202 White Owl (1/2)
'Honestly, you're a spider. Why do you curl up and sleep like a puppy or something...' Laz shook Tyr a bit until it's eyes opened. He then noticed it was still kind of dark out and rolled over, intent on going back to sleep.
'Wait, I didn't think spiders had eyelids...' Laz just shrugged, too lazy to think about it.
Just as he was standing up while making Tyr get up with him. As soon as he started stretching, he noticed his entire body was weak. It wasn't weak to the point where he had trouble moving, but it was more like he was suddenly back to where he started before he gained his abilities. Even worse, he could barely sense the energy inside of himself, which almost made Laz freak out. He never wanted this, but since it had come to him, he didn't regret it. Compared to spending a life in mediocrity, which was originally his goal, he had come to rely on and even relish the power he had. And yet now it seemed like it was gone.
The bit of hope he had was he was still able to sense the power within himself, it was just smothered by the grey fog that had invaded his body. When he looked closer, his center foundation was still in place, but was surrounded on all sides to the point where the energy couldn't get out. Despite that, the black flame within looked as though it was sitting on top of the rune covered base and was constantly burning away the fog. Once it burned, a bit of the energy from it would escape into his body and along his pathways, causing his skin to be the weird grey color that it was.
Wanting to test it out, Laz walked over to a tree and hit it as hard as he could. Although he left a fist size imprint on the tree, there was no other damage done. On the plus side, his fist was fine even after doing this.
'So this is the normal power of my body without the energy added in? I thought it would be stronger.' Laz thought it over and figured it made sense. He had thought his body was super strong before, but that was only because of the dense amount of energy he naturally circulated. Without it, he was still super strong, but it was super strong as measured by a normal person's standard. As far as infected go, he figured that even Reggie would be able to be him up at this point if they relied on pure strength alone, much less Ruby or Leona.
'I wonder how the girls are doing? Vivi, Kennedy, Marlene, Leona and Ruby... Damn. I really should learn to keep it in my pants.' Thinking about them wouldn't make a difference right now anyway and he had to find a way to contact them.
Just when he thought about following the only path in the area, the old man came back.
”You look better?”
”Hmm... That's good. But still, if someone where to see you right now, they would probably think you are sick and that's the last thing you want right now. Let's go.”
”Where? and wait, what do you mean.” The old man didn't stop but kept moving back down the path he came from. It was only now, seeing him in the semi light that Laz really took notice of the fact that he was of indigenous decent.
'I'm on a reservation?' Laz thought as he followed the old man.
As he came out from the small path, Laz noticed a rather nice truck parked on the side of the road. It looked brand new and nothing like what he thought the old man would be driving. Seeing Laz face, the old man laughed.
”What did you think, that I would have some horses or an old, busted up pick up?”
”Kind of...?”
”Kid, you watch way to many movies. Get in.”
”Where are we exactly?”
”In the middle of nowhere. Closest city is Beckley.”
”Beckley? That's... in what state?”
”West Virginia. You really don't remember much do you?”
”It's not that I don't remember... it's more like...”
”When you came into this state, you were shackled up in the middle of an armed escort?”
Despite Laz feeling that the old man knew about him, hearing him bring it out like this hit Laz with a few feels. One of those was a feeling of wariness. The old man laughed as Laz put on a face of distrust.
”Boy. Don't worry so much. Our people don't exactly have a good relationship with the federal government. And we don't like them spending too much time around us either.”
”So you don't live on a reservation?”
”No such thing in this state. Most of our people either hid their culture or relocated way back when. Even though there are a few villages left, we're mostly just living together as a community as opposed to being a recognized tribe.” Laz could hear a bit of sadness in the old man's voice. There was probably more of a story he didn't know, but it wasn't Laz place to ask.
As they drove into a town, the old man stopped and pulled into a gas station. As he parked the truck and looked over at Laz.
”My name is Onacona, which means white owl. Apparently, when I was born, there was a white owl outside the hospital window when my mother gave birth to me. I'm not sure how true that is, but it's what was told to me. In truth, having a name like that has made my life a bit hard. After my generation, we rarely give our children ancestral names. Instead, they have normal English names and we give them a Cherokee namesake that they use when at home.”
Listening to this, that made sense to Laz. Even if he felt bad about what history had done to Onacona's people, it wasn't like he could change anything.
”Speaking of which, I'm pretty sure you don't go around having people call you Lazarus, right?”
”No. Just Laz.”
”Lazarus is an interesting name. A man who died and was brought back to life. It seems rather fitting for you in many ways.” Onacona got out of the truck and went to gas up while Laz got out, set Tyr on the seat and went inside. He still had no idea where he was or anything that was happening, so he figured it was better to find out for himself as opposed to looking stupid to Onacona.
Walking inside, he noticed the young man of around twenty behind the counter reading a motorcycle magazine while relaxing. It looked like it wasn't a very hard job he had. Laz grabbed some snacks, a map and a newspaper and went up to pay. He still had his pouch on him with all of his money and most of his valuables inside of it, something for which he was extremely grateful for. He looked around, but didn't notice any sort of disposable cellphones and figured he would have to get one someplace else. He went up to pay and was sort of ignored. As opposed to arguing with the young man, Laz just set the money on the counter and walked away. He got the feeling he was being ignored for a reason, but didn't say anything. His spiritual sense was still usable in the same way it was before his inner energy was sealed and he knew the man had seen him come in. Since that was the case, Laz wasn't going to press the issue.
As he went back outside, he noticed the man had stood up and was looking at him through the window, watching at he hopped back into the truck with Onacona who had just finished gassing up. The man's expression seemed to change having seen this and looked shocked. It seemed like he wanted to come outside and say something, but they had started driving away before he had the chance.
”You should wear a hoodie or something for the time being and try to hide as much skin as possible without making it look obvious. You can borrow some clothes when we get back to my place. The changes are probably a good thing for you, since you don't look at all like the kid who was on the FBI's most wanted list not too long ago.”
”I was... but I'm not?”
”Nope. Congratulations. You're dead.”