Sarrin is the one person whose perspective is needed and this is a hidden scene that for whatever reason falls through the cracks in the retelling of this story.
Her physical description is not given but she has straight, DARK red hair that ends at her earlobe, is very slight and walks with her chin pointed a little down. She also has what looks like fish scales at her temples, beside her eyes.
There is a conversation, a scene which precedes this by 2 years. In which Oliver Queen and his friend Sarrin encounter the Green Martian J'onn Jo'nzz. Here, Jeremiah Danvers went above and beyond the line of duty in protecting his commanding officer. It should be noted that Jeremiah is the narrator and is mentally misspelling his hosts name to be Jean Jones.
“Am I a prisoner here?” I persisted.
“No restraints but there is a perimeter. That is my understanding.” the young woman replied. She tilted her head to the left. “Please, introductions should come first. My name is Sarrin, and you?”
“Jeremiah.”
“Jere-miah. That is a good name.”
“Forgive me but are you...what planet are you from?”
“I am Atraxi. My planet of origin was not the home planet for my people. I was 8 years old when my mother and I left it. I was almost 10 when we made our home on the West coast of the United States.”
“It took that long to get to Earth?”
“Well, to get to Earth and learn enough about it to know that northern California is a pretty cool place, yes. I should have started by saying 'welcome to Arias'. It's our collection of friendly faces of various alien races and a few of the more tolerant humans. Of which you seem the best.”
I didn't understand what she meant, so I decided to press on the the part I was actually concerned about. “Jean is you leader?”
“J'onn Jo'nzz is the leader of our community, yes. But I am not wearing a bracelet.”
“Please elaborate.”
“I'm not afraid of him, or you. That's not why I'm this high-strung. By my very nature I am unsteady and uncertain. And to be blunt I am more concerned that you think accurately of us than you think well of us. And far more concerned about that than I am offending you.”
“That is...very helpful to know. And you are an incredibly perceptive individual.”
“My people, like Xavallens and Enkarens, sense emotional vibrations. But unlike them I am not reading your heart, like I read a book, I feel whatever is coming from you without effort and without real choice. Now I can try to read your heart, search the core of your being. Please believe me that I would not do so without your permission. Well I cannot claim that. If J'onn asked me I would do so. And to tell you the truth I am tempted to do so anyway. I swear I am not trying to be intrusive. I can tell you are an extra-ordinary individual and I'm... really curious as to the why. But it's not the same as reading minds. I am an empath not a tele-path.”
“ ' Discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart' is that it?”
“More like 'motivations and intentions' but yes essentially.”
“A world without ego without selfishness without...lies.”
“Oh trust me, lies exist. But they are usually for a much better reason. Thinking of which, J'onn is eager to talk with you. But his people are telepaths and psychic. All of their communication would have been through thought. He will probably send you his words that way. Or send them to me and hear your answers as you speak.”
“You said you were not a telepath.”
“One does not need to be a telepath to hear the thought projections of an individual who is one. I have an extremely compartmentalized, that is a well-ordered mind. Makes it easier for me to hear and understand what he is trying to say. I wanted to assure you he will not search through your thoughts looking for hidden truths. It is communication only not...the other thing. If that was what you were – to be polite expecting to be candid anticipating – you are incorrect. To quote an old television show “Let him have every liberty, except liberty itself.” It is that kind of situation.”
I nodded. “House arrest.”
“I just realized you have been asleep for hours. And probably do not know where you are.”
“Well, how far are we from the way-point?”
“A good 6 hours walk but that's not what I mean. Arias is the name of the village we have built here for ourselves. It is our community of friendly individuals from various points across the stars. And this...you...are on its outer edge.” She looked hard at me to make sure I understood her meaning. I nodded my confirmation. “In fact, if you were up for it, I was to take you on a little bit of a tour around the place. But only if you are up for it.”
“Do you always talk like that?”
“Uncertain, overly concerned, quiet but intense? Yeah pretty much.” She said with the first true smile I had seen on her face. “If you mean with such a precise use of English that it seems like my second language, also yes. Because it's my Fourth.”
“Okay, please explain that to me.”
She started counting on her fingers. “My own peoples language, the official language of my home planet, the first Earth language I ever learned which wasn't English and then English.”
“You landed on the West coast and English wasn't the first language you learned?”
“What major city would stand out like a shining light in Northern California?”
“San Francisco...Chinatown. You learned Mandarin first.”
“Nail-on-head.” She gave me a strange look. “Being 10- degrees off however has less to do with proper English as having greater concern for clear communication than accurate convention. I don't care about getting the expression right, only expressing myself clearly. Different as daylight and darkness' instead of 'different as night and day' is not a near-miss. Some have negative ideas of the harsh light of day and positive ideas of the cool winds of night. To make sure you actually get what I'm saying...”
“You make it damn near impossible not to understand what you are saying. That's why Jean has you do the introductions. You understand both of our worlds but don't claim either one.”
“There's that.” A deep voice said suddenly. “And she sees beyond sight in a way I have never encountered before.”
I would be hard-pressed to disagree with you, Jean.” I looked at him and felt myself blush. “Listen I realize you have practically no reason to trust me, but you can believe me when I say I am glad to meet you.” Jean looked at me like I had just told a very good joke. I could swear Sarrin was hiding a personal smile behind her serene expression. “What did I say?”
“Jeremiah, I have every reason in the world to trust that you mean what you say. You are the most honorable individual I have met since I came to this planet. That was 300 years ago. I just hope you can believe ME when I tell you the feeling is mutual. That I am glad to meet you as well.”
“Whatever else is going on, I do not doubt your intentions. And I hope to prove mine. Starting with what a Xavallen friend of mine would have referred to as 'proper introductions'.” I put my hands to my heart, fingers pointed inward. “I'm Jeremiah Danvers. For my part you can consider me a friend.” I offered my hand and for a moment he looked at it as if he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with it. Then he straightened himself like a solider and offered his own right hand.
“I am...J'onn Jo'nzz.”
“Sarrin told me she was to take me on a walk around Arias if I was up to it. I'm surmising that was less an assignment from you and more an idea out of her own head?”
“Yes, but she said it that way to illustrate to you that I was alright with it. Sarrin can be... more direct that precise sometimes.”
“I'm picking up on that.”
Jeremiah was brought here to live and stay after the mission to terminate a particularly dangerous alien went the way it did. Jeremiah stayed with J'onn as kind of a willing captive. Exchanging himself for Hank Henshaw. In his offer itself it was for his freedom as well as his life. “If you will not only let him live but let him go.” As a result he is a captive in that he cannot escape but his life is otherwise perfectly normal. Basically he has every liberty, except liberty itself.
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