6 Strange Abilities

I wake up slightly, my vision blurred and grey, as if everything has been drained of its color. I take a slow breath and try to look around. I spot several other beds, and then slowly realize I'm in the Med Center, which is why everything is grey. It's just the color scheme. I see Jaxx talking to someone and I swallow dryly. I look to my left and see both Xanthos and Korax sitting in two chairs, both sleeping. I lightly flick a metal rail on the bed that I can reach, and Xan wakes up instantly, looking panicked and sleep deprived. Kor wakes up, but not as fast. They both look at me, surprised.

"Are you really awake?" Xan says slowly and quietly, as if speaking any louder would break me into pieces. I nod slightly. A smile appears on both of their faces, and Kor whistles and shortly after Jaxx is in my line of sight.

"Hello there. Surprised you actually woke up at the time you did. I was expecting you to wake at 21:00. It's only 19:10. Nice job. You managed to almost concuss yourself when you fell. Hit one hell of a rock. You should be fine soon enough, just change the bandages every now and then." Kor rolls his eyes and looks at me.

"Whatever. We're glad you're up Adraxian. It's been rather stressful around here." Xanthos laughs slightly.

"No shit. We managed to get the Gragzul to fall back, but that wasn't our last fight. It won't be for a long time either..."

After a while, Jaxx and Kor walk off, talking about medical stuff. Xan looks at me.

"We made it, Adraxian," he looks to the open doors of the Med Center, where you can see the sky from there, slowly turning orange pink from the slightly setting sun, "we fucking made it." He looks at me with such extreme emotion in his eyes, and I smile weakly.

I slowly recovered enough for me to at least go into a tent, which I realize is the same one me and Xan were in the first time, because it still has the blanket over the side.

"Whose is... this?" I say weakly, slightly out of breath from walking over to it.

"I had them give us an extra, so I could have a little space to myself. It's mine." I feel a little heat rush to my face and him and I walk into it. I get on the now fixed cot and sigh, wiggling slightly, getting comfy. Xan looks at me and laughs, and I smile, more heat going to my face. The only light in here again is the lantern, making everything seem softer, and the way Xan's looking at me just... I don't think I can-... I look away suddenly, and Xan tilts his head slightly.

"Adraxian? Are you okay?" I nod, my throat to tight for me to have said anything, and I don't trust myself with not blurting out what I so desperately want to say.

"Just... tired..." I manage to choke out, and Xan nods, feeling like he shouldn't pry, and he curls up with a sleeping bag and smiles at me again. 'Jesus Christ Adraxian, get it together...' I think, struggling to not say anything.

"Goodnight, Adraxian." Xan says quietly, and he blows out the flame in the lantern, putting the tent into almost complete darkness, with the sun having mostly set by now. I pull a blanket over me and think, 'What the fuck am I doing?! Ugh, this is insanity! Whatever...' I slowly drift off to sleep.

I wake up and see Xan's shirtless torso leaning over me.

"Hold still, I'm just changing your bandages." He says calmly. I try not to look at him but I can't help it. He's honestly the most muscular person I know, but he isn't much bigger than I am width wise. He's just a lot stronger. I notice faint scars that ripple along his abs, and I wonder how he would've got them, but then I realize he's not doing anything, and I look up at him, to see him looking down at me with a mix of confusion and embarrassment on his face. I feel my face turn red and look away, my eyes wide. "Um...," Xan clears his throat, "well, I should probably... go talk to the men and..."

"Yeah," I say awkwardly, "that... sounds like a good idea... after yesterday... Um.. I'll just be here... okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah. Alright. Uh.. see you later." Xan grabs a shirt and walks out of the tent. I sigh and put my hands on my face.

"Oh my god... why do I do this..." I groan.

A few hours later, Xan walks into the tent, fully clothed this time. I look at him, and smile slightly.

"Hey." I say, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible.

"Hey." He says, looking nervous. I feel my nerves gathering in the pit of my stomach, making me feel almost scared. Xan sits down on the sleeping bag in the tent. We sit in silence for a while, and then I speak.

"So, how were the.."

"Oh, they were good. Good. How's your..."

"Fine, fine." A long, awkward silence envelops us. I can tell he is uncomfortable as well. I feel the need to strongly tell him what I want to tell him so desperately, but I think against it. Xan suddenly speaks.

"Tell me about yourself." He says it so quietly I can barely hear him.

"Well, y-you already know about my school days... what else is there to know?" I say. He looks at me.

"You asked me if I'd ever been in a relationship before. So, I figured, I should ask you as well." I feel myself blushing.

"Well, to be honest, I just... never really found that person... that I liked. You know... I've been an outcast my entire life so..." Xan nods, still looking at me. I can tell he's trying to figure something out.

"Why were you... staring at me earlier... when I was replacing your bandages?" I blush deeper and swear under my breath.

"I noticed your scars. Was wondering how you got them. That's all." He nods in my peripheral vision, and I can tell he's still thinking.

"I noticed you've been a bit... on edge almost. Like you're holding your breath. What's wrong? Is there something you need to get off your chest?" I lick my lips and look away at the fabric of the tent within arms length of me, and study it closely. I hear Xan get up, and see him get closer in my peripherals. I swallow as he crouches slightly, so he can basically look me straight in the eyes. "What is it, Adraxian?" The tone he says it in makes me frustrated with myself, but I know I'm not showing it on the outside. Suddenly, he reaches out to me, and puts a hand on my chin, gently moving it so that I'm looking at him. His eyes are looking straight into my soul, and the flickering light from the lantern makes his features more intense. I swallow and try to look away, but Xan just leans over to where I'm looking. "Tell me, Adraxian." He says quietly. I feel my nerves skyrocket and my heart racing so fast I can hear it in my ears and feel it behind my eyes. My breathing gets faster, and I try to steady myself. I calm down enough to reach up to his hand and grab his wrist lightly. I move to push it away but I lock eyes with him. I take a deep breath.

"Nothing's wrong. You don't have to worry about me." Xan sighs and takes a step back, dejectedly almost.

"Fine." He walks out of the tent without another word. I sigh and close my eyes. I drift off into some weird state, like how I was in the Gragzul camp.

I wake up to a strange feeling gathering in the pit of my stomach. I flinch and sit up, my vision blurring. Whatever that feeling is... it's painful. I move to get off the cot and suddenly collapse to the ground, a hand on my stomach. I grit my teeth and take several breaths, trying to get a grip. I grimace as another shockwave goes through me. I cry out slightly as blinding white hot pain goes through me. My vision clears somewhat, and I see something red. At first I think it's blood, but then it hits me. It's the hand of a Gragzul. Dark red, almost furry, and with claws that could definitely kill someone alone. I cry out again, but it isn't my own voice. It's a roar. I black out, the pain going over my limit.

Xan paces back and forth uncontrollably. He looks to his right, and then keeps pacing, a horrible feeling settling in his gut.

"Sir, it's waking up!" A man says. Xan looks to his right again, and stops, looking at it. He hears it grumble something, and then get louder. He stares at the only Gragzul they have in containment: the one he found in the tent. No one knows how it got there, or when it even came, but it's a younger one, the youngest one they've seen in this entire war. Xan feels uneasy about this though, something isn't right. The Gragzul almost looks familiar. He turns on the speaker system and says, "Do you understand me?" The Gragzul looks at him through the strengthened glass window and tries grumbling something. Xan sighs and paces a little more. Then suddenly he hears it speak.

"I... am not... what you... think..." He turns and looks at the Gragzul, and it looks back at him. "I am... not this..." It says.

"What do you mean?" Xan says slowly.

"I am..." The Gragzul growls, unable to form the right words. Xan sighs again, frustrated.

"This is going to take forever..." He says under his breath.

After a couple of hours, the Gragzul finally seems to have figured out what it is trying to say.

"Alone..." It says. Xan rolls his eyes and dismisses the men, leaving only him and the Gragzul, and between them, a pane of four inch thick strengthened glass.

"Finally figured it out?" Xan says. The Gragzul nods. "Then spit it out."

"I am... not like this... you know me... we ran together... away from the..." It's voice trails off. The realization hits Xan like a brick.

"Adraxian?!"

I close my eyes, having finally gotten my message across.

"Yes... it's me..." I say, struggling with the words as if I hadn't spoken them before.

"How did... how can we... what should we do..." Xan says, trying to figure out problems he doesn't have the understanding to figure out.

"Come... here..." I say, trying to test a theory.

"What? Why?" Xan says.

"You... trust me... don't you?" I say. Xan hesitates, then goes into the room I'm in. I've been chained up in a sitting position, and I look at him. He swallows.

"What do you..." His voice trails off.

"Just... come here." Xan walks over and sits down across from me.

"I... am sorry..." I say.

"No, it's not your fault. It's mine. I shouldn't have pushed you like that. I was just... I... I thought you... but I guess I was wrong... "

"Just.. talk to... me." I say. He pauses.

"Well, Jaxx apparently is taking Korax under his wing in the Med Center. I feel like they would be adorable together but I'm pretty sure Korax isn't quite ready for anything after his... experiences. Oh, you got a letter from your parents. I didn't read it but," he pulls an envelope out of his coat pocket, "I did grab it for you. I was gonna give it to you but... Anyway, someone said that the Gragzul were considering going into peace with us, but their demands are insane, so it won't happen for a long time. And... everyone's worried about you. They think you've gone missing. Taken maybe. But.. I'm relieved you're okay, even if you are a Gragzul. You're gonna have some explaining to do once you get back to normal." Xan laughs, and I smile, and start going back to normal. Xan looks at me, and smiles. "I guess there is more to you than meets the eye." He says, once I'm back to normal. He suddenly turns dark red and covers his eyes.

"What?" I say, confused.

"Um... you're a little..." I look at myself and turn red out of embarrassment.

"C-can you... uh..." Xan nods and gets up carefully and goes over to a wall with shelves of blankets. He grabs one and throws it in my general direction. I shimmy out of the chains, now being much smaller, and wrap it around me. "Alright, I'm somewhat decent now." I say. Xan turns around and smiles at me, and I smile back. He walks over and suddenly hugs me. I blush and tense slightly.

"God I was so worried..." He says quietly. I smile and lean into him. "I thought... I was gonna.." my voice trails off. Xan hugs me tighter. "I wouldn't have let them do anything to you until I found out what the deal was." I close my eyes and breathe in. I am so close to him that I can smell him. He smells like fresh air and almost a piney smell. I sigh contentedly, and Xan looks at me. "We have a lot to talk about." I smile and nod.

Xan sits at the table across from me, in his command tent. He let me wear some of his clothes for now. "So... how do you think..." He starts to say, but his voice trails off.

"I don't know. It could've been what they did... or it could be something else..." I say quietly. Xan nods, and puts a hand on his head, as if he has a headache. "You okay?" I say. He nods.

"Yeah, just a headache coming on..." I nod and sit there silently for a moment. Xan flinches and he leans forward, grunting slightly. I look at him again, and look at him closely.

"I know what's happening." I say quietly, realizing what's going on.

"What?" He says, flinching.

"It's what happened to me." Xan looks at me with a panicked look in his eyes.

"What?" He says, his voice cracking slightly.

"It's okay. Just calm down. You'll be alright."

I look at Xan, and he looks back. He has the basic looks, yet still looks mostly human. He just has the wings and something similar to the claws, and has some red fur going up his arms. His eyes are colored like a Gragzul's but he isn't full on Gragzul. I look at him. "How do you feel...?" I say calmly.

"... Good..." He says, his voice a bit more growly than usual. I smile at him, and he smiles back. I feel myself change and I smile. I can tell I'm as Gragzul looking as Xan. I get up and go over to him. He looks at me, and I can tell he's conflicted about what he's supposed to be doing.

"I know you've killed many of them, but now... we are them, and," I crouch and look at him, "we are the only ones like this. We have to stop this war before it gets too carried away." Xan looks away, as if he is regretting something.

"What? What's wrong?" He sighs.

"It already is. We are planning an all out attack. Tonight, we charge on them while they don't expect it." I feel myself change back to normal.

"What?" He nods, and goes back to normal.

"You've got to be shitting me. Are you serious?" He nods again, afraid to look at me. "What the HELL Xanthos?! I thought we were going to stop this war!" Xan looks at me as if I'm turning back into a full on Gragzul, but I'm really only going back to normal.

"You wanted to stop this war? Well," He gets up so quickly that his chair falls backwards, bouncing across the ground, "do you have any better fucking ideas?" He steps towards me and I take a step back.

"We could've tried talking to them!" He keeps walking forwards, making me step back more.

"Talking to them?! You know what it's like for them to actually speak English! They could barely say our names, Adraxian! And you," he finally ends up pushing me against the wall and he puts a finger on my chest, "want to fucking talk to them. Do you want to get yourself killed?" My heart starts racing, and I lock eyes with him. "Well?" I just look at him, and after a moment he sighs and steps away, and leans against the table. Someone walks in the room, and jumps when he sees me.

"How did he get here?! We had security-"

"Shut up. It's none of your business, and if you decide to question me, I will send you home." Xan says suddenly, shooting a glare at them. "Why did you come here anyway?" He says after taking a deep breath.

"The men are ready sir. The cannons are all loaded. Are you willing to test the-"

"No. We aren't doing that unless absolutely needed."

"Sir yes sir." The man leaves the room and I sigh and leave the room, not willing to deal with anymore of this and I go to the entrance of the tent. I walk out and go to my tent, and I sit on my cot, pulling out the photograph filled book that my mother gave me, and I start flipping through the pages, and eventually drift off to sleep with the book cradled in my arms.

avataravatar
Next chapter