Year E2996

Beck

"Monsters of the sky!" I yelled at Kat. "Kitty, it has got to be that."

She glanced away from the sky, rotating from her back to her stomach and propping herself on her elbows. She played with her curly purple hair before scooping up a pile of violet dirt and letting the wind blow it away.

I shifted my body a little while I lay on the dirt field, watching an orange cloud float above us. Tiny raindrops fell, landing in the distance away from us.

"That's a stupid guess," Kat said, petting Tyran while he hopped by.

I sat up, twisting my torso to look at her. "Well, you aren't giving any guesses."

She smiled at me with all her teeth showing. "That's because I already know the answer to this quiz."

Kat rolled over, sitting up next to me. She crisscrossed her legs while scooting closer. Her tiny fingers drew in the dirt, writing M-O-S vertically.

"You see, M stands for mysterious," she said, writing it out horizontally.

Kat smirked at me while I rolled my eyes.

"Just as stupid." I put my head in my palm.

She glared at me before writing the next word.

"Original," I read barely in her sloppy handwriting.

"Yes," she said with excitement while writing the last word.

"Spirits." She stood up, kicking the dirt and destroying her project.

I leaned over, grabbing Tyran and brushing his ears back. He nibbled at my sleeve while I rose to my feet. Kat scrambled along the ground, collecting all the junk she brought to the field and shoving it into her backpack. She picked up one of the shiny lavender rocks, fisting it before pointing at me.

"This would make sense because the colossus tribes are spiritual gods to a few safforians." She stuffed the rock in her bag and swung it on her shoulder.

Kat lifted her sparkly shirt, unzipping her fanny pack. I stepped to her, placing Tyran in the bag. My fingers grabbed the zipper while Kat brushed hers on mine. I glanced up at her beautiful amethyst eyes. Her curly flyways blew across her forehead into her eyes, asking me to tuck them behind her ear. But Kat wasn't one of those girls from romance movies Ray watched. She would probably slap my hand away and threaten me.

I stepped back, letting her zip Tyran safely in her fanny pack.

"These colossus beings sound like a myth," I said, using my fingers to brush my hair back.

She grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the dirt field into the trees. I followed behind her, seeing the smoke from the fire at my camp. We stepped around the enormous boulder, seeing the broken spacecraft. Rob sat on a log, poking at the fire while Ray played on her tablet, sharing the stump. Kat smiled at me before skipping to Rob.

"Hello, Rob-bob-tob," she said with a smile and patted him on the back.

He glared at her. "Stop," he said, standing up and walking away from her.

Ray took her tablet glass off. "What do you two want?"

I tilted my head while Kat grinned at me with an evil smile. She nodded, putting her hands on Ray's back and circling to face her. Her face leaned in closer to Ray.

"How would you like to meet one of the original tribes of Safforia?" Kat asked, prompting Ray to glance at me.

✧✧✧

"So, just to make sure I am getting this correct," Rob said, clicking off his tablet and swinging his bag around to place it in it. He tripped over a rock, placing his palm on a tree. "These monsters are huge?"

"Rob!" Ray yelled, climbing on a log and jumping off.

"They are not monsters," Kat said with anger. "If you keep calling them that, you can walk back to that pathetic home of yours."

Rob froze and glared at Kat. "Okay, so large, women."

We hiked along a trail to the colossus tribe, following the river. Kat paused in a staring contest with Rob while an insect flew by his face and landed in his hair. He shook his head, huffing out in anger.

"Brat," he whispered in frustration.

"Asshole," she said back, continuing down the path.

"Yes," Ray rolled her eyes, ignoring them while I chuckled. "Colossus tribes are women-only, and they will behead the men once they are pregnant if the colossus men do not leave."

"And we are safe going with you?" I asked, holding my neck.

"Yes, they are fine with men from other species," Ray informed me.

Kat crawled up a rock, looking down at me. "They also only allow colossus men into their camp for the month of leap, so there should be only women and children there. The men lead a life of seclusion."

"What if the women have boys?" I asked.

"They don't kick the men out of the tribe until maturity." Ray walked around the rock, continuing on the trail.

"Sixteen," Kat said, jumping off the rock and following Ray. She ran up beside her. "You know a lot about them."

"Yes, I have been attending the Mysterious Original Spirits church in the City of Cerise. They believe the colossus women are gods of the spirit realm."

"Yeah, yeah, a bunch of nuts, if you ask me," Kat replied, rolling her eyes. "They also think that they are untouchable like—" She paused, thinking of the word. "Ghosts."

"Kat, don't talk down about them." Ray tilted her head. "Different faiths do not make them wrong and you right. Everyone has the right to their beliefs."

I chuckled behind them. "Perhaps soon they will refer to me as a deity."

Kat laughed while Ray slapped my shoulders. Rob let out a deep chuckle behind me, shaking his head.

"If anyone calls you a God, this planet will end up like Earth," Rob added, then looked at me. "Doomed."

A loud thud shook the ground, sending Rob to his knees. I widened my eyes toward Kat as she spun around to face the loud noise. Another rumble caused Ray to grab the boulder near her.

"Welcome," an angelic voice filled the air.

Kat knelt quickly, bowing, then glanced up, standing straight. "Hello, Princess Ada," Kat said with a smile. "I am Katifur, and these three are—"

"Humans from the Nus," Ada interrupted. Her long red hair covered the front of her blueish-grey naked torso while a yellow insect hide wrapped around her hips, covering her lower female parts. She knelt, bringing her face close to mine.

Her hair draped over my shoulders while the yellows in her eyes danced with specks of red. She smiled, showing her sharp teeth, looking like they carved them to a point.

"This one is pretty," she said, poking my head.

I stumbled to the side from her force, given her hand was the size of me. "You know English?" I asked her in amazement.

"Of course, colossus can understand every language spoken to them," she said, tilting her head and smelling me.

Ada straightened while a blonde colossus peeked her head out from behind a tree. The other jumped, tackling Ada to the ground, showing how young Ada was.

"I am Ada's older sister, Ainsley," the blonde one said, standing with two bone skulls attached to her skin skirt.

She brushed her hair back, showing us her breasts. Rob coughed while I quickly glanced at the ground. Kat laughed as she bumped her hips with mine.

"Hello, Ainsley and Ada," Ray said, bowing. She peeked up with her head still down. "I am Ray."

Rob used a boulder to kneel. "Rob."

Ada laughed while pushing Rob over. "Look at how old he is?" she said to Ainsley, causing Kat and me to chuckle.

Ainsley scuffed while rolling her eyes. "You know nothing. He is prime for mating." She shook her head. "You have not sacrificed your body for children yet. You are too young to know."

Ada giggled, then rolled on the ground until she landed near me. "And what is your name?" she asked, bringing her hands to her chin to flower her face.

I bowed. "I am Beck," I said, lifting my head to smile at her.

Kat glanced at Ainsley. "We are here to meet Queen Annora."

Ainsley nodded her head before waving her hand. "Okay, please follow me." She stomped into the forest while Ada followed her.

I walked up next to Rob. "Let's get going, old man," I said to him with a giggle and ran off after the colossus women.

Kat ran with me as we caught up to the gigantic woman. Ada glanced over her shoulder to peek at us with a smile. Kat waved to her, humming a tune.

"How will we talk to the Queen with Ray and Rob listening?" I asked Kat, looking over my shoulder to see them stumbling in the forest.

Kat turned to walk backward in front of me. "I'm not sure." She brought her hand to her chin, scratching it. "If they hear about what we have been doing, Ray will send you back to Nus."

I smirked at her, grabbing her hand as she tripped over a rock. "Yeah, my mom had zero tolerance for my return to Safforia."

"I can help," Ada said, eavesdropping on our conversation.

Kat paused, turning around to glance up at Ada. "Why would you want to help us?"

Ada shrugged her shoulders. "I can distract them old ones while you talk to my mom." She tilted her head. "Isn't that what you want?"

"Yeah," I replied. "Do you want anything in return?"

Ada smiled vastly, like an evil child. "A kiss," she said, leaning closer to me. Her breath fanned my face while Kat giggled with her palm over her mouth.

I scratched my head, swallowing hard. "Cheek only," I replied.

"But—" she said, but her eyes adverted to the side.

A vine from the tree next to us swept to the side, grabbing for Kat's ankle. I pulled her closer to me, bringing her chest to mine. Kat wrapped her arms around me as I kicked at the plant. The vine slithered away as Ada stomped, trying to squash it.

"Stupid tree!" she yelled, then smiled at me. She watched Kat step away from me, changing her expression slightly. "Cheek is fine," she decided.

Ainsley disappeared into a wall of vegetation while Ada opened it up for us. A few women ran by, tackling each other while we stepped out of the trees into the colossus village.

Kat ran up to a gigantic orange rock. "Beck!" she yelled. "Look at this beautiful stone!" She wrapped her arms around it, hugging it. "This is amazing."

I laughed while Ray and Rob stepped through the plants. Colossus children ran by, playing with a skull as they kicked it back and forth. One juggled the bone with her legs before passing it to the other.

Ada waved at the children before patting my back. "The Queen will be in the red tipi," she whispered.

"Thank you," I whispered back. "And what about your payment?"

I watched as Kat ran to the children, asking for the skull. She glanced up at me with a toothy smile after kicking it back to the children.

"You owe me." She watched Kat skip around. "Seems like you love someone else."

Ada strolled around me, pushing Rob to the ground. She fixed her ruby hair to cover her breasts, then placed her hands on her hips.

"Ray," Ada said, pointing at the fountain in the middle of the village. "I will bring you to Queen Annora while the children play."

Ray glanced at Rob before me. "Stay here," she said, waving for Rob to follow her.

They walked off to the middle of the village as I ran up to Kat, pulling her off a huge spiky plant. "Kitty, we have to go," I said.

Kat ran behind me as we entered the red tipi made of insect hide. The vast space smoked green clouds. I coughed while waving it out of my face. The hazy room opened up to a fire while a green beetle baked in the flames. I hacked into my hand while Kat patted my back.

"The sage beetle can be pungent to some," a sweet voice said from the corner.

A female colossus with tons of skulls around her hip stepped near us. One skull was fresh as a rope-like material hung through the eye socket, and the other eye remained staring at us. The male colossus's head bounced with her step, causing his jaw to bob.

"Hello, Queen Annora," Kat said, bowing her head.

I glanced to see Queen Annora's breast pierced with beetle horns and her blonde hair braided into her crown. Stones the color of the sun shined from her tiara as small beams of light streamed in from holes in the tipi.

"Hello, Queen Annora," I said, bringing my head down.

"Welcome, children," she said, sitting near us with her legs crisscrossed. "Have a seat."

Kat positioned herself in front of the Queen while I sat slightly back near Kat. The Queen smiled at me with an innocent expression, but the skulls on her hip told me otherwise.

"What can I help you with?" she asked.

Kat glanced at me before leaning closer to her. "We are here because—" Kat froze and tapped her hands on her knees.

"Do the Men Of Suits mean anything to you?" I asked, scooting closer.

The Queen glanced from Kat to me with a confused expression. "I am sorry to disappoint you, but I have not heard of anything with that name." She brought her hands in the air. "A tribe of women would never name ourselves such a ridiculous name."

Kat's shoulders fell forward. "You have a point," she said, looking over her shoulder at me with a straight smile.

"Suits Made of Men sounds more like you," I whispered, but the Queen heard, profoundly laughing while holding her bare stomach.

"Sorry, you have come all this way for nothing." Queen Annora stood from the ground. "Would you like to try some sage beetle?" she asked while other women walked into the tipi with fresh male skulls on spears and blood dripping down the sticks.

They laughed while shaking the spears around as blood spattered across my face. The liquid dripped down my forehead, stopping at my eyebrows as I wiped it away. I glanced at Kat, seeing red covering her shirt.

"No, thank you," I said. "I think we should head back to our camp."

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