Justified
Ryan left the room to go tell his hosts that they would be leaving. He had decided that he would go with Harris to take down the Haqqani in this section of the world. The only way they would be able to do that would be to take down Narendra. If you cut off the head of the serpent, the rest will die. “That phrase makes no sense.” he thought. Isn’t that a universal rule?
Once at the door to their room, Ryan knocked three times. The people he and Harris had found had one family member, the father, who spoke some English. It wasn’t fantastic, you had to use a lot of hand symbols, but it was good enough for communication. Ryan had to avoid being used to this; in Thailand, there would be no communication. After a moment, the door opened, and the father smiled at Ryan. “Happy morning.” he said.
Ryan smiled. “Happy morning.” he said. “My friend and I,” he said, pointing down the hall, then at himself. “need to go now.” He used his fingers to simulate walking away. “Thank you very much,” he said, putting his hands together and bowing. “for all that you have done.” He made a big circle with his hands, having them come together at the base. Ryan’s host nodded.
“You are welcome.” he said. He bowed. “You are welcome back here any time.” They shook hands, and Ryan went back to get Harris.
He walked into the room. Luna, Harris, and Discord were all still there. “Alright, time to go.” he said.
Harris stood. “Then let’s go out and find a boat.” He started to walk forward, but Ryan put his hand on his chest and stopped him.
“Hang on.” he said. “First, we need to tell the others we won’t be coming with them.” Harris frowned.
“Don’t you think they’ll ask what we’re doing?” he asked. “What’ll we tell them?” Ryan thought for a moment.
“We’ll tell them that we have another friend to go get.” he said. Harris was unconvinced.
“Wouldn’t some Special Forces or something come rescue our ‘friend’?” he asked.
“We’ll tell them that there isn’t enough time for that.”
“Alright.”
Before the two boys left the house, their hosts stopped them. The mother handed the boys six bottles of water. The child, a little girl of five, gave them both metal bands to wear on their wrists. They had intricate engravings on them; Ryan’s had a dragon encircling the length, and Harris’ was a Tiger. “What are these for?” Harris asked.
The father spoke up. “They for your journey.” he said. “Water to drink. Gelang for luck.” He bowed. “Safe journey to you.” Ryan bowed back, and Harris followed suit.
“Thank you.” Ryan said. They left the home.
Before splitting up, the group had agreed on what spot to meet at. There was no set time to arrive; people were told to show up as they awoke. Everyone had agreed that the best spot to meet would be the center of town; there were several landmarks that made it clear that you were there. Some statues, specific street signs, and other urban uniquities. Harris and Ryan were roughly a ten minute walk from there.
Luna walked next to Ryan, Discord floated next to Harris. Both pairs were having their own conversations. “How do you plan to get a boat?” Luna asked. Ryan shrugged.
“First we need to get to the coast. From there, I don’t think it’ll be that hard to find a boat to illegally take us into Thailand.” Luna nodded.
“Okay. But how will you get through Thailand?” she asked. Ryan thought for a moment.
“You need to think about these things.” she told him.
“I know, I know!” he thought. “Harris and I will think of something when we get that far. Right now, we just need to figure out how to get to Thailand.”
Luna stayed silent for a moment. “You say that you are going to put a stop to Narendra’s atrocities.” she said. Ryan nodded. “How?” This was the question Ryan had been dreading. He had to think fast; it was foolish of him not to think of an answer earlier.
“We’re going to find him and take him down. From there, international authorities will have less trouble with his organization.” He was doing his best not to answer the question. It paid off well.
“So you’ll get him and give him to the proper authorities?” she asked. Ryan didn’t respond; he was too nervous. “A good plan.” Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. He had kept their intentions a secret from her.
On the other side of him, Discord was planning things out with Harris.
“So you’ll get a boat to Thailand,” Discord recounted. “then you’ll hitch rides and steal to survive until you get to Cambodia. Do you know where the compound is?” he asked. Harris nodded.
“I think Ryan said it’s near some town or whatever named Kompong Chhnang.” Discord flew up giddily. His plan was going to work out nicely; he was already seeing how it would turn out. The two boys would sneak into the compound, and take out the guards. They would rescue anyone there. After that, they would search the compound for Narendra. When they found him, they would burst into the room, taking out his guards. To end it all, they would tell Narendra his crimes, and put a single bullet in his brain.
One flaw; they had no guns. “But I do!” Discord remembered. He knew better than to hand them over now. He would do that later.
The two boys had their own planning sessions with their respective “guardians” the whole way to the meeting area. Ryan and Harris would have to convene later to establish what they would do. For now, they just had to get along with what they had planned. The two boys approached the center of town. Being a city of over nine hundred thousand people, the crowd was difficult to sift through. Eventually, they were able to find one of their compatriots. “Hey!” he yelled. It was the guy who spoke Indonesian. Ryan and Harris briskly walked over to him. “Some of the others decided to go get some food.” he said. Harris nodded.
Ryan answered. “Alright.” he said. He got in closer. “Listen,” he started. The guy got a concerned look on his face. “we won’t be going with you.” he said.
The guy’s eyes bulged. “What?!” he yelled. No one around them seemed to care.
“We have another friend who needs to be rescued.”
The guys shook his head frantically. “Can’t you just leave that to SEALs or something?” he asked. Ryan shook his head.
“There isn’t enough time. It’ll take us some days to alert them, and by then, it’ll be too late.” He put his hand on the guy’s shoulder. “We have to go for him. Please understand.”
The guy bit his lip. “You saved us.” he said. He pulled Ryan into an unexpected hug. “Please be careful. And let us see you again.” Ryan hugged him back a bit, then pushed him off a little. The guy took the hint. “Stay safe.” he said. Ryan turned around, but looked back.
“You too.”
They made their way back the way they came.
********************************************************************************
Discord had grown bored during the conversation, and decided to go back up into the air and fly around. This city was enormous; it made Canterlot look small. There had to be some fun to be had here.
He looked down on the city with disappointment. “Where’s all the crazy stuff?” he asked himself. He went back down to the ground. Around him, he heard thousands of people talking. Thankfully, he still had the translation spell, so he could listen to the meaningless conversation. “So did you see the stars? They changed!” one person said. “Yes, they look like a crudely drawn penis now.” Discord smiled to himself. Someone had noticed his work.
He continued about through the city, listening to random bits of conversation. Some people talked about work, others family life, and some just random facts, like the new constellation. He decided to leave the bustling area of the city after a while; there was too much noise. He flew back into the air and looked for the slightly less urban home that Ryan and Harris had stayed in.
He turned in the direction of the home and made his way there. These people just harbored escaped terrorists’ prisoners, so they must be talking about something interesting.
He made his way over to the home of the nice family that hosted the boys. What would they be talking about? Would they be talking about what they think the boys are doing, what they were doing? Maybe they’re speculating about the boy’s origins, and how they came to be in Sumatra. Discord was excited; regardless of what was happening, he would find a way to make it enjoyable for himself. He could move stuff around, plant thoughts in their heads, change things’ colors...
When he got to the house, he was shocked out of his thoughts by a van in front of the house. “Uh oh.” Discord said. He rushed over to the window.
Inside, he could see several men walking about. The family was in the corner, cowering. “Oh dear.” he thought. He was about to get up and go tell Ryan and Harris what he saw when one of the men started talking.
“We know they were here.” he said. Discord stopped to listen. “Tell us where they are, and we’ll leave you be.” The father in the family shook his head.
“We didn’t know, we swear! They just told us they needed a place to stay!” he yelled.
“So, now they know what Ryan and Harris were doing.” Discord thought. Clearly, this Haqqani group had taken quite a bit of control over the area.
The man the father spoke to walked up and pulled out his pistol. Rearing back, he brought it across the father’s face, sending him to the floor. “Stop lying to me!” he said. He grabbed the father by the collar of his shirt. “I know they’re here somewhere! Where are you hiding them?!” The daughter began to cry; the mother shushed her and held her close. Angry, the man went over to them and pointed the gun at the mother’s head. “Where are they?” he asked. The father stammered. The man brought the butt of his pistol down on the mother’s head with great force. “Just tell me, and you will all be safe.” The father’s jaw quivered, and he whimpered. The man sighed. “You people. You never seem to know who owns you.”
Discord had seen enough; he had to get back and tell Ryan and Harris what was going on. If they acted quickly, they might be able to get these guys. He flew off as fast as he could.
When he got back to the boys, he stopped right in front of them. They had been heading in the opposite direction of the house. “Guys!” he yelled. Harris and Ryan spun around. Immediately after, Ryan turned to his left as if something was there. “You need to get back to the house!” Ryan continued to look to his left, but was clearly alarmed by Discord’s panic. Harris walked over to him.
“Why?” he asked quietly.
“Those men are at the home of the people who helped you! If you hurry, you can get back in time to stop them!” Harris’ eyes widened, and Ryan turned to face Discord. Without a word, Ryan started to sprint away to the house, Harris close behind.
About halfway there, Ryan saw smoke climbing into the sky. “No, no, no, no, no!” he said. He upped his speed, and Harris started to fall behind. All that running back home was really paying off right now.
In no time, Ryan came face to face with exactly what he was afraid of. The house was a smoldering pile of rubble. In what he guessed was the less than fifteen minutes it took for Discord to come to them to when they got there, the house was destroyed. Ryan ran to the ruins. He needed to make sure everyone was alright. But he silently doubted that they were.
The smallest glint of hope was what kept him looking. Maybe one of them was alright, just buried under the rubble. Any of them. Ryan picked up pieces of wood and rubble, throwing them away when he found nothing underneath. He searched frantically.
Luna arrived shortly. She ran up behind Ryan, him not paying her any mind. “Ryan!” she announced.
Before she could continue, Ryan shouted back, “Look around! They might be somewhere under something!” Seeing his desperation, Luna turned tail and ran to the other end of the house to search. Ryan kept searching in his area, but to no avail.
Until Ryan noticed a small movement to his right. It was tiny; most people in other situations wouldn’t have noticed it. But with his adrenaline pumping and fear rising, Ryan saw everything. He whipped around and went over to it. A large board of plywood was shaking about, like someone was trapped under. Ryan leaned in and listened; he heard sobbing. “I’m coming!” he yelled. He started to rip away at the rubble before him. He yanked off the wood and threw it sideways. Under it was a mess of blankets and pillows. he took them off and threw them aside. What he saw stupefied him.
It was the little girl. The sheets on top of her had provided absolutely no protection from the flames, and apparently explosions, that had annihilated the house. Her skin had been charred to the point where it was black and flaking off. Bone showed in a couple of areas, the burns were so deep. Ryan pulled her out. “LUNA!!” he shouted. Pulling her out was easier than anticipated; the blasts had taken her left leg from the knee down. Ryan’s breathing became short and rapid-fire. “Luna, help!” he shouted. He heard stampeding footsteps, or hoofsteps, I suppose, come up behind him. The girl was sobbing.
Upon seeing her, Luna fell back. “What happened?” she asked.
“We need to get her to a hospital, now!’ Ryan yelled. The girl in his arms sobbed still.
Luna shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid...” she began.
“No!” Ryan responded, turning to yell at Luna. “I won’t allow this!” he turned to the girl in his arms. “Come on, you’ll be fine...” he said, standing. The girl’s sobbing ceased. “Girl?” Ryan said. She wasn’t breathing. Ryan’s jaw shook violently. “GIRL!?” he shouted. She didn’t respond. Luna walked up next to him, avoiding getting near the body.
“I’m sorry.” was all she said. Ryan pulled the girl in close and cried.
Harris and Discord arrived on the scene. They could hear someone yelling something earlier, but they just figured it was Ryan. When Harris saw the house, he stopped dead. “My God...” he said. He was struck speechless. Discord, though, was not.
“Let’s get in there. It sounds like Ryan found something.” Harris nodded.
“Yeah...” he said. They entered the house.
It wasn’t long before Harris and Discord laid eyes on Ryan. “Ryan!” Harris yelled out. No response. “Hey,” he said, walking over to Ryan. “Ryan!” He went left around him, and almost tripped onto a sharp shard of wood, he was so shocked by what he saw. In Ryan’s arms, were the charred remains of a little girl. It was awful; her leg had been blown apart, and her skin was charcoal black and flaking. “Ryan,” Harris began.
Ryan dropped the body he was holding. It fell four feet to the floor, where the arms just broke off like toothpicks. “Let’s go.” Ryan said. He turned and left the ruins.
Harris followed him out. He was about to talk to Ryan when he had to stop. Ryan was facing left. “I’m going to get these people justice.” he said. Harris looked; nothing, not even Discord, was there. “It’s the only thing I can do now.” Harris figured it out quickly, or at least he thought he did. Ryan had gone off the reservation. He walked up and grabbed his shoulder; he couldn’t save Ryan now, not his mind; but the two of them could get their justice.
“Ryan.” he said. Ryan turned around and looked him in the eye. Harris gulped; before, he would find nothing in his eyes. Now, there was a terrible anger. Not the fiery kind. It was a frozen anger, like an arctic wasteland. Nothing lived in those eyes anymore. The only thing that was there was an all-consuming cold, unsupporting of any life.
“What?” Ryan asked. Harris tried to return the gaze, but couldn’t. His friend had been replaced by something... inhuman.
“We can still get these guys. We can stop them from ever doing this again.” Harris now got what was so terrible about these people; his personal vendetta was almost gone. After seeing a flame-broiled little girl, losing the people he cared about to these bastards, and seeing Ryan so mentally distraught, he never wanted anyone to suffer this again.
“Yeah.” Ryan responded nonchalantly. He shook Harris’ hand off. “Let’s.” He walked off, Harris following soon after.
The rules of the game had changed. And so had the players.