Dream Drive Ch. 02

What would happen if he died here?

Jackson finished his float in peace. After organizing his thoughts, somewhat, he climbed out of the water. He scooped his hair out of his eyes. He realized Chaki was watching him. When she saw him watch her back, she turned her head away and blushed.

She didn't look like much back in the cage, but now...he was definitely feeling a little jungle fever. She had a slim, tall body, not petite, but compact, almost muscular. Small breasts raised the little crest of leaves around her neck. Her skin was a rich mocha brown. Freckles dotted her shoulders and nose. Her hair was darker shade of brown, almost black.

She was cute as hell. He wondered if he had a chance. He wasn't exactly impressive...as himself, but her blushing teased at his fantasies. He wasn't sure if she was just thinking about earlier, stumbling across her in the woods, or if she actually had a little thing for him.

Well, he could try and flirt with her.

He'd probably fuck it up.

Shaka led the way through the forest. Palla fell in behind her; he seemed distant. Maybe he was just tired. He couldn't be older than 12, at most. The situation was starting to catch up with him.

Chaki looked to him. Her eyes were still slightly red from when she'd cried. "...Jackson Vedalt...about earlier. I was emotional."

"You were."

"It was unbecoming of me. I can offer you nothing in return but what these hands can give you. I hope, in them, you will find some recompense."

"You've already given me something."

"...I have?" Chaki asked.

"Yeah," Jackson said. "You have."

"What?"

He walked past her. "...doesn't matter."

Chaki lingered behind him for a moment, then moved to catch up. She didn't ask him what he'd meant. He was glad for that. He didn't really know how to put it into words.

###

The wood thinned, then opened onto a plain.

It was huge.

Jackson lived in Boston. He'd never been to the Great Plains. He imagined this is what they had to look like.

It was totally flat from one side of the horizon all the way to the other. Short prairie grass, just a few inches high, matted the ground in an unbroken yellow-green carpet. The sky, though - that was what was amazing. The sky covered them like an impossibly huge black dome. The moon stood in its center, obscuring most of the stars, but the prairie was so well lit it might as well have been daytime.

Jackson leaned back. "Whoa."

"Jackson Vedalt?" Chaki asked. "What is it?"

"...there's more hills where I live," Jackson said. "And less sky."

"Where are you from?"

"Don't bother him with your questions, Chaki," Shaka said. "It is as he said. Complicated."

A stubborn look crept on Chaki's face. "Well, I feel I ought to know certain basic details about the man that saved my life. If that's alright with you, Jackson Vedalt."

Jackson shrugged. "I'll tell you what you want to know. I just don't know if you'll get it."

"There, you see, Shaka? He does not mind." She nodded perfunctorily. "I am confident I will understand your explanation."

Shaka sighed. She began to walk onto the plains, and they followed. "I do not know why I bother. She talks back to me, she ignores my orders. She bothers our guest, ignoring all politeness. I know what it is. She grows more proudful and stubborn because she knows the men are looking at her, and she thinks she isn't a little girl. Apparently the great and revered Chaki must no longer take direction from her elders."

"I didn't say all that!"

"Perhaps I shall take a more obedient student."

"Oh, Chaki got in trouble," Palla said.

"Be silent, Palla," Chaki said.

"He is right," Shaka said. "You are in trouble. And here I thought I was your second mother."

"Shaka, do not make light of that! I meant what I said."

Shaka placed a hand on her forehead. "Oh, woe to me, that my sometime daughter rejects my words!"

Chaki and Shaka started going back and forward. Jackson snorted a bit at some of it. It was easy to tell they had a strong relationship. After a time, Shaka stopped her teasing and wrapped Chaki in a one-armed hug as they kept walking.

"Honored warrior?" Palla asked.

Jackson looked down at the boy. He had Chaki's dark eyes and smooth brown hair, though he kept his shorter. He was about three-quarters Jackson's height. "What's up?"

"Thank you for saving me, and my sister," he said. "And Shaka, too."

"It's fine."

"I will repay my family's debt!" he said. He thumped a hand to his chest. "On our honor!"

"Heh. Alright then. Don't let me down."

And then they walked. Chaki and Shaka kept talking, and eventually one of them said something the other didn't like, and they started their bickering. Palla smirked up at Jackson.

"Are they always like this?" Jackson whispered.

Palla shrugged. "They are practically the same person. My mother says that there is room enough for only one type of person in each tribe, so they always butt heads. But you saw Chaki. They love each other."

"I can't tell whether you're insightful, or just parroting your mother."

Palla laughed. "Probably the second. I'm not proud like Chaki. She only started arguing openly with Shaka in recent months."

"Any particular reason?"

"Uh-huh. Ever since Boonta asked to be the father of her children."

"Uh...what?"

"Boonta is a warrior-hunter in our tribe," Palla said. "He's a good man, he is always kind to me. Chaki wouldn't have him for some dumb girl reason or another. Anyway, Chaki was the first of her friends to be asked for mating partnership, and I think her head grew several sizes."

"Well," Jackson said, "if she hadn't disobeyed, Shaka would be dead right now."

"But she's still not to disobey her! Shaka is our spirit guide. You do what the spirit guide tells you. But, I guess you're right, too...eesh." Palla scratched his head. "I don't like politics. I think I am just going to stay a hunter-warrior, like my father did." Palla snapped his fingers. "Oh, you're an outsider, so you don't know how things are, really. Maybe I can help?"

Aha. Someone he could pry for information. "That'd be great, Palla," Jackson said. "Tell me about your tribe."

"Well, we number about 400 by ourselves, and our band is half of a larger tribe of the Plain-Under-the-Mountain. The tribe has two elders, one from our band, and one from theirs. Shaka is our band's spirit guide. We follow the herds of bison that cross the plains, and hunt them for food, and bone, and hide. We meet with the other band regularly to trade and exchange news, and then we meet together with the other tribes once a year. Sometimes more often, though. There are other tribes that do not move across the plains. We trade bison meat and hides in exchange for their fruits and vegetables and other supplies."

Jackson wondered where these people had come from. Humans left behind while building the tower, he imagined. They'd reverted to a more traditional lifestyle. "I see. What was that part about fathering children?"

"Well, Boonta wanted Chaki to be the mother for his children," Palla said. "He would have made a good brother, but Chaki said no."

Jackson decided that the sophistication of Palla in matters of marriage was likely not all that high. He decided to change the subject. "How did you end up in those cages?"

"We were headed back for the Mountain Meet," Palla said. "That's when all the branches of the tribe gather under the Great Mountain once each year. It is always at the end of summer, when food is plentiful, so that there can be many people together. And all the elders talk, and decide on things."

"Like what?"

"Like...where each part of the tribe is to hunt, and they things out if elders have arguments, and what to do when the tribes need to work together. Things like that."

Palla didn't have much of a future in politics, but at least he was smart enough to realize it. "Ok. So, getting back to the cages."

"Yeah. At the last Meet, well, we were in argument with another tribe. It was decided that we would have to fight to settle our dispute. Very early this year, we made war against each other, and they won. They pushed us south to these lands for our hunting. Dangerous lands; too many trees. The wood is useful, but they shelter things like rattoks, and the land of the iron men is too close."

"Iron men?"

"Iron men," Palla said. "They wear clothes of iron for protection. Shaka says they have strong magics that let them force spirits to their will. They don't have much interest in us, but they have made many farms on our borders lately. One of the elders thinks we ought to make war and drive them away. I think so too! That was how we ended up caged!"

"So, what happened?"

"There was a raid, while most were sleeping," Palla said. His feet crunched through the grass. "They stole horses and kidnapped some of us. I'm not sure how many. They took us to their town, and sold us as slaves. We passed to another man, who bought us and then sold us again - to those things. Rattok. If the iron men are friends with rattok, than we are no friends of the iron men!"

Jackson tried to put it together. A more advanced civilization was slowly advancing on these plains tribesmen, and they weren't very nice. He looked over and saw Chaki and Shaka watching him and Palla.

"Jackson Vedalt," Palla said, "when we make war with the iron men, will you help us? You're a strong warrior!"

Jackson wasn't sure if he wanted to commit to an extended campaign. He shrugged. "We'll see."

"Ugh. You sound as my mother. I want to teach those men a lesson! They hurt my sister!"

Jackson glanced back at Chaki. She looked at him a moment, then away. He could still see the somewhat healed welts on her back. He patted Palla's shoulder. "Thanks, Palla. I'm gonna talk with Chaki and Shaka."

Palla seemed to light up at the idea that he'd been helpful. "You are welcome!" He skipped ahead of them on the grass, then leaned down, investigating some bug or ant.

Jackson ambled for the other two members of his party. They walked side-by-side for a moment. "I will keep an eye on Palla," Shaka announced suddenly. She picked up her pace and moved ahead of them, leaving Jackson and Chaki alone.

They said nothing for a time. Jackson looked at the moon. He blinked when he realized it wasn't the same. Still white and glowing, but with a different pattern of grey and black craters. No man on the moon.

"My brother is enamored with you," Chaki said.

"A little, maybe."

"I can tell," she said. "Perhaps I have said this too many times, Jackson Vedalt, and my words feel dilute, but thank you for what you have done."

"You're welcome. And it's fine if you just call me Jackson."

"Why would I call you only part of your name?"

Jackson thought for a second. "Where I'm from, longer names are more common, so amongst friends, people tend to shorten them."

"Oh." She smiled. "Then I accept your invitation to be more familiar, and shall call you Jackson. I don't know if my name can be shortened, though."

"Yeah...what would it be? Chak?" Jackson shook his head. "It's missing that cute part at the end. Chaki is better."

"You think my name is cute?" Chaki asked.

"I think you're cute," Jackson said.

Chaki blushed and wrapped herself in her hands. Score, Jackson thought. "Please, Jackson, spare my modesty."

"Hmm?" Jackson grinned. "That's hard to do. You're really pretty."

"I will not be so easily flattered."

Jackson shrugged. "I don't think I'm the only guy who thinks so, right? What about Boonta?"

Chaki sneered. "I heard Palla mention him to you. His compliments are rat poison."

"Sorry. Didn't realize it was a touchy subject."

"It is fine." She looked at him. "My brother finds him admirable, and he is capable, when he can be bothered to quit his napping. At the last Meet, he distinguished himself in the games. But he struts about our camp as if he is an elder himself. I care little for him. And he is against the war."

"The war?"

Chaki nodded. "My brother told you some of that. The Plain-Under-The-Mountain has long considered warmaking against the iron men. Now that they have become the aggressors - and that they seem to have a connection to the rattok - it is likely that the Mountain Meet will decide to form a war party. Boonta is on the other side of the issue; he does not want to challenge the iron men, but rather, move further north, away from their lands. He says the plain is vast, and their armor is strong - so why should we bother to throw ourselves against them for nothing?" By this time, Chaki's lips had curled up again. "It is just like him. He is a coward."

"You have strong opinions on the subject."

"I do!" Chaki agreed. "And look what came of our inaction! We might have all been killed. Boonta will not live this down. Shaka had not committed one way or another, but I think these events will change her mind. When the Meet comes, our tribe will be a voice for war."

They'd been walking for a long time. Jackson was surprised that he wasn't feeling tired. He just kept plodding along. The wood was shrinking in the distance, a tiny patch along the emptiness of the horizon. Maybe his increased Vitality had something to do with it.

"So, then," Chaki said. "Where are you from?"

"It's gonna be hard to explain," Jackson said, "but I'm from another world entirely. Another...earth." He gestured under his feet. "Not another country, or another land. An entire other world."

"...is that where you returned when you vanished?"

"Yes."

"I see." Chaki shrugged. "That does not seem beyond explanation to me."

"I didn't think you'd just accept it like that."

"Why should I not? I saw it happen. Spirits are not confined to this land alone."

Jackson decided that he really starting to like Chaki. "Well, my world's a hell of a lot different. Anyway, to be honest with you, I'm not sure what's going on with my scar, or this world."

"But you travelled here, did you not? You must have some idea."

"Yeah. But in my world, this was supposed to be a game."

"A game?"

"That's right," Jackson said. "We...let me see. We have a way of controlling dreams, using very strong magic. That lets us play inside our own dreams. When you have control of your own dream, you can do anything you'd like."

Chaki's eyes widened. "Spirits. I can imagine. That must be incredible magic. If you have that, why did you come here? Why do you want to learn Shaka's runes?"

"I thought this would be another dream-game," Jackson said, "but as it turns out, it's real. I've been transported to another real place. Our magic relies on special materials that are only found in my world, so, if I want magic here, I need to learn Shaka's runes."

"So, you thought you were just playing another game," Chaki said, "but now...who would want to transport you here, in reality? What's the point?"

"That's a good question," Jackson said. "I have no idea."

"Mysterious. You are quite mysterious, Jackson."

"Do you know what an angel is?"

"An angel? Yes." Chaki nodded. "Angels are the greatest spirits of the Earth Mother. They are her servants, and oppose negative spirits, black souls, which are collections of everything that is bad in the world. Demons."

Jackson's brain worked on overdrive trying to reconcile the combination of tribal spiritualism and Christian mythology. "Alright. So how did your people get here? Do you have stories that tell you this?"

"Indeed," Chaki said. "Ours were a people under the angels. The angels sought to build a great tower to honor the Earth Mother. When they finished the tower, they left, and took the most blessed humans with them. We are descended from those left behind." Chaki brushed her hair back. "It is our shame, but also our purpose. One day, the angels may return. We strive to better ourselves, that we might be regarded as worthy of ascending ourselves."

"Where's this tower that they built?"

Chaki shrugged. "I do not know. That is a matter for elders and spirit guides. It would not do to have people desecrating the works of men and angels."

Jackson frowned. "I have a little information. Apparently I was a slave for the angels myself, helping to build the tower. Well, that was supposed to be the story, anyway. But the angels aren't building the tower to honor the Earth Mother."

"Then what are they building it for?"

"Well, in the original legend, they were trying to reach heaven, the afterlife," Jackson said.

"Why would angels need a tower to return there?" Chaki asked.

"Another good question," Jackson said. "Normal people I can understand, but I figured an angel could just...I dunno...fly home?"

Chaki chuckled. "Maybe. But I have another question."

"Go ahead."

"The tower was built generations ago. How is it that you're here, now, in the future?"

Jackson shook his head. "No, I didn't move through time, I don't think. I was banished because of this." Jackson raised his scarred left hand. "This is a mark of darkness. Apparently it makes me a danger to angels. They told me they were banishing me to the bottom of the tower, and they threw me into this magic pit. I woke up in those ruins, surrounded by rattoks. I was fighting my way out of there when I found you guys." Jackson gestured around himself. "But where's the base of the tower, then? I mean, the thing is supposed to be huge. Even if it has been a long time, it should be more than a mess of sunken hallways."

"Strange," Chaki said. "Very strange. Hmm." Chaki stuck her tongue out as she thought. Jackson watched her. He tried not to think about the way her breasts jostled under her leaf-clothing as she walked. "I know," she said. "You can travel through worlds, yes?"

"I guess so."

"So, perhaps this is the base of the tower." Chaki spread her arms. "The land itself. And if there are multiple levels of the tower, than that would make each world a different level. A grand tower indeed."

"That..." Jackson couldn't confirm her theory, but it wasn't bad at all. "I think you're really on to something. That was impressive."

"It only seems logical."

Jackson grinned. "Smart, and pretty. I'm not sure what part I like more."

Chaki blushed again. She did that a lot. He kinda liked it. "Enough nonsense," she said.

"So, you're saying you're dumb?"

"Hmph." She slapped his arm. "Hardly. I have had many men compliment my beauty, but few have said much about my mind."

"Your brains are more voluminous than the stars," Jackson said. "Your logical deductions are like prairie flowers blossoming in the summer night. Your questions are -"

"Stop it," Chaki said. She was giggling. "Now you're just being ridiculous."

"Hey, seriously. I like smart girls."

She grinned at him. "A warrior like you? Such men seem only concerned with the width of a woman's hips."

"I'm not a warrior back home."

"What are you in your world, then?"

Jackson had no answer to that question. He was a gamer, sure, but she wouldn't really get that. And he didn't want to come off as superficial.

He'd said that their technology was akin to magic. He found himself with a sudden awareness of his role. "I'm a magician. I know how to put together the special materials in our world to perform magic."

"So that's why you were so curious about the runes," Chaki said. She made a smirk. "Is there a smart woman in your life, then? Back home?"

"No," Jackson said. "There isn't."

"Oh. I'd assumed..."

"What?"

"Nothing," Chaki said quickly. "Earlier, Jackson, when you said to watch over you, before you vanished."

"What about it?"

"Please don't do that again," she said. "I was very worried that something had happened."

"Sorry. I didn't know what would happen myself." He shrugged. "I thought you might freak out when you heard the truth. I should have known, though. You're tougher than you look."