Into the Mists
Posted on Sat May 4th, 2024 @ 3:25pm by Connor Bruin & Ethan Hale & Aurora Summers & Kennedy Kelly
2,229 words; about a 11 minute read
Mission:
Episode 4: The Savage ConneXion
Location: Savage Land
Timeline: September 2-4, 1990
After passing the night in a hole in the ground, covered by a camouflage of canvas and jungle detritus, Ka-Zar held a hushed finger to his mouth while he crept out and scouted around. Several minutes passed before he pulled the canvas back and invited them up with a gesture.
"I don't see anyone patrolling, but there may be scouts laying in wait," he said. "That means when we make our move, we must move quickly. Once we get to the center island, we will evade pursuit by delving where few will dare follow." Pausing to eye them all carefully, Ka-Zar said, "Make ready, X-Men."
Connor swiveled his head around his shoulders. "Nnnnuh..." He groaned while rubbing his neck.
"Do you disagree, Caveman?"
He made the sign for neck and pain. "MY NECK HURTS."
“Stiff neck?” Aurora stretched as she prepared to move. “I’m not surprised.”
Kennedy sat up and began to stretch in a way that was familiar to almost every type of dancer, slow and restrained movements that removed the stiffness from her body and prepared her for physical activity.
“Hold your head to the side like this and gently push down on it, Connor.” Kennedy briefly demonstrated the neck stretch for him. “Then slow circles with your head until it feels better.”
Kennedy stood up and examined the landscape alongside Ka-Zar. “How far away is the center island?”
Her thoughts returned to their group. Ethan had been in the worst shape last night and if he was struggling today he might now be able to move fast enough.
“Ethan, how are you feeling?” Kennedy asked while looking back at him.
"I'm not sure," came the reply after a pause. I feel I don't know how to explain it. Just different. Not a good different. either."
Aurora didn’t like what she was hearing one little bit. “Ka-Zar can you help, or shed any light on what might be wrong? What kind of ailments do we risk in this jungle?”
Ethan was indeed feeling unusual in an unexplainable way. He felt both stronger and weaker at the same time. But he remained silent about the nature of his discomfort. He hated admitting any weaknesses.
"The Savage Land can have unknowable effects on people," Ka-Zar said. He looked Ethan up and down for a moment, pried his eyelids open to get a better look at his corneas, and pressed against the glands in his neck. "No signs of parasites, so that is good. Your kind is unknown to me. I cannot do more."
The way Ka-Zar looked at the center island projected pure apprehension. "We have come too far to turn back or take another route. Our path is set for us. We cannot turn from it now."
With no further ado, Ka-Zar went to the water's edge and retrieved a bit of rope from under the water. It was quadrupled stranded jungle vines that a smaller person would struggle to lift. Ka-Zar handled two of them and whipped them overhead. At his straining, a rope bridge emerged from below the water. It resisted rising into the air as water drained from the planks, but it soon settled atop the water.
"Once we begin, we cannot stop," Ka-Zar explained. "Too much weight will cause it to sink again. Everyone must run as fast as they can to the end or you may end up swimming to the island."
"I'm game, I guess," Ethan volunteered his voice an octave lower than it normally was.
Ka-Zar went first. His powerful tree-trunk legs took powerful strides across the floating rope bridge, making it seem easy.
Taking the lead, Connor went next and did his best to imitate Ka-Zar. He made it about ten strides before the bridge shifted to one side and sent Connor sliding into the lake. Even though he got soaked, Connor pulled himself up and did his best to start sprinting again despite the bridge shifting to and fro with each turn of his bulky mass.
Aurora skipped the bridge altogether using her telekinetic abilities to levitate herself across, she had been expecting the usual nosebleed that accompanied the use of her telekinesis but was surprised when it didn’t happen. She turned to the others. “I’ll hold the bridge stable, hurry!”
Ethan had set one foot on the bridge, bile in his throat when he heard a sound above him.
A familiar keening cry pierced the sky. It sounded similar to those from the day before, but it had an eerie sound to it that felt far more insidious than the Pterons from yesterday.
"Sauron!" Ka-Zar shouted from the center island in hopes of distracting him. "The Lord of the Savage Land calls you out! Come and fight if you dare!"
The green pterodactyl man who was bigger than any Pteron cut his path sideways and dove straight for Ka-Zar.
Ka-Zar faced Sauron's assault head-on with a sling that he spun around overhead. A stone went whistling through the air and clipped Sauron's wing despite his best attempt to dodge it. The predator was forced to turn about and attack from a different angle.
"Hurry, X-Men!" Ka-Zar shouted. He pointed to an opening at the base of a mound near the center of the island. "Dive deep and swim!"
"INTO THAT?" Connor signed his apprehension to swimming into a dark hole with no obvious way out. But then his face brightened with sudden inspiration. "AURORA, CAN YOU FERRY US?" He closed his eyes and concentrated on an image of an air pocket surrounding their small group with Aurora at the center, holding the water at bay until they passed through to wherever the underwater passage led.
Aurora looked at Connor in surprise before nodding. “I...” She paused remembering the Professor’s teachings, about having confidence in herself. “I can do it” she nodded.
“Ethan will need to be ferried because of his wings. But if needed, I can swim.” Kennedy drew an arrow from her quiver and set her sights on Sauron. “Until then, I can help hold off Sauron with Ka-Zar.”
Sauron’s massive size made him easier to track. His focus remained on Ka-Zar which made his path through the air much simpler for her to predict. Lining up her shot, Kennedy charged the arrow with her kinetic energy before she let it fly.
The arrow hit Sauron’s left wing and exploded on impact, rendering the membranous skin useless for flight.
"Dive!" Ka-Zar shouted as he ran toward at the group. "Sauron won't be gone for long and we won't be able to fend off reinforcements by ourselves!"
“Gather around me!” Aurora motioned to the others.
Ethan stepped off the bridge and made his way to Aurora's side. His extended claws gleamed in the twilight.
Connor and Kennedy were already there. With his wide arm span, Connor bearhugged them together. The four of them jumped into the dark pool as one.
Aurora focussed all she had on raising a small protective bubble around the group, as they sank beneath the water she focussed on getting them all through the underwater passage. The weight of the water combined with the force needed to keep her friends protected was exhausting, no sooner had they gotten through the passage to safety and their heads above water she flopped back into the water too exhausted to be able to swim.
Fortunately everyone was able to breathe the entire time thanks to Aurora's efforts. Connor saw her begin to sink beneath the surface and snatched her up with one arm. With the extra load on one shoulder, Connor pivoted to a side stroke and kicked himself toward the stony ledge that was only a couple of meters away.
Once he had lain Aurora on the ground, Connor stood up to help the others out of the water.
Kennedy reached out for Ethan as Connor assisted Aurora. His fear of the water was still a clear and present danger and just as she had promised before, she wouldn’t leave him to fend for himself and risk drowning again.
“You good?”
But they had all managed to make it through, though Aurora seemed a little worse for wear after her exertions.
“Is she going to be alright?”
"WHERE ARE WE NOW?" Connor managed to sign with one hand. The way his speech-generating device echoed told them they were inside a cave whose opening was nearby.
Connor didn’t seem to be too concerned with Aurora’s condition as his attention turned towards the cave. Kennedy shifted her focus on their new surroundings.
“And what terrible things can we expect down here?”
With her strength returning Aurora moved to join the others, the exertion of moving just the few of them had taken everything she had at the time. “That’s the question, I hope we can find an easier way up I’m not sure I can do that again anytime soon.”
The water splashed behind them. Ka-Zar's hulking form came lurching out like a dolphin jumping for fish. He landed on the edge without the need to swim any further. "You all made it," he said, heaving deep breaths for maybe the first time in their company. "Good. We must pass through the Mystic Mists if we are to reach your friend in time."
"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Connor asked. "MYSTIC MISTS."
"Extended exposure can change you," Ka-Zar said, wringing out his sopping blonde hair, "for better or for worse. I was made strong and Zabu was made ageless, but we dwelled among the Mists for years. A short trek should do no harm."
“God damnit, I hate it here so much!” Kennedy shouted into the cave, the sound of it echoed for a moment. She picked up a small rock and quickly charged it with energy before throwing it against the cave wall. It exploded upon impact and added to her angry outburst. But just like that, her tantrum was over and Kennedy returned to being mostly composed.
“Alright, let’s go.” Kennedy straightened her bow and quiver before walking towards the mist “Let’s go walk through vapors that may or may not alter us forever.”
Aurora nodded. “It’s not like we have a lot of choice if we want to get out of here.” She couldn’t help but wonder about the mystic mists though, uncertain exactly how a mist could change someone.
Ethan, who usually moved with a fluid and cat-like grace stumbled and pitched forward. A low growl escaping his lips.
"ARE YOU HURT?" Connor asked.
"Never better," Ethan said as he picked himself up. But his voice was deeper than normal and he seemed a little larger.
Soaking wet but otherwise none the worst for wear, the group started making their way out of the cave and into the murky jungle.
At first, the Mystic Mists didn't seem particularly different from the rest of the Savage Land. After traversing the landscape, though, differences soon stood out. The eternal twilight of the season was a bit gloomier, the trees stood taller with branches that jutted out and curled in unnatural positions, and what animals that could be heard beyond the visual range kept out of sight.
Ka-Zar kept an intrepid pace that guided the group through the thick of it until darkness fell. Seeing more than a few feet ahead became onerous. Finally, Ka-Zar stopped and turned around.
"We can settle here," he said, placing a hand against a large tree. There was an imprint that matched his hand perfectly. "There is a hollowed out section that will shelter us for the night."
Without further word, Ka-Zar scampered up the massive old-growth trunk like a flea on a dog's back.
Connor could follow but he looked at the others with concern. Before he could say anything, a rope ladder dropped down between the burly branches above. He smiled at it and then gestured for the girls to go first.
"AFTER YOU," he said.
“Oh thanks, Connor,” Kennedy said with only a slight touch of sarcasm. The rope reminded her of gym class where they stood around and watched one another take turns struggling and squirming as they awkwardly climbed their way up to the top. But judging by her current company, she was probably the only one of them who had to endure the nightmare that was high school physical education.
Readjusting her bow across her chest, Kennedy gripped the rope ladder and found her footing. She had a dancer’s build over that of a combatant, lithe and willowy rather than muscular but thanks to the tension created by drawing her bow Kennedy had enough upper body strength to make her way up the wobbly rope ladder to the top of the tree.
Aurora skipped the rope ladder instead she levitated herself up to where she needed to be, finding it oddly easier than before. “Here let me..” She picked up everyone else bringing them safely up to save them climbing. “Saves your legs doesn’t it?” She offered a smile.
"It's still several days to the Swamp People's territory," Ka-Zar said. "Take rest, X-Men. We'll be safe here from predators and pursuers. Few dare to enter the Mystic Mists and this hollow isn't visible from the ground. Tomorrow we must push ahead if we're to save your friend."
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