Hashashin
New York City 1957
"We have just received news that confirm the initial reports stating that early yesterday morning Iranian sailors from their 6th Fleet, on drill maneuvers in the Caspian Sea, discovered and rescued Aiden Arden. Arden was known as the heir to Arden Technologies, playboy and the boyfriend of various actresses and models which made his appearance before the media quite common before being presumed dead with the crash of Allied Airlines flight 987 somewhere over the Eastern Kazakhstan on its way from Tokyo to London.
Apparently, the 24 year old Mr. Arden was found floating on a large and rather complex wooden "raft". Even more odd, he was described as wearing "well stitched clothes of what were clearly Wolf skins with a Lion pelt draped over his shoulders". He was also carrying what said to be a "extremely well made composite bow with a quiver intricately constructed, feather fletched arrows with large carved obsidian heads" and a "long dagger apparently made from the jaw of a large crocodile, teeth still attached."
When asked about where he has been since that fateful day three years ago, he replied to his rescuers by simply saying, "an island".
Mr. Arden is currently on his way home to New York. The Arden family ask that you please respect their privacy. More on this story..."
::::
Julia was still in shock. Even after more than a day, her mind was still having a hard time comprehending the fact that her big brother, her hero, was alive. Aiden hadn't died in a plane crash three years ago. He was alive!
So, why was she still so torn? She couldn't figure it out but something was still bothering her. In her shock, it took her more than a day to realize that nagging feeling was the result of her imagining what her big brother was like now.
What does being alive on an island, alone and surrounded by wild beasts trying to constantly kill you, for years, do to a persons mind? What does fighting Wolves, Lions and Crocodiles and God-knows what else on an uncharted island do to a person's body? Would she even recognize him?
Her Mother had been strangely composed, even though Julia could tell she was churning inside. With it being just the two of them since her brother's 'death', they had grown apart a good deal. They still loved each other and they had mourned together. But since then the house had simply felt cold and empty.
Julia's first smile in over a day came as she looked down at her body, sitting with her mother in the back of a town car. When her brother had last seen her, she was a lanky, mousy and flat sixteen year old girl. She certainly wasn't that anymore, she thought with a smile.
"What is it, sweety?" Susanna asked her daughter.
"Just thinking about how much things have changed since he ...left." She answered.
Susanna was quiet for a moment, her face uncomfortable, before she spoke. "Sweety ...you know that he might ...well, not exactly be the same Aiden that we all remember. He used to be so cheerful. So happy and kind." She reminisced, her golden eyes gaining a far away misty look.
"But to survive something as horrible as a plane crash must be ...horrible. Then to have to fight for your life every day, hungry and cold, never expecting to see home again. I can't even begin to imagine." Then she looked at Julia directly and said,
"he's been all alone for three years, sweety. He grieved for us too, knowing we believed him dead and we're doing our best to move on with our lives, thinking that is what he would have wanted ...yet he was alive and missing us. I can't stop feeling like I betrayed him by trying to find happiness again while he was fighting for his life. I can't stop wondering how many times I was laughing and having a good time while he sewed up a wolf bite in his own arm or starved in the rain while I ate at a banquet..."
Julia just nodded. She wanted to reassure her mother but she was struggling with the exact same thing. The fact that, for as long as she could remember, she had been in love with her brother didn't only served to make this whole situation worse, she thought.
:..:
Aiden was nervous. He was far more scared of this reunion than he had been of anything on that island and the large, ferocious and otherwise not native to that part of the world-animals that inhabited the uncharted island that used to serve as a game reserve for the Persian Kings of the Sassanian Empire, where animals from all around the then-known world were brought in and bred before being released, were the least of his worries during that time.
Animals, especially predators, are smart. They know when they meet a superior predator. This caused him to give a grim smile, slightly spooking the poor nurse, who was already clearly somewhere between terror, awe and desire in the presence of the most beautiful man she had ever seen.
His long golden hair and blonde beard made him look like an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue's version of a 'Mountain Man'. His highly unusual golden eyes and the overlapping scars that crossed his exposed torso like a roadmap as she took his vitals made him look like some Viking warrior from a millennium ago.
The overall affect literally made her heart race and her knees weak. Nina was a short and fit, but naturally busty woman, at more than a foot shorter than him. Even sitting on the exam table as he was, she had to look up into his eyes. He was muscular, extremely so, but not bulky. To her, he looked like some lithe jungle cat, the way his defined muscles rolled under his golden skin with every movement in the complete lack of visible fat.
As she leaned close to listen to his lungs, she caught a whiff of his scent and was immediately nearly overcome with lust. She barely managed to keep from impulsively licking his skin to taste him. She was wet from just being near him and the smell of him had her fighting with every ounce of her will power to remain within the bounds of propriety.
Soft voices outside the door saved her from further torment as she quickly concluded her duties and exited the room, giving the doctor a nod as he talked with two richly dressed and beautiful women.
The little Latina nurse was having an affect on Aiden too. He had always been a man with big appetites in the bedroom. He used to chastise himself for his need to ejaculate at least three or four times daily to keep a clear head and testicles that didn't feel loaded and swollen. It was often times a distraction, and on the island a vulnerability, but it was also a necessity. One he hadn't been able to relieve since his rescue.
Outside his room, Julia and Susanna were talking to the doctor that had done the exam.
"...In addition to a few scars that were obviously inflicted by the teeth of large predators and a few others that could have possibly been caused by the claws of a large cat or bear, there are also many wounds that I've only seen in veterans." The doctor said, clearly uncomfortable.
"What... What are you saying Doctor, exactly?" Asked Susanna.
"Well, I can't say for sure. All I know is that the majority of his scars are consistent with the cut or puncture of a bladed weapon and..."
"Self mutilation?" She asked.
"Normally, that is what I would suspect, yes. However, in this case I'm not so sure. You see, there are also many wounds consistent with projectiles. Not only projectiles but fast moving projectiles. Most likely supersonic. There was also significant burn scarring on areas of his body and many of these scars are in areas that can't be reached or manipulated by a person. Nor do they exhibit any of the usually hallmarks or signatures of self mutilation or punishment. The truth is, I have no idea what happened to him on that island. Few of the physical injuries received anything approaching proper medical care and I have to assume the mental damage was at least as bad."
Susanna closed her eyes and nodded, clearly trying to control herself.
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Arden. I just don't know how much of your Aiden is left in there. The best you can do is be patient with him." The doctor said. "You may go in when your ready. He's just in there." He gestured and walked over the the nurse's station.
Susanna and Julia looked at each other, the anxiety clear in both of their eyes. After a moment they approached the door and entered the room. Standing with his back to them, looking out the window, was her beloved lost son.
Aiden was fully dressed again when he heard the door open. They had given given a white tee shirt and the bottoms from a pair of blue scrubs. "Aiden ...baby, it's Mom...", he heard.
Susanna gasped as Aiden turned around. The thick beard was a bit of a shock but the dead look that lay in his eyes was almost crippling to such a dedicated mother.
"Mom", he said simply, giving a soft smile.