11 Reunions

AN: I guess this one sort of calls for a self harm warning? I'm not really sure, but !!!WARNING!!! SELF HARM MENTION???

Xan instantly moves to tackle them, but I stop him. "Jesus Christ Xan calm down!" I say, and he stands down.

"S-sorry." I turn to the Gragzul and look at them. They don't look familiar, but I can barely see them in the dim lighting of the evening.

"Who... who are you?" I say calmly. They reach up and pull off their hood. They look to be a female, which isn't very common in this region.

"Xanthos... you've grown so well... I... can't believe I found you." Xan takes a hesitant step forward.

"Who... are you?" The Gragzul laughs softly.

"Oh I should've realized you wouldn't recognize me. Your father took you from me before you even had a chance to meet me almost." Xan pauses for a long time, then he quietly whispers a response.

"M-mom...?"

The Gragzul smiles widely. "I've missed you so much, son. I've spent years looking for you." Xan just stands there, confused.

"I... I don't understand." The Gragzul pauses.

"What is it?" Xan looks at me.

"So... I'm a hybrid, but you're a... pure-blood I guess you could say?" I nod, slightly confused. "Then how are you... why do you look... human?" The Gragzul looks at me, and gasps.

"Oh my Grag, you're Traikz's son!" She kneels instantly, and I feel myself turn bright red.

"Mom, what does that mean?" Xan says awkwardly. Jaxx looks at me.

"I had not noticed it, but she is right. You are Traikz's son." Jaxx does an odd motion, and I figure it must be some sort of Zulis gesture of respect.

"W-what does all this mean?" I say hesitantly. The Gragzul stands.

"Your father, he is our leader, he's practically a god to us. The Zulis respected him, as he was the one who made the peace treaty between us and them. Nice to see one of you by the way. I heard of what happened, and I'm terribly sorry." Jaxx shrugs.

"I have had a long time to adjust to the fact that I am the last of my kind."

"So... my father, he... he's like a god to you? Then... who did I get this picture off of? It couldn't have been my mother, because she would've had to have been sent to fight." The Gragzul hesitates.

"All Gragzuls are sent to fight if they are strong enough. Your mother, Riaz, was one of them. She always carried a picture of you, her, and Traikz on her, no matter what. She's probably wondering where it went." I suddenly pause.

"Hold on, I know how hard it is for you guys to speak English, how did you get so well at it?" The Gragzul smiles.

"Hard work and a lot of time. And a mentor here or there." I think, running through all the information in my mind that I was just told.

"I need to find her. Riaz. My... mom." I suddenly say.

"Are you insane? That's a death wish! That's marching directly through to the tunnels!" Xan and his mom say simultaneously. They both look at each other, and then smile awkwardly.

"Oh, my name is Trizo, by the way. I'm Traikz's right hand soldier. He doesn't know I did this."

As Xan and his mom Trizo talk over everything they've missed of each other's lives, Jaxx walks over to me. "Adraxian, you should listen to them. Going directly into the tunnels is a suicide mission." I pause, and in the distance, the bell rings that signals us to get some sleep.

"I... I'll sleep on it. Goodnight, Jaxx." I say, walking to my tent. Jaxx looks at Kor, who knows what kind of mood I'm in, and Kor shakes his head. Jaxx looks back at me, watching me walk away.

I walk into my tent and lay on the cot instantly. Everything feels... blank. I don't feel much of anything, and that's the dangerous part. I look at my right arm and count all the scars, even though you can't even see any of them. I still know what it felt like to get them. It was usually after I got home from school, and I just got the crap beaten out of me, so I would go upstairs and-... it wasn't the brightest time in my life. But I knew it wouldn't be the last time I'd ever do it. And I knew that when I got enlisted. I subconsciously brought something with me that they never would've expected the real use for. Just a razor, and a couple of blades. The razor, of course, was for shaving if I needed it, but the blades... I put my arm down and roll onto my side with a sigh. Being who I am has always been a struggle, but sometimes it was bad. Very bad.

Excruciating.

And I never thought of telling anyone.

Until... I almost-... I close my eyes and feel a tear run down my right cheek. I huff, slightly amused, and mumble, "Always have been such a fucking softie, huh Adraxian?" I wipe my cheek with the back of my hand. Suddenly, a bright flash shines outside, making me sit up instantly. It was bright red. The shooting stars here are usually purple, and meteors are blue. Something isn't right. I stumble out of the cot, half falling half running to see outside. 'It was a flare? Why the fuck would someone launch a flare at this time of day?' I think, going towards it. I get closer to it, and then an odd feeling comes over me, and I blink a couple times, feeling dizzy, and slightly tired. 'I don't think that was... a flare...'

"Hello?" I say, squinting through the flare light.

"Adraxian Jones, correct?" A deep growly voice says.

"Y-yes. Who are you, and why are you here?" I say calmly.

"You're coming with me." They say. The light gets brighter and I stumble, catching myself on something... or someone. 'Definitely not a flare...' I think as the people pick me up and walk away from the base.

I wake up in the softest bed I've slept in for months, and I almost don't want to get out.

"Wake up, Adraxian." I slowly open my eyes. I'm in a white room, and it's oddly bright, but there's a red tint to all of it. I sit up slightly, looking around, spotting several Gragzuls in the room, but none have ever looked to be in a fight. I look at myself over, and see a bandage wrapped around my right hand, covering my palm and the back of my hand. It's slightly red, as if my hand had been bleeding. I shimmy around, and let my legs hang off the edge of the bed, and I slowly stand up, a little wobbly.

"Let's go outside Adraxian!", a faint memory echoes through my mind, a voice of a girl? She sounded rather young, but I can't quite recall. I stumble toward a balcony and I squint as I walk into the sunlight.

"Adraxian, come here." I turn and see someone, a man, standing a little ways away from the bed I got out of just a moment ago. I walk over to him slowly, a little unsteady.

"W-who are you?"

"I am Traikz, Adraxian. I'm your father." He says smiling. I hesitate, looking at him skeptically.

"Y-you are?" He nods, smiling wider, a slight blush on his face. I hesitate, then smile.

"Where... where is Riaz?" Traikz pauses.

"Did... did you take the picture...? She's been looking for it ever since it went missing." I pull the folded up picture out of my pocket. I unfold it and hand it to him. Tears form in his eyes. He suddenly hugs me, taking me by surprise.

"I-I..." I say quietly, awkwardly holding my arms out slightly. A door opens and closes nearby. Traikz lets go of me, and looks at the person who walked in, and I turn to them. It's a woman, with flaming red hair. Traikz is like your stereotypical kingly leader, with bright red hair, and startling blue eyes. The woman has blue eyes as well. She's tall-ish, and she looks strong.

"Trai, who... who is this... boy?" Traikz smiles slightly, and he answers, happy to tell her.

"Riaz, this... boy... is our son. He had the picture." Riaz hesitates, then stands as if she's standing to attention, and she speaks.

"Sir, with all due respect, why w-would you say this to me?" Traikz pauses.

"Why would you think I'm lying to you?" Riaz hesitates.

"Is it... really him?" Traikz nods.

Riaz immediately walks over to me and hugs me. I hug her back. She lets go of me, and looks me over.

"My beautiful boy... I see you've mastered the art of disguise." She pauses. "That's not what I... I'm used to treating everyone like a soldier. What's your name?" I hesitate.

"Adraxian Jones." Riaz smiles.

"That's a strong name. Trai, do you remember what we were going to name him?" He shrugs.

"It's been 17 years." She smiles, and speaks softly.

"I still remember. We were going to name you after your great grandfather, who was the first one of us to try to bargain for peace. Zorak. But Adraxian... Adraxian is better. It suits you well." I smile, and flinch when my hand feels like it's burning.

"What... is that from?" I say, holding my hand close to my chest.

"It's from the marking. You're of royal blood, so like the rest of the royal blood family, you got a marking." She unwraps my hand to reveal what looks like a red crystal, but it's just like a tattoo. I couldn't have possibly been any more wrong at the time. I look at it, amazed.

"Woah..." Riaz laughs slightly. She is about to say something when the building shakes violently, making us all stumble. A Gragzul runs into the room, a little awkwardly.

"Ma'am, they're hurling the bombs at us again. More attacks like this, and the building will be crushed." Other Gragzul run in and immediately escort Traikz out of the building. "They say they're looking for an Adraxian Jones."

I hesitate, knowing that many of the options for this situation won't end well for either the Gragzuls, or many soldiers if the Gragzuls decide to attack.

"I'll go out there." I say. My mom looks at me like I'm crazy.

"Son, don't be ridiculous! They could kill you!" I smile slightly.

"I know they won't. I'll be okay, I swear." Riaz looks around for a moment, then grabs a flat smooth mirror like object and hands it to me.

"It's a communicator. If you ever need to talk, just say my name, or your father's name, and we'll answer. Be safe out there, okay?" I nod, putting the communicator in my pocket. I start walking to the tunnels, and eventually make it outside them. I hold my arm up to shield my eyes from the sun, and I see a group running towards me. I hesitate, but then realize it's Xan, Kor, and Jaxx, as well as a couple other soldiers. They grab me before I manage to say anything and bring me back to camp.

"Did they hurt you?" Xan says, clearly concerned.

"No, they didn't hurt me." I say, smiling a little at his concern.

"Then what's on your hand?" I pause for a moment.

"A marking. For my 'royal blood' but I think that's really all it is. Just like another tattoo." I look at Jaxx and Kor, who are talking about something off to the side, and I sigh a little. 'Their relationship is more normal than mine will ever be...' I think to myself. Xan leans into my view and I look at him. He's a little rough around the edges, kinda messy hair, some stubble, and he looks so concerned about me that I can't help but feel butterflies in my stomach. It's not like him and I aren't as close as Kor and Jaxx, but even if we are pretty close, I still get a little nervous around him.

"Hey, you look like something's on your mind. Wanna go to the tent and talk it over?" I nod, and we start walking to the tent together.

When we get there, I sit in the hammock that's still set up inside it. Xan sits on the ground across from me. "So, what's up?" He says. I shrug.

"I don't know... I guess I just feel a little... off." He rolls his eyes.

"As if. Seriously, what's wrong?" I look at him, the candle doing its thing to his features.

"Jaxx and Kor are really close. And I feel like... I dunno..." Xan looks at the ground.

"Oh. I see. Well, there's several ways to fix that," he says, looking at me, "so number one is you gotta stop being snatched in the middle of the night all the time." I laugh a little. "And two... one of us is gonna have to be the confident one in this relationship, and I feel like that might be my job." I blush a little and look at the edge of the hammock. Xan stands up, and walks up to me, lifting up my chin. He looks at me, face to face, and says, "I... I suppose we could... do things in here. This is like our private space. Our private area." I smile.

"Our home." I say softly. We both smile and he hugs me, and I breathe in his smell, which makes me feel like I finally belong somewhere, and the butterfly-like feeling kicks in full swing. I start shaking slightly on the inside, my nerves almost getting the better of me. He kisses my cheek, and then moves down to my neck, and I tense slightly, blushing deeply and melting in his strong embrace. I feel him smile against my neck and he lets go of me.

"How far are you willing to let me go with this?" He says calmly.

"As far as you want." I say, a little quieter than I normally am.

He kisses me, gently and deeply, making me lean back against my cot, and I put my arms up around his neck and loosely clasp my hands together, making Xan smile slightly and kiss my neck, and I melt again, pulling him closer to me. The cot sinks as he gets on it, his legs on both sides of my hips. He keeps kissing me, soft pecks that are love filled. I suddenly pull my knees up, making him slide forward and laugh slightly. He messes with the edge of my shirt, and I roll my eyes a little. "You said you were gonna be the confident one in this relationship." He smirks a little.

"Okay." Suddenly, an alarm rings out. Xan looks toward the entrance of the tent and half falls half rolls off the hammock, and I get up.

"What's happening?" I say, confused as I see purple smoke near the center of the base.

"I don't believe this. They dug under our base. They're inside."