Draft

Self-Notes

3rd person, only knowing the thoughts of Ara. Limited omniscient, I think?

Wrote the first part of the prologue in my notebook/journal, transferred onto here. I prefer typing.
Anything in between <> is a different language.

-----

Plans

 3000 C.E.

***

The messenger hurried through the dim lit hallways, trying to find the one door to the General's headquarters. He reached the end of the last hallway. There was a single, well furnished door. He recklessly pushed it open, and it slammed into the wall. Awaiting the messenger was a wide lounge, filled with other bored looking, high ranking men sitting around, sleeping or playing card games. The sudden noise made them look up to see who was interrupting their fun. The many pairs of eyes intimidated the messenger, and he backed away to get some breathing space. He gulped.
       "What do you want," a voice murmured from the back of the room. His voice was loud enough to echo. A sweat drop slid down the messenger's cheek.
       "The Professor..." he stammered.
       "What about him? How is his project going, hmm? Is he almost done?"
       "No, sir..."
       "Hah! What could be POSSIBLY be doing then? Taking his sweet time? Building something else? Well, I have time to spe-" 
       "Yes sir, he is."
       The General turned around in his chair.
       "Why did you just interrupt me?" he asked coldly. The intimidation in his eyes made the messenger shudder.
       "He's b-building something to overthrow you," he said. "N-No, that's not the right word. He's trying to make sure you don't get into power..."
       The General snickered, and stood up from his seat. The back of the room was elevated, so everyone had to look up to him. He was the most powerful being in the third dimension, after all.
       "I'm already in power! What in the hell is he thinking?"
       "HE'S BUILDING A TIME MACHINE." 
       The room grew silent. Even the General stopped his laughing. The messenger scratched the back of his head and shrunk back to the door. What would the General do to him for yelling? The General jumped down from his podium and placed a pair of gloves on his hands. The other men stirred, placed their playing cards back down on the table neatly so they could get back to their games later, and stared at their boss for orders.
       "Gather your men. The Professor is going to receive a visit today," the General murmured. They pushed the lowly messenger aside and stormed out of the room. 

-

       "Aaaaaaaaaand that's the last piece! Voila!"

       The Professor placed the screwdriver back down on the floor and wiped his head. In front of him was a strikingly large contraption, his time machine.

       "Well, well, there's no time to wait! Let's get this thingy started," he muttered to himself. This would be his first time giving it a test ride. He grabbed a first aid machine kit and threw it into the machine, then hopped in himself. "What time would be best to go back to, huh? Well, the guy got in power around 50 years ago. So let's do fifty years before that!" He punched in the numbers 2900. "Perfect, perfec-" 

       The door burst open, and the Professor turned his attention to the entrance of his small labratory. Hundreds of men stood outside, with the very General himself in the front. The Professor gave a little wave.

       "Well hello there, my wonderful friends! Isn't it a great day? It'snotthatsunnycauseofthepollutionb-"

       "You know why we're here, Timmy," the General grunted. Professor Timothy laughed and waved his dirty hands. He glanced down at the control panel, looking for the right buttons to press when the time came. The men behind him grabbed their arms and loaded their guns. "Get out of that machine and we'll spare you. You can continue living a happy life."

       "Happy? Heh. You ruined this world, nobody's happy. Hell, YOU'RE not really happy," Timothy retorted. "I'm going to change that, by messing with the dimension we can call Time. Think you're the most powerful man? Well, you don't have control of this!" He pressed the button, and the machine started glowing from the outside. The General hastily ordered his men to fire. They did so, and Timothy ducked down in his machine to avoid the spray. After a few rounds, they realized bullets wouldn't do, so the men charged in and tried to kick the machine down. Timothy fell onto the control panel, but he warped out of the labratory just in time.

***

Warp

1900 B.C.E.

-

       Ara was wondering why he smelled a bit of smoke. Was the village head holding a ritual? He rubbed his eyes and stared out the window, and he could barely see a cloud of smoke in the darkness of the night. It was thick enough to hide the moon. Ara stood up and shook the girl next to him awake. She groaned and tried to push him away.

       "<What?>" she mumbled.

       "<Rizalie, warn the village. There's smoke coming from somewhere, I'm gonna check it out,>" Ara replied. He grabbed his bow and slung his quiver across his back. Rizalie sat up and grinned.

       "<Can I come?>"

       "<No, you have something else to do.>"

       "<Awwww, come on!>"

       Ara ignored her and pushed the door open, leaving her behind. It wasn't like him to depend on anyone, but he hoped she would listen to him for once. The rest of the village was quiet and asleep, and she would make the perfect wake up call. Hopefully he could find the source of the smoke soon. It didn't seem like there was a fire though, he thought. He stumbled through the roots and foliage while making his way through the trees. The smoke couldn't be seen through the towering branches, but the smell helped him find his way through.  Just a few minutes later, Ara found his way through the trees into an open cliff... He looked below and saw a breathtaking sight.
       There was a single tree growing in the sea of grass below, and smoke was creeping out of it... Ara squinted. No, it wasn't the tree, he thought. There was something next to the tree... It was a large THING. He didn't know what else to call it, because he's never seen it before. Ara carefully slid down the cliff and slowly moved closer to the frightening object. Something inside it moved, and out of instinct, he pulled out his bow and fired. 
       "Holy mackerel!" the voice squeaked. "Stop! Please!" The unknown figure held his hands out in front of him, shaking. Ara lowered his bow when he heard the cries of help. It sounded just like his parents'.. He threw his bow to the ground so the stranger knew that he was safe, and extended an arm. The man took it and was helped out of the thing. He sighed, "Thank the gods you missed that shot. I would have been DEAD!" Then he took a look around the area, and sunk onto his knees. "Oh god, oh god, this isn't 2900.. Oh, NOOOOOO!"
       Ara had no idea what the stranger was saying. While the man cried, Ara took the time to examine him. He looked a lot different from the other villagers. He was a lot shorter than him, and his hair color was the color of the sun itself. He was also speaking an entirely different language, and he has something to do with the thing behind him. Who is he, and are there other people like him out there? 
       He heard the trees rustle, and quickly pulled the man away from the scene. He knew that the other villagers had come to look for the smoke as well, but he also knew that they would be too scared to approach it. His assumptions were right, and the villagers ran back into the trees. It grew quiet. The man pulled away from Ara and took a look.
       "Hi!" he yelled. Ara shook his head. The man brought his hand to his chin. After a short moment, he waved. Ara recognized this signal, and waved back. It was a signal between friends to greet each other, and this man seemed to be friendly enough. He pointed at himself and said, "Tim."
       "Tim..." Ara replied. His name? "Ara."
       "Hi, Ara!" he laughed. He held out his hand, and Ara felt himself taking it. Tim shook vigorously.
       The two new found men traveled back to the thing that Tim called a machine. With both of their strengths, they got it to stand back up. It looked much better standing, but it was still quite the wreck. Tim took a step inside of the machine, while Ara decided to go look for some good sized branches to make a fire and keep him warm. The smoke wasn't going to last forever, and he didn't think his white coat was thick enough to withstand the breeze.
       Ara also tried finding food for Tim, but he missed every attempt at killing an animal. He soon gave up and started gathering berries instead. Why could the other villagers hunt, and not him? Ara didn't believe it was bad luck or some godly figure that cursed him; he didn't believe in any of that. He needed to try harder, that was it. He slid the berries into his sack and grabbed the best of his branches, then headed back to the machine. 
       Other little things lay around the machine. Ara figured it was also some kind of thing that Tim owned. He left him alone to his work while rubbing the branches together to form a small campfire. He hoped the smoke wouldn't travel too far. The wind's direction changed anyway, so it moved in the opposite direction. He didn't want anyone else to find out about Tim. He wouldn't know how they would react, because this was the first person outside of his village he's ever met, and he doubted anyone before him knew someone outside of the community either. He handed Tim a berry, and he gladly took it.
       "Ohh lord, I haven't had the taste of this in a long time!" he sighed. "You know, back at my place, everything's gone. There's no vegetation, no greens, noth- Oh dear me, I'm sorry, you don't understand a word I'm saying, do you?" He gave up and turned back. Ara wished he could understand the man, but it wasn't possible. Maybe he could learn his language? He knew one word so far, didn't he? He sat and watched Tim as he threw objects aside in an attempt to stop the smoke from erupting out of his contraption until the sun crept above the horizon. Ara knew he had to leave the place and get back to his village, but how could he tell Tim? He tapped the tired man on his shoulders and pointed towards the direction he first came from.
       "Tim," Ara started. But he didn't know what else to say.
       "I understand you, just come back at night time," Tim replied. He pointed at the sun, moved his arm across the sky, then pointed at the ground. Come back after the day passes, Ara thought. He nodded and waved.
       "Hi," he replied.
       "No, no! You say 'bye,'" Tim giggled. Ara didn't understand what he meant, so he just turned around and started running back to his village. 

-

       Nobody questioned where Ara went every night. They all knew he was nocturnal and hated company, so they left him alone. He was quite relieved at that; it would be easier to keep his acquaintance with Tim a secret. Every night, after the sun was no longer visible, Ara would sneak out of his living quarters and venture through the trees to find Tim again. He would try to hunt before he came, because he didn't want Tim to go hungry. Some days, he had a few successes, and other days he was forced to forage for fruits. He was happy to see Tim either way. He never complained when there was meat or not.

       "Ya know, I guess I kinda like berries better, since I never get to eat them anymore," Tim rambled. Despite not understanding what he says, Ara liked to sit around and listen to him as he ate and worked. He offered Tim some rat meat, and he refused it. "I-I'd rather not eat that, sorry to offend you."

       Sometimes, Tim wouldn't work on his machine. He would instead follow Ara into the forest and examine him hunt. One night, he watched him closely as he saw Ara miss every arrow he fired. He caused enough of a ruckus in the forest that the animals stopped venturing the grounds and hid in their shelter. Frustrated, Ara placed his bow on his back and turned around to see Tim watching.

       "Hrm," Tim mumbled. He took off the pair of glasses he had and placed them on Ara. Ara was quite alarmed at this movement, but then he blinked. Tim was no longer a fuzzy fellow; he was clear as day. He looked around the area, and it was an entirely different sight to him. He whipped out his bow, spotted a lone and unlucky rat, then aimed and fired. The arrow struck the poor creature right in its side, and it lost its life. 

       "Wh-Wha.." Ara breathed. He heard that word from Tim repeatedly when he was confused.

       "Glasses," Tim replied. "Your sight gets better with them. Haha, that's been your problem the whole time! You're a great hunter! You just couldn't see what you were aiming at correctly! You can have that pair during the night time, okay? Just don't destroy it; I only have one backup. I'm a wreck without them, you se-"

       "Thank you," Ara interrupted. The words he used whenever he gave Tim his daily nutrients.

       "Oh... Oh, you're quite welcome, of course," Tim sighed.

       Ara was now able to hunt better. He could bring back enough food for the village hunter to eat a small morning meal. Nobody asked him how he improved in a single night, and he was grateful for that. He was also learning a few words of the English language. He barely understood the words like "wrench," "future," and "dictator," but he learned words he could relate to and that he could use every day. They were able to fully communicate with each other in a few months. Ara loved his company more than the company of his other peoples, because Tim actually didn't bring him down; he helped him back up with words of encouragement.
       "When are you leaving?" Ara asked one night. He knew this arrangement couldn't last forever. If Tim came here from somewhere, he would have to go back soon. The machine looked like it would work again soon.
       "Well, that doesn't matter, does it? I'll bring you with me! Together we will travel through time and train you to adjust to the future. We'll have an adventure, won't we?" Tim ranted. Ara didn't comprehend many of those words, but the raised voice made him know that it was something good.

-

       Ara was about to sneak out again tonight, but someone stopped him in his tracks before he could make his way to the trees. He turned around and faced the short little girl. Rizalie.

       "<Where are you going? I want to come with you!>" she whined.

       "<Hunting big, scary animals that can kill you in one bite,>" Ara lied.

       "<You treat me like a little girl! I'm not that anymore.>"

       "<Then stop acting like one and listen to me.>"

       Ara knew he couldn't leave until he got her to go back too. He gave her many excuses to stay back and leave him alone, but she was stubborn and wouldn't listen to him. He gave up and decided that he couldn't venture out to meet Tim today. He'll be okay, he thought.

       "Fine, tonight," he sighed.

       "<What did you say?>" she asked. He didn't reply. Stop using Tim's language here, he told himself. He placed his hand on Rizalie's head and pulled her back into the village with him. Tomorrow, he would depart the village before he could be caught by his friend.

       Once again, the day passed and dusk fell. Ara double checked to make sure that nobody was following him. He could hear Rizalie's cries of trying to escape the arms of her mother. Good. She's much safer there than anywhere else in this place. He turned around and found his way to Tim once again. Tim was already waiting for him; he knew that because he saw him staring right where he came out of.

       "Where were you yesterday? I was quite lonely without the company. Hey, I did try to find my own food though! You gotta teach me how to do that one day, Ara, my friend," Tim greeted. Ara slid down the cliff and sat next to him, then they started practicing talking together. If Ara was going to travel, he'll have to learn to communicate with his partner, wouldn't he? They started communicating with each other. He knew when he was making mistakes, because Tim would burst out laughing. It didn't discourage him, though. They were interrupted by a cry out in the forest, and Ara quickly stood up and grabbed his bow. He heard the cries of a young girl.
       "Rizalie..!" he cried. He asked him for his glasses and ran off to find her. She couldn't have gone too far. Ara found her in the arms of a beast, one that he had never seen before. Aim for the head, aim for the head, he thought. It was hard for him to concentrate. He fired an arrow at the monster, and it whizzed right into his head. The wicked animal fell and lay dead. Rizalie fell out of his arms and onto the ground. She was whimpering and crying from fear. "<I told you not to come out here.>"
       "<I-I'm so sorry, I just wanted to find you..>" she replied. Ara let her cry until the tears eventually stopped. Tim entered the scene. Rizalie stared at him, wide-eyed. "<Ara, who is h-he?>"
       "<You are NOT to tell anyone who he is, Rizalie. I'll never forgive you if you do.>"
       Tim kneeled over next to Rizalie. Ara found it amusing that they were the same height, even if she was shorter than average compared to her people. He grabbed her hand and shook it.
       "Is this your friend, Ara? She seems mighty kind to come out here, worried for you and such. Don't scold her too much, would you?" Tim asked. Ara bit his lip. As troublesome as she was, he knew she meant well. They escorted her back to Tim's little camp and let her regain her breath. Ara told her that Tim wasn't a dangerous person and he could be trusted. She nodded. Rizalie and Tim soon got along well. Tim started teaching her hand games from his time that Ara has never seen before. He enjoyed watching them both play the rhythmic game.
       The time to leave was nearing, and the two villagers stood up to go back to their home. Rizalie waved good bye to her new companion, and he waved back happily.
       "<Say 'bye' to him, that's how you greet him,>" Ara mumbled.
       "B-bye," Rizalie yelled. Tim smiled at the two growing villagers. Ara followed behind Rizalie as they made their way back through the trees. She was cheerful again, and Ara thought that she wouldn't mind if a monster came by at the moment and seized her. Her parents were already waiting for her by the time she got back, and they rushed over to grab her in their arms.
       "<What did you do to her!?>" they yelled angrily at Ara. He flinched.
       "<He saved me, mother. I would have been dead if he didn't find me, I'm sorry,>" Rizalie snapped. Her parents looked up at her savior, and their eyes blinked. Tears started to form.
       "<We're sorry for accusing you. Thank you,>" they sighed. Rizalie was free, and she went back to his side. They headed back to his room. There, Ara told her about why he was gone every night, who Tim was, what other language he was speaking, and anything else he could think of at the time, making sure that nobody was watching them. He knew that Rizalie wouldn't be able to comprehend each word at the moment.
       "<I'll take you out every night to see him, but you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone here about him,>" Ara whispered. She made the promise, and held out her pinky. It was the pinky swear that Tim taught them. He held his own pinky out, and they swore. Every night from then on, they disappeared from the village. Rumors spread about what they were doing, but the only thing they did was meet up with the man from the future and learned from him. If only this would last forever.