would have died from your injuries last night. Now, you must get up and rejoin your people. You're their leader now, you must get up," RT ordered before manhandling Tian to his feet.

Tian was so sore he could feel every muscle in his body. Each step felt like a punch to his gut, sucking the oxygen out. He could barely stand to put what was left of his clothing. Most of it was stained in his blood or ripped, and Axel's jacket... it was beyond repair. RT helped him into a large black shirt, possibly his, before pressing something into his hands.

"You dropped this last night," he said simply before stepping back, voice once more muffled by the mask.

Axel's compass. He'd almost forgotten it. The front of it had cracked, but it had survived. After everything that had happened, at least that had still survived.

"You know, helping me won't make me forget that your men killed Maria. I'll never forget that," Tian hissed, looking up at RT. "I don't know who you are or why you're helping me so much, but it doesn't matter to me. You will all pay for what you did to my people and to the woman who treated me like her son."

"Don't let your revenge get the best of you, you're needed by more people than you ever knew," RT replied simply before turning his back to Tian. The boy shook his head before straightening his shoulders. "You can hate me all you want, but it will always be my mission to ensure your survival." He said that more quietly, and Tian had barely heard.

He limped his way out of the tent, shielding his eyes as the sunlight bared straight into his soul. His head ached, cascading everything in painful hues. His whole body shuttered, but he kept his head up as he passed the men who beat him. The blood had dried to his skin like a curse. The men scoffed, turning their heads or to spit at him. But with RT behind him, hands crossed over his chest, they were powerless to attack him once more.

"TIAN!" His people cried out, hands reaching out to him. He was pulled down, against Jocelyne's chest. Axel hugged his back, and one by one, the people filed in to crush him in a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"I'll kill them," Axel spat against his back. "I'll rip their heads from their necks."

"Did that one man give you this shirt?" One of the village women asked, pulling at it. "It's different than ours. Heavier? Why is it so heavy?"

"GET YOUR ASSES UP!" The men shouted before whipping the nearest people to them. "We have to make the checkpoint by today so you fuckers better be ready to run."

Tian's people rose, each sporting a bloody wound or a vicious bruise. Across from them the men were getting their horses ready. The chains were drug to the lead horse, making the people stumble and trip behind the horses. Tian lurched forward as he felt a whip against his own back. The sharp sting woke him from his thoughts. Behind the Captain's back, the men attacked him more quietly. A whip or getting his feet kicked out from beneath him sending him careening to the floor. He grit his teeth and held his head high, meeting their eyes with a nasty grin. He didn't need the Captain to protect him.

They made the checkpoint by mid-day. Waiting for them were working trucks. More men stood ahead of them with readied guns. The horses came to a stop and the men slid down before handing them off to a group of younger men. They stared up at the soldiers with wide, excited eyes before leading the horses over to a bunch of large trailers.

"Where's the rest of your squad?"

"Dead," RT answered.

"DEAD?" One of the men raged. He didn't carry a gun, nor was he like the others. The man wore a white, pristine suit with crisp edges. It practically oozed money and power. It was made of a shiny material Tian had never seen, and whenever the sun hit it just right, it exploded into a mirage of color. His face looked pale and he had shiny black hair that was slicked back with a filmy looking gel. His creepy eyes were hidden by black thick rimmed glasses but Tian couldn't shake the feeling of being stared at like tiny ants beneath his expensive boots.

"They were killed, Darvious," RT replied with a sigh.

"They were my men! I paid over a million units for this expedition and the men I paid for are dead? Do you know how much it will cost me to give to their families for compensation? I should have never paid for you as a leader."

"We're warriors, not mercenaries. We know the cost of our jobs, now shut your damn mouth. You have your slaves."

"f*****g bastard," Darvious spat before turning to his men. "Load the savages in the trucks."

Their people were shuffled forward and being thrown into the carriages behind the vehicles. RT brushed against Tian, pressing something into his hands and throwing something over his shoulders to cover his open wounds before disappearing inside one of the vehicles. Tian looked down at the paper in his hands.

"Be prepared." Was scrawled across it.

"Be sure that as many of these bastards make it to the capital alive! I want my money's worth."

Axel helped him into the carriage with an outstretched arm. The stench was absolutely horrendous, there were feces everywhere. They had no choice but to kneel down in the stench and try to ride out the rough roads. There were small slits along the sides of the carriages letting in a tiny bit of light and air, but the carriage remained dark. They still felt like they were mere seconds from suffocating. The group was divided for the first time in their long journey, but secretly, they were all glad to have been off their feet. They were all given a small amount of water, but hunger ravaged even the oldest.

Tian settled in against Axel's shoulder to sleep despite the rocking of the carriage. He dreamed of a different world that night, a different time. He was above ground in a roughly made wooden home. It was situated up in the trees of large oaks that swayed in a warm breeze. Sunlight flooded through the holes, warming his back. He felt at ease.

~~~~~~~~

A hatch opened from the floor and two muscular arms pulled himself up. The man turned and grabbed the hand of another kid who looked strikingly like him. A young boy with black hair, much like his own father. Two other kids followed, but they seemed to be older then what his mother had told him. One had his father's black hair, and the other had curly dark brown hair. Tian's dirty blonde hair stuck out like a sore thumb, even if they looked similar, he was still much different than his own siblings. The man helped his mother up, she was much younger without so much darkness behind her eyes. Her smile wasn't forced as she hugged Tian's father freely. Her blonde hair was pulled back and well kept. He'd never seen his father's face except for the drawings his mother often did. She'd be up scribbling long after Tian went to sleep.

His father was beautiful and handsome at the same time. His raven colored hair came to his shoulders and was curly at the base. He was tall for a Kukouk, 5'8, and muscular. His skin was a pale, snowy white pigment. His eyes were a permanent bright gold and the black lines curled up his bare skin to fade out at his chin. They were all over his arms and back, more than Tian had ever seen. Even the children had more lines and paler skin. He had a sharp jawline, but his face was hairless. Kukouk didn't grow facial hair, after all. Tiantok looked older, though and haunted by a tragedy even his mother could never truly understand.

With a pit in his stomach, Tian realized just how little he knew about his family. He'd lived with his mother for almost 13 years, but she'd still been a stranger to him. He stared at the happy family, a father who loved his three children so well and a mother who loved her family even more. From what Tian had heard, all of Tiantok's first children were prodigies. Tian, despite being named after his father, had been slower. Harder to teach because he was a perfect mix between human and Kukouk. All of his siblings had leaned more to the Kukouk side. Tian stared at a family that should've been his, but he only felt alienated. He didn't belong there, staring in at a happiness he'd never get. A mother who'd raised him out of obligation for having him, a father who died protecting his children. And siblings who died because humans were cruel.

Tiantok held the youngest up high, laughing as the girl laughed alongside him. His father looked so happy and he stepped back.

"Tian?" Someone whispered and suddenly he was free falling to the surface. The family was gone, the forest, the home was all gone. He was standing on a dark path. His black lines were glowing against his arms, something they'd never done before. He looked up to see Tiantok standing before him with his shoulders covered by fur.

His father stepped closer to him, and Tian had to crane his neck to meet his own father's eyes. Tiantok had been one of the biggest of the Kukouk while Tian had been one of the smallest. Tian's father, though, didn't have to be 6 foot to be intimidating. His eyes held power and strength, of the likes that Tian had never known. He seemed larger than life, even larger than the pictures his mother had drawn. Tiantok's lines glowed just as bright as Tian's, but lines glowed underneath the skin of his face as well. His eyes were glowing gold, too, completely engulfing his eyes. He was ethereal, completely unlike anything Tian had ever seen in his short life. His father oozed a natural born warrior, and a natural born leader.

"Even if you never joined our family, we are proud of you," Tiantok spoke, his voice inhumanely deep and commanding. It was warm, but at the same time his tone was ice cold and stoic. A perfect balance of both. "You've survived the toughest odds my boy. And you took the only trait your siblings had never been able to achieve. Only the true chief of the Kukouk could light the way for the rest of the Kukouk people. The marks of the Kukouk that you bare have received the blessing to lead. It is you who will take my place among the remnants of our people and guide them to the light once more. We belong on the surface among humans. Where balance must be restored."

"Father, you..." Tiantok raised his hand, stopping Tian in his tracks.

"It's ok to be angry at us. Your mother named you after a father that was never there for you. The only way we can meet is through the marks of the Chief, but even then, it will never be enough. It's ok, my boy, to be angry at us for leaving you alone. Maria raised you quite well. Know that your mother, siblings and I will always love you very much," his father smiled at him before starting to fade into the dark. "And even if you never joined our family, you have a place with us when it's time to come home. It is your duty, and you are coming of age. My power will start to flow in your veins. You must trust those who help you, or you won't survive."

"Father, I don't know who you're talking about. But... is Maria there? Is she..." Tian couldn't answer, his throat closed around his own words and threatened to rip a sob from deep inside.

"She's here with us, watching over you my boy," Tiantok stated before he was truly gone in a cloud of golden flecks.