Purpose

Purpose

A thunderous roar echoed through the dense jungle and the earth trembled underneath makeshift sandals. Through heavy breaths Autumn and Atif ducked and hurdled over the overgrown tree roots protruding from the earth. Right behind them trampling everything in its path, a monstrous three horned beast in a blind rage. Twisting her upper torso and cocking her left arm back, Atif launched a small blade with as much force as she could. The blade bounced off the beast’s thick armor plating falling to the waste side never to be wielded again.

“Dammit! I was off.”

She remarked, forcefully placing her hand on a tree root as she quickly vaulted over it. Autumn instead grabbed hold of the root and slid underneath. Using her forward momentum to slide elegantly through an opening between it and the earth. Losing stride for a hair of a second before she was back in full sprint.

“Don’t dwell too much on the past Atif and look toward the future.”

“You mean the one where I’m flatter then Lydia’s chest?”

“Ha, I appreciate the humor but no, I’m talking about the one where we take a leap of faith into the trees ahead.”

Autumn shouted, pointing in front of the two at the cliff that funneled down toward the jungle below. Just beyond it, giant trees that stretched close enough for them to escape onto and out of the path of their pursuer. Without another word, they started to channel their essence into their legs giving them a momentary boost in strength and speed. They pushed off the ground and soared through the air with their satchels and tribal garbs flowing behind them. Autumn landed perfectly on a branch and turned around and watched on as the beast failed to slow down. Eventually tumbling down the cliff to the jungle floor below. Atif on the other hand grabbed onto a branch and with quick thinking she used the momentum to swing onto another nearby branch for safety, her back turned toward Autumn.

“Nice recovery, you sure you didn’t pack too much?”

she looked over her shoulder, smiling teasingly at her sister. The sound of branches breaking and the squawking of birds sounding off in the distance.

“Thanks, and no.”

She was still catching her breath, her heart still racing. Turning around to face Autumn with absolute composure, her hands on her pack.

“You never know what you might need out here, so I made sure to come prepared.”

She lied, Ashamed to admit that she was abandoning her life as a tamer. All in the hopes of seeing and journeying the world. The extra supplies Autumn pointed out were brought to aid in the trip to Coastal Garden. She knew her plan was selfish, but it was her only means of leaving the life she was born into.

“Seems a bit excessive if you ask me, but more importantly what’s up with all the beasts on this island? They are all in a frenzy. Even once normally peaceful ones are acting out.”

Autumn looked back in the direction that her and Atif had come from, a concerned expression on her face.

“Father did say to be on high alert and that the species on the island were different than the ones on the mainland. So, shall we continue? The ruins should be a quarter of a day away from here. If we climb to the top of that tree, we might see it.”

“I do not know Atif, something isn’t right.”

Autumn took a moment before beginning to climb up behind Atif. Scaling to the top of the tree, gazing outward into the distance and sure enough. Like a small grain of sand, the ruins of Artemis lay in the distance. By the positioning of the sun, Autumn could tell that it was close to noon. Meaning that the two of them should arrive at the temple before nightfall at the latest.

In the distance peering through the thick foliage a mechanical lens adjusted its sights and began to isolate Autumn and Atif’s heat signatures. The surveillance drone continued to watch and analyze the two tamers as they descended the giant tree. Zooming in closer to take note of their facial structure and other defining features in the hopes of identifying them.

“Sir, Drone fourteen got a lock on two humanoid heat signatures.”

“This is one of the most isolated parts of the world, why would anyone be out here? What sector is fourteen stationed?”

The sargeant slowly walked toward the operator and his computer.

“Sector six just Northwest of our current location. I’m in the process of pulling IDs on them as we speak.

“Good work cadet, In the meantime redirect ground troop Beta toward Sector six to intercept.”

responding by striking his keyboard with precise keystrokes. Redirecting the Beta troop, a squad consisting of humanoid mechs primally used by the New Aurora military during raids, expeditions and policing the mega cities. Equipped with shock rifles, these mechs sported an exoskeleton constructed of durable alloy and equipped with state-of-the-art tech. Marched westward from the troop's deployment point.

"Beta troop has been directed estimated time of arrival six minutes. As well sir, you need to have a look at this.”

The Sargeant’s blue eyes looked down and examined the cadet’s monitor. The Sargeant was taken aback by what he saw but instantly regained his composure. What the cadet had found and what the Sargeant was now looking at were the identification profiles of Autumn and Atif.

“Sir, I have never seen this before one of the IDs is completely unknown and the other, the other one is classified as Restricted, and I have no access to it.”

“Send the profiles to my PCD and keep me posted on the situation with Beta troop.”

He walked away from the cadet and the computer and made his way toward his private quarters; A subtle sound of a notification could be heard coming from the Sargeant’s chest pocket as the profiles downloaded to his private computing device. Immediately reaching for it he pressed his thumb against the screen to unlock it. Raising the PCD to his ear he waited for the line to connect him to his commanding officer. Who was stationed on a large sea vessel off the coast of the island.

“Yes sir, this is Sargeant Mathis of the Capture group I 'am calling to report that my scout unit has picked up two foreign humanoids. One is unknown and the other is classified as restricted, how should I proceed?”

There was a moment of silence as Mathis ducked his head into the opening of his tent, closing the flap behind him.

” Roger that Sir, Transmitting the profiles now and setting the troop to recon mode for the time being.”

Mathis lowered his PCD, taking a moment to think to himself. This was the opportunity for him to climb ranks and finally escape field work. Something he has been pushing to accomplish for months. “Just you wait Cici this time I will be promoted.” He commented, a smile came across his face but was quickly swallowed up by his military resolve. With his orders given Mathis exited his private quarters determined to cease the moment.

***

Back on the ground and finding a moment of peace the two tamers gazed off at the amazing remains of the city that once stood tall and pristine. But now laid to waste, taken over by plant life and its insides used as dens for many beasts.

“It always amazed me, what humans have created in the past and now look at us, living in the shadows of everything that once was.”

The two sisters stopping in what used to be a busy intersection. Empty cars littered the fragmented streets, some rusted down and brittle from decades of erosion. Atif brushed her hand gently on the frame of one of the cars as she walked past. jolting back as it instantly crumbled in a cloud of dust under the pressure of her touch. Autumn looked on, laughing as Atif looked around like a child, guilty of breaking something.

“I want to know what happened; how did it all end up like this?”

Autumn gazed upward passed the treetops, toward the towering buildings. Feeling the small rays of sun that pierced through the thick green canopies in the process.

“Enough about that, are you going to tell me about that nightmare that had you screaming this morning?”

“It was nothing specific, it’s just...”

Autumn trailed off, looking for the right words.

“It felt so real and what happened at the end right as I woke up shook me to the core.”

Her face, once joyous, now had a look of discontent as she looked at Atif. Who was adjusting the knot on her headband making eye contact with Autumn.

“So, just like all the rest? Same little boy?”

She continued walking forward through the city ruins toward the temple, looking over her shoulder momentarily to urge Autumn forward.

“Yeah, it’s weird, I don’t know what to make of it.”

Moving away from the relics of the past and onward toward their destination unaware of the mechs closing in on them. Soon arriving at a portion of the island that was severely flooded. Climbing the side of one of the ruined buildings, Being careful of their hand and feet placement on the old concrete structure. With little effort the two transitioned from the building to a giant tree branch. Progressing onward jumping from tree to tree advancing over the swamp below. In the distance ground troop Beta remained hidden, heat sensors locked on Autumn and Atif. After following the two for some time through the swamp area the orders were finally transmitted to Beta troop.

The order was simple to capture the two and escort them back to the forward operating base. Once the order was given the mechs started to spread out and encircle the two, relaying information to one another. As they pooled their collective information together, Combining the power of their collective CPU's, they started plotting a course of action for the troop to execute. Reaching the mid-way point of the swamp, Autumn and Atif came across two giant trees. Their branches over time had grown into each other and fused together creating a makeshift bridge over the swamp.

“So, you don’t remember anything from before, you know when my dad found you?”

She asked Autumn, who shook her head, her amnesia blocking out all of her memories prior to waking up from her coma.

“Not a thing, not even after all these years. It’s all a blank…” Before she could finish her sentence, Autumn was hit in the side by a non-lethal projectile. The force of the projectile’s impact knocked her off the branch and sent her plummeting toward the swamp below. Crashing through the surface of the water and descending deep into the depts of the swamp. Autumn recovered as quickly as she could, racing toward the surface and the oxygen that was waiting for her there. Breaking through the surface she gasped for air, focusing her attention toward Atif and the bridge. She couldn’t react fast enough to everything that was happening. When from beneath the swamp surface a giant Alligator showed itself widening its jaws and swallowing Autumn whole before returning to the depths of the swamp.

Atif, in shock, watched in horror as her sister was eaten right before her very eyes. Two of the mechs presented themselves to her, one landing at each end of the branch sandwiching Atif between them. Their cold and emotionless optical lens focusing on her, waiting for her to make a move. Getting into a defensive stance, her fingers inching closer to her knives. When from above a third Mech dropped in on Atif from the foliage. An opening in its chest appeared, launching a projectile at her. The metallic sphere whizzing through the air toward its target erupted open. revealing metal chains that wrapped and locked around Atif restraining her movements. Before being restrained, she managed to throw her knife at one of the Mechs at her side. Landing a perfect strike, lodging the blade right in its emotionless lens.

Sparks started to fly out of the optical lens as the mech lost control of functionality, shooting off its weapon uncontrollably. Dropping down and lying flat on the branch, now restrained, Atif narrowly avoided a blast from the mech’s rifle. The blast disabling the mech behind her instead, sending it falling into the swamp below. In all the chaos, Atif attempted to escape the sporadic rifle fire by rolling off the branch toward the swamp below. But she couldn’t execute, as she was captured by the third mech that landed on the branch in time to stop her. The mech quickly put the other one out of commission with a single bullet to its CPU. launching into the air with the aid of its jet propulsion system with Atif in tow. The Mech’s face reconfigured and exhausted a cloud of sleeping gas that slowly put the struggling Atif to sleep as the Mech flew off toward the forward operating base.

While all this was going on, from underneath the surface of the swamp water the giant alligator emerged once again. Slowly it swam itself toward land and buried its claws into the mud of the water’s edge. Once completely on land the alligator opened its mouth as wide as it could. The beast started making gagging sounds as tears rolled down its rough scaley exterior. Autumn, who managed to tame the beast before it was able to digest her, came climbing out of its mouth and back into the open world in one piece. Without hesitation, Autumn, covered in saliva, moved as fast as she could in hopes of climbing back up the tree and helping Atif. The whole time she held her now swollen and bruised abdomen. She reached for the tree just as one of the mechs plummeted into the water of the swamp. Turning her head, she witnessed Atif being snatched by the mech and taken away.

“ATIF!”

She shouted at the top of her lungs, watching the mech fly off. She had no time to think about who or what those things were, as she scrambled back up to the branch with the now disabled mech. Pulling Atif’s throwing knife out of its head Autumn traverse the remainder of the swamp. Jumping from tree to tree in the direction she witnessed that thing take Atif. But by the time she had even started following Atif and her captor, she had lost sight of them. After clearing the swamp, she disembarked from the treetops and continued her pursuit on the ground. Redirecting her essence from her legs to her eyes to increase the depth of her vision. Frantically trying to catching a glimpse of the mech. When her efforts proved useless, she came to a complete stop and started to think of other solutions. That is when she looked down at Atif’s throwing knife that was in her palm.