Private Tales Paradise Awaits

[Trista]

She flashed him a smile and nodded as he said her name again, and her head tilted as he said his word for it.

"Feh-sh. Fesh." she grinned and chuckled under her breath at the strange sound of it. She turned the meat and soaked in the warmth of the flames as she watched the 'fesh' cook a little while longer before lifting a skewer and handing it out to him.

"Jezal fesh." she nodded, her dark eyes ever studious.

{"Fire"} her brows rose, and her head tilted expectantly as she pointed to the flames.

 

[Jezal]

He pinched the skewer just above Aiyana's fingers, gingerly taking it from her grasp. "Thanks," he said. "I." A hand on his chest. "Thank. You." He pointed at her. "Thank you."

The native's word for "fire" was... several syllables longer than it needed to be. Jezal snorted and smirked, and he took two reasonably sized bites from the steaming fish, handing it back to Aiyana as he huffed and puffed. It was hot. When was the last time he'd had fresh, hot food?

Before his imprisonment? Now, how long ago was that?

{"Aiyana,"} onyx eyes focused on the girl, "Teach me your language. Your-" he pointed at her. "Language." He made a yapping gesture with his left hand. "{Fire. Fish. Hide.} Your language. Teach me."

 

[Trista]

Aiyana's lips twisted and she gave a light nod in understanding, rolling her hand in a gesture toward him. {"You're welcome."} she smiled, her gaze dancing with amusement. New challenges were not often happened upon on such a small island. She knew all the people she could know, had seen all the places she could see and done all she could do. She had forever feared the outside world, they'd been taught to fear it and protect their island from it. After today she understood why, but she was certain that she owed Jezal her life, or at the very least her dignity, and now it seemed she was stuck with him for the night, so she might as well try to converse in some way.

Her slender brows narrowed as she watched him speak, studied his lips and hands as they moved and tried to understand, which fortunately, he made rather easy. He wanted to learn, as did she, and so she nodded, enthused.

{"Alright, hmm.."} her lips pursed as she thought of where to start. A greeting, perhaps. Her hand waved, {"Hello. I am Aiyana."} she pointed to her chest, and then to him, hoping he'd understand.

 

[Jezal]

What was that, now? A greeting? Learning the nuances of her language would probably be something he'll never get the chance to do, but he could memorize phrases like this at least. The first step of surviving this island would be to fit in with the natives, and to do that, he'd have to be able to talk with them.

Or, at the very least, talk through Aiyana. She seemed bright. Understood the gist of what Jezal was trying to say. Well, good. At least something was going right.

Jezal responded with a single, lazy wave.

{"Hello. I am... Jezal."} He rubbed circles over his stomach. {"Jezal. Fish. Mmmm."}

After helping herself to the fish, she handed it back to Jezal. They took turns eating and passing it until nothing but bones, a head, and a tail remained. Still, the immortal picked every last bit of meat from their modest dinner.

 

[Trista]

Aiyana's smile was bright and her laugh a musical chuckle as he spoke in her language. His inflection was a little off, the words a little too stiff, but he was understandable and she nodded. {"Yes. Good!"} she grinned and reached to pick up a twig with which she drew the shape of the island in the sand, hoping he'd understand by the wavy lines intended to be water that surrounded it.

{"Ki’eli.."} she said as she tapped on the island with the end of her stick, her hand on her chest. {"My home. Ki’eli."} she repeated, gesturing around them and then pointing to Jezal with a questioning look.

{"Where is your home? Jezal, home?.."} she asked, tapping on the sand again and gesturing to the wider sea around it with a look of confusion.

 

[Jezal]

Jezal leaned forward, and his brows lifted. Well, well. A rough map.

{"Ki'eli?"} He echoed, waving his hand over the whole image. What was that supposed to mean? Island? Or was it a name? Whatever else she said was lost on him. His lips pressed into a thin line, and he shrugged at Aiyana, shaking his head.

Looking back at the tracing, Jezal studied it for several seconds. When the ships arrived, they'd sailed for a crescent-shaped cove on the island's southwest side. Finding that landmark in her drawing, the convict used his fingertip to draw out the rudimentary shapes of three ships, then an arrow pointing towards the cove.

"Ship." He tapped his finger over his addition to their dirt mural, then waved his hand over Ki'eli. "Island."

He spent the next two minutes roughly sketching an image of the knight that had pursued them. "Knight." He made an X with his arms across his chest and shook his head. "Bad."

 

[Trista]

Her lips twisted into a smile as he repeated the word and she nodded. {"Yes. Ki'eli."} she confirmed and pointed to him "Jezal." and then to herself "Aiyana" and then to the sketch in the sand again, to make sure he understood. "Ki'eli." At least now he knew where he was, he knew her name and how to greet another of her people should he meet them. And, he could ask them for food. Well, fish at least.

She watched him as he draw what could only be the ships they'd arrived on, her eyes raising to him as he spoke the word, and then again as he said his word for the island. "Shhh-ip. Ship. I-lannd. Island." she nodded, and pointed to each of the drawings in turn to trade her words for them both also.

{"Ship. Island. The island is called Ki'eli. My home."} she said, pressing a hand to her chest.

She wrapped her arms around her knees as she watched him draw, her brow furrowing as she realised what, or rather who, he was depicting. She understood his meaning, and so repeated quietly. "Bad. Knight, bad." and shook her head in the same manner as he had. She frowned at him, confused as to why they had arrived as one and yet appeared to be enemies.

"Jezal, bad?.." she asked.

 

[Jezal]

{"Ship,"} he echoed her. {"Island,"} he did again.

So Ki'eli was a name. Good to know.

Thus far, they were on the same page. He could communicate when he was hungry, and they understood that the Bergsons were nasty. What else did they need?

Jezal snorted a chuckle and raised a brow at her. Then, casually holding his hand out parallel to the ground, he gently rocked it back and forth.

"Bad to Knight. Good to you. Goooood. You." He forcefully pointed at the native across from him and purposefully nodded to get his point across. "Good." He nodded. "To you." He jerked his finger towards her again.

 

[Trista]

Aiyana’s dark eyes were intense on his face, reading his lips and expressions as she listened to him speak.

Bad to knight. Her brow quirked and she nodded at that. It’d been clear that they hadn’t been on friendly terms. She wanted to ask why, but she assumed trying to explain it by hand gestures or drawing in the sand would be a little difficult, so for now she’d settle for knowing that whatever ill will he had toward the knight, he didn’t have toward her. She hoped that extended toward her people.

“Goooood to Aiyana.” she tilted her head. “Jezal Goooood, yes. Bad, no.” she nodded firmly, supposing that ‘good’ was the opposite of ‘bad’.

Now to ask what they were doing here. Aiya’s brow knit and her lips twisted as she tried to think, but she could think of no easy way to ask the question. She tapped her hand on the drawings of the ships, and then on the island, hoping the quirk of her brow and the lilt in her tone would make her point.

{“Why did you come here? What do they want?..”} she patted a little harder on the ship and then the island. {“What are you doing here?”} she asked with a frown and pointed to him this time. “Jezal - ship - Ki’eli.. {Why?}”

 

[Jezal]

The extent to which he could communicate to her ended there. As she questioned him, Jezal just shook his head. Even as she simplified it, how could he hope to answer?

All he mustered was a flat, "Bad."

It was all he could convey to her for now. Their intentions would do the natives naught but harm. The former convict ran his left hand over his chin, which grew a patchy, unkempt beard. His hair, long and dark and thick, was just as wild. If he hadn't gotten used to it, his nose would turn up at his stench. Such things happened after countless years of imprisonment.

Well, a bath would come in due time. He was leaning on the more immediate hope that she would take him to her home, or at least someplace of relative safety.

Or, maybe he would wake up with a knife stuck in this throat.

Jezal stretched his arms out and yawned, then he scratched his ugly beard and flopped on his back. He stared up at the cave ceiling and soon after drifted to the most comfortable sleep he'd gotten in years.

 

[Trista]

'Bad.'

A frown tugged at her lips, her eyes glazing over with dread and worry at the word - a single syllable already the worst word she could know in his language.

Aiya watched him in silence for a moment, riding the little waves of panic each time she thought of her people, and anger each time she thought of them coming here to cause them harm. Her brow furrowed with a deep huff as he drifted off to sleep with ease, and she muttered to herself as she hugged her knees and turned her attention to the flames.

She spent another few hours listening, though the sea had almost drifted her to sleep when she heard the harrowing shriek and the screaming male voice that followed it. Her eyes snapped open and she kicked sand over the dying flames, drowning them both in utter darkness.

The shrieks, she knew, were deafening up close. This one was still thankfully a little further inland, and 'they' rarely ventured too close to the shore. Of course, the 'bad' people wouldn't know that.

 

[Jezal]

Jezal woke and raised his back off the cave floor with alarming speed as Aiyana snuffed the flame between them. He blinked twice and strained his ears, and in the dark and quiet, another shriek echoed in the forest.

"Bad."

A low hiss came from the man as he drew in a deep, deep breath. So deep that it seemed as if he would suck all the air out of the cave. He closed his eyes and rested both hands flat against the earth.

He could feel the faint, distant beat of several hearts and also the presence of vile creatures. In the darkness of his subconscious, he could see as the pulses of life dwindled one by one. Jezal's brows furrowed, and a chill racked his spine. Taking his hands off the earth, he brushed his hands against his dirtied cloak and expectantly looked to Aiyana.

Another howl pierced through the night.

"Monster," he stated.

 

[Trista]

She'd almost forgotten that Jezal was here at all and jolted when he sat up so suddenly. The little cave was in darkness now, but the silvery moonlight danced on the sea's smooth surface and just enough of it reflected in on them for her to see the outline of his form. She watched curiously, at the way in which he breathed and seemed to connect with his surroundings.

It wasn't something she could explain to him, nor something she could draw in the sand, but whatever he'd done, she could tell by the word and the way that he said it that he seemed to have some semblance of understanding. Her head nodded slowly, and the next howl send a militia of chills marching down her spine. "Monster." she repeated in a faint whisper, reaching to press a finger to her lips in a gesture for him to keep quiet, and pointing to her ears to explain why. The creatures might have been mindless, but their senses were exceptional.

Aiya was certain that they were in the safest place that they could be right now, but that didn't stop her from keeping a firm grip on the spear she'd whittled or from keeping her gaze firmly fixed on the mouth of the cave they occupied.

The howls and shrieks continued, as did the screams, growing closer each time until the point that her body was rigid with tension and her heart was pounding so hard that she was certain it'd leave a bruise. All they had to do was wait it out, to stay still and silent until the sun rose and hope that the creatures didn't venture onto the beach.

Easy enough, she thought, until she heard the footsteps running on the sand, and the sound of a desperate man stumbling his way toward the water in hopes of an escape from the hell they'd found themselves in.

 

[Jezal]

Jezal immediately understood her warning and nodded.

The man had slowly shuffled his way towards the entrance and quickly hugged against the cave wall, and retreated into the shadows as the ragged person staggered across the beach and collapsed on his knees. Seawater lapped at the figure in the distance, and he continued to crawl forward.

Jezal could hear him pleading to nobody in particular but couldn't make out exactly what he was saying.

"Ancestors," he quietly swore as a trio of red-eyed, bloodied figures sprinted out of the treeline. They possessed the general shape of men but had grotesque deformities and abnormal growths on their bodies. Their speed was unearthly, and as they descended upon the fleeing man, they tore his flesh apart with no restraint. The man's screaming lasted mere moments, and all that remained in the air were sounds of feasting.

Jezal had immediately retreated to Aiyana's side and watched on with calm intensity as the monsters had their fill.

"Fucking gross," he dispassionately remarked.

 

[Trista]

Aiyana silently reached out and in protest as Jezal moved toward the mouth of the cave, afraid that the creatures might spot him, though all she could do was watch and pray to her Gods that they would be spared.

She couldn't watch. She'd seen the state that those creatures left their victims in, and she had no desire to witness it unfold. The sounds themselves was enough to cause her stomach to churn uneasily and send a violent shudder to race down her spine.

The native watched Jezal return to her side, stiffening as he moved and even more so when he spoke again. She tapped her fingers to her lips. She was trying not to breathe too loudly and he wouldn't shut up!

From the cave she listened as the beasts loudly devoured whomever they'd caught, though the feast stopped the moment more shrieks and shouts went up from close by, followed by a bright flash of light that bounced on the underside of the clouds and lit up the little cave they'd hid in. Aiyana's eyes went wide at the sight, certain that it wasn't anything natural that'd caused it.

"Knight. Eat shit and die - yes?" she whispered, recalling what he'd yelled at the man who'd tried to kill them.

 

[Jezal]

Jezal breathed out a hoarse chuckle. "Yeah, exactly. Eat shit and die." He said with a knowing smile to Aiyana and proudly pat her back. A distant rumble gently shook the cave, and his smile fell.

If he were to, God willing, finally die on this island, he'd at least die happily knowing that Aiyana would remember at least one vulgar sentence. His legacy, passing on words of profanity to a beautiful young woman.

The man backed himself against the cave wall and sighed.

"This is some shit, huh? Sorry, kid," he said, looking out towards the ocean. "At least, maybe, they'll find what they're looking for and leave. Or die."

 

[Trista]

Her lips twitched as he patted her on the back, but the worry quickly returned to her face as she looked back out toward the ocean and settled back against the wall beside him. She had no idea what he was saying of course, but the tone was enough and she sighed.

"Bad." she muttered when things seemed silent again. She could only imagine how worried her people would be for her, and she could only pray that they'd have enough faith that she'd be safe and wouldn't leave safety to look for her. She wrung her fingers together at the thought.

{"They'll leave when the sun rises.."} she explained quietly and her lips pursed thoughtfully. Her fingertip traced a circle in the sand and then surrounded it with lines, depicting the rays of light. {"Sun."} she said as she tapped at it and pointed toward the sky.

{"Then we go."} she said, pointing between them both and then pointing outside.

At least, if they were going to be sitting here all night - and she sure as hell wasn't going to sleep - they could swap some more language.

 

[Jezal]

"Bad," he snapped his fingers and nodded once. Sagely.

Between her gestures and drawing, Jezal was quick to understand.

"Oh-h-h, Sun!" he pointed to the sketch and made a rising motion with his hand. "Sun-rise." Again. "Sunrise."

Scraggly beard wiggled as the runaway convict offered her a smile. {"We go. Sun."}

Jezal was limber and sat cross-legged with ease. The pair exchanged several words, and despite his unseemly appearance, the undying man was quick to pick her words up. He picked many things up quickly. The way she lilted, how some words were oddly pronounced - he did well in emulating everything.

***​

They would watch as the sun rose from the cave's mouth, and as its splendorous reflection shimmered off the ocean beyond the cove, Aiyana set off, and Jezal followed.

 

[Trista]

Aiyana had always considered herself a fast learner, and she was, but Jezal had a mind like a sea-sponge and after a single night she was certain he could communicate with any native he might run into; at least, if they gave him a chance to speak at all.

She had intended on leaving him when it was safe to leave the cave. Taking him to her village hadn't been a consideration and she knew how her people would react if she did.. However, he had helped her, and she'd helped him, they'd spoken one another's languages and they'd both run from those other men. She didn't know him, but she knew she couldn't leave him to the mercy of the 'monsters', her people or his own.

There were no other safe places.

{"My village is hidden, a...secret."} she frowned, turning back to him and pressing her finger to her lips. {"Aiyana's home protected. Jezal - no tell where it is. Jezal be good."} she frowned, and reached to place her hand over his mouth with a slow shake of her head as her other hand settled over her heart, signifying promise.

She was going to be in so much shit for this.

 

[Jezal]

{"Why secret?"} brows furrowed in thought, and he answered the question himself, {"Because monsters."}

Then, as she performed the gesture, he remained still and thought: How quaint. A spell, perhaps? Or a contract? What terms am I bound to - consequences should I break them?

Maybe it was nothing of the sort and was just a test of his character to keep his word.

"Okay, yeah," a single nod accompanied his response, {"I good always."}

A smirk.

In the morning, the island had a serene feeling that felt far different from when he'd made chaotic landfall the previous afternoon with the Bergson fleet. It was eerily quiet, save for their hiking through the jungle's dense underbrush. Odd.

{"Other villages? Just yours - yes, no?"}

 

[Trista]

Aiya let out a short huff and failed to fight the urge to smirk back at him.

{"No. Only one Ki'eli people. One home."} she explained quietly.

The trek through the jungle was no easy one, particularly for someone not native to the island. Aiya was sure-footed, and here and there she paused to point out traps her people had set or poisonous plants or snakes. Eventually, the pair came to a sheer rock face and Aiya stopped to listen and look, ensuring they weren't being followed before she combed back the curtain of floral ivy to reveal a ladder spun from vine.

{"Up."} she pointed, and proceeded. At the top, the ladder was re-covered and she led him along a winding path that'd clearly been well traveled in comparison to the route they'd taken so far. Ahead through the trees were more towering rock waterfalls and sparkling pools of the clearest waters. Bridges had been constructed across them, leading to stilted platforms that held huts, built in the same manner as those that had been built on the beach.

"Home." she smiled and reached to take his hand, in the hopes that he wouldn't be skewered on sight.

 

[Jezal]

Uneasy was putting it lightly. It was fucking hard, and more than once, Aiyana had to stop and check to make sure she hadn't lost Jezal. The hardest of it all was that climb up the thick vine ladder, especially the second half. Jezal's breathing had only done so much at first, and by the time he made it to the top, his breathing was labored, and his muscles screamed.

Nearly two decades of inactivity would do that, it seemed.

"Nice place," the man remarked and glanced to the hand that took his before following.

{"Outsiders bad?"} He asked and couldn't help but notice how anxious she'd been since they set off that morning.

A pair of children - Aiyana's niece and nephew- ran out from a nearby hut but quickly stopped in place. Soon, entire families were stepping out onto the narrow porches of their homes, most of them with an unwelcoming air about them.

Outsiders bad, apparently.

Before they reached the first hut, a tall, warrior-like man stepped out from the village to meet them. The man had sunkissed skin and wore his long sandy-colored hair in a single braid. Gods, the man was large, like a mountain of muscles. He urged Aiyana's young relatives back with a gentle but firm push.

{"Aiyana,"} he hissed, {"What is the meaning of this?"}

 

[Trista]

{"Outsiders bad.."} she answered quietly, avoiding the stares of shock and enmity {"Stay close."}

Jarrah's voice caused her grip on Jezal's hand to tighten and she took a quick step in front of him, half anticipating the warrior to kill on sight and ask questions later. She drew in a breath and lifted her chin, trying to regain some semblance of courage.

{"Many men have come ashore. Some tried to harm me, but this man stopped them from doing so. They were trying to kill him also. I owe him my life - I could not simply leave him out there to die."} she frowned, keeping her gaze fixed on Jarrah as a quiet murmuring slowly grew around them. {"His name is Jezal. He knows about the others on the island, he can help us--"}

Her words were cut off by a sound of sheer indignation from the warrior who too a stride toward her. {"We need no help from this, outsider. Are you really so naive that you haven't considered this was their plan?!"} His voice bounced back at her several times from the surrounding rock faces, birds were shaken from their trees and the murmur silenced immediately. She hadn't considered that at all, that much was clear by the way her lips parted to speak and then promptly closed again.

{"Then why would he kill his own men to save my life?"} she retorted finally, still clutching at Jezal's hand as Jarrah paced like a wildcat in front of her.

 

[Jezal]

Jarrah snorted as he prowled, flushed with aggrieved indignation as his mighty chest rose and fell with each heavy breath.

{"You know not just how dishonorable and cruel the invaders can be,"} he stabbed his pointer sharply at Aiyana, {"I know! I have defended our home from the invaders for generations, Aiya!"}

As who Jezal could assume was their people's chief, or something of a similar nature, argued with Aiyana, he took a good look at the crowd that they'd gathered. They were all tall with athletic frames—a whole tribe of perfect people. The outsider frowned.

It was clear to Jarrah that Aiyana wouldn't back down, and his pacing stopped.

{"Keola Ho'kolo!"} With furrowed brows, he stared directly at Aiyana, {"I invoke the Trial of Life and challenge the outsider."}

The atmosphere around the villagers that watched suddenly changed. They all tensed up—the Trial of Life was rarely used in the tribe's history. For Jarrah to voice the challenge was no laughing matter.

Jezal would have to fight for his right to enter.

 

[Trista]

Aiyana's dark eyes never left the man posturing ahead of her, keeping her shoulders squared and her chin high as she stood her ground. Still, she swallowed as Jarrah's voice raised and failed to suppress a slight flinch. She didn't dare speak, and her silence said enough about where she stood on the matter. Jezal deserved the safety of the village, and she would not shrink back in withdrawal despite how her people looked at her.

"Keola Ho'kolo!"
​

Aiya's eyes widened, and she stepped forward then, her hand raised as though it had any chance of pacifying the chieftain. "Jarrah, no. Speak with him, he knows much of our language already, you will see - please, Jarrah." she turned to Jezal and had been about to go to him when hands drew her back.

{"To the pit!"} several voices called out.

"Jezal - fight good. No kill!" Aiya yelled above the noise as the crowd moved toward the pit and surrounded it.