Message #42494

[Sir Modemkill, Cyborg!]

The story of James' first time on a mission with Jarki, which I'm totally making up off the top of my head. Modem has never met Jarki before, remember, the Black Dragons have only existed for about a month or so in this scenario.

The night was dark, staring into the blackness only feet away made your mind play tricks, so James tried to focus on what he could see, the lines on the pavement in front of him, the chain link fence to his right and....the new bane of his existence, the extremely irritating and strange woman he had been ordered to accompany, Archlord Vora seemed to place much importance on her, James could not see why, but questioning orders was not on James' to do list.

"Can you feel it? The darkness all around us, it seeps into us, shaping our very being..."

Jarki spoke almost in a whisper, James fought the irritation building up inside him, cryptic, how he hated cryptic.

"Can't you walk in silence?" James said with veiled anger.

Jarki, walking ahead of James, turned to face him, and walked backward, which only served to irk him more.

"You don't like me very much do you?" She asked with a sickeningly sweet smile.

"What gave it away?" James said flatly.

"Why are you here?" She asked.

"Orders." James shot back simply.

She gave a slight laugh "That's not what I meant." Another of her smiles, though James thought he detected something darker below the smile this time....or had he just not noticed it before?

"You are very loyal James, I can see it in you, it almost drips from your aura, tell me, do you consider yourself to be good or evil?"

James scowled "You're the one who can see auras, you tell me."

"It pains me to admit it, but I can't tell, you are a shade of gray, you constantly fluctuate, even in my eyes....but I think you are good."

James scoffed. "Then you are a fool..."

Jarki turned back, and walked normally again, then replied "Perhaps..."

James clenched his gloved hands into a fist, and fought back another wave of irritation.

"Tch..."

They walked on for another hour in the almost complete darkness, every so often, Jarki would hum some kind of melody unknown to James, but otherwise, there was silence, bar the occasional moan of the infected that no doubt surrounded them in the darkness.

Every so often one of them would enter visual range, groan, and shamble toward them, and James would unsheathe the tempered black machete in it's scabbard on his belt, and cleave it's head in two with a single powerful blow. Jarki never seemed to even notice them, even the ones that made directly for her.

"Ah, here we are!" Jarki exclaimed suddenly. James looked around, but could see nothing.

"Here we are where?" he asked in confusion.

"Over here." She said simply, making her way off the footpath and through a gate into the front garden of a house that looked identical to all of the rest on the street.

The back door was open, and Jarki, much to James' irritation once more, entered without hesitation.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!" He asked in a hushed, but forceful tone, as he followed her inside, she ignored him and kept going, James had to fight the urge to pull his revolver and shoot her in the back.

She made directly for one of the doors in the hallway, and when she opened it, revealed it to be a stairway down, into the basement, James was confused, but followed silently, It was pitch black, and the sudden blinding light made James curse under his breath, Jarki had turned on her flashlight, she giggled, then kept going, James scowled at her back and grumbled, but kept following.

"Ah, there you are little one..."

James stood, gawking, wide eyed, in complete disbelief, there, huddled in the corner, looking absolutely terrified, was a small child, a little girl, maybe ten, or eleven, she looked hungry and scruffy, and she stared back with wild eyes.

Jarki moved closer to her, and knelt down.

"There there little one, you have no need to fear any longer..."

James shook his head, he couldn't believe this.

"How did you-"

"Know she was here?" Jarki finished his sentence for him. "I knew because the Dragon needed me to know."

James gritted his teeth, The Dragon, the icon, and, for lack of a better term "god" of the Black Dragons, the Archlord preached of it, and many of the Dragons took it to heart, but James was not swayed by the notion, James followed Vora because he respected him, because Vora was a good leader, with ideals that James could take to, he was not buying this superstitious crap.

"Fine...don't tell me."

"Ah, your heart is so closed off James....the Dragon has chosen you you know, you are special, even among the Agents, even if you do not acknowledge it, I have seen your path-"

"Silence!" James snapped "I am only here because I was ordered to go with you, I was given no orders to listen to your incessant preaching!"

Jarki only giggled, as if at a joke that only she was privy to, the child seemed less frightened now, despite the argument, she clung to Jarki's arm, hiding behind her, she seemed to feel instantly safe with her for some reason, James suddenly glared down at her icily, which caused her to flinch and look away.

"And what about this child, you cannot seriously intend to bring it with us."

Jarki stood back up, the girl still clinging to her arm.

"The Dragon has shown me to this one, the future will need Agents too, and this is the first among our future generation, she has been chosen."

James suppressed another outburst, and Jarki continued.

"We can't take her with us now, we will have to wait for daybreak, we will camp here, it seems safe enough."

James sighed, fantastic, an entire night with the two things that irritated him the most right now, a child, and a cryptic zealot.

"Fine, I'll go bar the doors and clear the building."

It didn't take long, there were only three infected inside the building itself, and one outside the door, the trashed furniture made for good barricading material, and he piled it up behind the door, the windows, thankfully, had bars on them, the original owners must have feared theft, this was, after all, a pretty upper class area before the outbreak.

He didn't go back down into the basement right after though, he needed a break from Jarki, he stood by one of the windows, the moon had come out from behind the clouds now, it was almost full, and it illuminated the streets with it's pale glow. Shambling silhouettes moved slowly through the wrecked cars in the street outside, oblivious to the potential meal not thirty feet away from them, James pulled out a cigarette from the front pocket of his trench coat and light it, taking in a deep puff and sighing again.

"They could have sent Igor....but nooooo...." He said bitterly to himself, most other Agents would have killed for this chance, to spend time with the fabled 'Dragon Lady', but to James, it was a waste of time, keeping him from doing actual important tasks, like clearing the bands of looters from their newly established southern border.

After another five minutes, he stubbed out the cigarette, and decided it was time to head back, but as he entered the hallway, he saw Jarki emerging from the door leading down, as she closed it, he asked.

"Asleep?"
 
She nodded with another smile.

"May I speak with you?" She asked, James frowned.

"Even if I said no, I get the feeling you wouldn't take it."

She ignored the comment and continued.

"Why do you follow Vora?"

James turned and leaned against the wall, folding his arms.

"I believe in the ideals of the Black Dragons, and respect Vora."

"Is that all? I sense something deeper..."

"Keep your senses to yourself." James stated flatly.

"You are hard to read, I would like to know more about you."

"Yeah, well I-" James was turning to face her, but stopped dead, she was right in front of him, how did she get so close without him realizing, she reached out with her hand.

"What are you-"

But it was too late, she touched his face, and James was suddenly paralyzed, eyes widened, he stared at Jarki, her eyes piercing his.

"Shh....your thoughts are so turbulant...the surface of your mind...it is false...a layer built to protect something deeper....yes, I can see it..."

James began to see flashes of his life, things he had buried deep inside him, things he had sworn to take with him to the grave. he saw himself as a child, facing down the barrel of a gun in a dark room,  then, a little older, he was hunched over a mangled, twitching body, crying, then older still, running in terror through an alley, figures close behind, more and more images flashed before him, and James, still paralyzed, felt tears begin to stream down his face.

"S...stop...." The word was strained and quiet, it took so much effort to even move his tongue "...please..."

Jarki didn't move, she kept staring into his eyes.

"So much anger, so much suffering, so much pain, I see it now, buried deep, deep within you."

More flashes, then, after a moment, James' eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he blacked out, he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Jarki shook her head as she looked down at him.

"So misguided, but you will come to see, in time. Sleep now my brother in arms, for we still have much work to do."

She left, going back down into the basement, leaving James slumped against the wall, sleeping for the first time in six days, and having a dream involving the spirit of the dragon that would change the course of his life forever.