Plains near Pyke
The group stops on the crest of a hill, because Jal has stopped there. Following his eyes, they see the white stranger in the centre of the bowl-shaped valley. Jal's whole arm and a large part of his body are black now, and the blackness is spreading as they watch.
"That's him?" asks Osiris.
Jal looks at him with his jet-black eyes. "He wants me to go to him. I must." He starts down the hill. Rettick begins to follow, but Pacen holds him back.
"I think Jal has to do this on his own. It's kind of a fated."
"Fated?"
"It's the battle. The one that almost happened in my people's city centuries ago. Before I was born. The Black and the White force can't come into contact directly, so they find others to fight for them."
"Jal and the Stranger?"
Pacen frowns. "No..."
As Jal walks down, he sees other figures standing beside the Stranger. Figures that are as purely white as he is, but expressionless, and they are slightly transparent, as if not really there. Jal recognizes several of the villagers. He sees something out of the corner of his eye, and is astonished to see Int striding beside him, when he killed Int by accident just half an hour ago. Int's skin is as black as the stranger's companions' is white, with the same ghostly translucentness. Near to him is Mat, who looks similar. Jal reaches the bottom and draws to a halt, facing the stranger. There is a silence.
Jal breaks the silence first: "So..."
The Stranger smiles. "We're finally here. After so long..."
"What are you... What do you mean?"
"We have been waiting so long for today's battle. The final battle. The Decider, as it were."
Jal looks confused. "We?"
"I'm not talking to Jal, I'm talking to you. You know what I mean. We've been waiting centuries. Hundreds of Centuries."
"You mean the... the spirit inside me? the Stick?"
"Of course..."
There is another silence, then Jal opens his mouth. "Why don't you have a stick?"
"I did. It became a part of me, just as yours has become a part of you. The Vykkers found them after the last battle, and kept them. I was in the labship when it crashed, and the stick spoke to me. It drew me to itself. It wanted to fight there and then, but there was only me."
"That's what happened to me, too..."
The Stranger smiles. "We are more alike even than you think now."
"So what's going to happen?"
"The Battle will take place; our armies will clash. Either you will win, or I will."
Jal smiles, ruefully. "Not really armies. I have two, you have five. The battle won't last long."
The Stranger smiles once more. "Look behind me."
Jal looks behind him, and suddenly sees that valley filled with ghostly white apparitions, becoming more solid by the second. The most recent ones - the Pyke villagers - are almost solid now. Jal looks behind himself, and sees a matching horde of Black figures. He sees sligs, mudokons, glukkons, and other creatures he doesn't recognize. He thinks he sees mudokons resembling Pacen, but it is hard to tell. All of the figures are preparing for battle.
"As you can see, it will not be a short battle."
Jal's head shakes. "No," his body sags to the floor. His skin is returning to its natural green. He looks up, holding the stick, which is once again separate from his body. The Stranger is slightly worried to see Jal's eyes, which have returned to their normal colour.
Jal stands, brandishing the stick, staggering slightly. "Your quarrel isn't with me. Leave me out of this!"
The Stranger laughs nervously. "Trust me, this is the only way."
Jal looks down, sadly, then looks up. "No, it isn't..." He glances thoughtfully at his stick, then raises it above his head. "Catch!"
"NO!"
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Guns don't kill people, People kill people! Using Guns.
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