A Tail-Tale of Twilight
Chapter 2
I coughed, taking in a deep long breath, apparently my first for some time. I was dizzy and extremely nauseous. The last thing I remember was seeing the objects around me blur, and now I'm in a completely different place, wet and naked.
I sat up, trying to ignore the agonizing pain in my chest. It felt like I was on fire, almost like someone branded me, but it was something more. I looked down at my chest and there were scars, something that looked like scarification body art; it was a bear. On my chest was the perfect picture of a great bear, but I had no idea how it got there. I placed my hand over the scars and I could feel it; the warmth, the savage of the bear. I had no idea what was happening to me.
I stood up, trying to ignore the wet cold wind that was blowing on my naked flesh. I looked around, trying to see if there was anyone around. There was one person, a male, he looked about my age. From what I could tell he was tall, had short black hair, and for as cold as it was, he only had on a t-shirt and a pair of cut-off sweat pants.
"Can you tell me where I am?" I screamed.
The boy obviously hadn't taken notice to me, when he saw me he nearly jumped out of his skin. He ran up to me a little apprehensive, almost like he was on guard, ready to attack.
"You're at La Push. Here, I think you need you might need something to cover up." the boy said , taking his shirt off.
I whispered, almost in a mumble "holy hell."
He smirked, I don't know if it was that he heard me, or if he saw me look, but he was smirking like a wild bandit.
"I haven't seen you around here before, you new here or just visiting?
"I guess you could say I'm new here, but I don't know how I got here, its a long story."
"I'm guessing it involves binge drinking and people stealing your clothes?"
"No, nothing like that. Like I said, it's a long story. It wouldn't make much sense."
"Well, I've got time, but first, I think we should head to my place to get you some clothes. Then you can tell me everything. I would really like to hear your story."
"Yeah, do you live close? I'm not exactly in the best dress right now and I'm pretty sure the entire population doesn't want to see my goods."
He laughed, "come on, the reservation is just past those trees."
He led me through the woods; it was a pretty heavy hike. Typically I would have been winded a good ways back, but I feel fine and I had no idea why. The reservation was pretty big, there were guys running around in much the same attire as this kid; t-shirts and cut-off pants. They all had dark skin and black hair; most had it long but a few kept short hair. The ones with the short hair all sported a tattoo on their left arm, the same one as this kid.
Most of the people in the reservation weren't bothered by my presence, most just did a double take because I was wearing a shirt as pants and then they moved on focusing their attention elsewhere. That was except for the younger guys; the ones like this kid. They all dropped what they were doing and ran towards us, mainly me.
One of the tallest guys in the middle yelled, "Jake, who do you have here?"
"So, your names Jake?" I asked.
"Yeah, sorry I guess it slipped my mind. By the way, whats your name? I never asked."
"Its Kia."
Jake smiled and turned his attention to the guys who were running towards us and spoke, "Guys, back off. This is Kia, I found him on the beach. He was a little exposed, so I figured I would lend him some clothes."
The guys seemed pissed and definitely showed it, but they backed off and walked away. As they went back to their original places, they glared, showing their distrust.
"Don't worry about them Kia, they're just a little apprehensive about strangers on the reservation. They wont try anything after you are introduced to the elders."
"Wait, I thought I was just here for clothes? Not to meet the elders."
"Well, yeah, but when a tribe member brings a stranger onto the reservation that wasn't invited, they have to meet the elders. If they like you, you will be allowed to return anytime you like."
"Oh."
Jake took me to his house, it was small, but not too small, actually it felt quite "homey". A man in a wheelchair greeted us at the door and Jake introduced his as his father and we did the formalities. I noticed the man staring at my chest almost like he wanted to reach out and touch it, but instead he spoke:
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you get those markings?"
I was a bit taken back by his question, but I told him "when I woke on the beach, I had a searing pain in my chest and the scars were there. I actually have no idea how they got there. Let alone how I got here."
The man looked at me, he was obviously very nervous and spoke" The elders will be here shortly. In the mean time, get cleaned up and for god's sake get dressed, before long the dogs will be humping your leg."
He laughed and spoke again, "There are some things I need to look into, and if I am correct, there are going to be some major discussions taking place at the meeting. Don't worry though, I have a strong feeling you will be very well liked here." And with that he rolled away into his little office area.
Well guys, that's it for this chapter. I'm going to continue to work on the next chapter so I can submit the next one soon after this one is posted. Again, I would love to hear your feedback, it makes me want to write more. So send your feedback to timeisafleeting@gmail.com.