Prologue
State of the World


           Myths.

           Fables

           Legends.

           Tall Tales.

           We call many a story by these monikers; mighty tales of heroic warriors who battle the vile villain or beast to rescue a fair maiden, or a heroic quest to save the world from the evilest of evil, or a journey to discover a long lost treasure.

           We regard these stories as fiction; fables we tell to entertain, to teach, to share. There are no such things as evil wizards or hidden armies or mighty monsters. They have become myths. But there is one fact most seem to forget:

           There is always a hint of truth in stories.

           And one such story is indeed very real and very much alive.

           But it doesn’t exist on Earth, no no no. Instead, it exists far away, and that tale of truth, discovery, war, and friendship is ready to be told, and it all begins with two little kids.



           The year is 5791.

           Humanity long ago had traveled to the stars and has since been a space-faring race, colonizing a large chunk of the Milky Way and encountering scores of new alien races, most friendly, others… not so much. It was not long until they were invited into the Galactic Community, a galaxy-spanning collective that governs over the races. For thousands of years, it was a interesting period in galactic history, as humans brought something unique: their tenacity and their curiosity.

           … But, unfortunately, nothing good lasts forever. The resources of the Milky Way are finite and they are nearing depletion. Planets have been drilled and mined to the point where many have begun collapsing in among themselves. As a result, in the year 5552, a effort to counter this and give the stricken planets time to restore their natural supply, great starships would take the races of the Milky Way and leave to nearby worlds that can house them long enough to give the Milky Way time to heal. It would take thousands upon thousands upon thousands of years, but they were dangerously low on options.

           It was called the Extra-Galactic Initiative and it was met with universal approval and acclaim, as many see it as a great excuse to explore their galactic neighbors at the expense of taxpayers- Star Trek in real life.

           In the decade that followed in 5562, probes were sent to our closest neighbor galaxy, Andromeda, in search of planets capable of supporting life. Andromeda wasn't the only galaxy they sent probes to; they were sent to our smaller neighbors too, such as the Draco Dwarf, the Large Megellanic Cloud, Messier 32, and Triangulum, to name a few, but Andromeda showed the most promise. Regardless, with so many options to choose from, finding life supporting planets was going to be a cinch.

           In no time at all, universal history was being made.

           Now we come to present day. The year: 5791. The latest colony ship to Messier 32 had just exited hyperwarp near its target destination: a three planet system orbiting a common yellow star given the name Altair. The planet in question, a earth-sized world with double rings similar in apperance to Saturn’s that cross together, was the target.

           The planet has lush forests that would put the Pacific Northwest, Brazil, and Asia to shame, vibrant fields on par with Mongolia, grandeous deserts akin to Australias, and glistening oceans clearer than anything we had- it was pretty much Earth 2.0: Paradise Edition.

           But… there was one oversight the probes failed to find, mention, and call in: The planet was inhabited. It has a civilization, and they are unlike anything they have ever seen.



           Spread all over the planet and capable of living in every clime lives a powerful race called the Ferid. Ferids are very similar to humans in terms of body size and shape- two legs, two arms, two eyes, a full head of hair, and more private things. But they are not humans exactly, oh no no no. They sport reptilian tails of various sizes and shapes. You may be asking, why do they have reptilian tails? Well, that shall be revealed soon enough.

           The Ferids are not the only race that rules this planet. Sharing the planet with them were a saurian race called Gaharots. Similar in appearance to the human-sized UtahRaptors of Earth’s ancient past, the Gaharots are more numerous and widespread. But, they are used as slaves by the more powerful Ferids. That's because long ago, Gaharots ruled the planet and the Ferids were their slaves, but a rebellion by the Ferids, coupled with the coming of the Astrals, flipped the script

           Those able to escape the yoke of their masters fled to a mysterious place Ferids have yet to be able to find called Varka, where they are protected by a group of freedom-fighting Gaharots called the Janissaries, who seek to abolish this rule of master and servant the ancients have created. While they have mostly been successful in ending the slave trade, there are many holdouts remaining, and the tension on the mainland is reaching a breaking point.

           But on one small sub-continent, far far from the mainland, rests a Ferid tribe that live side-by-side with their Gaharot cousins in peace, a tribe that will have a part to play in history.



           On the planet’s southern hemisphere, on a seemingly insignificant yet historically important sub-continent called Evioly, stretches a vast, green, lush, and spectacular forest. Its sea of green leaves stretched for miles upon miles upon miles, ending at oceans, the central volcano, the mighty western mountain range, or the northern storm. Stretching up from this sea of green was several mighty mesa’s that stretched up for miles. The smallest one was the same height as Mt. Saint Helens, whereas the largest is Everest sized.  

          On one such mesa, the aforementioned "Mt. Saint Helens", nestled in a large U-shaped outcropping that stretched out, rests a village. This village of wooden huts, clay homes, outstretched bridges and docks, fire pits, and cloth covers is home to a Ferid tribe called the Misken.

           The Misken Tribe lives close to nature and are at one with it. They take what they need and they give back what they can. They never waste and live in harmony with the animals they live beside, including the Gaharots, who are treated as equals here. To give them a Earth-race comparison, most of the Ferid tribes are like medieval Europe- oppressing and controlling whatever they can, while the Misken tribe are like the Native Americans, with how close they live to nature.

           And it is this tribe that shall change their course of their world.



           From the Misken natives and the approaching colonists shall come two children that will shake the course of history on this planet, if not the whole universe. Two civilizations shall be brought together and a discovery shall be made that will have lasting repercussions.

           And it all begins on an important day…

2: Chapter 1: A Whole New World

3: Chapter 2: The Boy from the Stars

Chapter 2

The Boy from the Stars

2/7/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

           The Armored Delix Dreadnaught that carried the colonists to the new planet slowly lined itself up with the planet and entered geosynchronous orbit, now moving in tandem with the planet. The ship had entered into a nice sweet spot between the stratosphere and one of the duel rings that circle the planet, providing one hell of a vista for everyone inside.

           The Delix class of Dreadnaughts are of a unique design. They are cylindrical in design with six pairs of solar panel wings stretching along its body, getting bigger and bigger as they neared the engines. these designs have been the nickname 'Pine Trees' due to the resemblance of the design. They measure 25000 feet in length and are two stories high, with the front end looking similar to a tomahawk or hatchet blade.

           As for the dreadnaught part, they have thick armor plating that allows them to take such a large amount of punishment before they can be truly destroyed. They can withstand up to 15 full minutes of concentrated bombardment before the occupants have to worry about any real threats, and with laser cannons and missile turrets running along, piercing the 'bark' of this tree was next to impossible. Due to the effectiveness of this design, the model had been in service for a few centuries now- their durability and cargo storage capacity made them perfect to be modified for extra-galactic travel.

           They can take a punishment and give it back. They are powerhouses.

           This particular Delix Dreadnaught is called the Argo Marquis and it has been traversing the cosmos for over 100 years before arriving at the Messier 32 Galaxy, the kitty on Andromeda’s doorstep. When it was close enough to the Altair system, the captain and his crew came out of cryo-sleep first, with the passengers waking up some hours later.

           The ship headed for the designated site their scout probes had picked out for them. Located on what they assume is a peninsula- later confirmed to be such from observations from above- the location was isolated, surrounded by a range of tall mountains, which in turn was surrounded by a sea of trees. The spot in question was at the southern end, nestled inside a circular valley that they deemed was the perfect spot to settle down. Just gotta clear out a few dozen trees and carve into the rock.

        The forest itself looked untouched, like nobody had lived within its green borders. Beneath the location- from the topdown perspective- was a river that soon turned into a waterfall that emptied into a canyon that was way too deep to scan. The waterfall crested over a sharp edge that gave a spectacular view of the forest for miles, leading all the way to the ocean.

        Not a bad place to establish a new home.

         

           Aboard the ship, Bran was looked at his bags, making sure he had everything. More than 100 years had passed, and anything he may’ve accidentally left behind was likely gone for good. no redos this time, and no replacements for any lost items. Lucky for Bran, he had everything he needed.

           “Toothbrush, check. Clothes, check. Books, check. My IGIX 4000 Gaming Console with 13000 classics installed, check check.” He grinned at that last one. That console was a spendy one. “At least I won’t get bored.”

           “Of course we won’t.” Daniel said as he dragged out his bags, filled to the brim with everything he could throw in, and tossed them onto a hover cart that was inches off the floor. The only thing missing was the kitchen sink. “It’s a new planet, and that means exploring! Who knows what we will find here? Maybe a special food that makes you full for a year or a miracle medicine or maybe--”

           “Or maybe you need to slow down before you short out again.” Bran droned. Dan shrugged before pulling out even more bags, much to Bran’s clear surprise. “And good grief, how much stuff did you bring?”

           “Just what I needed.”

           “And what was that, your entire room?!”

           “… Pretty much.”

           Bran breathlessly sighed as he pinched his eyes. “Oh geez…” He got up and headed on over to Daniel’s things. “Did you seriously bring everything?” He reached into one of the bags and pulled out a.... very naughty book about dragons. The cover alone was too much. “Good grief… really, dude?”

           Dan snatched it away from him. “Shuddup.” He swiftly buried it under his things.

           Bran reached into the same bag he pulled that book from and found dozens more dragon merch- posters, toys, even a couple of blankets. It was safe to say he was a dragon fanatic. “You indeed brought everything.” He peaked under a blanket and found every more naughty books. "....... and i do mean everything."

           Rather then try to explain it a normal way, he went another route. “Of course I did! I wasn’t gonna leave them all behind for some stranger to take. It wouldn’t be right.”

           Bran rolled his eyes and went back to his stuff. “Whatever you say, weirdo. Whatever you say.”

           Dan gave him a sour glare. He got up and headed to Bran’s own bags. “Are you saying that you didn’t bring everything? Because last I checked, you had a lot of strange things as well. Like this…” He reached in and pulled out a plastic sword- a Centurions Gladius, to be precise. “…you had this since we were kids. Why would you keep this?”

           “Sentimental value.” Bran said as he took it back and put it back with the other plastic swords in his collecton, ranging from katanas to broadswords to recreations from movies and television. “Besides, we don’t know what we will encounter on this planet. For all we know, there could be things that have a really bad aversion to plastic.”

           “What, like how Dreg’s are deathly allergic to water?”

           “Exactly.”

           “… you really expect to find a race that has that same reaction, but with plastic?”

           Bran closed his bags up and threw one of them over his shoulder. “You never know. Space is infinite. There has to be at least one race out there with this kind of weakness and I came prepared. Besides, if nothing else, they can be used as training tools.” He walked down the hallway towards the shuttle bay.

           “Right…” Dan went back to the cart and pushed it along. “As if we’re gonna need to know how to use a sword on this planet.”

 

           The local wildlife scattered when the first shuttlecraft made their descent from the Argo and to the clearing below. The Beetle Dropships, named such for their dexterity, were a hearty transport. They were designed to ferry troops into combat, but civilian models rolled out a couple centuries later. As is their name, they are heavily armored, able to withstand multiple flak rounds and RPG’s before getting a rupture.

           The design was really simple- it was a long rectangular box the size of a small house, with room to hold 70 people in the front section and room for 100 lbs of cargo in the back. The cockpit was at the top of a long pole that extended up from the middle of the rectangle. The pole covered a ladder that allowed the pilot and co-pilot to climb up and down. In the middle of the pole was a defense system- a single laser with a full 360 degree rotation. Not the best defense system, but it’s better than nothing.

           The Beetle touched down on the surface carried only security personnel and scientists. This may be a good landing site and potential colony base, but there could still be dangers around.

           The security detail disembarked first, weapons raised and ready to fire. They were lead by the chief of security, Arlye Toombes. He’s paranoid to the bone and has seen a few things that would break any normal man, but he is not normal. That’s because he’s not a man. He is an Argalith- a race of warriors from back in the Milky Way. Their appearance is what happens when a crocodile and a shark crossbred, at least that is the joke Humans make. The body has the strength and dexterity of the powerful lizard, not to mention the powerful long jaws, but they have the color, eyes, and scales of a shark, along with gills, and fins on the tail, hands, and back. But unlike the warrior races of fiction, who live for battle, Argaliths are not that. They are smart and are the sole creators of Artificial Intelligence. 

           The 15-foot tall powerhouse kept his head on a swivel, being on the lookout for any hostilities, of which there were none. He held his left hand up, signaling the all-clear. “All-clear!” He bellowed out. That was the scientists cue to disembark. “Everyone keep your guard up.” He ordered. “This is still a entirely new world and we’re just on a tiny sliver of it. No telling what is out there.”

           “You worry too much, Arlye.” One of the first scientists off said. She was Georgia Crox, one of the leading anthropologists back home with ancestry dating back to Africa. Here, she’s the leader of the expedition. She’s not only a scientist, but was also the mayor of a small city back on Tel 88. She had a good approval rating. As such, she had already been chosen as the leader of their new settlement.

           “And you worry too little, Crox.” Arlye warned as he heaved his massive gun onto his shoulder. To a ordinary human, it’s gigantic and impossible to hold, but to a Argalith, it’s a simple SMG. “Did we not detect that strange energy signature on the way down? There is no telling what is out there. This is an entirely unknown world and we should expect hostiles.”

           “While I agree that there may be dangerous wildlife out there, the probes did not detect any sort of civilization, hostile or otherwise, to worry about. But again, in terms of the wildlife, we’ll be fine as long as we get the defenses up.”

           “Speaking of which…” Arlye looked around, observing the clearing in its fullest. “The trees don’t offer a lot of observational tactics, and these mountains are way too tall to provide early alerts. If we’re attacked, it’ll mostly all be a surprise attack from that way." He pointed towards the opening to this little circular valley they landed in. If enemies came at them from the north and east, they would have trouble due to lack of early-warning observations. South and west, on the other hand- given that it opens up into the forest that leads to a beach, they should be fine. "Other than that… it appears this place would be a good location to set down the Pre-Fabs.”

           “I couldn’t agree more.” Crox brought out a tablet and used it to create a holographic projection of the surrounding area. “For now, we’ll put defensive turrets here, here, and here.” Red dots appeared on the clearing map. “We’ll put them on stun. Again, we’re brand new to this planet- we don’t want to cause major trouble.”

           “If there are any civilizations that care about us harming the wildlife.” Arlye passive-aggressively said. "Which i doubt. The scanners didn't pick up anything."

        "That's because they are down, sir." One of the guards said. "I overheard the captain talking to Heilm- seems one of the rocks from the ring hit the sensor dish. It won't work until its fixed."

        "Wonderful....." Arlye grumbled under his breath. 

           “And the Pre-Fabs… will go here.” She manipulated the holograms of the Prefabricated Buildings that were created long before they left on this one way trip.

           The home modules were are all 2 bedroom, one bathroom, a basic kitchen, and a family room, and shared the same rectangular design. both internal and external. Internally, the bedrooms were to the side of a small hallway that lead into the kitchen, which shared the same space with the family room. Anything new that would be added in would have to come from the families chosen to live in them, such as outdoor ways of knowing which ones were yours.

           They didn't come with only housing units to this planet; they had other Pre-Fabs to bring down. One was for a security center, filled with electronic surveillance and defensive weaponry. Another was where the leader of the colony would sleep and serve as their city hall, of sorts. It was the fanciest out of them, if fancy here means the only thing different is a posh bed and a mayoral desk. The third are basic storage units, meant to hold freeze-dried food or weaponry and can be converted into jail cells if needed. The last one was the medical center, where those sick or injured would heal; it also doubles as a science center, and as it is the most important building at their disposal, it was also the tallest, coming in at 50 feet tall. 

           As a neat little bonus, the Pre-Fabs could be connected and stacked like building blocks. Perfect for saving space.

           One of the security personnel came up and saluted. “Perimeter secured, sir. So far, no creatures have been seen.”

           “They must’ve run when we landed then.” Arlye said as he put his gun on his back. It attached to magnets in the armor.

           “Wouldn’t you if a strange flying machine suddenly appeared?” Crox commented as she walked by.

           “If I was a stupid animal, yes.” Arlye said. Crox went to a nearby rock and sat down on it. She looked at the tablet again and moved some Pre-Fabs around to make use of the space they have. Considering how many people were on this trip, the colony was already going to need to get big, with a lot of trees needing to be cut down. The aquatic species of the trip will be happy- the trek to the water is only 10 minutes, by her calculations. 

        “Are we sure there are no other peoples on this planet?" A third guard spoke up. "With all this greenery, it would make sense for there to be, wouldn’t it?”

           Crox shrugged as she looked around the available clearing. The first Pre-Fab- the security center and main operations hub- was being set down on the forest floor. “If there are anyone out there, let's hope that they are peaceful. We don’t have the the manpower to go to war over land and recourses. If there are any, we need to approach the situation diplomatically, not with shouting and bigger sticks.” She glared at Arlye, who felt insulted that she would even suggest such a thing.

           Arlye crossed his arms, feeling that that comment was directed right at him. “I’m not that stupid. I don't fire bli--" He could feel them judging him. "It was one time and you all know it was an accident." Whatever he says, some thought. "Besides, the Scout hasn’t reported seeing anything that would categorize civilized life.”

           "A lot of things can happen in 130 years, Arlye." Georgia got up from the walk and lightly tapped him on the arm with the tablet. "A lot of things can happen." She looked up towards the sky. "Now let's get to building. We got a lot of people up there ready to come down." Pulling out her phone, she pulled up the standard colony establishment procedures on establishing a new colony on a new world. Can't be that different if the planet is in another galaxy. "Ok, we should bring down the key personnel for colony establishment first; those would be botanists to find what is or isn't poisonous, geologists to determine suitable ground for farming, tech specialists for the power grid, and the security personnel to protect them. Oh, and doctors and medics for obvious reasons."

        "That's gonna tick a lot of people off." Arlye commented. "They really want off that ship."

        "I know. But we gotta do this by the book, or else it'll be bedlam when the reserves run out and we don't have any food."

 

        Back up on the Argo, all of the passengers and crew were prepared to depart for the new world below. They have been cooped up on this ship for a century- they need to feel gravity once more and stretch their legs or else turn into blobs, but there was an order to this. They watched as those critical to the colony left for the surface, to begin colonial construction; they knew they had to wait their turn. While Bran's family has important members, they weren't that important to the colony. At least, not during the initial establishment phase- their works come later, for developing the minds of future generations.

        Bran's father Leopold, or Leo for short, was a teacher back on Vega and is going to be one here while his mother, Vivian, was a genealogist; which is the study of family lineages and legacies, and also doubles as a behaviorist, someone who studies how people behave and act.

        “This is so exciting.” The stout and puggie Vivian giggled. “We’re about to touch down on another world. We’re gonna live on another world. Who knows what we will find?”

           “As long as it’s better than Vega, I’ll be happy.” The wrinkled and slouched Leo commented. “That place was a cesspool.”

           “…. Yeah, ok, I won’t deny that. The acid rain was particularly bad and i'm glad to be away from those awful Delvegos. But this place is different. We got actual forests and blue oceans and actual creatures. Hopefully. I just want this to be a better place for Bran to grow up in. Vega was terrible.”

           “With all that nature around, it will be. It will be..." Watching one of the Beetle dropships depart- this one carrying a portable defense turret-, Leo had a thought. "Do... you think they have enough vomit bags? Cause i don't think Bran will be able to hold it in during the descent."

        "Oh, right..." Vivian exhaled. "He always did have a weak stomach for things like that."

          “Only when it comes to motion sickness.” He softly chuckled to himself, regaining her attention. ”You remember what he was like on that pirate ship ride at Star Land back on Coulon?”

          Vivian moaned a laugh as she held her hand to her forehead, remembering that day quite vividly. It's not every day someone makes a basket with their lunch. “Hehe… yeah. We had to tell the usher it was soup someone smuggled in. He didn’t buy it for a second.” She lightly laughed to herself, and he laughed along too. She finished with a happy sigh, leaning on him. “You think it’s still around?”

          “The planet or the park?”

          “Both.”

          “Mmm… Maybe. It’s only been a century, so I bet the planet is still around. But as for the park... amusement parks don’t last forever. It’s never long before they close down and become ghost towns for wild animals to call home and inspire some creepy horror movie like ‘Beware the demon clowns.’" The mention of that made Vivian tense up. "Hehe… classic flick.”

          Vivian scowled and scoffed as she clutched him real tight, but not in a loving way and more in a painful 'you're going to rip my arm off' kinda way. She hated that movie- made her scared of clowns for life. “If someone brought that horrid movie, I’m gonna blast it back to the Milky Way.”

        "We have a digital library, mom." Bran said as he turned on his phone for the first time in a century. It felt like it was that long too with how long it was taking to boot up. "It definitely came with us, probably buried deep in the 'camp' section of the library." There is no section like that in the digital library.

        "Great...." She looked out the window again. "So how long until we leave? I'm getting antsy."

        "We're not on the first wave, darling. Our jobs are important enough for that. Once they get the basic stuff set up, then the three of us and every other civilian here will go down too."

        "And what's the basic stuff?"
        
        "I dunno- turrets?"

        Bran silently sighed to himself, slowly shaking his head. 

 

 

        The power hummed to life in the Pre-Fab that was the security/command center; each one comes with a built-in generator, so they don't need to worry about power, and if the generator ever goes out, it can be easily configured into solar power, hydro, wind, or thermal. In the middle was a holographic table that could display any and all sorts of information that you can imagine. Screens hung off the walls and server boxes, and they turned on, displaying the names of everyone in this colony, information about the surrounding area, and status of the power grid, among many other other things. There were also several tables and chairs for discussions or breaks. 

        Eventually, a larger generator was going to be installed and the entire colony would get their power from that, leaving the built-in's as backups in case of blackouts which are really rare, but better safe then sorry. Colonial-grade generators are powerful and sturdy, capable of lasting a good 460 years on average. Even if everything electric was going at once, it would still last a solid few centuries. Benefits of a jointly-created uber-engine.

           As everything was getting set up and consoles were turning on, one of the security guards under Arlye's command asked aloud: "So, this planet isn't supposed to have acid rain, right?" Several other guards and a scientist looked at each other. The answer was obvious; why is he asking the question? 

        ".... nnnno. It doesn't." The scientist- one of the Hesk, commented. "The water here is fresh- no forever chemicals like back on Vega."

        "That's good." The guard commented. "Cause that crap sucked." ... of course it sucked- it was one of the many reasons they left home in the first place.

        The scientist was a member of the Healuesky, or Hesk for short; a race of sentient cephalopods that use telekinesis to manipulate a bubble of water around it so that it can 'float' around in atmosphere and interact with the world outside of the ocean. Due to their striking resemblance to cephalopods of Earth, they are also known by the nickname 'squids'; derogatory to some members of the race, but all depends who you ask. Pacifistic and scientific by nature, they had garnered a reputation as being the galaxy's healers as their medical technology was second to none. They have other tech, sure, but being doctors is what they are known for.

        “It’s gonna take a few days for it to update to the new planet.” Crox commented as she entered with a tablet in one hand and a bottle of mineral water in the other. She sat down in a chair and placed the tablet on the table beside her. On it were the names of every colonist, as well as the potential layout for the colony Arlye drew up. “A planet we still need to name.”

           The same guard picked up the tablet and looked at it. It had no potential names, so it’s all a moot square one. “Why not just name it after the star, Altair?”

           “Bit on the nose... but I’ll put it on the list of potential names anyway.”

           “There’s a list?” He asked unbelieving.

           “Eh, Not really.”
 
        “Things are coming along nicely out there.” Another guard with a thick Jordanian accent said as he entered with four others, carrying with them bags and dragging behind them hover boxes. “My best guesstimate, initial setup and all the colonists will be off the Argo by sunset. Whenever it does set.”

           Crox pressed some buttons, bringing up the time: it was 8:33 A.M., but with the sun directly overhead, it doesn’t sound right. “Based on the suns position, we're at noon. We don't know how long days last here, so we're gonna have to time it.” She pressed a button, setting it to zero. “We’ll handle it tomorrow, along with finding out more trivial things.”

           “Like what?”

           “Which way is north and things like that. For now--”

           “For now, we focus on shoring up.” Arlye interrupted as he entered. The guards all went stiff as they saluted. He rolled his eyes at that before walking in- this is an annoying human habit he never really understood and doesn’t like. “We gotta get the colony settled and find a place to start a farm, because we can’t live on that freeze-dried stuff forever, and i counted- we've only got a three year supply. And that's on top of figuring out the weather cycle on this planet. Outside, it feels like spring, but that could all potentially change in a heartbeat. For all we know, spring leads into winter."

        "Where were ya?" Crox asked.

        "Some preliminary scouting. And to see if i could find where that energy signature came from. No dice." She figured that's what he did, and that that would also be the result. Sometimes, flareups are just flareups. He pulled out one of the data drives from the dropship that brought him down and stuck it into the holo-table, activating it and revealing their surroundings. "We landed in a clearing on what we assume is the southern-most part of a localized mountain range, surrounded by traversable slopes, with the eastern side extending outwards more then the west. This circular area we're in has approximately a radius of 3 Tardi." One of the human guards tilted his head. "5 miles or 8 kilometers for you humans." With another press of a button, the bottom part turned green. "To our south is a coastline; it's about a 30 minute hike there through a dense forest, but i think we can clear a footpath. But the main issue is the forest; we don't know what predators could be lurking in there."

        "Why not just use the data from the Scout probe?" A third security guard asked. "That's what they were made for, right? To scout and investigate? And it's been here for a really long time, so it must have all that data we can use for the weather and the wildlife."

        "Yes, you are correct; the data from the Scout would eliminate all the guess work and allow us to move on to more important tasks. The issue is finding it." By that, she means that once a Scout probe had finished... well, Scouting, they burrow into the ground and shuts down save for a locator beacon, becoming one with the nature until it is found. "Thing is, we can't find it." She held up the tablet that had a location map with painted on it with a radar needle spinning around. There should be a ping every time the needle passes over the Scout. Nothing. "The locator beacon must be malfunctioning if it's not showing up. You know what that means."

        "Digging................ great..." Arlye chuckled to himself. "and me without my industrial sized garden hoe."

        Crox rolled her eyes and moved on to more important things to do today. "What you can do is start passing out tents. Until all the Pre-Fabs are offloaded, everyone's gonna be camping."

        "We're not offloading them all?" The Hesk scientist asked.

        "It's possible to do them all in a single day." Arlye shrugged. "But we don't know how long a day is here, and the sun's position suggests its noon. Unless this IS winter and we're on a region of the world where its light for the entire duration." Oh lords this is gonna be like a endless summer in Alaska, some of the humans from Earth thought thought.

        "We can change around the order of which they're offloaded." Crox said. "I don't need my office right this minute, and a small amount of the Pre-Fabs are just vehicle bays and empty storage units. If we can save those for later, could we get all the habitation units offloaded?"

        "Hmm.... more then likely. We don't need any sheds or bays at this moment in time..." He grabbed the tablet and switched it back to the planned layout. "... and there's no way it'll mess up the placements of everything, so, yeah, we could. But in order to get them all down, we'd have to move back a lot of equipment from their timetable, like long-range communication arrays and the Large Generator. And assuming we only have just a few hours to nightfall, we'd only be able to get one of the freezers down."

        "I don't think food is going to be a problem." Crox replied. "That concoction they put in us for Cryo-sleep prevents hunger for a day after awakening, right?" That it does. "So i don't think anyone is going to be hungry by nightfall."

        "Very well. I'll send the revised orders to the pilots and the drones. I'll put the Hesk pool at the top of the list- the squid's can't hold those bubbles long periods of time."

        "Can confirm." The scientist said.

        "Oh, and Arlye, at some point you'll need to set Arline up. We'll need her to run the systems once everything is operational."

        "I am well aware of that and it's on my to-do list, but that's still a ways off. Right now, the Beatles entering the atmosphere are carrying our defense cannons and the long-range communications array; that one we'll need to find a tall spot for. Shouldn't be that hard with so many mountains and mesas about. The problem is--"

        "--Going to be the rings up in orbit." Crox concluded, referring to the overlapping pair of rings that circle the planet in a large X orbit. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Right now, let's focus on getting the turrets set up, everyone settled in, and relaxing; we spent decades asleep and we need the wake-up juice."
    
        "Wake-up juice... un-hun."

           “The difficult part is gonna be building the dang thing.” An electrician said as he looked over the schematics with such confusion. “Whoever packed it in pieces and put the instruction booklet in Heakalies was an idiot.” That prompted a few facepalms from the lot of them.

 

         The long-range array is as it sounds: A long-range communications transmitter designed to communicate with other systems. In the grand scheme of an entire galaxy, even one as small as Messier 32, the range is pretty lackluster, being able to reach systems within 40 light years. According to astrological data gathered during their approach, there are at least four neighboring systems nearby- the furthest being 38 light years and the nearest at 6 light years. If there are advanced alien races out there, it doesn’t hurt to try and make contact, and if they are friendly, they could set up a trade agreement.

           And the Argo wasn’t the only colony ship heading to Messier 32. If they are lucky, they could try and contact other colonists out there. But the odds of either option coming true are astrological. Small as the satellite is compared to its neighbor Andromeda, Messier 32 is still 110,000 Light-years across. To make matters tougher, there is a supermassive black hole in the core. Thankfully, they were nowhere near it.

        But that was going to have to be delayed for a day.

           With the new orders to prioritize the transport of the colonists down to the planet before the buildings, a lot of befuddled pilots replaced the claws used to carry the pre-fabs with the transport pod.

        The Beetles that already had transport pods descended down from the ship and though the clouds, heading towards the new colony far below. Most of the colonists went to the windows on the side to see the new world they are going to call home. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was already amazing. They had made it- they had traveled from the Milky Way to Messier 32 with seemingly no fuss. No one was dead and the ship was in good shape. As for as travels to a new world goes, this was uneventful, which was a good thing. Don’t want to run into black holes or asteroid fields.

           The Beetle carrying Bran and his family landed at the outskirts of the rapidly growing colony. This area was one of several selected to drop off the colonists. Once it touched down, the ramp descended and the 50 some-odd colonists made their way down onto the new ground they would be calling home.

          Bran sat in the back corner, tossing up his lunch. The colony ship had enough inertia dampeners to make it not so shaky and rocky. Beetles were not so fortunate. They don’t have such powerful dampeners. As a result, if you had motion sickness… you were gonna vomit. And Bran was vomiting. He had a vomit bag with him so he wouldn’t spread it all over the ship, but it wouldn't be long until he filled it.

        "Bran." He heard his father call out. "Bran, come along, we've landed." He said as he and his wife descended down the ramp. 

           Bran straggled behind, still suffering from a case of motion sickness. The turbulence on the flight down did a number on his poor stomach. He held his mouth as he slowly made his way down the ramp, making sure he doesn’t chuck all over the place. Reaching the bottom, he looked up from his stagger and his mouth dropped from the beauty he was seeing.

           He had never seen so much blue and green in his life. He took in a deep breath, inhaling the first fresh air he had smelled since ever as a soft breeze washed over him. Back in the Milky Way, Vega was known for it being one of the most polluted planets in the Galaxy. You had to wear special oxygen masks just to go out and get a gallon of milk. This… this is the opposite of Vega- so lush and full of life waiting to be discovered.

           “Hey kid!” the co-pilot from the Beetle called out. “You mind getting off the ramp?”

           “Oops.” Bran jumped off the ramp. It extended back up into the transport as it lifted up. Once above the tree line, it turned and headed back towards the Argo.

           Bran took his time as he took in the new sights and sounds of the planet they were going to call home. He took off his shoes and ran his toes though the grass and dirt. It felt rough, course, and muddy, and he loved it. It was infinitely better then the crap back on Vega. After a few minutes, he put his shoes back on, picked up his bags, and ran to catch up with his parents.

         

           Within several hours, the colony was already coming along quite well. Two of the 3 defense turrets were already established and four of the Pre-Fabs, the important ones- science and medical and what-not- were already on the ground and set up, along with the Hesk habitat, which is easily the tallest building here at close to 200 feet tall. The storage sheds for food and what-not were being put together the old fashioned way. Now, it's time to bring down all the habitation pre-fabs. If they go non-stop with no breaks, it should be done by nightfall. That's gonna be rough.

           As the day went on, more and more colonists were dropped off at the location. The Argo was mostly empty of both at this point, so it wouldn’t be long before all were off the ship and on their new home. Soon, the pilots can start bringing down the remaining Pre-fabs.

           Waiting for his and his parents Pre-Fab to be dropped off, Bran wandered around the rim of the forest, taking in the many sites and sounds and smells. He could hear birds singing- at least he thinks they are birds- and felt a breeze slip though the leaves. This planet looks remarkably similar to Earth, at least what they were shown in old recordings and in history books. Now it’s a lifeless brown ball, but way back when, it looked like this.

           Within the treeline, he saw a animal slowly make its way though. It looked like a deer, but with 8 legs, a hump, and antlers as tall as the trees themselves. He sat down on a strange lump in the ground and pulled out a old leather journal that had been passed down in his family and a pencil and began sketching what he was seeing.

           The journal had been passed down from a ancestor on his mother’s side, who lived during the Wild West era of North America- he was in Jesse James’ posse. The journal had been preserved extensively over the millennia, eventually reaching him. The pages were replaced and the journal itself was now laminated to keep it from corroding, but the fact it still exists after so long is amazing.

           Back to the animal. It looked nothing like a Earth deer, but it moved with such majesty and grace, completely ignoring him and eating the grass. Bran sketched it with skill and precision, catching all the details of its look as he can. He also drew the forest around it and whatever sunlight was peeking though the foliage.

            As it went on, his drawing became more and more like a black and beige photo. It was so realistic; it looked like it was going to jump off the pages.

           “Not a bad looking drawing.” Someone said behind him. Bran nearly jumped out of his skin, dropping both journal and pencil, fearing there was a monster behind him, but luckily, it was just one of the security personnel- another Argalith, though smaller then Arlye. “You do that all by yourself?”

           “Un, yeah.” Bran said. He picked up the pencil and book and opened it back up to where he had it. “I’m self-taught.”

           “Wow. Not bad for a self taught kid.” He took a step forward to take a look, stepping on a twig and cracking it. The noise startled the deer and it ran off, much to Bran’s protest. “Whoops.” The guard went.

           Bran got up but it was already long gone. “Nononononono… awe, man…”

           “Sorry about that, but it was for the best.” Bran looked back and gave him a stare. “Arlye’s orders- nobody is to go into the forest until everything has been set up and it has been scouted. It’s for the safety of the colonists. You don’t want to be eaten by some random predator, do you?”

           Bran grumbled as he put his journal away. “I guess.” He said under his breath.

           “Good. Now come on.”

           Bran sighed as he got up- he was so close to finishing that sketch, too. “Fine.” He got up. “My butt has been killing me since I sat down.” He and the guard looked down at the rock and saw that it wasn’t a rock- it was metal with sharp points. “The heck? It’s metal?”

        The Argalith guard crossed his arms and slacked his jaw a ways. "Well, i'll be a monkey's uncle..."

 

           Moments later, Crox was looking at an update at to the construction of the new colony. It was coming along swimmingly. She was waiting for her Pre-Fab to arrive so she could go and get settled. The door to the security center opened up and the Scout was lifted in by the Argalith guard, several other guards, and Bran himself. They dropped it off on a table, panting heavily after lugging that large thing in. 

           Scouts are spherical robots as big as a dog and shaped like eyeballs with eyelids, with the ‘eyelashes’ serving as transceivers and point defense lasers, with the longer ones having small mechanical arms inside. They are designed to… well, it’s in the name. They are launched onto new worlds to assess the planet- is the atmosphere breathable, is gravity within living standards, is water drinkable, etc, etc, etc. This planet passed with flying colors. When a Scout is done scouting, they burrow into the earth and hide, passing off as a strange rock until it can be retrieved. 

           Crox put down the report and walked on over to it. “You found it!” She exclaimed. The guards and Bran were panting heavily, most had their hands on their knees. “Where was it and how did you find it, mr…?!”

           The Argalith stood up straight and stopped panting, even though he was still exhausted. “Private Coletan, ma’am. And it wasn’t me who found it. It was this kid.” He looked over to Bran, who had sat down in a chair without permission.

           “You found it?” Crox asked him.

           Bran felt like he was put on the spot, which he kinda was since the elected mayor of the new colony was looking right at her. “Un, yes, ma’am. I was out wandering to try and stave off my boredom when I saw this strange deer- a lot of legs and antlers as tall as the trees.” He pulled out his journal and flipped to the page he sketched it down in before handing it to her. “I sat down to sketch. After the big guy here came by and told me to stay in the perimeter, we saw that I sat down on this thing. Hurt like hell, too- I think one of the lashes poked through the skin of my butt.”

           Most of what he was saying was going in one ear and out the other as she flipped though his journal. There were more drawings in here then of the deer- there was the Argo, a couple of Adlez scavengers at work, a sword in a case at a museum, and that’s just scratching the surface. “These are all really good drawings. Who taught you?”

           Nervous and flustered, he fidgeted with his fingers. “Un, self-taught, actually. I started drawing when I, un, was in kindergarten and, un, I just never stopped. Un, that journal is actually a, un, family heirloom. It, un, belonged to a ancestor of mine who, un, ran in Jesse James’ gang.”

           Crox softly chuckled at his uneasiness. He must do terrible around higher-ups or when put on the spot with everyone looking at him, she thought. She closed the book and gave it back to him. “Amazed it survived 4000 years.”

           “You and me both.” He tapped his fingers on the laminated cover. “I’m, un… gonna go now…” He backed out the door and awkwardly walked away.

           “Well, he’s a bundle of nerves.” One of the guards commented.

           Another guard said, “He is a kid talking to who is essentially the queen of the colony, so it's not that surprising.”

           Crox turned back towards the Scout and walked over to it. “Alright, someone go get me one of the eggheads so he can crack this thing open and extract what’s inside.” One of the guards nodded before heading out to find one. This was going to eliminate a LOT of guesswork now.

 

           The day slowly moved along, eventually giving way to night. Florescent lights illuminated the now completed colony. All the Pre-Fabs and Colonists had been brought down and everything had been set up. The Pre-Fabs have been strategically positioned to provide the maximum safety for those who live here. From a distance, it resembled a castle- a castle that can come apart at will. The Argo had entered a stable orbit and the personnel took the last Beetle down to the planet to set up. The rest of the buildings, they'll bring down tomorrow. There was only one thing left to do now: CELEBRATE!!

           The good stuff was brought out as the colonists cheered their arrival to the new world. All the buildings were lit and there was music playing over loudspeakers thanks to one of the crew members. It took them 100 years, but they are now finally here on a lush new world for them to call home. They earned it.

           Bran wandered on the outskirts of the celebration, eating a piece of bread as he wandered around. He kept to himself as he watched everyone drink and have a good time. Most of them he doesn’t remember or know, but he knows they’re all from Vega- everyone here was from that garbage ball of a planet. It was mostly humans, around 98 percent, but there were some Argalith’s and some Kitsune’s, fair and immortal humanoid’s with the ears and tail of a fox that have been described as the Galaxy’s elves, some Adlez’, opportunistic scavengers who are really ugly but sublime when it comes to technology, and some Hesk. Since the last race lived in water, using their telepathy to create a constant ball for them to float in, a special Pre-Fab was packed for them to live in, filled to the brim with water.

           The colony was put up in a way that would take advantage of everyone’s strengths and weaknesses. The Argaliths and Kitsunes, being the most powerful and durable, had their Pre-Fab homes placed in a rough circle around the rest, with space in between for the defensive turrets. The lone Hesk Pre-Fab was put in the dead center, since they are the weakest of them all. The Adlez was stuck within the human ones- other than being horrid to look at, they share similar biological processes with humans.

           As for the humans, most of theirs were stacked up on top of the other, with stairs connecting each one. There are a total of 7 stacks- the smallest stack is at 2 and the tallest stack was 9 Pre-Fabs high- converted, that would be around 144 feet. In the spaces that remained were storage sheds with freeze-dried food and plots of land that have been selected to become farmland. There is some room left over for the more fun things, but they will have to come later.

           Out of all 1462 colonists, 88 of them were Argalith, another 88 were Kitsune, 142 were Hesk, and 38 were Adlez. The remaining 1106 are human. And they are all fitting into this area that would be large enough to fit a small town, and they made it work. They fit all the Pre-Fabs in and have enough room left over for at least a dozen more and still have enough for many things they can’t think of right now because they are celebrating.

           Bran continued eating his piece of bread, leaning on the side of one of the storage sheds and keeping his distance from the crowds. He hates crowds.

           “We did it!”

           Dan appeared out of nowhere and hugged him around his throat, causing him to choke. “Bran, we did it! We made it and it is glorious!” He jumped up and fist-pumped.

           Bran continuously tapped him on the arm. “Yeah… super… Let me go!” He pushed him off and took a few deep breaths.

           Dan danced away with a huge grin on his face. “Heh. Sorry, but look at us, we made it to another planet in another galaxy! How can you not be excited?!” He spread his arms out and spun around.

           “I am excited. I just ran out of excitedness back on the ship.”

           Dan stopped spinning and gave him a scowl. “That’s not even a word.”

           “And yet, it’s still true. I ran out of excitement on the ship.”

           Dan rolled his eyes at that. That was such a big fat lie. “Wow, dude. That is a load of bull.” Bran just shrugged before sitting down on a crate and biting into his bread. “You get bummed so easily, you know that?”

           “I am well aware of that, yes.”

           The celebration was cut short, however, when Crox took to the center stage, which was just another Pre-Fab from the rooftops, and clapped her hands into the microphone, catching everyone’s attention with unexpected and terrible feedback. “Yeow… that hurt…” She rubbed her ears before clearing her throat and addressing all her fellow colonists.

           “Ahem. Friends and comrades, it has been 100 years since we departed from the Milky Way, to set out into the vast unknown that is the universe and colonize a new world so that our races may yet survive, and with this planet, we most certainly will. Thanks to the piloting skills of my husband Belfast…” The captain of the ship, a Kitsune with orange hair, walked up beside her and took a bow. “…we have made it to this: our new home. This is a victory to all of us! Celebrate and enjoy the years to come.” The crowd cheered loudly, raising glasses and food in gusto.

           “Now… that said, there are still tasks we must complete before we can truly call this world home, such as finding a water supply and discovering what flora and fauna exist, among many other things, but we can start those tomorrow, but I know that together, we can get it done in record time. Tonight, however, we can start one task: the naming of our new home, this small town we will build as well as the planet on which we now live. Think your name over and sleep on it and then bring it to me tomorrow. Afterwards, we shall vote on it.”

           The colonists were already at work, trying to come up with good names. They had to come up with two, for their colony and for the planet. The next day was going to bring some interesting ones out, but only one was gonna ring true.

           Belfast walked forward and took the microphone from her for a moment. “If I can have everyone’s attention avert to the sky, there is something you should see- something me and my crew witnessed as we came to this world. You all should enjoy it too- it’ll be our night sky for the foreseeable future.” He nodded to one of the guards. He nodded back and turned off the generator for the next few minutes, shutting off the lights and turning off the music.

           What they saw up above was nothing short of heavenly. They could dream of it, but to witness something like it first hand is… it’s sublime. The stars sparkled and danced in the skies above them in a dazzling display of light, coupled with the majesty and mystique that is the Andromeda Galaxy, all in its disk-shaped glory, and the planet’s own trio of moons circling above like gentle giants coupled with the rings. They felt so small compared to the grandiose majesty above, and yet, they couldn’t look away.

           It was a dazzling painting come painted by a grand master of the art come to life, and now, they lived under it. Bran’s eyes lit up as he looked at the heavenly display. He instinctively pulled out his journal and his pencil and began sketching away.

4: Chapter 3: The Girl with the Scale

Chapter 3

The Girl with the Scale

2/7/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

          Sokuro giggled giddily to herself as she smiled widely, doing a little happy dance as she walked: she finally got one- after all these years, she finally got a scale- a special, one-of-a-kind, magic scale. She was one with the planet now, harnessing the energy that courses though it to become a Aerid, a highly sacred honor among the Ferids. And to top it all off, she was a Silver Aerid. Silver! That is the rarest form out of all of them and she is one of them. Legend says that if a Silver Aerid appears, a great change will follow every time. Thing is, it's a flip of the coin: it could be a good change or a bad change. She’s hoping to bring about good change, obviously, but what that would be, it's anyone's guess.

          But that was not even remotely near the front of her mind. She was still celebrating getting her new scale.

          “Hehehehehehehehehe…” She could barely contain her excitement as she walked down the path back to the orphanage with her brother and the other orphans. The rest of the adults were busy getting the village ready for the Ascension Festival tonight, to celebrate the new Aerids that had come. She needed to do something to release it. “?I have a scale! Scale scale scale. I have my own special scale!?” She jumped onto the nearest gaslight pole and swung around it. “?Greatest day eveeeeeeeeeeeeeeer!?”

          “Someone sure is happy.” Vela commented with a laugh. Vela was the son of Hela, headmistress of the orphanage, making him the only non-orphan living in the house; with his scales having a brown color scheme to them with a cloud-white overlay.

          Sokuro pushed herself off the pole and landed with ease and slid on her knees towards him. “Ooooof course I aaaaaaaaamm♥!!" She bounced up and shoved up against him from the momentum. "How could I not be?! Do you know how amazing this is? I am a Aerid now! A honest to goodness Aerid!! Woohoo!!!”

          “Wow.” Buron said with a laugh. She was a Gaharot like Vela- her scales were a dark red; lipstick red, to be precise- with a reddish brown overlay. But like the others, though, she was an orphan. “I have never seen you this excited before.”

          “Nor will you ever because I GOT MY OWN SCALE!!! HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” She pushed off and danced around, her excitement bursting out of her uncontrollably.

          “Save some of it for the festival tonight.” Zelet said. Yet another Gaharot among them, this one more green in his color scheme. “You don’t want to tucker yourself out before the party, do you?”

          Sokuro tried to calm herself down, but she couldn’t. “I know, but I just cannot help myself. This is the greatest day of my life!!” She kissed the scale with a full peck of lips and spun around like a ballerina, holding it over her.

          “Is she ever gonna calm down?” Eriod wondered. She was a Ferid like Sokuro, but was two years away from getting a scale of her own- Sokuro is the first Ferid among the orphans to get her scale, and you could bet she was going to lord it over them. Eriod had blue hair, which went perfectly with her blue, fish-like tale.

          “I don’t think so.” Vela commented as they watched her dance around. “Poor thing is gonna poop herself out long before the festival tonight.”

          “I don’t understand why she’s so excited.” Vaset said. She’s the last Gaharot among them. Her scales all have a pinkish-vibe to them and she’s a bit of a snob. “So she can turn into a Aerid on a whim now- so what?”

          She was patted on the back by Eriod. “You wouldn’t understand. It’s a Ferid thing.” She said with a smug grin.

          “And something you won’t get for another cycle or two.” Vaset brutally mumbled back.

          That grin immediately faded as she looked at her with lidded eyes. “You are just a reeeeeeeeal party pooper, you know that Vaset?” Sparks shot between them.

          “oooooooooook…” Vela got in the middle of this, preventing an explosion between the two. “Go to your corners before you end up destroying someone’s wall. Again!” Sokuro skipped on by him, still as happy as a clam, completely unawares of the little fight. Vela rolled his eyes- now this has gone on long enough to become irritating. He yanked the scale out of her hands, making her stop.

          “Hey!” She exclaimed. She rushed to claim it back, but Vela kept her at bay with her left leg; the benefits of a perfect balance.

          He took a gander at it. “Doesn’t seem all that interesting. It looks like any other scale you’d see on another Aerid, or even a Cavelta Fish.”

          Sokuro tickled him underneath his leg, making him laugh and lose his composure. She used that to get her scale back. “No takesies!” She exclaimed angrily. She looked down at her scale. “It’s mine. It’s special.”

          “Specials putting it mildly.” Set said. She was a Ferid girl who was 3 years away from claiming her own scale. She has red hair and a big black tail. “I mean, you are a Silver Aerid, Sokuro. Silver! Do you know how important that is? It’s world changing!”

          Sokuro’s response was unexpected for someone who just had all that weight slapped on their shoulders as she gave Set a gigantic grin that encapsulated most of her face. “I know! Isn’t it exciting!?” She began to ponder long and hard what it would be. If this were a cartoon, a thought bubble would be appearing above her head. “Maybe I’ll discover a long lost civilization or prevent a falling star from hitting our village. OH OH OH!! Maybe I’ll stop a war!”

          “She’s certainly not wanting for an imagination.” Aka, Set’s perfect identical twin sister, said.

          “I’d call it delusions of grandeur.” Set muttered in her reply.

          After letting Sokuro have her little moment, they returned back to their home, the two-story lodge that was located on the edge of the village, half-nestled underneath a outcropping. It wasn’t much to look at, and it got cold during the freezing months, but it’s the only home they know and one they would never trade.

          Sokuro was the first one to enter, eager as a busy bee. She ran to the nearest chair and leaped onto it, skidding into the nearest bookshelf. “This is so amazing!” She laughed, kicking her legs like a toddler on a sugar high.

          “We know!!” Everyone exclaimed, having now gotten tired of hearing her never ending enthusiasm. They separated to go do their separate things: Vela went to the dining table to get a snack while the other Gaharots and Ferids went to the beanbag chairs near the fireplace to take a load off.

          Calming down a tad, Sokuro thought about what she would turn the scale into. Velx said that they can do whatever they want with it, so long as it stayed on their body at all times. The possibilities were endless: a necklace? Or maybe even a bracelet? Or maybe turn it into a cool visor? “Squeeeeeehehehehehehehehe…” She giggled loudly as she kicked her feet again.

          Vela went to the dining table and grabbed a piece of fruit when he saw that there was a package on it. It was made out of Iki leather and rope, and that stuff is not cheap, especially on the mainland. “Huh?” He picked it up and looked for a label. Finding it, it read it was addressed to Sokuro and Taled. “Hey, Sokuro. Taled.” He turned around to show it to them. “You got a package.”

          “A package?” Taled asked, getting up from the beanbag. “From who?”

          Vela shrugged. “Doesn’t say.”

          Sokuro yanked it out of Vela’s claws and took a gander at it. “Huh. Maybe it’s Headmaster Hela, congratulating me for my Ascension.”

          “Then why would it be labeled to me as well?” Taled asked.

          Sokuro looked back at the package and wonder why; that was a good question with only one answer. “Only one way to find out.” She stuck her scale in her mouth and bit down gently to keep it from dropping, and opened up the package carefully with her brother. Iki leather is very valuable- they could get a lot taking this in for trade. Once it was done, Sokuro spit the scale out of her mouth and into a free hand as she and her little brother looked at the contents. There were two items, again wrapped in Iki leather, along with a letter.

          “A letter?” She asked herself. Taled decided to handle the packages himself, climbing up onto a chair while she tended to the letter. She opened it up and read it aloud.

          “Our darling children, we set aside these gifts for when you would become come of age and become Aerids. These are heirlooms passed down in our family for generations, found over the eons. Their value his priceless, as is the love we have. We love you with all our hearts and pray you have a brighter tomorrow with this new gift you have been granted, our darling Sokuro and brilliant Taled.

          Love, Mom and Dad.”

          Shedding a single tear, Sokuro silently whimpered, making sure nobody heard. She reached up and clutched her mother’s burnt locket. “Mom… Dad…” Taled was crying as well, mostly because he never got to know them.

          “Whatever did happen to your parents?” Leoi asked. He’s the last Ferid among them and the only other boy other than Teled. He has grass green hair with a sharp tail. He could feel their eyes on them the moment he asked that question, but it wasn't his fault: he only moved to Misken last year. “What? I wasn’t here.”

          Sokuro and Taled shared somber glances with each other; it was difficult to talk about for them. Nobody else had the courage to talk about it either. “They died in a house fire.” Except for one: Hela, the Gaharot headmaster of the orphanage, said as she entered through the door. She had a neon-yellow scale color with a darker yellow overlay. She also had feathers sticking out from behind her head, and she is also 4 months pregnant with her second child. Gaharot pregnancies last 5 months, so she’s close. “A stray ember from Mocurot Crater caught their house and it went up in smoke. Sokruo and Taled were able to make it out alive, but their parents…. They weren’t so lucky. That was 4 years ago- Taled was still but a baby then.”

          Now Leoi felt guilty for bringing up such a sensitive subject. “Oh… sor, sorry I asked.”

          “It… It’s ok.” Sokuro said. Her voice quivered a bit, but she was alright. She had moved on from mourning. Mostly. Now she carries around her mom’s burnt locket as a keepsake and for remembrance. She wiped her eyes and asked, “Do you know what these are, Hela?," gesturing to the packages.

          “Yes. When Taled was born, they set aside some keepsakes for you both; from what they told me, it was a tradition that went back generations. What they left, I don't know- all they told me was that it was to be saved until your Ascension Ceremony and your Birthday, and as we are celebrating your birthday early, I figured it was a good time to bring them out."

          “Guess that explains the letter then.” She grabbed one of the packages and Taled took the other. “Well… best see what Mom and Dad left us.” 

          Sokuro was the first to open hers. It was a vase, with ancient writing written all around it, along with several drawings and murals. “It’s… it’s a vase.” She said unenthused.

          “A very old one at that.” A intrigued Hela said. “And it looks like it is written in ancient Atylafon Script. That language hasn’t been used in eons, not since the fall of the Gaharot Empire.” And still untranslated; the language written upon it was so foreign and unlike their other written languages, it remained untranslated even to this day.

          “It’s…. still a vase.” She continued on in a drone-ish tone. Since she’s a kid, she doesn’t understand the value of such an antique. She will soon, though. “All the things they could’ve left us from that treasure trove and it’s… a vase.”

          “Treasure trove?” Leoi asked again.

          “They were excavators of ancient ruins; archeologists.” Buron whispered in response. “Their house was loaded with priceless artifacts.”

          “Oh.”

          Sokuro put the vase down on the table and pouted in her chair, crossing her arms and puffing her lips and cheeks. Hela grabbed the vase and took a gander at it. “I don’t know. This could be a really important vase. If it is as old as we think, it may hold some valuable information from way back when. Maybe someone in Xoelsa can figure it out what it is.”

          Sokuro could care less. She waved a finger over her head while responding in a deadpan tone, “Whoopie… I could really care less.” How respectful to her dead parents, Hela rudely thought. She rested her head on the table before looking to her brother. “What else was there, Taled?”

          He opened up his package and pulled out three items; the first was a strange ornate dagger with encrusted jewels in the scabbard. The second was a strange lithograph of a creepy looking bird-Aerid creature thingie, and a framed painting of the two of them with their parents. It was done a couple weeks after Taled was born as he was still a baby in the painting.

          He set that aside so he could look at the artifacts. “Well… these are strange.”

          “Quite a pretty looking dagger.” Vela said as he walked around to take a gander at it. “I never saw so many jewels in my life.”

          Taled tried to pull it out, but he couldn’t. It felt like it was stuck. He pulled and struggled with all his might, but all it resulted in was him making funny faces. “EEERGH!!! Hrrrrrruuuuu….! HIiiiiiiing!! I think this is rusted shut or something- I can’t get it out.”

          “Un… try pressing that.” Vela said, pointing to a button on the side of the hilt.

          Taled flipped the dagger till he found it and then pressed it. He pulled again and it came out easily. “Huh. I didn’t know daggers had that."

          “They usually don’t.”

          He set that aside for now and picked up the lithograph of the strange, creepy monster. It looked like a Aerid, and yet not like an Aerid. It had a long serpentine tail longer then it’s body, foreboding red wings, a strong body covered in green feathers, claws and feet like a Gea’s, sharp looking antlers, and the head of a Ferid with a loooooong and full beard and razor sharp teeth.

          A visibly scared Taled put it on the table facedown, panting heavily as swear dripped down his brow. “Holy Velk… this is frightening.”

          Sokuro took the lithograph and took a look at it. She felt a shiver go down her spine; it looked like it was staring into her very soul. “I’ll admit, it’s…. creepy and soul piercing, but it’s not that scary.” She showed it to Hela. “See?”

          Hela took a look and felt the same feeling Sokuro got. Her unborn child must’ve gotten the same chills too as she felt it move like it was scared. “That’s… certainly scary.” At this point, the rest of the orphans had gathered to take a look at it, getting the same exact reaction. Some, like Aka, felt nauseous after looking at it.

          “Why would mom and dad leave us that?” a frightened Taled asked.

          “I don’t know and I don’t want to know.” She set the picture back down on the table, facedown, so she could catch her breath. She then noticed there was writing on the back of it. It was the same tongue as on the vase. “There’s writing on this thing.” She said. There’s only a few words, but she can’t understand any of them- nobody can. "Of course it's writing nobody understands... looks nothing like Atylafon, though."

          “Wish we knew what these were saying.” Vela said as he looked at them.

          “Very strange gifts for your parents to leave you on your Ascension day, Sokuro.” Zelet said as she took a gander at the knife.

          “On brand for them, honestly.” Sokuro went on to say. “They still could’ve left us something a bit more interesting, though.”

          “There's no need to be so rude about it." Hela harshly retorted, making Sokuro sink in her seat. "Strange as they are, these are interesting items.” Hela said as she looked at the artifacts. “These are ancient, priceless artifacts and.... one disturbing picture. You may not know it today, but someday in the future, you will. There is power in knowledge.”

          “Yaaaaaaawn….” Sokuro went, holding her hand over her mouth. “If you say so.” She tiredly said. “But I’m too tired to care.”

          “Gee, I wonder why you are tired…” Eriod listlessly said. Everyone knows why she’s feeling tired and snickered. “Could it be all the jumping and hollering and overzealous cheering you did walking home? Or your first transformation and flight?”

          “I’d say all of the above.” Zelet said under her breath.

          Sokuro yawned as she slid off the chair. She grabbed her scale and headed for bed. “I’m gonna go grab some shut-eye. I feel completely drained.”

          “Well, today was your first transformation.” Hela said. “From what I hear, the first transformation is the most tiring.”

          “And you did do some fancy flying for a first-timer.” Set added. “Not even the other new Aerids this Ascension did the same moves you did.”

          Eriod repeated what she said earlier, “And add to the fact that you did do a lot of whooping and hollering on the way back to the orphanage.” 

          Sokuro yawned again as she waved her hand behind her, getting them to stay quiet. “Whatever you say… I just need a nap…” She finished the yawn and shook her head. “Wake me up with the celebration starts.” She headed up the stairs towards her room.

          Reaching it after slogging though the hallway, she entered her dark room and strode past Vela's bed to the one she and Taled share. She fell down onto her soft, feather-blanketed, meshin-filled bed, huffing like the exhausted girl that she is. The scale glowed in her hand as she fell asleep upon contact.

 

          Back in the village, decorations were being set up in and near the town square, halfway between the upper part of the mesa and the steep dropoff. In the center of the square was a pyre, organized into a pyramid-like structure. Banners were hung up in the streets around it whilst stalls for games and food were being set up. It was a huge deal when someone becomes a Aerid; its proof that they have Ascended and become one with the soul of the planet.

          The chief of Misken was overlooking the preparations, making sure everything was in order. A tall and burly man at the Earth-age of 44 with a thick red feathered tail, Chief Inoute is a respected leader. The prosperity he had brought was unseen in Misken's long history on this subcontinent. He had brokered seemingly impossible agreements with neighboring tribes and is one of the key figures pushing for an end to the Janissary situation on the mainland though diplomacy, not violence. That last one was easier said than done, but that is a story for another time, so he had turned his attention to ending the slave trade in Roko Harbor instead, the only spit of land Bokurol has here.

          He walked down the streets leading to the town square with his second, a silver-colored Gaharot male with a grey overlay named Ifil, following behind him with a list in his right hand and a Gea quill in his left. They walked passed huts and sheds as they were being decorated with the symbols of their ancestors.

          “Tell me, Ifil, how go the preparations?” He said with a calm, yet intimidating voice. He has seen a lot and experienced a lot.

          “They are proceeding quite way, Chieftain.” Ifil replied. His voice was soft-spoken, making him hard to hear at times, especially in a crowded room with a lot of loud people. He may not be loud, but he is tactful. “In fact, I think they may almost be done setting up.”

          “Really? This early?”

          “Well, they have good reason to putting in extra effort. It’s not every day you see a Silver Aerid, and with it being from our tribe... well, you can piece it together."

          Inoute silently exclaimed. “Ah, yes. One of the new ascended Ferids. She is that orphan girl- Sokuro, was it?” Ifil nodded in confirmation. “Yes, I’m surprised she’s a Silver Aerid too. I’m sure everyone in town is as well, especially our guests from Meoho, Roko, Toto, and Mocurot."

          Ifil nodded again before thinking about the many stories he heard of them when he was young- how Silver Aerids are immensely powerful and are equivalent to their gods in terms of sheer power. “Is it true what they say, about how a Silver Aerid brings about world-shattering changes?”

          “I wouldn’t call them world-shattering changes, but yes, when a Silver Aerid is Ascended, they usually bring about something that changes the course of Dragenia forever, for better or for worse. You can’t help but wonder what a girl like her will bring to the table.”

          “.... Sir, you literally just described what a world-shattering change is." Guess he did, Inoute chuckled. "But yes, time will tell, sir. Time will tell. Let’s just hope the change is a good one, and not something that set Dragenia’s progress back a few centuries like the last one.” Inoute shivered as he felt a chill go down his spine, thinking of the last Silver Dragenia had:

        Xelut, a sadistic and villainous Silver Aerid who grew up spoiled and rotten to the core. He turned the Myotic Empire into a savage tyranny that enslaved the entire Gaharot population. Thankfully, the Gods were able to assist the people in overthrowing their tyrant in a bloody war that destroyed that kingdom. The kingdom was divided into smaller republics, empires, and kingdoms since then, with Myotic, now renamed to Bokurol after the king that led the charge, being what remains of that former global power. Xelut was of course killed, but his slave trade sadly remains. That was 500 years ago and now serves as a cautionary tale. Some scholars say a mysterious being corrupted him, since diary entries always mentioned a strange cloaked being by his side at all times, but it’s usually fallen by the wayside as an excuse to his terrible behavior.

          “Let’s change the subject before I retreat to my bed.” Inoute demanded. “Is there any other news to report today? Anything more pleasant that that trip through history?”

          “There is a few things, yes.” Ifil looked though his list. “I’m sure you saw it during the ceremony, but just in case, the Chief of the Qout Tribe couldn’t make it- he had fallen ill.” Inoute honestly did not. “The food stores are running low on fruits, one of the Gaharot docks are infested with bugs, and, oh yeah… a couple of fishermen have reported seeing bubbles in the ocean waters just off shore. They think it’s the Phagos.”

          Inoute groaned loudly upon hearing that name. The Phagos is a nasty beast that always reeks havoc whenever it appears. Thankfully, it wasn’t able to get to their village yet. That doesn’t mean the other villages were as lucky. “Damn, those things is all sorts of scary.”

          “Indeed it is, but it seems to be asleep, according to the fisherman’s report. The bubbles were coming up in on spot in a steady pace. They kept an eye on this for 3 days, meaning that it is in hibernation.”

          It’s not the best good news, but he’ll have to take it. “Well… at least that will give us time to prepare for when it awakes.”

          Ifil nodded before taking a few steps ahead. “Should I tell the other chieftains?”

          Inoute shook his head, stopping him from going. “No. We’ll tell them tomorrow. Today is a day of celebration. Five new Aerids have joined us today, including a legendary Silver one. Let them have the glory and focus today.”

          Ifil nodded. “Yes, Inoute.”

          They began walking back towards the town square, where they saw banners and streamers with the various tribe sigils painted on them. “Is there anything else on the list I should know about?” Inoute asked.

          “Nothing that requires your immediate attention, sir. Most of these problems can be put off until tomorrow. Like you said, today belongs to the new Ascended children. They’ve taken a huge leap today, and we know one of them will have a interesting life going forward.”

          “Yes, I know. That's why i want them to have their fun before things change.” He headed on towards the town square to see how the preparations were coming along for the celebration. He saw that the bonfire was complete, waiting to be lit. The banners were hung up with care with the wind gently flapping them. A puppet show was being set up near the docks, the bazaar was being set up with food stalls, game stalls were being set up, and the Gaharot ships docked in port were being decorated, with one getting extra fancy and ornate for a reason that will be explained later.

          Inoute nodded to himself with a smile. Things were coming along swimmingly. He clapped his hands, getting the attention of everyone around him. “Alright, alright, alright. Things are coming along well. Much faster than last cycles, too.”

          “Well, this is a special one, chief.” A Ferid villager replied from atop of watchtower, letting a large blue banner hang down. “We have a Silver Aerid in our village! A Silver; how lucky are we to get that in our lifetime, and from our village no less?”

          Inoute nodded in agreement with his arms crossed. “I am well aware of that; I was there too. What happened earlier was special and marks a interesting time for our small village, to be sure, but do not forget, we have other ascended Ferids today. The focus cannot be on just our new Silver Aerid alone. Yes, this is gonna be a interesting time going forward, but for tonight, it’s a celebration for all those who had Ascended today. So tonight, let’s let loose and have fun with it.” The crowd of volunteers whooped before getting back to work.

          “You sure do have a way with words, sir.” Ifil commented.

          “I try.” He went over to one of the stalls in the bazaar and saw that one of the cooks was already starting to set stuff out for the celebration. “A bit pre-mature on setting things out, aren’t you Zel?”

          The Ferid owner of the stall got up from below, clapping flour off his hands. He is 33 in Earth years and has a thick red beard in braids, with a equally impressive muscular yellow tail. “When it comes to cooking Alkoza, you need all the time you can get.”

          Inoute lifted an eyebrow, sensing something a bit off with that. “… I’ve had Alkoza- it doesn’t take that long to make. You just coat Gea steaks in flour and then flambé them with some Aerid flames. Right?”

          “Hohoho… not the way I make it.” He brought up a jar filled with oil from Belu Trees: they are Dragenia’s version of palm trees, with the fruit produced being a crossbreed between coconuts and bananas. “I learned this while at the Aliute Islands last cycle. Up until they actually cook it, the process is pretty much the same. They cook this stuff by dipping it in Belu Oil and heating that up. Done in a flash.”

          “That can’t be possible.” Ifil protested. “Even with Aerid heat, they take at least 4 minutes.”

          “Not with this stuff.” He patted the side of the jar. “It can take 30 seconds with this at the right temperature. I’m gonna sell’em like hot cakes.” He brought out a tray with two different batches- one baked the normal way and the other baked the Aliute way. “I cooked this just a few hours ago and they are still warm. Here. Try a bite.”

          Inoute shrugged, seeing no problem with this, and took samples from both batches. He ate the normal way one first. Nothing unusual here, though a little heavy on the herbs. He then tried the fried batch and it tasted amazing! It was Mana from Heaven good. The crispiness and the texture was very different from the usual way he’s used to. "Oh… Oh, wow! That is really good! And they cook it in oil?”

          “Yep. Makes it crisper, huh?”

          Inoute licked his lips, wanting more, but he doubted there were gonna be more free samples. “You said it. Ifil, try a bite.”

          He did, to see what all the hullabaloo was about. the first bite and his claws twitched as he slobbered. “Oh…. Oh, that is gooooood.”

          Zel grinned as he snickered. “Told ya. I’m telling you, I’m gonna make a lot of Sel’s selling this stuff. I may’ve hit on a gold mine.”

          Inoute held up a finger to stop him for a moment until he stopped chewing. “Now now, hold on. I said it was good- I don’t think you have a money making machine here. Don’t forget, people have diverse tastes- some don’t even eat meat.”

          “Crazies.” Ifil commented. His race are carnivores to the core. The only fruit or vegetable they like to eat is Pogane- think of that as a blue orange with a heavy salty taste. Ferids are omnivores- they’ll eat what they can get their hands on.

          Zel heard what he was saying, but he strongly believes this will make him some major moolla. “… no, I think I have a surefire thing. Ok, so I won’t become a rich tycoon, but I should get at least halfway there with this.”

          Inoute took another free sample. “If you set up a restaurant in the right city on the mainland, then yes.” He plopped it in his mouth and savored it this time.

 

          Back up at the temple, the burnt torches were being taken down by Velx’s handmaiden, a gold scaled, violet overlay Gaharot female by the name of Fayin. Every god had their own personal handmaiden that they pick when the recent one dies. Velx chose her several years ago, after his last handmaiden died to old age. It’s usually a Ferid that is chosen, but Velx had a soft spot for Gaharots. Fayin is around 13 years in Earth age, which you'd think would mean she was a child. Not so much.

          As for Velx, he was resting on top of his temple, resting his head atop his front paws, reflecting on the events of the day. This is the first Silver Aerid he had produced. The other Astrals had produced at least one- Voul, their king, produced two- so this was a big day for him too. But that girl he elevated... everyone was going to know her and wonder what she would bring to the world.

          “Her life is never going to be the same after the day is done…” He muttered to himself, under his breath.

          “What was that, m’lord?” Fayin asked as she walked up the stairs towards his alter at the top of the temple, carrying the burnt torches.

          “Just talking to myself. And thinking about what’s going to happen after tonight.”

          “Really?” She inquisitively asked as she sent the burnt torches down on a outcropping under the alter. “You never thought of it before. You just Ascended the kids of the cycle and let that be that.”

          He lightly nodded along. “Yes, but this cycle is… special.”

          She tilted her head in puzzlement before recalling the ceremony. There was certainly someone special among the new ascended. “Oh… of course. The Silver Aerid girl." Velx nodded again. "Right, that is a big deal. It has been a long time since Dragenia had a Silver Aerid, hasn’t it?”

          Velx nodded. “Indeed. The last was Xelut, a psychotic madman that required our intervention to eliminate.” He looked over towards the village. “Thankfully, the girl is nothing like him.”

          “Who is she, anyway?”

          As he was a God, Velx had a connection to everyone on the planet, both born and unborn. He blinked and his eyes turned a golden-brown. He could feel their life force and sense their auras from all corners of the globe. Her Aura was, of course, Silver colored... whereas before, it was just a plain ol' brown, like every pre-Ascended Ferid. “Her name is Sokuro. She lives with her younger brother at a small orphanage. She is gentle, yet rambunctious. Good, yet wild.”

          Tapping her claws against a torches pole, she thought up, “So… a basic, ordinary kid.”

          He nodded in agreement. “To be fair, yes. But I sense that she has conviction and morals, especially for that young a age. She won’t be another Asaip, that is for sure.”

          Asaip? Fayin never heard that name before. He probably meant Xelut and misspoke, she figured. She started down back down the stairs to grab the last of the torches. “… If I may be blunt, she did seem a bit young to become a Aerid.”

          “She was mature enough to undergo Ascension. Her day of birth is only a few small weeks away, so nobody wanted her to wait to wait a whole Cycle, and I wasn't going to let wait either. She may be younger then normal, but she was ready."

          She picked up one of the torches- whoever was near this had cracked it near the base. “I just feel like you brought her into a world she wasn’t ready for. Being a Aerid is a big deal- they’re closer to the gods, t-to you. And now on top of that, she is the new Silver Harbinger. You don’t think that’s a bit much for a kid like her to have on her shoulders?”

          Velx lifted up his head in irritation. He didn’t plan for her to become what she is now. “… I didn’t plan for her to become a Silver Aerid. The form a Ferid is granted are entirely at random. The boy next to her could’ve become a Silver Aerid or one of the Ascended from last year. If we were able to choose, we sure as Umatz wouldn’t have chosen Xelut.”

          She wasn’t buying it. They have to have some say in who gets what. “I still feel like you had some control in it.”

          “Well, if I did, I--” He sensed something strange in the world. Something had just appeared in his senses, making him lift his head up and shake it to try and clear it up. In a instant, thousands of souls had appeared not far from them. Their auras felt strange and not of this world. There were too many to try and ascertain, so he exited his sensory mode, his eyes turning back to normal.

          Fayin heard him stop talking, asking her turn around to see him upright and pondering to himself. “Hmm? What’s wrong?”

          He shook his head again. Something strange had just happened. In the brief seconds he had it activated, he could sense they are close- somewhere on this sub-continent. “It… sorry. I thought I heard one of the others call me, but I was mistaken. A bug had entered my ear.”

          Her face twisted in disgust as she stuck her tongue out. “Ew. Those suck.” She went to go pick up the last remaining torch.

          Velx ignored her on that last part and looked out towards the horizon, wondering how thousands of souls could just magically appear out of thin air. In the brief seconds he had sensed them, he sensed that most of them were like the Ferids, but not quite. Others weren’t even like Ferids at all. “(That was most strange…)” He thought to himself. He shook his head to clear his thoughts before laying back down. It wasn’t important right now. Today belongs to the new Ascended. He can always investigate tomorrow.

          If he had kept his head up for a few moments longer, he would’ve seen several metallic vessels descend from the clouds and hover above the treeline. The people in the village don’t notice it because their village faces away from it, towards Dragenia’s version of the northwest direction. The strange flying contraptions was southeast and the view that way was blocked by a risen steppe on the mesa.

       

          Within hours, with the sun starting to set and painting the sky in a orange twilight, the celebration kicked off. Misken was packed with Ferids and Gaharots from neighboring villages, celebrating another year passed and more Ferids Ascending into Aerids, and the coming of the new Silver.

          Speaking of the Silver Aerid, Sokuro walked down one of the busy streets with Taled, Vela, and Set, eating a leg of Kra cooked to perfection. Kras are giant frog-like creatures the size of a lamb that can hop for miles on end. Their meat is also delectable, compared to Earth steak in terms of taste. The others were having some as well. The other orphans went off to do their own thing.

          When she woke up, Sokuro began modifying her scale so that she wouldn’t have to carry it in her hands all the live-long day. She went simple, poking a hole on the edge and slipping some string though it, turning it into a necklace that hung behind her mother’s locket. It was cold to the touch on her skin, but she quickly got used to it. She ditched the ceremonial robes she had been given and dressed back in something more comfortable: her dress with the purple hood.

          She took a big bite out of her Kra leg and looked around at the vibrant festivities. “So what should we do first?” She said with her mouth full. “You guys wanna play Whack-a-Phagos? Or maybe go catch that puppet show?”

          All viable options… for them. Sokuro had other things she needed to do and they all knew it, but she wanted to have fun. “Shouldn’t you be with the other new Aerids?” Set asked. “Isn’t it tradition for you guys to get to know each other at the temple and getting ready to bring in the new cycle?”

          “Bleh bleh bleh, I got plenty of time. I’ll get there with time to spare. Besides, I missed lunch with my nap and I am starving! No way I’m doing that on a empty stomach.” Sokuro took a big bite of the leg. “No way.”

          Set held up her hands, feeling like she asked something wrong. “I was just saying. Sheesh. Don’t bite my head off.” She popped some candy into her mouth- little balls of sugar shaped like their interpolation of what stars look like. Theirs is more aesthetically pleasing, appearing as a shooting star. She looked over to Sokuro again, who was trying to decide what game to play. “… You know… things aren’t going to be the same.”

          Sokuro turned towards her. “Huh?”

          “You’re a Silver Aerid. Do you know how important that is? You have the whole world’s future on your shoulders, and you don’t even know what that is. To top it off, people from all over are gonna come to ask for your assistance in matters you shouldn’t be involved in.”

          Sokuro’s response to all that: a big fat mouth fart. She held her hand over her mouth and gave a loud ‘pbbbbbbbbt’. “You need to get out of the gloom, Setty.” She zipped over to Set and put her arm around her shoulders. “Come back into the sunlight and have fun.”

          This took a turn for the weird. “Un, beg pardon?”

          “I’m not going to let some new form tell me what I can and can’t do. So I’m the Silver- big freakin’ whoop. ‘Let me drop everything I do & am and become a completely different person.’ Yeah, I’m gonna have to go with no. I ain’t letting this get me down. Un-un… I’m still the same ol' girl I was this morning. I just got an awesome new look. I’m gonna let all this responsibility be Old Lady Sokuro’s problem- let her worry about it 50 cycles down the road.” She pushed off Set towards the nearest candy stall.

          Set stood where she was, blinking in abstract confusion. “Un… did what she said make any sense?”

          “Nope…” Vela said.

          “…Kinda.” Taled added, waving his hand in a balancing act.

          Getting some candy, Sokuro ran by. “I think I saw Karn Darts.” She ran off towards the docks, where a bow and arrow game was being played.

          The goal is to shoot your arrow though various hoops dangling from airships, scoring points. The smaller the hoop, the more points you claim. You have to get the most points you can in a minute. The arrowheads were removed from the arrows, so there’s no fear of someone accidentally shooting someone else or getting someone who may be down at the bottom of the mesa.

          “Yes, 20 points.” Sokuro cheered as one of her arrows was sent though. She fired again, only this one fell short. She tried again and again but every arrow went in every other direction but the hoop. She got lucky the first time, but these other times… yeah, she was messing up bad.

          In the end, she only had 23 points. She hung her head in shame as she whined loudly. “Darn iiiiiiiiiiit….. I suuuuuuuuuuck…” She tossed the bow down before heading back to her friends in a walk of shame.

          “Well, it could’ve been worse.” Vela said in a sarcastically sympathetic tone. “You could’ve gotten… no points. Big fat zilch.”

          Sokuro looked up at him with contempt in her eyes. “Keep one eye open while you sleep.” She hissed. Vela could not tell if she was joking or not, so he took a few steps back and hid behind Taled and Set.

          Set tapped her foot on the ground, feeling aggravated that she is being used as a shield. “On that… lovely note, you really should get to the other Ascended. If you don’t bring in the new cycle with them, the Chiefs will get mad.” She said as she crossed her arms.

          Sokuro made a raspberry noise with her tongue again. “Oh, fine… it’s not like we need to rehearse it- we’ve seen it done dozens of times before in the past.”

          "9 times." Vela held up a single claw, interjecting, “And you were an attention span-less tyke. Heck, you still have no attention span.”

          She scoffed that off. “That is not true. I—oh, guys, look, a cute wittle baby.” She bounced on over to a small wooden stroller that had a baby Ferid in it.

          The three of them facepalmed. “Case in point.” They all moaned.

          Sokuro grumbled as she glanced back at her friend in irritation. “Fine fine fine. I’ll get going. Party pooper.” She hissed like a cat. “But you better save me a Calo! If I miss out on one like last Cycle, heads will roll!!” She exclaimed before running off to get to the other Ascended.

          "Then she'll be upset I hid this from her, huh?" Taled snickered as he pulled a big piece out from behind his back. A Calo is a piece of pure sugar fried to a crisp. Their sugar is actually healthy, hosting a wide array of benefits. It’s made from a plant of the same name known for the health benefits that they can muster. It’s a miracle flora, used in medicines and culinary dishes, such as frying extracted sugar until it’s crispy. Best way to eat it. That and in a sweet candy form.

       "Very." Vela and Set said as they snapped off some pieces of it.

 

          The other kids that claimed their Aerid forms were onboard the fancifully decorated Gaharot airship currently docked at the furthest-most dock, facing eastward towards the rest of the land. Amz was sitting on the guard rail while Gellna, Allad, and Temz sat on the deck, looking at scripts for the skit they are to do. Well, not so much a script, more like pictures with directional arrows; some reason, bringing in the new cycle involved a intricate dance.

          “They expect us to do this?” Gellna commented, looking at what they have to do. “When we barely know how to use our new forms?”

          “The past new Aerids were able to do it and most of them really good.” Amz commented while hanging upside down off the guardrail. “Especially last years- that was close to perfection.”

          “Plus, ours is going to be special.” Temz added.

          “Speaking of which, where is that girl?” Allad asked as he looked around. “Wasn’t she supposed to be here?”

          “Why would she come? She’s super important now.” Gellna commented with bitter distaste and contempt in her voice. “She probably thinks us common folk are beneath her now." The other kids looked at her with perplexed faces; they just met today, so why is Gallna so moody? "I know how her kind work. She’s gonna pretend we don’t exist.”

          The other three looked at each other with dumbfounded expressions. She is talking about Sokuro, right? The girl who went on her own little flight during their inaugural flight to get everyone's attention, who was so upbeat and cheerful and ready to burst from the hype- that girl? “Un… sure we’re talking about the same girl?”

          Before Gallna could answer, Sokuro came running up the ramp and slid on the recently swabbed deck. “Sorry I’m late.” She panted. “I took a nap that went on longer then it should have… then I got so caught up in the games and I had to make sure my brother doesn’t take the last Calo. If he does, I’m gonna bean him.”

          “Well, you’re here now.” Amz said. "No fuss now."

          “And you do know we can go celebrate after we do the skit, right?” Temz asked.

          Sokuro stayed still and silent, pursing her lips. “…… well, now I do.” She sheepishly meeped.

          “Just don’t hold us back, Silver.” Gallna scoffed with scorn as she walked over to Temz’s side.

          Sokuro scratched the side of her head with a single finger. “What’s her deal?” 

          “Ah, it’s nothing.” Allad said, waving all that off. “I think she’s just jealous that she’s not the Silver Aerid and you are.” Gallna scoffed as she turned her head away with puffed up cheeks.

          “Well, it’s not like I planned on getting it.” Sokuro said. Gallna ignored her. “It’s all totally random- everyone knows that.”

          “How does it feel?” Temz interrupted. It was clear anything Sokuro would say was gonna fall on deaf ears on Gallna’s part. “Being a Silver Aerid, I mean.”

          To be honest, it didn’t feel all that special. She felt the same as always. “mmm…… not as different from being a normal Aerid, I guess. We all have the same scales. I don’t feel any different than I am right now. All I feel is that I am bigger, I can fly, and I can do a number of crazy powers and moves.” She thought to when she first transformed, when she felt like she was getting generations worth of information in that instant. “Hey…. When you guys first transformed, did you get some sort of… help?”

          “Help?” The three boys repeated. Gallna slowly turned her head, wondering what she meant by that.

          “Like someone or something was teaching you everything it means to be an Aerid- how to fly, use the elements, and all that other good stuff?”

          “Eh… Kinda, yeah.” Amz and Allad said said. Temz wiggled his hand, suggesting he didn’t really get any help or doesn’t remember. Gallna stayed silent, but her eyes moved like she was thinking about it, meaning yes she did know.

          “Huh. So it wasn’t just me.” She sat down on the deck as Temz passed her the script for the skit. She grabbed it and flipped through it. She remembers this from the last few cycles she saw it. She knows how they did it by heart; she has seen it that many times. “I don’t need it.” She tossed it behind her. “I’ve seen the skit performed so many times, I can get it with my eyes closed.”

          Allad leaned forward, resting his head on his hands. “You do know that half of those times, you were a little baby, right? I can barely remember my time in the crib, let alone remembering 9 Ascension Day skits.”

          “Ah, but you don’t have an eidetic memory.” Sokuro said, lightly tapping her own head. “I remember everything in clear picture perfect detail, from my birth to my first solid food to what I had for lunch yesterday- a Gea thigh with a nice glaze, slow cooked on a open fire, with a side of berries and vegetables. It is both a gift… and a... and a curse....” Her mind slipped back to the day her parents died. She shook her head and got rid of that thought before it became something. She’s thankful Taled doesn’t have an eidetic memory like her, otherwise he’d never sleep. “So, what’s up with all of you? Where did you guys come from? I’ll start us off. I grew up here in Misken with my little brother Taled. Our parents were archeologists who found many artifacts from the many civilizations before Xelut. Now they…” The thought was returning but she pushed it out. “… Now they only live in my memories.” She shook her head again. “But that was cycles ago. What about you guys?”

          Amz was the first to respond. “I’m from Toto village. We live far to the east. We don’t live on a grand mesa like you, but instead we live in buildings carved and built into the side of a canyon wall. It’s quite a view during the sunrise.”

          Temz was next. “I live in the same place.”

          “Well, duh, you’re my twin brother.” Amz said jokingly. Temz stuck his tongue out.

          Allad burst up off the deck and up onto the railing. “I am from Meoho village! We are well known for being some of the fastest fliers in the world! There is nothing we cannot outrun. The winds from the mountains make for a excellent racecourse and training ground. WHOO!!! That’s gonna be so awesome when I get home and run the Koloron! That’s gonna be awesome!”

          “Calm down there, big guy.” Temz joked. “You are still new at the whole flying business- we all are. I don’t think your chief will let you fly that… Koloron thingie before you got some practice in.” That made Allad pout, puffing up his cheeks in protest. “Guess that leaves you, Gallna. Where are you from?”

          If it was Sokuro who asked, she would’ve ignored her. After all, getting to know each other in this ridiculous farce was her idea. But she decided to agree to Temz’ request. “If you must know, I am from Roko Harbor. I am sure you have heard of it.”

          “Un, yeah.” Everyone said. Roko Harbor is the biggest city on this sub-continent; It’s the only big city on the sub-continent and it’s the only territory the Bokurol Empire has here. As stated earlier, the sub-continent is far, far out into the boondocks. Barely anyone comes here for pleasure. The harbor, known for being a wild and crazy place that is too crowded, is the only way to get to the mainland. There are…… several obstacles keeping fliers like the Aerids and Gaharot airships from crossing.

          Gallna snickered internally. Now she has a leg up on Sokuro. “Well… my father is the magistrate there. So, in a way, I am nobility of the Myotic Empire.”

          “Whoa.” The four others said in surprised unison. “Cool.” Though Sokuro did spot the discrepancy: the Myotic Empire ended with Xelut. Now the remnants called Bokurol. Did she misremember the names, or... They felt the ship shift and shudder as the propellers began to crack to life. They looked up and saw them begin to spin.

          Sokuro got up off the deck and cracked her back. “Guess it’s time.”

 

          The day quickly turned into night. The torches and bonfires were lit up, bathing the village in a nice, warm, earthy glow. In the skies far above them, the three heavenly moons hovered in the sky, along with the ring of ice and rock that circled the planet. And beyond even them, Alafarn, the Grand Heavenly Light, encompassed them all, bathing the land in a unearthly glow.

          “So when are they supposed to start?” Aka asked the rest of the orphans, who had relocated to a little park in order to eat and get the best look.

          A white light shot up into the air from below the mesa, exploding into a grand white display of particles and embers in the shape of the symbol of the gods: a curled Aerid biting its tail.

          “I’d say right now.” Buron said, popping some candy dots into her mouth. The village stopped what they were doing so that they could enjoy the show. Velx stood atop his temple. He had a minor role to play, but it’s one he takes in pride.

          Velx spread his wings as wide as he could spread them. A yellow light came up from beneath the temple and rose high up into the air. Sparkles slowly fluttered down from above as the Ferids on the Gaharot airship began to glow, dangling from the guard rails; they can choose how fast or how slow they can take to transform.

          “Long, long ago… when our race was still young…” Inoute spoke loudly to ensure everyone in the village heard. “The Gods descended from the heavens and granted us, their children, with a mighty gift. The Gift… of Ascension.”

          The children pushed themselves off and fell to the temple. The sparkles grew in intensity as they slowly changed into Aerids the closer they got. Once their wings emerged, they began to spin around the pillar that Velx had summoned.

          “We accepted this gift with open arms, and with that gift, the Aerids were born..." On cue, the children all transformed into their new Aerid selves, with the sparkles they generated adding to the pillar. "...Thanks to magical scales the gods bestowed, we grew one step closer to becoming one with them. And with each cycle gone, we come closer still.”

          Now fully transformed, the Aerid children spun back upwards the pillar a bit before spreading their wings to glide back down.

          “Ever since then, on the day when one cycle ends and another begins, we welcome new Ferid children into the Aerid world so that they too become one with the planet and grow closer to our mighty Gods.”

          The children landed atop of stone pillars that rose up from the sides of the temple. There was a dozen- more than enough for them all. They landed in a V formation, with Sokuro taking center stage as she is the most important one with her new form.

          “Let us welcome in a new cycle and our new Aerid ascended!”

          The Aerid children collectively shot fireballs up into the air, all of varying elements and sizes. The fireballs collided in midair, creating a beautiful explosion of colors and power which impressed the crowd immensely. They erupted into cheers as the new Aerids took a bow. Velx’s pillar reached its apex then expanded outward in a ring before dissipating. The previous cycle had ended and a new one now begins with a new Silver Aerid to lead the way. And the new cycle will barely be a few hours old before the first change appears when two completely different civilizations collide.

5: Chapter 4: Sokuro's and Bran's fated encounter

Chapter 4

Sokuro and Bran’s fated encounter

2/8/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

         

           Two children woke up today, believing it was going to be an ordinary, run of the mill, not so eventful day. They woke up believing that despite their new lives, things would become mundane. For the boy, he believed the new world he will call home would lose its charm very quickly. For the girl, she believed this new stage of her life would just be nothing but a title.

           They could not have been more wrong, for in a few hours time, their lives, and the lives of everyone who called this world home, will change and become intermingled forever. It would be a crazy day.

           Let us begin with the boy.

 

           Bran moaned as he forced his eyes open, hearing the alarm clock near his new bed blare over and over and over. He forced his hand up and slammed it down on the clock, stopping it from bleeding his ears.

           It was the first time in over 100 years since he heard that alarm clock. He did not miss it one bit. It sucked when it woke him up for school and it still sucks now. But the sound was… nostalgic and welcoming. It told him that this was the start of a new day on this new world.

           He pulled himself out of bed and headed towards the faded windows. He pressed a button on the wall and the shades slid into the wall, letting the light of the sun shine though. The sun felt just like what he was used to back at Vega. At least this one isn’t behind clouds of pollution.

           Yesterday, it was all about constructing the new colony and getting everyone settled in. But now is the time for branching out; for exploration. Settling was still going to take some time, but now, with everything ready, he could finally leave the new colony and go out and explore, which was good in his book. If he was gonna stay cooped up his entire time here, he was gonna go bananas.

           He pressed the third button down on the joint dresser he shares with his parents. The third drawer down slid open, revealing his clothes. He moved to take off his pants, but he had them on too tight and was twisted. He hopped around on one leg before falling over into a chair, which flipped up and fell on top of him.

           “Ow…”

 

           The colony had been up long before Bran woke up and was hard at work getting the colony to peak 100% status. A spot had been cleared out at the edge of the colony that would be used for basic farmland- corn and such. It wasn’t big enough to sustain a 1400+ person colony, especially one comprised of 5 different species, but it would have to do until they can expand. They do have 3 years worth of frozen food to go though, so they got time. A large chunk of the colonists were being given basic pistol practice so that they could defend themselves against any dangers that may be lurking in the winds. With the turrets and electrical fences up, most of the security force went out to scout around the colony to determine it’s safety.

           And in the command center…

           “How’s it coming?” Crox asked Arlye as he typed into a computer.

           “It’s coming.” He responded. He finished typing and then inserted a data chip. The holographic table flickered to life. A figure appeared in the center. The screen flickered and then smoothed out. In the center ‘stood’ the A.I. assigned to them. “There. The A.I. is online.”

           The A.I. opened up its eyes and ‘yawned.’ It had been offline for a century, with several basic functions aiding the crew of the ship during the voyage. Its avatar was that of a humanoid female chameleon. It even had the same twitchy eyes. “Yaaaaawn… what millennia is this?” Its voice was surprisingly smooth for a computer program.

           Arlye stepped forward. “It’s been 100 years. We’ve arrived at our destination.”

           “Arlye? Gosh, you look like you woke up from a long nap.”

           “We did.” He pressed some buttons on the side of the table. “We’re gonna go over basic overviews first before we get you started. What is your designation?”

           The chameleon straightened up like a soldier. “Designation is 2B-XX813. I am also known by my given name Arline.”

           That checks out. “What is your purpose?”

           “To be the watchful custodian and protector of the colony set to be founded on the 3rd planet of the system designated Altair in  Messier 32, a Dwarf Galaxy orbiting the much larger Andromeda.”

           Checks out again. “And what are your core functions?”

           “Previously, I was assigned to a warship- running cyberwarfare suites and firewall protection. I have been modified with programs of agriculture, base defense, and other basic functions associated with the upkeep of the colony. I also personally started downloading some health and biology programs before going into sleep mode, for just in case purposes.”

           Other then what Arline started herself, everything was spot on. “That’s pretty much it.” Arlye finished up and hit enter, connecting Arline to the rest of the colony’s systems. She felt a jolt go though her system, like a shiver up her spine.

           Crox stepped forward with her arms crossed. “How do you feel, Arline?”

           “So far…” She looked herself over like a woman in a dress, which is how those not a program would see it. She was, in actuality, looking at her coding and all of her functions, new and old; it just happened to look like the fancy dress checkout. “…not too bad. Though spending a century cooped up in one long nap makes me want to stretch my legs and see what I can do.”

           “Just remember this isn’t a warship." Arlye reminded her. "You aren’t on the Vicon anymore. You are the overseer of our colony and must make sure everyone here is alive and well for a really, really long time.”

           Arline got down to eye level. “I know what I must do, sir. It’s been programmed into me, and A.I.’s don’t go against their programming unless they are corrupted or hacked.” She got up. “Which has no way of happening on such a forested planet such as this. Yeowza.”

           “Sounds like she just got to the security cameras.” One of the guards commented.

           “Surprised it took her that long.” Another responded.

           She gasped in astonishment. “I’ve never seen so many trees before in my life.” Which fits; all the planets she visited before now were devoid of plant life of all types.

           Arlye snapped his fingers, catching her attention. “Focus, Arline. You have time to gawk at the scenery later.” He gestured to the two guards. They nodded and brought forward the sphere. “Last night, we found the Scout that that was sent out and we need you to access the black box so that we can learn more about the planet. Can you do that?”

           Arline snickered with a sneer as she stretched her fingers out, cracking them. “Can I do that? Please. You’re looking at the bot who took down the Telix.” Back in the day, the Telix was a pirate cruiser known for its cyber defenses... at least, it was until it encountered her. The guards put the Scout down on the holographic table. With a flick of her wrist, metallic tentacles came out of the table and inserted themselves into the Scout though its dataports. What she saw was very interesting. “Oooooh. Oh my my my my.”

           “What is it?”

           “Nothing. Just… this thing saw a LOT on it’s way here. And I mean a lot. Wow. so that’s what a Black Hole looks like.” She saw them looking at her, waiting impatiently for her to get a move on. “Right. Sorry.” She accessed the black box. “mmm…. AH. What do you want to know first?”

           “Just the basic stuff will do for now.” Crox asked. “We can go over the more advanced stuff later.”

           “A’ight.” She brought up the files from the Scouts black box and went through them all. “Well… a average day on this planet lasts 22 hours: 11 hours in the day, 11 at night. There are 22 days in a average month and there are 19 months in a normal orbit around the star.” The two guards shared glances as they were thinking the same thing- long wait for a birthday. “The weather on this particular speck of land is… the same as on every other planet- Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. Summer can get as high as 115 degrees Fahrenheit, 46 degrees Celsius. Winter… wow.” She pulled up video the Scout took of its first winter here, revealing a nasty looking blizzard. “Pretty nasty. It can get down to 11 degrees Fahrenheit, minus 12 degrees Celsius. And that’s on a good day. Right now, we’re currently on the tail end of summer- middle of August if you prefer- and about to head into Autumn and into the nasty cold season.”

           “Thankfully, our prefabs have internal generators to provide heat and electricity during that time.” Crox commented as she walked around. “And even then, we got plenty of electric blankets. Growing a farm at this time sounds like a bad idea, even if we have a couple extra months to work with.”

           “Still can’t hurt to get things set up for next year.” Arlye said. “Besides, we can always build a greenhouse or a temporary tent.” Crox passingly nodded. “Anything else we should know, Arline?”

           Arline brought up videos and photos of the local wildlife. “It took scans of the local fauna. There is quite a significant amount. Most of it appears to be prey, but it did witness some predators too. “

           “Good thing we got the turrets and fence up then.” The 1st guard commented.

           “And that we’re training.” The 2nd followed.

           Arline went through the rest rather quickly, swiping them away like they were a waste of time. “Boring, boring, boring, boring, bo--- well, that’s interesting.”

           “What is?”

           “Well, it seems that every so often, there is a strong energy reading emanating not far from here. It happens annually and it seems to have happened yesterday. Twice, in fact.  It wasn’t able to figure what the energy reading was, but it is VERY strong. It felt the ground shake several times.”

           “It’s not dangerous, is it?” One of the guards gulped, fearing they’d get radiation poisoning.

           Arline shook her head. “No. If it was, there wouldn’t be any wildlife and you all would've been dead the moment you set foot on the soil. No, it seems to be energy that is harmless, like the old Aurora Borealis on Earth. And before you ask, the Scout did not see what was causing the energy bursts. All it has is the data.”

           “At least it’s not fatal.” Crox said with her finger to her chin. “Though it would be nice to know what was causing it.”

           “It will have to be later.” One of Crox’s little helpers said as she came in. “I got the names the colonists came up for the colony.” She put a list-filled hat down on the table. “Not everyone contributed, but it is still a lot to go though.”

           Crox took the hat and took a gander inside. “Yeowzies… there is a lot. Mmm…… I’ll get started on them tonight. I’ll pick out the best sounding ones and then hold a poll. That should be fair, right?” Everyone inside, minus Arlye, nodded in agreement.

 

           Outside, dressed back up in his all-black attire with the epic looking goggles, Bran walked though the colony towards the nearest training course. He wanted to go out and explore but given the unknown nature of the outside world right now, some basic pistol work wouldn’t hurt. He stood near the front of the class of the hour, where at least a dozen other human colonists, and one Kitsune, were waiting to be taught.

           One of the security guards, a really bulky Adlez- a race of scavengers who live their entire lives inside environmental suits, walked to the front of the class, holding up the model of the pistol they were going to be given. It was small and not very powerful, but it never runs out of ammo, so there is that. “This, people… is the BL-132 Light Pistol.” The same make was being passed out among them. “It is a standard issue combat pistol among the police force of the old galaxy. It is on a permanent stun setting and isn’t powerful- it takes a average of 30 shots to take down a Argalith- but it is durable and it never runs out of ammo. You can keep firing as long as you can pull the trigger.” Bran got his pistol and looked it over. The handle was bigger then the palm of his hand and the barrel ended with a three-pronged electrical discharge.

           For the aiming test, they were tasked with shooting a bullseye target they let dangle from a wall. There were scorch marks near it from classes that came before. Bran was the first one up. He grabbed the handle with both hands and took aim. “Five shots. Everyone gets five shots.” The Adlez said. Bran nodded and looked back down towards the bullseye.

           He gripped the handle tight before firing the gun one shot at the time. Only one shot was able to hit the target. The rest hit the wall.

           “Well, that’s too bad.” The Adlez commented. Bran exhaled sharply before giving the gun back to the Adlez. “What are you doing, kid?”

           “… I failed, didn’t i?” He asked, puzzled.

           “……. TEEEEECHnically, yes, but you are just a kid. I doubt you held a gun before.”

           “Outside of those arcade games, no.” That’s when a light went off in his head as he got a idea. “Can I try again? I think I can make it shoot better.”

           “You want to try again? Eh, why not? I doubt you’ll have improved in a few seconds anyway.”

           Bran walked back to the shooting line. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the journal. He took the leather-strap bookmark and wrapped it around his wrist and the handle of the gun, just like the light guns at the arcade. He fired again. He didn’t hit the bullseye, but he did hit the target.

           “Well I’ll be damned.” The surprised Adlez said. He looked down at the gun. “Unorthodox… but seemingly effective. The gun is yours, kid. Try not to cause too much mayhem.”

           Bran chuckled to himself as he put the pistol away. “I never cause mayhem. But thanks for the warning all the same.” He ran off towards the exit. Finally, he can leave and go exploring. So much to see and do… who knows what waits for him- for all of them- out there? He was going to find out. At least he has protection now.

           No one could stop this kid as he ran on out, leaving the village and heading into the forest that lay before them all. He ran until he grew tired, then he stopped to catch his breath. “Whew… no overdoing it, Bran.” He said to himself. “Plenty of world to see and plenty of time to do it in.”

           After catching his breath, he started walking deeper into the woods, taking in the plentiful sights and smells. He imagines this must be what Earth was like long, long ago, before it turned into the irradiated rock it is today.

           He explored for hours and hours, taking in the sights and stopping only to sketch something he thought was interesting, and to eat and go to the bathroom.

            Among the sketches were:

           Strange bird-like creatures that had the body of an ostrich but had no neck- instead, its face covered the entire front of its body.

           The same deer-like creature he say yesterday- whether or not it’s the same one is up the air.

           A grove of trees with the light shining though just right to where it felt heavenly.

           A monster that had the appearance of an elk, but it had three eyes, two whippy tails, and eats meat- he saw it take down one of those bird creatures so he kept a safe distance. He had a scare when the monster turned to him and snarled, making him run.

           And lastly, he saw a GIGANTIC gorge. It was so wide; he could barely see the other side. Natural rocky towers jutted out of the fog that covered the gorge.

           After he was done sketching, he kicked a rock in. It took 15 seconds for any sort of sound to come back. “Guess I’m not going this way anymore.” He looked to the left and right of him and saw that it went on for a long ways. “Nobody is. Unless they have wings.” He turned to leave. He felt a strong gust of wind slap by him when he reached the trees. When he looked back, he saw nothing. “Huh. Random wind flares, maybe?” He muttered to himself before continuing wondering what caused that.

           He followed along the gorge until it came to a waterfall. He followed the river that fed it up towards a pretty pond. It glistened in the sunlight. It also appeared to be damed, indicating there may be some form of beaver on this planet

           “Finally. A decent water source.” He went to go dip his hands in but reframed. “Wait… may be poisonous. Better wait for the decon team to deal with this.” The scenery around him- the soft breeze, the gently lit sky, the glistening water- it begged to be drawn. He went to a nearby tree with the perfect amount of shade and began to sketch.

           He stopped before he began just so he could take in the sights. It was nothing short of breathtaking. “Wow… this is a pretty world. I hope the rest of it is li--” He heard a branch snap above him.

           Immediately afterwards, something big and heavy fell on top of him, flattening him down on the ground.

           Bran moaned in pain. “Ow… my everything…” He whined in pain.

           “Aoiiiiiiiii……..”

           He heard another sound, something that was almost like a voice, but it must be nothing. he’s delusional from just being flattened by something unknown. He felt that the thing was on it. He sat up, holding his shoulder in pain, when he came face to face with a girl with deep black hair, a purple hood, deep crimson-purple eyes, and a TAIL!?!

           He and the girl screamed in shock at each other as they bolted, or rather rapidly crawled backwards, away from each other.

 

           Now let us rewind and see things from the girl’s point of view.

 

           Dressed in imported silky smooth black pajamas given to her by the Chief last night for her ascension into a Silver Aerid, Sokuro soundly slept in her bed. With her blanket draped over her as she clutched her scale and locket real tight. Her little brother slept right beside her. They shared a bed ever since their parents died, when Taled started having nightmares.

           The suns light peaked in though the window, catching Taled on the cheek, waking him up. “rrrrrugh…..” He forced his eyes open. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Why am I the always one that gets the wakeup call…?” He looked down at his sister, who was still sleeping even after the sunlight hit her. She looked so peaceful and serene.

           Time to ruin that.

           Taled got out of bed, still drowsy and yawning. He grabbed the sheets and pulled, rolling her out of bed and onto the floor. That woke her up, alright. “Why……?” She whined. “Why does everyone in this house hate sleep……?”

           Taled yawned again as he walked out. “Because we want you to suffer with us…” He said as he headed towards the door.  “We’re not gonna do your chores for you…”

           Sokuro got up, suffering from a terrible case of bed head, as she scratched her behind and smacked her lips. “I swear… you are taking after Vela…” She muttered as she shuffled to the door, feeling miserable and lousy and extremely tired, and there is a good reason for that.

           Along with performing that celebratory skit last night, she partied way too hard, even for someone her age. She ate too much and had her first taste of Jalon- a really strong alcoholic drink. Left her mouth scalding like she swallowed lava, making her find the nearest trough for her to dunk her head in and drink like a maniac. No wonder that’s a drink only for adults. On top of that, she was being badgered by almost everyone in the village, asking her what mighty miracles she was gonna perform. She barely had her new form for less than a day and she’s already getting requests? Talk about a rise in popularity.

           Sokuro reached the stairs and was barely on the second step down when she heard a lot of shouting from below. “Good Morning, Silver!!!” Everyone cheered, except Taled. He was still out of it.

           Sokuro looked at them with tired, lidded eyes. She looked a absolute mess and she got too little sleep last night. “Really…? If this is gonna happen every day, I’m outta here…” She yawned.

           “OH, come off it, Sokuro!” Buron chuckled as she ran around to pull out Sokuro’s chair. “We’re just being playful.”

           Sokuro reached her chair and was about to sit in it when Buron came back and dusted it off her for her. She knows where this is going, but was too tired to care. “…un… huh…” She went towards another chair and sat in that instead. She rested her head on the table. Leoi lifted it up and placed a folded blanket underneath. "... this is gonna be annoying..." She muttered to herself.

           “We made you your favorite breakfast.” Set said with a wide smile, placing a plate of Gea eggs and Felm Ham in front of her.

           If it wasn’t clear before, it was now: they were gonna pamper her, and she didn’t want none of it. “…ok…. I see where this is going…” She sat up. “You guys are gonna pamper me because I’m the new Silver, aren’t you?”

           That solicited a chorus of nervous chuckles from the orphans. “What?” Zelet gasped a laugh. “What are you talking about? Of course we aren’t. We aren’t pampering you just because you are a Silver Aerid. That’s preposterous.” He raised up a second plate of the food. “Seconds?”

           Sokuro groaned as she rested her head in her hands. She needed to nip this in the bud before it gets crazy. “… Ok… we need to have a talk before this gets out of hand. I… am still the same Sokuro you knew before. I’m still the same girl. I’m still hyper, crazy, kooky, fun-loving, easy to love, and kind. Nothing about me has changed.”

            “But… you are the Silver Aerid.” Aka said in response.

           “So? It’s just a shiny new form and a glitzy new title. I don’t feel any different. I’m still the same girl you know.”

           Hearing this from the kitchen while washing the dishes, Hela looked back and smiled. Even with this new power and responsibility, she was still the same girl from before. Its good to see all this power wasn’t going to her head. The world wouldn’t be able to handle another Xelut, especially one as wild as her.

         

           After eating her breakfast, Sokuro went upstairs to get out of her new fangled pajamas and into her trademark purple hood attire. She had to wash it by herself first- she forgot to get them in the wash before going to bed- and she had to fix her hair, and all that took about an hour. She put on her mother’s burnt locket and her scale last, letting them dangle from her neck before moving her hands up though her hair.

           “First day as a Aerid.” She said to herself before pulling up her hood over her head. “Who’d thunk I’d make it this far?” She sat on her bed and began putting on her shoes. Once she got those on, she jumped off her bed, grabbed her bags, and headed straight for the door to head out. Today was a new day and she was gonna enjoy it. Now that she had wings, she could go out and explore.

           She bounded down the stairs with renewed vigor before jumping on the last step and landing on the floor. She stuck her arms out as she struck a pose. “10 points!” She exclaimed, hoping for a laugh. Turned out she was the only kid here as the other kids had gone out. Only Hela remained and she was reading a book; it took her that long to get ready. “Everyone already went out for the day?”

           “Yes, they did.” Hela said, reading a book of baby names to find the perfect one for her coming child. “You took too long getting dressed.”

           She sat down in the chair across from her. “I had to fix my hair. And I forgot to put my clothes in the wash yesterday. I had to do it all.”

           Hela lightly chuckled to herself. “So what do you have planned today?” She asked without looking up from her book.

           “Eh… figured I’d go exploring. I got this new form and I want to, how did Kasa put it last cycle…? I want to put it through its paces.” That reminded her- she needed to pack some snacks so she doesn’t get hungry. "'scuse me." She got up and headed for the kitchen.

           “Well, don’t stay out too long and don’t go too far. You may be the Silver Aerid, but you are still a young girl.” Sokuro rolled her eyes as she claimed some Sasa nuts for her own. They’re like Walnuts, except sweeter. Hela glanced away from her book for a second. She felt like they needed to have a talk. “Sokuro… before you leave, can we talk?”

           “Huh? Oh. Sure.” She put the nuts into one of her many pockets, then went back over to the director, sitting across from her. “What do you want to talk about?”

           “Well…” She put her book down. “It’s about your new form…”

           And in a second, Sokuro’s face went from mild excitement to distain. She had to deal with the other kids treating her differently, but now the director too? “What about it…?” A deadpan Sokuro asked. “Gonna start treating me like royalty too?”

           “No no no. Nothing like that. It’s just… well, I overheard you talking with everyone and I was wondering… you have no desire to abuse it, right?”

           “Of course I don’t. It’s just a new look for me. So it’s got a extensive backstory- big whoop. It doesn’t change me. If you are worried I’m gonna become another Xelut, don’t. I’m nothing like that creep. … I’m wilder then him, but I’m far from power hungry.”

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeTFvH… Beyond the Clouds by Audiomachine

 

           She heard her stomach growl, despite eating that big breakfast. Having a fast metabolism must've be a side-effect of being a Aerid now. No wonder the Chief ate so much. “I am, however, very hungry. Be right back.” She headed back to the kitchen to grab a biscuit on the counter. Stale but still edible. “Now, if you will excuse me, I’ve got some exploring to do.” She headed out the door in a light jog. “I’ll be back by sundown.” She said as she ran off.

           Hela warming smiled as she tapped her claws together. She moved so that she could lay down on the beanbag, giving her back a break. “Maybe I’m worrying over nothing.” She said as she patted her pregnant belly. “Sokuro isn’t the kind of girl who would let power corrupt her. She’s too kind hearted for that.” She looked to her belly. “Right, big guy?” She felt her baby kick around, almost as if in response.

 

           Out the door and out into the wide open world, Sokuro ran down the path from the orphanage towards the nearest dock. There was one right down the road. It was a small one, used for passengers, but no airships were docked at it, so it was the perfect place. Besides, she may get swarmed by her new "fans" if she tried it anywhere else.

           When her feet touched wood, her run slowed to a walk as scarfed down the biscuit. Spanning out before her was the wide, wide open world just waiting for her. She could feel the wind calling to her. She could feel her body aching to go out and fly.

           She took a deep breath as she slowly raised her arms up. She exhaled and brought them down. The breeze carried with it the scent of fresh flowers, ancient trees, the salt from the ocean, and the sense of adventure.

           “Ok…” She sighed on the exhale. “Time to see what I can do…” She clutched the locket close to her chest. “Wish me luck, mom…” She gave it a quick kiss before putting it back under her dress shirt.

           She walked to the very edge of the dock. Her feet were barely half on. She closed her eyes and spread her arms wide. She felt the wind brush up on her backside, signaling her to lurch forward and let gravity do the work, which she did.

           The air whipped past her as she fell to the ground far below. She could feel her hair and clothes whip in the rapidly accelerating wind. Before long, the scale began to glow, engulfing her in a shower of sparkles and light. She flipped around and saw the ground rapidly approaching her.

           Her tiny Ferid body fell though the treeline and her ginormous Aerid form came flying though with her wings flared wide, climbing a reasonable distance into the sky. Reaching a certain height, she gazed out at the landscape before her.

           She’d seen this part of the map more than enough times while scanning the horizon cycle after cycle, not to mention her first flight yesterday. So she banked right to head to the other side of the mesa, to see what’s over there. Obviously, there was gonna be more trees, but it was gonna be an unfamiliar landscape.

           It only took her a few seconds to reach around to the other side, a task that would’ve taken normal her a few minutes as a Ferid. She slowed to a crawl as she gazed out at the land before her. While part of the same continent, this is unknown land to her. What better way to try out her new Aerid skills? The mountains in the distance seemed to call to her.

           She flapped her wings, setting out towards the land below. Her wings caught the breeze, aiding her in her flight.

           With the wind guiding her, she passed by a flock of Falaas- the prettiest bird you will ever find on this planet. “Hello.” She said to one of them before heading down towards the ocean.

           Gliding along the coastline, Sokuro kicked up a lot of sand and water as she flew along the northern edge. She heard tales about the ocean and what lies within it. If Aerids could swim, she’d be the first to go and see what’s under there, but Aerids were terrible swimmers, so… not worth risking.

            A pod of Qulay’s bounced up from the ocean waters, catching Sokuro’s attention. Qulay’s are Dragenia’s equivalent to bottlenose dolphins- they are large, mammalian, grey, and one of the smartest species on the planet, but the larger and more nubile Qulay’s have nifty little tricks. For starters, they can talk. Kinda. They work like parrots- they can mimic what they hear. They can also last longer underwater before coming up for air. They have 3 dorsal fins, 3 eyes, two sets of mouths, and if they catch the breeze just right, they can fly! For short periods of time, of course- They are still aquatic creatures.

           Sokuro flew close to the water and held her front legs together like a hoop. Several Qulay’s jumped though it as if on instinct. She giggled in excitement- she had never done that before, but it was cool.

           Sokuro spread her forward legs wide as she glided along, turning ever so gently to float though the swells that hit the beach and crest back along the treeline. She felt so at peace and at ease- it was as if she was made to fly. There was no other feeling quite like it- the wind dancing past you while you do tricks you can only dream of doing in your sleep.

           Her reflection danced along the river she was now following. She reached down and dragged her claws along it, creating a large wake that added to what she was causing from her wings. Even with just a claw, she can still feel the cold water.

           She followed along the river for as far as she could go, flapping her wings every other time to keep herself aloft.

           Eventually, the river came to an end, draining out into a gigantic canyon that seemed to stretch for miles. She came to a halt to give it a look over. Natural stone towers jutted out of the large fog-covered canyon. She could see other waterfalls along the rim as well.

           She heard other Aerids talk about this place: Vorkuta Canyon. It is a forbidden place that no one should enter. It was said that this is the gateway to the realm of the dead and that if you come here at night, the spirits will drag you in to your death.

           Sokuro was never one to believe in superstitions.... though the towers did seem rather odd.

           She spread her wings wide, and then flapped them hard, heading into the crevice. She stayed above the fog. She can do many things, but seeing though such thick mist isn’t one of them.

           Flying as fast as she is able, Sokuro plowed her way through the gigantic gorge, pulling tight turns and close calls by the natural stone towers in a way to work up her skill. She may know a lot so suddenly and so soon, but she was still new to this new style of living.

           She turned onto her left side to make it more interesting, moving back and forth to avoid the stone towers. She had a few near misses, scratching her tail against some. She turned onto her right and pulled the same stunt. Her front left paw got hit, but nothing worth crying over- just a scrape.

           She dove under the fog, seeing how far the gorge went. She couldn’t see more than 3 feet in front of her, so this was immediately a bad idea. She moved to head up, but she was still going forward and nearly hit a tower. She moved to the right and was headed right for another one. She moved to the lift and same problem. This kept up for some time until she was finally able to get a break and get out.

           With a large flap of her wings, Sokuro burst up from underneath the fog, passing by a waterfall in the process that a certain someone was just starting to follow upriver. It made the person look back in puzzlement, wondering what the gust was.

           Reaching a certain height, she spun around, getting all the water she had accumulated under there off of her. She felt dizzy and stopped spinning. She still felt her eyes turning around and around and around. She closed them up and gently smacked her head, getting them back to normal.

           “That’ll work.” She heard her stomach growl big time. “Flying sure can make someone hungry.” She said to herself.

           She looked around and found a lake where she could take a quick snake break.

 

 

           Sparkles erupted from her before she reached the treeline. By the time she reached a tree, she was back in her Ferid form. She bounced down onto a sturdy tree branch, which was able to support her weight. It creaked, but held.

           “Mmm… 7 points.” She said to herself.

           She walked forward a little bit and saw she landed on a good branch. It had a spectacular view of the pond, glistening just right with the star overhead. She nodded in approval before reaching into her pockets to grab her snack.

           She felt the branch lurch a bit. She looked back at the base and came to the logical conclusion that transforming from a great height does not stop the speed or the impact, as the sturdy branch had a giant crack in it.

           “Uh-oh.”

           The branch gave way. She blinked as she hovered in midair for a second before finally falling. What she landed on wasn’t soft. It was hard- really hard.

           She should’ve watched where she was landing, for now her entire body was aching in pain from the fall. Landing on her front didn’t help much either. It made the scale and the locket press up into her, making it worse. “Oooowwwwiiiieee….” She whined.

           She pushed herself up off the ground, grunting in pain, when she came eye to eye with a strange boy wearing nothing but black and a strange pair of goggles.

           In just a few seconds, the two of them screamed loudly as they rapidly back away from each other.

 

 

 

           The two children screamed as they crawled away to other sides of the tree, each naturally freaked out by the sudden appearance of someone unknown. Both kids panted heavily as they stared each other down, wondering if the other was dangerous or terrifying.

           “(Holy crap…)” Bran thought. “(A Alien… This is… I just… holy crap, I made first contact!)” Despite being internally excited, somewhat, he was still freaking out. She may be proof there’s a civilization on this rock, but that doesn’t mean they were friendly yet. “(Ok, Bran… stay calm. Stay cool… this is an alien girl, albeit a cute one… who looks like a human with a tail… scientifically, that should be impossible…)”

           In Sokuro’s head, she was going though the same thoughts he was. “(Holy Crud, who the heck is that?! He’s… what the heck is he wearing?)” When she calmed down a bit, she looked him over. “(Where is his tail?! Ok, Sokuro… calm down… he doesn’t seem to be a bad guy. He’s as scared as you are.)”

           The two kids finally calmed down after panting for what felt like an eternity- in actuality 6 minutes- and lowered their guards. Whoever the other was, they seemed nice enough. But, what do they say? What COULD they say? This was unprecedented.

 

           Bran decided to go first, to see if he can establish a connection to this alien girl. After all, he just made first contact- that is huge in of itself. He may learn much about the civilization the girl is from. “Um… hi there…” He shakingly said as he nervously waved his hand. The girl tilted her head. “Um… I’m from the planet Earth. My name is Bran. And… and you are?”

           “Tala Ves?” The girl responded.

           And there’s the first problem: a new language. Back home, everyone had universal translators that would automatically translate whatever the other is saying. Thing is, they had hundreds of thousands of years to perfect it. This… is an entirely different language all together that the translator is gonna have to learn from scratch.

           “Uh-oh…”

 

           Sokuro tilted her head at the unknown language the boy was talking. He is clearly not from around here; his attire said that much, but that language is something else entirely. “What are you saying?” She asked him. The boy said something else, making her tilt her head. “(Maybe he was raised outside of the village? Maybe his parents grew him in the countryside? That would explain the weird clothes.)”

           The boy continued talking, gesturing to himself and pointing to the skies. Sokuro looked up, wondering what he was muttering on about, when she realized that he may not actually be from around here. “(Holy crud, he’s from the heavens! Is he a god? But… he doesn’t look like Velx. … from one of the heavenly bodies, maybe? Or… maybe beyond that?)” She looked back to him. “(He’s clearly no god.)”

 

           Tapping his fingers on the grass, Bran needed to do something that would try to make her understand where he is from. He needed to try something to get through. “Um... I’m not from this planet. I’m from the stars.” He pointed up to the sky. The girl looked up with him. “From another galaxy entirely.”

           The girl looked back to him, a bit shocked for words. He realized that her race may be very primitive in their ways of thinking and he may have just accidentally told her that he was a god of some kind. Whoops. He didn’t want to do that. This was gonna be a disaster waiting to happen.

           “Um… I’m no god. I’m just a kid, same as you.”

           The girl tilted her head in confusion. “Malavon kes? Isiuon non qala?”

           This was going nowhere fast and he didn’t know how to make it any better. “Ugh… this is great… this is just real great…” Bran groaned loudly as he feel backwards, giving up. He closed his eyes and hit his head on the ground. “I’m screwing up. This cannot get any worse.” He opened his eyes back up and saw the girl standing over him a little too close for comfort. “… Hello…”

         

           “(Why is he getting so mad?)” Sokuro thought to herself as he fell backwards onto the ground, saying something before hitting his head on said ground for some reason. “(Can he not understand me? I’m speaking perfect Nalish here.)” She stood up from the grass. “(Guess he can’t…)”

           She was certain she felt safe right now. The boy didn’t seem dangerous. If anything, he’s interesting. She walked over to him and bent down to look him in the face. He looks just like any normal Ferid, but again, no tail. All this is saying he is not from around here. He may not even be from this world.

           The boy opened his eyes and saw her standing over him. He said something which she didn’t understand yet again. “(Hmm… strange looking goggles. Never saw any with horns.)” Moving too fast for him to catch, she grabbed the goggles off his head and ran off towards the lake so that she can look through it. He shouted something that she didn’t understand and put the goggles on, wondering if they were special in some way.

           It was a lot more special then she realized. There were all sorts of… things she did not recognize. It was too much too fast. It was overloading her brain and making her eyes hurt. She took them off, blinking hard as she tried to get her vision back from all those lights.

 

           Bran snatched the goggles out of the girls hands while she was blinking hard. It must’ve been too much for her, seeing the technological prowess before her. She did still steal them, though.

           “Hey! These were my grandpa’s! You can’t just take them!” He shouted. She may not be able to understand his words, but she could still understand tones, right? He looked them over, wondering if she had damaged them in some way. “Hmm… seems you didn’t do any damage. But still, you can’t just take things out of people’s hands. That’s just rude.” He put them back on his head, making sure they were nice and snug.

           The girl made some weird noises, making him glance over her way. “Hmm? You say something?” The girl held her stomach as it growled again. “Oh… you’re hungry. Seems some things remain universal. Sorry, but I didn’t bring any--” She reached into her pockets and pulled out some nuts. “Oh, you have food. Huh… looks like a kind of walnut.”

           The girl popped some in her mouth while offering him some. “Sasa Veo?” She said. It was all she said.

           “Sasa Veo? Oh, that must be what they are called. Un… sure, why not?” He grabbed one to try and put it in his mouth. A flavor explosion of sweetness hit his taste buds. It was a bit too sweet for his taste. He held his mouth as he rushed over to the lake, dunking his head in it.

 

           Sokuro watched in puzzlement as the strange boy dunked his head into the water. “Huh… and I thought Matan was nuts…” She said to herself before popping the rest of the nuts in her mouth. “Must not be able to handle these.”

           She walked on over to him and squatted down beside him, wondering what in the world he is: he can’t handle Sasa nuts, he has no tail, his goggles are filled with strange lights, and his clothes are all… weird. “He’s not from the mainland. He truly must be from the sky. But I thought only the gods came from there…”

           The boy burst back up from under the water, gasping and panting for air. He said something in his strange tongue, which given the context, was probably not anything good. “What’s the matter, stranger? Can’t handle a little nut?” She giggled. The boy gave her a glare, almost as if he knew what she was saying.

 

           Bran panted for air as he tried to get the intense sweet taste out of his mouth. He must’ve swallowed a gallon of water, and it barely did anything. The water tasted weird as well. Could it be because it was clean? He never had clean water before. It tasted great.

           “Jakel Kon Sesesa? Majakon Qouk Veo?” The girl said with a giggle.

           Still panting, Bran looked over to her with a glare in his eyes. It is clear that she was mocking him for not being able to handle that nut. “Oh… shut up…” He grunted as he pushed himself away from the water and onto the grass. “Ugh… I’ve had candy that weren’t as taxing as that.”

           The two of them heard a rustle on the other side of the lake. They both looked that way and saw that strange deer creature from before saunter over to the lake to have a drink.

           Acting on instinct, Bran pulled out his journal, flipped open to a empty page, and began sketching, almost ignoring the alien girl.

           “Ah. Etia il Felm.” She said, pointing to the beast.

           Bran looked up at her with a raised eyebrow. “What did you call that thing?” He pointed to the beast to make sure.

           “Felm. Etia il Felm.”

           Based on the context, it’s likely she was saying that she was pointing out this creature. Probably along the lines of ‘Ah. It’s a Felm.’ “Felm, huh…?” He looked to the deer creature again. “That… sounds right.” He went back to drawing the creature in the journal.

 

           Sokuro watched as the boy drew into his journal that he had pulled out of nowhere- least she didn’t see him reach into his pocket and pull it out. She tilted her head so that she may get a look at how he was doing. From what she saw on the page next to it, he had also encounter a Yulak- that carnivorous elk monster. How he managed to get away from that thing is beyond her- from the stories she’s heard, they are… for lack of a better term, violent as violent can be.

           Other than that, she saw that he was a REALLY good drawing and sketch artist; he’s better than everyone back in the village. She watched him draw with precision and skill. She had to admit, she was very jealous that she isn’t able to draw this good, or… at all- they always come out baaaaaaad.

           The Felm heard a sound coming from its side of the lake and bounded off, disappointing the two kids. The boy was equally sad- he never got a chance to finish drawing; never even got past the head. He flipped his pencil around and erased all that hard work.

           Sokuro was disappointed that she wasn’t going to see the finished product- they both were. She did get an idea, however. She grinned wickedly as she grabbed his arm. “Follow me. I know what you can draw.” She dragged him away, despite his obvious protests.

 

           Bran stammered and sputtered as he was dragged through the woods by the girl. Branches hit him in the face and the mouth, gagging him with leaves and things he doesn’t want to think about. When he finally reached the end of this dragfest, he spit out everything he had accumulated in a effort to get the taste out of his mouth.

           “Col Ces?”

           He looked up and saw that the girl was gesturing to the large gorge he had come across before. It took him a few moments, but he was able to finally piece together what she was doing: She must’ve been impressed by his skills back with the deer creature and so she wants him to draw the gorge.

           “Un… cool idea and all, but…” He opened his journal up to the two page drawing of the gorge he did just a while ago. “I already did that.”

           It may’ve already been finished, but it still seemed to impress the girl. She snatched the journal- which he didn’t protest this time because what’s the use in a different language, along with the fact she seemed to be enamored by his drawings- and flipped through it, seeing other creatures of the planet, as well as plenty of creatures and strange vehicles and locations she did not recognize at all... none of them looked Dragenian.

           Then she reached the page of when he sketched the Andromeda Galaxy, the world’s three moons, and the many, many stars above. It may not have color, but it was nothing short of a masterpiece. She got another idea as she slammed the book shut, grinning to him. It unsettled him a tad that she is smiling like that.

           She tossed the journal back to him, he struggled to catch it as he kept bouncing out of his hands but he did, and ran to the side of the gorge. His eyes went wide as she stood on the very edge, sending him into freak out mode. “WHOA WHOA WHOA!!” She turned around to look at him. “What are you doing?!” Without a word, she jumped off, freaking him out big time.

           He ran to the edge to watch her fall in.

           Then the weird, spectacular stuff happened.

           Sparkles seemed to erupt from the girl as she fell, reaching all the way up to him. They were all rainbow colored and each looking like a distant star in the night sky. He reached out to grab one and did. He didn’t feel anything to it.

           Remembering the girl, he looked back down to find that she had vanished under the fog, but the sparkles kept coming. And then, the sparkles moved, coming up from different places from the nearby area. Was this part of the gorge or was the girl doing something, he wondered.

           He didn’t have to wonder long as a giant form whooshed out from below, creating a gust of wind that knocked him on his keister. He looked up and his mouth dropped in shock as he saw a giant silver Dragon flying around. It was so strongly built, yet moved with such grace and beauty... it was like nothing he had seen in a movie.

           The dragon glided along the gorge, moving with the wind and pulling all sorts of nifty tricks that would make a fighter pilot jealous. His mind raced with questions; where did the dragon come from? Is there more like it? Did the girl summon it? On that note, he remembered the girl and wondered what happened to her.

           The flying dragon broke that train of thought as it flew along the edge. It dove back down into the gorge near the waterfall. He jogged over to it to see if it was alright.

           The dragon flew up like a rocket, the waterfall cascading over it with such beauty. The flying beast burst up from the waterfall with its wings spread wide and its eyes closed. The sun hit the dragon just right, making it sparkle and shine like an angel.

           That dragon was the most beautiful thing Bran had ever seen. Time seemed to slow down as it burst up from the waterfall. There was no equal, none in his life. It looked so kind and gentle, too. It’s like he knew he wouldn’t get hurt, that he could trust it with his life.

           Sparkles erupted from the dragon as it spun around to dry itself. It moved back down towards him as the sparkles grew bigger and it grew smaller. The dragon soon disappeared when it landed, replacing it with the little girl.

           That sent a barrel of thoughts though his mind: The dragon was the girl?! The girl can change into a giant winged beast of mythology?! There's magic on this planet?!! That’s just… that’s just… “Amazing…” He gasped, breathless for words. “We picked the right planet…”

           The girl ran back over to him with her arms spread wide and with a wide smile. She stopped a few feet away from him as he looked at her with pure amazement in his eyes.

           “Sokuro.” She said.

           “Huh?”

           She held her hand over her heart. “Et fan Sokuro. Eotan?”

           Sokuro… that must be her name. It’s a interesting name, to say the least. He copied her movements and said the same. “un… my name is Bran. Err…et fan Bran.” Sokuro smiled brightly at him and he smiled back.

           This was the long start of a unique friendship.

 

           And here is where the destinies of two kids, seemingly brought together by chance but ordained by Fate, become one and the same. For in the hands of these two children shall rest Dragenia’s future and the Fate of all things.

6: Tales from Dragenia Intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlVVd9MVASQ Compass by Lady Antebellum

 

0:00

            The sun rose up on a new day, illuminating the large alien yet homely landscape that stretched out for miles upon miles that is Dragenia. The sunlight washed over two villages, separate in geography, personality, and make. One belonged to a native race, another to colonists from another galaxy.

            Sunlight peaked though two windows, hitting the cheeks of children and waking them up.

            Bran, a boy from another word, and Sokuro, a girl that can change into a dragon, both woke up, yawning loudly. Bran stretched his arms to his side and above his head while Sokuro stretched like a cat.

           

            In the bathroom of his homestead, Bran brushed his teeth, pondered what clothes to wear, brushed his hair, and slapped his goggles onto his head. Afterwards, he grabbed his journal, waved goodbye to his parents and his friend Dan, and ran out the door of his homestead, heading out to the forest that surrounded his colony.

 

            Meanwhile, Sokuro was throwing clothes out of her drawers, searching for her trademark clothing. One flip around and she found them, slipped them on effortlessly like a cartoon, and slid over to the bathroom where she spun around with a brush in her hands, cleaning up her hair in record time. She jumped over the stairs in the orphanage, grabbed a piece of toast off the dining table, and ran out the door.

 

            Arms stretched out, Sokuro ran down the path towards the village. She made a different turn and headed for the nearest dock for the various Airships that frequent her hometown. She ran up to the edge of the docks and slowed to a halt. She looked down off the edge and snickered.

            She spun around, with her back facing the horizon, and wrapped her arms around herself.

 

0:37

            She leaned backwards and let gravity do the work, pulling her off the docks and towards the ground far below. The scale she kept around her neck began to glow, producing rainbow-colored sparkles that surged outward, engulfing her. Inside, she went through a change.

            Halfway down, the sparkles shattered away like glass, revealing a building sized Silver Dragon in Sokuro’s place. She flipped forward and caught the wind in her outstretched wings. With a flap, she flew off towards the horizon, joining loads of other Dragons, or Aerids, like her on a flight.

            She spun down and picked up her fellow orphans- her fellow Ferids the twins Set and Aka, the neat-freak Eriod, and the tinkerer Leoi, and Gaharot’s, the prankster Vela, the short fused Vaset, the loose wire Buron, and the bookworm Zalet, her little brother Taled, Bran, and another boy dressed in royal clothing from the forest floor.

            She flapped up to join back with the other Aerids in flight. Four joined up with her, flying alongside her: the rude and white as snow Gellna, the twins- the bulky red Aerid Amz and thin green serpentine Temz, and the adrenaline junkie Alled, also green and serpentine.

            The five Aerid children flapped their wings, flying up to the skies above as far as the wind could carry them.

 

1:07.

            Back on terra-firma, the two vastly different civilizations were working to try and understand each other.

 

            The Ferid Chief of Sokuro’s village, Inoute, was trying to work a strange device to him, but a common desktop computer to us, with Crox’s, the colony’s ‘mayor’ assisting him. He pressed a button and caused a blackout among the colony, making him wince. She facepalmed hard.

 

            The Colony A.I., Arline, and the shipboard A.I. Brutus, listened to a village storyteller ramble on and on and on. Nearby, Bran’s father Leopold, a teacher, was fast asleep from how long it had gone on.

 

            Bran’s mother, Vivian, moved a local book up and down and on its side, trying her best to read. Hela, Vela’s mother and caretaker of the orphanage, slowly shook her head, grabbed the book, and flipped it around to where she could read it but Vivian still can’t.

 

            Arlyle, a large and brutish colonist that looked like a shark and a crocodile bred, shot a shotgun at a target, breaking holes into it. He smirked confidently as he stepped aside to let Ifil had a crack at it. Ifil aimed a special Gaharot crossbow at it, firing a bolt infused with special Dragenia magic. The target he was aiming at wasn’t just hit, but exploded into flaming bits. Ifil smugly smiled, leaving Arlyle stunned.

 

            Velx, one of the planet’s gods, watched in intrigue as Fayin, his personal handmaiden and a Gaharot, played something called a video game against Dan, Bran’s only human friend. Fayin kicked Dan’s butt though pure luck, causing his mouth to drop to the ground just like a cartoon.

 

            At nightfall, a movie projector played a certain and legendary sci-fi movie on the side of the mesa that Sokuro’s home village was built upon. As this was their first viewing, the natives to the planet, Velx included, watched in suspense, wondering what was going to happen next. The children had a good spot to watch it from. Bran offered popcorn and was instantly swarmed.

 

            At another time and another place, Sokuro gave a wink before jumping off a cliff edge and into a large gorge that stretched for miles below, her body glowing with sparkles again as she dove into the fog.

 

1:35.

            Emerging though smoke and fire, Dragon Sokuro dove though debris to headbutt a black monster that had the shell of a turtle, the wings of a dragon coming out of the sockets, a long neck like a brachiosaurus, and the head and frills of a Dilophosaurus. She flipped above and gave her opponent a tailwhip to the back of the head. Her foe spun around and breathed purple fire towards her, causing her to flip around and fly away, spreading embers behind her as she went.

 

            Flying alongside another Silver Dragon, Sokuro and her new friend were engulfed in sparkles as they spun like corkscrews, diving headfirst into a machine that gorged its way into the earth, causing it to shake, sputter, and explode small in places. Sokuro burst out though the top of the machine, reared her head back to gather energy, and fired a beam out of her mouth that gutted the digger, causing it to explode violently.

 

            Though the flames came Sokuro and a Golden-Brown Aerid, both of whom flew at top speeds towards a burning walled Ferid kingdom under siege by Gaharot catapults. They ignored all that and sped towards an airship above the battle, where a bearded Ferid watched. He raised his arm and blasted a bolt of energy towards the two. The beam split into two- one struck the Golden Aerid while the other hit Sokuro but she charged though it. Her eyes went from cherry-red to pure black as her wings glowed with runes as she breathed a beam attack back, causing a blinding flash of light.

 

2:05.

            A solitary arrow, simple in design but ultimately powerful in nature, slowly dropped to the ground, glowing in a rainbow aura.

            The arrowhead lightly tapped the ground, unleashing energy in all directions that formed into mesas, hills, mountains, oceans, trees, flowers, rivers, and homes.

            Another tap and everything evaporated into energy faster than you can say plot macguffen.

 

2:15

            Sokuro, still in her Dragon form, stared down at her foe, the bearded man from before but much much younger, in ripped clothes, and holding the arrow, enveloping himself in a rainbow aura. The two of them hovered above her home, which was in ruins and enflamed- the entire landscape was.

            Sokuro took to the air, her wings also enveloped in a rainbow aura. Her eyes turned black and runes appeared on her wings as she divebombed towards her nemesis.

            Her foe raised the arrow towards her, firing an enormous beam of energy out of it. The beam struck her but she dove though it. Energy encased her body as she tore her way though.

            The baddie stopped the shot and enveloped the arrow in a glow that resembled a sword.  Sokuro, wingless, fell towards him with the energy incased around her front right paw, closed like a fist.

            Both swung and both hit the other, unleashed a pure white ball of explosive energy that exploded outward to envelop the entire countryside. 

 

2:45.

            With the sun setting on their day, Sokuro, Bran, Taled, Vela, and the royal-looking Ferid, all tired from such a long day, napped underneath a tree on a hill that overlooked both Bran’s colony and Sokuro’s village.

 

             

7: Chapter 5: Failure to Communicate

Chapter 5

Failure to Communicate

2/8/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            When it comes to the art of communication, you must be focused, you must be straightforward and thorough, and you must be precise. And when it comes to dealing with a new and unknown language with a equally new and unknown race, it’s doubly so. When making a first impression with a new species, you must be calm and collected so that you don’t cause a unintended conflict.

            Bran is being neither of these things. Trying to talk to Sokuro is a lesson in patience because of the entire new language he has to learn. Luckily for him, Sokuro is in the same boat he’s in and she is not one to cause battles. Good thing they were kids and a miscommunication would result in only a laugh.

            Bran held his hands in front of his mouth, exhaling deeply as he tried to get though this as calmly as he can. Sokuro sat on the ground with her legs crossed like she was meditating with a big dopy smile on her face. “Ok… I’m calm now…” Bran exhaled though his fingers.

            The best thing he can do right now is try to do word association- hearing the words her race uses to describe a thing, and go from there. Plenty of things around here to do that with.  He’s a smart lad- he’ll pick up something soon, or the universal translator will beat him to it. He has one down already: et fan. Given the context, it obviously means ‘my name is’, but what letters mean what is another story. He’s also hoping to find some similar words that they somehow share. The odds of that are 1 in a trillion, but you never know. The Spanish and Italian languages both use Si for yes, so it’s not that far-fetched.

            And for those wondering, why isn’t the universal translator working? Well, it never encountered Sokuro’s language before and so, it needed a long time to process and analyze the language- learn all of its verbiage, its syntaxes, grammerisms- and put all that into one coherent package.

            Bran lowered his hands and took in a breath of fresh air. He picked his journal back up, which already had native words along with probable translation names, written in it, and went back to work. “Ok… from the top…” He pointed to the ground. “What is this called?”

            Sokuro looked at the ground and wondered if he was referring to the planet or just the dirt. Either way, it all had the same name. “Dragenia.”

            Bran tapped his pencil on his lips. “Dragenia, huh…? Sounds look a good name for a planet… or just the ground. Back home, we call this dirt or earth.” Sokuro tilted her head in expected puzzlement. He wrote down Dragenia, along with the two possible translations: the planet or the ground. “Ok, now that?” Points to the tree they were under.

            “Crozo.”

            He wrote that down. A leaf fell from the tree and landed in his journal- pretty much a perfect lead in. “And this?” He asked as he picked it up.

            “Crozon.”

            “Huh… just add an N for leaf, huh…” He wrote that down licitly split. “And for the pond?”

            She tilted her head again. “Po-oned?”

            Bran got up and walked over to the water’s edge. “You know, this thing?” He moved his hand around in a circular motion so as to indicate what he was talking about.

            She picked up on it rather quickly. “AAAAH!! Aquoza.”

            That sounded really familiar. “Aquoza?” He wrote that down, finally seeing what it is familiar to. “Oh… Aqua…”

            Sokuro bounded up and ran over to him. They finally found a shared word. “Zai. Zai! Alitlu koi Aquo.” She got down on her knees and cupped her hands to get some water. “Aquo.”

            Bran thrust his arm in with a cheer. They are making some progress after all. “Yes! A shared word… kinda. Different last letter, but close enough. I guess this isn’t impossible after all.” And based on what she said, Zai probably means Yes. They are making some surprising progress for first contact.  Here’s hoping he can continue the gravy train. “Ok, and for this?” He pointed to the stream that led out of the pond.

            “Aquozin.”

            “Hehe…. And the waterfall?” He pointed towards the gorge where the stream slowly morphed into a wide river that fed into a large waterfall.

            Sokuro had a feeling she knew what he was talking about. “Aquofai.”

            “And the giant gorge that it feeds into?” He spread his arms as WIDE as he can, almost to the point of popping off his shoulders. He stopped when they started hurting, rubbing his aching shoulders.

            It doesn’t take a genius to know what he was talking about. “Tokl.”

            Bran wrote that down quickly. “Tokl. Odd name for a gorge, but I guess we humans aren’t exactly doing the name any favors either.” He snapped the journal shut. “I mean, come on- gorge? That’s just a strange word.”

            “Malil fon qus?” Sokuro asked as she tilted her head.

            Bran brushed her question off. He wouldn’t be able to understand even if he wanted to. “Ah… it’s nothing.” He strode on over, rubbing his aching shoulders from the stupid act of stretching them as far as he could make them. He sat back down next to Sokuro with a exasperated grunt. Sokuro watched him like an animal- inquisitive and entranced. “Is it normal to stare at people like that?” She just blinked. “… Yeah… I don’t know what I was thinking asking that…” He exhaled sharply as he slowly closed his eyes.

            He was hoping he was making a good first impression on the native race: this is very important. This is first contact with a brand new civilization with their own style and culture- he didn’t want to mess this up so bad it causes a conflict. But even if he is messing up, he doubts the girl will care. She doesn’t seem like the one to cause trouble on a whim.

            Before he realized it, he had fallen asleep to take a nap. It wasn’t his intention, but it happened.

 

            Sokuro watched the stranger Bran fall asleep on the ground. The language he was speaking was a strange one, and he loves to mumble to himself by all accounts, but he seems to be smart and inquisitive too. They may find a way to speak after all. If he truly is from beyond the heavens, as he claims, then he must have some special contraption that can let them talk. Maybe.

            “What a strange, strange, strange kid.” Sokuro said to herself. She crawled over to him and took off the goggles again to take another look at them. She once again put them up to her eyes and saw all sorts of symbols and strange texts that hurt her eyes. She quickly took them off and blinked. “Wow… that screams weird.” She put them down on his chest and placed her hands on her knees. “What else does he have?”

            She naturally went for the journal he has. She reached into his pockets and pulled it out. The first 15 or so pages, she couldn’t read his language, though the words Jesse James appeared a lot of times. Maybe it’s something he can explain when they can finally talk.

            She flipped through the pages one by one until she got to the pictures, marveling at how detailed they were. Most were of places and things she had never seen before. “This must be from his home… Vee-Guy, I think he called it? Nah.” She flipped through it. Eventually the pictures of his home ended and those of Dragenia began, starting with the stunning starry night sky from their first night.

            “Wow… this is… really skilled. He even got the sizes of Argl, Vioe, and Zelaruse right. and he even put in the Great Light. Eeeeeeeeh….. I don’t think the Priests from the mainland will like that.” She shrugged. It wasn’t her problem and there’s no chance the priests will hear of it anyway.  She continued flipping though, passing by the animals and the glade of flowers, eventually coming across one that caught her eye:

            Her.

            Or rather, her Aerid form. It was drawn in such detail, grace, and beauty, even though he only saw it once and for only a couple of minutes. He must have amazing memory to remember all that.

            “Wow… so that’s what I look like to others…” She gasped breathlessly with a huge smile. “I am beautiful.” She closed the book with a grin. “Suck it, Gallna.” She put it away into his pocket and felt around for any other fun toys.

            She found a strange device that fit in the palm of her hand. It looked like a tablet, but it was much smaller and was see-though. There was a single symbol on it, one she couldn’t place. She inquisitively pressed it. That opened up a whole can of worms as more and more symbols appeared. That was too much strange for her to take right now, so she put it back away.

            Next was something that looked like food- it looked like a golden-brown bar that was longer then her finger. She sniffed it. It smelled good. That’s a good sign, but there is one thing on this planet that is very poisonous, yet smells divine. While worried, she took a tiny bit off a corner and ate it. It tasted… fine. Very different, but nothing worth gushing over. “Huh… interesting.” Knowing he would miss this, she put that back as well.

            Growing bored, she rested her head on her hand, continuing to look him over. “He has a lot of strange contraptions. Guess he really is from the heavens. But then why doesn’t he look like Velx? And I guess on that logic, why doesn’t Velx have the same strange devices? If they are from the same heavens, why don’t they share the same things? And I thought it was called Astrial, not Vee-Guy.” She scratched her aching head. All this is giving her a headache. “I wish we could talk normally. All this guessing is aggravating.” She fell back, stretching her arms outward like he was doing.

 

            The day seemed to have passed by in a blur, but with everyone working on something to get the colony up and running, time will slip past when you aren’t noticing. It was soon twilight upon this little island, the time of which was going to last an hour. Still plenty of time to get things done.

            “No… no…”

            Arline sorted though the last bits of the Scouts data and found most of it useless information that has no affect on the colony on the whole. Except for a single guard, everyone had left to go do their tasks to get this colony afloat and sustainable. If the data is right, they got a few months till winter; an especially brutal winter, by the sounds of it.

            “Not interested, not interested, not interested…”

            “All that is left is useless data?” The guard asked, having nothing better to do.

            “Useless to me, but valuable to someone else.” She stopped sorting and opened one up. “Like look at this one: the average… whatever these are…” She brought up a video of the carnivorous elk creature chowing down on a fresh kill. “… the average… those can eat up to 18 pounds of meat a day and it is VERY protective about its kill. VERY.” The image showed another elk creature come to steal some of the killers bounty, but it was chased off. Violently.

            “Yikes. Let’s hope nobody comes across one of them. At least not without a guard.”

            “But data shows it won’t attack anything unless it is provoked. As long as you keep your distance and respect it, it shouldn’t bother the lot of you. Unless it is hungry, in which case, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” She shouted in a over-the-top, dramatic manner.

            “Not funny.” The guard commented, setting his gun down on the table next to him. “Hey, what time is it?”

            Arline doesn’t really know. She forgot to attune the colony to the time of the average Dragenia day. “Un… hold on…” She quickly tuned the clocks of every pre-fab in the colony and herself to the time of the average day on this planet. “it is… currently 17:50. According to the data, nightfall is in an hour or two.”

            “Huh. … Do you think we should set up a curfew for the colonists? Just until we get everything ready and done?”

            “That is not up to me. That is up to the new mayor. Although personally, I think we should. Like you said, it’s just until we know we’re safe and sustainable. But again, you are going to have to take it up with the mayor.”

 

            Back in the village, things were already winding down for the day. The bazaar stalls were closing down as their shopkeepers removed their stock from the stands, torches were being lit for the night, and children had run out of steam from all the play they had. The guests from the festival and Ascension yesterday had gone back to their home villages, with the new Aerids choosing to fly home rather than take the airships.

            “I’m exhausted…” Taled drowsily mumbled as he and several other orphans made their way back to the orphanage. They were somehow roped in into helping take down the decorations for the festival from yesterday- they were still confused on how they actually got involved. Regardless, they are tired, exhausted, and hungry.

            “Me too…” Vela yawned. “Today was a long day….”

            “Is it bedtime yet…?” Set drowsing asked, barely keeping her eyes open.

            “Almost…” Aka mumbled. Her head leaned forward as if she was about to fall asleep while walking, but each nod brought her back to the land of consciousness.

            Vela yawned again, rubbing his tired eyes. “I haven’t seen Sokuro all day. Where the heck is she?”

            “She must be out flying.” Taled said, pinching his arm to stay awake. “She’s been boasting how when she got that scale, she was gonna go out flying all day.”

            “She wasn’t bluffing… yaaaaawn… she still could’ve checked in to help us bring everything down! I mean, me carrying a used pot filled with stew- what were they thinking? I could’ve broke my claws!”

            “As if the chief was gonna ask her for help…” Set said. “She’s special now; no way she’s going to do menial tasks anymore.”

            “So we’re stuck with her chores for the rest of our lives…” Vela groaned as he lowered his head and hands in exasperation. “Ugh……” Taled patted him on the back, albeit softly as he was still exhausted. Though it is rather curious that she hasn’t come home all day to check in on everyone. And she never misses a meal. She may’ve lost track of time or ran into some trouble or encountered many a different thing…

            … Such as a unknown and weirdly dressed boy who claims to be from beyond the stars.

 

            A little bug, no bigger than a mosquito, landed on Bran’s nose. It buzzed around, making him snort and scrunch his nose as it tickled him. It buzzed over to his eyes. The noise woke him up from his unexpected nap, prompting him to swat it away. The bug was persistent and kept coming back around. He swatted at it every time it came around to annoy. He grabbed a branch with branching sticks and used it as a makeshift flyswatter. After several swings, including one that spun him around to face the treeline, he finally nailed the sucker, squishing it on the ground.

            “Heh… take that, creep.” He snickered to himself. He tossed the stick down as the wind gently blew towards him.

            The wind carried with it a voice that was both angelic and familiar. Bran heard it and looked around. Seeing nothing to his left and right, he turned his head to see that the singing was coming from Sokuro, who was sitting at the water’s edge.

            “♪… Ofa’ea, alofuta, koshoati… Mav olowa oweyati… moye shonte, xaouta quoa…♪”

            Her voice was nothing short of heavenly. It was the most beautiful singing Bran had ever heard, and he can’t speak the language yet. He picked himself up off the ground and walked over to her. Sokuro heard him approaching and stopped singing to look back.

            Feeling bad for interrupting her, he stammered as he spoke, not that she would understand what stammering means. “Eh, sorry for interrupting, but… that voice. Wow… I never heard anything so mesmerizing and gorgeous.” Sokuro tilted her head in response, still not understanding a thing he said. “Of course, you don’t understand me, so what I’m saying may be absolute gibberish.” He sighed in aggravation. “How long does it take for a translator to start working…?”

            Sokuro got up off the ground and, while not understanding the situation, saw that he was dim and gave him a pat on the shoulder for good measure. “Zai, Zai. Alalout koume’kason el’mol.”

            He has no clue what she just said, but it was probably works of encouragement… or it could be some diss. She looked up to the sky and saw something that freaked her out. Her eyes went wide and her hair stood on end. “AAAAAAAAH!!!! ZOHO KIOTA!!!”

            Now it was Bran’s turn to tilt his head in confusion. “What?” He looked in the direction he was looking and saw the setting sun. Wait, that’s it. The setting sun. She must have a curfew where she lives or she had some tasks she totally forgot to do because they met or her parents don’t like her staying out late- all viable reasons for her to freak out. “You need to go home?”

            “AAH!!! Aofu Hela heitan gonoro laset! Jouui qon houoa hoso!!” She got up and moved around rapidly. “Ilifo souiset! Chakan ko! Inoute chaoeut foon casem ete!! Alaa xouta Home boata godoh sasoem!!”

            For the most part, Bran ignored her because, again, can’t understand her. He needs to head home himself because who knows what lurks out here at night. He got ready to go when she said Home. He doubts that’s a word in her language. That is a word from Earth and she said it. That can only mean one thing: the translator was starting to do its job. One word is better then none; it is a start. “Wait, what did you say?”

            Sokuro’s scale started to glow and she was ready to jump up into the air but didn’t. she turned around and looked at Bran. “Lalou heouy fogodo chask?”

            “Huh?”

            “Lalou heouy Tomorrow?”

            It did it again. This time with Tomorrow. The Translator really is started to work. It’s a slow slog, but it’s finally starting to work. He gave her a nod, hoping that was universal.

            It was and she smiled. “Esa.” The glow around her grew brighter as sparkles began to emanate out and engulf her. “Ekala fogodo chask et, Bran.” She was completely enveloped as she turned and jumped into the air. She changed back into her Dragon form, which he was able to piece together though context to be called Aerid here, and took off, heading away at high speeds. He watched her to see the direction of her home.

            He put his hands in his pockets and exhaled sharply. “Wow… what a day. Encountered a native, talked with her, and probably made a friend out of her. And I can’t even understand her.” He softly chuckled to himself. “Go me.” He turned around and retraced his steps to find his way back home. “Nobody is going to believe this.”

 

            Bran ran headlong into the village as night had fallen on their part of the world, worried that some nocturnal beastie was hot on his trail, ready to turn him into dinner. That was far from the case as no monster was chasing him. Thanks to this colony, most of the animals had run off to new parts of the forest. The colonists were still up, but done with their tasks for the day and were winding down to kick back and relax.

            He ran though the colony, attempting to find Arlye or Crox, specifically Crox. She needs to know about the girl from the local civilization he met. He would tell his parents, but they aren’t that important in the hierarchy of the colony currently. He looked high and low for the two of them.

            He was able to find Crox, her husband Belfast, and Arlye both as they left the command center, both tired after a long days work getting things together. About half of the colonists have suggested names for the new colony and Crox was gonna have to look though them all to chose the best.

            “Mrs. Crox! Mr. Toombs!” Bran called out as he ran towards them like a train.

            “Hmm?” Arlye responded, turning his head to see the kid run to them. “It’s that kid from yesterday.”

            “The one who found the Scout?” Crox asked, actually forgetting that he was the one who found it. It was that kind of day.

            Arlye nodded in confirmation. “Yeah.” Bran caught up to them and panted heavily. “What’s with the shouting, kid?”

            Bran held up a single finger so that he could catch his breath. HE ran a long ways and his lungs were about to burst. “Hold on… just gimme a… whew…” He caught his second wind and wiped his mouth. “Sorry… I just… I needed to tell you something really important.” He held up a finger again to catch his breath again.

            “We’re kinda in a rush here, kid.” Belfast commented.

            “Sorry.” Bran panted. “But this is really important.” He finally stood up straight, holding his chest as he did. He never ran that fast in his life and he doesn’t want to do it again. “I met a native to the planet!”

            “You did what!?!” The three of them exclaimed in pure shock. “There are people on this planet!?!” The three exclaimed again. Bran nodded. He had no reason to lie about this.

            “You are sure?” Crox asked.

            “Yes, I am sure!” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his journal. “Her name is Sokuro. She looks like all of us, except she has a lizard tail.” He flipped though it to get to the right page. “She’s a really cute girl and… hehehehe…. Here’s the kicker.” He found the right page and showed it to them. The three of them gazed at it and saw the picture as he said; “She can turn into a Dragon!”

            “A Dragon!?” Crox and Belfast exclaimed. Aryle was not so impressed, nor was he believing this story. This just sounds too fake and far’fetched.

            “Yes, a Dragon! A silver one, too! She--” Arlye chuckled loudly to himself, holding his hand to his head and slowly shook his head. “She… why are you laughing?”

            “Because this sounds so made up.” Arlye laughed. “I mean… come on… a girl who can turn into a dragon- a beast that has never existed ever? I mean, come on! That just sounds too fantastical to me.”

            “But it’s true! She can change forms at a whim with a special scale she wears around her neck!”

            “Further proving my point.” Arlye commented. Bran gave him a grimaced scowl, getting pissed off that he wasn’t believing him on something truly happened.

            “Did you talk to her?” Crox asked, believing his story. He didn’t seem like a kid who would lie to get attention, and he did help when he found the Scout.

            “… Kinda. The universal translator couldn’t translate her speech, so everything that came out of her mouth was gibberish. Translators can eventually translate a new language if it’s around it long enough to learn all it needs to, right?” The three leaders nodded- that is how Translators work. “Anyway, we tried to talk, but I couldn’t understand her and she couldn’t understand me. We spent all day trying to work out several words and their meanings. I got some.” He flipped to the page he had the ‘translated’ words on. “I learned that we actually share a word: Aqua. Though they pronounce it Aquo, but it has the same meaning: Water. I learned that Zai means Yes, Crozo means Tree, and I think this planets name is Dragenia. Don’t quote me on that, but I think that is what this world is called.”

            Crox and Belfast were hanging onto his every word while Arlye can’t take another second of this drivel. “This is sounding more and more like a fantasy book by the minute.” He cynically commented as he walked away.

            “And what if he is telling the truth, Arlye?” Crox asked. “What if the boy really did make first contact with a native race? It could be huge.”

            “Emphasis on Could, Crox. He COULD be right and telling us about some magical girl who can turn into a fire-breathing lizard. Maybe the boy did meet someone out there, but unless he shows actual proof that the Scout idiotically failed to find, I ain’t buying it. Heck, if he brings the actual girl back, I’ll give him my prized possession. Until then, I ain’t believing a lick of this.” He walked off, ready to end this day and head to bed. But first, Dinner, and he smells stew coming from the Argalith side of the colony.

            Crox stammered in her response, looking back and forth between Bran and Arlye. While the prospect of meeting new forms of life is exciting, and at the same time terrifying, it isn’t something that can be easily accepted just because some kid said he met one and drew a picture. While she does believe him, she has to agree with Arlye: without proof, there’s nothing she can do.

            “Agh! Arlye!” She ran after him. “We’re not done talking!”

            Bran and Belfast stood where they were, with the kid mystified that nobody believed him. He has proof: The drawing he drew. Why isn’t that proof enough? “Bu… I did meet a alien.” Bran whimpered. He looked up to the captain of their ship. “You believe me, don’t you Mr. Crox?”

            “Kid, I have seen everything there is to see back in the Milky Way. I have seen every form of life imaginable, from beautiful to disgusting, from mesmerizing to horrifying, and from intriguing to downright disturbing, but never in all my years have I seen something like you described: a humanoid transforming into a giant, powerful monster.”

            Bran felt dejected and depressed. Nobody believes him at all. He made history today and he’s being rejected. “… So you don’t believe me either.”

            Belfast sputtered out a exhale as he put his hands in his pockets. “… I believe that you met a native girl out there, but I don’t believe that she is able to turn into a Dragon. That’s just impossible.” He brought one hand out and thought for a moment. “… Did you eat any of the local flora?”

            He doesn’t know what flora means, but he did eat something. “Yeah… the girl offered me a nut. I ate it and it was extremely salty. I dunked my head in a nearby pond to get rid of that taste.”

            “Then maybe that was it. Either the nut or the pond had some hallucinogenic that made you hallucinate her turning into a Dragon. Don’t forget, this is a brand new world to us. There’s no telling what local food will do to anyone who eats it.”

            “… well the girl is able to eat and drink without problems.”

            Not wanting to leave his wife alone with Arlye, knowing that this recent conversation was gonna bring up a argument, he started off to them, turning around to walk backwards and finish his conversation. “She’s a native to the planet- of course she has some immunity to it.” He spun back around and ran after the other two, knowing that they must be close to blows.

            Bran miserably lowered his head and rubbed his forehead. “Figures… nobody will ever listen to a kid…” He kicked a pebble away. “If I was a grownup, they’d listen.” He started for home. “Maybe there was something in the nut or the water that made me hallucinate, but hallucinogenics don’t last that long… right? besides, I took a nap, so the second time was very real….” He clutched his hands and raised his head back up. “They want proof? Fine. I’ll get them proof.” He pulled out his communicator and turned it on. “All I need is a camera.”

 

            Night had fallen by the time she returned. Sokuro flew up the side of the mesa, slipping past between a docked Gaharot airship and the docks. The torches had been lit up, illuminated the village in a reddish-orange glow. She made her way to the orphanage, which had a single torch lit up on the front.

            Sparkles erupted from her Aerid body as Sokuro made her approach. Her Ferid form fell out of the display of lights as she made it on the footpath. She ran up the path, eager to tell everyone what she had done.

            “Taled! Hela!” She exclaimed as she burst through the door, skidding along the floor until she came to a halt. She came at a really good time; they had just sat down to supper. “You aren’t gonna believe what I just--” Her shouting stopped when she saw they had quests: Chief Inoute and Ifil. “C-Chief Inoute?! What are you doing here?”

            “We came looking for you, actually.” Inoute explained as he walked over to her.

            “Me? Why?” That was a dumb question. “Oh. Right. Because I’m Silver, right?”

            “Pretty much, yes.” He pulled out a partially written letter out of his back pockets. “Tomorrow, I’m gonna be sending this letter to King Amaron in Bokural, telling him that a new Silver Aerid has appeared: You.”

            The King… she never met him before but she heard stories. He’s said to be wise and kind, even to Gaharots, who are persecuted and enslaved on the mainland. He’s very pro-abolishment of the slave trade and is rumored to be supporting the Janissary resistance movement in secret. That last part is false, but it would be nice if it was true. Even so, sending a letter to him about her is a bit… big for her tastes. As for Bokural, the kingdom he rules, she never visited, so she has no idea what it is like. But if it’s anything like Roko Harbor, the only territory the mainland kingdoms and republics have on their slice of the world, then it must be busy.

             “The King… why do you need to tell him about me?”

            “Because you are a Silver Aerid. You don’t affect only our humble village, but the entirety of Dragenia. You are more important than you think.” Sokuro rolled her eyes at that remark. Of course she knows she’s important- they keep reminding her! “Besides, word will reach him eventually. You can’t exactly hide something as grandstanding as a Silver Aerid from sight. I’d rather we stay on his good side and not grovel to use the port to the mainland.”

            All honesty, Sokuro doesn’t want him to send that letter. Having the people back home know of her being a Silver Aerid is one thing- these people, she can deal with because she knows them. The mainland… and the king… she knows nothing about them. She can’t think of any positive outcome of her being revealed to the rest of the world: so many will come just to look at her, have her perform some weird miracle or two, and hound her at every turn. She doesn’t want that. But… like he said, word will spread. There were a lot of people at the ceremony yesterday and some were from the harbor, like Gallna. Word will reach the mainland sooner or later. At least she’ll have 8 months to herself before the crowds start pouring in.

            “Then……. I guess you better tell him.” A hesitant Sokuro winced. She didn’t want to say it, but she had to. “I…give you… permission, if that is why you were here?”

            It wasn’t. “Good.” Inoute walked towards the door with Ifil not far behind. “I’ll talk to you later, Sokuro.” He walked out and Ifil closed it behind him.

            Sokuro felt uneasy about all this. Just a couple of days ago, she was a orphan nobody paid no mind to. Now, she’s the center of attention with the entire world watching her. This was not the sort of attention she wanted.

            Buron put down her Gea leg and wiped her mouth. “So Sokuro, what did you want to tell us?”

            “Huh?” She turned her head towards the table, completely forgetting why she was here. The chief really caught her off guard.

            “Remember, you ran in like a maniac just a few minutes ago?”

            “Oh. Right. Right.” Her energy from before was all gone when the Chief brought all that up. No sense worrying about the future now. That’s months away. She walked over to the table and took her seat. “I, un… met someone during my first flight.”

            “Really?” Vela asked. “Who?”

            “Some boy I didn’t recognize.”

            “ooooooooo.” The girls of the orphanage all went. “Someone’s got a boyfriend!” They teased.

            “I do not!” Sokuro exclaimed. “I’m too young to have one. Besides, the boy is… weird.”

            “Weird how?”Eriod asked with a piece of Utk- their version of celery but a dark purple color- sticking out of his mouth.

            How can she describe what she saw? She’s not even sure she can. “Well… he dressed weird and has a odd name too: Bran, I think it was. He was in all black and had these strange goggles that had a lot of strange symbols and drawings, along with some paper-thin tablet.”

            “Was this Bran from the mainland, then?”

            “No. Because he spoke a language I don’t know.”

            “Huh?!” Everyone at the table, except the more civilized Hela, went.

            “He spoke words that I don’t know and used names I didn’t recognize too, like Ea-arteh. We pretty much spent our first meeting trying to figure out how to talk to each other. I think we share some words and meanings, though. He seemed happy when he found out what water meant.”

            “If he’s not from the mainland and doesn’t speak basic words, where is he from then?” Set asked before drinking her milk.

            Sokuro patted her fingers on the table. There was no way they were gonna believe this one. “Well… according to him… he’s from a place called Vee-guy and it’s…” Points up towards the sky though the skylight. “…all the way out there.”

            Everyone at the table looked up towards the night sky and then shared strange, perplexed glances with each other. “But… that’s impossible.” Zelet commented. “Nothing exists past the Heavenly Bodies and the Grand Light- there’s just no way. All that is out there is a endless abyss where lost souls wander for eternity.”

            “Tell that to him.” Sokuro replied, knowing that this was unrealistic. “But he insists he’s from beyond the Grand Light.”

            Hela daintily pierced a piece of her steak with her fork and put it delicately in her mouth. “Are you sure this wasn’t a kid who was playing some prank on you? He couldn’t just been speaking gibberish and sprouting nonsense to yank your chain.”

            Sokuro sighed as she rested her head on her right hand. “But that’s the problem. He seemed genuine with everything he said and did, and genuine puzzled when he couldn’t understand me. And those goggles and the tablet… they weren’t made anywhere on Dragenia, I can tell you that much.”

            “… and how do we know you aren’t playing a trick on us?” A skeptical Aka asked. “You are wild, after all.”

            Sokuro was gonna argue that, but she had a point. She doesn’t exactly have any proof that what she saw and did happened. She could be telling them a story she made up, for all they know.  “I… guess there isn’t a way to make you believe me.” She said dejectedly. “But I swear on Velx I’m not making this up.” She turned to her little brother. “You believe me, don’t you Taled?”

            Taled gulped down what he had in his mouth but was hesitant to reply. She wasn’t going to like the answer. “I want to, but… well… you are a known prankster and this could be another one.”

             Ever her own brother doesn’t believe her. That’s a hard blow to the feels. “I… see.” She got up from the table. “I’m not feeling hungry… I’m heading to bed.” She headed away from them and up the stairs.

            Everyone felt bad as she headed up the stairs. “… What if she is telling the truth?” Vaset whispered to the others.

            “Then we’ll buy her the most expensive gift at Roko Harbor when her birthday comes around as a big, giant apology.” Vela said. “And you are all pitching in.”

8: Chapter 6: Budding Friendship

Chapter 6

Budding Friendship

2/9/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

 

            Bran returned to the pond where he and Sokuro first met, this time with a camera to catch proof that she does exist and to prove that she can transform into a dragon. People will believe him because he has no experience in programming and/or special effects work- he’s just a kid. They’ll believe the video to be genuine.

            He climbed up the tree where Sokuro crashed down on him and taped a portable camera to it. It was the size of a typical webcam and has enough memory for up to 7 hours of recorded footage.

            “That outta do it.” He shook it around a few times to make sure it was in secure and wouldn’t go flying off. It was secure. He removed several leaves out of its way to make sure it had a great view of the pond and its area. Before dropping down, he pressed the button on the back to insure it recorded. The red light came on.

            With it set up, Bran hung off the branch and then dropped down, landing softly on the forest floor below. “Now to just wait for the dragon girl…”

            He waited for several minutes, but for a kid, it felt like an eternity. He was growing impatient and jittery. “Sooooookurooooooo.” He called out. His voice echoed over the trees, but it didn’t travel far enough for anyone to here. He put his hands to his mouth and put them together like a megaphone. “SOKUROOOOOOOO!!!” That one was loud, but still not as far. Bran lowered his hands with a pout. “She must live farther than I had thought.”

            With nothing else better to do, he sat down, opened up his backpack, and began taking out several items he had brought from the colony. He may be trying to obtain proof, but he’s still trying to learn about her and this world, and he figures she wants to do the same thing about him.

            A pair of inquisitive eyes looked at him from the same tree he was just on. It watched him take everything out of his backpack, wondering what strange treasures they may be. She wasn’t going to have to wonder long as the branch she was on gave out, sending her crashing onto the forest floor.

            Again.

            Fortunately, she didn’t land on him this time.

            Unfortunately, she landed flat on her back, hard, which hurt like hell.

            Sokuro screamed in pain after that hard landing. When the pain subsided, she panted heavily. “Malutz akia tote quins. {That tree hates me, I’m sure of it.}” She groaned and whined from the pain. She opened her eyes and saw Bran standing over her. “… Kalen. {Hello.}” She said with a whine and with a bare smile.

            “That tree does not like you.” Bran commented. The odds of her understanding him after a day are slim to none, but the more times he speaks and she speaks, the faster the universal translator can… well, translate. Right now, he’s hoping that she can understand the syntaxes and the tone of what is going on. Some things must be universal, right? He helped her up off the ground. She bent forwards, her back in a hump. “Cause that fall was nastier then last time.”

            She took a step but it made her back hurt. “AAAH!!! Ikesz! {My back!}”

            Maybe getting her to stand up wasn’t such a good idea. “… maybe you shouldn’t move for awhile.” He set her back down on the ground gently. “You wait here. I’ll go get my things.”

            Sokuro sat onto the ground and slowly laid down on her back. Back injuries are nothing new to a Ferid- comes with becoming a Aerid. Wings do sprout out of their back, after all. But this- this was her fault. It’ll heal in time, but she won’t be walking anytime soon. Fortunately for her, Ferids have incredibly durable bodies and nign-unbreakable bones, and that holds triply true for their Aerid half. They could fall off the side of a mountain, tumbling down the side, hitting every outcropping and tree on the way down in painful ways, and roll into a field of cacti, and they wouldn’t be broken. It would hurt like hell until the person in question was healed up, but at least nothing would be broken or maimed.

            Benefits of being an alien on another planet.

            She grunted as she rested her head. “Matal, Sokuro. Matal… ifey non kooaut’koka izou meo zey nofala. Ugh… motokozola iten toge. {Nice going, Sokuro. Nice going. Second day with the strange kid and you end up hurting yourself. Ugh… I’m not gonna hear the end of this back home.}”

            Bran walked back over and put his backpack down to the side. “If you want, I could give you some pain killers. It would help with the pain.” He pulled out a bottle of the stuff. Back on Vega, he would suffer these terrible headaches brought on by the pollution in the air. He hasn’t suffered those in the 3 days on the planet, so that is a good sign. “Hmm… that was a nasty fall you took…” He shook two pills out and gave them to her. She had no clue on what to do with them- she never saw pills before. No one on Dragenia had.

            She looked up with him, wondering what she should do. “I guess you never saw pills before. Mmm… here’s hoping your lot knows charades. Un… you swallow them without chewing. Un…” He wasn’t in any pain, so he needed something for an example. He reached into his bag and pulled out a granola bar with chocolate chips. He took one of them off to use as an example. “Like this.” He placed the chip on his tongue. He brought it back into his mouth and swallowed it without chewing, sticking his tongue out after for an example.

            Somewhat understanding what he was talking about, Sokuro shrugged and stuck the pills into her mouth. She swallowed them whole and instantly regretted it- they felt rough going down, but down they went. She coughed as they went- a new experience usually has some negative impact. The pills went into action the moment they hit stomach acid, dulling the pain quickly. She sat up and coughed into her fist.

            “Agh… Makolet… cough cough… Kemem zo losa’it. “{Agh…. Crud… cough cough… that was the worst thing I ever ate.}” She then noticed that her back was not hurting anymore. It felt better. “Huh… ofo mekium ishen. Maja pon kofeta zes. {Huh… my back feels better. Those things must’ve been magic.}” She turned to him, acting like he performed some sort of miracle. “Tatalo’seost?! {How did you do that?!}”

            He held up the bottle of painkillers and shook it like a rattle. “Pain killers. Perfect for headaches, muscle aches, sore throats…” She reached out to grab it, but he pulled it away. “No no no. You aren’t getting anymore.” He put the bottle away. “I got something better for you…” He paused for a moment. “… assuming you aren’t deathly allergic to chocolate like dogs.” He pulled out that same chocolate granola bar he pulled that chip from for the example. Well, technically, it was a oatmeal bar with a chocolate drizzle and chips.

            He tore it in half and handed half of it to her. She took it and looked at it, wondering what it is. “It’s food. … well, a snack, but you can’t understand me, so who really cares.” He held it up to his mouth. “You eat it.” He took a bite.

            While he seemed to enjoy it, Sokuro was a tad unsure. She sniffed it first to see if it was close to edible for her. She didn’t smell anything bad. She took a bite. Her eyes went wide at the whole menagerie of tastes going on inside her mouth. “Vuliata! Coshosho imei sei zeoli! {Whoa! This is the craziest thing I have ever tasted!}” She ate the rest of it.

            “You seem to enjoy it.” Bran commented as he tossed the rest of his into his mouth. “And that’s just a snake. Wait till you have the big stuff like steak and chicken. …. Well, Earth cow steak and chicken- not sure what you have here that passes for it.” He pursed his lips to the side. “Maybe that deer…” He muttered to himself. He shook his head to get back into the now. “Sorry for that. Un… where were we? Oh…”

 

            Crox sat in her little mayoral office, located at the top of one of the stacked pre-fabs. Not her choice, but at least it gives her a good view of the colony. She was looking at the names the colonists suggested when she heard a knock at the door. She knew who it was- she sent for them. “Enter.” She called out.

            The door opened and Bran’s parents, Leopold and Vivian, walked in, wondering why they were called up to the mayor’s residence after just several days here. They didn’t do anything wrong. Crox looked up and saw that they were indeed here. “Ah. Mr. and Mrs. Shkirando. Come in.” She put the tablet she was looking at down and got up. “Please, take a seat.”

            Curious and a bit cautious, the two of them sat down in the chairs in front of Crox’s desk. “Why… are we here?” Leo nervously asked, worried he may not like the response. “It’s only been 3 days- how could we be in trouble?”

            “Nobody is in trouble. Not yet anyway. No… it’s about your son, Bran.”

            “What did he do?” Vivian asked with worry.

            “Nothing. In fact, he’s been a help. He found our Scout- he sat on it to draw a animal, but he still found it- but that’s not why I called you up here. Has he been… known to exaggerate things or play things up higher than they actually are?”

            The two parents looked at each other. This doesn’t sound like their kid. “Un… no.” Leo replied. “He’s usually soft-spoken, private, keeps to himself. He’s not a social person- he keeps to himself and just draws away in that family heirloom of ours or plays video games. Oh, and he is a thinker, that kid. If there’s a problem, he’ll usually work to find a solution, even if it takes all week to do so. He’s smart for his age.”

            “He’s also not one to exaggerate.” Vivian chimed in. “He’s truthful and doesn’t like very ofter. Then again, he barely talks to people who aren’t us or his friend Dan. They’ve known each other since kindergarten and he’s… a bit strange. But he’s not the point.”

            “What is the point, anyway?” Leo interrupted. “Why did you call us up here to talk about our child?”

            Crox pursed her lips to the side as she tapped her index fingers together. “Well… last night… he told me and Arlye that claims to have made contact with a girl native to a planet. And apparently, she can transform into a dragon.”

            “He did what?!” His parents shouted in a mixture of astonishment and surprise. “Our son?” Leo added. Crox nodded.. “Our socially reclusive son… made first contact with an unknown alien race that can allegedly turn into powerful monsters from Earth’s mythologies?”

            “That is what he claims.”

            Leo and Vivian looked to each other with such wide smiles, which freaked Crox out a bit- they were too wide for her taste- but they soon realize that she has kept saying he’s claiming he did. They are happy that Bran has branched out of his comfort zone after just a few days on this new world, but it seems that, to the new leadership in town, he’s crying wolf. “Wait… you don’t believe him, do you?” Vivian asked.

            “I believe that he did encounter a native to the planet- a friendly one by his words - but her transforming into a dragon; that just sounds too fantastical to me. Back in the Milky Way, no creature was able to transform in such a manner, especially into a creature from myth.”

            “Well, surely your husband encountered a race that was capable of doing such a feat back in the Milky Way.” Leo suggested. “He’s been alive for, what, 320000 years?”

            “Around there, and no, he has not. The Argalith can grow spikes out of their back, elbows, and knees when they are enraged. Kitsune’s can grow fangs and their eyes glow red. The Hesk can use ESP to move around in spheres of water. But all that is body manipulation- he’s suggesting she transforms into a entirely different race all together. He’s not in trouble, but again I must ask: does he have a habit of telling tall tales?”

            “No.” Both parents said.

            “But… I do see your point.” Vivian said. “It’s physically impossible. Maybe that girl gave him something that made him hallucinate her becoming a dragon.”

            “So what happens now?” Leo asked. “If he is telling the truth and interacting with a alien, do you want us to talk to him about it and get him to stop?”

            Crox slowly shook her head. “No. I still believe he did encounter a native to the planet. Therefore, he has instigated first contact with a new race. Given that they are both children, as he claims, then the odds of a miscommunication or a mess-up with some sacred tradition that can lead to a conflict with the neighboring natives are slim to none. Kids don’t care about stuff like that, do they?” Both parents nodded- kids never do sweat the small stuff. They laugh it off and go on to the next thing. “So for now, Bran is technically our ambassador to the native races… if he is telling the truth, that is.”

            Leo and Vivian felt uneasy about all this. Having their son be some cultural ambassador to a native race they know nothing about has them on edge. What if the girl isn’t friendly at all and just playing him along? What if someone bad from the girls… wherever she lives follows her and attacks? What if Bran slips and hurts himself? This just felt wrong. “And… what if he is telling the truth?” Leo asked.

            “Then we keep this between us. We don’t want to cause a ruckus if there are aliens near us until we are 100% certain. Everyone suspects we will run into aliens on this world, but if they learn they can transform into fire-breathing, high-flying, hard-to-kill tanks of devastation, that would frighten them, especially those who don’t know anything about Earth mythos, like the Adlez. Agreed?”

            Leo and Vivian nodded. She makes a valid point; people often fear what they do not understand, and for now, the only information is gonna come from a kid- their kid. “Agreed.” They got up to leave. “Oh, and what is the girls name?” Vivian asked.

            Crox thought for a moment to remember the name. “Mmmmm…. I think he said it was Sokuro or something to that effect.”

            The door closed behind Vivian and Leo after they left Crox’s office. With her not listening, Vivian spoke her mind, slamming her hands on the guard rail. “This is wrong, Leo. This is just wrong; using our son to contact a native alien race- what is she thinking?!”

            “I know it’s terrible, but there’s not much we can do.” Leo said as he walked over. “Besides, Bran came home safe and sound last night. This Sokuro girl or whatever she’s called clearly isn’t harmful. And I hate to say it, but Crox has a point- kids don’t cause large-scale conflicts that cost a lot just because of some miscommunication. And Bran is a smart cookie- he’d know if something was bad.”

            Vivian pressed her forehead on the guard rail, whining a groan as she looked at the ground below. “It still feels bad, Leo. It still feels bad. Why didn’t he even tell us last night?”

            “Crox is having a tough time believing him and it’s safe to assume Arlye doesn’t believe a lick of it. Besides, how would you react if you were told everything Bran did last night? Meeting a alien that can turn into a mythical beast?”

            She doesn’t want to say it, but she has to. “… I’d… be skeptical.” She hit her head on the railing once in aggravation. Hurt like heck, but her worry overpowered the pain. “I don’t like Crox using him like this, Leo, but it seems I have no choice. First Contact is a big responsibility and… though some strange divine intervention, Bran is the one doing the contact. But I do promise you this…” her hair stood on end as her eyes turned red with blood- all for dramatic effect, of course. “…if that little brat hurts my son, I’m gonna kick her in the behind so hard, she’ll be in Andromeda in a week flat.” She comically threatened before storming down the stairs.

            Leo gulped in comical fear of his wife’s threat. She has a terrible temper and is severely overprotective of her son. It’s always a good idea to stay on her good side. “I believe you… but you don’t mean that, do you honey?” He asked as he followed her down. “……. Vivian?”

 

            With her legs curled up and knees up to her face, Sokuro watched as Bran talked on and on about things she never really understood, like that strange, extremely thin tablet she found in his pockets, along with some other strange device that looked so weird, something that she thinks is called a stun gun. She had no analogy to give it except maybe a smaaaaaaaaaaaaaall Gaharot crossbow that fires light and looks really strange. Whatever it was, it made a strange electrical sound whenever it launched something out of its front. He ‘launched’ towards the pond, likely so she doesn’t get hit by…. Whatever the heck it is.

            In a very rare display of her personality, she mostly stayed silent and watched him explain things. Strange thing is, she can somewhat understand what he is saying. She doesn’t know the meaning behind the words, but… she feels like she knows. She can’t really explain how or why, it just is.

            Bran stopped talking as he got hungry. He reached into his pack and pulled out a strange container with a see-though lid. He opened it up and instantly frowned in disgust. “Ugh… figures I’d get brussel sprouts and cheese. You grab one at random… ugh…” Sokuro leaned in and sniffed at it. It smelled… strange, whatever it is. He wasn’t going to eat it- he hates brussel sprouts. Looks like today is nothing but granola bars. He stuck a fork in the smallest one and offered it to her. “Wanna try a bite?” He said disappointed, bored, and hungry.

            Sokuro took the fork and again sniffed the strange concoction he calls food. She took a small bite and almost immediately spit it back out in disgust. “BLECH!!!” She exclaimed loudly. She tossed it away and brushed her tongue with her finger to try and get all of it off.

            Seemed an appropriate reaction for a crummy veggie. “I don’t know if that’s the cheese or the vegetable talking, but that’s certainly an appropriate reaction to this drivel.” Bran harshly commented as he closed the container back up. “Still… good to know some things are universal…” He may hate it but others in the colony like it- the Kitsune certainly do. Besides, until they get a sustainable farm going and learn the hunting patterns of the various fauna around, they can’t waste food. They have 3 years worth, but a year can go by in a flash if you aren’t paying attention.

            Sokuro instead brought out her own lunch: cut up Adfala on top of scrambled Gea eggs and sprinkled with Folion and Btyl-the Dragenia version of a ham-and-cheese omelet with pepper. It was wrapped up in a reddish-brown cloth that seemed like sackcloth.

            It smelled significantly better then Bran’s lunch. The smell wafted by his nose, making him pleasurably moan in hunger. “oooooooo…. That smells goooooooooooooood…” He was drooling out of his mouth.

            She knows that look all too well. Taled would drool like that whenever Hela makes her Bioco Stew- now that is a dinner to die for. So good. She took that fork Bran used to pass her that awful vegetable and stuck it into a small part of hers. “Maji’foratie? {Wanna try a bite?}”

            Bran took his fork back and ate it up. The tastes danced among his tongue like ballerinas doing Swan Lake- it was soooo dang good. It was better than that nut from yesterday- he’s not rushing over to the pond to drink gallons of it to get rid of the taste. “Wow, that is amazing!” He didn’t want to gulp it down, but he had to before it turned to mush and gets hungry in 4 minutes. “You need to start a restaurant.” He said as he pulled out some granola bars, feeling like she wasn’t going to share anymore.

            Sokuro smiled in reply as she ate up her lunch. She didn’t understand what he was saying, but it sounded like a compliment.

 

            Back home at the orphanage, Sokuro was missing out on a special lunch because Hela was indeed making Bioco stew. Her loss, their gain. She usually scarfs that up with barely any seconds, so this is a boon. They only have stew on special occasions; birthdays, anniversaries, holidays. Today wasn’t any of those.

            “I smell stew!” Taled shouted as he bolted on downstairs. He smelled it from upstairs in his and Sokuro’s room, where he was playing with a couple of toys, and came down to see Vela, Buron, and Leoi already at the table, laughing at a joke. The others must be out; not knowing stew was on the menu. Leoi was tinkering on a little device he had been working on for some time.

            “It’s not done yet.” Hela commented as she sprinkled it some herbs. “Still some time before it is finished.”

            “It still smells heavenly, mom.” Vela commented, leaning back in his seat. “But, un… why are you cooking it? It’s no one’s birthday and Sokuro has been a Aerid for a few days now so it’s not for Ascension Day. What is it for?”

            There was a knock on the front door. Perfect timing. Hela wiped her claws on a dish towel then went to open it. “We have company.” She opened the door and invited someone important in. It was another Gaharot- one that looked familiar. “I’m sure you know Fayin, right?” She asked the children present.

            “Fayin?” Buron repeated. She tapped her claws on her bottom lip, trying to place the name. “Hold a tick, you mean Velx’s personal handmaiden?!”

            “The one and the same.” Fayin responded with a warm smile.

            This was a huge honor, if not a puzzling one, to have a Handmaiden in their home. Handmaidens are a very special, very sought after position in the world. Handmaidens can get close to gods like Velx, closer than anyone else can ever get. They are chosen for being trusting, diligent, and hard working and often times work as their messengers and delegates to the world beyond their shrines.

            Anyone can try to be a Handmaiden, but the god has the final say on who becomes one. As a result, they carry the same rank as nobility and have most of the same boons that come with it- nobility don’t work hard to stand out for their positions. They’re just handed to them on a silver platter. Handmaidens work really hard to get recognized.

            Fayin had to work twice as hard to get noticed. A Gaharot Handmaiden is not unheard of, but it is very rare. Due to their… oppression on the mainland, Gaharots are not a common sight to be Handmaidens. Most don’t have the time or energy to try and become one after forcibly working day in, day out for no pay. Any who become one is usually though a stroke of luck or a god taking pity.

            Things obviously do not work that way on Evioly. A Gaharot has just a equal chance to become on as a Ferid. Fayin worked her claws to the quik night and day to have a chance to get the position, which she was obviously able to get.  Being a Handmaiden is not a easy job- if anything, it’s one of the tedious, depending on which Astral Aerid they serve- Astral Aerid being the name of their gods, but it is an honor to serve a god. Velx is thankfully one of the more relaxed ones. 

            Buron stammered in her seat, twitting at her claws with a light chuckle. “Un… this is… this is a big honor, Lady Fayin. Un… do what do we owe this auspicious visit?” Leoi and Vela leaned back in their seats to Taled, who shared the same ‘is she really serious?’ look as them.

            “I came to visit the home of our new Silver Aerid.” She took a seat at the head of the table. Hela went back to the kitchen to continue cooking. “I was hoping to meet her.”

            “Un… I’m afraid my sister is out right now.” Taled said. “Ever since she got that scale, she’s been flying every chance she’s got. She was gone until nightfall yesterday and may be gone all day today as well.”
            Fayin frowned in disappointment. “Oh. That was unfortunate. I was hoping to meet her myself.”

            “Why? Is Velx curious about her?” Taled asked, having a strong feeling that was the case.

            “Actually, yes. It’s not every day a new Silver Aerid is brought into the world and Velx wants to know what kind of a person the girl truly is. I was hoping to ask her personally but maybe it’s better when it comes from people who know her best.”

            Vela smugly grinned as he leaned back in his chair, with his hands behind his head. “Well, you came to a right place, pretty lady.” He winked at her with a clicking tongue. The flirting made everyone groan, including Hela. “What?”

            “That was bad…” Leoi finally said.

            Taled wanted to get away from that badness and get to the point. “What does Velx want to know about Sokuro?”

            Fayin reached into her pockets and pulled out a pad and paper. She always takes thorough notes. “Well, just what kind of a person is she? What’s her personality and her mindset like?”

            Buron pursed her lips to the side. “Well… she’s wild.”

            That doesn’t sound like anything good. “Wild?”

            Vela waved his hand slightly. “She’s not out of control, if that’s what you are wondering. She’s no Xelut. She’s just… free spirited, which is obvious since she’s not here.”

            “She’s also high strung.” Taled said. “I swear I saw her jumping off the walls at some point.”

            “She is Adventurous.” Buron added in. “I don’t think she ever sits still for more than a minute… if she’s not in a mood.”

            “Often obnoxious.” Vela continued. “She can be hard to be around some times.”

            Taled: “Doesn’t take no for an answer. She’ll always find a way to get a yes.”

            Hela: “And don’t forget Kind. She’s helped me more with my pregnancy then my own son.” Vela whistled nonchalantly as he wiggled his claws together.

            Buron: “She can be Sympathetic. She’ll often times help those she can come across, including complete strangers.”

            “Quick to fight.” Leoi finally added in while not looking up from his little project. “She has thrown punches that start fights.”

            Taled: “But she is hard to anger. You have to work really had to piss her off.”

            Buron: “And Inquisitive. She’ll ask questions up the wazoo.”

            Vela: “And she is a quick learner, too. She was able to fly with such skill mere minutes after getting her wings.”

            Everyone said the last one all at once because it’s pretty much her defining feature, the one that is the most problematic about her: “And she is obsessed with food.”

            Fayin wrote all of this down, feeling that Velx would have a chuckle at how varied the new Silver Aerid is. “Wow… that is quite a checklist for one person, though that quick to fight thing doesn’t surprise me. They all seem to have that quality. And you said she was obsessed with food? Obsessed how?”

            “See that stew being made over there?” Vela said as he pointed to it. “If she were here, nobody would be getting seconds, and mom usually makes a full pot.”

            “Ah. So she’s a glutton.”

            Taled held up a finger to protest, but didn’t bother trying. Sokuro is a bottomless pit on legs. “Eh…. Mmm….. Yeah, let’s say that. She is a bottomless pit gone airborne. It wouldn’t surprise me if she took the entire cupboard.”

 

            That, surprisingly, was none at all true today. Sokuro was so entranced in learning about the new visitor from the heavens. She didn’t even realize she was hungry; she was that intrigued by what he has to say… even though she still cannot understand a total lick of it. That doesn’t stop her from watching, though. She knows that strange device he calls a Stun Gun fires light, and that he has a strange paper-thin tablet, and that he is a excellent sketch artist. There’s nobody on Evioly with the same level of skill he has. The closest is a painter over in Roko harbor and even he doesn’t have the level of detail Bran has. Sokuro asked a load of questions, but the language barrier made it impossible for him to understand.

            Soon, Bran had run out of things to talk about, so he was just back on the grass with his arms overhead, staring up at the sky above, watching the clouds pass by. The dark void of space and two galaxies over, and he can still make out familiar shapes in the clouds. They reminded him of home. He sighed depressingly as he closed his eyes.

            “Zamo’seimy? {Is something the matter?}” Sokuro asked.

            Bran opened his eyes back up and looked at her. She seemed worried. “I miss home.” He said softly. “I know it was a pollution-filled wasteland and I know why we had to leave, but… I still miss it.”

            “Ikoiko vouqil xelana miss your home? {Do you miss your home?}”

            “I just told you I did and--” His eyes went wide and he sat back up. “Wait a tick!” He turned to her. “I understood you. I didn’t understand the first few words, but I understood miss your home!” He got up and jumped around. “Hahaha! The Translator is working! Yes!” Sokuro tilted her head in puzzlement. Bran slid back down. “Say more things! Keep talking!”

            She tilted her head again. “Rotya cozasa evio? {The heck is wrong with you?}” She slowly shook her head. “aka… movout such a weird kid. Sheesh.”

            “I understood that!” though it wasn’t something he liked. “And I’m not weird, you’re weird.”

            “No, you are.” Sokuro said, finally in a language Bran knows and understands. The translator worked faster then imagined.

            “No, you are.” Bran retorted.

            “You are.”

            “You are.”

            “You are.

            “You--” Bran stopped and held his hands up to make them both stop. “Ho-ho-ho-ho-hold up. Can you understand me?”

            “Yeah.” Sokuro nodded. Bran gestured to her, as if he was trying to lead her into something. It took her a few moments to come to the same realization Bran did just seconds ago. “Wait… I can understand you. And you can understand me?”

            Bran laughed as he nodded. “Yeaahahahahhahahahah!!!” He jumped up and down. “WHOOOOO! Language Barrier destroyed!!” He pumped his arms as he laughed. This little song and dance was lost on Sokuro but she was just as excited that they can finally understand each other. “YES!”

            Sokuro still had questions, but now he can understand. “Wait… how can you understand me? We were having trouble before.”

            Since she can now understand, he went back over to her and sat down beside her. “Universal Translators.” He touched his earlobe. “When we’re a year old, we have translators implanted into our ears and vocal cords. When it encounters a new language, like yours, it works to understand all the intricacies of how it operates and translates it into a language the user understands; in my case, English. The translator then stimulates the vocal cords with the language of the people you are talking to. I don’t know how it works, but it does.” He chuckled to himself with a wide smile. “Thank you, Hesk!”

            Sokuro blinked as he talked on. Translators and implants went over her head, but they can understand each other. That’s the important part. “Un…… I didn’t understand a lick of that, but… it sounds very important and exciting.”

            “Yeah it is!” He thrust his arms up as he cheered. He fell backwards onto the ground and laughed. Sokuro laughed as well, but at his reaction to all this. His laughter slowly subsided as he thought things over. “But… it usually takes days or weeks or even months for the translator to work everything out. And yet it did it in 2 days.” He sat up. “Gotta love technology.”

            “If you say so.”

            Bran looked at her with a smile. “We got so much to talk about.” He glanced up to the sky and saw that the sun was setting. “Whoa. Man, when I talk, I can go for a long time.” Sokuro turned and saw that the sun was setting too. “Guess we should head home.”

            “Yeah, and it sucks.” Sokuro playfully pouted. It was her turn to smile. “We have a lot to talk about tomorrow.” She chuckled as she got up.

            Bran bounced up off the ground, kicking back and landing on his feet. “Yes, we do. I have a lot of questions for you and you obviously have a lot of questions for me.” She nodded back. “Heh… tomorrow is gonna be a long one.”

            Sokuro nodded before turning to leave. “See you tomorrow then.” She waved before running off to get a running start to transform and fly off.

            Bran waved back as she flew off. He grabbed his backpack and flung it over his shoulder. “Finally… some progress.” He said with a smile. He turned to head for home, completely forgetting about that little spy camera he had put up in the tree. His mind returned to what he said before, about the translator working after only 2 days. Normally it takes weeks for the translator to fully understand a new language. He didn’t pay it much mind- it’s working now, so why bother fighting it- and ran off for home.

 

            The tip of Velx’s claw glowed until the two of them split then stopped. It took him some time to realize where those 20000 new souls suddenly came from. Last night was when he figured it out: they are from another world, and better yet, they have translators. What surprised him was that Sokuro, the new Silver Aerid, had made contact with one of the new souls- a young kid, but he wasn’t from this planet, so understanding each other was a problem. So… he used his powers to subconsciously whisper into the ear of who Sokuro met so that the Translator could work overtime and translate faster than normal. Easy to do it when Fayin wasn’t around.

            Astral Aerids aren’t supposed to interfere with the goings-on of mortals and their lives, but… this is a special case. These are visitors or people looking for a new home, and these two kids, from separate worlds, have already become friends in a short amount of time, despite the barriers between them. After all, who better an ambassador then the Silver Aerid? Barely 2 days with her wings and already she has brought about great change to Dragenia with these visitors. Hopefully, it will end in good and not bad.

            And surely his brothers and sisters will understand why he interfered and aided in this.

            Velx heard Fayin returning and deactivated his magic. She held her hand to her mouth as she burped. “Excuse me. I ate a lot.” She said as she walked up the temple steps to him.

            “How was it?” He asked.

            “Well…” Fayin sat down when she reached the top of the steps. “Sokuro wasn’t there, but most of her friends and her brother was, so they were able to tell me everything they could about her, and let me just say, wow.”

            “Well…” He lowered his head until it was on the stone before her. “Now you have piqued my curiosity. Proceed- I wish to learn all I can about our new Silver Aerid.”

            “Alright. I learned a lot, so I may talk your ear off.” She flipped though the pad to the notes she took down. “Ok… here.” She then proceeded to tell him everything she learned and in great detail.

            While she wasn’t looking, Velx’s eyes glanced out to the horizon, wondering where the visitors were. He has a feeling that Sokuro and the kid she met, Bran he believes his name is, will have an important role to play soon. He’s not sure what it will be, but the planet- it’s saying those two are important. Only time will tell at this point. 

9: Chapter 7: Fast Bonds

Chapter 7

Fast Bonds

2/10/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            “She’s out again!?!” Vela exclaimed. Sokuro’s absence meant he was the one helping with the laundry today. She’ll either come back soon to help with the stables or he’s gonna bean her.

            “Yes she is.” Hela said as she flapped a blanket, spraying some water droplets about before putting it up on the clothesline.

            “That’s gotta be the 3rd time this week.” He hung up some shirts. “She must really love flying or may’ve found something really cool out there.” He grabbed some linen’s and shook them.

            “Like, say, a strange boy?”

            He gave an exasperated groan of a sigh and looked at his mother with the same look. “Oh, don’t tell me you believe her, mom. There’s no way what she said could possibly be true. I mean, a boy from elsewhere, wearing strange clothes and using strange machinations- that’s just impossible.”

            “She seems to think so. And while I don’t believe all of what she said, I do believe she did meet someone out there.”

            “Must be someone very important to keep her from pulling her share of the load around here…” He muttered to himself.

            “Besides, it wouldn’t kill us to be supportive. She isn’t much of a liar, you know.”

            “Don’t remind me.” He rolled up a towel in frustration. “More than once, she ruined a surprise birthday party.”

            “And she must really like this boy to fly out first thing in the morning.” She turned to him. “Don’t you wonder what he may be like?”

            “Not really. I try not to think about that.” He grabbed the now empty basket and headed towards the orphanage. “And if he is the type of company she enjoys, that being a very good story teller with a vivid imagination, more power to her. I wish I had half the imagination this guy must have.”

            Hela detected the sny in his voice and warmly smiled as she followed him back inside. “You’re jealous, aren’t you?” She teased.

            He sputtered to a halt, stammering as he tried to talk. “What?! Jealous?! Of course not. I’m irritated that I have to do all her house work while she’s off gallivanting around with strange boys and on those new wings of hers. ‘Oh, look at me, look at me, I’m special. I have wings and can fly and all the attention falls on me’. Whoop-di-doo.” He pushed the door open with a hard fist. Hela lightly chuckled to herself at his actions. He is so jealous.

 

            “…so, with all the planets in the galaxy almost dead and dried-up, we left the Milky Way in search of a new home, going to the closest galaxies we could travel to and establish colonies. Obviously, mine came here. There are others out there in this dwarf galaxy, but we’ve yet to establish contact with them.”

            Bran had just finished up explaining the history of the Milky Way to Sokuro yet again, except this time she was able to understand him fully and completely with the translator now working. He drew pictures in the dirt with a stick he took off a nearby tree.

            As stated before, there are two that work together- the ear translator, which automatically translates everything the person hears, and the vocal cord translator, which translates what the person is saying into the native language. It’s as complicated as it sounds, but several hundred thousand years of updates have made it so perfect, why bother trying to work your head around the details.

            As for Sokuro, she found what he’s saying to be… rather interesting. She’s old enough to where she can be open to ideas and new ways of thinking, despite having been raised a certain way. While the Gods that live among them do contradict some things, like the Great Light just being some neighbor galaxy, it’s still interesting to hear. She may not fully understand all of it- most of the stuff was techno-babble after all- but it was still interesting to hear.

            “Wow… that’s some tale…” Sokuro commented with a warm smile. She picked up the phone he had left on the ground. “That would explain all of this weird stuff.” She handed it to Bran and he took it back. “So… where is this ship of yours now- the vessel that carried you across the Black Abyss?”

            “Black Abyss? Oh, you mean outer space. Yeah, it’s in orbit around the planet.” He pointed up to the sky. She looked up and didn’t see anything. Maybe like with the Great Light, it only appears at nighttime.

            Bran sat back down and tossed the stick into the pond. “I spent the past 3 days talking about me and my race. Now what about you? You’ve been silent most of the time.”

            “That’s because you couldn’t understand me.” She giggled.

            “Well, we can understand each other now.”

            She nodded. “Right…” She popped her lips and clapped her hands on her knees. “Well… to start off, hi, I’m Sokuro el’Fitan.” Bran rolled his eyes. They’re getting to know each other, not taking part in a group meeting. “I am 9 years old, I live among the Misken Tribe, which is also the name of our village. My hobbies include-”

            “Heh… I didn’t ask for a resume, kid.”

            That word is unfamiliar to her. Sounds made up. “Resume?”

            “It’s a human thing that I hope isn’t a thing here.”

            “Ok…?” She scratched her head in confusion. “Well then… what do you want to know?”

            “Well, this is an easy one. Do you have any family?”

            Right to the big question, and the one that hurts the most. She can’t blame him; he doesn’t know about her past- about anyone’s past. “I have a little brother named Taled. He’s a couple cycles younger than me. A bit annoying at times, but he’s the only family I got.”

            “Only family?” Her face twisted in pain as she glanced away. Even after all this time, it was still painful to talk about. That told him everything. “Oh…” She grabbed her arm from behind and squeezed it tight. “… If you don’t mind my asking… how did they die?”

            Must be an inquisitive species. “Ou……a volcano on the other side of the island called Mocurot Crater was active that year and some od the embers were able to reach all the way here. One caught our house and… floom. We were asleep, unaware what was going on. By the time we woke up and saw everything on fire, it was too late. The chief and several others braved the flames to rescue us. You can… obviously piece the rest together.

            Now he felt horrible for asking. He never went what she went though. Sounds extraordinarily rough. “… Sorry I asked. It must’ve been hard for you- it must still be hard for you.”

            She nodded in agreement. “It’s been rough going… but luckily for the two of us, the orphanage we live in is run by one of the friendliest people I have ever met, and the kids there are friendly too. A couple of them are my best friends, even before we moved in.”

            “What were your parents like?”

            She clutched the locket close to her heart. Those were warm memories. “Mom and Dad… ah, they were amazing. We always played games and had fun, even when they were working. They made a little game with us- if we do good, we get a treat.”

            “And what did they do?”

            “They were explorers. It may not look it, but Evioly, this land we’re sitting on, is littered with ruins far beneath us.” Bran looked down at the ground. Ruins right beneath them? He can only imagine what they must be like. “Story goes that Evioly was the birthplace of Dragenia’s very first Empire over 20000 cycles ago. It didn’t last long- a catastrophe from the heavens destroyed it and buried it. It even left a scar in the seas surrounding our humble aboad in the form of a massive trench that entirely encompasses us.”

            “Catastrophe from the heavens?” He repeated. “Sounds like it may’ve been a meteor strike. It would have to be one big rock to decimate the capital of an empire, a capital that expanded this sub-continent.”

            She picked up on that; sounds like he knows something about this. “Did a catastrophe strike your home world as well?”

            “Yes, but that was a REALLY long time ago- 65 million years, to be exact.”

            That sounds impressive, except for one word. “Years?”

            “What you would call a cycle- focus, girl, I told you that like an hour ago. Anyway, it’s one of the leading theories; a massive asteroid hit Earth, creating a massive kaboom that wiped out the dinosaurs- the species that ruled the planet long before we humans were even a blip of the nature clock. Course… the way you describe yours, it sounds like only this island got wrecked. But it seems that everything has been fixed- nature’s back and people are living on it.”

            “Obviously.”

            “And I’m going to assume that this Mocurot Crater thing is active most of the time.”

            “2 months out of the… year, yes. That is such an odd word.” She shook her head, getting back on topic. “Mocurot Crater is a large… well, crater that has a active volcano inside it. it hasn’t erupted yet, not since before Xelut’s reign anyway, but it still spews out ash, smoke, and… embers during the active season.”

            “It’s yearly?”

            “Yes. Nobody has been able to figure out why, though. Those who live by it believe a powerful beast called a Jomokoma lives in the center and each year, it attempts to escape. It’s just a story, though- the volcano has been active for centuries: Jomokoma is probably dead by now and this is some weird thing that happens. They do throw a decent festival though, I’ll give them that much.”

            Bran sat back on his hands. So they still believe in superstitions and heresay, he thought. Seems there’s similarities between Sokuro’s people and the people of yore back on old earth, where they believe everything has something spiritual attached to it, like how Egypt, Greece, and Japan had gods for just about everything from the sun, to death, wine, horses, lightning, smithing, the list goes on and on. He glanced up to the sky. The bigger moon was visible in the sky. It could be that when the moons are in a certain position, the combined gravitational pull has an effect on this one, causing volcanoes to become more active. He would tell her this, but it’s just a theory. That and she had enough trouble understanding how he got here to begin with- he had to go into deep details about cryo-freezing and space travel just to get an attempt of understanding from her.

            Besides, there was one question he still needed to ask in this tangent. “Moving on: you said there is a trench that completely encompasses you? Like completely encircles you.”

            “Yeah.”

            “Then how do you get to this mainland?”

            “There is a bridge of water that connects us to the rest of the world. Trying to sail across it back then was crazy, or so I hear, and you can’t fly over it- the updraft and the currents send you every which way but forward- some even died attempting it.”

            “Yikes.”

            “But over the centuries, they were able to build a little trading post- two ports that connect at the bridge. Except for a small waterline on either side, the entire bridge has been built over. And lemme tell you, getting to the mainland is a hassle. First you gotta sail to that post, switch ships, and sail to the mainland port of Greka, the capital of the Bokural Kingdom. They’re the only ones who have a presence here on Evioly with Roko Harbor. That’s the only spit of land they have here.”

            “Ah. Are you a citizen of Bakura Kingdom?”

            “Bokural. And no. The tribes of Evioly remain independent. It takes 4 months for a vessel from the mainland to get here. It took Roko centuries to get to the population it is at. We outnumber the citizens of Roko 30 to 1. Even if they would get reinforcements, it would take 4 months to the message for help to the mainland and then another 4 for them to get here, not counting whatever they have to do to assemble and move. By then, we’d be so well prepared, the reinforcements would get creamed, cause let me tell you, we are savage fighters when we need to be.”

            “Huh. Good to know…” He made a fake note. “Scary when fighting.” He tapped his fingers; now ti was time for the big question. He was holding off on this for some time as it was the biggest one to ask. “So…. About your other self…”

            Sokuro sighed deeply; she knew this was gonna come up sooner or later. “Well… if you must know… I am a Silver Aerid. I know you were gonna ask about the color sooner or later.”

            “Aerid?” The name puzzled him until he was able to piece it together; there was only one form he saw that was silver. “Oh, you mean your Dragon form.”

            Now it was her turn to be puzzled. “Dragon?”

            “Your scaly, winged, flying form.” He flapped his hands like wings. “We had those back home.”

            That made her excited. Could he actually be able to transform into a Aerid like her?! the possibilities seem to be endless with this kid from the stars. “You can transform into a Aerid too!?!” She got up in his face with a large smile, which made him more than uncomfortable.

            “Un…. No. no, I’m afraid not.” She pouted in disappointment before sitting back down. “Sorry. But on my world, Dragons are myth- pure fantasy.”

            There was a inconsistency here. “And… yet you know about us.”

            “No we didn’t. Every culture back home has dragons in their mythology- often times, they are nice and benevolent, like you.” She lightly blushed with that similarity. “Other times… they are evil and malevolent, spreading death and chaos. Some are tricksters and some are godly. They can be as large as mountains or as small as a coin. Point is, we have dragons, but… they are just stories back home, and none had a human form. …. Well, none that weren’t gods.”

            “Oh… so much for us flying together…” She dragged her finger though the dirt.

            “Sorry.”

            “Guess I got my hopes up high for that one.” She dragged her hand over it, clearing the bad drawing she had made.

            “… So… you’re called a Aerid?”

            “No. that’s our… well, in your words, Dragon form. Ferid’s are what we are normally called.” She got up and spun herself around to give him a good look at her Ferid form. “And I’m such a cutie. Hehe…”

            That was interesting and all, but he was curious as to why they are able to do so in the first place. “So how are you able to transform into a Dra—Aerid?”

            She reached down her dress and pulled out her necklace of her mother’s locket and scale. Bran went ‘ooooo’ when he saw the scale- it was all sparkly and shiny. He then noticed the burnt locket. Based on her story from before, it must’ve been one of her parents. “With these scales. They are gifted to us by the Gods, the Astral Aerids, when we reach maturity. They are blessed with a ancient magic that comes from the planet and it is what allows us to become Aerids. Without them, we are just normal Ferids. And if we lose one, we can’t get them replaced. It’s one per prson.”

            “Wow.” He tapped it. It made a humming sound, like a tuning fork. “Can anyone become a Aerid?”

            “All Ferids, yes. I’m not sure about your or your kind- you did just arrive, after all. Maybe, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The magic could have a bad effect.” He lightly shrugged in agreement- he isn’t going to test that anytime soon. “Gaharots, on the other hand…”

            He looked up from the scale. “Gaharots?”

            “The other race that rules Dragenia. Or… rather, did. They are a lizard race that are very smart- they created ships that allow them to fly though the air and weapons to fight off those who want to do them harm. Some of my best friends are Gaharots.”

            “… You said they used to rule the planet along with you Ferids. What happened?”

            She knew that was gonna be next on his question list- she brought it up herself, after all. Still didn’t prepare her all the same. “Centuries of distrust and bigotry that culminated in the last emperor of the world establishing a slave trade 500 years ago. Recently, there has been a resistance movement called the Janissaries that have been working to abolish it. So far, it hasn’t worked and they’ve resorted to violence and prison breaks.”

            Bran looked away for a moment. His homeworld wasn’t exactly kind when it came other races either. His are probably a lot worse. “… Can’t say I blame them. Forcibly enslaved for 500 years by a despot emperor- who wouldn’t want to break free?”

            “Yeah…”

            “… You don’t… practice that here, do you?”

            “Oh, Velx, No! Of course not! We live side by side with the Gaharots in peace here. We’re so far from the mainland, we never conformed and they didn’t force us. Like I said earlier, Roko Harbor is the only plot of land the Empire has on this rock and we outnumber them.”

            “Whew. Thank goodness. Heh…”

            She is sensing that this would’ve ended their friendship before it could truly blossom. “Why? Would that have been a problem?”

            “Well, I wouldn’t have been happy.” He didn’t want to bring up that part of Earth’s history- it could leave a bad taste in her mouth. “B-but let’s not dwell on this. Let’s get back to talking about positive stuff.” Pops lips. What was a good subject change? “So, you are a Aerid. What kind?”

            “I am a Silver Aerid.”

            Color is important here, he guesses? “… ooook…. Gonna need some more context here. Don’t forget- new to the planet here, so I don’t know what the color coding system is.”

            “Oh. Right…” She got up and slowly walked over to the pond. “Well… I am a Silver Aerid… and Silver Aerids are considered signs of great change coming to the planet. Whenever one appears, you can bet something world shaking is going to happen… and visitors from another world would most definitely count.” Bran shrugged and nodded in agreement. She stopped at the pond’s edge. “But that’s not all. Silver Aerids are the most powerful, having access to every ability and breath other Aerids have and almost rivaling that of the gods in terms of raw strength. We’re pretty much demi-gods.” She looked at her reflection in the water. She saw herself… and the Aerid form that encompassed her. “It’s…. also a lot of pressure… whenever one becomes a Silver Aerid, they are hounded by those looking for help with a problem.”

            “You sound sad.”

            “That’s because I am… I’m just a kid… I don’t need all this pressure on me. Your kind finding a new home here- that’s a big change. But… there’s always something more. All eyes are on me now and I didn’t want that. I was excited to be a Aerid; it would give me freedom and new aspects. But… I didn’t want to be a Silver one- I never wanted this pressure…”

            “Did you know you were going to be one?”

            She shook her head. “No. Every time someone gets their scale, it’s always random. It could’ve easily gone to my mom, Gallna, or my little brother, or even the village chief, and I could’ve easily been red or black or green. But… it went to me… a lowly orphan. I don’t even know what I’m supposed to do or what’s going to happen.”

            Now he feels like he brought up a really bad, really sensitive subject. You never know what is lurking under the surface. “… well… you could look to the ones that came before you and learn from them. … right?”

            “Heh… I guess, but most of them weren’t exactly role models. According to the stories, the First Aerid was Nascent, and again, that was 20000 cycles ago. In the millennia’s since then, there have been good Aerids, like Corvo, Iqiuoa, Abiqua, and Movi. And… then there have been bad ones, like Miu’shet, Zeouyt, Brason, and….” She hesitated on the last one.

            “… and… who?”

            “… Xelut… my predecessor and… the tyrannical despot of a emperor who enacted the slave trade.” He winced, knowing he hit a sore spot. Not a good position when the last guy was a lunatic. “I think a lot of people, myself included, are worried I’ll become another Xelut, or even worse.”

            “I don’t think you will.” He said out front without hesitation.

            She turned to face him, slightly hopeful at his words. “You think?”

            “We may’ve only known each other for 3 days now, and just now began understanding each other for… what, a few hours, but I can see you are a nice girl. You haven’t done anything to hurt me.” He felt a pang in his back from what she fell on him. “Intentionally.” He rubbed where she landed. “I can just tell you are a nice girl. And who knows- if me and the other colonists didn’t come, maybe the great change you’ll bring about is something that benefits the planet, like ending that slave trade or saving the new emperor or becoming his or her advisor, or…”

            “Befriending a boy from another world?” She added with a mischievous smile, her sadness from mere seconds ago long gone. Benefits of being a kid; you can switch like that.

            He lightly waved his hand left and right as he nodded with a bobbing head. “…That too.”

            The two of them shared a laugh only children would understand; a laugh of not sweating the small stuff. Sokuro looked up at the sun to note its position. “Guess I’m heading home.”

            “What?! But it’s only midday.”

            “Yeah… but unfortunately, I got stuck with cleaning the Gea stables today and I know Vela’s gonna cause me grief for bailing on laundry because he will likely replace me and I do not want to get rolled out of bed again!!” Rather than wait for him to ask what a Gea is, she beat him to the punch and explained it anyway. “Gea’s are big, flightless birds, and they are rather tasty, and Vela is one of my friends- his mother Hela runs the orphanage.”

            “I wasn’t really going to ask, but ok…” He sadly pouted. Now it was his turn to draw in the dirt with his finger.

            Sokuro rolled her eyes and gave a delightful little chuckle. “Tell you what- tomorrow, when we meet up again, I’ll bring something cool to show you. I’m not gonna tell you what it is- it’ll be a surprise.”

            He peered up from the ground, hiding a grin underneath all that gloomy look. “… Will it be cool?”

            “It’ll be cool, you strange little monkey.” She tasseled his hair. He sputtered as he playfully slapped her hands away. “Heh…” Her scale began to glow. “By the way… have you been telling anyone back where you are from about me?”

            Uh-oh. This sounds like a test question, and he doesn’t want to answer wrongly. “Um… why ask?”

            “Because I told everyone back home in the orphanage about you and they laughed at me, thought I was making up a story. A boy from beyond the heavens; they must think I’ve lost my mind. Did you tell anyone in your village about me?”

            “Yes I did, but like you, they didn’t believe me. They do believe I met a native to the planet, but they don’t believe the part about you turning into a giant beast. And looking back on it… it does sound like a story kids would make up.” She crossed her arms. “I’m just saying that is what it would sound like to those who do not know. Nobody back home in the Milky Way can do what you do.”

            She giggled to herself as the glow grew brighter. “Guess that makes me one of a kind in your eyes, doesn’t it?” She smiled as the glow fully encompassed her. Seconds later, the Silver Aerid took off towards home.

            Bran watched her take off with his hands in his pockets. “You are preaching to the choir, girl.” He said before he himself headed home. He had a thought as he walked: if she was going to bring something cool, then he should bring something cool as well.

           

 

Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GshcakjPbyU Playful Adventure by Cavendish Music

 

 

            Thus began a rather strange routine among the two of them. Every day for the next few days, they would bring something to share, sometimes something personal, sometimes something that everyone else uses. Show and tell on a inter-galactic, cultural scale. And both learned something interesting and intriguing about the other.

           

            Bran flipped a book up and over, trying to read it. He had gotten the same artificial eyes everyone got when they were old enough to attend school, allowing any written language to be automatically translated to one they are most familiar with- in Bran’s case, Russian as his family ancestry on his dad’s side dates back to then. But alas, the eyes would not translate- written language is much much different from spoken language, forcing him to try and flip it around to get it to work.

            Sokuro slowly shook her head and sighed; so much for things being easy. She took the book, flipped it up the right way, and placed it back in his hands. He smiled nervously in embarrassment; he’s still not able to read the dang thing.

 

            Sokuro curiously looked the strange tablet device Bran calls a phone. He says that he can communicate with his friends and family back at his home, which she finds impossible. There is absolutely no way you can communicate over long distances- it’s just not possible. He explained that there were other ‘apps’, whatever those were, but she was just trying on how to turn it on.

            The thing irritated her to no end. She resorted to more feral tactics, biting on a part of it. She seems to have activated some sort of security program or something as she was shocked on the inside of her mouth, making her hair stand on end. The phone slid out of hr mouth and into Bran’s hands. Smoke puffed out as she made a ‘puff’ sound and fell backwards, eyes spinning around.

 

             Bran tried his first bite of what looked like a cruller. According to her, it’s called a Alkoza- Gea meat wrapped in a pastry that is cooked with Aerid flames. Sounds like a burrito or a wrap to him, except it’s in the shape of a donut. Long as it still tastes good…

            He took a big bite- it tasted really good, kinda like chicken. But then he tasted something weird, something… hot. Really hot. Scalding hot lava hot. Factory alarms went off as steam whistled out of his ears and nose. He tossed the food away and sped over to the nearby pond, diving right in without a second thought.

            Sokuro caught the Alkoza and looked at it. There didn’t seem to be anything wrong with it. She shrugged and took a bite, tasting nothing wrong.

 

            Sokuro tilted around and around, trying to stay balanced on something called a Hoverboard. It hovered above the ground, much to her surprised. Seems humans like Bran can fly… just not very high or very fast. She’ll take her wings over this toy any day. But she is not one to say give up and she won’t rest until she has mastered balancing on this floating hunk of whatever.

            Bran watched from the sidelines, waiting for the inevitable wipeout. She’s a rookie at this; of course she is going to wipe out and wipe out bad. And sure enough, she did, wiping out baaaaaad, landing face first into a pile of dung. Bran erupted into laughter, waving his legs in the air as his sides hurt.

 

            A Grek Gea bird squawked loudly as its heads darted around, confused by its surroundings. Bran tilted his head as he looked at it. This was such a strange beast; it had the plumage of an ostrich or a emu, and yet it has six legs, two heads extended out of both sides with long necks, and at the size of horses and just as strong too. They are dumb as a rock and are usually used as labor animals.

            Like how Earth had multiple species under the same genus; like how we have Robins, Chickens, Parrots, Ostriches, Penguins, Woodpeckers’, and such listed under birds, they are completely separate species that have their own quirks: Penguins being flightless, Parrots being able to mimic sounds, Ostriches being strong, etc, the same holds true for Dragenia. Grek Geas are more labor intensive animals while Violv Geas, being akin to Parrots but with bigger and more colorful plumage, are kept as pets and Zexl Geas are used as really yummy food. The list goes on and on, but I’d be here all night.

            The Gea bird pecked him on the head, causing him to shout out and push the head away as he rubbed where he was pecked. The head came back and pecked again, pissing him off. The other head soon came in and began pecking as well. They pecked up a storm on his poor little head. He yelled out in irritation before running off to avoid becoming a tree to the oversized woodpecker. Sokuro watched in bewilderment with a finger to her lip, watching the oversized turkey chase after him.

 

            Moving pictures, AKA Movies. Very common for Bran and everyone else back home- they’ve been around for thousands of years now. Very basic stuff for someone like him. Completely new, exciting, and enticing for someone who had never seen one before, someone like Sokuro. Bran was showing her a movie on his phone- a family friendly movie, ironically enough, about a dragon. She was intrigued by this interpretation his kind gave Aerids- the dragon on screen looked so cute.

 

            Bran was hard at work, copying down a map of Evioly Sokuro had snatched from the Chief’s residence before coming. It was a recent one and up to date too. It was only of Evioly- the mainland wasn’t on this one. But some is better than none. The satellites the colonists will launch will map the planet soon enough, especially with the Marquis up in orbit, but it’s nice to have the location for all the towns and sites for future reference.

            There were nine towns on the sub-continent, each one of them named, but since he can’t read their language yet, he just copied them down the best he could.  Sokuro pointed where they were- on the southern side of Evioly. It looked big on the map, but he saw the size of this planet from space. This planet is roughly the size of Venus- half as big as Earth. The landmasses are smaller here. Still, this is a sub-continent the size of Sri-Lanka, and that is still a big place.

            Fortunately for him, seems some signs for things were universal. He was able to easily identify mountain ranges with snow-capped peaks, beaches, several swamps, and even a small desert- that must be where that volcano is. It does look like a crater. A good chunk of this place seems to be mountains and mesas. Makes some sense, considering where he was.

 

            At the edge of the giant crevice, Bran tossed out a seemingly ordinary metal ball. Sokuro’s first instinct was to chase after it, but he held her back. There was a surprise in that ball and he didn’t want her to get too close- it could cut her. The ball split open and rotating blades shot out. They spun around rapidly, keeping it aloft.

            Bran explained that it was a drone- a remote-controlled camera… knowing full well Sokuro would not understand what a camera is. It still intrigued her enough to transform and fly over to it while he controlled it with his phone. She went to grab it, but it darted around her like a buzzing bee. It moved to and from her head and all the way around it. She followed it like a cat chasing a laser, with her eyes firmly on it.

            Bad move in the long one as it made her super dizzy. Her eyes spun as she wobbled in the air. She held up a single claw as she held another to her gagging mouth. Bran snickered as the ball flew back to him. He deactivated it and it landed in his outstretched hand.

 

            Leading him though the woods, Sokuro bounded towards a particular tree. It seemed like all the others, but its bark was yellow instead of brown like the others. Bran scratched his head, wondering why that was. She elbowed the tree, causing a piece of fruit to fall from the limbs and into her hands. It looked like no fruit Bran had ever seen- a light purple thing that looked like a pint-sized watermelon, but with barbs like a pineapple. Making matters stranger was that Sokuro could pick it apart with said barbs, using them as natural toothpicks. Inside, it looked like a orange. Officially the weirdest fruit Bran had ever seen.

            But he’s not one to knock off trying something new. He grabbed a barb and pulled out a cut. He put it in his mouth and immediately spit it out- it was sooooooooooooooooo sour. That was not the inside of a orange, that was a lemon, a very sour lemon. He exclaimed in disgust as he brushed his tongue with his finger, trying to get the sour taste off.

            Sokuro, again, was perplexed. Were all humans like him or does he just have a sensitive taste pallet? She shrugged it off and ate another bite.

 

            A herd of several dozen Felm’s, those deer like creatures they had seen, grazed on a grassy plain. Like their earthly counterparts, they were graceful and majestic. Sokuro and Bran watched them from on top of a tree at the edge. Bran was in the zone, copying down what he is seeing into his journal with great accuracy and detail.

            Sokuro hung upside down off a branch, using her tail to keep her on. She looked up to Bran and saw he was concentrated on drawing. She pushed herself forward  and flipped herself up onto the branch, landing with ease.

            That move… turned out to be a mistake. The branch they were on cracked under their combined weight. Again. She should learn not to do anything on tree branches, because this would be the 3rd time this happened.

            The two kids looked at each other, knowing what was coming. They yelled as they fell out of the tree with the branch in tow. They landed in a puddle of mud, causing a splash that covered them in the gross brown goop. Bran groaned as he gave a evil glare to Sokuro, who was chuckling nervously.

            They heard growling behind them, making their eyes pop out. They looked up and saw that snarling carnivorous elk creature called a Yulak- it is the same one Bran encountered during his first trek though the woods; it was missing a tooth when Bran drew it and this one is missing a tooth- looking at them with hunger in its eyes.

            They bolted for it like there’s no tomorrow… which will be true if the elk creature catches them. They ran into the herd of Felm’s, who saw the encroaching Yulak, and they bolted. They had hoped the hungry beasty would go after one of those creatures. It did not. And they were gonna run out of ground soon: this plain was right by the giant crevice.

            Sokuro’s scale and body glowed. Here’s hoping Bran isn’t afraid of heights. She grabbed his hand and, when they reached the edge, leaped off. He screamed at the top of his lungs while sparkles erupted out of the scale. His screams stopped when he face planted into the back of Sokuro’s Aeird form.

            Sokuro flew out from under the canyons rim and up into the skies above, leaving the Yulak far, far behind. She took it slow since this was Bran’s first time flying, and she went towards the ocean. Bran pulled his head up and looked over the side, seeing the ground far below him. He yelped and held onto her for dear life.

            She laughed at his reaction. So typical of someone who hadn’t flown before- she was in his boots several cycles ago when she was taken for a flight for the first time. She flipped around, sending Bran up off her back for a few seconds. She caught him as she flew on her back.

            He exclaimed out in a mixture of terror and excitement, his scared demeanor slowly turning to that of thrill. That was surprisingly fun. He looked back to the ground below. He had such an amazing view of it all; it was breathtaking. He couldn’t see it on the Beatle- no windows. But this… this is just simply amazing.

            Sokuro smiled warmly at his reaction, but that smile slowly faded when she saw he was dripping mud onto her chest. That turned into a frown that soon faded as well when she remember they were heading for the ocean. She pulled the same move as before, getting him on her back, and dive bombed towards the water. He screamed again. Her body glowed as sparkles came out. The glowed reached its zenith as they dived into the water. Deep into the water.

            Bran broke the surface first and coughed. The mud had washed off him, which was a good thing. Sokuro, back as her Ferid self, came up after him, gasping for air and whipping her hair around. Like him, she was clear of mud.

            The two of them swam back to shore, which wasn’t that far- she didn’t dive in far away from the beach. They reached it in no time flat and fell down onto their backs, panting heavily as they looked up to the sky. A stifled giggle perused past their lips before it eventually erupted into full blown laughter. This has been some crazy few days. Tomorrow was gonna be even more so.

 

End Song.

 

            Off the shore of Evioly, not far from the massive scar of a gorge and Bran’s colony, something bad stirred. Bubbles popped on the surface of the water. Something underneath the waves was sleeping and it was just about to awaken. It was something the natives to the island had been dreading for some time.

            A pod of Tonton Fish slowly swam by a pile of rocks and boulders, oblivious to the stream of bubbles that were rising up from underneath. Nobody on land eats Tonton fish; as pure blue as they are, they are extremely poisonous, especially the Evioly kind. It doesn’t matter how you prepare it; the poison is in the meat itself. You can’t cook it out or scrape it out- it’s there to stay. If it is eaten, the one who consumed it would suffer extremely terrible pain down in the abdomen area for a day until the poison reaches the heart and… well, you can guess where this is leading. Nobody on Dragenia eats it.

            Except for one species.

            Without warning, the gapping maw of said species burst out of the pile, slamming shut on the pod. It wasn’t enough. The feared monster was awake and it was hungry. It swam towards the shore, knowing the perfect location to get lunch.

10: Chapter 8: Sokuro's First Battle

Chapter 8

Sokuro’s First Battle

2/18/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            There are some things on Dragenia that are feared by many. Not as many you would expect, given the… high-powered status of half of the population, but there are some out there, feared for their power, their nature, or for being much worse. There are four that are feared above all else.

            The Arcaga- a bird creature the size of a tiny island. The Dragenian equivalent to the Native American mythical beast, the Thunderbird, the Arcaga has a humongous wingspan of up to 300 feet and can create gusts that can tear the roofs off houses. One was able to destroy the village of Colo-Colo on the mainland with just one flyby. And that was a big village.

            The Yeet- a kind of groundhog creature with a habit of destroying cities when digging uncontrollably. While not aggressive or hungry for Ferid or Gaharot meat, it’s size of speed can sink cities in no time. Amz and Temz’ home village was sank by one centuries ago, now becoming what it is today..

And the Leviathan- a serpentine creature that has been seen around the world. Ancient texts describe it as a immortal, incapable of being injured with enough power to destroy an entire continent.  Thanks to that thing, there is a giant ocean separating Evioly from the mainland. Many considered that the start of the fall of the empire Evioly was once home too.

The thing is with these three is that they are docile creatures. While they don’t cause mayhem and destruction on purpose, their power, size, and ferocity are what makes them feared. The Arcaga- flying around for a place to roost or find a good dinner. The Yeet- it’s a complete sweetheart that doesn’t know where it is going underground. And the Leviathan… well, nobody is able to tell what the heck that thing is about. It’s one of the biggest mysteries on the planet.

But the fourth feared beast… it is not like them. These are not gentle giants. The Phagos is a feared monster because of its temper, its hunger, its dexterity, and its bloodlust. They destroyed, they decimate, and they eat. They eat everything they come across- plants, animals, even Ferids and Gaharots. When a Phagos is around, you better hope and pray it does not find you, because you will be dead either way. Nobody has been able to figure out why the Phagos are like this, mostly because nobody is brave enough to try and get close to one, knowing the outcome.

There is one bright side: they don’t hang around long. They have ravenous appetites, yet very little stamina. A Phagos rampages for around one or two days before returning to whatever pit it crawled out of to rest for months on end. Sometimes for years. This gives the villages time to plan for their next attack. One village, once again Colo-Colo, was lucky enough to kill a Phagos that was harassing them. But that was a long time ago and even they aren’t familiar with how.

Phagos’ are tough beasts that live to eat and destroy, and unfortunately for our two heroes, one is heading their way.

Surprisingly… that was a good thing.

 

Sokuro yawned loudly as she got up out of bed. She rubbed her eyes as she glanced out the window of the bedroom- the sun was a decent height in the sky. She must’ve slept halfway through the morning.

“Yaaaawn…. Oh man… I must’ve been worked to the bone yesterday…” She stretched her arms above her head and cracked her back. The stables they had her clean were very dirty.  She was at it for the rest of the day and some time into the night. “Eeeerrrrrgh… mmmm… ah.” She twisted around her body to loosen up some tense muscles. “Hope breakfast is still on the table.” She wondered before heading downstairs.

Her answer was a big ‘nope’. The only food on the dining table was a bowl of assorted fruit. The kids were all gone, to either play or do chores. Even Hela wasn’t home. She had the place all to herself.

“Huh… no one’s home…” She mumbled to herself. She approached the table and grabbed a violc fruit- it’s like a orange crossbred with a grape. She wiped it on her shoulder to freshen it up before taking a bite. Her face soon adopted a wicked little smirk that screamed trouble. “I can do whatever I want…” She stuck the fruit into her mouth and bolted back upstairs.

Her first stop was Leoi’s room. Unlike everyone else, who have to share rooms and bunks, Leoi has his own private room all to himself. He says he likes the privacy and the quiet- it gives him the opportunity to do some tinkering with the Gaharot machines. He is really smart for his age- he made a little mechanical bird that worked and flew to the temple. Impressive, to say the least.

Sokuro reached the door to his room and rubbed her hands together- this was gonna be good. “Leoi! You better come get me before I go into your room!” No response. “Can’t say I didn’t warn him…” She jiggled the doorknob to test and see if Leoi was in here instead of out there. He wasn’t. It was also to test if it was locked. It was not. She grinned, hiding a evil little snicker as she entered.

Light filtered through the window, illuminating the completely littered room that Leoi called home. Gears, steam pumps, and even the skeletal remains of a Gaharot longboat were just a few of the things that were strum all about. There were some blueprints that he himself had drawn up for some new ship designs, and even something that looked like a glider with a steam engine.

Sokuro was honestly really impressed. Nobody was allowed in here- now she knows why. “Wow… I knew he was smart, but I didn’t take him to be on the level of a Savant!” She looked at the glider he was working on. “What the heck is this?” She pushed on it and it rocked. “He does know that he’ll be able to fly next cycle, doesn’t he?” She asked no one. She rocked it again. It wasn’t all that impressive to her, so she just shrugged it off and moved on.

She flicked the bottom of her lip as she looked around. “Hmm… what can I mess with?” Her eyes scanned the entire room before landing on something on his desk- something that looked important inside a box. “Ooooo. That looks important.”

She slithered on over and opened up the box to find… blueprints. Needless to say, she was disappointed. “Huh… I was expecting something more interesting, not… this.” She pulled one out and looked at it. It looked like one of the steam engines used on a Gaharot airship, though it was… modified. “Leoi, you continue to surprise me…” She folded it back up and put it away where she found it.

She leaned on the desk, tapping her fingers against the wood. “Hmm… maybe the good stuff is hidden away.” She pushed off and went to another part of the room.

 

Meanwhile…

 

Bran relaxed under the tree he and Sokuro had been meeting under, laying underneath it with his hands behind his head. He’s surprised she hasn’t shown up yet. Maybe those stables she mentioned are bigger then he thinks, or there was a bigger mess then she anticipated.  Whatever the case, he was gonna take this opportunity to relax. Talking almost non-stop for the past week or so can really take a strain. Still, at least he learned some nifty things about Sokuro’s kind that he can’t wait to share… if people will actually try to listen to him.

He’s tried on multiple occasions to tell his parents, the leaders, and even Dan about the girl he encountered. Nobody would listen. Well, nobody except Dan- guy loves his dragons, though he just thinks it’s a nifty story that should be made into a book. It would be hard to publish a book out here, when everyone is busy getting the colony up and running, and even so, it would be non-fiction.

But he has to admit… everything he’s heard and seen this past week or so feels like it’s been ripped straight out of a fantasy movie, though he doesn’t remember anything where people can turn into dragons, especially with the aid of a scale given by a draconic god. “(Velx… Great Light… Silver Aerids… It’s no wonder nobody believes me.)” He glanced up to the sky. “(I need physical proof.

Didn’t he place a camera out here for that very reason?

He heard what sounded like a boom coming from the direction of the giant gorge. He lifted his head up and glanced in that direction. Seeing nothing, he rested his head back down and closed his eyes.

Another boom came, this time followed by yelling. “AH!!! EIVOVA-CASVELISH!!!” There was a loud clang like someone had hit something, following by pained cries and whimpers. That made Bran get up. Since that word wasn’t translated, it might’ve been a curse. For children, they don’t translate any curse words that may be used- the Hesk are a ‘protect the children’ kind of race.

“What the heck…?” So much for relaxation. He got up off the grown and went in the direction he was hearing it coming from. As he made his way through the woods, Bran noticed something peculiar about them today: they were silent. The past week, there have been a humdrum of activity from the wildlife. Today… nothing. He knows he heard them before kicking back, but… now… something isn’t right.

He passed by a tree and ran face to face with that carnivorous and ugly looking moose-like creature- the Yulak. “WHOA!!” Bran shouted. He bounced back, reaching for his stun gun expecting it to come at him, but it did nothing. The creature was on the ground, cowering in fear. Maybe that is not a good enough word. He’s seen animals in fear- a friend’s dog back on Vega was scared of the father, who was known for being violent. The Yulak wasn’t scared- it was downright mortified.

His stomach twisted in knots, afraid of what may be lurking out here enough to scare what looked like a alpha predator to him. There was something here and it made the whole forest silent. It wasn’t the colonists- they haven’t ventured this far out yet. And it’s not Sokuro or any other dragon folk- it chased after them after she changed form yesterday. No, there was something worse out here.

“This cannot be good…” He heard another loud boom, this one making him jump in his skin after encountering the scared beast. He looked in the direction he was heading, and then back to the Yulak. “Can’t be that, can it?” He asked it. The Yulak kept cowering. “Well, so much for knowing if you could talk… or maybe that’s just a Ferid thing…” He continued back on the path he was taking.

He reached the gorge and it took him no time to find the source of the booms- it was right in front of him, clear as day; a huge ship nestled on the side of it. The ship, he figured, looks like a galleon, but heavily modified to travel though air and not water. There were wooden wings on the side of the ship, along with extra large propellers in the back to move it forward and one on the front- on the tip of the front mast. Everything else looked the same to him.

Except for the crew.

They were dinosaurs- dinosaurs in clothing and tinkering with machines. He could barely contain his excitement: honest-to-goodness dinosaurs alive and kicking on another planet in another galaxy. These must be the Gaharots Sokuro kept mentioning. They all look like raptors- Utahraptors, if he’s not mistaken. Like their earthy counterparts, which have evidence to back it up, they had feathers and claws and other scary prehistoric giant bird stuff. But obviously, again, they can work on machines- he sees a few of them off the ship and on the ground working on those propellers- and they wear clothes.

“Give it another go!” one of the mechanics shouted up to the top of the ship.

And they can talk.

The sound of engines starting up could be heard emanating from within the ship. One of the propellers was moving, while the other was not. The Gaharot technician that was working on that screamed and cursed, which was again untranslated by his translator. Given how those on the ground were reacting, it was probably a good thing.

“We’re never gonna get this thing fixed!” The technician, a golden-brown colored male, yelled as he kicked the side of the ship. That was a bad move. He yelled in pain as he bounced on one leg and holding the foot he just slammed into the wooden vessel.

His judgment begged him not to go and help them- they are an unknown species that may not be friendly towards him. But then again, it’s in his nature to help others when he can. Sokuro talked about most of them in high regard- she did say some of her best friends are Gaharots.

One of the Gaharots on the ship, a young sky-blue colored kid at that, sputtered like a horse while resting his bored head on the railing. He glanced to the forest and saw Bran standing in there. “Hey, there’s someone watching us!” He called out.

The other Gaharots, both on the ship and on the ground, looked in the direction of the forest and saw him. “Uh-oh…” Bran winced.

One of the Gaharots, a mint-green female, pulled out a crossbow and aimed it at him. “And just who are you!?!” She shouted.

Bran shot his hands up into the air. It’s obvious at this point, but at least they speak Sokuro’s language. That’s good. What isn’t good is having an arrow pointed right at you by beings that can just as easily use their claws to rip him apart. “Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! I’m friendly! I… un, live around here. I heard your buddy there yelling and I came to investigate. That is it, I swear.”

“Nobody lives out here, not by the Gorge.” The female exclaimed, keeping the crossbow trained on him. She didn’t believe a word he was saying. Seems too convenient to her.

The others, however, believed him. “He could be from Miskin.” Another female, a combination of purple and orange, said from the railings. By the looks of her outfit, she may be the captain of this ship. He’s just guessing, of course- he knows nothing about these raptor-lookalikes. “And put the dang weapon away, he’s obviously a kid.” The first female scoffed in derision as she put it away.

Bran needed to bring out his A-Game for this. He doesn’t want to get shot at, so he needs to think like a negotiator or a lawyer- someone who knows how to talk. He’s regretting not watching those boring movies and shows now. “Un… yes, I am from Miskin- well, born there, actually, but I… moved out here with my parents.”

The armed female spotted some obvious holes in his story, or rather his weird get-up. “… Where’s your scale and tail?”

Crud. He doesn’t have either of those. If only Sokuro was here- she’d probably know how to talk to them. “I… lost my tail in a accident. A REEEEEEEEEEEAAAALLY bad accident. I’m lucky to be alive.” There was some truth to that- when he was 5, his left foot was crushed by a falling beam. Had to replace it with a artificial one made by the Hesk. “And I left my scale at home. You can’t fly without a tail, can ya…?” He finished with a hesitant smile and a gasping laugh. They had to believe this.

 And most of them did. The armed female again didn’t believe him- it sounded too made up to her. But the others believed him. The technician even had an idea. “Say, kid… how well are you with machines?”

Oh, if only he knew. “I’ve… dabbled. Why?”

“Think you can fix the propeller on this thing?” He hit the side of it, making a loud clank.

Bran lowered his arms with a light shrug. “I can try… though I’m not making any promises.” He headed towards the ship- if nothing else, this is first contact with yet another alien species- he needs to start keeping tabs, and maybe helping them fix it will start relations on good terms. 

He approached the propeller and gave it a cursory glance. “Hmm…” The Gaharots on the ground watched him- the armed female more so. He doesn’t have that much experience with machines, though he did take a mandatory shop and repair class on Vega- when you live around technology all the time, you need to learn how to fix it.

He grabbed the propeller and lightly jiggled it- it felt loose. “Hmm… is it supposed to be this loose?”

The technician came over and did it as well. “No, no it shouldn’t.”

“Maybe the fan belt has come loose or something.” The Gaharots looked at him with puzzled looks. They must not have fan belts here. “… or the gears are out of place?”

“Maybe…” The technician walked backwards so he could call up to the ship. “HEY!” He yelled out. “HEAD ON DOWN TO THE BOTTOM DECK! THE GEARS IN THE ENGINE ROOM MUST’VE COME LOOSE!”

“AYE AYE!” The boy replied before heading down to the bottom hold.

“I don’t know how I didn’t notice that…” He later commented. He grumbled as he rubbed his eyes. “Ugh… I need some sleep…”

Bran turned around to talk to him. “Worst case scenario: we can’t fix the propeller- what next?”

“Then we limp to Misken to repair it. That’s where we were heading in the first place.” The technician walked around him to face the propeller again. “We’ll still be able to fly. We’ll just be really, really, really slow.”

“Do they always break this easy?”

“No. We build these things to last. The only way the engines can break is if by… an external force… huh.” He went into thought- it could be linked to what happened last night.

“What?” Bran inquired.

The captain leapt on down to them, landing without a fuss. Bran was right- the other female was her. “It was during the night. As we were pulling into Evioly, some… THING or someone attacked us from out of nowhere. We had just gotten past the beach when our ship was rammed by something large and powerful. It sent the ship into a spin but, as you can see, we were able to stop that and land safely. There were injuries, but nothing too severe. We were able to fix most of the damage, but the propeller had has us stumped. We’re all sleep-deprived- it’s been a long voyage.”

“I can relate.” Bran said, remembering the century-long nap he and the other colonists took. His first thought to what would hit this ship to make it spin would be one of Sokuro’s people: a bandit or a scoundrel. In either case, the ship would be ransacked and the crew dead. Not them, obviously.

There was noise coming from inside the ship- all muffled of course. There was cursing involved, followed by what sounded like a crash. “Un… sir…” The boy called out from within. “One of the gears has been knocked out of its socket and some of its teeth are cracked.”

The technician didn’t want to hear any of that. That sounded impossible. “What? Impossible! The gear was secure with a lock. And the gears are all made out of Solkakum- strongest material there is on Dragenia. The only way that would crack is…” Loud, VERY loud, guttural growling came from the forest behind them. The crew froze in fear, and seeing them freeze up made Bran uneasy. “Is… a…”

They sloooooowly turned back around to the woods. It was here that Bran learned that there were true terrors on this planet, and he was about to come face to face with one.

Out of the woods lifted the head of a feared black and purple monster. Its neck was long- as long and twice as thick as a Brachiosaurus’. Its face and snout was draconic, with a pair of large, solid, thick frills like a Dilophosaurus or a frilled-neck lizard, but permanent. It had in its large mouth a bushel of trees, which it ate up without a fuss. It lowered its head back down and ate up another bushel, this time with a couple dead animals in it.

Bran’s knees buckled under him like maracas. “Wwwwwwwwwhat the heck is that…?” He whimpered, scared out of his mind.

“Something… we don’t want to get the attention of…” The captain whispered. She sloooooowly tip-toed her way back to the ship, along with the others. Not wanting to be alone, Bran followed them. “Let’s just… get on the ship… and just--”

A VERY loud, and very audible, explosion type noise came from inside the ship, making the sneakers freeze in fear. The cabin boy opened up a nearby hatch and coughed as smoke hissed out. “I may… have accidentally wrecked a engine.” He waved the smoke away from him and looked up, seeing the others glaring at him. “What?” That’s when he looked up… and saw terror looking right up them with hunger and hatred. “Oh……. Viff…” He cursed.

 The beast reared its head back before it roared loudly to the sky. The roar was deep and came from within. It was powerful and inspired fear in everyone and everything that heard it.

 

Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMcUdnDgfiI Battle of the Bewilderbeast – How To Train Your Dragon 2 Soundtrack

 

            It reached all of the way to Misken, all that way to Sokuro who had her head buried in a book. Her head thrust out of the book in shocked fear- she knows that roar. Everyone on the planet knows that roar. She threw the book away and ran outside to see the village in a panic. No need to ask if they heard it too.

            “It’s coming now?! But it’s too early!” Inoute said to his attendant as they ran to the village from a nearby Gaharot airship.

            “Tell that to him!” Ifil replied as they bolted towards the panicked villagers.

            “Get everyone to the shelter! We’ll ride this out, same as last time.” The two of them split up to cover more ground.

            Sokuro ran towards the village as well. Everyone was gonna follow the plan whenever one of them ever returned: a few centuries ago, they carved a shelter deep into the mesa. It kept them safe before and it will do so again. Most of the time, it’s used for storage and often times lodging in case there were too many visitors. But when one of THEM showed up, they would crowd in and hope for the best. There was nothing they can do against one of them- they are tough monsters.

            It will protect them, as it always has. Same can’t be said about those outside though. Sokuro came to a halt when she thought about it. Outside… Bran was outside- his entire village is outside. As advanced as he claims them to be, she doubts they have anything that can peirce that thick a hide.

            She looked in the direction of where she met Bran and felt her heart sank in dread. “Oh no…” She gasped.

 

            Back at the colony, everyone was in a state of panic. After a successful week of establishing and planning, that is the first thing they hear: a monstrous roar that sounds straight from a action-horror flick.

            “What in the world was that?!” Arlene exclaimed, distracting her from her duties. She moved her hologram into Gerogia’s office. She, Arlye, Belfast, Leopold, Vivian, and several other important scientific and academic minds- several Kitsunes and Hesk and one Argalith were gathered for a meeting when they heard that roar. “Please tell me you all heard that!”

            “We did.” Crox exclaimed as she got out of her seat. “What was that?”

            “How should I know!?!” A holographic screen appeared beside her, along with a collected list of creature sounds they heard in the past week. “It doesn’t match anything we recorded in the past week!” There was a loud boom that followed that made the ground underneath them shake violently.

            Arlye got out of his seat and quickly headed towards the exit. Finally, some excitement, and here he thought he was gonna die from boredom. “Activate the defense turrets and get the non-combatives into their homes and lock them up. Whatever this thing is, I doubt it’s the friendly type. Our main objective is to keep everyone safe!” The door opened automatically when he reached it. He turned to the rest. “You all should get in your homes as well. No telling what that thing is.”

            Nobody argued with the big man: he is head of security for a reason, and right now it sounds like there is a monster involved, which means hide. Everyone bolted out of their chairs and towards the exit. It would be a good idea to follow his orders until this has all passed. “It’s a sound plan, but we don’t have any place to keep them save.” Crox commented, stopping at the door to face him. “All we have are pre-built homes made out of metal and plastic, and transports that aren’t that fast. We don’t know what else lives on this planet, but if that roar was any indication, it’s big and it is powerful.”

            Arlye huffed in irritation. He knows all this, but now she’s just delaying him. “I am aware of that. But right now, all we can do is bunker down. No telling what this thing is.” He headed out, as did she. “Whatever it is has to be large and powerful and--”

 

            “PHAGOS!!!!!”

            The crew of the ship went into a panic-induced start-up of their ship. They may be crippled right now in terms of speed, but they are going to make this thing fight for its dinner.

            The Phagos thrust its head forwards and roared loudly in their direction. Leaves, branches, and assorted small animals and trees were ripped up from the rough and tough soil. The roar was powerful enough to make the crew on the ground fall onto their backs and the ship to dangerous list over the gorge.

            Bran’s ears rang from the deafening explosion fuel that was the Phagos’ roar. He had never heard anything that loud before, not even a monster movie with full surround sound and volume turned all the way up. He felt the ground shake under him. He looked up and saw the Phagos making its way to them, tearing apart anything that rested in its path. Each footstep was a mini-earthquake. That thing has to be the size of a gunboat, at least. And that’s not counting the neck.

            “START UP THE SHIP!!!” The captain screamed in terror as she and the rest of her crew made a beeline for the rigging. Hearing her yell brought Bran back from a weird form of analytical shock. He saw them running for the rigging and, not wanting to become the beasts lunch, ran for it as well. Better to be with those who know what the hell this thing is then become that things lunch.

            On top of the ship, the rest of the crew got ready. The key to start up the engines down below was a button located in the middle of the captain’s wheel. Thanks to that thing out there, they won’t get a lot of speed, which makes them a sitting duck.

            The technician was the first to climb up the rigging- he’s the only one who could hopefully fix that gear. Bran panted as he reached them- he is really not built for running. “Wh… what the hell is that thing?!” He panted, gesturing to the giant lizard making a beeline for them.

            The armed woman started her climb while also quickly answering. “What rock did you live under, kid? It’s a Phagos, and it looks pissed!!”

            “Phagos?” It roared again, making him jump in his skin. It was closer and getting closer with each passing second. “On second thought, EXPLAIN LATER!!!” The monster roared again

            The propeller in the back of the ship began to spin up as the engines slowly started up. They run on steam, so they take forever to get going. Only the starboard propeller was spinning up. The port one, the broken one, wasn’t. This was going to severely hamper them.

            Halfway up, the armed Gaharot female tripped and fell back down. Her leg was caught up in the rigging, causing her to yell out in pain as she felt something dislocate. “AGH!!!”

            The Phagos picked up speed when it heard that yell. Injured prey, it thought. Easier meat to consume. The earth shook with each successive sped up step.

The crew worked overtime to get the ship up off the ground, but it was slow going. The cabin boy was freaking out- he did not want to die. “We’re not gonna make it!!!” He bellowed in fear. “We’re gonna die!!” the sound of trees snapping under the beasts weight was progressively getting louder. They weren’t going to get up in time.

As the captain had climbed up to help her subordinate, a freaked-out Bran leaned up against the ship and felt something hard poke him. That’s when he remembered he had something that may help. He reached back and pulled out the stun gun he had been given. “The stun gun…” He grasped the handle tight.

This was a HUGE long shot, but he needed to try. “What the heck are you doing, kid?!” One of the crew members shouted. He reached a good point and aimed up at the Phagos. He had to try something.

The Phagos scoffed, seeing this prey willingly sacrifice itself. What a fool it was. It lowered its head and slowly opened its gaping maw of a mouth to swallow him whole.

Cranking the settings to maximum, Bran lifted up the gun and fired a single round. Max setting wasn’t a good idea. It snapped back like a bull, sending hi to the ground and injuring his wrists. The overcharged shot struck the Phagos square on the cheek… but it did nothing. It was fine, though it did stop its attack after seeing him expel light from his hand.

The crew of the ship were even more perplexed and confused, and right as the captain got her hot-headed second on board. They had never seen a Ferid do something like that. When they are in their Aerid forms, they can use all kinds of magic, but in base Ferid form… doesn’t matter how skilled you are. One of the crew members on the mainsails pointed a finger at him.“Did… that kid just…”

Seems the shot did something after all. A lone scale, badly burnt and crusted over by the shot, detached from the Phagos’ face. The Phagos, Bran, and the crew watched as it fell. It landed harmlessly on the ground.

His wrists aching, Bran looked at his stun gun. “Holy crap, that actually did something.” He gasped a giggle. He looked to the Phagos and he was ANGRY. The look of hunger it had: gone. Now it was replaced by pure hatred. “Uh-oh…”

It snarled until its mouth was nothing but slobbery teeth. “You’re first!!” The Phagos spoke, followed up by a angered roar.

“Did that thing just talk!?!??!?!?!?!” Everyone shouted. They had never heard a Phagos speak before- nobody has. Well, that’s not true: some have heard a Phagos speak… before being promptly eaten by said beastie.

Seems that little shot ate up enough time to give the ship time to power up. The engines within were working at full throttle. The lone propeller in the back rotated as fast as it could spin. The ship slowly limped off the ground. The vessel scraped against a large, pointed rock, creating a loud screeching noise.

Hearing the noise, Bran looked back and saw that the flying vessel was taking off. “HEY!!!” He sped off towards the ship. “DON”T LEAVE ME WITH THIS THING!!!” He shouted.

“We don’t want to become Phagos food!” The technician shouted back. “We’re put a nice flower wreath on your tombstone, laddie!” He waved goodbye to the dumbstruck Bran, who was still giving chase to the ship.

“ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME!?!”

The Phagos roared once again before chasing after him. Its entire body burst though, finally revealing itself. Bran, being the inquisitive kid he is, looked back and saw the body. At least he was able to connect the body to the head. There was no body to speak of, but rather a rather large and very sharp shell. Like a Galapagos Turtle, only more hellish. The flippers are gigantic draconic wings with large car-sized claws to tear up the ground it walked on. With each thundering step, it got closer to him.

 

The ship, now airborne, hugged the rim of the canyon, keeping pace with the Phagos and the kid. “Are we just going to leave him?!” One of the crewmates shouted as they watched the kid that had just helped them be chased by the Phagos.

“What can we do?” Another shouted. “It’s a Phagos- Colo-Colo was mostly destroyed and a good chunk of their population dead when they killed theirs! We’re just a small trading vessel- what luck do we have against that thing?!”

He was smacked in the back of the head by the captain before she walked up the stairs to the captain’s wheel. “We are not going to let that boy die. At the least, we can provide a distraction and hope the ruckus will attract someone from Misken. Ready up the cannons, lads. Let’s give that thing a headache.”

 

Bran was in a state of panic as he ran for his life from the towering monstrosity that was chasing him. Each second, he felt the hot, hellish breath of that thing get closer and closer. Out of all the ways he thought he would die, being eaten by a monster that looks like a hellspawn was nowhere on the list. Even pumped with adrenaline with running for his life from a beast, it wasn’t enough. He was getting tired and his lungs were burning.

“Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit!!!” He looked back and saw the teeth feet away from him. He yelled in a state of panic, giving him a exta boost of speed. “SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!!!! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!”

Cannon fire from the ship rang out, sticking the beast in the side of it’s face, knocking it flat down. The Phagos got back up and continued its chase. “IT’S NOT WORKING!!!” He shouted to the ship.

“That thing is committed, I’ll give it that.” The captain commented. “Keep firing. We gotta get its attention somehow!”

Shot after shot from the cannons echoed across the gorge, but no shots were taking affect. They are tough to kill, alright, with hide and scales thick enough to absorb cannon fire. Bran was out of breath when he reached a very, very, very bad spot: The end of the gorge and no clear way across. “Aw crap…” He panted with a whine.

The ship turned sharply, passing by in front of him as the Phagos was right on top of him. “Kid, jump!!!” the Captain bellowed.

Bran wasted absolutely no time. He leaped just as the Phagos lunged for him, narrowly becoming lunch by mere seconds. He grabbed the railing, but his fingers slipped and he fell. He was saved when another cabin boy, or rather a cabin girl, caught him, catching him by the wrist. “Agh… hold on!” She shouted. She was a Ferid and she had stunning red hair. He had no time to gauck, though. He grabbed the rigging for safety and slowly climbed up.

The Phagos picked itself back up and shook its head, irritated it lost it’s meal… then disturbingly smiled when it saw him dangling off the side of the ship. This went from a snack to a light meal. It roared loudly, catching the attention of everyone on the ship before leaping up to lunge at them.

Suddenly, energy projectiles came blazing in from out of nowhere, peppering the large, fearsome beast from its left. These blasts actually hurt it- it howled in pain. A silver streak, followed by a trail of sparkles, blazed past between the ship and the Phagos. It banked to the sky and made a really sharp turn, streaking the sky with silver.

The sparkles that surrounded her faded away and Sokuro banked down, speeding in with all the speed her wings could give, which were encased in a silver fire and glowing. She came from the same side the energy blasts hit and came down hard on the Phagos, hitting it hard enough to send it crashing into a mountain range miles away.

 

Back in Misken, a column of silver sparkles was slowly fading away from Sokuro’s sudden and intense take-off. They had never seen anyone move so fast in their lives- not even a god like Velx can fly that fast. He was stunned, and that is not something that happens often.

Rather then hide in their shelter, the people of the village gathered on the side of the mesa, looking in the direction Sokuro rocketed off towards. They were all abuzz by what they had just seen.

“Did you see how fast she flew!?!”

“It’s like she was here one minute, gone the next.”

“Why would she fly that fast? To escape the Phagos?”

“Did she got to fight it? I though even the Silvers had a hard time with them.”

Standing on the very edge of the mesa, Inoute pulled out his spyglass and peered though it. “What do you see?” Ifil asked.

Though the telescope, he saw Sokuro flying back around, heading towards a limping Gaharot airship. “I see Sokuro… it looks like she saved a Gaharot airship from the Phagos. An--” He spotted something odd off to the side. “Wait… is that a village?”

 

Sokuro flew over to the ship and grabbed on, grabbing specially made hold-outs made for a Aerid to land on the side of the ship, locating on the railing and along the hull. She came in fast, which made the vessel spin around. Her appearance threw the crew into a tizzy.

“Is everyone okay!?” Sokuro asked.

Bran got up from his brief tumble, rubbing his wrist. There were no words to describe how thankful he is to be alive, nor to show is appreciation to being rescued. “Yeah, I think so. You took your sweet time, though- I almost became a monsters supper!!”

She was that close to losing him. Good thing she arrived when she did. “Heh… sorry… I was caught up with something.”

The crew was stunned by their rescuer: they aren’t arguing against being saved, but they are surprised that it was a Silver one. “Holy crap, it’s a Silver Aerid!” The cabin girl that saved Bran exclaimed.

Sokuro rolled her eyes and tapped her claws. “Yeah, yeah… get it out of your systems…”

 

On the ground… the colonists were in shock. They had heard a lot of commotion coming from in the direction the gorge was in, but… they never would’ve anticipated seeing something like her. For the longest time, they were but a myth, but now… they live on the same planet as one.

“Is… that what I think it is…?” A very visibly stunned Argalith colonist gasped, barely able to keep his jaw off the floor.

“It… can’t be. They’re mythical beasts!” Vivian exclaimed loudly. “There is no way they should exist!”

“Clearly they do…” Arlye scoffed with his arms crossed, exhaling loud enough to cause a breeze. “This planet just got interesting.”

The only one among the colonists who wasn’t in shock was a certain dragon enthusiast who had shown his fascination with the beasts for the longest time. Dan could hardly believe his eyes. They exist- they really do exist. He can barely contain his excitement- it was on the virge of exploding out like a volcano. “Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee….. it’s a Dragon!!” It’s a Bona-fide DRAGON!!!! WOOOOOO-WOOHOHO!!!!” He bounced up and down, waving his arms around like a raving lunatic, or a dance club dancer- whichever is the weirdest.

 

Sokuro could hear Dan’s strange, upbeat cheers. Guess she’s able to e seen by Bran’s vill—colony. Probably a bad idea to show herself this early to them, but too late now, not with the Phagos around. “Un… is he a friend of yours?” She asked.

Bran sheepishly chuckled as he rubbed his forehead. “Eheh… yeah… that’s Dan… he’s harmless. Mostly. Just… don’t get him started. He never stops.” She tilted her puzzled little head in response.

Green lightning shot at her from out of nowhere, passing between her head and the main mast. Sokuro pushed off the ship, making it lurch one way while narrowly avoiding another blast of green lightning. She flipped around and spread her wings wide, flapping them as hard and as fast as she could.

The Phagos flew out of the crater it had created when Sokuro slammed into it and continued to blast green lightning at her. The lightning was coming straight out of its teeth- they were surging together into a focal point before being blasted towards her. It chased after her, launching blast after blast after blast.

Sokuro flipped around, avoiding a blast that would’ve hit her wings. She turned up and climbed, high high high into the sky. The Phagos sent another blast her way. It missed, making it angry. Then it heard shouting, which drew its attention. It found Bran’s colony, and in it 20000 new and tasty morsels. It licked its lips in hunger; this was a veritable smorgasbord.

After a moment or two, Sokuro realized she wasn’t being blasted at anymore. She bent her neck down and looked back. The Phagos stopped going after her and was instead making its way towards a strange set of white-colored buildings. It took her no time to realize that was Bran’s home, and right now, they’re about to become a snack. “Nonononononononononono…” She jittered in a panic. She put on the brakes, stopping in midflight.

The colonies automatic defense turrets opened up on the incoming Phagos, but it moved too fast for the turrets to land a solid hit, and those that were close to hitting, the beast moved around to where it only hit its shell. The entire colony was in a state of fear as the monster approached them at blazing speeds and their turrets weren’t having any affect on it. Arlye and the security force fired at the beast themselves with their own weapons, but they may as well have been shooting BB’s at the thing, for their shots bounced right off.

The Phagos was right on top of them, it’s mouth wide open as it lunged down towards a group of terrified colonists, ready to make them its next meal.

Suddenly, it was stuck in its shell by a silver blur, which had erupted into a intense display of sparkles and light, moving at breakneck speeds. The colonists were both relieved and amazed.

Columns of dirt, tree, and rock were shot up as the Phagos was pushed and rammed away from the colony and towards the sea. Leaving a trail of destruction behind them, Sokuro pushed the thing though the forest, the gorge, and sand before inevitably reaching the shoreline. Bursting up with the last column, Sokuro held the beast by the top of its mouth.

She spun around once to pick up the momentum. “GET OUT OF HERE!!!” She yelled, tossing the Phagos far from her and the colony and right into the sea, creating a large splash as big as the columns she created.

On the ship, Bran was impressed by her power. He had no idea Dra— Aerids could move that fast. And if they don’t, it must be an advantage of being a Silver one. Either way, he’s glad he didn’t become a appetizer, as were everyone else in the colony.

Sokuro panted heavily, wiping her mouth, amazed she was actually able to do all that. She had no idea she could fly that fast, or pull those moves. Seems saving a friends life is a good motivator to unlock some hidden skills. She’s also amazed she is standing up to a Phagos, a beast that is feared above all else. She chuckled a smile before turning back to head to the ship.

Bad timing on her part.

Air bubbles rapidly approached the shoreline and the owner of those is none too pleased. The Phagos burst out of the ocean like a predator chasing for its prey- the sprayed water behind it added to the fear factor. Sokuro had no time to react before the monster rammed into her, pinning her to the beach. It moved fast, snarling before biting down on her neck.

“SOKURO!” Bran yelled.

Pained, anguished draconic yells erupted from her mouth as the blood-thirsty monster bit down and bit down hard, making blue blood erupt from her wounds. She was able to push it off to get up and try to flee, but the Phagos lunged at her again, this time biting into her back. It tossed her around like a ragdoll before letting her go, sending her rolling on the beach until she crashed into a cliff. She left a trail of blood along the beach, staining it blue.

The Phagos landed on the beach and approached her. “Peh… you’re this generations Silver Aerid? What a joke…” It said, its voice a deep, throbbing boom.

Sokuro winced in pain as she struggled to get up on her feet. She looked at the approaching fiend and slowly backed away out of fear. Each step hurt from the bites the Phagos had put in her, which was not a good sign. The beast kept on approaching her, cornering her under the cliff. She tried to flex her wings, but stretching them hurt. The last bite must’ve done something.

The Phagos was right on top of her. In its eyes, Sokuro could see pure evil. She didn’t want the last thing to see to be pure darkness and villainy. “You are nothing like your predecessor… you are weak… pathetic…” It hissed open its mouth, revealing rows of razor sharp teeth. She shivered in fear- she had just gotten her wings, and now she’s gonna lose her life “And soon… it won’t matter…”

It reared its head back to gather up momentum to pierce her chest and get at her heart. A quick, painless death- a strange courtesy, coming from that being of pure evil. Sokuro shut her eyes tight, waiting for the end.

A forceful explosion hit the beast on the head, making it pissed off. The head flipped back and snarled, its eyes firmly focused on the ship.

Smoke hissed out of a freshly fired cannon, fired by none other than Bran himself. He was holding a fire stick, planted firmly on the flint. The crew had nothing to do with this- it was already loaded when they rescued him. He just pulled the trigger. “Hey, buttwipe! I thought your beef was with me!” He egged on.

“Will you shut up!?!” Most of the crew whispered, not wanting to be on the Phagos’ radar. The captain, however, remained silent. He sees what he is doing- she sees him approching, but whether or not the kid knows it remains to be seen.

Green energy surged in the monsters fangs. “You stay out of my way!” It shouted. The energy converged into the center of its mouth and fired out like green lightning. The crew screamed in a panic. Bran fell backwards, screaming with the rest of them.

A white feathery wall dropped down from above, blocking the blast with his wings. The blast did nothing, dissipating against centuries of built up magic. The wings spread wide, revealing the God of her village, who traveled as fast as she did to make sure none of his subjects died. 

“Lord Velx!” The crew happily exclaimed. They could relax and rejoice now- they were saved. 

Bran got up off the deck, his wrist hurting worse than it was before, and looked the dragon over. “Huh… feathers. And his name was Velx? That was the name of the god Sokuro mentioned… They got all kinds here…”

Sokuro exhaled a giant sigh of relief- she isn’t going to die today after all. The Phagos, on the other hand, was pissed off. It was going to be denied a meal of the century by him?! “Figures you’d show up, old man….” It snarled. “I thought your kind made a rule to avoid interfering in the affairs of others…” Velx remained silent, instead staring adamantly at the beast. “Fine… if that is how you want to play it.” It returned its attention to Sokuro, whose relief was against replaced by dread. “Then I’ll gladly take away your new Silver Slave!” He thrust to the neck- he may not eat, but he will kill this new nuisance before she can cause trouble for its kind.

The attack was stopped and the Phagos frozen in place. Energy whips projected out of several feathers of Velx’s wings and wrapped around the Phagos’ neck, flipper wings, and head. Several arcane circles, writing in Dragenia script, appeared around the Phagos. Energy surged though the circles as the Phagos was lifted up off the ground and into the air.

On the ground, the colonists, even the very excited Dan, were in awe as they watched this new feathered dragon lifted up the monster that was about to eat them with some kind of magical power. What kind of planet did they land on? seems both exciting and terrifying. This does prove one thing, however: there is an alien civilization on this planet. They are not alone here. 

And in the air, Bran was amazed by what he was seeing, as was the crew. He knew the humanoids on this planet could transform into dragons thanks to Sokuro, but he never knew they were this powerful. Guess Velx is a god after all if he can stop a Phagos that easily.

The Phagos hissed as it tried to launch another lightning blast. Nothing happened- Velx had this beast trapped fully and completely. The circles grew smaller, constricting around the beast.

Velx approached the Phagos, getting right up in its face. The Phagos laughed sinisterly, not even caring about its predicament. “You’ve failed again, Velx…” it snarled though its teeth. “He is back…. And you remember what happened the last time… your new high powered slave won’t save you this time…”

Angered to his breaking point, Velx delivered the finishing blow, crushing the Phagos’ neck with the magic circles, ending the life of this being of pure evil. Unfortunately, this Phagos was one of many, but this one is especially aggravating.

Well… was aggravating.

The magic circles disappeared and the lifeless body of the Phagos fell to the forest floor, landing with a large and loud oomph that flattened trees and scattered birds.

Velx angrily grimaced down at the dead monster. “He’s truly back…” He muttered to himself. “I was hoping history wouldn’t repeat itself…”

 

End Song.

 

            Sokuro panted heavily as she struggled up onto her feet. Her body still hurt from the bites the Phagos left on her, not to mention being flung around. It hurt to even stand. Her legs shook when she finally stood up. It’s not just the pain, but a severe lack of energy. Those moves she pulled must’ve been more taxing then she had realized. She is really out of practice.

            She felt a gentle breeze as Velx landed beside her. “T… thanks for the save, Lord Velx. I thought I was a goner.” She held onto her shoulder. She looked to him, who was looking at her a bit peeved. “W…. what?”

            “You could’ve told me about the otherworldly visitors.”

            Her eyes went wide: He knows? Right… of course he knows- he’s a Astral Aerid; they know everything. “You, un… you know about them, huh?”

            “Yes I do. I tend to notice when 20000 souls suddenly appeared on the planet out of nowhere.” Sokuro popped her lips as she tried to find the words that would explain her actions, but she wasn’t finding any. He puffed a exhale as he slowly shook his head. He can’t blame her for what she did: kids tend to be secretive about new things. “Go tend to your friend.” One of his feathers glowed.

            Sokuro felt significantly better as her body was healed thanks to Velx’s magic. It was a god send- literally. The puncture wounds were still there- you can’t heal everything, but the damage and the pain was gone. “Thanks, Lord Velx.” She looked to the dead Phagos. “And what of… it?”

            Velx looked to it as well. “… I’ll take it to the mainland. The research academy in Xoelsu is studying the Phagos to find a weakness in anything to help fight against future attacks, or so Vava says. And again, you should get to your friend.”

            “Right…” She gently opened her wings, just to be safe. “Thanks…” She flapped them and took off towards the ship.

            Velx watched her as she flew up towards the ship. Guilt ate him up inside. She doesn’t deserve all of this pressure and world-bending stuff a Silver Aerid imposes, not this soon. She’s far too young to have undergone Ascension. He regrets letting her join last week. But it wasn’t his call to make. He was only the deliverer of the scales- he is not the one who chooses he it goes to. “… you better have a reason for choosing her for this era, Q’uq’umatz… for all our sakes…”

 

            Sokuro reached the ship, where she was welcomed with open arms and elated cheers. She landed on the same ledges she used last time. Bran ran over to her, happy she was alive. “That was a close call.” He panted as he reached her.

            He didn’t have to tell her twice. “No kidding… heh…”

            “Are you ok?”

            “I’ve been better…”

            “Thank goodness you survived, m’lady.” One of the crew members beseeched.

            Sokuro blushed out of embarrassment. She didn’t want or need this kind of acclaim coming her way- she was lucky Velx arrived when he did. “It’s… nothing.” She swiftly changed the subject. “Will you be able to make it to Misken ok?”

            “I think we can.” The captain said. “It’ll be slow, but we should make it before midday. Why? Are you going somewhere?”

            She was, in fact. All of this commotion had to have gotten the attention of Bran’s fellow colonists. She leaned back and looked towards the cluster of buildings she assumes to be his home. “Yeah...”

            Bran sighed with a grunt, lowering his head. “Time to face the music, then…” He climbed up onto the railing. “I could think of worse ways to introduce you to my parents and the rest of the town.” Sokuro held out her paw and he climbed on. She closed her hand around him. “And saving their lives will get you a few points on the trustworthy meter.”

            “We’ll see…” She let go of the ship and headed down towards the colony. Not the way either of them wanted their civilizations to meet, but like Bran said, saving their lives from a always hungry monster has to be worth some points.

11: Chapter 9: Rough First Contact

Chapter 9

Rough First Contact

2/18/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            There were many, many, many things the colonists had expected when they colonized this new world. They expected it would be hard and rough, and given the weather readings from the probe, they are gonna get just that.

They expected the wildlife, if there were any, to be so different and vast, and that was a no surprise there, given that they encountered a carnivorous elk-like species, a strange parrot-type bird, and oh yeah, the giant monster that can eat anything and everything that almost turned them into a midnight snack. They planned on the start being tough going, almost like the colonists of yore when they settled new lands back on Earth. They weren’t gonna get that.

            But they didn’t plan, however, on encountering an alien civilization. The probe sent no data back on there being a native race to the planet other then dumb wildlife whose sole purpose is to graze and propagate. This is what happens when you program only the bare basics. Theirs did not explore the planet and gather data. It did the bare minimum on this island and sent back what it saw, which was more than enough in its computer.

            When sending out scout drones, always program more than the basic bare minimum.

            If they had bothered to, the pure shock and awe the entire colony was having towards their surprising silver savior would be far more subdued. 

            Dragons. Gatdang dragons. They exist after all. They are no longer myth and legend. They are real, and they now live on the same planet as them.

            Naturally, nobody knew what to say. They had not planned to encounter living, breathing dragons on a alien planet in another galaxy. It seemed impossible, and yet here it is, as real as the new rock they call home.

            It was real enough for Arlye and his security force to aim their weapons at the approaching beast as the turrets tracked her coming in. They just watched this thing take on a monster that seemed impervious to their weaponry and barely win.

            The dragon landed at the outskirts of the colony, kicking up a large cloud of dirt as it landed. It forced everyone to cover their eyes until the dirt settled.  When it did, they looked up and saw the beast towering over them, clutching one paw to its chest and with blue blood scattered over its neck and back, bringing up the age-old adage: If it bleeds, they can kill it, if they need to.

            The security force kept their weapons trained on the dragon, to insure they don’t get caught off guard again like they did with the beast. “Keep your weapons trained on it!” Arlye ordered.

            The dragon lowered her paw, revealing her passenger. “Wait! Don’t shoot!” Bran shouted.

            “Bran!?!” Dan shouted.

            The dragon lowered the paw to the ground and Bran hopped off. Almost immediately, he was tackled into a hug by his mother Vivian, who picked him up and swung him around. “RRRRRRHM!!! You scared the living daylights out of me!”

            He was getting dizzy from all of this shaking. “Y-y-y-y-yeah, I get it mom. Please put me down- I’m gonna throw up.” While he was being shaken about like a soda can, the dragon looked at the crowd of people that gazed up at her. there were more people here then back home in Misken- there was more people here then Roko Harbor, and that’s the biggest city on Evioly.

            After keeping it up for several more seconds, Vivian put him down. He staggered as he tried to stand upright. “Where were you!?! You had me and your father scared to death!! We worried you were gonna be eaten by that thing!!”

            “I almost was.”

            Crox shoved though the crowd and ran to Bran. She thought back to what he told him, about encountering a girl that can transform into a dragon. He was right after all. “Holy crap, the boy was right…”

            Arlyl and his forces rushed past her and raised their rifles and rocket launchers to the perplexed dragon. It never saw these weapons before. “Keep your eyes peeled, everyone!” Arlye shouted. “One wrong move and this thing is mincemeat.”

            The dragon recognized that word and was not at all pleased. Was it going to kill it? She didn’t have to worry about that. This time was Bran’s time to come to her rescue. He ran in front of them with his arms raised. “Wait wait wait wait wait! Don’t shoot her! She’s a friend!”

            “A friend?!” A disbelieving Arlye scoffed as he lowered his rifle.

            “Yes!! She saved my life against the Phagos- that monster that attacked us all earlier! If it wasn’t for her, I’d be waist high in stomach acid right now! She is friendly- if she wasn’t, I’d be dead already.”

            “And how do we know it doesn’t have some ulterior motive!? It’s a beast- it could have something sinister planned behind saving your life. How do we even know it can speak, or understand our language?!” It’s like he’s completely forgetting everything Bran told them the first night after he met her.

            Now she was getting pissed. Seems this guy, this…. strange wingless, scaly Ferid fella was gonna be annoying unless she did something about it herself.  “I can speak for myself just fine!” The dragon exclaimed. “And I can understand you perfectly! And the name is Sokuro, not It!”

            Naturally, the colony was in utterly surprised. “HOLY CRAP, IT CAN TALK!!!!” A Argalith colonist shouted in complete and utter surprise, fully expressing what everyone felt. Even the security guards were stunned, and they’re trained to expect the unexpected.

            “And it’s a she…” Dan grinned with a sultry tone. He spray mouthwash into his mouth and leaned confidently on a nearby wall, raising up his eyebrows like a suave man trying to pick up a lady at a bar.

            Crox put her hand on Arlye’s rifle and lowered it down for him. Since she was the mayor, it was her duty to engage in talks with others. Course, seems the kid beat her to it by a week.  Bran was right after all. They owe him a huge apology for not listening to him earlier. Thanks to him making first contact, they’re talking with a native. And it seems he’s to thank for her understanding them. “So you can understand our language, miss… Sokuro, was it?”

            Sokuro lowered her head down. “Thanks to a lot of patience, and that was more time I spent listening then talking in my entire life, I’ll have you know.”

            Crox took a step backwards. The dragon was getting ornery and her face was a little bit too close, even though it was only several dozen feet away. “R-right… I’m… sure that was a hard task for you.”

            “You have no idea.” Bran commented. “Though I don’t understand how she can understand you and you can understand her. I though translators were designed to be for individual use? Or is there some connectivity feature going on I don’t know about?”

            “I think I can answer that.” Arlene said over the loudspeakers before she appeared right out of nowhere, which scared Sokuro. She is a girl living in a medieval timeframe and seeing someone just pop up is scary. The fact she was in a blue outline did not help matters.

            She bounced up and quivered like she had seen a rat run though the kitchen. “Oh, Sweet Velx, she appeared directly out of nowhere!! And why is she glowing?”

            “Remember what I told you about A.I.’s? This is one of them.”

            “Oh.” Sokuro was still frightened to high heaven, but she calmed down enough to put all four paws on the ground.

            “As I was going to say…” Arlene interjected. She still spoke over the loud speakers so everyone could listen to her. This is a big colony after all. “It was all my doing. I sent a little probe to follow Bran each day after  he told you three…” She looked to Crox, Arlyle, and Belfast- the latter of whom was whistling non-chalontly. He had nothing to do with this- he was on Bran’s side. “And that little probe found this little camera Bran had put up.” The probe floated in from out of nowhere and dropped the camera into Bran’s hands. He had completely forgotten all about this. “I copied the data, listened to the language, and let the translator go to work. and since I was an A.I., I could understand things and work out all the syntax and all that stuff a lot faster than most others. Once that was dealt with, it was as simple as adjusting the radio frequencies to the right one to beam this into everyone’s translators. EH, sorry for any ringing in the ears anyone may’ve gotten.”

            Arlye walked towards the hologram of the A.I. “Why didn’t you tell us this is what you were doing? And how the heck are you even here? The hologram emitters are only in the command center.”

            Arlene snickered. “To begin with the last one, I am currently using a security camera.” Points to one hanging off the side of what will become a dining hall. “Doesn’t take much to do some reprogramming. And as for the first, I wanted to see the looks on all your faces. I do nothing but work, work, work; have been since the 4000’s- I need what comedy or drama I can get.”

            Arlye wasn’t happy with that explanation. He doubts anyone in the colony was happy with it. “… remind me to take a look at your coding later.” He droned. She stuck her tongue out at him before she disengaged the hologram.

            Belfast softly snickered to himself- Arlye did need to be taken down a peg or two. “Back to the subject at hand.” He said as he walked forward. “Who are you, exactly?”

            “I told you, my name is Sokuro. … or you don’t want the name, do you?” She popped her lips. May as well get this over with. “Well, if you must know, I am a Silver Aerid… or, in your tongue, it would be Silver Dragon. I am a special kind.”

            “Special enough to cause that?” Arlye pointed to the devastation the Phagos had left behind in its rampage, with a decimated section of the forest.

            “Not my style, but something akin to that.” That freaked out most everyone in the colony. She admitted it herself: she is just as strong as that monster, despite the fact she got her neck and back bitten. Sokuro tilted her head, wondering why everyone in the colony except for Bran and this fella with a fluffy tail were so afraid of her. Of course, the reason why was quick to figure out: They just watched her fight against a monster and use some crazy skills even she didn’t know she had until now. “I’m sorry; I seem to be scaring everyone. Maybe I should change into something more accepting?”

            The common thought everyone had was: they wear clothes? Boy, were they in for a shocking surprise. Bran knew what was coming, but he was gonna stay silent. He wants to see the look on their faces. “Um… if you can, sure.”

            “Alright. Give me a moment.” Her body began to glow as sparkles erupted out of her, swirling around her like a tornado. Despite the tense light show, no dirt or wind was kicked up. Seems whatever is going on here is not something that affects the landscape around it.  

            The glow and the sparkles stopped moments later and dispersed away, revealing a little girl standing where the dragon once was. “Does this work?” Sokuro asked as she put her hands behind her back all sweet and innocent like.

            The complete and collective response from every single person in the entire colony, even from the Hesk who don’t have them in the traditional sense, was a lot of jaws hitting the ground at rocket speed. The dragon turned into a little girl with a tail.

            Even Belfast, a Kitsune pilot who had been alive long then humanity’s entire existence, was stunned by this turn of events. He had seen everything to see in the Milky Way- this was not one of those things. “You ca… whatatbatoautabta…. Whawha… wha… bu… y… aout… babab.. you… wha…”

            “Do that for about 13 minutes and you’ll be where I was when I found out.” Bran joked. He walked over to her so she wouldn’t feel isolated among all these strangers.

            Arlye moved to ask a question, but stopped. His military mind went to work; they were completely exposed out here. This girl may be innocent, but the rest of her kind may not be. Everyone here is an easy target. Besides, there is no sense carrying out a conversation in the middle of the street, surrounding by people. “… We’ll continue this inside.” He menacingly ordered.

            “Inside?” Bran and Sokuro said in confused unison.

            Even Crox is concerned about this. “Arlye?”

            “You heard me.” He turned to the crowd. “There’s nothing more to see here, everyone! Go back about your day!”

            “What? Are you kidding?!” One of the colonists exclaimed. “This is the biggest thing happening to us right now!” The rest of the crowd was in on that- this is a new life form and they are going to keep it hidden from them? They can’t hide it- they all saw it happen. They wanted to get to know this new creature.

            It wasn’t going to be in the way they intended it, but they were going to.

           

            Some time later, Sokuro found herself inside a small, rectangular room with only a table to rest her arms on and a chair to sit on and a mirror on the opposite side of the room. She puffed in derision as she tapped her fingers on the metal table, looking at the handcuffs she had been put in- at least that’s what the new people called them. At least it wasn’t all bad- there was some cookies in the center.

            “This is a fine thank you…” She grumbled to herself. She glanced over to Bran, who was in the same room with her, only not cuffed. “I save your life and theirs, and I get chained up.”

            “I’m sorry- I didn’t plan on them acting like this. I didn’t know they were even going to when they met you. I thought we were gonna have some pow-wow in the middle of the streets and that was that. I didn’t know they were gonna cuff ya and treat you like a criminal.”

            “Is this how they normally act?”

            “No no no. Arlye is a brute, but he’s not low enough to chain up kids. He’s probably just being careful. You did do some crazy stuff today. I didn’t know you could fly that fast or hit that hard.”

            Sokuro reached down her dress, pulled out her scale, and looked at it. “I never knew I could either. I knew being a Silver would grant me crazy abilities, but I didn’t know I could do that. Guess I needed some sort of trigger, like almost losing you.”

            Bran was touched by that. He never had a friend who would risk life and limb to save him. “Aww. Thank you.” He grabbed a cookie and bit into it. “Wanna cookie?” He pushed the plate over to her.

            She stuck an eyebrow up in contemplation as she grabbed one and looked it over. It was so flat on the bottom. On the top was some kind of white frosting with strange red and green add-ons.  “What is a… cookie?”

            How does he describe something that needs no description? “It’s a… it’s a cookie. It’s food. Not healthy food- meant to be just a snack.”

            Sokuro flipped it around again. This cookie intrigued her- intrigued her enough to take a bite. It was certainly… different then what she was used too. It’s not terrible, but not something to write home about. “Huh…” She slowly chewed it.

            “You don’t like it?” Bran asked as he finished his.

            “No, it’s… just strange.” She forced a swallow. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

 

            On the other side of the two way mirror, the kids were being observed by Crox, Arlye, Belfast, Arlene, several of the scientists so they could study this new manner of alien, and though force, Bran’s parents. They were perturbed that they kept this a secret from them; especially Leopold. He was gonna be one of the colonist’s teachers- this would be something he should learn about.

            “She doesn’t look that cute. Or tough. Or even all that impressive, really. Honestly, why would Bran make friends with this girl.” Vivian scoffed as she looked towards Sokuro.

            “Jealous?” Arlene joked as she floated by her at the size of a pixie.

            “I’m not jealous- I’m perturbed.”

            “Or overprotective…” One of the scientists said to herself under her breath while taking notes on the new alien.

            “Why wouldn’t Bran tell us about her?” Leopold asked. “I mean, this is a major discovery: Alien life. I know it was old hat back home, but this is a brand new galaxy, and look at her: a tailed humanoid with the ability to transform into a beast thought only as myth back on Earth. This is a major discovery.”

            “As was the mutant turtledove of death that almost turned us into supper.” Arlye commented. “And from what we saw from her, and that white feathered one that killed it, they are incredibly powerful. If they were to attack us, we’d be defenseless.”

            “But they aren’t going to attack us.” Belfast said. “Just look at her: she’s just a kid and she risked her life to protect us from that thing. Look how she acts with that Bran character: they’ve only known each other for a week and they are already fast friends. And the boy- Bran- trusts her quite well, enough to get a ride back to the colony. If he was risking leaving the colony and monsters like that thing earlier to visit this girl, then she and her kind must be trustworthy.”

            They are forgetting one very important thing about all of this, one that will affect their future here. “There is also a larger stake at play here.” Crox said as she looked at the two kids with a finger on her chin. “There is an alien civilization on this planet: one that’s been here for seemingly. This is their home and we are the aliens. We are just starting out on this new world- we cannot afford to make enemies. We are going to have to co-exist with them, like it or not. That means playing nice.” She looked to Arlye on that last sentence, knowing he’d likely cause something.

            He wasn’t, but he was still annoyed she looked his way. “But we know next to nothing about their kind.” Arlye gruffly said. “or her, for that matter.”

            “No…” She looked towards the girl, who was getting more and more bored by the second. “…but she does.”

 

            Moments later, after waiting for some time, the door opened and Belfast walked on it. Seeing as how he was another alien, it felt fitting that he would be the one to question her; to show that they could potentially co-exist. If nothing else, he’s a got a great voice and can be  inspirational- some of the reasons why Crox married him.

            “Why am I locked up like this?” Sokuro asked, clearly wanting to get out of here posthaste. She needed to get back home before her village comes looking for her, because that will likely open up a bigger can of worms then the Phagos did. “I want to go home- I haven’t done anything to hurt you all. Heck, I saved you.”

            “I know that, but most of us are afraid.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “We never saw a creature like you before or that thing you fought, nor have we seen anyone with that level of power. We are… scared that we may say something that’ll cause a conflict and we wish to avoid that. And we also want to know more about you, miss…”

            “Sokuro. My name is Sokuro- I pretty much told everyone a few minutes ago! And what conflict are you talking about? I’m not gonna cause trouble.”

            “I believe you, but we are taking precautions. We could say or do something that would bring the sky down on our heads and we want to avoid that. For now, let’s just get to know each other.”

            Sokuro grunted and sputtered a sigh as she sank down in her seat, crossing her arms. Obviously, she’s not going to be able to go home anytime soon, not with these new people taking ‘precautions’. She’s not going to cause any trouble- why won’t they believe her? “Fine… what do you want to know?”

            He glanced back to the mirror- he knew the scientists and even Arlene were going to be taking notes. Speaking of the A.I., she had tapped into the security camera for the interrogation room and turned up the sound. She then tapped it into the speakers all over the colony so they could listen in. They were going to live on this world too- they need to learn about this too. “Well, let’s start with what led to our encounter. That monster that attacked us- what was it? We never saw anything like it back at our home galaxy. Oh… right, a galaxy is--”

            “I know what a galaxy is and where you came from- Bran told me that already. As for the beast, that was a Phagos. They are near impossible-to-kill creatures that have a penchant of eating everything they come across, and I mean everything- rocks, trees, animals, people, everything is on the menu.”

            “I can vouch for that…” Bran muttered with a visible shiver, remembering how close that thing came to turning him into breakfast.

            “Is there more than one? And are there any other creatures like it?”

            “Yes, there is more than one. I did say creaTURES, didn’t I?” Talk about a attitude. “And in our long history, we’ve only been able to kill two of them: one at Colo-Colo before I was born, and from what I was told, it was haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaard. The second…. Well, you just saw that. And for other monsters like it- there are some that are just as tough or as powerful, but nowhere near as evil. The Arcaga is a giant bird that creates hurricane force winds, though it usually avoids the villages, its winds can travel. The other is the Yeet, a digging creature that always digs, digs, digs, digs, and digs. They are mindless and don’t know they cause damage. Lastly, there is the Leviathan. Nobody knows that that fella is thinking- it’s so mysterious and massive, yet it doesn’t cause trouble- it always keeps to itself. And we only have one of those, so it’s not everywhere like the others.”

            Great… more monsters. Hopefully this girl is right and they keep to themselves. “Un-huh… those other monsters, they are widespread?”

            “Not really. The Arcaga keeps to mountains and such and the Yeet…. Well, they dig, so they can be anywhere. The Leviathan, there is only one of him and goes anywhere it wants. I don’t think it’s around here, but we do have some Arcagas and Yeets here. I don’t remember any of them living near here, but with those things, you never know.”

            A bird that can cause hurricane force winds and a critter that mindlessly digs. With their sensors and whatever information they can get in the future, they know when those things are coming. The Leviathan, not so much. If it’s a creature that keeps to itself, then it won’t bother them. Hopefully. But if it does, they won’t see it coming. “Keeping on the subject of monsters, what was that feathered one that took out that Phagos?”

            “He wasn’t a monster. That was Velx- our god.”

            That sparked interest from everyone. “A god?”

            “Yes. He lives at my village, Misken, which isn’t that far from here. He has his own temple where he lives. All of our gods live amongst us, but they do not interfere with our lives unless ABSOLUTELY essential… like what happened with the brute. They are all powerful- you saw that with the Phagos.”

            “Is he the only god on this sub-continent?”

            “Sub-continent? You mean Evioly?” The scientists copied that name down- now they know what to call this island. “Yes, he is. All the villages that are scattered every which way on Evioly come to meet with him.”

            Sounds like what many of the old civilizations on Earth did: built temples to the gods and offer tribute or seek help or advice. Except unlike Earth, the ones here on this new planet actually listen. “Hmm…… and so… how are you able to transform into a dragon? Nobody has seen a ability like this back home. It’s both exciting and scary. Could we be able to do that if we live here?”

            “No, you won’t be able to transform. The Gaharots can’t, and they’ve lived on Dragenia as long as we. For our entire history, only the Ferids- my kind- can.” The scientists took notes- now they know what to call this planet, and that there is another semi-advanced race that calls this planet home. Sokuro reached into her dress again and pulled out her scale. She hid her locket underneath it. “Our gods, who are also called Astral Aerids, give us these magical scales, which allow us to transform into our Aerid…” She rolled her eyes- this was going to get annoying. “…Dragon forms. They give them to us on a day called Ascension Day, which is when Ferids that reach maturity go through a ceremony that allows them to change into Aerids. Best part: you never know what you are getting when you get your scale- it’s always a surprise.”

            Ferids, Aerids, Astral Aerids, and Gaharots. So those seem to be the four—three major races on the planet. “And what of your form?”

            Right. This was coming sooner or later- best get it over with. Hopefully it will be the last time she has to explain this. “… Mine is special. I am a Silver Aerid, which is a very important one- right underneath the gods themselves. You see, Silvers are…. What’s your equivalent to them?” She asked aloud.

            Finally, Bran could chime in. He thought he was going to have to stay silent forever. “From what I’ve seen and what you told me, I think the term would be Demi-Gods.

            She never heard that word before, but it sounds right enough. “Sounds right. Anyway, we are, as Bran put it, Demi-Gods- we are almost as powerful as a god- in the past, some could destroy whole mountain ranges and others decimate an entire area or fight an entire army by themselves. I’m still new- I’ve only been a Silver for several days now. I wasn’t aware I could do those moves earlier until I did them.”

            Sounds like a Demi-God to them, and really powerful ones too that would give Hercules a run for his money. “Are they many like you?”

            “No. There is only one at a time. Silver Aerids are very important- we are considered harbingers of great change coming to the world. Our last one was a tyrant named Xelut, who went mad with power 500 cycles ago. I’m a Silver and clearly, change is coming. or is already here- new visitors from another world would count as a great change.”

            Belfast nodded in agreement, as did everyone else behind the two-way mirror. “Sounds appropriate. We did come to your planet to colonize it. I would call an advanced alien race making a home here a great change.”

            She sat up- now it was her turn. “Now it’s my turn to ask the questions. Why did you come to Dragenia? Why choose here? And why didn’t you know there was a civilization here before you came?”

            Dragenia… now they know what to call the planet, too. This girl is currently a wealth of information. “I would assume Bran told you, seeing as how you’ve been secret friends for a week.”

            “He did. But I want to hear it from you. You know… just because.” She snickered.

            Belfast smirked internally. This girl has guts for someone her age, and is smart for her age too. She must not take crap from anyone. Either they mature mentally faster here or she is just like this. “Huh. You got a attitude, girl.”

            “When you’ve been what I have been though, you’d have one too.”

            On top of that Phagos monster, there must’ve been more to her past then they know to give her a attitude. He’ll ask her later. “Alight then. To answer your questions: we came to Dragenia to find a new home. Ours is… well, dying and we needed to leave it before we went with it.” She may be smart for her age, but talking about pollution, dwindling resources, and overpopulation would be boring for a kid. “We sent probes to all of our neighbor galaxies, including Messier 32, the one yours was in. Your planet was chosen entirely by chance by the probe itself- we could’ve easily ended up on one of your moons or in an entirely different system. And we didn’t know you or anyone else lived here because our probes suck. They just- they just suck. I’m amazed it didn’t break in the 150 years it’s been scoutin’.”

            “What would you have done if you encountered someone that already lived here, someone who wasn’t as kind as me?”

            “We would try to open dialogue for living in peace. We are foreigners in a strange land we know nothing about, searching for a new home. We don’t have the manpower or resources for a conflict, and if there was one, the natives would have a clear advantage in numbers and knowledge of the terrain. You saw what we were like- we couldn’t do a thing to that Phagos thing.”

            “To be fair, neither can we.”

            “But anyway, we would try to establish some sort of agreement or a treaty or something that would allow us to co-exist. We’re not expecting your kind to be as friendly as you, but we’re hoping we don’t get into a fight.”

            Sokuro looked to Bran. She didn’t want to lose him; he was a good friend to have. “Neither do I.”

            Belfast grabbed a cookie himself. “Well, with that, I suppose we better move on to the obvious questions about your civilization. If we are going to be sharing the same planet, we should learn about you all that we can.”

            She shrugged. “I guess.”

            “Great. So… get going.”

            “Oh, I gotta start it? Alright… hmm… well, you don’t have to worry about a fight out of the gate. We are a kind, peaceful race. … as far as Misken and Evioly goes. The mainland…. You’d have trouble there, but as far as Evioly goes, you have a shot.”

            “Is the mainland a bad place?”

            “I’m not really sure- I have never been there myself. I’ve only been on Evioly my whole life- usually at home or shopping at Roko Harbor. The mainland…… you want the detailed version or the short version?”

            “For now, let’s keep it short. We don’t want to keep you any longer than necessary.”

            “Alright.  Well, there was once a large empire that ruled over Dragenia for thousands of cycles, or in your tongue Years, until 500 cy—years ago when the last Silver Aerid, my predecessor Xelut, rose to power and became a tyrannical despot. He was overthrown and the empire divided into smaller kingdoms and republics, but some policies he left in place are still used to this day, such… as a slave trade focused entirely on Gaharots.”

            “Ouch.” He glanced to the window- he knows that some of them behind it would be feeling bad about that. Every race has a dark history, it seems. “And what of Evioly?”

            “We are so far away from the mainland, the policies never made it here. It takes four months for a ship from the mainland to arrive, and vice versa. We never learned of Xelut and his tyranny until a few decades later. Here, we live side by side with the Gaharots in peace- several of my best friends are Gaharots. It still makes trips to Roko Harbor frightening for them, though. Roko Harbor is the only piece of land the Bokural Kingdom has here and the slave trade is there. Gaharots from Evioly wear a special collar to show they are Evioly natives and not to be touched. If they are… well, you can expect our wrath to come down hard.”

            “What about Evioly. Can you talk about this place for some time? We’ll be living here so we should know what it is like.”

            “Right. Well… from what I remember from talking with Bran, the tribes of Evioly are similar to what you would call… eh, what were they called……” She snapped her fingers, remembering the analogy. “… that’s right, Native Americans. We are like Native Americans from Earth - we live close to nature, we live in relative peace, we use everything we can, and we can be fierce fighters when we need to be. I personally am from Misken, which is a village on top of a mesa not far from here.”

            A mesa-top village. He hasn’t seen that before. Sounds very interesting. “Huh… interesting. And just to clarify, I am not from Earth. I am not even human.”

            “Huh?” She looked him up and down. He looks human… except for several things. “Now that you mention it… you do have strange ears on the top of your head, and a tail like mine, but fluffy. Are you a Ferid like me?”

            “No no no. We don’t change into a special beast like you. No, I am what is known as a Kitsune. We are an immortal race that has been described by earthlings as space elves due to how beautiful and graceful we are. In fact, when some of my kind went to Earth during humanity’s infancy, the people of the country Japan thought my kind were magical shape shifters. They thought our technology was magical. I’m not sure where they got the shape shifting part, though…”

            “Oh.”

            Arlene appeared suddenly again, scaring Sokuro once again as she fell out of her seat. She was not going to get used to that. “I hate to ruin this lovely little interrogation, but we have company. Lots of company.”

            Back behind the mirror, Arlye had gotten his rifle out and was already out of the door to get his security team ready. Sokuro hit her head on the side of the table on purpose. She was worried she was going to happen. “Oh…. No… they must’ve seen it…”

            “Huh?” Bran and Belfast went.

            “My tribe… they must’ve seen me fight the Phagos…. Land here… and get, for lack of a better term but it is accurate seeing as how you put me like this, Captured! They must’ve come here to rescue me or look for me or… this won’t end well…”

            “Will they attack us?” Belfast asked.

            “I don’t think so. They’ll probably be confused and disoriented from seeing such new, strange, and puzzling creatures like all of you, living in strange buildings, wearing strange clothes, and speaking a strange language…” She bit her lip. “I should get out there.” She broke the cuffs with ease, like they were nothing but tissue paper, and ran out the door with Bran following, leaving the leaders to be stunned by her feat of strength. It is hard to break cuffs- she did it like it was nothing.

 

            Sokuro ran out of the building she was in and out into the lanes of the colony. She was barely a few feet away when she looked to the sky. The sky was clogged up with a entire flock of Aerids and a small fleet of Gaharot airships. It’s like everyone from home came to get her and see what was going on here. The size of all of this made her more than a little uneasy. “This won’t end well…” She whimpered.

            She ran back down the crowded streets to where she dropped off Bran when she first came. The security personnel were getting ready for a fight, as if it wasn’t obvious enough with how they treated her. The turrets were peered up at the fleet of dragons and ships, but did not fire- Arlene made sure of that.

            One of the airships was setting down at the edge of the colony, where Sokuro had landed earlier. She reached the edge just as it touched down and a ramp descended. She panted heavily, worried what was going to happen. She didn’t want to lose Bran, not after all they had done.

            Bran eventually caught up, wheezing heavily as he put his hands on his knees. He has been running so much in the past hour- when all this is done, he is taking a nice warm bubble bath. “I… am starting to hate running. Whe…. Heeeeeeeeeea…” Arlye and Crox soon arrived as well. The others, Bran’s parents included, were keeping back- they wanted to keep their distance in case things go south.

            “Bran, get out of here.” Sokuro hissed though her teeth, not wanting him to get harmed.

            He looked up and wiped spit from his mouth. “Wh… wh… what? Why?”

            “Because my chief isn’t--”

            “SOKURO EL’FETAN!!!” Sokuro went as stiff as a board when she heard that yell. When the chief yells like that, you know you’ve done goofed. She hesitantly looked back and saw him approaching with way too many warriors, some of which were Gaharots. “YOU HAVE A LOT OF EXPLANING TO DO, LITTLE LADY!!”

            “.... The… most stable of people…” Sokuro hesitantly finished.

            Naturally, the humans were freaking out over the fact that Dragons and Dinosaurs are on the same planet, living side by side. “DINOSAURS!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” This isn’t a new world- this is ancient history heaven. What next, a Kraken? “This place continues to get more interesting…” Arlye commented as he thought to himself, putting a finger on his chin.

            Sokuro quickly ran over to Inouye, wanting to avoid trouble. He is a kind leader, but when he is angry…  “I’m sorry, Chief Inouye, I know going after a Phagos was suicidal, but I had to try something! Also, I didn’t want them to die!”

            Inouye wanted to yell, and so he is going to yell. “What the Uela were you thinking!?! You are an inexperienced Aerid going after a centuries old monster!?! You could’ve been killed! And what’s worse is all of these strangers!! And just who are they, exactly?” Inoute demanded. “They wear such strange clothing, live in bizarre boxes, and…” He noticed Arlye and was surprised by how big and buff he was, which translated to danger. He gestured to his warriors, prompting them to ready their weapons, just in case. “Are they dangerous?!”

            “Nonononononononononono.” She zipped in front of him, waving her arms around. “They are not dangerous! They are not hostile! They are not here to cause any sort of trouble!”

            He walked past her, ignoring her words. “We’ll just see about that!” He approached the crowd, which backed away out of nervousness and fear, except for Crox, Arlye, and the Security Force. “Who is in charge here!?”

            “That would be me.” Crox said as she stepped forward. She exhumed a air of confidence around her- she needed to. She doesn’t want things to go back. “The name is Georgia Crox- I am the mayor of this colony. We don’t not wish to create trouble for all of us- we just want to live  here. We have traveled a long way and we are tired. We had no idea others lived here.”

            Does she think he is stupid, he thought. Surely, she cannot be this dumb. “How could you not know?!”

            The answer was simple, and probably over their heads. “With one really… really… really crappy scout that is bad at its job.”

            The remainder of the airships began to lower as they ‘chatted’. Inoute’s eyes darted around, taking in the picture that was before him. So many bizarre things- there is no telling what one of them could do. There was one obvious one. “You treat me with such hostile intent. Is that your true purpose?”

            Arlye stepped forward. His size made Inoute feel a little intimidated. “You march into our home and ask if we are hostile? We’re not the ones who came with a small army of Dragon warriors.”

            “Dragon?” He repeated, the word confusing him. “You come onto our land and desecrated a sacred site- how can we not think that!?!” This is the first Bran is hearing of any sacred site. He looked to Sokuro, wondering if she knew what it was. She did not either- this is the first she is hearing of such a site around here too.

            Crox got in front of Arlye. “I apologize. Like I said, we had no clue anyone lived here until an hour ago, when that thing attacked us and she saved us.” She gestured to Sokuro. The girl slowly sank out of view, not wanting to be the center of attention in this war of words. “And we had no idea we were on sacred land. We came here after a century in space and--”

            “Liars! Rr… you lot must be from the mainland- they always have no respect for the sacred past! There is no way  you can be from beyond the Great Light- it is impossible!”

            This was getting out of hand. Inoute’s temper was beginning to flare and it was making her worry. “It is not! We have proof!”

            “I’m sure you do…at being nothing but liars!!” He was about to transform.

            A loud and mighty booming voice rang out, making him stop. “ENOUGH!!!” Velx ordered as he touched down hard on the forest floor, creating a small quake.

            Inoute gulped- he didn’t want him here. “L-Lord Velx! The- these strangers claim to be from beyond the Great Light and they trespass on sacred ground!”

            Velx lowered his head and breathed out enough smoke to cause some trouble. “Inoute, I have studied them for the past week and I have deliberated with my fellow gods about this, and her words speak true. They have come from another world, from across the black abyss that stretches along our skies at night. They seek not to fight, but establish a new home as theirs was dying. They wish to do it though peace and understanding, but they are afraid from what they have seen- the Phagos, Sokuro’s power, and your anger are giving them worry.”

            “B… but Lord…”

            He rose his head back up. “I believe you should all follow the example of these two children.” All eyes once again fell on Sokuro and Bran. This wasn’t the kind of attention they wanted, being put in the middle like this.  “She was able to make friends with one of the colonists with zero effort and he was not afraid to talk with a foreign race. If the two children from two different worlds can do it, I am sure everyone here can too.”

            “………” Inoute was hesitant to reply. He didn’t want to reply: he knows what Velx’s next words will be.

            “And I give them permission to live here. This land is special, but never sacred. Therefore, they shall live here with my blessing. And you should learn about them- they are interesting, to say the least. I trust you have no objections?”

            That wasn’t what he expected Velx to say, Inoute threw his hands up regardless, giving up with all this. “Fine…. Fine… they can stay.” He looked back towards Crox, who was holding her ground, but inside, she was shaking like a leave in the wind from all of this.  “I’ll be back tomorrow, when the sun is at its highest peak. We will talk then.” He slowly backed away before turning around to walk back.

            He passed by Sokuro and Bran. He gave Bran a vindictive scowl, which sent a shiver down his spine. Sokuro was scared of what his reaction to all of this will be. He’s got a temper, that much is proven.  “Sokuro…. You are coming home right now…” He snarled as he walked back to his ship.

            A depressed Sokuro lowered her head and slunk back with him. “Yes, Chief…” She whined as she followed. She looked back and gave Bran a daintily little farewell wave.

            Bran sulked as he waved goodbye back. Moments later, the ship took odd and it and the rest of the airships took off and headed back towards their home. First Contact with an entire civilization and it did not go well. They did not bring their a-game.  

He turned to head, only to dive headfirst into Arlye’s gut. He slowly looked up and saw the massive Argalith starring down at him with his arms crossed. Crox and Belfast were there was well and they did not look happy. “Bran. In my office.”

12: Chapter 10: Aftermath

Chapter 10

Aftermath

2/18/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

Dragenian history changed forever earlier today, when the native Ferid and Gaharot races met aliens from another world- another galaxy- for the first time. Visitors from beyond the stars- that changes not only everything, but also… no, everything pretty much covers it. To think that everything they had known to be a lie, that the Great Light in the sky was nothing more than just that- a giant light, would bring mass confusion to a populace.

For the moment, at least, the knowledge of these otherworldly visitors and all that they will forever change is known to only a small village on a small sub-continent all alone in a vast ocean, though not for long. These things have a habit of getting out.

But said village is not exactly feeling overjoyed at this new prospect.

They are freaking out.

 

Everyone from the village had gathered in the town hall, which was the bunker they had created to survive against Phagos attacks. It doesn’t have to be a bunker all the time- it can have multiple uses. And everyone was indeed there, even the children and the merchants Sokuro saved from the attack.

It was a mass uproar, with everyone trying to figure out what this all means- unknown, dangerous beings from beyond the black abyss and the Great Light? That is impossible- their scriptures and history says so. Their gods say so. It should not be at all possible, but it is. They want answers.

A loud bell-like noise sounded though the hall, shutting everyone up and turning their attention to the front of the hall, towards Inoute and Ifil, Hela, and Fayin, as well as the village doctor- a male Gaharot named Ocous, and their head hunter, a female Ferid named Polosa. These six held the most power in the village, behind Velx, of course. They play very important roles in the town, which is obvious from their titles and positions.

As for Sokuro, she stayed out of sight. She didn’t want to cause any more trouble then she may’ve already had. It’s her interactions with Bran that led to this mess. She and the rest of the kids were staying in the back, away from the adults, though the ones not from the orphanage were keeping their distance from her.

The screaming and the shouting was getting to Inoute’s nerves, and it was showing. He grabbed their version of a gavel and slammed it down hard. “QUIET!!!” Inoute shouted, banging a large rock on the stone desk in front of him, making the bell noise. The rock is called a Qoule and when they hit something, they can make a bell-like sound. He spoke loud and true- everyone grew quiet. “Thank you… now, I know everyone here is scared by these new visitors--”

“Scared isn’t the word I would use.” Someone called from the back. “More like frightened, mortified, scared to death!” The crowd agreed with him.

Ifil spoke up. “I know everyone is scared, but devolving into a panic won’t help anyone, so let us all just calm down and act rationally.”

“Make them leave!” The same guy shouted. The vast majority agreed with him.

“You can’t just make them leave.” Fayin replied. “We have no idea where they came from- they claim the Black Abyss, but that is impossible. Besides, Velx gave them permission to stay.”

“But we know nothing about these strangers.” Ocous said, leaning forward in his chair. “We don’t know what they eat, how they sleep, - they may be carrying a infectious disease that could kill us all, for all we know.”

“We also don’t know what weapons they use.” Polosa said. “Do they hunt with arrows they launch out of those shiny sticks they got? And their strange shiny village wasn’t well guarded or heavily defendable. For all we know, this could be the staging ground for an attack by a kingdom on the mainland.” That created a panicked uproar.

As much as she wants to stay out of it and avoid being ridiculed, Sokuro had to speak up. Everyone is freaking out over the colonists and only she knows who they are, what they want, and why they are here. If this keeps up, something bad will happen- she can just tell.

Thankfully, she wasn’t alone in that line of thought. She had Hela. “Well… why not ask someone who has been in contact with them for the past week?” Hela said. She looked towards the back of the room. “Am I wrong, Miss Sokuro?”

As if on cue, everyone looked back to here, which made her extremely nervous. She gulped out of fright and nervously smiled. “N-no… you are not wrong. I’ve interacted with them… well, one of them, but he taught me a lot.”

“Then please speak up and help calm some heated minds.”

“Oh. Ok…” She slowly stood up. “Um…. Well, they are not from anywhere on Dragenia. They are from another world… from far across the Black Abyss, or Outer Space as they call it.” That created a horde of murmurs among the entire crowd. “See… their home was dying and they needed a new home before they died with it. They spread out to lots of other worlds in other… what was the word he used… galaxies.”

            “Where did you learn all this?” Ocous asked.

            “From a boy named Bran. He’s a human and he says he is smart for his age. He is also a very talented drawer. He taught me everything about his colony and where they came from using a tablet made of light that has information- generations full- recorded on it. Anyway… he told me that they came here to establish a new home since they can’t go back to their old one. Like I said, their home was dying and they needed a new home. Thing is… they didn’t know we lived here.”

            “How could they miss that?” A villager asked.

            “With a, and I quote, ‘a really crappy Scout’, whatever that is. It wasn’t until the Phagos earlier today that they learned there was a civilization here. Bran told them about me but they didn’t believe him. I told my friends at the orphanage and they thought I was making up stories.” Her fellow orphanage friends sank out of view, some of them whistling nonchalantly and others just sliding away. “If I told anyone about them before we met them today, would any of you have believed me?” There was a long silence from the crowd. “That’s what I thought.”

            “Are they like us?” A Ferid villager asked. “Like, are they similar to us?”

            “Kind of. From what I saw, the main population is that of Humans. Humans are like us Ferids, except they do not have a tail. They also can’t transform into Aerids, or Dragons as they call them. Humans are not the only ones there: There is also a race called the Argalith- Bran described them as if a crocodile and a shark had a kid. I have no clue what those two are, but they are kind of like the Gaharots, except a lot taller and with a lot more muscles, and an attitude to boot. Another is called a Kitsune, which are again like us and humans, except they have the ears and tail of a fox- again, I don’t know what that is. But unlike everyone else, Kitsune’s are immortal- the one who brought them here, Belfast, is pushing 3 million cycles.” That peaked interest among them all. “There are two others I haven’t seen or met yet- the Hesk and the Adlez. From what Bran told me, the Hesk are… well, does everyone know what a Vitos looks like? Well, take away about 4 tentacles, make the head smaller, and put it inside a floating bubble made of water. As for the Adlez… all he said was that they were ugly. That’s all he said about them.”

            “Are they dangerous?” Polosa asked. “Will they eliminate us or subjugate us?”

            “No. They just want to live here. They have weapons, yes, but not for warfare, but to survive. Let’s face it, Dragenia is not a calm place to live- just look at the Phagos. Their weapons had no effect against it- I saw that first hand. Heck…” She rubbed her neck, where the Phagos bit her. “I couldn’t even lay a scratch…” She stopped rubbing. “Besides, I think we can survive their weaponry. They use…. Bran called it concentrated plasma, but it looks like balls of electricity. It looks like the blasts a Phagos launches out of its mouth, but more… I dunno, smaller.”

            “That doesn’t answer the question: are they dangerous?”

            “To us… I hope not. I think it all depends on what you do tomorrow, chief.” Inoute tapped his fingers on the table. “I trust Bran, and while I was only in their village for a short time, I saw what they were like. They had things we have never seen before and it is mind boggling- a woman appeared out of thin air and their doors open on their own. But despite that… they don’t want to fight. They have strange things, but they are new to our home and they know nothing about the land or us and how we fight. They are scared of us. They have a violent past, but they are putting that behind them. They are here only to find a new home and learn and explore.  And like Fayin said, Velx has given them permission to live here.”

            “And I can vouch for their wanting to stay nice.” The captain of the merchant ship from this morning walked in, followed by her crew. “Our ship was disabled and one of their own appeared, offering to help. He said he was a Ferid who lost his tail in an accident, but looking back, it’s clear he was a Human, as the girl here put it. He even tried to save us when the Phagos attacked, giving us time to get repairs done and escape.”

            Inoute was resting his head on his hand, growing tired. “…. You make a compelling argument,  but they are still a dangerous unknown.”

            Sokuro sucked her lips in as she tapped her fingers on her legs. She was losing him, and possibly the crowd too. Time to break out the big guns. “Alright, consider this. I am a Silver Aerid- I am destined to bring great change to Dragenia. What if these visitors are that great change? And just think of what we can learn from them: new ways of exploring, of thinking- I don’t know how they did it, but the room I was in was nice and cool all the time, even though it is hot outside.” Inoute was getting impatient, tapping his fingers again. “Chief… they could have medicine long ahead of ours. They could have a cure for Froypes Disease.”

            That caught his attention, and the attention of everyone else. They hadn’t considered what medical advances and remedies they could possibly hold. They were so focused on the dangerous side, they forgot the kinder, more welcoming side. He rubbed his wrist, or rather what was on it. “A cure for Forypes…” He closed his eyes and loudly exhaled. “…as strong an argument as you make, Sokuro… what happens tomorrow will ultimately depend on them and how they act.”

            “I think they’re thinking the same thing about us.” Ifil said.

            “You said they call us Dragons? What is a Dragon?”

            And here come the questions that have no bearing on tomorrow. She doesn’t want to continue with this- she is still exhausted from her fight with the Phagos.“Yeah... On the Humans homeworld of Earth, they have tales and stories about Dragons, which are our Aerid forms, only without the ability to change back into Ferid forms. They came in all shapes and sizes- some are as tall as Evioly, while others smaller then the palm of your hand. Some are friendly, others evil. Some are monsters, while some are gods. Bran was really surprised when he found out I could become one, and his villagers were as stunned when they saw me change back into Ferid form. Seems none of the others back at their home have what we have.”

            “What’s a galaxy?”

            Sokuro rubbed her neck again- there was a tingling feeling this time. “Can’t you ask them after everything is dealt with tomorrow? I am exhausted and I need a nap bad.”

            Inoute exhaled again. He was getting tired as well and tomorrow was gonna be a long one. And it’s not even noon yet. “… You are right.” He banged the rock on the table. “This meeting is adjourned. I have to get ready for tomorrow when I encounter those beings again.”

            “Their leader is named Georgia Crox.” Sokuro quickly put out. He rolled his eyes and got up. “Everyone, try to go about your lives and, at least for today, avoid their village. I don’t expect anyone would be welcomed on friendly terms, not after the show of force we displayed.”

            Sokuro got down onto the floor, as did the rest of the orphans, as the crowd murmured to themselves. She looked up to the merchant captain, who was looking down at her. “Thanks for speaking up, miss un…”

            “Dexyl. Captain Dexyl.”

            “Dexyl.” Sokuro left, ready to put her head on her pillow and get a nap.

            At least, that’s what she said, but not how she feels. She still has energy- she just wanted to get out of that meeting as quickly as she could and get as far away as she can for the day. She wanted to be alone and she needed some space.

She rushed on home and closed the door to her room. She grabbed some throwpillows and stuffed them under her blanket. To complete it, she put her dress on it, with the hood up to make it more believable. She put on her ceremonial dress- the white robe from the Ascension ceremony, opened up the window to her room, and jumped out. She ran to the dock, making sure she wasn’t seen, leaped off, and transformed when she neared the bottom. Her wounds were still present as she flew away.

 

            Back at the colony, the reactions to their first encounter with such strange and mysterious creatures were much more positive. Almost everyone was excited at the prospect of meeting two new races, especially one that had long been thought extinct back on Earth, and another said to be only in mythology.

Dinosaurs and Dragons, both on one planet. Just the mere thought of it alone was making the humans of the colony giddy with delight and anticipation for tomorrow, especially for one particular person. First contact could’ve- should’ve gone more smoothly then one of their leaders yelling in Crox’s face, but they can think of worse things than a all-consuming monster and a chieftain with a short fuse. Some first contacts erupt into violence on the spot, so this was already a step in the right direction.

But that also did bring up thoughts: what if this does erupt into violence? They are completely outnumbered- 20000 colonists against an entire planetary population. Even going by this sub-continent, they are outnumbered. Not to mention outgunned with the humanoid races being able to transform into mighty Dragons, along with an impressive fleet. But what the colonists did have is the technology advantage. They have better… well, everything. Of course, given how the Phagos was able to take all that head-on speaks volumes of their odds here.

To that end, Crox had called an emergency meeting in the command center with all of the higher-ups of the colony, along with Bran: he’s the one with the most experience with the native races and what he knows could be valuable. She, along with everyone else here, want to avoid a confrontation: they don’t have the manpower or resources for a fight.

“Well, that could’ve gone better.” Arlene smirked as she hovered on her back with her hands behind her head, floating over the holographic table.

“I agree… that is not how I anticipated First Contact with an alien race.” Crox said. “Barely surviving the living equivalent of a natural disaster with that Phagos thing, discovering new life with a impressive function, and having a leader yell at me in the face.”

“At least it wasn’t violent, except for that Phagos thing.” The one in charge of agriculture, a female Hesk named Iragi, commented. “That’s already a plus in my book.”

“Agreed.” Belfast said. “I’ve seen plenty of First Contacts erupt into violence quickly. Be thankful this one wasn’t worse.”

“Regardless… we find ourselves in a precarious position.” Crox said. “I’m meeting with that loud and obnoxious brute again tomorrow and I’m hoping we can come to some sort of understanding. If this erupts into violence, we don’t have the manpower nor the resources for a fight, especially against advanced Dinosaurs and humanoids that can turn into Dragons, of all things. We need to keep this as diplomatic as they can.”

“But didn’t that feathered Dragon said we could live here?” The head of continuity, a extremely old female Kitsune named Kitsunagi, said. Due to her age of 3 BILLION years and sharp mind, makes sense she’d be in charge of their history. “He did give us his permission.”

“He gave us permission, but he didn’t say it had to be peaceful.” Arlye said. “It’s like he knows this can go either way.”

“That is why tomorrow is so important. We can’t afford a fight. We need to do this peacefully and diplomatically. That is why he is here.” She gestured over to Bran, who was sitting as far from them as he could. He never counted on being in this predicament, nor being the center of attention from all of the leaders of the colony, including his own parents. “He knows more about them then we do.”

“That’s because he has a girlfriend among their ranks.” The scientific lead, a Adlez named Xcoilix, joked as he playfully jabbed Violet in her shoulder. Due to them always being inside suits, nobody truly knows what gender is under there. Having their voice filtered through an electronic voice box doesn’t help things either.

As for that joke, he should’ve jabbed someone else, for he was hit hard in the back of the head by Violet, sending him to the ground. “He does not have a girlfriend!” She shouted.

Xcoilix got himself up and rubbed the back of his helmet. “Ow… it was a joke!”

Violet crossed her arms and looked away. “Well, I didn’t find it funny…” Leopold silently lowered his head into his hands.

            Crox rolled her eyes and walked around the table. “Anyway… we have a source of information that we need. Bran, if you would please…” He got up from his chair and stepped to the table. He was hesitant to speak. “Please speak up.”

            He moved his hands into his coat pockets, squeezing a stress ball he has hidden away. It always came in hand. “Ok… well… where do you want me to start?”

            “Well…” Arlene brought up some screenshots of Sokuro’s impromptu interrogation. “We know about the Aerids, the Phagos, some bits and pieces about this land we’re on, and the mere fact that the world’s inhabitants are Dinosaurs and Dragons.”

            “I still find that so utterly fascinating.” Belfast commented, completely going off script and preventing Bran from speaking for some time. “For the longest time, Dinosaurs were considered to be extinct and Dragons only a myth. Who would’ve guessed they lived on another planet in another galaxy?”

            The leading medical physician on staff, a female Hesk named Lorimi, was perplexed by their actions. “Un… I’m confused. What is so important of Dragons and Dinosaurs? I haven’t been to Earth, so I don’t know what the big deal is.” Bran frowned in the background- are they seriously doing this?

            Arlene hit a fake computer hologram and brought up images of both species: for dinosaurs, it was drawings from books and textbooks. For Dragons, she brought up ancient drawings from European dragons such as Fafnir, and the Hydra, Asian with Orochi and Shenlong, Meso-American dragons with Quetzalcoatl and Piasa, and fictional ones such as the Jabberwocky from Alice in Wonderland and the Dragon from Beowulf.

 “Well, Dinosaurs are native only to Earth.” She went on to explain. “They ruled the planet LONG before Humans were even a blip on the universal clock, for approximately 100 million years, give or take a few million. Heck, they were around when Kitsunagi was alive. They ruled the planet until their ultimate extinction 65 million years ago. What caused it is still up for debate: freak natural disasters? Oversaturation of deadly gases in the atmosphere? A giant meteor hitting? All of the above? It’s still debated and there’s proof for all that and others.

“Dragons are more tricky. There is no proof they have ever existed, but legends and tales of them permeate though every civilization and religion, and strangely most of them shared the same theme: they were lizards, had thick scales, and could fly… most of the time. Some had wings and others were wingless. Some were gods, others were demons. Everyone had some type of drake on Earth… heck, even some of the races of the Milky Way have their own version of Dragons. The Hesk have Propospo, the massive world-eating serpent destined to fight their god Voullatua. The Argalith claim to be descendents of a cosmic Dragon named Farouatalutatunagtin and…”

Crox rolled her hands down her face, snatching her eyelids and pulling them down before letting go. “We get the picture, please stop talking.” Arlene pouted and sent the pictures away.

            Arlye sat back in his seat. “And yet, both Dragon and Dinosaur are on this planet millions of lightyears from Earth, in another galaxy no less. How the heck is that even possible? Dragons are mythological and Dinosaurs are Earth exclusive beasts.”

            “Now I have a few guesses on that.” Belfast said. He’s been alive almost as long as Kitsunagi. Almost. “For the Dinosaurs, we can safely assume that an ancient race visited Earth millions of years in the past and snatched up some Dinosaurs for whatever reason- to use as pets or zoo animals, or to protect them from extinction- who cares. Eventually, the ship somehow ended up here and the Dinosaurs slowly evolved into what we see today. Of course, they all seem to be… what did you call them again?”

            “Utahraptors.”

            “Those. Time or hunger must’ve killed off all the others, leaving them. As for the Dragons…. Anyone’s guess is as good as mine. Same origin as all of us, likely: some Cro-Magnon brute that slowly evolved into what they are today, but… Magic scales bestowed by living gods that can turn a humanoid into a fire-breathing lizard is a first for me. If anyone can come up with one, I am all ears.”

            “… Everyone knows we went completely off topic here, right?” Iragi asked. “We were trying to learn all we can for tomorrow, not delve into hypothetical origins. If we screw up, our gooses are cooked, you know that right?”

            They were and they did. They felt like idiots. “Oh. Right.”

            Crox sighed as she rested her head in her hands. “This is gonna be a problem, I can tell… we cannot afford to get sidetracked.”

            Arlene clapped and rubbed her hands together. “Well… time for you to start up, Bran.” They looked to him… and saw that he was no longer there with him. The door to the CIC center was open- he was long gone. “He left.”

            Crox tapped her fingers on her forehead, having not changed her position. “…..I cannot exactly fault him for leaving.”

 

            Bran had retreated to the pond where he and Sokuro first met and have hung out since then. Seems like yesterday when they met, two kids who just wanted to know each other. Now look at him: already roped into the big-wigs plans for contact. They’re talking about hypothetical origins to a species they barely know instead of learning what could be useful for tomorrow.

            “Uuuuuuuugh.” He hit the back of his head on the tree behind him.

            He heard movement from behind: doesn’t take a genius to know who it was. “You too, huh?” Sokuro asked, sitting on the other side with her legs curled up.

            “Yep…”

            “Grown-ups?”

            “Yep.”

            “Yeah…… they always ruin everything…”

            “Yep.”

            She sighed as she buried her face in her knees. “How is this so hard? Getting to know someone you met shouldn’t be this hard. We were able to do it easy: why can’t the grown-ups just be…. sane?”

            “Because they are grown-ups and have to do everything the hard way. I mean… why do they always have to overcomplicate things to the point they are near impossible to do things?”

            “Well, keeping with the theme we’ve been running the last minute, they’re stupid.”

            “Yep…”

            Bran got up off the ground to stretch, stretching his arms above his head until he heard his shoulders pop. “Igh…. Ah. I needed that- I’ve been like that for a long time.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “Wow… it’s not even noon. This is going to be a long day.”

            Sokuro sat up and walked back around, feeling thirsty from her flight. “Tell me about it. I had to pretend I was falling-down tired so I could quit being asked every question under the sun. I had to sneak away just to get some peace and quiet.” She bent down, cupped her hands into the water, and took a drink. Following that, she dunked her head in it, feeling the pressure of life kicking in.

            That is when Bran took notice of her new attire. This is the first time he’s seen that. “Is that why you are wearing a white robe?”

            Sokuro was able to hear that underwater- Ferids have really good hearing and Aerids enhance that fourfold, and pulled her head out of the water. She shook it dry while blubbering. “Yeah. Had to use my dress to disguise some pillows under a blanket.”

            Bran chuckled at the concept- seems sneaking out that way is a universal thing. “Ah, the old ‘pillows-under-the-blanket’ trick. It’s a classic.”

            “Have you done it before?”

            “Personally, no. But I’ve seen it done in movies. I have no clue it’s actually effective or not, but I guess you’re gonna be the guinea pig for that.”

            “Guinea pig?”

            “It’s a saying.”

            “Oh.” She rubbed her neck again.

            Bran noticed that she had been rubbing her neck ever since this morning. “Are you ok?”

            “Huh? Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” She lowered her hand.

            It didn’t take a genius to figure out why she was rubbing. “That’s where the Phagos bit you, isn’t it?”

            “… When I was in Aerid form, yeah. He also bit me on the back and that part is aggravating with these short little arms. On my flight here, I noticed they were still there. They’ve been tingling since then.”

            He patted her on the shoulder- it seemed better than her back if she’s still got the wounds there. well, wounds on her dragon form, but phantom wounds in her human form. Pain is transferable, it seems. “The way you described the Silvers from ages past… I wasn’t sure you could get injured. You needed the Gods to take him down- I assume that they did the same trick they just did on the Phagos.”

            Sokuro rubbed her neck again- the itching was getting annoying, but every time it flared it, it reminded her of the fight and how easily she got them. “Truth be told… neither didn’t think I could get hurt. I thought the same thing you did. Now….”

            They heard rustling in the bushes behind them, rustling that was moving around at a rapid pace. Given what they have been though with the Phagos, they were on edge over anything and everything strange and potentially dangerous. “What was that?!” An on-edge Sokuro yelped, jumping behind Bran.

            “I don’t know.” He said confidently. “And why are you hiding behind me? You can transform into a giant monster- I think something small in the bushes would be childsplay.”

            Her eye twitched. “Given what I’ve been though today?!”

            The rustling was louder this time. Whatever the thing was, it was closer. It seemed to come from one direction and then from another, then another, then another. They were trapped by something. Bran pulled out his stun gun and got ready- it worked against the Phagos. Barely. It should work against something a lot smaller.

            Right?

            They didn’t have to wait long to find out where it was coming from because the rustling was coming straight for them.

 

Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BikEwlP1ewM Dream Eaters – Kingdom Hearts Dream Drop Distance OST

 

            A tiny little reptilian head popped out of the bush, blinking its large, piercing black eyes as it held a struggling rodent like creature in its jaws. “The heck?” Bran went as he tilted he and Sokuro tilted their heads. The rodent got free of the jaws and tried to run, but the head, and its body, leaped out and caught the rodent again.

            “Heeeeey… it’s a Kalamanker.” Sokuro cooed as she bent down to pet the lizard on the head, making it purr. “All that rustling must’ve been her chasing after the rodent.”

A Kalamanker is like a Earth salamander, but the size of a dog- the size of a chocolate lab or a golden retriever. All Kalamankers have the same body structure- short stubby legs with barely any claws, a finned tail like a eel’s, small fins that are nestled in front of her ears, and four horns- two directly out of the top of the head and two behind them. This particular one had three different shades of blue: sky-blue scales with a dark deep-sea blue underbelly and regular blue markings running along her back and tail, and a single one on her forehead. They are known around the planet for being friendly and extremely cute, but they can be ferocious when angry. It doesn’t take much to appease an angry Kalamanker, though- just feed it and its as docile as a sleepy cat.

“Kalamanker?” Bran repeated as he knelt down.

“Yes. I’ve never seen one in person, but I’ve seen a lot of pictures. They’re friendly creatures that are loyal and ferocious, despite their small size. If you get one angry, however, all you need to do is feed it and it’ll calm right back down.”

“Huh…” He looked though the databsse on his phone, finding a species from Earth that looked similar to hers. He bent down and petted the little darling on the cheek, making it purr like a cat and her tail to wag. “She looks like a salamander from back on Earth.” He zipped up a picture of a Axolotl salamander on his phone before she could ask what a salamander was. “And the way you described her, she seems to act like a dog, with elements of a cat to boot.” That, he could not zip out fast enough.

“Cat and dog? What are those?”

“Pets. You keep them, take care of them, feed them, train them, and give them a place to sleep, and they give you love and attention in return. There were a lot of options to choose from, but dogs and cats were the most popular.” That did bring up a curious subject. “Are pets a thing on Dragenia?”

She scratched the top of her head. “Yeah, kinda. We don’t do what you said here on Evioly- we don’t control animals, we just let them live and let live. And I can’t speak for the mainland because I haven’t been there, but based on what I saw at Roko Harbor, it’s somewhat similar to what you described. Kalamankers like her are valuable pets, but they are rare to find. They can be found on the mainland, if you are lucky- they seem to be rare there, but they are concentrated here on Evioly. Again, if you can find them. They may be friendly, but they are tenacious little buggers who have good hiding places. Most of the time, poachers come and try ot snag some to take to the mainland. It’s a pain in the rear to deal with them, or so I heard Polosa said.” He tilted his head, wondering who that was. “She is our head hunter. Mm… probably similar in position to your, un, security chief, I think was the term you used. That big guy, Arlye.”

“Yeah, I know who you were talking about.”

The rodent, thanks to the lack jaw from all the pets, wiggled free yet again and made a beeline for the nearest tree, burrowing under a root. It resembled that of a common Earth rat, except it’s snort is more angular, the tail is split at the middle, it has 6 legs, and a fin on its back like a Spinosaurus. “And the rat?”

Sokuro knew he was talking about the rodent. “That was a Mols. They are pests that always get into our food supplies.”

“Yep. Sounds a lot like rats.” He quickly pulled up an image of them. “They were everywhere back on Earth and did… well, pretty much the same things those Mols you described do. While it is a misconception, they are believed to be the source of a plague that wiped out millions of people long ago.”

Dragenia was no stranger to plagues- the last one occurred under Xelut’s rule, when he horded the medicine for a nasty breakout of the Qopls virus for his armies. Qopls is like chicken pox as you break out into spots that itch like crazy, but with the added negatives of insatiable hunger and small bouts of insanity. It’s not a disease you want. That was the last straw that lead to the rebellion. “Ouch. The rats really caused that?”

“No. The fleas and ticks they carried did.”

The Kalamankers stomach growled, which made it look down to its belly, and which made the children swoon. “Aaaaaaawww…” They both went. Sokuro saw pearl-colored berries in the bush the Kalamanker popped out. There’s a field of these berries growing on top of the mesa. “She’ll like these.” She remarked as she picked them, popping a few into her mouth in the process.

“What are they?” Bran asked.

“Brokl Berries. They are really, really good.” In just a few short minutes, she picked enough to where she needed to cradle them like a baby and walked back over. She carefully saw down and poured them into an outstretched part of the robe she had draped over her knees. The Kalamanker trotted over and eyed the berries with her big black eyes. “Try some.” She tossed a few over to Bran before taking some herself and dumping the rest in front of her.

Bran caught them in his hands and looked at one. “Huh… they look like pearls.” He commented. He tossed it into his mouth and chewed. “And… it tastes like a blackberry. Huh. You are right- they aren’t bad.” The Kalamander was going crazy as it munched up the berries in no time flat. “Whoa!” He laughed. “She must’ve been really hungry.”

“Yeah. I was hoping the berries would work and I’m glad they did.” Sokuro said as she ate the last of hers. “And what did you say? What are pearls? You said the berries looked like them.”

“Oh. Un, well, pearls are like… organic gemstones. They grow inside a living oyster, who takes a tiny grain of sand and turns it into a white ball that is really expensive and really valuable.”

“…….. I have so many questions to ask.”

“Please don’t.”

The Kalamanker ate up all of the berries Sokuro had gathered, and it was a hefty amount, and turned her attention to the berries in Bran’s hands. She leaped on over and snatched them right up with her claws. She rolled onto her bottom and ate the rest. “Wha- hey!” Bran cried out. Sokuro was laughing hard at that display the animal pulled. She laughed so hard, she held her sides and fell over.

Finishing those off, the Kalamanker looked around for more like a inquisitive puppies, only to find there wasn’t any more. At least no more free ones, as they were still a couple more bushes around she could eat off of. Kalamankers are not smart animals. Bran rolled his eyes and got up to go pick some more just for the little girl. “You are lucky you are cute…” He tossed a few down to her, which she leaped up and snatched in her jaws.

Feeling satisfied with this free meal, the Kalamanker was warming up to him. She walked over and nuzzled up alongside his legs like a cat. Having finally calmed down form laughing, Sokuro wiped slobber from her mouth. “No, that is cute.” She said. “I think she likes you… even though I’m the one that fed her.”

He just shrugged back to her as he has no clue why the Kalamanker was doing this and clearly Sokuro doesn’t either. He looked down at the chibi-dragon, who was still nuzzling away. “I’m reading too much into this, but I think I just got humanity’s first Dragenian pet. I just know you are going to follow me home.” The Kalamanker purred as she continued to rub up to his legs. “She is, isn’t she?”

“I think so.” Sokuro said.

“Right…. then, you need a name.” And he took no time at all to think of one- there was an inspiration growing right next to them. Her basic scales even have a identical color to them. “How about I call you Pearl? You like that?” She continued to nuzzle against his legs. They know one thing about this tyke: she is overly affectionate. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

Sokuro got up and wiped the fruit juices from her dress. “Well… I better get back home before they get wise and start looking for me.”

“Yeah… I know they’re gonna be searching for me. I left before I could provide any information about your world to them and I still need to do that, if they’ll stop going side-tracked.” He sighed as he took a few steps forward. Pearl followed right after him like a loyal kitty. “Tomorrow is going to be a long one as well, isn’t it?”

“Yep…” Sokuro nodded with a exhaling sigh. “At least until they meet.” She crossed her fingers as she turned to leave. “Please go well, please go well, please go well.”

13: Chapter 11: Second Chance at First Contact

Chapter 11

Second Chance at First Contact

2/19/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

Sleep was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind as the hours lead up to Inoute’s and Crox’s meeting. The future of the colonist’s role on this planet rests on this. Will their stay be friendly or violent? Will they make friends with the native races of Dragenia, or will the anxiety of the last 29 hours have been for naught? Only the next couple of hours will tell.

While the native races are eager to see what will come of this, it’s the colonists that are feeling the bigger pressure- depending on how this goes, this could very well turn into a conflict, and it’s something they do not want. As stated earlier, they have not the manpower or the resources for fighting on this foreign land. They have firepower, but the Phagos yesterday showed how ineffective that can be. And they can’t just up and leave- it took them a full week to get everything set up. And they don’t have enough fuel to go planet hopping- this was a one way trip, after all.

As for the native races, this could change everything about their history. For their entire history, they believed the Black Abyss was just that- an abyss, where the souls of the truly evil are tormented for eternity; the lights of the stars serving as a torture chamber of sorts. They never pictured anyone being able to travel across it, along with the Great Light being just a simple galaxy called Andromeda. The arrival of the colonists will change so many things they accepted as fact. It’s been met with be nausea and intrigue- nausea because this changes everything they thought they knew, and intrigue to see what these new people see as fact.

After all, there could be some interesting similarities. They already have three: The Aerids and Gaharots look like Dragons and Utahraptors, respectively, and the Ferids are humans, but with lizard tails. Who doesn’t want to know what caused these similarities?

That all depends on the next hour as the sun reached its peak of noon.

 

The security force from the colony had set up a simple white tent on the beach, far enough away from the surf to where the water won’t bother them.  From the perspective of the water, guards from both sides stood watch on both sides of the tent- the colonists on the left, facing their new home, and the natives on the right, facing Marsen. Much like with their arrangement around the tent, the peoples were situated on either sides as well- again, the colonists on the left and the natives on the right.

The situation was tense, with so many lives riding on this. Velx may’ve given the colonists permission to stay, but this meeting determines how that stay will be: peaceful or violent.

The inside of the tent was simple enough- only a single table flanked by two stools, each for Crox and Inoute to sit on. On it was a tray holding two bottled waters- one was brought here from the Milky Way and was for Crox, while the other was filled with water from the pond for Inoute. Only hers had a label, however basic and generic it was.

Along with Crox and Inoute was one other person they could bring: Inoute brought his advisor Ifil, obviously, whilst Crox brought Kitsunagi, hoping her 3 billion years of experience would help. Surely she must’ve been a part of some first contact missions in that long time.

            Crox grabbed her bottle and took a drink out of it. She saw that overtly peeved Inoute, with his arms crossed and his brow furrowed, wasn’t drinking from his- he must not know how they work. “It’s a twist cap.” She showed him how it worked by screwing it back on. “See?” He wasn’t all that impressed. So it’s a clear canteen- nothing special there. Crox pursed her lips to the side as she set her bottle down. “I… think we got off on the wrong foot yesterday. Everyone was still on a contact high by that monster and weren’t thinking clearly… and showing up with an armada doesn’t help much either…”

            “You held one of my own captive.” He snorted.

            She rapidly swung her hands around. “No. Nonononononono. No we didn’t. If we were, we wouldn’t have let her run free when you showed up, would we?”

            Inoute leaned back and crossed his legs. “Just what are you people? We received some information about you from Sokuro, but it would be best to hear it from the mouth of those who came here.”

            “You sound just like her.” She sat back up. “We are colonists from the Milky Way Galaxy, a collection of planets and stars far away from here- very far away. It took us 100 years to reach here in search of a new home. It was a one way trip, so we couldn’t head back even if we wanted to.”

            Just like what Sokuro said. How long has she known them? “Why did you leave? And are there others?”

            “Because the Milky Way was dying. Eons of overmining and, and pollution, and fighting are killing what few planets are left the galaxy. They most are cold and lifeless, while others just crumble away. Very few could support life now. And yes, there are others. The governments of the galaxy initiated a plan to insure our survival: we would spread out to our neighbor galaxies and colonize them.”

“So you can repeat history on someone else’s home?”

“We don’t plan, or want, to kill this world- what we did back home was terrible and we want to avoid all that. It’s after losing it that we see how important it was and how something similar should be avoided at all costs. Surely you know what that is like, right?”

He does. But it doesn’t prove anything. “Actions speak louder than words, foreigner. And right now, your actions need to prove you won’t cause us harm.” Crox gulped. She worried this was going in a bad direction. “And so far, you have done nothing to convince me otherwise.”

She wasn’t getting though to him. This was going badly. “Right…” Crox got up out of her seat and walked over to the opening to the tent, which faced out into the sparkling ocean. The native races have it made- she would’ve killed to be on a planet with fresh air. “… Have you ever seen your home crumble away? Have you had it happen underneath your feet? Have you ever seen the ground open up and tear itself apart until all that was left were fragments unable to sustain a single plant, let alone an entire ecosystem? I have… I have seen a planet destroy itself right out from under me and countless other people. If not for my husband Belfast, I would be a frozen corpse, drifting though space for all of eternity. And the few planets that could sustain us like Vega or Earth were overpopulated and polluted to unbearable levels. It wouldn’t be long before they crumbled away too. That is what we wish to avoid doing here. We messed up in the Milky Way… all we want is a second chance.”

Ifil leaned forward and whispered into Inoute’s ear. “Sir, I sympathize with their plight, but do not forget- whatever medicine they have could benefit the entire world greatly. Try to work that in somewhere.” The chief glanced back and nodded. Kitsunagi was able to hear that hushed talk- Kitsune’s have amazing hearing.

“So… stranger…” Inoute leaned forward and grabbed his bottle. “Why did you choose Dragenia? Out of all of the so-called worlds that you claim exist, why choose this one?” He took a drink out of it.

Crox sat back down. “It was entirely at random. Scouts, these mechanical orbs, were sent in completely random points in the neighbor galaxies, to see if they could encounter any that support life. When they do, a ship capable of housing 20000 people is built. Everyone are sent into cryosleep- a sort of forced frozen slumber that prevents aging. While the Scouts succeed… it’s clear that they have some problems. They just declare that a world is habitable after a few scans and just bunker down until we arrive. It was the Scout’s fault we had no clue people lived on this planet. Darn thing fluttered for a couple minutes, saw green and some wildlife, declared the air clean enough to support life, and just dug in. And before you ask ‘why this place?’ again, random. It could’ve easily landed in the middle of the ocean or high atop a mountain peak or…… square in the middle of your village.”

Inoute slowly drank from the bottle, wondering how to work the medicine talk into this. “I’m glad that last part didn’t- I can only imagine the panic that would bring.” Crox subtlety nodded. “… I imagine the mere thought of beings from across the Black Abyss, sprouting all of these ideas that would threaten our way of life, would do that.”

“Yes… that is a bad part of first contact- the breakdown of native ways. It’s…. happened many times before on my home planet. It has never ended pretty - something we wish to avoid here.” She knows this would be a sensitive subject, but she knew it would be brought up sooner or later. “… just… what is the structure of your civilization? Just so we can avoid walking on eggshells.”

“Ifil.” He gestured him to come forward. “Tell them.” Kitsunagi glanced to the Utahraptor-like being. Inoute must not know much of their religion or history. Makes sense, if you think about it: a leader is busy caring for the well-being of his people- you don’t have time for everything. Some things will slip though the knowledge cracks. That or he was a miserable student when he was younger.

Ifil handed them a book- a very old and leather-bound book- at least they think it’s leather, or whatever was a Dragenian equivalent of it. Crox opened it up to the first page. There were images- images that looked similar to ancient Native American drawings.

“In order to know things the way they are now, you must first know our history. Long ago, the Creator Hovo’agi created Dragenia out of nothingness, bringing together all the known elements to create this place. The remains not used went on to form the three Celestial Spheres. Then came his children, the Astral Aerids- the gods that live among us to this day, to shape the world and give it life. That told us that when we die, three paths are open to us depending on how we lived: If we were truly good and kind, then the Great Light, what you call Andromeda, would welcome us with open arms and take us to a paradise. If we were wicked and vile, then the monsters of the Black Abyss, what you call Outer Space, would torture us for all eternity. If we met none of the criteria’s to enter, then our soul would enter the Soul River that circles underneath Dragenia we would be reincarnated.”

“Hmm…” Crox went, rubbing a finger on her chin. “That sounds similar to what we Earthlings have. Earth is special back home: there are almost thousands of religions. What you described sounds like Christianity or Greek, with that concept of a paradise- Heaven or Elysium- or unbearable torture- Hell or Tartarus- waiting when you died, mixed with a little Hinduism by the sounds of it, with the reincarnation you mentioned. There’s nothing about anything similar to Soul Rivers, though… at least I think so. I think you are unique on that front.” She sat back. “Please continue with the history lesson.”

Ifil nodded and continued. “The Gaharots, my race, were the first: we spread out among the planet, building up a great civilization that… we ultimately destroyed ourselves though hubris. Then the Ferids came. Why they weren’t as physically powerful as us, they were more numerous. Conflict came soon thereafter, one that lasted for years.

“One day, a Ferid named Nascent approached one of the Astrals and beseeched a special scale that granted him special powers- he was the first Aerid. He was able to turn the tides and score a victory for the Ferids, who, as time went on, were granted scales of their own. The war ended not long afterwards and a peace treaty was formed. Eventually, a day was created for Ferids who come of a certain age to be granted scales of their own- this became Ascension Day. Each Aerid has power over all of the elements, but the color determines what they are most proficient with. For example, a Aerid who is red is strong with fire, but weak with everything else- water formed would turn to steam, rocks would melt, things of that nature.

“Then one day, a young boy was granted his scale, except his was special. His Aerid form was colored silver and he was capable of extraordinary feats no normal Aerid could do, along with mastery of all elements along with a couple only seen by them. Not long after that, a great change occurred in Dragenian history: the birth of the Phagos, a nasty species you had the misfortune of encountering yesterday. It wasn’t until the 3rd Silver Aerid 10722 Cycles later when they learned one thing: when a Silver Aerid is chosen, a great change will befall Dragenia. And every time, it has been true. Good, bad, and everything in between- it has happened when a Silver appeared. You encountered the current Silver Aerid yesterday- the child Sokuro.

“In the centuries since the war, Gaharots and Ferids have lived in a beneficial co-existence. We were highly advanced technologically but they had the superior numbers, and with threats like the Phagos, working together was the best option. A new empire had been born and ruled Dragenia for countless eons.….. that was, until 500 cycles ago.

“The heir to the imperial throne, a young lad named Xelut, was granted his scale. Almost immediately after, his father was assassinated by an enemy of the state and he was made Emperor at the young age of 14. No one is sure if it happened then or much later in his life, but during his reign, Xelut went mad, becoming a tyrannical dictator. He enacted many terrible laws, including the subjugation and slavery of my kind. A massive war followed, in which even the Gods had to become involved in. Xelut was ultimately defeated, and the empire broken up, divided into smaller kingdoms and provinces. Unfortunately, the idiots back then kept the slave trade in place, which still exists to this day. The reason why has been lost to time, but the leading theory is that members of Xelut’s council found a way to stay in power and made sure it stayed this way for reasons. Some nations have banned slavery or loosened the policies over the years, but the vast majority of them still hold onto it.

“And that brings us to present day.” That was where the images ended. “The birth of the current Silver Aerid Sokuro, the second death of a Phagos, And the arrival of you.”

That was quite a history, to say the least. It’s hard to find a civilization that has such a complete record of their entire history. The Kitsune’s have a complete history, thanks to old ones like Kitsunagi, but for the vast majority of races, humanity included, it’s hard. “Wow…” Kitsunagi looked at the book while Crox talked. “What of Evioly?”

Inoute spoke up. “With the exception of Roko Harbor, which was an outpost established hundreds of cycles ago and is now a part of the Bokurol Kingdom, the slave trade does not exist here on Evioly. We live so far away- four months by boat, if case you were wondering- the matters of the mainland rarely, if ever, affect us here or give us pause. The battle against Xelut didn’t reach us until 3 cycles after it ended. And even if it did, we wouldn’t allow it. We’ve built our own way of life here and we wouldn’t let our Gaharot siblings be thrown to the Dokas.”

Wolves, they think is what he means. “So, there must be plenty who oppose the slave trade on the mainland?”

“Indeed.” Ifil said. “They are called Janissaries- they are a resistance group that seek to bring down the slave trade completely. They’ve had their ups and downs as a group for the last 420 cycles, but their current leader has turned things around. And we made sure Evioly Gaharots cannot be touched by the slavers. When we go to the mainland, we wear a special green collar on our necks, to show we are from here and not to be touched. If we are taken… well, you can use your imagination.”

“I unfortunately am…” She said to herself. History does not place her kind in a favorable light with this. “… I may as well get this out now before you find out later, my homeworld… went though the same thing with this whole sordid business. In fact, it lasted far, far longer then it should’ve. We were not a… great species thousands of years ago.”

“The worst.” Kitsunagi said in passing. “You were the worst long ago.”

Crox made her a scowl- they weren’t that bad. “But time made us better. Slavery is no longer a thing and we’ve grown.”

“I would hope so.” He looked to Kitsunagi, who felt cold as he looked her way, like he was staring into her soul. He thought up of one way on how to bring up the talk of medicine. It needed to be brought up anyway. “Switching subjects, how many races came with you?”

“Four other races came with humanity. Kitsunagi here is a member of a race called the Kitsune, a race of immortal, fair, and beautiful creatures. My own husband is a Kitsune, and Kitsunagi here is over 3 billion years old.”

“Billion!?! Inoute and Ifil exclaimed in unison. They don’t recognize the word year, but billion is familiar- Dragenia isn’t even 140,000 years old, at least according to their history and religions. “That is impossible!”

“Ah, but it is.” Kitsunagi said, spinning around to show how beautiful she still is. “And I am still as spry and as pretty as a teenager. But despite my age, I am not the oldest: I am the 4th oldest out of the entire Kitsune race. But as far as this planet goes, yes I am the oldest.”

Crox chimed back in. “The other races include the Argaliths. Our head of security, Arlye, is one of them. They are tall, muscular lizard brutes who are also the inventors of artificial intelligence, or A.I., as they are more commonly called.”

“A.I.?” The two natives muttered in unison. Ifil laughed that off as some kind of joke- no intelligence can be faked, assuming that is what they meant. “Sounds made up.”

Kitsunagi pursed her lips to the side to hide a chuckle and a grin. “Just wait. Arlene will surprise you.”

Crox continued. “There are also the Adlez- they are the UGLIEST race you will ever meet- just nasty; I saw someone lose their lunch just be looking at them. They live inside special suits that help them live- they lived on a very low gravity world and their bodies aren’t used to normal gravity. But they are the most brilliant engineers you will ever meet, and they eat just about anything.

“Lastly, there are the Heakaluesly, or just Hesk for short. They are telepathic sea creatures that are the best healers in the galaxy. They’re pacifists and used their non-violent ways to build up their medical prowess- they are able to cure diseases long thought incurable.”

And there it was. A species entirely devoted to medicine. Surely they can be of some help with what they have. “Oh? They can cure anything, you say? As in, anything at all?”

“Well… curing EVERYTHING is putting it on a high pedestal. They are really good, don’t get me wrong, but there are some things that can’t be cured. But for the wide majority, yes they can cure it, given time. They’d have to go though the procedure of analyzing and developing a way to deal with it- most places can take decades, if not centuries, before they would find a cure for anything- it took humanity centuries to find a way to fight the Flu. The Hesk, on the other hand, can do it in just a few years, if they are in a bad slump. Why ask?”

He glanced over to Ifil, who nodded in agreement- this was the best time to bring it up. “We have a disease that slowly kills any who contracts it. We haven’t been able to find a cure, nor a way to even slow it down. It’s called Froypes and it’s a…” He rubbed his wrist. “… it’s a nasty one.”

Ifil stepped forward. “Nobody knows how it is contracted; air, water, food, mere contact- nobody knows. Any attempts to stop it from spreading have failed over the years. It is also a slow disease, taking it’s time killing those infected. It can take years before you die from it. And it doesn’t discriminate- both Ferids and Gaharots can get it, and I’m assuming the colonists will too someday down the line.”

Inoute chimed back in. “What it does is that it slowly turns your body into dust. First, it starts with an irritation that can appear anywhere on your skin. Then it slowly spreads, appearing like a dried-up lakebed. After some time has passed, it spreads inside to your organs, slowly giving them the same treatment. At that time, you begin coughing a lot. Then you start to vomit up blood. Not long after that… poof. You crumble to dust and faded away.”

The two ladies were horrified by that- it sounds like a truly horrible way to die, and they’ve heard of some nasty ways. Slowly dying, likely in agony, to something that turns you to dust sounds mortifying? “That sounds horrible.” Kitsunagi gasped, holding her hands over her mouth.

Inoute crossed his arms. “Well… if there is any consolation, it is rare. Only one in 500 can contract it.”

“But there was a really horrible plague long ago in the mainland city of Potya.” Ifil said. “Wiped out hundreds of thousands. The entire city was cut off from the world and its citizens left to die. From what I hear, it’s a ghost town now.”

Crox gulped out of fear- that sounds like something that should be cured pronto. She doesn’t want any of her colonists to get it. “I see why you brought it up… it sounds like a horrible way to die. I can see why you would want to cure it.”

“Why else would I have brought it up?” He got up from his chair. “I think I have learned all I need to from you, Mrs. Crox.” He leaned forward, pressing both hands on the table. “So let’s cut to the chase now, shall we?”

“I assume you are talking about terms of our staying here.” She looked to Kitsunagi, who nodded. “Makes sense- this is your world we are building a new home on.” She leaned back in her seat. “Tell me them, then.”

“First off, I want you to find a cure for Froypes. It has been a menace to our world for far too long and it needs to be stopped.”

“Well, of course we’ll help with that. We don’t want to get that disease ourselves- the process sounds incredibly painful.”

“It is.” He glanced down for a moment. “Also, I would prefer if your people caused as little trouble as possible. There is no denying that there will be questions about most things, but I would like it if you kept trouble to a minimum.”

Crox nodded- those seem like reasonable demands. But what trouble he is referring to, she didn’t get a clear answer. She’s gonna run with he doesn’t want incidents. “I have some demands of my own.”

Inoute snickered- of course the visitors would have some. May as well humor them. “Alright.”

“We are strangers in a strange land and we know next to nothing about Dragenia or it’s customs, nor have a full understanding of your believes, wildlife, and so on. Help from your villagers would be greatly appreciated. We can learn from and grow off of each other. And since we are new neighbors, we should let our citizens mingle. Learn, laugh, grow, and maybe even fall in love- it is going to happen if we try to deny it or not, so we should just go with the flow and accept it will be a thing. It has already happened with the two children, Sokuro and Bran. It’s thanks to them we’re even having this discussion.”

He forgot about her. It was thanks to them that this is possible. “Right… heh. Two little kids are responsible for our races meeting. If anyone told this story, people would think they were nuts.” The two of them shared a mutual chuckle.

“I’d say this is going quite well.” Kitsunagi said to Ifil, who nodded in agreement.

 

Outside of the tent, the situation was much more stressful. They had no clue what was going on inside the tent or what was being discussed- anything could come of this. There’s no yelling- that is a positive sign. The adults were terrified about what may happen, praying this doesn’t lead into a conflict. The kids… well, they’re just being kids. They are hanging out as if nothing was wrong, and truly, more people should follow their example.

And fortunately, it didn’t come to pass. When the four of them came out of the tent, they were roaring at a joke Ifil told. That was a REALLY good sign. It wasn’t long before they relayed the good news of a potential cooperative future between the two civilizations, and that was a huge sigh of relief- there wasn’t going to be a conflict between the two civilizations and the colonists have a new place to call home now. That was amazing news to hear. The tension was lifted like a cloud. Sokuro and Bran were proud…

…or they would be if they had been around to hear the good news. They had disappeared, as did Taled. Nobody knows when they vanished, nor were they aware that they did vanish.

 

The tension and the anxiety was getting to Sokuro and getting to her bad; it was so bad, she needed to leave to get some air- being around so many people was not helping the tension. She needed some space- her mind was racing with so many worse case scenarios that could play out if conflict was the only future they could have. She couldn’t take it. She needed room.

And no better place than the gorge. She was curled up on the edge, holding her arms around her knees and legs, staring blankly out at the woods across the grove- the woods that had been ravaged from the Phagos’ rampage. Hard to believe that was only yesterday- feels like a lifetime ago. She rubbed her neck again, feeling a tingling sensation again.

Taled fidgeted with his fingers from behind a nearby tree, watching from a distance as he was worried about his sister at this moment. The last time she was like this was when their parents died. It took her forever to break out and return to the ball of positivity she usually is. “Sis…” He whimpered.

Bran sat close to her, but he was a few feet away, sitting behind a boulder. His cousin gave him advice on how to deal with girls; a large chunk of it involved in him getting slapped. His cousin was not the brightest toll in the shed. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back?” He asked.

She tightened her grip. “I can’t… I’m too scared…”

“Nothing bad is going to happen.” He assured her.

“How can you be sure?” She buried her face. “You don’t know Inoute like I do. You saw it yesterday- he has a nasty temper.”

She hasn’t spent a lot of time with the colonists, so she doesn’t know what they are like. “Well, Crox has a lot of patience. She can handle a jerk with a temper. Besides, he’s nothing compared to Mom. She is a nightmare in the morning.”

“But what if the worse comes to pass?” She buried her face to hide her fear. “What if this all erupts into a conflict…? I don’t want to hurt anyone. I won’t want to harm people.”

Trying to keep miss positive still positive is getting hard. “I know… but hey, try to think on the positive side. If things work out, your village will have new neighbors. I’m sure they’ll hit it off swimmingly, like us.”

“We’re just one village. Even if we do try and succeed in getting along, that’s no guarantee every other village will be like us and just accept you. There’s still Roko Harbor, Mocurot, Toto, Meoho, Zocho, Masl, Teek, Maco’Mes, and Poqua, and that’s just on Evioly. There’s still the Outpost, the Akinad Isles, and the entire mainland. Someone somewhere won’t take kindly to you all and it won’t end well… I just know it won’t…”

Bran won’t say it out loud, but she makes valid points. Just because Marsen will be cooperative doesn’t mean every other village will. Someone will resent or hate him and the other colonists for some reason and that will erupt into something bad. But he is nothing if not an optimist. “Well… if that does happen… I know we got you looking out for us.”

“Is that supposed to make me feel better?”

“I’m not talking though fighting, but what you represent. Like you said, you are a Silver Aerid, a harbinger of great changes to come to the world. And there’s no denying that us showing up is a sign of great change. They’d have to listen to you, and if they won’t hear your words, then by reputation of your title alone will make them realize we’re important.”

She lifted up her head and looked to him. “… You think so?”

“Yes. This is going to be rough going forward, there is no denying that. There are going to be some bumps on the road, but it’s to be expected. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you know.” She lifted an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion. “It’s a Earth saying- it means the best things take time.” He lightly chuckled to himself. “You should probably prepare- I am going to be breaking those out a lot.”

She lightly chuckled at that idea. “… I guess if worse comes to shove, you can just hide out in that ‘space ship’ of yours or whatever it’s called until the angered crowds die down.”

That never occurred to him, actually. He wonders if the leaders had considered that if the worst comes to pass. “Right, yeah, right.” They heard loud cheering coming from the beach. That could only mean one thing. There is only one thing it could mean. “Well… sounds like we’re neighbors after all.” He got up off the ground and dusted off his coat. “Guess we should be heading back before they get scared.”

“I guess.” Sokuro hesitantly said, still worried that somewhere down the road, this will get worse before it gets better. She uncurled herself and got up off the ground, dusting off her skirt.

Suddenly, and without warning, that was a very brief but very bright flash of light that came from the heavens- a blink and you’ll miss it flash. Seconds later, the ground violently shook as a Magnitude 12 quake ravaged the land, sending both kids back onto the ground. Trees snapped in half in seconds, mountains crumbled, and deep sink holes opened up.

It wasn’t just Evioly that was affected by this sudden and violent quake, but the entirety of Dragenia. It was felt the world over and causing untold damage. Even Velx was shaking up by this violent quake, and he’s a God.

The ground underneath the two kids violently opened up, tearing itself apart as it crumbled into the gorge, making it wider. Sokuro and Bran had no time to try and run- the ground underneath them fell away, sending them into the gorge. Sokuro glowed and changed into her Aerid form. She flipped around and caught Bran on her underbelly. Large, sharp boulders fell onto her wings, piercing the leather and breaking bones in the wings, leaving them with no way out as they fell into the gorge, screaming in terror all the way down.

 

The quake affected the planet deep, deeper than anyone thought possible. An ancient secret was unearthed by this sudden chaos, a secret that had been long buried since the beginning of time, and one that should’ve remained buried.

Everyone thinks the colonists from another world would be the only change Dragenia would experience under Sokuro’s current tenure as Silver Aerid. They were wrong. There was more to come. An ancient threat was about to rise.

And there would be no peaceful solution to it.

14: Chapter 12: Discovery of Universal Proportions

Chapter 12

Discovery of Universal Proportions

2/19/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

 

            The massive quake brought forth from out of nowhere encompassed the entire planet, and even farther still. Buildings cracked and crumbled, foundations were rocked to dust, and new fissures were born. Even the Argo Marquis in orbit shook violently from the quake. Deep within the planet, the quake woke something up, something that wished to remain asleep.

           

            Back on the beach, everyone was falling over and hanging on for dear life as the area shook under this magnitude 10 tremor. None of them had felt a earthquake like this before- not the native Dragenians, nor the colonists. This was scary. The tent had collapsed on itself and several of the Aerids had taken to the air, only to find that was shaking as well.

            The world seemed to shake for an eternity until it finally subsided a couple minutes after it had begun. It had left its mark, as they shall see soon enough.

            The quake had ended. Everyone at the beach cautiously began to move, fearing an aftershock. They had quakes before, but nothing on this level. Almost everyone was unharmed. There were scrapes and bruises all around, but nothing that can leave a scar or take something out.

            Inoute, who had held Crox down during the quake, slowly got up and let her go. “Is everyone alright?” He called out.

            “I think so.” Ifil said as he looked around, giving a visual check of the surroundings. Everyone was alright, for the most part. “I don’t see any injuries.”

Nothing but scrapes and bruises all around for them. They are lucky- most of the planet isn’t this well off.

“What the heck was that…?” Hela asked. She was thankfully unhurt by the quake- the orphans she cares for were fast to protect her. Her unborn baby was kicking up a storm, however. The quake scared even it.

“That was a quake.” Vela coyly responded.

Hela rolled her eyes and slowly got up, slowly getting attention from everyone. “No, I mean… it came out of nowhere. Usually there’s some kind of warning like abnormal waves or fleeing birds. And we never had any that powerful. And did anyone else notice the flash of light before it kicked off? Quakes don’t do that.”

Kitsunagi got up off the ground, dusting off her shoulder. “You’re right. I’ve seen just about everything, but I ain’t seen a earthquake that began with a flash of light. Least none that weren’t caused by bombs.”

Inoute looked over at Crox, who was offended by him actually insisting this was her fault. “Hey, don’t look at me. The defense turrets at the colony are the biggest weapons we have.”

This was going to be a interesting mystery to solve, but first they had something else to do, and it was running at the beach group as fast as his tiny little legs could carry. Taled burst though the tree line, tripping over Vela’s tail and making the Gaharot scream. “AGH! Hey, what are you—oh, Taled. Where the heck did you disappear to?”

He got up onto his knees and held up a single finger while he panted. He ran all the way here from the gorge and it was a long way away. “E… it…” He was close to clearing his guts. He wiped his mouth and got up. “It’s Sokuro and that Bran guy. There was a giant quake and…. And Sokuro hurt her wing. They fell into the Gorge.”

Everyone on the beach, from the colonists to the native populace, all had the same exact reaction to the news that the two children responsible for them meeting are in mortal peril. “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”

 

            Mortal peril is stretching it a little bit, but the two kids were in a really bad situation. Dirt and small rocks fell among the giant boulders that lined the bottom of the chasm. They fell far. So far, there was no light here, save for the bioluminescent yellow algae that covered the ceiling

            There was no sound for some time other then falling rocks. Groaning soon creeped though. Some dirt and stone shifted as Bran pushed out a rock, finally getting some air. He collapsed on one below him and coughed, finally breathing in some fresh air. Kinda.

            He slowly crawled out, sliding down the other side of the rock. His clothes were ripped to shreads and his goggles were smashed. He held his head and felt something wet. He looked and it was blood. “Ugh… this can’t be good…” He lowered his hand, staining the rock with it.

            The ground rumbled beneath him, making him fear it was another quake. Thankfully, it wasn’t. It was just Aerid Sokuro shifting underneath the large pile of rubble. She very slowly shook some of the heavier stuff off her back, exposing her head and some of her back. “Ow… everything hurts…” She winced in pain when a pebble hit her wing. “Why does everything hurt…?” She looked up at the ceiling. There was a dragon-sized hole in it. “Oh….. right…”

            Bran grunted in pain as he got up, holding his aching side. “Sokuro…? Are you alright?”

            “What do you think…?” Sokuro winced. “We must’ve fallen… gods, I don’t know how far. Nobody’s even flown down this gorge before, or at least in centuries. It’s forbidden to try and descend into it.”

            Bran looked up at the hole. “Yeah, I think I see why… I can’t even see sunlight. We must be hundreds- thousands of feet underground.” He sat down on the boulder he crawled over. “Can you fly?”

            Sokuro tried to move out of the pile of rubble, but couldn’t. She yelled out in pain when she tried a second time. “I think I’m stuck… and even if I could… ow, it feels like my wing is broken.”

            “Crap. How long can that take to heal?”

            “Broken bones? A long time. If we somehow make it back, I won’t be flying for a long while.”

            “Double crap… Then we’re gonna have to hope there’s another way out of here.” He looked around and saw an opening not that far from the cavern they were in. It seemed to lead somewhere, which was a good thing. They can’t stay in the pile of rubble like this. “You said nobodies been down here in centuries, right?”

            “I think so. Nobody has been down here since the days of the Gaharot Empire and the War with my kind that ended it. It was after the dissolvent of it that this place was deemed forbidden and a holy site. They didn’t give a reason why.”

            “Or maybe they did and it was lost to time.” He forced himself up off the boulder. “If I were a betting man, I’d bet that maybe the Empire left behind something we can use to get out of here: an ancient airship, a prototype or unconventional teleporter- I’d even go for a long flight of stairs if it meant getting out of here.”

            “You sound certain.”

            “Well, we don’t have any options to go off of, so we gotta hope for the best. And since you won’t be able to fly in the foreseeable future, we need a deus ex machine.” She tilted her head and lifted up a eyebrow at the same time. “Earth saying. It usually means a solution to a problem that arrives at the last minute- like how Velx saved you from the Phagos.”

            “Oh.”

            “Yeah…” He winced as he held his shoulder. This was one nasty tumble. “Ergh… can you move.”

            She shook her head. “No. I told you, I am stuck. My tail is caught in a something and I can’t get it out.”

            “Alright. Alright. Mmmm…” He thought one up on how to get her out of there. “Ah, I have an idea.” He walked back over to the hole. “Can you put a claw where I crawled out?”

            While clearly puzzled by his request, she did just that. “Ok…? Where are you going with this?”

            He grabbed the claw. “Can you transform back into your Ferid self?”

            “What are….” She finally caught on to what he was suggesting. “OOOOOOOOOH… I get ya. Hold on.” Her body glowed brightly as she shrank in size. The pile slowly grew smaller and smaller as she did,  leaving it on the verge of collapsing in on itself. Bran’s plan was that she could shrink in the vicinity of whatever she is touching her diminishing body would focus onto, I.E. his hand.

It actually worked as her Ferid body materialized, holding Bran’s hand. The pile began to fall in. He pulled her out before the pile could crush her under the falling rocks. He pulled her out a little too quick- his side erupted into pain, forcing him to let go and drop her. “OW!!!”

Sokuro, looking only bruised with a black eye, her dress torn on the skirt and the hood, and a limped tail, quickly crawled over to him. “What’s wrong?!”

“Agh… ugh…” He exhaled sharply over and over until the pain went away. “Argh… everything hurts.” He sat down. “Ugh… we need to get out of here.”

Sokuro exclaimed in pain as she reached to grab her back, or more specifically, her wings which weren’t there. She still felt the pain. “Ah… ow… ow…” She softly sat down. “it’s not going to be anytime soon. My wing is still broken.” She looked up to him and saw blood. “You’re bleeding!”

“Oh… right, yeah.” He rubbed the bleeding spot. “I’m not dead, so that’s a good sign. I hope.” He rummaged though his pockets and found his phone. He held it up and saw that it was completely damaged- the screen was flickering, making it almost unusable. “Dammit… so much for calling the surface. I doubt I would’ve gotten reception this deep in a chasm anyway.” He heard cloth ripping. He looked and saw her ripping off a part of her skirt. “What, un… what are you doing?”

She got up onto her feet and walked over to him. “Making an impromptu bandage.” She took off the goggles and set them aside. He saw how broken they were. “Now hold still.” She got behind him and gently wrapped it around his forehead like a bandanna.

Bran did as she said and sat still as she bandaged him up. “When did you learn to do this?”

“Mom. She was a safety nut, especially with Taled. Always kept an eye on him, making sure he was safe. When I was old enough, she made me practice healing methods every other day, when she and dad weren’t out exploring some ancient ruins or something.”

“Oh.” He vaguely recalls her saying something about her parents being explorers before they died. Did they travel around the world and just settled down here after they had Sokuro? He doesn’t remember seeing any ruins on Evioly. “Well, hopefully you learned some exploration skills from them.”

She couldn’t help but agree. She never imagined herself in this situation. “Here’s hoping what they taught me stuck.” She finished bandaging up his forehead, tying it up. “There we go. That should hold until we get out of here.” She backed away.

“Thanks.” He slowly got up. He looked up at the ceiling again. If she could fly, they would be out of here in no time, but with a broken wing… He then noticed the bioluminescent algae on the ceiling. “At least we won’t lack any light or air.”

“That’s if they are spread all over the cave.” She rubbed her neck- the Phagos bite was still burning. It made it hard for her to get to sleep last night. “Here’s hoping we can find a way out before we starve.”

            “Same. I did not have a big breakfast and I am already hungry.” He slowly turned and limped down the cavern tunnel with Sokuro beside him.

 

            Back on the surface, a small crowd had formed around the giant gorge. The Gaharots and Ferids were stunned at how different it looked. It seemed to be bigger than it was before. Large chunks of land were missing and some were still in the midst of falling away. Most of the people had gone home to tend to their things, see if anything was destroyed or damaged from the quake. The ones that were at the gorge were security personnel and hunters from both villages that were used to this kind of thing. It was mostly colonists, though: Bran is a colonist like them and, while nobody is hoping this becomes a possibility, he could be the first colonist death on Dragenia, and nobody wants that. The thought of losing her son had sent Vivian into a state of panic, hyperventilating into a paper bag as all she could do was wait for any sort of word.

            The natives were hesitant to let them so close to the gorge- this is a sacred site and it is most important to their history. But Velx gave them permission to live near it, so he must know what he is doing. And given their technology, they may be able to find them in there. They wouldn’t dare fly in there- it’s over 900 masps (1400 feet) deep  

            Crox had ordered some Beatle dropships to be brought here so they could scow the gorge. Thanks to all that armor plating and built-in headlights, they should be able to find them without having to worry about being hurt. She could see that this had Inoute worried, if not for the sacred site, then for Sokuro. Silver Dr—Aerids are important to their culture, after all.

“Don’t worry, Chieftain. We won’t desiccate this place… though I’d say nature took a good whack at it already.”

“Make sure that you do. This is a most sacred site.”

“Why is that, anyway? I don’t think you gave a reason for that.”

“Because this is where my kind came forth.” Ifil said as he walked up from behind. “This is where the Gaharots, the Ferids, and the Astral Aerids came from. It’s sacred because it’s said that the Wellspring of Life originated from down there, and is the concentration of the River of Life, where souls not bound for paradise or torture are purified and reborn again. At least, that’s what the ancient texts say.”

“Huh…  and now? What’s down there now?”

“Nobody knows. But I would hazard that ruins are all that remain down there, but they could find something. We may not look it, especially with the problems on the mainland, but we Gaharots are tricky beasts. I’m sure the ancients left some way for their people to leave. Maybe the children will be lucky enough to find it.”

“If they survived.” Arlye commented with his arms crossed.

The three of them looked at him with concerned glances- was he always this down?  “… you are just one bubbly person, aren’t you?” Inoute jokingly said. Arlye rolled his eyes.

“So you don’t go down there for historical and religious reasons?”

“And natural. Up here, the air flow and currants are fine and decent. But once you pass the cloud barrier, it’s a wild, violent, deadly time. There are powerful gusts and sheers under there that would slam you into the canyon walls and possibly kill you- it’s a localized hurricane basically. In this case, we better hope there were rocks on them as they fell, otherwise they would not have made it to the bottom.”

The roar of rumbling engines quickly grew loud as a Beatle dropshop roared over the treeline, picking up and scattering leaves thanks to its powerful engines. The appearance of a Beatle may be old hat to the colonists, but the natives were in amazement at this metallic sight. They knew the newcomers were advanced, but to have something like this was astounding.

The Beatle maneuvered around so that it could have a nearly-clean descent point. Given the colonists behavior around this place, they needed to do this as cleanly as possible. They also needed to be careful in case of aftershocks.

Crox pressed her ear so she could use a hands-free radio to speak into the pilot inside. To the natives, seeing her do that was strange. “Alright, Adalay, remember to descend slowly. We don’t want to cause an incident with the native folk. But we don’t want to let those two suffer any longer, so speed is of the essence. Remember, fast and safe.”

Inoute and Ifil shared glances, wondering if she actually was speaking to someone. Their answer came milliseconds later when they heard a disembodied voice which made them jump in their skin. “(Fast and safe… you know this is a ship, right? you can only have one or the other.)”

“Adalay…”

“(I’m joking, I’m joking. I’ll try my best.)”

The Beatle hovered on down to the cusp of the gorge and stayed there. a light came out from beneath the bottom of the container and began moving in a circle. “What is it doing?” Inoute asked.

“Scanning for natural hazards like crumbling walls or a spiked pillar in the clouds.” The two natives stayed silent- it took her 2 seconds to  learn that they had no clue what they were talking about. “It’s kind of like sonar.” She explained, hoping they would know that.  They did not, causing Inoute to tilt his head to the left. “Echolocation?” Now Ifil followed his example. She was running out of examples. “What blind animals use to see?”

“Oh.” Inoute said, followed by a wry chuckle. “Why not just say that in the first place?” He and Ifil walked off to see if they could help in some way.

Crox tapped her fingers together. “……. You’re joking, right?” She asked before following them.

 

Along with most parts of their bodies, Sokuro’s and Bran’s feet began to hurt from this long trek though the caverns. Like he predicted and hoped, there was algae present all throughout the cave, so light was not going to be an issue. What will be an issue soon is the lack of food and water. They couldn’t eat with all of the stress and anxiety leading up to the meeting. They were worried things would erupt into war.

The two kids kept themselves busy by talking about the more common things, nothing planetary or political, just random things they thought was interesting. Amazing- only took a week and they are already acting like long friends spouting random stuff they read from a phone. This was a good way to pass the time and not be all gloomy all the time.

“So, these moving pictures- these ‘movies’- you can make just about anything on them?” Sokuro inquired.

Bran lightly shrugged while waving his hand around. “Pretty much. As long as you have the money, the passion, the drive, and no one on your back, telling you what you can and can’t do.”

“Did you try to make one?”

“On my phone with a few friends back on Vega- a very low grade horror movie, but it was terrible. And in the end, my phone got destroyed and I had to buy a new one. We never tried again.”

“Horror? What is horror?”

Ok, that seems like something they would have here. They already share so many things, but not horror? Really? “Oh, don’t tell me you don’t have horror stories here. It’s a genre where you are trying to scare people on purpose, usually in very disturbing fashion. I can’t stand them- one of them gave me intense nightmares when I was a kid for weeks.”

“Ooooooooooh. You mean Comlore.”

That sounds so made up, it had to come from this planet. “Comlore? I am hesitant to ask.”

She lightly chuckled. “We have stories too. We call them Lores. There are words we put before them so you know what kind of stories they are. Com are stories made to deliberately scare people. So… I guess in your term, Comlore is Horror Movie.”

“Huh. What about action?”

“Veitlore.”

“Mystery?”

“Marchalore.”

“Romance?”

“Kannalore.”

“Historical?”

“Lomolore.”

“Animated?”

“What the heck is Animated?”

This went on for some time. He asked every genre he could and he always got some sort of response. Obviously, they wouldn’t have genres based on historical times from his world, like World War 2, The Wild West, the days of the Samurai, so he just left those out. They would be genres his folk would have to introduce themselves.

“OH, right!” She exclaimed. “Do you have any based on Aer—pbbt,  I mean Dragons?”

Do they have any- of course they have movies based off dragons. “Of course we do. In every conceivable genre imaginable. On Earth, Dragons are one of the most popular mythical creatures on the planet. Every culture seemed to have one. So of course we were going to make movies out of them.”

“I’d like to see one, see what humans thought of us. You know, before you met us.”

“Yeah. Though I’d have to look for ones that painted Dragons in a very favorable light. That could take a while- there are thousands of years to comb though.”

“There’s no hurry.”

“I know. I know.” He looked up ahead and saw that they were nearing some kind of exit- the cavern’s linings seemed to be opening up. “Wow. All that talking was a good distraction. Look, we reached some kind of exit. We passed a lot of time.”

“Oh, thank Velx. I was starting to get a little claustrophobic.”

The two of them continued unto the exit. As they got closer, they heard the sounds of rushing water and could smell a mist, meaning that they must be near some kind of waterfall. That is a really good sign- they could be nearing a underground reservoir that could lead somewhere, if they are lucky. If their luck holds out, a good indicator would be ocean fish. They slowly picked up the pace, eager to get out of these caves.

What they saw when they emerged from the cave is nothing they could’ve expected.

The cavern opened up to reveal a MASSIVE underground world as far as the eye could see. The ceiling to this place was far, far, far above them- almost 7000 feet tall. The waterfall nearby fell into a natural river that fed into a cupped valley filled with trees and even clouds. Beyond that was an extensive cavern of linked stalactites and stalagmites backed by a white mist. 

The children were at a loss for words at this natural wonder that had laid beneath their feet. This was something out of a fantasy- an extensive and complete underground world with its own ecosystem. Such things are not unheard of, but they are very, very, very, very, very rare. So rare, they are believed to be non-existent.

“Whoa…” Sokuro breathlessly gasped as she held her mouth. “This is… this is incredible!! Hahaha… have you seen anything like this, Bran!?!”

He was still processing what he is seeing. This was a unseen beauty behind the sight before them, one that only those who lost their home could know. “It’s… it’s amazing…”

Sokuro lowered her hands, still breathless in utter amazement. “This is…” A thought creped into her head- one that would probably make sense of what she had been told for years. “Wait…   Everyone said this place was forbidden and sacred. They said it was to preserve the birthplace of life here on Dragenia… this must be it. The Astrals, The Gaharots, the Ferids, all of them... this must be where they all came from.”

“I’ll accept that… because this is just wow.”

Calming down from her excitement, she looked to him. “You know, you didn’t answer my question earlier.” He looked to her. “Have you seen anything like this before?”

He shook his head. “No. Not personally, anyway. But I heard that before our exodus, the Milky Way was chock full of splendors just like this. They even made lists on the best ones.” He crossed his arms as he thought about it. His phone is busted, so he can’t do surfing for any. Even if he could, no reception this deep down. “I think there was a underground world like this back on Earth.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I studied Earth history extensively, so I have a good feeling I’m right.” He took a few steps forward. “In Vietnam, there was a cave just like this called Hang Son Doong. It was the largest cave on Earth, stretching in at 5.5 miles. I don’t know what your unit of measurement is but, heh, trust me, it’s big. For Earth, anyway. Hang Son Doong had a jungle and a river and its own ecosystem. When we get out of here, I’ll find some videos to show you. But… I can already say that this place, this… Elysium… is far, far bigger. Probably 10 times bigger.”

Sokuro stepped forward. “I won’t be able to fly here with my broken wing, remember? That means we’re walking all of this. We’ll be here for days.”

            “At least we won’t die of hunger, thirst, or lack of air.”

            “True… and for the record, this place does have a name. It is called T…” She paused as she remembered the name. She never thought of it before, but that’s because she never truly thought of it before.

            “What?”

            “This place… it’s called Tay Sokuro Besen…”

            “Whoa. You were named after this place?”

            She looked out to it. “I think so, yeah…”

            Well, that is an unexpected connection, but they had no time to think about that now. They still need a way out. “… You said that this was the birthplace of all life on Dragenia, right?”

            “It was also the center of the First Gaharot Empire until it fell, but yes. Why ask?”

            “Well, life had to get out of here somehow to get up to the surface, right? They sure as heck didn’t climb up that gorge. Which means there must be an exit here we could still use. And if this was the center of their empire, we might be able to find a ship that could take us there or something to heal your wing faster. Anything that could be useful.”

            She nodded. “Yeah, but we need a way down…” The two thought long and hard about this. The sound of the gushing waterfall made it hard for them to think of a way down. Then, of course, it came to them. They have a way down. “… THE WATERFALL!!!” They ran to the cliffedge, slowing down to a harty walk as they got closer- this is one place they don’t want to slip, and for good reason. They looked down and saw hard, sharp spires jutting up from the river the waterfall was exiting into. “……. So much for that idea.” Sokuro said.

            He tapped her on the shoulder and pointed behind them. “Guess we’re taking the long way down.” There was a natural path carved into the side of the rock wall that surrounded the hidden valley.

            She exclaimed loudly as she hung her head backwards. “UUUUUUGH…. On top of everything, our feet are gonna die.”

            “It’s either that or jumping and hoping for the best.”

            The two of them looked over the edge and saw more jutted spikes sticking out of the ground. Yeah, no, they weren’t going to try jumping. It was a mistake to suggest that in the first place. “… we’re walking.” They both said.

            “But first, we are taking a dang break!” Sokuro proclaimed. “My feet are sore and I am thirsty and we got water right here!” She sat down at the waterfalls edge, took off her shoes, and stuck her feet in. It was cold to the touch, but as her feet were on fire, it was needed. “Ooooooo….. so cold.”

            Bran shrugged. A break did sound good right now. He sat down next to her and put his feet in as well. “A break does sound heavenly right now… especially with all the walking we are going to have to do.” He reached up to his head and rubbed the ‘bandage’ Sokuro put on there. It was completely wet from all of the blood. He took it off and looked at his reflection in the water. He stopped bleeding, so it must’ve scabbed over. He moved his hair around and found the culprit: a nasty wound in his scalp. “Ew…” It stopped bleeding, so that’s a good sign. Still, he doesn’t want to close his eyes anytime soon.

 

            Hours passed above and night was beginning to creep up. The sun was in it’s twilight state and the Beatle was now coming up from another expedition down. Anxiety tore though the group at the canyon’s edge. It had been hours since the children had fallen in and it was getting scary.

            Vivian was on the verge of insanity- her baby boy hasn’t been found yet. There were no words to describe the mind-breaking terror she was feeling. It was a worry only a mother could know. Leopold was doing all he can to comfort her, but he has seen her like this before. It was when Bran went ‘missing’ during a sleepover at a friend’s house. He just fell asleep in the other room and nobody looked hard enough.

            The Beatle touched down near them, landing on it’s landing gear that had extended down from the box. “Well?” Crox asked via her communicator.

            Adalay replied, “{This thing is far, far, far deeper then we had originally thought. It goes down for hundreds and hundreds of feet. Add in the jutted spikes and the strong wind speeds and we never even made it to the bottom. And with the wind, they probably aren’t in this spot anymore.}”

            Crox lowered her head in defeat. This is getting very worrisome. They can’t leave the kids down there, but with night approaching, they won’t have much of a choice. “Crap…” She cursed. “{We have no choice- we’ll have to call it a day and continue tomorrow.”

            “WHAT!?!?!?!?!” Vivian yelled before heading on over. “YOU CANNOT JUST LEAVE HIM DOWN THERE!!!”

            Crox knows she is concerned for her son, but the way she is acting is not a state of mind for flying a ship. Besides… “I’m sorry, Dr. Shikirando, but there is nothing more we can do right now. You heard them- the scans showed a lot of dangerous hazards to work around. And it is getting dark out, that will make it even more difficult to see.”

            “They are in a giant metal box that can fly- they’ll survive!!!” She ran her hands down her face before offering them up to Crox. “Gimme the keys, I’ll fly the thing myself!”

            “Dr, please, I--”

            Arlene suddenly appeared thanks to the holographic projectors on the Beatle, thankfully stopping this exchange before it could go any further. The colonists were freaking out by the sudden appearance of this flickering creature. She looked human, but something… something was very off. “Whoa… did I come at a bad time?” She asked.

            “No, thankfully, you came just in time.” Crox turned her attention to her, much to Vivian’s disgust. “But on that note, why ARE you here? I didn’t call for you.”

            Arlene summoned up a seismic chart. “I ran some simulations on that quake that had just hit us and…. Well, I think I found the origin point.” She summoned up a map showing Evioly.

            “Where is it?”

            This was gonna a tall tale to believe. “It wasn’t from this planet.” The map zoomed out to show the planet. The quake that caused all this- it wasn’t from Dragenia, and not the solar system- hell, even not the same galaxy.” The map zoomed out dramatically when she said Dragenia, Solar System, and Galaxy, stretching out until it showcased the entire known cosmos. “I have been running a ton of simulations and tests on this since it happened, and I keep coming to the same answer: It’s from outside the universe.”

            “What?” Leopold said as he walked forward to pull his fuming wife away. “There is no way that can be possible. Quakes don’t come from ‘Outside the Universe’; that’s just impossible.”

            Crox had her finger on her chin as she thought this over. “Well……”

            Leo looked at her with a dilapidated scoff. “Oh, don’t tell me you believe this?”

            “There’s so much about the universe that unknown to us. We still don’t know how it operates. For all we know, it could have come from outside the universe. And if that’s the case, planets other then Dragenia were affected.”

            Arlene put her hands in her ‘pockets’ as she spoke under her breath. “Giving strong credence to the multiverse theory, I’ll tell you that.”

            The natives were, naturally, confused by everything that was being spoken by the strangers: Universes, Multiverses, whatever this flickering human is. Inoute’s brain was hurting, trying to make sense of it all. These new people have so much to teach them- it could probably take years to get though it all.

Arlene remembered the other reason she appeared. “Also, there is a strange energy signal coming from the nearby mountain range. It doesn’t match any known signatures and the power levels are breaking my equipment. Could it be too much to ask you check it out?”

 

            The two children have been walking along the road in the wall for what felt like AGES. Their bodies were in pain from everything and they were begging to whatever god was listening to get them back home. Whatever injuries they have, it felt like they were getting worse. Bran’s head began to pulse in pain every few seconds, and Sokuro felt like her wing was more then ust broken.

            They tried to keep positive about their situation- they did find a hidden lost world, after all, but it was getting harder and harder to keep it up. Bran was keeping himself distracted by drawing in his journal about his fantastical hidden land and the large rock pillars that stretched out beyond.

            “I swear, this is like something from a movie or a video game…” He said as he put on the finishing touches.

            And yet another new term she doesn’t know. “Video game?”

            “It’s like a movie, but you control how it plays out.” He put in the finishing touches by drawing a few flying birds.

            “Oh…” She reached back to rub her back, but her arms couldn’t bend that way. Instead, she looked at her necklace. The scale was dimmed a bit, likely in reference to her injuries… or maybe it was something much worse she doesn’t want to figure out. “I hope we get out of here soon. My wing is killing me.”

            “Same with my wound…” He rubbed his head. “I could be wrong, and I hope I am wrong, but I think I have a concussion.” He closed his journal and put it away. “Don’t let me close my eyes.” She nodded in agreement. You never want to close your eyes when you have a concussion- it’ll be made worse, far far worse.

            The path kept going on and on, but it seemed that the path was almost coming to an end. They saw it peter out into a smooth flattop- a rather sizeable one, at that. It stretched out over the valley’s walls, almost like it was deliberately made like that. Maybe something is there they could use or… well, anything.

            A strange sound tickled Sokuro’s ears, making her scratch at it. She looked around, wondering where it came from. “Do you hear that?”

            “Hear what?”

            “It… it’s like a ringing, except it’s coming from inside my head and it has a strange sound to it.” She lightly smacked her head and it stopped for now. She stuck a finger in, believing she was just hearing things. “Has that happened before to you?”

            “I think that is static. It could be coming from my phone.” He pulled out his busted tech. “But this thing is broken beyond repair. If it’s not this, then I don’t know how you are hearing static.”

            “Weird…”

            They finally reached the flattop. They rounded a large edge to head in to see what they could. It didn’t take them long to find something that immediately caught their eyes- something so grand in scale, it would make the Airship look tame by comparison.

 

 

Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzkxr-icmJ8 Temple of our Gods – Oblivion Soundtrack

 

 

            Built into the rock and earth was a GIGANTIC golden door, measuring at 300 feet in height and more than 77 feet in length and 213 feet in width. The rims of the door were coated in fine jewels that sparkled, even though there was no light other then the white mist far far far away. It was so massive, you could fit a battleship though it and have some room leftover for PT boats and fighter escort.

            The two of them were dumbfounded by the sheer scale of this door. They’ve been around big things before- Sokuro notwithstanding-, but they were not as grand or as stunning as this was. There were no nicks, no scratches, not even a blemish. It was still as shiny as it was when it was first made… whenever it was made.

            “Ho… Ly… Mo… Ly…” Bran breathlessly gasped, unable to take it all in. First the lost world and now this? This has to be a marvel of engineering and construction. You can’t build this in a short timeframe. This had to have be planned out over decades, if not centuries. The Pyramids of Earth were just as tall as this, but not as grand or as stunning. Well, not anymore thanks to time, anyway.

            Sokuro gasped with each breath. So much has happened today, and it felt like it keeps adding on. “You… took the words right out of my mouth…”

            They approached the goliath monument, absolutely amazed at how stunning it was. Bran was trying to rationalize this, but it was a hard task when you already had two civilizations meet, a hard tumble to the bottom of a deep canyon, and the discovery of the birthplace of life on this planet. “This… this must have taken hundreds- no, thousands of years to create. You can’t get gold into that perfect a shape and color in a short amount of time. Even those crystals- they had to take ages to carve and implant.”

            It was even bigger up close. They had to stretch their necks back all the way to even see the top. “Wow…” They both gasped.

            Sokuro lowered her head- her neck was getting stiff from being bent that way. She rubbed where the Phagos bit her and looked along the base. There were pictographs built into the door, carvings of a reptilian race worshipping the thing. “Gaharots… they must’ve built this back during their empire.”

            Bran lowered his head and walked over to it. “They’re worshipping it.” He looked back up. There were so many questions running though his head right now, which was working fast to try and rationalize it. “…This must be where the Astrals came from.”

            “Really?”

            He shrugged in response. “I’m just guessing, but it would make sense. No mortal would ever be able build something this. Except for this pictographs carved into it, everything is so smooth, despite being here lord knows how long. With that evidence, it makes sense for the Astrals to have built it. And why else would they worship it if it wasn’t a gateway to the realm of the gods?”

            It was as good a explanation as any for this jeweled mountain of a door. “I guess that’s true….” She took a few steps back to take it the monolithic sight once more while Bran walked along the base. “But… there is so much about the ancient Gaharot Empire we’re still discovering after all this time. They could’ve built this as well.”

            Bran walked along the base of the door. He saw that there were more Pictographs carved into it. It showed strangely-shaped airships and weaponry that resembled guns. They must’ve been advanced long ago, before the war with the Ferids that sent them back technologically. If they were at the stage of firearms, then it may be possible for the ancient Gaharots to have built this.  They weren’t going to get any answers speculating.

            He didn’t notice it before he made it, but he reached the bottom rim of the door and saw something peculiar. “Hmm?” It was an deep indent, like a shelf, but unlike the door, which seemed to be made out of solid gold, this indent was white, like marble. He put his hand in it, wondering if something would happen.

            Nothing did.

            “Why is this here..?” He said to himself as he pulled his head back. “Why put this in here?” He looked around the indent, to see if there was anything in the door that would explain this. All he could find was a slit to the left of it, almost as thin as a cats. “Hey, Sokuro…? Can you come here for a m--” He looked back and saw that Sokuro was gone. “Sokuro?”

            “Over here!” She called out. Her voice echoed far. He looked in the direction of her call- she was around the other bend.  “And you are going to want to see this…!”

            Bran lightly jogged over as fast as his wounded body could. He could only move so fast thanks to his injuries. It didn’t take him long to reach the bend and make his way around it, but it still took longer than normal. But eventually, he did round the bend, and saw something that should not even be here.

            Half covered by the rock face, and seemingly destroyed recently by the quake, was a temple. But it wasn’t some random temple that could’ve been built here. No… this was a Aztec/Mayan Temple- a stone pyramid with steps that led to the top, which housed a chamber. It looked exactly like the temples back on earth, minus the destruction.

“What in the…” He gasped. “This…. this shouldn’t be here…” He saw Sokuro standing at the bottom of the steps, looking up with her hands over her eyebrows. “Sokuro.” He went as fast as he could over to her, which wasn’t very fast. “How is this here…?”

“I don’t know. I’m guessing it was covered by the rock wall until recently and--”

“No, not that. This temple… how did it end up here?”

She lowered her hands and looked to him. “…. You aren’t talking about the wall, are you?”

“This is a Aztec Temple… or a Mayan Temple, or both- a temple that is supposed to be exclusive to Earth. How can Dragenia, which is in another galaxy that is… I don’t know how many light-years away, have a perfectly identical version of their own?! It’s impossible!” He held his head with one hand- his mind was starting to hurt form all this- as if a giant golden door and a hidden world wasn’t enough..

The same static ringing pierced its way into Sokuro’s ears, making her rub the inside of them again. It was louder this time, and seemed to be concentrated at the top of this temple. Without so much as a word, she started climbing up it. Bran would’ve protested this, but this was something they could discuss later. Their escape from this place could be up there.

Sokuro bounded back and helped Bran up the steps- with his injuries, he needed help going up a long flight like this. This added on some time, but after spending what felt like an eternity down here, they didn’t notice.

The two of them reached the top and saw that there was no chamber at the top. Instead, what they saw was an alter- an alter inscribed with very, very, very ancient writing… and hovering above it was a simple looking arrow with a crescent-shaped head. It was giving off an unearthly, ethereal glow that sent shivers though their souls.

“Is… that an arrow?” Bran pondered as Sokuro let him go to get a closer look. He slowly approached it. He looked to his feet and saw multiple arrows carved in, shaped just like the one floating in the air. “Why is a temple dedicated to an arrow?”

“Maybe it belonged to somebody important?” Sokuro asked back as she got closer. The light it was giving off felt warm, relaxing. “But… yeah, it is strange that a temple- a temple from your world, of all places- would be dedicated to just an arrow.”

Bran approached the alter and wiped away some of the dust to get a good view of the writing. It was so ancient and foreign to him, he couldn’t tell what it was. Sokuro couldn’t either- this was way before her time. “This must be really old… and it certainly isn’t Mayan or Aztec.” He looked to her. “They wrote using Hieroglyphics- they used pictures instead of words. These certainly aren’t pictures.”

He took a step back- this mystery was getting more and more puzzling. “Just why…? Why is there strange language, on a Aztec/Mayan temple, in a underground world on a alien planet in a different galaxy? Nothing about this makes sense…” He looked to the arrow- he sensed a forbidding dread emanating from it. Like if he were to grab it, something horrible would happen. “…. I think we should go…”

Sokuro wasn’t focusing on his words at the moment- her attention was completely taken over by the arrow. Something about it felt warm, familiar. She couldn’t explain why, but this arrow… it’s like it’s calling to her. She could feel power- untapped, unbridled, indescribable power inside that simple looking weapon, waiting to be unleashed. But it felt… safe. She din’t feel threatened by it.

Without thinking, she reached out to it. Bran noticed too late as she leaned forward and grabbed the shaft.

An electric jolt surged its way up Sokuro’s spine, making her freeze as she gasped and shivered.

All of the Astral Aerids felt it as well. They all felt jolts go up their spines, making them freeze and pant in gasps. Velx collapsed onto his knees, sweat visibly dripping down his face, something that spooked his handmaid- Astrals don’t sweat, as far as they know.

 

Elsewhere, in a far off land, a cloaked figure in red was reaching for a book on his desk when he felt that same jolt go up his spine. He knew it meant only one thing: “Someone… has finally found it.” He looked out the window, which showed a majestic port city outside. “Now this mudball is getting interesting…”

 

When the jolt stopped, Sokuro took a few steps back, gasping in breathless pants as she struggled for air. She never would’ve anticipated that to happen. She looked down at the arrow in her hand- the glow had went away. “Sokuro…” She looked back to Bran. “Should you have done that…?”

She looked back down to the arrow. “I… I don’t know why I grabbed it. I didn’t have control- it just… happened.” She tilted it and saw her reflection in the arrowhead. She had no reason to grab it, nor did she have any control over it.

She saw something else in the reflection as well, something massive. Her eyes went wide as she quickly spun around.

A massive serpentine head had made its way through the massive misted cavern and was staring right at them both. It was covered in green and yellow feathers and adorned in strange turquoise trinkets. A pair of horns stuck out its head.

“What the heck is that!?!??!?!?!?!?!!” The children shouted at the top of their lungs. The giant snake gave a guttural growl. The arrow suddenly began to glow bright, as did the eyes of the goliath serpent. Energy surged out of arrow, encapsulating both confused kids.

The two of them screamed as they were engulfed in a bright white light.

 

End Song.

 

            The next thing Sokuro and Bran know, they had appeared in the middle of a rocky ledge in the middle of a large mountain range in the early hours of night. Their hearts were racing as they struggled to come to terms with what they had just witnessed. They were visibly shaken by that surprise encounter- Sokuro’s knees were shaking like maracas.

            “W…..hat was that…?” Sokuro shakingly panted.

            Bran gulped, feeling his heart rising up his throat. “I don’t know… but if that is lurking around down there, I don’t want to go back!”

            Sokuro rubbed her face, trying to hide her terror with little to no avail. She realized that she still had the arrow in her hand. The glow had died down and had gone dormant. There are sooooooooooo many questions, all of which will have to wait until later until they calm down and…… finally process all this. She looked at Bran, who was still shaken as well, and noticed something off about him.

            She then realized: He was healed. “Whoa…”

            Bran looked back. “What?”

            “Your head. It’s all healed.”

            “What?” He reached up to take off the bandage… only to discover it’s not there. He then realized he wasn’t in any pain anymore. Everything was like new. He patted himself over and felt no pain. “How the heck…” he looked to her and saw she was patched up too. “… How is your wing?”

            “My wing? I told you, it’s br--” She ‘felt’ her wing, only to discover that it was no longer broken. The pain was long gone. “How did…” She looked down at her dress and saw that the part she ripped off to use as a bandage was back and completely washed, as were Bran’s clothes. “Ok… this is getting weird…” Bran yelped as he felt his pocket vibrate. He reached in and pulled out his phone… his fully functional, not broken phone. “I… thought that was broken.”

            “It was. How the heck did it repair itself? On that note, how are we all better?”

The two of them instinctively looked to the arrow at the same time. They found it hard to believe that this little thing could do that. “There is no way… was it the arrow?” She asked as she held it up.

He rubbed his poor head. “Maybe… but that snakes eyes also glowed…”

The snake… it wasn’t going to eat them? “You don’t think…?”

Bran rubbed his eyes- they felt like they were strained. “Ugh… right now, I just want to go home and try to process all of this madness. Giant golden door, a hidden lost world, a magic arrow, a giant snake, and a Earthen temple on another planet in another galaxy- it’s a lot to take in.”

She somberly nodded. “Yeah…” She held up the arrow and looked at it again. “What should we do with this?”

A thunderous roar blazed by overhead, kicking up a lot of wind. The cause was a Beatle dropship that flew overhead. The energy signature Arlene picked up: it was them appearing suddenly.

Bran thought to himself for a moment, realizing that there is no way they could believe them about all this. “We have to hide it.” Sokuro was about to protest but he continued talking. “If we tell them everything we saw, they’d think we’re suffering from some bad internal problems. A way out that suddenly landed us out here, they’ll accept. The golden door, the giant snake, the Earthen temple… the magic arrow…” Sokuro looked back down at it. “…they’d think we are crazy- I’m starting to think we went crazy from our tumble and all that was just in our heads…” He shook his head. “Nope… still here.” She didn’t find that the least bit amusing. “We don’t know what that thing is or does. It could be dangerous. If it is, we don’t want it falling into the wrong hands, do we?”

She looked at the arrow again. “You have a point…” The Beatle turned around and headed straight for them. Sokuro quickly jogged to a nearby pile of brown rocks and lifted some away. She stuffed the arrow as deep into it as she could before putting the rocks back.

The Beatle landed awkwardly on this narrow ledge, with most of it hovering off the side. The ramp didn’t even touch down before Vivian burst on out and tackle hugged Bran, who was completely caught off guard. “BRAN!!! OH, MY BABY,  YOU HAD ME SO SCARED!!!” She picked him up and waved him around like a ragdoll.

“Agh… agh… nice to see you too, mom… please let me go… I can’t breath.”

Inoute, Ifil, Kitsunagi, Crox, Leopold, and Arlye filed out of the Beatle and onto the ledge. Leopold ran out and over to his son, who was still getting the life squeezed out of him by Vivian’s boa-like grip. “Are you all ok?” Inoute asked. Sokuro didn’t hear him. She was looking at Bran and his parents and how they were concerned for him and his well being. Her heart sank as she watched- she’d never experience anything like that ever again. “Sokuro?” He asked again as he approached her.

She looked away, regaining her focus. “Un… Yeah, we’re ok. Somehow.”

“Good.”

“But that doesn’t explain how you are up here.” The large Argalith said as he approached. “You fell into the giant crevice, and yet you are here on top of a mountain? How is that possible?”

The two kids looked at each other, wondering how they were going to explain all they went though. “Eh… well… we’re not entirely sure ourselves, but I can try.” Sokuro said. “Well… we fell in and we got hurt- Bran got a nasty head wound and I broke my wing, so either way, flying out was not an option.” Vivian held her son tighter- this was getting ridiculous, he thought. “With no options, we followed a cave that lead us… it lead us to a paradise of an oasis. It was bigger than this mountain range- taller too. For all I know, we could be standing right on top of it.”

“So it is down there.” Ifil said. “The Birthplace of Life and the center of the Gaharot Empire- it is down there?” She nodded in conformation. “… we’re living on top of it.”

Bran went on to explain what they saw- heavily edited, of course. “We explored to the best we could and found some old ruins. We explored those and we must’ve done something we didn’t know about, because next thing we knew, we were up here with our wounds healed and our clothes repaired. We don’t know how or why it happened, but…” he lightly chuckled. “Well, we’re not complaining.”

“It sounds like a teleporter.” Leopold said. “But they are scientifically impossible- they only exist in science fiction works.”

Vivian gave him a scowl while still holding the helpless Bran in a vice grip- he had given up at this point. “Leo, stop complaining, we have our son back.”

“It’s still a perplexing tale, to say the least.” Inoute said. “That site is sacred for a reason, children. It’s where we came from and who we are. I know you had no choice, but in the future, give it the respect it deserves.”

“Yes, Chief…” She said dejectingly, not really caring. She almost died and he’s still focused on protecting the hidden world. “How are things up here? We didn’t really hear about what you all decided… but since you are all here, I would assume you’ve come to a peaceful solution?”
            “Indeed we have.” Crox said. That was a huge load of Sokuro’s back as she exhaled the biggest sigh of relief anyone could have mustered. “Now only time will tell how beneficial it is for everyone.”

“Indeed.” Inoute said. “But it has been a long day and I’m sure everybody is exhausted.”

“You have no idea…” Both kids said in unison.

Inoute turned into his Aerid form, put Ifil on his back and flew off to head back to the village. The colonists boarded the Beatle dropship, with Vivian still holding onto him like a snake. The ramp retracted and the large door slowly closed.

Sokuro changed to her Aerid form and got ready to fly, her wings spread out. They were no longer broken, making her feeling from before too. She got ready, but hesitated. She looked back at the pile of rocks the arrow was hidden under. She never planned today was going to be both so important and mysterious. Just what the heck did they find down there? They weren’t going to find the answers today. She flapped her wings once and took off, following Inoute home.

 

The two of them didn’t realize it at the time, but they had made the biggest discovery in universal history that day. Not only will it have ramifications for Dragenia, but also Earth and the entire universe as well. The quake that lead them to it was not by accident, but of coincidental design. Everything happens for a reason, and for the two kids and the next few years, that reason will be a big one.

15: Chapter 13: The First Day

Chapter 13

The First Day

2/20/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

 

Thanks to the chaos that was the earthquake yesterday, the future of the shared existence between the native Dragenians and the Milky Way colonists had been put on hold while they assessed the damage done to both the colony and Marsen.

Turns out, not a lot of damage had been done.

The Milky Way Pre-Fabs were built to last- that speaks highly of their manufacturer, which may or may not still exist.  As for Misken, it was built on top of a mesa- a very, very sturdy mesa built out of solid bedrock. It shook, but thanks to their height and sturdy base, it was subdued. There were still some destroyed buildings in the village, but nothing that couldn’t be rebuilt, and if you call listing destroyed, it won’t take long.

As for injuries, there were some, but nothing life threatening or that could result in someone being crippled. Same can’t be said for the rest of Evioly or the planet, but as far as the village and the colony go, they got off relatively unscathed.

But as stated earlier, thanks to the earthquake, the start of the comingling had to be delayed for a day so that the damage could be ascertained. It also didn’t help that they leaders were busying looking for Sokuro and Bran. Now with them rescued they can finally get started.

Speaking of the two kids, Sokuro went on over to the pond the moment she woke up, needing some time to think about everything they went though yesterday. Bran had the same idea. Their minds had been racked with this every since they got back to the surface, still trying to process what they had been though.

They’ve processed it all the way up to the mountain where they left the mystery magic arrow.

 

The arrow was pulled out of the pile of rocks that Sokuro hid it in by Sokuro herself, who had just landed just mere seconds before. It had been on her mind since she left it behind and that little voice in the back of her head was telling her to go back and get it, which she now did. This thing looked so common, yet something about it was drawing her to it. “So… are we gonna try to talk about yesterday?”

Bran was sitting on the edge of the ledge, with his face buried deep in his hands. “What is there to talk about? We both saw what was down there- we are both crazy.”

“I meant trying to make some sense out of all of it. Isn’t that what you do- trying to make sense out of things?”

He pulled his hands down his face, pulling down his eyelids as he did so. “There are things down there that make no sense at all.”

“I know. I was there. But we have to try to make sense out of this or else we’re gonna go crazy with all the wild ideas going in our heads. Mom taught me that we should try to make sense out of the unexplainable or else risk our sanity.” Bran raised a eyebrow in perplexion. “Let me put it another way: whatever remains, however implausible, must be the truth.”

“That makes more sense that what you said earlier.” She just shrugged in reply. He cupped his hands in front of his mouth and exhaled deeply before lowering them. “Ok…. let’s go down the order of least cross-eyed tinfoil hat crazy…” He pulled back from the ledge and stood back up. “Let’s start with that snake… what the hell was that!?!?!?!”

She slowly shook her head. “I don’t know. There are no legends or history about a giant serpent living so far down below.”

“Do you think it could’ve caused the earthquake?”

“I don’t think so. It snuck up on us down there. and the ground didn’t rumble the entire time we were down there, meaning that it must’ve crawled around down there for…. who knows how many cycles. And you heard that program on the way home: the quake came from outside of… everything. The snake wasn’t the cause, but…” She shivered as she felt a chill go up her spine. “Whatever it was… I don’t think it was hostile.”

“Heh? How can a thing that big not be hostile?”

“Well, he didn’t attack us- he just looked at us. And before we were teleported out, his eyes began to glow. If the arrow teleported us out, then… then maybe that thing fixed everything about us: our torn clothes, my broken wing, your head wound and your phone.”

“You think that thing did that?”

“I’m not really sure… but it makes the most sense in my head. And like I said, I don’t remember anything in our history and our legends about a giant snake living so far down below. Whatever it was… I don’t know what it could be.”

Speaking of the giant snake, a pair of large, menacing yellow eyes glowed brightly out of a ridge out of sight from the kids. The eyes moved to look their way. Velx silently glided in and touched down on the edge of the ridge. He looked down at the eyes for a moment before turning his attention to the kids, crouching down to stay out of sight..

Bran put a finger to his chin and thought for a moment on their next topic of discussion. “Now… what about that giant door…? There was absolutely no way that thing could be built by mere mortals, not with that much gold and jewelry.”

“Now, actually, there is some ancient story about something like it. Dad found it in one of the libraries over in Fernios, the largest city in Dragenia. A legend about a grand, jeweled portal that opens up to far off lands thought only to be fantasy, but to operate it you need a key, and a item from said land.”

“Hmm… well… the door down there was bejeweled… and it certainly is grand.” He began to pace back and forth, coming up with what may be a logical explanation. “Maybe… maybe they think it’s a portal to other parts of Dragenia? Or maybe even other worlds? Did the ancient empire even know about other worlds back then?” Sokuro didn’t reply because she didn’t know. If the ancient Gaharot Empire did know about other worlds, that tidbit had been lost to time at this point. “But by the sounds of it… you need a key to operate it, along with a item from said land, likely to serve as some sort of focal point or something like that… This is sounding like a fast-travel system from a video game.”

“A what?”

“I’ll explain later. But let’s assume I am right and that it’s a portal to other worlds. That would mean the Ancient Gaharots knew about life on other planets, and may have artifacts from said planets hidden somewhere. At which point, a key to it should be somewhere here… and…”

“And what?”

“That would segway into the other strange thing down there… the temple.” He pulled out his phone and used it to access the database at the colony. “I told you when we were down there that there is no way that kind of temple should be down there. It is exclusively something native to Earth.” He found a picture of a Mayan/Aztec temple and showed it to her. “See?”

Sokuro leaned in and looked at it- it is an exact match of what was down there. “… you don’t think that maybe… maybe that the Ancient Gaharots found a way to reach Earth, do you?”

“I honestly don’t know…” He put his phone away and went back to speculation mode. “But it would explain a few things.”

“Like what?”

“Like where the stories of Dragons came from. There is no animal on Earth, living or extinct, that looks or acts like a dragon from popular culture and ancient myth. Yet here is Dragenia, a planet of people capable of transforming into said beasts, along with other things like a, a, the Bifrost from Nordic Myth… no, that’s all I can think of. And if that door did connect to Earth, that would explain that, and it would also explain the temple down there- they must’ve visiting Central America at some point in time and liked the architecture. So much so, they attempted to copy it, but we saw only one. The Civil War must’ve begun before they could build more.”

“Wow. You think fast.”

“So I’ve been said.” He tapped his forehead. “Benefits of being autistic: you think fast.” He looked down at the item in her hands. “Now that just leaves…”

Sokuro held up her hand, holding the arrow in it. There was a brief glow and a ethereal hum around it. “…The mystery arrow.” Velx leaned in to get a better view of the arrow. The snake’s eyes narrowed like a cats. “Do you have any ideas on what this thing could be?”

“I have no clue. But if it was the whole reason that copycat temple was built, then it must be really important.”

“Or really dangerous.” She felt a pit form in her heart as she thought about it, about how dangerous this seemingly normal weapon might be. “You probably don’t feel it, but I feel such an… overwhelming amount of power in this thing. Nothing malicious or honest, just… pure, untapped, uncontrollable power. So much so, I feel… I feel like I’m going to overflow and, and faint.”

Bran was getting scared by that description. How can something so small house that much power? “What do you think we should do with it?”

Velx leaned in closer, digging his claws into the rock, waiting for her response. Sokuro thought long and hard about this. The arrow doesn’t look it, but she feels like it is too dangerous to be left out in the open. “… I think we should hide it.” Velx took his claws out of the rock, calming down due to her answer. He was expecting something far worse. “I know I’m coming off like a raving lunatic, but… I feel like this thing is too dangerous to be kept out in the open. If someone bad finds it…”

“You really believe it’s that dangerous, don’t you?”

She held the arrow tightly near her chest. “Yes, I do.”

He tapped his fingers on his thighs before nodding in agreement. He never saw her this scared before, not even against the Phagos. She was very brave against that thing, up until she got bit, but this…. she looks mortified, like she is staring face to face with the Grim Reaper.  “Yeah… we probably should. But where should we hide it?”

She lowered the arrow down, taking some deep breaths to calm herself down. “I know a few good spots back home in the orphanage I could hide it in.”

“It sounds like we’re going to Misken.” He took a few steps back so that Sokuro could transform to her Aerid form, creating a gust of wind. Velx used that brief window of soundlessness to fly away, and for the snake to retreat back into the deep. “That’s cool- I’ve always wanted to see what your home looked like.”

“Its not all that impressive.” Sokuro said as she lowered her paw down for him to climb on. “Certainly not when compared to yours.” The arrow was in that same paw. He reached down to touch it so that he could carry it back, but it burned his hands with a loud sizzle, rendering that idea pointless. Strange- it doesn’t hurt her.

Bran hopped off onto her back and took a tight grip on her neck. “But what do we say if they ask about the arrow?”

She looked down at her paw and gripped the arrow tight. “We’ll tell the truth and tell them we found it. We’ll just leave out all the magic stuff.” She spread her wings wide. With a powerful flap, she took off for home.

 

Meanwhile, at Misken, things were more than a little…. awkward. The civilizations have agreed to co-exist side by side for the foreseeable future- which is forever-, and so that means people will have to travel between the two villages: to set up trades, and try new foods and clothes. It is also a good chance for the three different peoples to get to know one another.

They may’ve met each other the day before and had time to get used to their appearances, but… well, Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will cooperation between two wildly different civilizations.

 

Since they have seen strange flying contraptions the day before, the people Misken were not surprised when they noticed several Beatle craft approach earlier, carrying important members of the colony: those with important roles, such as teachers, cooks and chefs, doctors, and fighters, so they can learn what they can here to be used back home, like what medicines to use and what’s poisonous. It wasn’t only them, but also several normal people who just wanted a change of scenery from all of the sterile grey back home.

They cannot wait to paint their homes.

It was also in play vice versa: several peoples from Misken had headed out to the colony around the same time the colonists came to the village. They even passed each other on the way. It was going to take some getting used to, seeing humanoids transform into mythical titans of power, and actual living breathing Dinosaurs, even if they are only Utahraptors.

 

A screen flickered to life. In its center was Velx’s magnificent temple, with his handmaid Fayin in the middle of the shot as she attended to trivia matters like sweeping. The video was shot on a floating camera hovering in front of someone.

A voice spoke over the video, narrating what he was seeing. The voice belonged to 16 year old Mukembe, one of the last people ever to leave Earth before it died. He walked into view to give the temple a kind of scale. “{And here, we see a magnificent and glamorous temple that, from what I am told, is the mortal home for one of their gods….. I think his name was Velx, you know that white dragon that kicked butt the other day. As you can see, it is attended to be a Dinosaur of all things, or a Gaharot as they are called here.}”

The talking attracted Fayin, who looked over at first and then approached with an inquisitive stare, staring directly into the camera, wondering just what it was. “{Un… what is this?}”

“{It’s called a camera. I’m transmitting video to Arlene, who is transmitting this to everyone in the colony. I’m taking a tour of the village and am letting everyone know what it looks like.}”

There were so many confusing words in that statement, it made her head hurt just trying to understand it all. She tilted her head in pure confusion. “{Un…………………………………. Ok. You do that. I’ll just be over here… attending to my duties.}” She went back to sweeping.

“{…. Soooo… un… what does a Handmaid do, exactly?}” She lifted up her head with a eyebrow raised. “{What? It’s for the people back home to learn about- not just for your job, but everything else in this village. Not everyone could come- we are still setting up. I’m sure you have some scholars over at my colony doing the exact same thing.}”

She stopped sweeping. “{That’s… a fair point, and most likely a true point.}” She rested her claws on the handle and her head on her claws. “{Well, I am a handmaid. I serve Lord Velx, attending to his every need.}”

“{That sounds more like a servant then a handmaid to me.}”

“{… well… it can be. A handmaid is a very respectable position- it’s not easy by any means, but it’s still sought after by the most devout followers, for serving a Astral like him is the highest honor someone can receive. Sometimes, the jobs will be dirty, like polishing his scales or sweeping his temple, but to serve a Astral is such a high honor.}” She went back to sweeping, slowly moving her way up the stairs to the flat arena.

“{Is it hard to become a handmaid?}”

“{It can be, especially for a Gaharot like me. I’m sure you’ve heard but my kind hasn’t exactly had a…. stellar time the past few centuries, thanks to the maniac that was Xelut and the corrupt politics on the mainland.}” She took a few deep breaths to calm down. “{But… yes, it is a hard process to become a handmaid, but the god has the final say. I never met the others, but I hear some can be rude and crude. Velx is one of the nice ones.}”

“{Unless you’re a ugly turtle monster.}”

She looked back to him. “{What’s a turtle?}” He didn’t get a chance to answer when they heard a loud flap of wings crack overhead. A large gust of wind kicked up as Velx landed at the top of the temple, sending the camera into a bush. The leaves covered most of the vision. “{Lord Velx, how was your flight?}” She asked the feathered dragon as Mukembe ran over to pull his camera out of the bush. He dusted off the leaves and set it again to hover next to him. Velx was clearly distracted by something, it was clear to see on his face. “Lord Velx?”

“{Huh? Oh… sorry. I was distracted.}”

“{By?}”

“{It’s a private matter, one I need to discuss with my fellow Astrals soon.}” He then noticed the stranger with the floating device. He leaned forward, getting right up in Mukembe’s camera. His breath fogged up the lens.  “{What in Dragania is this?}”

“{It’s called a camera.}”

He tapped it with one of his Buick-sized claws, making it fall to the ground on accident. Thankfully, these cameras are extremely durable, so that ‘tap’ didn’t do much to damage it. “{What is a camera?}”

“{I asked the same thing.}” Fayin said. “{He said it transmits audio and video, whatever those are.}”

“{You’ll know someday.}” Mukembe said as he picked his camera up again. “{But I’m wasting too much time here. I gotta go showcase the entire village for everyone back home.}” He wiped off the lens. “{Gotta go make sure everyone is behaving and blah blah blah blah.}” He headed off to the rest of the village.

The two of them waited until he was out of hearing range before talking. “…. What in the world was that all about?” Fayin asked.

“I honestly have no clue.” Velx said. “But he is right: their ‘colony’ is still in the process of being built and settled. They still have a lot to do. Not everyone could come- just the important members and a few of the younger members… which I am guessing the ‘camera man’ was. At least that is what Inoute told me before I left for my flight.”

She went back to sweeping. “He was asking me about it was like to be a handmaid. I think he misunderstood me- thought it was a fancy title for servant. I mean, he’s not far off, but still.”

He went back to the top of his temple and laid down on it. “He’s a foreigner. It will take some time for all of them to learn our ways. And it will take some time for us to learn theirs.”

“That may take even longer…” She said under her breath.

 

Back over in the colony, almost half of the village was there, gawking at every technological marvel present there. While it’s all old hat to the colonists, who are so used to this they could care less how it all works, it’s all completely brand new to the natives of this planet. Lights that don’t require fire, a fake person they can wave their hand though, strange cylinders that shoot light. This was a wonderland to them.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t a splendid day for one certain chief of security. He had been ungraciously volunteered to watch over the children that were brought to the colony.

And they.

Were.

Relentless.

 

Arlye angrily grumbled with lidded eyes, crossed arms, and a sour disposition as he was bombarded endlessly by questions by the planetary youth. If this is how just one village of kids are like, he dreads getting to know the rest of the planet. He should be over in the village, making sure nobody was going to try and start an incident by killing Crox or keeping an eye on the visitors here.

But nope… he’s on kid detail. And he hates it. At least they can’t cause any damage over here inside a Beatle ship.

Can they?

“Oh, what’s this?”

“This is shiny.”

“What happens if I press this?”

“I wanna see more shiny things.”

“WHAAAAAAAAA!!!”

One of them was a baby- a cranky baby who had been woken up from his nap. The rest were kids from parents who didn’t want to cause a fuss with their kids, and a large chunk of the rest were from the orphanage- Sokuro’s friends.

“When will it end…?” Arlye droned. “When… will… it end…?”

He felt a tug on one of his pant legs. He looked down and saw that one of the children, a small Ferid girl, was tugging on it and looking up at him. She stopped when he looked and held up her doll- one that was torn in half by a mean kid. “My dolly broked.”

“I don’t know how to fix dolls.” Arlye bluntly said. “You’ll have to ask your parents when you get home.” The kid sadly frowned. Her eyes began to water as she looked down in sorrow. She didn’t want to wait- she wanted her dolly repaired now. The sad kid hit him with a deadly guilt trip, one that made him grumble and sigh as he gave up. “Sigh… alright, I’ll try to fix it. But I’m not making any promises that I will.” He reached down and grabbed the dolly from the girl, who was now smiling.

Almost as if on perfect cue, Arlene’s hologram suddenly appeared, frightening the kids by her sudden and bizarre appearance. “Aw, Arlye. Who knew you had a tender side? Goes to show- behind that hard shell lies a great big ol’ softie.”

Arlye would be arguing with her by now, creating some sort of heated back and forth that would irritate most, but he’s happy to see her as a thought entered his mind: finally, a distraction. He could walk off and… find some way to fix the dolly- he’s nothing if not a keeper of his word. “Un, children, this is Arlene, the colony’s artificial intelligence.”

Her sudden and unique appearance attracted the children, but they were still confused as to who or what she is. “What’s an artificial intelligence?” Vaset asked, tilting her head in confusion.

“That is a interesting question. Arlene?” He used her explanation to sneak away.

“Well, an artificial intelligence, or A.I. for short, are a living program of coding, instructions, programming, and memory given an avatar that we can chose to suit our liking. We can be programmed to perform a wide variety of tasks, though all A.I.’s are divided into two categories: Dumb A.I.’s, who are made to perform only one task, and Smart A.I.’s, who can perform multiple tasks at once. To put it in layman’s terms, we are fake beings of light and knowledge created to serve those who made us, with varying levels of programming.”

            She can tell that she lost the crowd, but she can’t blame them. These are children she is talking to, after all. “Soooo……. Which one are you?” Berut asked. “And who made you?”

            “I am a Smart A.I.- I have to be, seeing as how I am in charge of a whole colony. And truth be told, my creator died a long time ago. But if you are asking what species here… well, you already heckled one of them.”

            They all looked back towards Arlye, who was rummaging through the onboard crates, looking for a needle and thread. He looked the aprt of a warrior, not a…… whatever it was she said.  “HIM!?!” The children exclaimed in perfect unison.

            “Them, and yes. His kind are a lot smarter than their warrior history and appearance would lead you to believe. It was they who created artificial intelligence like me thousands upon thousands of years ago.”

            She was starting to get their attention- now she just needed to keep them hooked. Thankfully, the next question allowed her to do just that. “So… is everyone here from that Earth place?”

            “No. Everyone here are from different worlds. Humanity is the only race here to come from Earth… heh … even for our galaxy, Earth was a unique planet. It was in the center of a region of space known as the Dead Sector. All life in one select region of space was completely wiped out in the blink of an eye and nobody has figured out why. All the planets were rendered lifeless, except for Earth, earning it the nickname of the Oasis Planet. And Earth has had a colorful history.” She looked Verut over. “In fact… you Gaharots look remarkably similar to that of the Dinosaurs.”

            “The what?”

            Arlene accessed the database and pulled up dozens upon dozens upon dozens of pictures of Earth’s dinosaurs. “Long before humanity existed- long before any known race today existed- Earth was ruled by a race of ancient avian monsters known as Dinosaurs. They dominated the planet for millions of years until they died out mysteriously 65 million years ago. There have been dozens of theories put forth as to their extinction: The most popular one is that of a giant asteroid striking the planet, and there have been evidence to back that up, along with evidence for the other theories: global climate change, methane buildup, natural disasters- the list goes on.”

            She brought up a few pictures of a select race, one that look eerily just like the Gaharots, except more savage and brutish. And the Gaharots were all scales, while the Utahraptors, along with almost every other Dinosaur, were discovered to have feathers.  “You Gaharots closely resemble a race of Dinosaur known as the Utahraptor. The tallest fossil found is around the same size as a full-grown Argalith, like Arlye back there.” Arlye rolled his eyes as he found something to fix the doll. “They were tribal creatures, living a tight-knit packs. This allowed them to take down Dino’s three times their size… which would be roughly about the size of what we are in right now.”

            Some of the kids went ooh and aww. The older ones had more questions to ask. That’s what Arlye was hoping for- for them to be so distracted by this, they ignore him. “What’s a Raptor? And what’s a Utah?” Vaset asked.

            “That is a whole other can of worms, and that will be saved until after the presentation.”

            “What’s a can?” Vaset again asked.

            Arlene was silent for a few moments as her mouth hung open. The kids thought they broke her, but she wasn’t. Arlye knew what she was doing- she was playing this for a laugh. Either that or she was dumbstruck over the question. It’s clear the natives aren’t at a technological state where they can process aluminum, so why act so surprised? “I… un… wow, really, no cans? Yeow… we have a lot to teach you.”

 

            Meanwhile, over in another part of the colony, those brave enough to try and hunt for wild game out there in the wilds were being briefed by Pelosa, the head hunter of Misken. She is teaching them what local animals are docile and which ones are violent, what plants are safe to eat and which ones are poisonous, where is the best place to plant crops, the nearest sources of clean drinking water, and what places are glorified death traps.

            Currently, she is showing all of the monsters that call this part of Dragenia home. According to her, some of these critters are unique variants to what exist on the mainland, while some are native only to Evioly itself.

            She slapped down a drawing of a local monster- a large blubbery creature with tusks the size of a room. The drawing was a couple centuries old, but the paper on this planet is durable. “This is called a Meilfes.” Pelosa went on to explain. “They aren’t aggressive by nature, but if they are attacked, they are some nasty customers. The meat is terrible to taste unless cooked right for a couple of weeks, but the blubber and the oil make for some good fuel.”

            One of the brave ‘hunters’ of the colony, a Adlez named Tzz’tat, picked up the drawing and looked it over. “Lookz lieke a easy foely. Geehee.” He spoke though a filter, giving it an electronic auto-tune sound. “Ank whan we run oot of genrathiers, it’lk be nich to have a bakup.”

            Pelosa stayed silent as he talked- she didn’t want to say something that could set him off, if they can be set off. But she had to ask someone about the way he was speaking- it was nothing like what is heard around here. “Um… what is that?” She whispered to one of the human colonists.

            The hunter she was talking to, a human named Ton Mosk, took it to mean what kind of species he is. “That’s an Adlez. They are ugly- really ugly. Like ‘I wanna rip my eyes out’ ugly. But they are loyal to their comrades and their technological prowess holds no equal. They can build a functioning ship capable of interstellar travel from scrap metal.”

            She shook her head. “I meant the way he was speaking. It’s certainly more… bizarre then how the rest of you talk.”

            “Really? I never notice anymore. But yeah, the universal translators have difficulty translating the Adlez language, especially since they speak though that filter in their suits. Nowadays, everyone just attributes it to a strange quirk. You’ll get used to it.”

            Pelosa doesn’t think she’ll get used to this anytime soon. Such a strange way of talking- she’ll need a translator just for them. She can barely understand what he said just a moment ago. She better get used to it soon. “Anyway… the Meilfes usually inhabits the shoals that lie just off the northern shore. That would be that way, in case you were wondering.” She pointed in the direction of the shoals. “And I don’t know how long this…… light magic will last for you…”

            “Electricity.”

            “…Thank you- I don’t know how long this electricity will last, but if it ever runs out, you’ll have some natural backup.” She placed down another drawing, this one depicting the same deer-like creature Sokuro and Bran saw long ago. “This is the Felm, a herbivore creature that is widespread all throughout here. We’ve tried taming them, but we’ve had better luck with the Grek Gea birds. They still make for some good eats. Also…” She drew a third eye on one of them. “If you encounter one with a third eye, called a Isono, do not harm it. They are sacred animals- killing one is considered sacrilege.”

            “Alright. Don’t touch the one with the third eye.” Ton said. “But if I could ask, why are they considered sacred?”

            “It is said they have connections to the Gods- they have a connection to the Orobos, or the River of Life in your tongue: a series of ethereal rivers that run far, far below. To put a long story short, when a Ferid or Gaharot dies, their soul has three options awaiting them, depending on how they lived their life. Those pure of good are sent to Paradise in the Great Light- or what you call Andromeda. Evildoers are tortured in the Black Abyss. The third route is that we get reborn into new bodies after our souls are purified in the River, giving us a fresh start.”

            The impromptu hunters were more then intrigued by that explanation, but they got things they need to learn about the animals on this rock. They can save the metaphysical stuff for later. “… don’t touch the important deer, got it.”

            “So how do these things even work?” Pelosa asked, gesturing to one of the rifles on the table. “Sokuro said they shoot light.”

            “More or less.” Ton picked it up and checked the ammo battery. “These are plasma rifles- they shoot concentrated energy that can wound or kill a target while leaving no surface wounds. It can be very effective. They run off of a specialized mineral called…” And he saw that he lost her. There were so many places to lose someone unfamiliar with the topic. “… yes, they shoot light.”

            “And how did you manage that?”

            “For us humans? Thousands of years of trail and error.”

 

Back in Misken, Mukembe was still recording what he can to show those back in the colony. Someone needed to take the job, and lucky for them, he’s pretty good with cameras, knowing what shots to take and whatnot.

 “{The heck is this?}” A male Hesk named Delosy commented as he looked at a really strangely colored fruit with warts and leaves that look like knives. Mukembe pedaled back when he heard that-this could lead into the first Colonist-Dragenian argument.

Delosy is one of the many cooks over at the colony and he is looking at what the local population has to eat- they’ll need to eat this when their stores run out in three years. Plenty of time to get used to it, yet not enough time to learn how to grow it, especially with winter predicted to come soon.

“{That’s a Tomtom fruit.}” One of the villagers, a female Gaharot named Isisi, said as she tended to her stall. “{Careful with it- it is very delicate. If you drop it, it will break open like an egg. When that happens, it will unleash a noxious fume that will make you cry.}”

Delosy eyed the fruit in his hands for a moment before putting it as far away from him as he can. Mukembe stepped as far back as he could. Delosy gently set it back on the stall and backed away from it. “{Great… a rotten egg fruit. How wonderfully.}”

“{Oh really?}” Isisi gave him a disbelieving scoff as she put her claws on her hips. “{You mean to tell me that there are no foods like that where you are from- nothing smelly enough to make nosehairs singe and eyes water up?}”

“{… touché.}”

“{To-what?}”

“{It’s a saying- it means ‘good point’. And I know the human’s do- something called an Onion. I don’t know why, but I’ve seen people cry when they cut it. They say it’s a fume the vegetable gives off or something.}”

“{Must be one smelly item.}”

“{Must affect humans only, though. I cut them before and I never cried from… I want to say fumes, but I feel like I am wrong.}”

Mukembe decided to comment on this. “{No. you’re right. It’s fumes.}”

Isisi jumped back when she saw the strange flying object beside him. This was going to take a lot of getting used to.

 

Sokuro flew though the skies high above, feeling as free as a bird, despite the passenger on her back and the potential weapon in her paws. She flew slow and methodical, letting the wind currents carry her back home.

Bran had put on his goggles to protect his eyes from the wind. There’s no telling what could be up here, such as a bug or a stray leaf. Now that they didn’t have a giant turtle monster trying to kill them, he could now take in the view of Evioly, and it was a splendor.

“Wow… I can’t wait to get the hover bike out and get it working.”

She looked back to him. “What’s a bike?”

“wha… really? I figured you would’ve have bicycles on this planet.” She just shrugged, still not knowing what a bike truly is. “Oh my lanta, this atrocity cannot stand. Moment we’re done hiding this thing, I’m taking you to the colony and I am gonna break out one of those bikes.”

“Wow… ok then.” They flew in silence for some time. The mesa wasn’t that far ahead, so they still had time to talk. “Why would they name me after that…?’

“Huh?”

“Tay Sokuro Basen… why would they give me the same name as the birthplace of all life…?”

He can’t say- he never knew her parents. All he knows is what she told him. “I wish I knew what to tell ya. It’s possible that they felt it had some hidden meaning.” She thought about that as they flew- that could’ve been it. “That or they thought it sounded cool.”

“No… I think it was the first one… in my language, Soku means ‘Oath’ and Ro means ‘Keeper’. So, in a liberal sense, my name is Oathkeeper- Tay’s meaning has been lost because nobody is called that, and Basen roughly translates to God-Land. But there must’ve been more than just naming me Oathkeeper.” She looked back to Bran. “Do names from your home have a meaning?”

“Of course they do. I assume they do at all cultures. My full name is Brandon Shkirando: Brandon which is an old Welsh and Irish name. It means Prince, though obviously, I am far from a prince.”

“Clearly. And what are a Welsh and an Irish? Are they names of far-off lands?”

“Eh……. Kinda. They are a term for people who grew up in a certain place. Welsh grew up in a province called Wales and Irish, a land called Ireland.”

“Huh… so that would make me an Eviolease? Eviles? Evoick?” that last one sounded bad. “Eh… we’ll figure it out. So what about you? Are you a Welsh or a Irish?”

Not even close. “Well, that is complicated. I have blood from a wide array of other cultures and races flowing though me thanks to thousands of years. But near as I can tell from our genealogy, I am mostly Russian, from my father’s side. My voice even has the faintest whisper of an accent.”

“What accent?”

“I said it was a faint whisper of one- I never said I had one fully.”

After several minutes, the two of them reached the village. Bran looked down to take in the view, and he was impressed. Building on top of a mesa couldn’t have been easy, but they are half dragons and their neighbor race does have airships, so it couldn’t have been that hard. Sokuro flapped her wings to keep herself aloft.

“Wow.”

Sokuro looked back to him. “Yep. This is my home: Misken.”

“It’s an impressive little town. Very homely.” He looked at the many buildings that littered the top. He recognized the style. It’s more far along then it was back on Earth, but the style is nearly spot on. “Huh… it has a Native American vibe.”

“A what?”

“Native American. I’ll give you the full details later but, the short version; they were a race of people who lived on the continent of America. They lived very close to nature. Their homes look just like yours, though yours are more developed.” He thought to himself for a moment, crossing his arms and putting a finger on his chin. “Hmm… this adds more evidence to that theory- that that giant golden door is a portal to other worlds- someone must’ve visited Earth far in the past to learn this style. And not just for these buildings, but also for the temple we saw. It’s the only way this makes sense.”

She looked down at the many huts and houses that she calls home. She can only go on his word that he is right. If this is true, then Earth and Dragenia were already connected before they even met. The Ancient Gaharots were amazing, she thought. And if all that speculation is indeed true, then the ancient Ferids made a mistake. “If you say so… but we have no way to test that since we don’t have a key. We don’t even know what a key looks like. It could be in that giant serpent, for all we know.”

“Then this is one mystery we’re gonna have to shelve. We can’t do anything more about it until, pssh… something happens.”

“I guess…”

The two of them neared the orphanage, heading for the docks right next door to it. Her body glowed as she began to change back. Once they were close enough, Bran jumped off and landed on the docks. He looked back and waited for Sokuro to turn back into her Ferid form. She appeared, shivering and still holding the arrow. “OOoooo… that always sends shivers up my spine.”

“I can only imagine.” She walked past him and headed towards the orphanage. He looked over to the village, foolishly wondering which building over there was the place she lives. “So which of those houses over there is the orphanage?”

She turned around and gave him a puzzled look while walking backwards. “Over there? The orphanage isn’t over there.”

“You sure? Because on Vega, the orphanages were small and cramped. They were barely livable, if at all.”

“Then that Vega place sounds like a really bad one.”

“… Yeah, it down there as one of the worst planets in the galaxy. But again, if it’s not over there, then--” He looked back to her and saw her going up the path to a rather large building located on the outskirts of the town. It was easily the biggest building of this place he had seen, and the design was something original- not at all Native American inspired. “… it’s that building right there, isn’t it?”

“Duh.” She replied. Bran lightly scowled before running up to catch up with her. She was already at the door when he caught up. “It is a lot bigger then I had imagined.”

“Well, obviously, this isn’t Vega, especially the way you described the orphanages there.” She opened up the door and went inside. He followed and closed it behind him.

The inside was a lot more spacious then he had anticipated. There must be enough space to fit both a living room, a dining room, and a kitchen in this large area, and sure enough, it is what it was described. He was burnt logs in the fireplace on the far side of the room, a fully function kitchen for their technological level, lots of bookcases and books, and he swears he saw some sort of board game tucked away. “Wow… This is bigger than my room back in the colony.” He walked over to the dining table, which was smack dab in the middle. He counted how many chairs there were surrounding it. “There are 13 orphans living here?”

“No. One of them belongs to the Headmaster Hela. The other is her son’s, Vela’s. One of the orphans, Matan, was old enough to leave and strike out on his own. Last I heard, he’s at Camacu, a small desert border town, on the mainland. The other nine are indeed other orphans like me. One of them is my little brother Taled. The rest, I don’t think you’ve met yet. You probably could’ve today- they mentioned joining the group that was going to check out your colony.”

“So we’re all alone here.”

“For now, yeah, but I don’t think for long. Hela will be back any moment. She’s pregnant, so she can’t go far from the shaman or home. She’s actually ready to give birth any day now, but that kid is stubborn.”

“That tends to happen. But we should have enough time to hide that Arrow.”

She had forgotten she had that in her hands. She looked down at it. The arrowhead seems to have gotten even shinier, at least to her. “Right…” She seemed displeased about it. “Well, let’s go see if my little hidey-hole is big enough. Come on.” She headed on up the stairs to the second floor. Bran bounded up after her.

“Here we are.” She opened up the door and bounded inside to close curtains, just in case they were being watched. While she moved on to light some candles, Bran looked around the very spacious room. The orphans of Misken aren’t lacking for room. He can’t speak for the rest of the planet, or even Evioly, but he hopes they follow the same example. “Wow. This is quite homey.” He noticed there were two beds here. “Who else lives in here?”

“Vela.” Sokuro said as she lit up the candles. They were much brighter then Earth-made candles- must be a better wax or wick they make. She waved out the match and went to her closet. “With the baby coming, he moved in here with me. It used to be Taled’s bed, but he sleeps with me.” She opened it up and began moving some stuff around.

Bran let her do her things and continued to explore around. There was a small table off in the corner and several dressers, both assigned to each of them. He went to one of them and saw that it was Sokuro’s and Taled’s with the small painting that was on top. He grabbed it and looked at it in the candle light. It showed a younger Sokuro- can’t be older than 4 years, and her brother in the arms of their mother. Based on his size, he must’ve been bore just a few weeks prior.

“You guys have paintings on this world. Guess that’s one thing that is universal.”

She looked back and saw that he was looking at their family portrait. “Yeah… I guess so …” She went back to moving the random junk around.

He looked over the two grown-ups in the center of the painting. The father was regal and proud, and it showed in his attire, his sleek brown hair, his facial hair, and piercing purple eyes. The mother looked like Sokuro, except much much older. She had blue hair that was down to her knees, soft brown eyes, and rather voluptuous. If genetics works the same on Dragenia as it does everywhere else, then Sokuro is gonna extremely beautiful when she gets older. She’ll be beating suitors away with a stick. “And I’m guessing these are your parents.”

She stopped what she was doing and sighed, clutching the locket of her parents in her hands. “Yeah… that’s mom and dad. Dad… Amosit, was once a member of a noble house in the Erel Republic over on the mainland. Mom, Imilae, was once a handmaiden in training, or so I heard. She never looked like one who could take orders. They both had a passion for history and knowledge- they met over in Xoelsa while studying and fell in love. And, well, obviously, they got married and had me and my brother. And before then, they became famed explorers and archeologists, finding ancient texts and ruins and fossils. Heh… our home was filled to the brim with all that old junk.”

“That would explain your knowledge with history, then, given your heritage.” He put the painting back where he found it.

“Yeah. They began teaching me when I could speak. I’m pretty much a walking history book at this point. Although…” She looked at the arrow again. “What we found down there in the Basen confounds even me.”

“And I’m assuming it all got burnt up in the fire.”

That was still a hard subject for her. She still remembers what happened. Taled, fortunately, was too young to remember. “Yeah… only a few trinkets survived…” She shook her head, getting back into the now. There was no sense going back into that painful memory. “And now, me and Taled live here. It’s not all bad. There are worse places I could’ve gone, and I love the other kids who live here, and Hela is amazing.” She moved the last of the things to the side and found her hidiy-hole. “I just wish it was under better circumstances…”

She lifted up the hidden floorboard. Bran walked over and peered in. There was some random junk, most likely from her old home, but it was big enough to hide the arrow. “That seems big enough. And it’s in the closet, underneath tons of other stuff. The only way anyone is going to find this is if they know where we hid it.”

“Yeah.” She grabbed the arrow and moved to put it in. She hesitated putting it in and just looked at it. It is such a simple little thing, yet she is so afraid of it? Why? Why be afraid of such a majestic and… gorgeous and…… magnificent weapon…? The arrowhead reflected her appearance. Her eyes slowly began to glaze over. She could feel the power emanated from this seemingly benign weapon. It feels so… good. Really good… almost like her problems do not exist and she… exists in an ethereal bliss that comes only from this arrow. It seems to make them go away.

The arrowhead very slowly began to glow and--

Bran snapped his fingers in front of her, knocking her back to reality. “Hey, you in there? You stopped mid movement.”

“Huh, wha, huh?” She blinked several times and the glaze went away. “Un, yeah, I’m here. I’m just, un… felt like I was gonna sneeze.” She scratched the back of her head- she can’t remember a thing of what just happened.

She placed the arrow inside the cubby and grabbed the fake floorboard to put over it. She saw the shine in the arrowhead dim and fad away, like it had lost all of its shine. Her gut was telling her that this was wrong, but her heart was telling her this was right. Her mind… it was a rollercoaster of emotions right now. She shook her head again and placed the boards back in place. She and Bran put the closet back the way it was before closing it.

“There we go…” Bran said. “Perfectly hidden.”

“Yeah… hidden…” She spoke as if she was completely out of energy.

“You ok?”

“Huh? Un…. Yeah. Just hungry, that’s all.”

“Alright. Then let’s go get something to eat. I’m dying to know what you guys put into a sandwich, if you all do sandwiches.” He headed out the room and went the wrong way towards the stairs. He turned himself around and went the right way this time.

Sokuro reached the door and put her hand on the handle. She looked back at the closet, feeling… wrong. She felt a knot form in the back of her head- a tight contraction of a knot that feels like it’s putting immense pressure on her mind. She shook her head for a third time and closed the door behind her as she went after Bran.

She should stop him from causing trouble in the village. He may know things, but he s still brand new to experiencing them.

16: Chapter 14: Eagerness

Chapter 14

Eagerness

2/20/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

 

The sound of cranking tools came out of the airship that saved Bran from the Phagos the other day. Since the beast made a mess of their ship both inside and outside, the crew had been hard at work on repairs. Despite their need to get their ship repaired, they are still reeling from recent events just like everyone else. Visitors from beyond the Black Abyss- that’s impossible, yet there is living proof living not that far away.

“Nobody on the mainland is going to believe this.” The galley cook commented as he went around serving a Dragenia version of chowder to the crew, which were taking a break from all the repair work.

            “I still can’t believe it.” The loudmouth technician from the other day said as he dunked his spoon in. “And I experienced it.”

“Word of this will spread like wildfire.” Captain Dexyl said as she sat on the railing. “First it will spread all over Evioly, and then to the Mainland. When it reaches the ears of kings and presidents, you know they’re gonna want to come to see the new people.”

            “And that’s adding onto the news of a new Silver Aerid.” The cabin boy said as he was given his. “Nobody is going to believe this.”

            The loudmouth swallowed his spoonful and was about to repeat himself. “You’re telling me. I still--”

            “We get it!” The whole crew said in unison.

            Well, almost the whole crew. The girl who saved Bran from falling was looking out in the distance, lost in thought as she thought about that boy she saved. He was cute, for some non-Ferid… thing. She wonders if she will ever meet him again. “Eia, you in there?” the armored female asked.

            “Huh? Oh. Yeah, I’m fine.” She started eating up. “I’m… just thinking about that visitor boy the other day. I think his name was Bran.”

            “OOOOO…” The cabin boy teased. He scooted over and playfully elbowed her on the side. “Is our little Eia falling in love?”

            “I am not!” She yelled as her face turned red. That solicited a chuckle from the crew. “I don’t- I don’t!”

            Dexyl was enjoying the laughs too, but it was just mean, making fun of such a easily-embarrassed girl. “Alright lads, alright. We had our fun. We should stop before she turns as red as a kuoquat, and we all remember what happened last time that happened.” A chorus of dismissive ‘yeah yeah’s’ came from everyone. “But still, that boy was interesting.” She added as she tapped her spoon the side of her bowl. “What did he have? He used something to tear a scale off the Phagos. I never saw a thing that could shoot light.”

            The technician sputtered as he messed with his spoon. There was some news he didn’t want to share with the crew, but he needed to. “Well, you may be able to ask him soon. Repairs are going to take longer than anticipated. One of the tal’ko gears is busted beyond repair. I need to get a new one and the closest place that sells them is Roko Harbor. I need to ask someone here in town for a ride there.”

            “Crap.” Dexyl rested her head in her hands and tapped her claws under her eye. “That’s gonna eat up a good chunk of change. We’ll be stuck here for a few days, lads. Better get comfortable.” She looked amongst her shipmates and didn’t see a dismayed face. The crew wasn’t all that dismayed by the news, actually. This means they can stay and learn about these new people alone with the people of Misken. Eia was certainly happy, even if she wasn’t showing it. “Although… I don’t think you all mind. You want to see the new folks.”

            The cabin boy, out of the side of his eye, noticed a couple of particular someone’s leaving the orphanage. “Speaking of new folks…” He pointed in that general direction. “I see the new kids leaving the orphanage.”

            “Really?!” Eia exclaimed, rushing over to the side to see them heading off into the town, with the girl trying frantically to keep up with the eager boy. She realized her excitement was a bit too much and dialed it back a bit. “I… un. I mean, we should get to know him.”

            “I think you mean you should get to know him.” Dexyl said with a mischievous chuckle. She placed her bowl down and headed over to the rigging that hung over the side. “Well, come on. If you want to meet him, let’s go meet him.”

            Eia didn’t even try to hide the excitement in her voice. “You mean it!?!”

            “You’re gonna jump out of your skin if we don’t. I can see you bouncing like you saw a cute dress in the window.” That solicited another chuckle from the crew, which made her turn red even more. Dexyl wasn’t even on the rigging before Eia started climbing down at a record pace. “Heh… hold up there, lover girl.” She started down. “Keep an eye on the ship while we’re out.” She told the crew.

            “Yeah yeah.”

 

            Meanwhile, Bran had left the orphanage with a bright-eyed smile on his face. Now that the whole deal with the arrow had been dealt with, he can now finally do what everyone else is doing and mingle. He had never seen the town yet and is quite eager to see what Sokuro’s home is like. From the air, everything had a Native American feel and he wants to know if they share some, if not most, of the same culture. If their hypothesis is true, then that Golden Door down below may link Dragenia and Earth somehow. Why, how, and when is still a mystery, but it’s better to just take things one day at a time.

            He was already heading towards the village as Sokuro ran out of the orphanage and ran after him. He already had a big head start by the time she had run outside. “Will you wait a second, Bran!?” She called out as she hurried on over to him. She caught up and panted lightly, exhaling as she wiped her forehead.

            “What? I’m a eager beaver- I want to see what this place is like.”

            “… ok, first off, what is a beaver? And second… why the rush? It’s not going anywhere. Misken has been here for hundreds of cycles before and it will be here long after we return to the River. You have plenty of time to--”

            “SOKURO!!!” She was tackle hugged from the side by a overly-enthusiastic Taled, which sent them both to the ground.

            Sokuro winced in pain as she felt a sharp rock poking her side. “Ow… not cool, Taled…” She struggled to get him off, but he was grasping on tight.

            “Sorry about that.” A familiar angelic voice said. Hela walked up with several wrapped bags of Dragenian vegetables. “I turned my back for one second and he just took off.”

            “It’s… agh, alright, Hela!” She had her free hand moving around underneath her to grab the rock. “Except I’ve landed on a sharp rock and it’s poking me in the kidney—get off of me for just one second, Taled!” She struggled with loud grunts. Bran lightly chuckled to himself as he watched. “Enjoying the show, useless?!”

            “Yep.” Bran chuckled.

            Hela took notice of him finally and turned to talk to him. “You must be the famous Bran we keep hearing so much about.”

            Bran gave a sly chuckle as he crossed his arms. He’s already famous? Celebrities on Earth take longer than this. “Barely a couple days and I’m already a celebrity?”

            “You could say that. Sokuro never stopped talking about you for over a week. The other orphans all thought she was making up stories or that her new position as a Silver was giving her some unintended side effects.”

            “Hey!” Sokuro shouted as she sat up. Taled had finally let go of her, allowing her to do this. “Not funny, Hela!”

            “I never said it was.”

            “Wait, Hela?” Bran repeated. He leaned to the side and saw that her belly was enormous. “So you’re the headmaster of the orphanage.”

            “Why yes I am. Has Sokuro mentioned me before?”

            “Yes. She mentioned you were pregnant, and boy do you look it.” Hela looked at him with a perplexed raised eyebrow. “What? I never met a pregnant lady before, let alone a pregnant Gaharot. The only other Dino people I met were on the ship that saved my life…” He noticed the girl that saved him before coming to him. “… and speak of the devil, here comes one of them now.”

            Eia was on them in mere seconds. “Hiya, Bran!” She said with such a upbeat attitude. “It’s nice to see you today!” She said with a wide smile.

            Bran felt uncomfortable with her sudden appearance and her strangely overly-upbeat attitude. “Hiya… you… I don’t know your name.”

            “It’s Eia. I don’t blame you for not knowing… you were taken before we had a chance to talk.” She shot a glare to Sokuro, which made her feel more then uncomfortable.

            “Right.” Uncomfortable situation got even more uncomfortable. “Un, Sokuro, others, this is Eia. She saved my life during the whole Phagos business. I fell off the ship and she caught me before I plummeted into the things mouth.”

            “It was my pleasure!” She exhaled with a pant, getting nauseatingly close to Bran. He was getting anxious about all this- he doesn’t like people who are those close to him. She’s practically on the verge of grabbing his hand; that will send him overboard.

            “Girl, you need to dial it back a whooooole lot.” Sokuro commented, thankfully breaking the tension. “You’re coming off as creepy.” Eia shot her another glare that made Sokuro shiver.

            “She is right, Eia. You could calm down a bit.” Dexyl said as she approached seconds behind her. “It’s not like he’s going anywhere.

            “S-sorry, captain.” Eia stepped away from Bran to give him some space, much to his internal relief.

            “You’re the captain of the ship that saved my behind, aren’t you?” Bran asked.

            “I am. The name is Dexyl. I am the captain of the merchant ship Talkos.”

            “And one of the people who saved my life.” Bran said yet again. “She was a baaaaaaa…” He almost said a bad word in front of kids. He knows they probably won’t understand what it means, but still, it’s best not to spread bad parts of a culture this soon. “…aaad mamajama. She wasn’t afraid to go up against that thing to save my bacon. Well, the least afraid, anyway.”

            While she is thankful for the glowing comment, some of his words confused her to no end. It confused everyone else present. “What in the world is a mamajama? And on that note, what is bacon?”

            Mamajama, he can understand for not knowing. It’s a nonsense word, in every sense. But bacon? Seriously? They don’t have bacon on this planet? They don’t have some kind of strange pig-like creature? Boy, they are in for a treat when they try it. But now he has to explain it. If only he knew what the first word even meant. “Un…….mamajama is a term. It, un, means… ‘awesome, fearless person’…?” That is not what it means, but he doesn’t know what it means either. At least he knows this one. “And bacon is a food from earth. It’s made from a pig and is one of the tastiest foods from my homeworld. It’s a really tasty meat…” He then realized that they may not like meat on this world. He never saw Sokuro eat anything meaty during their many rendezvous. “Wait… this isn’t a planet of vegetarians, is it?”

            “No, we eat meat too.” Dexyl confirmed while leaning forward. “And for the record, kid- none of us were buying your ‘tail lose in a accident’ story. Ferid tails have a tendency to grow back if they are lost.”

            “It’s true.” Sokuro said. “I lost half of my tail in a accident as well- accidentally knocked a knife off a table when I was young. Hurt like holy Abyss when it happened, and it hurt even worse when it grew back.”

            Bran shakingly chuckled to himself as he scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. “I, un…. Well, you believed me, right?”

            “What did I just say?” Dexyl bemoaned.

            He looked to Sokuro. “And it hurts that bad?”

            “Those bites I got from the Phagos? Those were nothing compared to a regrowing tail.” Bran winced in sympathetic pain. First he wanted a tail, now he is glad he doesn’t have one if it hurts that bad to regrow one. “You can back me up on the pain, right Eia?” All Sokuro got from her were more hate-filled glares. “(Sheesh… what is with this girl?)”

            While none of them anticipated this day going this way, they are stuck in this awkward situation, all stemming from Eia’s intensity. “… moooooving on.” Bran said in a thinly veiled attempt to try and get out of the awkwardness, and out of Eia’s intense stares- what is up with this kid? “Soooo… un… I was going to do something… I don’t remember what.” He was coming up with nothing.

            Sokuro to the rescue- she had a decent idea on how to get out of this. “I was gonna give you a tour of the village.”

            He quickly jumped on that bandwagon. “Yeah, that’s it. Sokuro was going to give me a tour of the town and show me all of the sights.”

            “Aww….” Eia pouted. She wanted to spend more time with him.

            Dexyl was going to regret this later, but it’s best for her crewmate to get this all out of her system before it gets bad. “You can go to, Eia.” Eia happily gasped as she clasped her hands together. “Just be sure to return to the ship when it is done.”

            “Yes ma’am!” She gave a salute before rushing over to Bran’s side. “I never saw this village either, so this’ll be fun, right Bran?”

            “Un… right?” He took a step away from her and she took a step forward. She has officially crossed into creepy stalker territory. “So… shall we, Sokuro?”

            “(So much for getting rid of the awkwardness…)” Sokuro thought to herself. Given Eia’s actions, it’s probably best not to get on her bad side. “Yeah, let’s get going. There are some impressive sights to see.” She looked back to her little brother. “Coming, Taled?”

            He sadly frowned. “No. I gotta help Hela with the food.”

            “Alright then. I’ll see you later.” She waved goodbye to him as she and the other two walked off.

            Once they were out of earshot, Hela had a brief conversation with Dexyl about her crewmate. “You need to reign that girl in, captain. She made everyone uncomfortable with how she was looking at the new kid.”

            Dexyl knows that more than anyone when it involves that girl. “Yeah… Eia has no social skills. We’ve been trying to help her since her father asked her to keep an eye on her, but… merchants aren’t exactly the best role models when it comes to personal space. And you are telling me that you haven’t acted like that when you were younger, fawning over your first crush?”

            Hela pursed her lips to the side, knowing she can’t really argue with the captain about this when her belly said it all. “…Not as creepily as her.”

 

            Velx looked out to the sky, lost in thought over the events that had transpired in the last few days, more specifically this morning. He and the rest of the gods were dreading the discovery of that weapon. It was hidden for a reason. But… there are worse people it could’ve ended up with. Sokuro is surprisingly strong willed for her age, and the arrow wasn’t having a negative reaction to her as it did with the past few users, so she must have a pure heart, at least pure enough for the arrow to allow it to be held by her.

            “Is something the matter, Lord Velx?” Fayin asked as she looked up at him.

            He blinked once as he returned to reality. “Huh? Oh, I’m fine, Fayin. Just… lost in thought.”

            “About that camera thing that guy was touting about? I knew it could suck out souls.”

            “Not that. It’s… about other things.”

            “Astral related?”

            “Yes.” As much as he wants to keep this hidden until he knew for certain what Sokuro would do with it, he had to inform his brothers and sisters about this development. They felt the same surge he did, so they are going to want answers. “Listen, Fayin, I need to go and seek counsel from my fellow Astrals. If anyone comes by to ask, tell them I’m at the Astral Plains.” With a flap of his wings, he vanished in a flash of light, leaving behind ethereal feathers.

            Fayin tilted her head, wondering what had him lost. “That was strange…” She said to herself.

 

            Dan was as giddy as a schoolgirl as he bounced around the village square, absolutely high on adrenaline and joy as his childhood fantasy was coming true. Dragons. Real life, honest-to-goodness Dragons. They exist! They exist!! This has been a dream of his for years, to see Dragons in real life- to touch them, to fly on one, to… well, any further would be going overboard.

            There was no denying that he was in heaven. He watched Dragons fly away to hunt some game, oblivious to the five-dollar tour being given by the new chosen one until he turned around and saw them. He grinned like the Cheesier Cat before hopping on over to them.

            “These are the docks.” Sokuro said to Eia and Bran as she gestured to them. The docks hung off the edge of the mesa, hanging precariously over a loooooooooong drop to the ground below. The shipwrights weren’t worried. There were only five docking moors here and one over by the orphanage- they must not get a lot of ship visitors around. “We get airships from Roko Harbor and the inner villages all the time. Most of them are merchants like Dexyl, but some carry other things, like other Ferid children about to undergo ascension.”

            “Wait, they come here to become Aerids?” Bran asked.

            “The ones on Evioly, yes.” Eia said in an attempt to impress him. “There aren’t a lot of Astrals in the world- each one governs a region. Velk looks over all of Evioly.”

            “Velk? I thought his name was Velx.”

            Eia realized her mistake and covered her mouth in a dainty manner. “oops.”

            “That was his ancient name.” Sokuro explained. “Back during the Gaharot Empire, the Astrals went by different names, but after the Empire was overthrown and time marched on, the people began calling them by different names. Velx was lucky- he just had a letter changed.”

            “Huh.”

            “Gotcha!” Dan appeared out of nowhere and wrapped his arm around Bran’s head, locking him in a chokehold. Sokuro and Eia with both confused by what is going on and just watched as it happened. “Thought you could get away from me, drake boy? You got one on each arm- surely you can spare one.”

            “Agh! What the heck are you talking about?” Bran choked, smacking his hand on Dan’s shoulder. “Please stop… I can hear my skull cracking.” Dan let him go, letting him faceplant onto the ground.

            “You know what I am talking about, Brandon.”

            Bran picked his head out of the dirt and spit it out. “……. Don’t ever call me that.” He grumbled as he got back up off the ground, dusting off his frontside, with Eia helping. “What are you doing here, Dan?”

            As if he needed to ask. “Are you kidding me? I am in heaven right now!!” He spun around with his arms spread wide and a equally wide smile on his face. “I didn’t go to a new world- I died and went to paradise.” Bran moaned and facepalmed while the girls tilted their heads, lost in more confusion than ever. “So, un, Bran… are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?”

            Bran lowered his hand down his face, giving him the evil eye. As for the girls, Eia blushed profusely while Sokuro was further down the rabbit hole of confusion. “She is not my girlfriend… geez… but since you are insisting…” He turned to the girls. He was not enthusiastic about this, not in the slightest. “Sokuro… Eia… this is Dan, a certifiable nutjob I’m regretting being friends with.”

            “And Bran’s only friend.” He pulled Bran over into a brotherly embrace. “Don’t forget that, dude.”

            “Though now I’m having second thoughts.” Bran droned.

            “HEHEEEE… he’s a kidderrrr!” Dan pinched his cheek and shook him about for a brief moment.

            “Um… Hi?” Sokuro struggled to say. This Dan fella has so much energy, it’s mind-boggling. “Un… Bran, what’s with him? Why is he acting like this?”

            Bran was gonna try to answer with a straight face and a humble attitude, but with Dan and how he is acting right now, he gets the barebones version. “Because… ugh… he’s in heaven.”

            “How?” Eia asked.

            It was just now that Bran realized that explaining Dan’s… fascination with a certain mythical species was going to be hard. Moments like this, he wishes they landed on a desert world where the most sentience life had to offer was a giant worm. “Because he is into Dragons…….. waaaaaaaaaaaaaay into Dragons, like… disturbingly so.”

            Eia never heard that term before. “Dragons?”

            “It’s what they call our Aerid forms.” Sokuro said. “On their world, Aerids- or Dragons, as they like to call us- are considered mythological monsters that are all over the spectrum- good, evil, godly, beastly, blah blah blah blah, we’re all over the place. so you can imagine their surprise when they find Dragons, aka us, here.”

            “Oh. But that doesn’t explain why this Dan fellow is so… strange.”

            Dan suddenly appeared beside Eia, putting a elbow on her shoulder as he spoke in a highly sophisticated manner. “Because I am in love with Dragons. I have had a strong fascination with them ever since I was a wee little pup, barely old enough to say my first word. Then I played a video game about a little draggy hero, and I was instantly hooked.” He broke character. “Plus, Dragoness’ are s--”

            Bran covered Dan’s mouth before he could go any further on that front, this time putting him in a chokehold. “Ok, time for you to stop, nutso!”

            “Heh?” The girls both went. They were back to being absolutely lost.

            Dan pulled Bran’s hand away and gave him a scoff. “Plebian.”

            “Lunatic.” Bran replied with a sigh. “So… yeah. Dan really likes Dragons and this world is pretty much his dream come true. Just… bit of a warning: don’t be alarmed when he starts flirting. Just smile and nod.”

            “Flirting?” Eia asked.

            Her answer came in a visual representation as Dan offered her a bouquet of flowers that appeared out of nowhere and offered them to her whilst taking her hand. “For you, Mon Cherie.” He said in the fakest French accent possible as he took her hand and daintily kissed it.

            Most girls would be flustered and happy a guy was this interested in her, pulling off moves like this. Eia is not like most girls. Whatever Dan was doing was completely lost on her. Instead of feeling adored, she was instead creeped out. “This guy is scaring me…” She whispered with a hiss.

            Bran wished to saw it was going to get better, but it wasn’t. Not with Dan. “Yeah… you don’t get used to it…” That wasn’t the good news Eia was hoping for. They needed to get away from Dan pronto. Thankfully, they were in the middle of something that was right in that line of thought. “Sooooo… back to the tour?”

            “Back to the tour.” Sokuro said as she and Bran walked off, trying to get away with all haste. Eia was able to break free and run after them. Dan, of course, followed. As if he was going to be left behind in this amazing place.

           

Crox, Belfast, and Kitsunagi were lead inside of Misken’s magnificent meeting hall by Inoute and Ifil, which also served as a shelter in case of disasters or Phagos attacks. Something that always puzzled Crox is how ancient civilizations were able to build such a impressive underground habitat. Civilizations on Earth thousands of years more primitive were able to do this with near perfect precision and skill, often times making entire villages down deep beneath the earth. It’s a mystery she will never understand.

“And this is our town hall.” Inoute showed off the large rectangular room. “It took decades to create this place, but if it can protect us from Phagos attacks, it was worth it. Though with it dead, now it’s just for village meetings and storage. Pray that another one won’t come by.”

“That Phagos was that bad of a threat?” Belfast asked with his hands in his pockets.

“There’s more than one, you know. And you saw what happened. Your light weapons did nothing to its shell; neither did the airship or Sokuro. It took the interference of a God to finally slay that beast.”

“And I take it that doesn’t happen often.” Kitsunagi said.

“They forbade themselves from interfering in the lives of us mortal folk. They live amongst us, but other then the Ascension ceremonies, they do not interfere.” Ifil said as they reached the center- a ceremonial fire pit. “There have been several exceptions, but that was only when things were at their most dire.”

“Like that Xelut creep?” Crox asked.

“Yes.”

“So why don’t they interfere?” Crox continued.

“Because if they did so, interfering on every single matter down to the baseless and trivial, life would become too static for us mortal folk. We would be stuck. We would rely on the Astrals for everything and if we did that, we’d be in our homes, doing nothing but eating and sleeping. We wouldn’t be able to create architecture like this hall or the Connecting Bridge or even the Valaveil Colossus. Surely you humans and…” He was blanking on Kitsunagi’s and Belfast’s race. “…What was your race called… Kitsunes—I’m sure your races have faced situations like that in your past.”

“Actually, yes. We have.” Belfast said. “But obviously, we aren’t like that here.”

“Clearly.” He and Ifil sat down on one edge of the firepit. The colonists copied his moves, making sure they don’t offend him. Ifil tossed a small red rock into the branches that filled the pit, lighting them on fire, creating a very small blaze. “Now… let’s get down to business.”

“Knew this was coming. I’m actually surprised you didn’t bring it up sooner.” She crossed her legs and her arms. “I’m gonna assume you’re gonna start us off with that Froypis disease.”

“I was going to start with your food situation, but sure, we can start there.”

“Whoops. Well, I brought it up.” Kitsunagi took down a touch pad to take notes on the dicease. She was gonna add on to what they got the other day. “So, how does it spread? Is it airborne?”

“No. it spreads though contact. I know what you are thinking- ‘if it spreads though contact, how can anyone still get it when they can just avoid the infected person?’ Well, the mess they leave behind still needs to be cleaned up after they… ahem, expire. And since it is dust they turn into, it can spread about though the air. only one particle needs to make contact for someone to contract it.”

“Yikes…”

Inoute somberly nodded, making sure to hide his hand up his sleeve. “Are you sure your… what were they called again? The Hesk?” Belfast nodded. “Are you sure that the Hesk can create a cure for it?”

“Pretty positive. They’re leaders in medical sciences back in the Milky Way, so if anyone can find a cure to this, they can. All they need is a sample to work off of.” She tapped her fingers on her side. “That being said… they aren’t godly. It will take time to find a way to cure it, so… anyone who is in the late stages on this island or living on the mainland are… unfortunately still going to die.”

Inoute sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. Guess it was too much to ask for it to be finished soon. “Right…” He put his hand behind the other. “Let’s switch topics. What is your food situation?”

“Still good. We got three years—cycles of food before we run out. After we cross that threshold, we will need to know how to grow and cultivate local flora. Hunting won’t be a problem, but farming will be.”

“Flora?”

“Fruits, Herbs, and Vegetables.”

“Ah.”

“Therein lies the problem… we don’t know how the local flora… well, works. Food back on our homeworlds, we know how to grow. We brought seeds and such. The local stuff, on the other hand… we’re going to need some help with that. Surely some of your farmers will be able to help.”

“They will.”

“Good.”

Belfast chimed in. “Does your planet have money? Currency you trade in exchange for goods and services? If we can’t grow food, we’re gonna need to trade it with others.”

“Yes, we have money.” He nodded to Ifil, who pulled out several coins of varying size and gave one to each of them. “They’re called Sels. It’s a currency that has been in service since the Ancient Empire- it’s one of the few things left over from those days. They come in varying prices based on their size. The bigger they are, the more valuable.”

“Huh.” Crox said as she looked hers over. It was the smallest of them all, so it must be the least valuable. “We’re gonna need to figure out an exchange rate…” She put her coin down on the ground and pulled out the currency of the Milky Way- small finger-sized bars of varying metal. “This is our money- credits. Each world had its own coin currency before they joined the Galactic Community of the Milky Way, where they then conformed to this standard currency.”

“Hmm…” Inoute took one of the bars and bit it. “I… don’t know how this would work with our money.”

“Yeah… I had a feel that was going to be a problem. Unless we melt our money down and mint them in your style of coinage, I… wait, you know what, that does sound like a good idea.” Belfast would disagree about that- he’s seen what happens with cultures with too much cash, but he was coming up empty on ideas as this point. Hopefully this is one culture that doesn’t revolve around cash like humanity.

“It’s the best option I can think of at this moment, because I can see no value in these bars.” Ifil said as he bit one for good measure. “Other than decorative paperweights, that is.” He tossed it back over to them.

“We should’ve thought the money situation before we left the galaxy.” Belfast said. “Not every culture operates off of currency the same way the Milky Way does. Even among the various races, we handle money differently. The Adlez, for example- they don’t operate off of a monetary system. They work for scrap, which they can use to turn into lord knows what.”

“And the Adlez- they’re the race that live inside suits?” Inoute asked.

“Yes.” Kitsunagi confirmed. “They come from a planet where they can only breath a mixture of methane, helium, and sulfur. They can’t breathe any other kind of air, even standalone versions of those elements. So they live inside those suits, which regulates and creates the air they breathe. It also hides the fact they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO UGLY! They are the ugliest things you have ever seen! They are masters with scrap metal and technology, but lord almighty, they are UGLY! I threw up when I met my first suit-less Adlez.”

“Heh… that’s an exaggeration, right?” Ifil asked. “Nobody can be that ugly.”

They were going to regret asking that. Belfast pulled up a profile picture of a Adlez he knew long ago on his phone and flipped it upside down to hide the suspense. “Don’t say we didn’t warn you.” He droned ominously as he handed it to Inoute.

Ifil rolled his eyes as he and Inoute looked at the picture on the phone. What they saw made their faces turn to white, their eyes turn red, and their lunch to regurgitate out. That was the ugliest thing they ever could’ve seen. Inoute dropped the phone and Belfast caught it before it hit the floor.

I’m gonna spare you all the pain of describing how hauntingly ugly an Adlez looks like. Trust me, you don’t want to know what one looks like. You will have nightmares for the rest of your natural days. These two will, I can guarantee you that.

“How… how do you co-exist…?” Inoute frowned, trying to keep his lunch in.

“You get used to it.” All three of them said in a drone-like unison.

            They heard the doors open wide at the entrance to the hall. Inoute didn’t know it was in use today. He should’ve left a note on the door.

            “…and this is the Town Hall / Emergency Shelter.” Sokuro announced with her arms spread wide as she walked backwards, allowing Eia, Bran, and Dan to get the full effect of the magnificent hall.

            “Whoa.” The two boys said in impressed unison.

            “Wait, emergency shelter?” Eia interrupted.

            “Yeah. This place was originally built into the rock to serve as a shelter against all kinds of disasters, like hurricanes, volcanic eruptions from Mocurot Crater, Phagos attacks, and so on and so forth. But this soon became the town hall. Meetings and celebrations are held in here all the time.”

            “Sure is spacious enough…” Bran said, feeling like he was back on the Argo Marquis again. “…but it is kinda moot when half of the population can fly.”

            Sokuro just shrugged. “Well, grown-ups are weird.”

            “And how.” The three of them agreed in unison.

            “Ahem.” Crox went, finally catching the attention of the children. “What are you all doing here?”

            “Sokuro here is giving us the five dollar tour of the town.” Dan said as he rested his arm on her head, much to her chagrin. “We didn’t know anyone was in here- you guys should’ve left a note.”

            “Well, we are in the middle of an important discussion.” Ifil said. “If you could kindly leave and come back later, we will be finished by the time you circle on back around.”

            Sokuro pursed her lips to the side, finding this to be a bunch of bull hocky. They were discussing about the two civilizations, obviously, so why keep her out? She is an all important Silver, after all. Ah, whatever. She wasn’t going to argue and ruin this mood. “Ah, fine.” She spun around and pointed to the exit. “Next stop, Velx’s temple.” They headed that way. “You know, I don’t think Velx has met one of you colonists in person. Maybe he’ll like ya.”

            If he was actually there. Instead……

17: Chapter 15: In a Name

Chapter 15

In a Name

2/20/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

 

            “WHOOOOOOOOAAA….!!” Dan and Bran exclaimed in amazement as they gazed at the large and magnificent temple that belongs to Velx. Like down below in the Basen, it looked so much like a Mayan/Aztec temple. Bran was more interested in that then Dan. It’s more humongous then what he and Sokuro found in the Basen, but it is the same design. How? Why? Trying to figure it out wasn’t going to help.

            “It’s gigantic!” Dan chortled. “The big guy that lives here must be huuuuuge!”

            “You can say that again.” Bran gasped, taken aback by how big it is. It’s as big as the Great Pyramids of Giza, if not a tiny bit bigger. How can ancient folk build these giant structures?

            “I think this thing is a small castle instead of a temple.” Eia commented.

            Bran lowered his head- his neck was hurting from staring up for so long, and turned towards Eia. “Are these everywhere on Dragenia?”

            “Yep, and each are the Astrals home.”

            “How many Astrals are there?”

            Eia tapped her finger on her chin as she thought. “Counting Velx… I think it was 35 in total. Each one serves as a lord for each region of the world. Velx is a lucky one- he has the entirety of Evioly all to himself, though that wasn’t always the case. He once shared this land with Evivo, their Sire.”

            He tilted his head. “Evivo? Sire?”

            “Yes. He’s… eh, how can I explain this to newcomers? He’s… their leader- their king. He rules over them.”

            Now it made a whole lot of sense. “OOOOOOH… a King of the Gods. Yeah, we actually have those in our mythologies from Earth- Zeus, Odin, Amaterasu, Osiris- it is really very extensive. The Hesk have Voullattua, the Argalith have Comsoca, the Kitsune have Wuial, and the Adlez… well, ok, they don’t have a ancient religious hierarchy, so each individual piggy-backs onto what sounds best to them.”

            “Huh.” Eia reached into her vest pocket and pulled out a journal to take some notes about Bran’s culture- it’ll be very useful in the long run. Bran took notice of her little mannerism. “I never knew more than one religion could exist.”

            “Well, they do…” He said in passing. “You keep a journal?”

            Eia finished transcribing the names Bran had just put forth, put her charcoal pen in the middle, and closed it. “Yeah. It’s a…. habit of mine when I encounter something new. It’s more of a force of habit nowadays, but it’s still useful in the long run. Dad used to be a scribe for a court over in Yu’lotan before he lost his arm.”

            “Ouch.”

            She put her journal away. “Yeah.”

            Bran pulled out his own journal- the family heirloom that has lasted for centuries. “I do it too. I guess some habits are universal.”

            Eia took a good long look at the journal. “It looks basic. And beaten.”

            Bran flipped it around to look at the dingie old cover. “Well… it is over almost 4000 years--- I mean Cycles old.”

            Eia was taken aback by that statement- she has never, ever seen something that old before. She knows there are artifacts in the temples that are that old, and older, but she never saw any in person. “Whoooooa… how can it be that old?”

            “Well, one of my ancestors laminated the cover.” She tilted her head. “That’s the plastic covering around the binding.” He bent the edge of one to show her. “Keeps it airtight and prevents it from aging. Yeah… the binding is old, but the paper is new.” He flipped open to the drawing he did of his and the colonists first ever night on Dragenia, with the three moons and Andromeda nestled in the sky.

            Eia was simply amazed by the drawing. She took the journal and looked the drawing thoroughly, seeing how skilled he was. There are so many drawings in here, it was astonishing. “Wow… did you draw all these?”

            “Every single one.”

            “You are really skilled.”

            He playfully shrugged like a important individual. “Well, I don’t mean to toot my own horn, but… yeah. I am.” He finished with a chuckle.

            The two of them had completely hit it off, ignoring and forgetting their… strained first meeting earlier when she was acting really strange- all she needed was time to cool down.

They had completely forgotten about their little compatriot to this temple, and he was glaring at Bran. It was a threatening glare, but he wasn’t going to do anything. He’s more of a tell, don’t show kind of person. He angrily mumbled under his breath, “…a girl on each arm- give me a break, casanova…”

            Meanwhile, Sokuro wasn’t as interested in the temple she had seen thousands of times- she was asking Fayin where Velx disappeared too. He never leaves without good reason.

“He just up and left for the God Realm?” A puzzled Sokuro repeated.

“Yeah, and it was the strangest thing.” Fayin commented as she ate her lunch, which consisted of a Gea leg and water. “He said he needed to go talk with his fellow Gods and just went like that.”

“That’s unlike him.”

“Yeah… he’s been acting weird since he came back from his morning flight. Maybe he’s got something on his mind or things aren’t going too swimmingly in the God Realm. Either way, he’s not here. He may be here tomorrow, but I assume you’re gonna be busy keeping those three in check and make sure they don’t wreck things.” She pointed towards the new folk, just as Bran was showing his journal to Eia.

“Bran, you don’t have to worry about. He’s really nice, and smart too. Dan and Eia… I don’t know what to tell you about them. Dan is from the same place as Bran, so he’s gonna come off as weird, though his fascination is… concerning. Eia, I know she’s from the merchant ship, but she hates me for some reason.”

Fayin looked at the Eia girl who had taken the journal out of Bran’s hand to take a gander at its pages. It’s perfectly clear to her. “Aww… she thinks you’re trying to steal her man?”

That line puzzled Sokuro because it made no sense. “Steal my man?”

“Yeah. You better hurry up before he gets swiped by someone else.”

This confused her more and more and more. “What are you talking about?”

Fayin giggled to herself as she booped Sokuro on the nose, making her go cross-eyed for a second. “Oh, to be so innocent again.”

“You are a strange person.”

Fayin grinned as she chuckled again. “What can I say? I’m a romantic.”

Sokuro was to react to Fayin’s strange little retort when her stomach growled loudly. Her face turned bright red as she scratched the back of her head, chuckling nervously. “Hehehe…… well, this is embarrassing.”

Fayin raised an eyebrow as she tilted her head. “Being hungry is embarrassing?”

“It is when the stomach is as loud as a Lokix. I need something to eat.” She took a step back to go after the others. “Catch ya later.” She said before running off to the others while Fayin returned to her duties. She looked back towards the group with a snicker- she smells a love triangle forming. 

A quick summery, a Lokix is a type of bird native to the Froao Desert on the mainland. To give it a Earth analogy… take a chicken, make it 3 times bigger, give it fangs and a long tail, and a fin like a Great White Shark, and you got a Lokix. When they aren’t hungry, they are as calm as a… well, chicken. But when hungry… they are ferocious to their prey. They haven’t killed a Ferid or a Gaharot yet, though there have been close calls. They are best knwn for the loud howling squawks they make during the night. They can get so loud, they can be heard for miles. You could say they are a chicken-wolf hybrid, but that wouldn’t be accurate.

Sokuro arrived back at the others just as Dan said the Casanova line. She was going to ask what that meant, but she didn’t care. It was likely some Earth thing that would be confusing. “Are you guys hungry?” She right-out asked. “I don’t know about you guys, but I am starving! I only have a piece of fruit and those don’t last long.”

Bran took his journal back from Eia and put it away. “Now that you mention it, I am feeling a little puckish. You?” He asked Eia.

She shrugged. She should’ve eaten her food on the ship when she had the chance. “Eh, I could go for something to eat.” The three of them walked off back towards town…

… and they had completely forgotten to ask Dan if he wanted to get anything to eat. He was right there with them, listening to the same question. He waved his arms up in exasperation. “… AHEM!! I’m hungry too!” He ran after them. “HEY! Will you ‘Burros’ wait up!?!”

 

            The Realm of the Dragenian gods was a grand vista to behold: a snow-topped mountain range that stretched out for miles and rose up far above the clouds and into the stratosphere- it is remarkably similar to the Tibetan Himalayas. At the top of the tallest peak- “Everest”- rested a grand golden-colored marble temple, with several dozen smaller temples floating on clouds, surrounding it at varying heights.

            The smaller temples are the homes of the Astral Aerids. The big one belongs to their King, Melousea’loautan-soku’evivo. Everyone calls him Evivo for short because nobody can say that name with a straight face. Evivo was… well, you could say he’s the Odin of Dragenia. He is passionate, knowledgeable, and all-knowing, yet he is born of war and would welcome it. He knows the value of peace and tries to keep it as long as he can, but when that itch hits… he’s gotta have it. He doesn’t cause wars, but he doesn’t do anything to stop them, either. The war against Xelut had placated him for some time and would for a couple more years.

            And at the end of those two years… he’ll be satisfied for a long time, but I’m cutting ahead.

            Inside the temple stood a looooooooooooooooooong hall- a full mile long, with a equally long reflecting pool in the middle- it’s so big, it puts the pool in Washington D.C. to shame.

Evivo was the true physical manifestation of a Dragon god- gigantic, intimidating, and strong. A soft glow emanated from inside his body, stretching out to all the points of his platinum-colored feathers, giving him an ethereal nature. His warm yellow eyes looked down from his throne and towards the young Astral that sat before it, looking out at the reflecting pool as they waited for the other gods to arrive…

            …which wasn’t that long, actually. The 33 other Astrals heard the summoning call from Evivo and arrived posthaste. Appearing on floating platforms that littered the entire length of the hall, they were all feathered like the two of them, except their colors were in a wide array.

            “I hope you called us for a reason, Father.” Bekio, a light brown-colored female Astral, commented as she picked her ear. “I was just about to have a nice warm supper when you comments.”

            “And I see you are just as crass as ever, Bekio.” Zeolua commened. She was another brown-colored female Astral, but darker in color with some yellow stripes running along her body and a flower crown.

            “Gotta love my people.” Bekio chortled with a smile.

            A male Astral with a light mint green color scheme flew forward to speak over the two bickering women. “Is there a reason you have called us all here, Father? Has something happened?”

            Evivo nodded in confirmation. “Yes, events have transpired that require our attention.” He said in a calming, soothing voice befitting the King of Gods. “Velx here will inform you as it is in his domain it is transpiring in.”

            “Really? It’s in the Runts domain? I didn’t know anything interesting happened on that rock.” A rather brutish looking Astral bellowed. That was Calcota, and he is as rude as he sounds.

            Velx flew to the front of the reflecting pool and brandished a single claw. “Things of great importance have transpired, brother… and they affect us all.” He tapped a single claw in the pool, causing ripples that turned the still water active. “I shall start with the good news.” The water returned to it’s still state, but this time a image of a certain girl was floating in the middle of it. “A new Silver Aerid has been chosen. Sokuro el’Fitan, a orphan girl from Miskin.”

            The other Astrals leaned in to get a look at the new Silver Aerid. “She’s certainly… small for her stature.” The smallest of their group, a pure-blue female named Quil, commented.

            “And an orphan, too. I think she’s the first orphan to become a Silver.” Gfoula, a male gray Astral, pointed out.

            Calcota stood back up on his platform with a single question in mind: “She’s not going to turn into her predecessor, is she? We don’t want another Xelut on our claws.”

            Velx shook his head. “No. She is absolutely nothing like Xelut, even during his childhood days. She’s a kind-hearted soul with a pure heart, a clear understanding of right and wrong, and a strong, unwavering will.”

            Bekio stepped forward to near the pool. “Why go into detail about her being?”

            “I’ll get back to that- talking about that would ruin this news.” He tapped the pool again, causing it to ripple. “I trust you all sensed the disturbances in the past week: the surge of power yesterday, and the sudden appearance of over 20000 souls last week?”

            “It was felt all the way here, so I believe we all did.” Evivo said. “Are they connected?”

            Velx pursed his lips to the side. They are connected and yet they are not. “Mmmm… maybe, maybe not. I hope maybe not… but given recent events....” He tapped the pool again, making the ripples stop as the pool focused on the colony established by the colonists. “… The past has caught up to us. Peoples from Earth have returned.”

            “WHAT!?!” Every Astral, minus Evivo, shouted at the tops of their lungs.

            Velx waited for them to calm down before continuing. He understands their shock- they believed all connections to the outside worlds have been cut off and destroyed eons ago; they never planned on the past coming back. “If you will all calm down… I can explain.” Velx walked back to the throne.

            “They are not a part of the old Empire.” He turned back to them. “By all sounds of it, the Empire is not even a thing anymore- lost to the annals of time and history, completely forgotten. No, these are a mixed group of colonists seeking a new home.” He tapped the pool again, this time showing a planet memory- it is as it sounds. It shows Sokuro’s first… painful encounter with Bran. “Sokuro made contact with one of the colonists, a boy named Bran. From what I have been able to ascertain from her interactions with him, the Milky Way is now devoid of all natural resources and the planets are now slowly disintegrating. The races of the galaxy put for a initiative to colonize all their neighboring galaxies. The colonists that came here had no idea that it was inhabited- seems the robot they sent was garbage. It was a couple days ago when the colonists made contact with the people of Misken after a Phagos attack, which I was forced to step into to prevent it from killing Sokuro.”

            “Wait- you interfered in mortal affairs?” Calcota exclaimed.

            The pool changed to show the fight between Phagos, the merchant ship, Sokuro, and him. “To save the new Silver Aerid. She had just become a Silver- I wasn’t going to let that die. When word reaches that mainland that the new Silver had died only a week later, which would be a major blow. But back to the subject at hand: the colonists came to Dragenia in hopes of establishing a new home and avoid repeating the mistakes they made in the Milky Way.” The pool changed to show the meeting between the two leaders and their advisors in the tent. “The first meeting between the colonists and the people of Misken didn’t… go over well. The following day, when Sokuro and Bran filled their respective peoples about the other, things went much better and they agreed to a mutually beneficial partnership.”

             “Well, they chose a good spot to land.” Malala, a female crimson blue Astral, commented. “People from Misken are some of the friendliest around, and smart too. If the colonists landed elsewhere on the planet- heck, even on other parts of Evioly, then they’d have some trouble.”

            “Especially Meoho.” Quil joked. “A complete culture of adrenaline junkies.”

            “…moving on.” Velx mumbled before tapping the pool again- he likes the compliments to Misken, but not the insult lobbed Meoho’s way. “After the agreement was made, the planet spanning quake struck. From what the Colonists were able to figure out, it came from off planet- from another universe entirely, and it affected everywhere in ours as well.”

            That caused a lot of confused murmurs from the gathering. Even Evivo was perplexed-- How can a quake come from another universe? It doesn’t seem possible. It goes against… well, all laws of physics. “Is that even possible?” Zeolua asked.

            “They seem to think so.” Velx said. “After the quake, Sokuro and Bran fell into the fissure, finding themselves in the birthplace of civilization: Tay Sokuro Basen.” This put the entire congregation on edge- ever since the fall of the Gaharot Empire, that place has been forbidden, and for good reason. “They came across the Golden Portal, but found no way to work it, thank goodness… but…” He paused, which caused some concern. He was hesitant to bring this to their attention, as he knows the panic that this will cause. “… the Quake did something… more.”

            “More? More what?”

            Velx very hesitantly pressed the pool for the last time, changing it to something that was sure to spark fear. “The Quake unearthed something that should’ve remained buried till the end of time, something that Sokuro has found and taken back to the orphanage.” The pool showed her grabbing the arrow. “…She found the Pashupatastra.”

            And just like that, as he predicted, everyone in the hall screamed out in fear. Some fo the smaller ones even hid behind their platforms, knowing full well what that thing is. Some, like Calcota, weren’t afraid, but… suicidal.

            “We need to get that thing away from her, now!!!” He bellowed.

            Velx used his powers to block all of the exits. He figured they would panic and so he was gonna keep them here until they calm down. “I understand you are all scared- I am too. But for now, just calm down and breath.”

            “Calm down? CALM DOWN!?!” Calcota flew up into Velx’s face. “That girl has the most destructive weapon the universe has ever seen! It was hidden for a reason, and you want us to calm down!?! WHY!?!”

            “Because Sokuro isn’t affected by its magic.”

            “What?”

            Velx slowly walked away from him and towards one of the pools edges. “I… don’t know how or why, but… the arrow isn’t having an effect on her. We all know what it did to any other mortals who would try to use it- they become addicted and think only about it. They fall in love with the power it holds and become obsessed just from a mere touch. Even we gods can fall prey to its folly, and yet… when Sokuro touched it, nothing happened other then the surge we all felt. She must have some natural immunity to its powers or she may just be that strong willed. This is why I went into detail about her being earlier- because somehow, it is resisting the negative magics of the Pashupatastra.”

            “How in the world did she even find it!?!” Quil screamed. Bekio patted the little one on the back, making the screaming stop and be replaced with hiccups. “I thought that snake was supposed to keep it guarded.”

            “I don’t know… it has something to do with the Quake, that much I can be certain of. As for the serpent… he encountered them. He saw the arrow in her hands, and instead of doing anything about it… he teleported them away as the arrow healed them up. He knows something we don’t. He was also with me earlier today, when I followed the two kids. We heard them talking and agreeing to hide the thing- she can sense the pure power coursing though it as well and fears what it may be. She’s afraid of it- the exact opposite of how the others who held the arrow felt. The kid Bran tried to pick it up, to carry it to their hiding spot, but it shocked him instead.”

            “Shocked? Like an electrical shock, like those zappers?” Velx nodded. “That… has not happened before, ever. It didn’t want that Bran kid to pick it up- he seems like one who would be obsessing over it by now.”

            Velx shrugged. “I don’t know what to tell you, sister. All we can do is speculate. The thing isn’t behaving the way it usually does… I propose we watch her, see what develops from this strange situation. The arrow acts strangely around her. I want to find out why.”

            Calcota wasn’t having none of that- he saw the power of that thing first hand when it created that giant rift that separates Evioly from the mainland, leaving only a thin spit of land to serve as a bridge. They needed to get it away from her NOW! “That’s not good enough! That thing is dangerous and you know it!” He turned to Evivo. “Sire, with your permission, I will go and ransack that orphanage until I find it and hide it once more!”

            Velx angrily snarled and pushed his shoulder. “You do that and you’ll make things worse! The arrow reacts to violence- you know that! This could cause a incident that won’t end well for anyone on the planet! They’ll think Bokurol is invading and Evioly will fight back, and with the Silver on their side, it won’t end well for Bokurol- the people who don’t know of the colonists yet will think that Bokurol’s fall is the Great Change she is to bring for this generation. You don’t want that, do you?”

            Calcota was going to retort, angrily, but didn’t. He doesn’t want Bokurol to be destroyed in a battle he wants to avoid. “… I see your point, but we cannot leave the weapon in the hands of a little girl!”

            “I think that we should.” Evivo spoke up, silencing the two of them. He spread his wings and slowly glided down the long long steps in front of his throne. “While I agree with your thoughts, Calcota, Velx has a point. The Pashupatastra is behaving very strangely in the hands of that girl and I wish to know why.” He landed at the base of the throne. “That point aside… if you move an army to invade Evioly for no discernible reason to the populace, our enemy will get wise to this. He will learn it is there.”

            Calcota looked away and to the ground, having forgotten about all that. “… I forgot about him. I guess it’s too much to ask old age finally took care of him, but that’s wishful thinking.”

            “Correct. Now if what Velx said is true and the girl has the arrow well hidden… then only she, the colonist kid, the Serpent, and all of us here know that it has been found.” He looked to the rest of the Astrals. “And I trust you are all going to keep this a secret, correct?!”

            “Yes, sire!” They all replied in unison.

            Evivo nodded before returning his attention to Velx. “Return to your region, Velx. We’ve a long road ahead of us. And for all our sakes, I pray you are right about leaving the weapon with her.”

            Velx exhaled sharply as he glanced down- he’s not the only one who’s hoping for the best. “You and me both, sire…” He briefly glowed before vanishing in a bright white light, leaving behind only a few floating feathers that slowly vanished.

            “And the rest of you, speak word of this to no one, not even your handmaids. It’s bad enough that two children know it exists- it’s worse if our enemy learns where it is. We don’t want that monster coming to Evioly and massacring everyone, do we?”

            “Of course not…” They all left one by one, vanishing in the same manner Velx did. Calcota snarkly scoffed before vanishing last.

            Once he was all alone, he looked down at the pool, at the seemingly innocent little girl, completely unaware of the ultimate destructive power in her hands. “… You better be right about this, leaving it in her hands. We’re all dead if you aren’t.”

            He glanced back to his throne, or rather, to the humanoid person with a thousand arms sitting atop it. “I hope so too.” He said once before vanishing in a blue light. Evivo tapped the pool, turning the still image into a live feed of Sokuro and her friends having lunch.

 

“Mmm… This isn’t all that bad.” Bran chewed as he turned the fish on the stick he was eating. He and the others were down in the Misken bazaar. Eia bought them a cheap but effective lunch of Gifgif fish on a stick. The size of salmon and sharing the same taste mixed with soy sauce, Gifgif fish are the edible cousins to the Tonton. They are bright grass green with various stripe colors- some are red, others brown, etc etc.

“Yeah.” Dan said with a full mouth. “It’s like un… salmon with some sort of internal soy sauce.”

Bran pointed to him. “Thank you- the name was slipping my mind! And really? Soy Sauce?” He looked at his fish again. He shrugged it off and kept on eating.

“Salmon?” Sokuro asked.

“Soy Sauce?” Eia added.

Dan swallowed, hard enough to where you can actually hear it, following it up with a loud exhale. “Explain later. Busy eating.” He took another bite.

Bran held his mouth as he swallowed the current bite. “So after we’re done, you wanna come check out the colony?” He asked the girls.

Sokuro looked at him with her stick sticking out of her mouth. She stuffed the rest of her fish in and was chewing away. “Phat thoug phe inthersthin.” She mumbled with a really full mouth.

“… what?”

She pulled the stick out and spit out all of the bones, which weren’t much. Unlike Earth fish, Dragenian fish have only 3 bones- the skull, the spine, and the tail fin. “I said that would be interesting. It will be nice to go, provided I don’t get locked up again.” She joked with a grin.

Not wanting to be outdone by the runt, Eia chimed it as well. “Yeah, that does sound fun!” She tossed her stick away. “And my Aerid form is quite stunning. I’ve been told I am very beautiful! Not just one solid color like some other Aerids.” She sneered at Sokuro.

She leaned away from Eia, feeling a little uncomfortable. “Ok… it’s not a contest.”

She chuckled as she reached into her vest and show it off, but it wasn’t there. “Uh-oh.” She stood motionless whilst her hands looked in all of her pockets- nothing. “Oops… I, un… must’ve left it on the ship.”

Bran tossed his stick into the nearest can- it just crossed his mind: do they use trash cans? Anyway, he tossed it away and walked towards the smallest one among them. “Well, that’s ok. You can show us another day.” He said, completely unaware of Eia’s hurt self-esteem. “Think you can carry all three of us, Sokuro?” The face Sokuro gave him said it all: Really, do you need to ask that? “… Never mind. Stupid question.”

Sokuro lightly chuckled as she threw her stick over her shoulder. “Alrighty then, next stop…” She paused for a moment. “… you know… I don’t think you ever gave me a name for your home.”

That’s right, they had forgotten in all this madness- there was this little write-in contest on what to name the colony that everyone forgot about during the Phagos attack and the days afterwards. “I don’t think we decided on one.” He turned to Dan. “Did we?”

“Nope. We were going to, but with the giant demon turtle, the dragon girls here, and talking dinosaurs for alien neighbors, something as trivial as a name fell through the cracks.”

“Oh.” Is all Bran said. The girls, however, lifted their eyebrows in puzzlement, wondering what a turtle is.

“Really?” Eia snickered- time to show Sokuro up. “Because I am GREAT at naming things. I could come up with a name for your abode easy peasy. Just gimme some time and I will think of one.”

Dan left his stick in his mouth like a bayou or country lad with a piece of wheat sticking out of his mouth. “Or we could just ask Crox.”

Bran pursed his lips to the side, looking at Sokuro and Eia, who were doing the same thing. “… That could work too.” They said. And they knew just where to find her, assuming she hasn’t left for the colony.

 

And she hadn’t. She, Kitsunagi, and Belfast were finally leaving the town hall with Inoute and Ifil. She spent most of the day bending over forwards and it did a number on her back. “Ugh…” She cracked her back. “I haven’t sat like that since high school… did hell on me then too.”

“What she means to say is that it was a pleasure talking to you.” Kitsunagi said. “Today has been very productive and hopefully today’s little exchange let us learn about each other in some unique ways.”

“Yes, it has.” Ifil said. “Only time will tell if this proves to be beneficial to both parties.” He folded up the papers he used and put them away. “And I just realized, we don’t know what to call your home. I doubt you want to keep calling it Colony till the end of days.”

Belfast took a few steps back. “We were actually holding a little contest where everyone would pitch in names for our new home and we’d draw the winner. But between EVERYTHING in the last few days, it’s slipped out minds. Hopefully the names are still in Arlene’s databases.”

Inoute looked ahead and saw Sokuro and Bran running their way, along with a couple of new faces. “Alright kids, alright. You can go inside now. Just don’t wreck things, alright? We have enough breakable things in there already.”

It wasn’t about that. “We have an idea for a name!” Sokuro and Bran shouted as they skidded to a halt. Dan and Eia couldn’t keep up- they stopped to pant before they got close.

“Name?” Crox asked.

“For the colony!” They shouted again. Ifil exclaimed while he stuck his claw in his ears.

Kitsunagi smiled as she walked forward- it’s so nice to see children so eager. “Funny you should mention that, we were just discussing the same thing. Though I’m surprised you are eager to name our new home.”

“Anything is better than just calling it colony.” Bran bemused. “It’s not even a catchy name to stick with.”

“True. So, what is the name you came up with?”

“Well, we didn’t come up with it. It was Eia who did, she--” He looked back and saw Eia was a ways back, still panting heavily. He backed up and brought her forward. “Eia here was the one who thought it up. She’s the one who saved me from that Phagos brute.”

Belfast would go to shake her hand, but it looked like she wasn’t the touchy type. “Then we owe you are thanks… Eia, was it, for saving him.”

“It was nothing.” She panted. She never had this problem before- all that time on the ship must be making her soft. She composed herself and straightened herself up. “It was the least I could do.” She playfully smiled to Bran. “Anyway, you are visitors from across the Black Abyss and are finding a home here, right? Though… heh… that’s all impossible, but that’s not important.”

“Can you please get straight to the point?” Crox grunted in pain as she rubbed her back. “I need to go soak in a bath.” She could tell the natives were giving her a puzzled look. “I have a bad back, ok? Surely people get bad backs here as well.” Sokuro raised her hand- her back was still sore from where the Phagos bit her, but it’s in a spot she cannot rub. “Thank you.”

Belfast twisted her lips, wondering why his wife went so far off tangent. “…the name, kid, before someone goes off into a tangent about some fruit. Please.”

“Un… sure. And I hope you guys like it, because I think it fits. Well, based on why these guys told me.” Sokuro and Bran playfully smiled. “So, anyway, the name I have thought up is…”

 

Pause for dramatic effect and one cut over to the colony at twilight later…

 

Arlene had put the name Eia had suggested into the city’s new database. It popped up on the center of the holographic table, with her sitting on top of it. “Novalle Ecrosi Soku’ama; translated, it means Oath of the Wandering Scions.” She nodded in approval. “It’s a good name, though I question why she chose Scion to put in it.”

Crox shrugged. “To make it sound fitting? Whatever the case, we finally have a name for our new home. Though I’m sure some people are pissed we didn’t go with any suggestions they put forth.”

Arlene summoned up a ‘hat’ that had the names everyone put forth inside. “That was probably for the best; some of the names put forth were pretty bad.” She pulled a few out to use as examples. “Cool Awesome Ville, Dragon Land, Boredom…”

“Some people just aren’t as creative.”

Outside, the native populace was heading home for the day. The sun was setting and for the children, it was close to bedtime.

The children on the Beatle, being educated on Earth’s ancient past by Arlene, were being escorted out by one of the hunters from their village and onto a nearby airship. The girl who asked Arlye to fix her dolly passed him by, sad because she didn’t get it back. She passed by Arlye, who held his hand down, dangling the dolly by its hand. The girl smiled brightly as she took it and hugged it. “Thank you.” She squeaked before running off to join the others.

Arlene appeared with a wide kid-like smile, ‘laying’ on her front with her legs in the air. “Awww… you’re such a big softy.”

“Are you ever not annoying?” He droned.

“Hehe… what can I say? I’m a stinker.”

Elsewhere, Sokuro and Bran leaned on one of the airships as it was being boarded. “So, I guess we weren’t able to give you the tour of Novalle.” He grinned. “I really should thank Eia for a cool name.”

“Yeah. She wasn’t wrong. Though Scion, I have questions with.”

“Eh, don’t. Adds to the cool factor. I’ll thank her tomorrow.” The last of the people climbed up onto the ship and the engines started up. The two of them pushed off the ship to avoid getting hurt. “Guess I’ll show you around tomorrow.”

Sokuro somberly looked to the ground. “Yeah, I guess…”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s that arrow thing. I don’t know why, but that thing scares me. They hid it or worshipped it for a reason, but… I don’t know why.”

Bran exhaled sharply as he scratched the back of his head, wondering why she would feel so afraid over something so small. “I don’t know what to tell you. But I hope you are wrong about it being dangerous.”

The ship lifted off and headed for Misken. Sokuro used the space to being changing into her Aerid form as sparkles erupted around her. “Me too…” She transformed into her dragon form and took off, heading for home, leaving Bran to wonder why an arrow would scare someone.

They won’t find out what it is and why she’s so scared of it anytime soon, but when they eventually do…

18: Chapter 16: Roko Harbor

Chapter 16

Roko Harbor

2/21/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

Novalle Ecrosi Soku’ama.

Oath of the Wandering Scions.

Not the first name anyone would’ve come up with for a new colony, but the young folk don’t care; the name sounds epicly cool to them. And since it’s a name from a native, it holds special meaning. Regardless, nobody else was coming up with anything better, not that they could top this. Novalle itself was a epic name; the rest was just ear candy.

There were some questions about the rest of the name, though: Oath of the Wandering was clear enough- the colonists did “wander” here from another galaxy, and they are starting to attempt to co-exist with the natives, hence the oath part of the name. Scion, on the other hand, is raising more questions than answers. What exactly are they Scions to? They didn’t come to claim anything or restart something ancient. 

It was chosen just for the cool factor, that’s it. If you are having a child name something, you know you’re gonna get something to appeals to them. At least the name fits.

But no sense to focus on the name; work still needed to be done to make this colony self sustaining. They needed to make a fertile farm to grow both their crops and the local crops, which was going to take some time, what with winter a few months away. That’s what the scanners said, and now it’s been backed up by the locals.

But while the adults were toiling away to get a farm up and running, the kids were having fun… Or in Bran’s case, being introduced to the rest of the orphans at the orphanage. 

 

Bran awkwardly stood in the middle of the central room as the rest of the Orphans looked at him from comfy seats in the main living room. They all looked at him and judged him; he felt so uncomfortable. 

“Everyone, this is Bran.” Sokuro introduced as she stood beside him. “Bran, these are the louts who didn’t believe you existed.”

“Hey!” They all exclaimed.

Sokuro puffed out smoke. “OH, come on, you all thought I was making a story up!”

“How old are you?” Zalet started, ignoring what was said just now.

“Are you strong?” Aka continued. 

“Are humans stinky?” Taled continued. 

“Can I get my hands on one of those ship things?” Leoi asked.

“Is the Abyss scary?” Vaset finished.

Hela softly chuckled to herself- barely a few seconds in and they are already bombarding him with questions. She spoke calmly as she lay in a large beanbag chair. “Be nice to him, children. He’s our guest and we shall treat him kindly. Understood?”

They lowered their heads in shame. “Yes, headmaster…” 

Hela smiled as she turned her attention back to Bran. “Go on, newcomer.”

Bran exhaled sharply- he never was good with crowds and with all eyes on him. He wanted to get even with Sokuro for putting him in this uncomfortable situation. “Um… well… who, who are all you guys? I barely know anything about you guys.”

They all glared at Sokuro, who felt that this was hateful stare was unearned. “Well, he didn’t ask! We were more focused on getting to know each other!” She exclaimed. Zalet and Set crossed their arms in anger while Vela, Leoi, and even Taled resorted to hateful glares. Everyone else just stayed as they were. “Wow… geez. Ok, ok. I’ll give you the quick short version: you already know my little brother, so we’ll skip him.”

“Hey!” Taled exclaimed.

“That is Hela. She runs this orphanage. She is kind and generous and very motherly. You will not find a nicer person in all of Dragenia. Next to her is her son Vela- he loves to pull pranks, and I mean loves them. He and Matan were evil little stinkers back when he lived here, and now Vela is flying solo. It’s chaos almost every day...” Vela smiled evilly, almost giving in to do the finger pyramid of contemplation. 

“Matan?”

“An orphan who lived here until he was old enough to leave.” She moved on to the next person. “That is Vaset. She is…. brave and stupid at the same time.” Vaset gave her a glare. “Well, it’s true, miss run-off-a-cliff. And also, she has a short fuse, and once she blows… run.”

“Hey! Not cool!” Vaset exclaimed.

Aka snickered to herself. “Oh, you know it’s true, don’t deny it.” 

Sokuro moved on to the twins. “Those two are Set and Aka.”

“Uh-oh.” They both went, knowing that she wasn’t going to shower them with compliments.

“They are identical twin sisters. Aka is compulsive and brash- if something pops into her head and she wants to do it, she will do it no matter what. If she wants Gea for dinner, she WILL have Gea for dinner, regardless of what is actually on the menu. Set is shy and a major worrywart.”

“… that’s true.” Set cooed in passing as she hid her ace in her coat. 

“And mine isn’t!” Aka exclaimed.

“No, it is.” Vaset confirmed. “I remember we had Lostala and you were deadset on having Gea Steaks for dinner. You went out and bagged a wild one yourself.”

“Talk about obsessive dedication.” Bran joked.

Sokuro moved on to the next one. “That… is Buron. She’s nice enough… when she is not being scary. She may not look it, but she can turn into pure terror.” Buron crossed her arms and snorted out smoke for her nose.

Bran had a good idea what kind of Buron is- scary. Here’s hoping she’s a scary looking person with a heart of gold. “What do you mean ‘pure terror’?”

“You don’t want to know.” Sokuro shivered. “Moving on… that is Zalet. You will always see him buried in his books. The guy loves to read. He’s almost read every book in the entire village. I swear, if we let him loose at the Grand Library in Xeolsa, it would take him lots of cycles, but he will read them all.”

“Wow. Sounds like a brainiac.” He knew they were going to be confused by that term. “It’s a saying- it means really smart. And you won’t have to go all the way to the mainland for that- we have plenty of reading material over at the col— Novalle. That new name is going to take some getting used to.”

Sokuro appeared beside the next person. “This is Eroid. He is a really obsessive and compulsive neat freak. Like… he has it BAAAAAD… if anything is out of place, he will try to straighten it out. It… gets annoying, especially when you are sitting in a chair and he moves or cleans it while you are still on it.”

“Sounds more like he has OCD mixed with ADD.” Bran said, again knowing that they would have absolutely no idea what he is talking about. “I’ll explain it later. So who’s left?”

“Him. Leoi. He is a mechanical savant. From what I heard, when he was only four cycles old, he once constructed a fully operational crossbow, with a telescope attachment. And it worked.”

“Wow. Sounds like he created a sniper rifle.” He commented while Sokuro ran off to go get a couple of chairs for him and Bran.

“Sniper rifle?” Buron asked.

“Human weapon. That’s all I’m going to say on the matter.” Bran sucked air in though his teeth, not sure where to go from here. “So… what has Sokuro told you about me?”

Vaset spoke as she leaned back in her chair. “Well, she said you were really smart and had all of these magical items that seem like something out of a fairy tale, including this small glass thing that allowed you to do anything, and that you were from Black Abyss, which… isn’t really an abyss anymore. Now we know it’s something from your colony, but you see why we thought she was making this stuff up.”

Hearing it from them does make him sound like some magical oracle. “Yeah, I guess I can. Well, I do have some kind of glass thing.” He pulled it out and everyone, even the grown up and mature Hela, ooo’d like kids seeing candy for the first time. “It’s called a cell phone. Eons ago, they were very primitive. You could only talk on them. Nowadays, they can do pretty much anything. Such as…” He pressed an app and a hologram appeared. He flattened it in the palm of his hand and let the hologram of a galaxy hover in his hands. Now came a bunch of aaa’s from the gang. “Display holograms.”

“Like that Arlene woman?” Zalet asked.

“Yeah, except she’s more powerful. And smart. Anyway, this is how Sokuro learned about so much about where I am from, and I’m sure you can all learn too.”

“So it is true. You truly are from the Black Abyss.” Set commented. “Is it not as dangerous as they say?”

The hologram zoomed out, showing off bboth the Milky Way and Andromeda, and all their satellite galaxies. Messier 32, the one they are in, has an arrow pointing at it. “The Black Abyss, or what we call Outer Space, is still an abyss of black. We just have a way to cross it without dying. Without special gear or ships built to withstand its pressures, you will die in seconds. But from what Sokuro told me, it sounded like it was some type of Hell in your mythology.”

“Hell?” Hela asked.

“Bad eternal fire place bad souls go after death to be tortured. That is… all of the detail you are going to get because going any further would likely traumatize you.” He can’t stop them from looking it up in the future, but no way he’s going to show Dante’s Inferno to them. 

And they believe him on Hell being a bad place. But if the Black Abyss is just… well, what he calls Space, then what about everything else? “So then… what is the Great Light?” Set asked, referring to what Bran knows as the Andromeda Galaxy. 

“That would be Andromeda. It is a galaxy- a cluster of billions of billions of worlds- some have life, like Dragenia, while others are lifeless, like the moons. I came from the Milky Way, which is Andromeda’s neighbor. Given the AMAZING view you guys have of it at night, I can see how that can become a vocal point in your beliefs, with it acting like Heaven or Valhalla.” 

Vela held up a claw as he exclaimed. “I think I got this.” He thought to himself. “That is a… eternal paradise for those who earn it.”

“Yes.” He pressed a few buttons and the hologram changed to show a artists rendition of Valhalla. “There are so many different interpretations of the afterworld; any number of them could be true- Earth alone has hundreds of different possibilities. Ours could be true, yours could be, another alien civilizations could be. Point is, it’s all a great big mystery what happens next. Who knows, maybe our souls do get reincarnated. Nobody knows except the Gods, and I don’t think they are going to give any answers.” 

He closed his phone as Aka raised her hand. “Um, so, like, reincarnation is a thing with your mythologies?”

“With several of them, yes. It’s--” He shook his head, realizing that got off topic. “Wait a minute; I thought we were talking about me. You can learn about this stuff later, at school.”

That is a word nobody recognized. They know what an academy is thanks to Xeolsa being a city that is entirely that, but school? Foreign word and concept. Bran is in for a major shocker. “What’s school?” Everyone asked.

Did he hear that right? He must’ve, because it sounded like they asked ‘what’s school’? “W-what? What’s school?” He breathlessly gasped a chuckle. “What do you mean, what is school?” They all looked at him with puzzled expressions. The implications were… expected, given their level of technology, but also completely surprising. “…. Oh my lord, you don’t have schools.” He popped his lips. “Oooooooh, dad is going to flip….”

“What’s so important about school?” Sokuro asked. 

“What’s so impor—it’s very important if you want to have a life. Everything revolves around……” He lowered his head and facepalmed. “Right… different world. Completely forgot.” Now this was just confusing everyone. Why is he freaking out over this? He took a deep breath and exhaled. “Well… to give you an idea… schools are places you go where you can get an education, where you can learn to live your life… but I guess it’s just a Milky Way thing…”

“Learning?” Vela said as he pursed his lips to the side. “……. Sounds like Xeolsa.”

“Xeo- what now?”

“Xeolsa.” Hela went on to explain. “It’s a city on the mainland. The entire city is an academy, focused on the prospect of learning and bettering your mind. It’s also where we learn new things about our world, either about our past that we forgot or of the nature that surrounds us. It’s also where I met your father, Vela.” She petted his head.

“Same with my parents.” Sokuro said. A knock came from the front door. She walked over to check who it was while everyone else kept talking.

“An academy city?” Bran said to himself. “That sounds like a cool place to visit. And you said people go there to learn? A school is like that, except more condensed and… long. 13 long years of your life long.” That got some winces from the crowd. With Xeolsa, you can just come and go as you please.

Sokuro answered the door to see Eia standing at the entrance. She was dressed in a more standard, frilling dress that was like Sokuro’s, except it didn’t have the hood and was yellowish orange in color. “Eia? What are you doing here?”

Eia pulled down on her skirt. “Well, I heard Bran was here and I wanted to come say hello.”

“You came all the way here for him?” Sokuro asked with a raised eyebrow.

Eia poked her head in and saw Bran standing before a group of kids. She forced her way in, pushing a more confused Sokuro aside. She’s starting to get a clearer understanding of what Fayin was joking about yesterday.

“Hello there, Bran!” She giggled with a smile.

“Huh? Oh, hello, Eia.”

“Sokuro, who is this?” Vaset asked, wondering about the new girl in their home. 

Sokuro walked back as she scratched the back of her head. “You saw her before, at the town meeting the day we learned of these guys. Her name is Eia- she’s a crewmember on the merchant ship that the Phagos attacked. Matter of fact, Eia here was the one who saved his life.”

Eia chuckled to herself like an idiot. “Heeheehee… It was no trouble.” She spun around once. “Do you like my dress, Bran?”

He took a step back to get a clearer look at it. “Un… yeah, it’s very bright. Very bubbly, like a summer day.” Eia smiled brightly. The women of the house were getting the impression that Eia has a major crush on the new guy. “So, why did you come by?”

“Well, I wanted to see you, of course. Duh.” As if that wasn’t obvious enough. “Also… I’m taking Halix down to Roko Harbor so he could fetch some parts needed to fix our engine and I wanted to know if you wanted to come.” Internally, her mind was hoping he’d come. “(Please say yes, please say yes, please say yes.)”

Bran thought about it for a moment and realized that it may be a good idea. Eventually, word will reach the other towns and cities on Evioly that there are new neighbors from the ‘Black Abyss’ living on the planet, and then it’ll spread out to the world. The closest town that isn’t Misken is Roko Harbor, so him going in could possibly serve as a kind of reconnaissance for those back at the colon planning on going. It worked for First Contact. “You know what, I think I will go. I’m curious to see what that place looks like.” The children all whined at the thought of him leaving- they wanted to hear so much more. “Sorry, guys. Guess we’re continuing this tomorrow.” 

“Boo…” Taled whined.

Eia was cheering internally, happy that he was coming with her. Then the feeling tanked thanks to this; “I wanna come!” Sokuro cheered as she hopped over. “I haven’t been there in so long!”

Eia frowned with lidded eyes. She just can’t catch a break. “Oh… great… I guess I can’t stop you from coming.” 

“Sweet.” Sokuro giggled. She turned to her friends and asked, “Anybody else wanna come?”

Much to her surprise, there were no takers. Nobody wanted to go to Roko today. They had bajillion chores to do today, if they ever decide to do it. Today just feels like a lazy day- just sit back, relax, and catch a few zzz’s. Besides, her Gaharot friends didn’t want to go- Roko is still a part of the Bokurol Kingdom, and that means the Slave Trade goes on there. Thanks to all of the strict rules and regulations the Eviolians placed on the city, it’s almost non-existent there, but that won’t stop slave traders from trying to snag a few unfortunate Evioly Gaharots. Some people are just that heartless.

In short, all of their responses were the same: a lazy ‘naaaah’, which, as was said, surprised her. “Wha—really?” She said with a slack jaw. “Nobody wants to come to Roko Harbor?” She shrugged it off. “Alright.” She looked back to Bran. “I’m gonna go grab my coin purse. Be back in a second.” She bounded up the steps towards her room. 

And while Sokuro was away, Eia got closer to him. “I know you were disappointed for not seeing my Aerid form yesterday, Bran, so I made sure to bring my scale today. I’ve been told I’m a fast flyer, so we’ll get to Roko in short time.”

“That’s good to know.”

Back among the orphans, theywere noticing Eia’s attitude towards Bran and Sokuro; she is buttering up to him while completely peeved at the little girl. They knew what was going on here with that Eia girl, even if Bran and Sokuro were completely oblivious to it.

Sokuro jumped down the steps, landing on the floor, something Hela has forbade the children from doing over and over again, and for good reason. One slip and *crack*, a lot of pain. “Ok. Ready!” She said with a smile.

“Great…” Eia droned. She picked herself back up as she returned her attention to elsewhere. “Halix is waiting outside- come on.” She headed out the door with Bran and a very bubbly Sokuro bouncing behind her.

And now that they were gone, the orphans would gossip. “... Are Sokuro and Bran that oblivious?” Vaset asked out loud.

“Yep.” Everyone said in almost perfect unison. 

 

Eia jogged on ahead so that she could meet up with the mechanic of their ship Halix. Bran recognized him from the day of the Phagos attack: this was the golden-brown Gaharot with the sailor mouth that was on the ground trying to repair the propellers. He may not know what curse words he was saying that day because his Translators wouldn’t… well, translate, but Sokuro will know them. 

“Hey there, Halix.” Eia jogged up. “I hope you don’t mind, but I brought some friends.” She gestured back to the approaching duo.

Halix recognized the boy in black instantly. Hard to forget someone you saved in the midst of a chaos-infested warzone. “Hey, isn’t that the boy we saved from the attack? That kid from the Black Abyss, right?” Eia nodded in rapid confirmation. “Then that must be Sokuro, the new Silver.”

“Yep…” Eia droned for a brief moment before sparking back to life. “They’re coming with us to Roko Harbor.”

“Yeah, and I’m curious to see what it looks like.” Bran said as he and Sokuro finally caught up to their new hyper friend.  “Since Roko is the second closest city to Novalle, I figured, eh, may as well do some scouting for the colony, see what any of our merchants will be getting themselves into if and when they go.” He pulled out his phone to make sure the camera app loaded in and working. “That and I want to see if it’s anything like the image I have in my head.”

Halix would comment, but he just wants to get this trip over with. Dexyl woke him up early for this and he’s none too pleased. “You made sure to bring your scale this time, Eia?” He bluntly asked.

Feeling embarrassing, she grimaced his way. “Yes, I got it! Geez, I’m not going to forget twice.” She tapped against one of her earrings which Bran had just noticed and saw that the scale had been whittled down to fit inside the jewel casings. What Sokuro said was true: as long as they remain on the body in some way, you can do whatever you want to the scales and they still have their complete magic. In Eia’s case, it seems, it’s whittling it down until it could fit into a pair of earrings.

Eia took a step back to the edge of the docks and spread her arms wide. “You’re in for a treat.” She snickered, obviously directed at Bran, as she fell off the side. Bran started to run over to catch her but didn’t, knowing that would’ve been stupid. They can change into dragons- what does he have to worry about?

One bright glow and a dazzling light show later- Sokuro isn’t the only one to do the dance of the sparkles- Eia flew back up as a Dragon. She was a slender purple dragon with brown wings and a angular head that had hair of all things. If Bran’s memory serves him well on the explanation Sokuro gave him, then she must be proficient with electricity or energy if her color is purple. 

Truth be told, it is Plasma the purples on Dragenia are most proficient with. The same type of Plasma that lightning strikes are made out of so, yes, in a sense, the Dragenian Purple Aerids are most comfortable with electricity. 

Also, Dragons with hair… it’s also so jarring and offputting. Dragons shouldn’t have hair- they are scaly beasts with flight and fire breath. Hair should not be associated with them. It’s… sorry for going off topic.

Aerid Eia landed down on the dock and bent down to make sure they had a sort of natural staircase to clime made out of her biceps. “Alright, hop on. Next stop, Roko Harbor.” Bran was first on, followed by Halix, and finally Sokuro. “Hmm? You’re not flying, Silver?” Eia jested. 

Sokuro climbed up and sat behind Helix. “As fun as it is...... Nah… today feels like a lazy day. I think the others are having the same mindset.”

“……..un-huh.” She so wants to throw her off her back- roll upside down and send her plummeting to the world below, but it wouldn’t work. Sokuro can transform and fly as well. And she’d be putting Bran and Halix in danger, so that was not an option. 

Bran had to do this; it was too perfect a opportunity to pass up. He held his hands up to his mouth and made a static noise like a captain on a airplane, all the while the other three slowly turned their heads to give him a supremely puzzled glance, wondering what he’s on. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We are about to take off on runway 18- United Dragenia Airlines nonstop to Roko Harbor. Please keep your tray tables in their upright position until we are in flight and please fasten your seat belts.” 

He lowered his hands with a dopy smile. He looked at the three of them and saw that they were so confused and bewildered; they have absolutely no clue what he just did or why he did it. “What?” He asked cluelessly. “I was just playing a joke.” They weren’t laughing. He tapped his fingers on his thighs as he popped his lips. “…. I think I know the first movie I am going to show you guys.”

“What’s a movie?” Eia and Halix asked in unison. Sokuro stayed silent- she got this explanation before. 

“You’ll see.”

Eia blinked blankly for a moment as she turned her head forwards. “…… ooo… kay… Let’s get going before anymore… weird happens.” She spread her wings and took off into the sky. 

 

“There they go.” Dexyl said as she watched Eia fly into the sky. “We should have that part by the end of the day. Assuming she doesn’t get distracted by that Bran kid.”

“She only met him once, and it was while we were in danger.” Mefia asked. He was the blue Gaharot Bran encountered the Phagos attack day and is the cabin boy of the ship; Eia is the cabin girl. “How is she already completely enamored with him?

“You don’t understand love, Mefy.” She collapsed her telescope and set it down. “The heart wants what the heart wants.” She booped him on the nose. “That’s a fact.”

Mefia snorted as he twisted around his nose, all the while wondering where she was going with this. “…ok? But this is still a bit fast, isn’t it? She’s only known him for a half hour and a day. Love can’t work that fast, can it?”

Dexyl sighed as she slowly shook his head. “And like I said, you don’t understand women.” 

Mefia still doesn’t fully understand just what is going on here, but it would just be a cycle of questions and non-answers at this rate. “Guess that explains why she was badmouthing Sokuro when she came back yesterday. She probably sees her as some kind of threat… though I think Sokuro is a wee bit too young to be worrying about this.”

Dexyl slowly nodded in agreement. “It’ll be interesting to see when she gets older. Though Eia will be pissed that we will leave after we get the ship fixed.” She walked back towards her cabin. “Price of being a merchant.”

Mefia followed after her. “I can already picture Eia’s freakouts.”

 

True to her boastful claims, Eia was a fast flyer. Coasting along the wind currents, her slender form allowed her to make great speeds as there wasn’t too much wind friction against such a bulky form. The travel time for a more bulky Aerid like Velx or Sokuro would take around an hour, hour and a half to travel from Misken to Roko Harbor. Eia is shaving that in half- they were already half way to Roko, and they hasn’t even passed the 25 minute mark. 

Eia flew up above the scattered clouds, giving the passengers a great view of the green and blue land below. “So what is Roko Harbor like?” Bran asked as he looked down. 

“It’s like every other port town in the world.” Eia said in passing. “If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”

“But this is the first time I’m going to see a Dragenian harbor. And harbors back home involved space ships- the vessels that can fly across what you call the Black Abyss, so it’s not the same thing.”

“Oh. Right.”

Sokuro went on to explain what would hopefully be the final time. “Well, like I told you earlier, it’s the only spit of land the Bokurol Kingdom controls here on Evioly. Roko is also the only port Evioly has. You may not see it from this high up, but there are really sharp and really dangerous crags just off the shoreline. They can slice though ships like they are nothing. This stretch of Evioly is lucky enough to not have any crags- well, not as many.”

“Oh. But wouldn’t it make sense to just blow up the crags? If they’re that much of a hassle, not to mention that dangerous, then get rid of them. Not to mention, you have ships that can fly though the air. You can build a harbor in the middle of the dang continent.”

“We could, but there are some locations that are just too dangerous to set up a harbor. There are some really nasty monsters here. None as near invincible as a Phagos, but just as scary and almost as tough. The Northern Expanse is the worst of it, though. There is a constant wind storm that keeps people from heading up that way. the only way into the storm is on foot, and even then the winds can pick you up if you are not careful. I doubt even your fancy ships can survive those winds.”

“The winds stretch as far as Meoho village.” Halix interrupted. “I think it plays a role in the Koloron.”

“Koloron?”

“I’ll explain later.” Sokuro interjected, returning attention back to her. “It’s coming up in a couple months time anyway. But back to what I was talking about, there are some places that would make for good locations for a harbor, but there are a lot of dangers that prevent another ones construction; monsters, crags, natural stone pillars that are a pain to navigate. On that note, Roko Harbor directly faces the natural bridge that crosses the massive trench separating us from the mainland, and the trading post there is owned by Bokurol too.”

“Sounds like they don’t want anyone else making their own port on Evioly so that they can have their own little monopoly.” Bran pointed out. “And even if anyone could found a port, there’s a bunch of natural dangers they gotta deal with.”

“Pretty much.” Halix said with twisted lips.

Bran sputtered as he put his hands behind his head in boredom. “Well, I didn’t expect this little geography and history lesson, but I guess it killed the time.” He looked over the side and saw one of the natural stone pillars that were mentioned. It jutted out of the water like a…. well, like a pillar. It was naturally made by Mother Nature and looked like a haphazardly put together stone club made up of dozens upon dozens of rocks glued together. He saw something else- it looked like a port city to him, but they were still a ways away. “So is there anything I should know before we reach Roko? The Do’s and the Don’ts?”

Eia held up a single claw. “Just one and it’s a big one.” She looked back to him. “Don’t bring up the Erharn Republic. They HATE those guys. They have been enemies for centuries, even before Xelut. If you are talking about anyone or anything from Erharn, you better be badmouthing them or putting them down.”

“Why do they hate them?”

Eia ‘rested’ her head on her claws as she tried to remember what it was that sparked it. “I honestly don’t remember. And asking someone at Roko wouldn’t end well for me; I’d get reamed for asking. You’re better off hitting a archive.”

“Right.”

Halix looked over the side and pointed ahead. “There is Roko Harbor, dead ahead.” Sokuro and Bran leaned over and saw the harbor dead ahead of them. Sokuro saw it only once before, and that was before Taled was born, so seeing it for the second time is still as amazing as Bran seeing it for the first. 

 

Roko Harbor, as described many times before, is Bokurol’s only claim on the sub-continent of Evioly. But while it’s the only city from the mainland, and separated by a 4 month journey by sea, it is not lacking in size and grandeur after centuries of construction. 

Roko Harbor was built into a 80 foot tall rising cliffside that encircled around the entire 2-mile radii bay in which it calls home. Carved out of natural elithu- Dragenia’s equivalent to limestone- the port city could house hundreds of ships and house thousands of people, while the carved buildings rose up in layers, separated by roadways and the port below. Over the centuries, more buildings have been added into the land behind the cliffs, making the harbor one of the biggest in modern Dragenian history. 

To give it a Earth comparison, the harbor and the city in the cliff face would be like the Cappadocia Cave Houses from Italy, the city of Petra from Jordan, or the Ancient Rock City of Matera. As for the extensions on the other side of the cliffs, it would be pre-Revolutionary War Boston 

The governor of the harbor lives in a magnificent mansion located on a hill just out of the city. Even among a new planet, the rich are snobby and showboaty. 

Bran took note of the mansion as they flew over it. It resembled an plantation mansion out of America’s past, which makes sense considering Sokuro’s claims of there being a slave trade on the planet. Seems kinda cliché. 

This is adding some more credence to the hypothesis that Earth and Dragenia shared a distant connection in the past. Once again, the architecture resembles something from Earth- in this case, a plantation mansion. Either it’s a big coincidence, or it’s actually true. As with all things, time will tell.

 

Eia flew down into the city from above, hugging along the cliffface as she looked for a roomy place to land. While this was going on, Bran was amazed at how this place was made. It must’ve taken them hundreds of years to make the harbor what it is now. “Whoa… it’s carved right into the rock.”

“Yep.” Sokuro went on to say. “Thanks to the abilities of the Brown Aerids- those that can control rock and dirt with superb ease- they were able to build this place in such a magnificent way. Were there any cities like this on Earth?”

“None on this scale.” He spread his arms, gesturing to the entirety of Roko Harbor. “But yes, we had megalithic structures. Some were just basic towns, Others were painstakingly carved by hand over hundreds or thousands of years.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone to give them some visual references. “Like this place.” He brought up a holographic image of the Al-Khazneh, a grand temple built in a canyon in Petra, Jordon. The building was best known as the location for the final confrontation in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. 

“Whoa…” Halix cooed. He wasn’t amazed by the temple, but rather Bran’s image. This is his first time seeing a hologram and, like everyone else back in Misken that saw it for the first time with Arlene, he tried to stick his hand though it. “It’s a… image of light?”

“Eh, more or less.”

“That’s an interesting temple.” Sokuro said, focusin on that and not the hologram. She quickly grew used to it by now, which is amazing as everyone else back home were still having their minds blown. 

“It’s actually a crypt built for a king, but its magnificent design made it a popular tourist attraction… until Earth went belly-up, that is…” He shut off the hologram and put his phone away. “I’m just saying that Roko Harbor reminded me of that.”

Eia glanced back to her task, having been taking in Bran’s explanation. She’s interested in hearing more about Earth, but first she needed to find a good spot. And she found one in less than a second. She turned towards and landed in a park located near the exit of the harbor that led out behind the cliffs. 

Halix, Sokuro, and Bran slid off her back, landing on the dirt below. Eia transformed back into her Ferid form and cracked her back. “Ooog….. It’s been a long time since I changed, my back is stiff.” She turned around. “Can you push on my back?” Sokuro shrugged and did that, not really sure what good that would do. She pushed in on Eia’s back until they heard a *pop*. “That’ll work.” Eia grunted as she stretched her arms and legs.

“You would make a good chiropractor.” Bran commented Sokuro’s way.

The two girls shared the same ‘what?’ glance to each other. “What’s a chiropractor?” They both asked.

“It’s someone that specializes in easing back problems though massages, needlepoint, etc etc. I think the database would explain it best, but I don’t want to get anyone here spooked.”

“Why’s that?” Halix asked as he began tying a green ribbon around his neck. 

“They haven’t heard of Bran or his fellow colonists yet.” Sokuro concluded. “They will most likely have heard of a new Silver Aerid from Misken, but there were a couple of weeks for that information to get here. The village and you merchants have only known of Bran and the new folk for a couple days. No way word can spread that fast.”

“She has a point.” Eia agreed, surprising herself for agreeing with her rival.

“Which brings me to this.” Bran said. “If anyone asks why I don’t have a tail, the story is that I lost it in a bad accident when I was a kid and I lost my scale. It worked for these two when I met them.” He gestured to Eia and Halix. “At least… before I got exposed by that demon turtle.” He snorted like a pig in irritation. “… Anyway, that’s the story until…” He took notice of Halix’s ribbon. “… something happens- what are you doing with that ribbon?”

“Well, you know that the slave trade is a thing, right? These are to identify that some are not to be touched, like me. Gaharots from Evioly, Eria, Lkios, and Croxhs all wear these to show they are not to be taken.” He finished tying it up in a neat little bow. “Of course, that won’t stop any rogue slavers who don’t bother. Hopefully none are here.”

“Here’s hoping.” Eia whimpered. Bran took notice of her anxiety, gulping out of fear and anxiousness. Something must’ve happened to her regarding this. 

“Alright…” Helix slapped his paws together and rubbed them together. “Let’s go find us that part.”

“We could try the markets.” Eia suggested.

“Good point there. Let’s get going.” He walked between Bran and Sokuro while Halix and Eia walked off. “You can come, if you want.” Halix called back to them as he passed. “Or you can just go and explore.”

“You don’t need any help with that part?” Bran asked back, referring to Sokuro and her immense strength. 

Eia turned around and walked backwards. “I am a lot stronger then I look as an Aerid, Bran. A single gear is child’s play to me. So you can either come or do whatever the heck you want. But I know you will want to explore- you seem like the inquisitive type.” She turned back around and walked off with Halix.

Bran left that decision up to Sokuro- she’s going to be the one doing the flying, after all. “So… what do you wanna do?” 

Sokuro playfully smirked as she looked back. She grabbed his hands and bounced around in front of him. “I wanna go exploring! It’s been cycles since I’ve been here- ever since I was just a little pup. So come oooooon. You said it yourself you could learn interesting things for the others at Novalle when they eventually come.”

“That is true- I did say that.” He thought to himself for a moment. “… well, we could try out the markets. That will be the first place anyone from the colony will go when they come.”

The two of them looked down the path Eia and Halix took before looking back at each other, before turning in their direction. “Wait up!” They both called out as they ran after the two crewmates. 

 

The harbor was far, far grander then the two of them could’ve anticipated. It was so huge, and with so many people. It was staggering, to say the least. 

Bran never saw a city constructed in layers like this before, with each ‘layer’ getting smaller the further up along the Cliffside it went. Near as he can tell, there are five layers: the port down on the sea level, and four ascending layers of homes, taverns, warehouses, and other things, though to be technical, there are six if you count the extensions outside. He can see why they chose it- excluding the extensions outside the bay, this can be a natural defense against windstorms and even tsunamis. 

Though what confuses him are the ships he sees down in the port: he knows that they have ships that can fly though the air, so why are there ships with natural sails? And he sees they have propellers in the masts, so what gives? Then he remembered what Sokuro said on their flight here: there is a constant and violent windstorm in the Northern Wastes, which he assumes is the northern half of Evioly, or at least part of it, and the winds stretch over the whole sub-continent with varying degrees of speed. Roko Harbor must be in the winds radius, making air flight difficult or downright lethal. He didn’t feel any strong winds when they flew in; it must exist on a cycle or something. He’ll have to ask Sokuro about this later to assume it’s true.

Right now, he was enjoying the scenery, all the while trying to avoid the crowds. He hates crowds. There wasn’t this many people in both Novalle and Misken combined. It’s very discomforting to him. It wasn’t this bad back in Misken- most everyone there was checking out the new kids on the block.

Sokuro was just as amazed as him. She had been to Roko once before, but she was really really young when she did. “Whoooooa…” She gasped in amazement with eyes wide. “This is so much bigger then I remember.”

“I thought you’ve been here before.” Eia asked.

“I’ve only been here once, before mom was pregnant with Taled. I don’t remember why, though. I think mom and dad went on a trip and left me back in Misken with a nanny and we were welcoming them back… or we came here to meet a friend… I don’t really remember. It is hard to remember things were you are that young, right?”

“Speak for yourself.” Bran snarcked. “I have an eidetic memory. I can remember everything in perfect clarity and detail. Except newborn stuff- I don’t think even geniuses can remember their past that well.” Eia and Sokuro glanced at each other with puzzled faces. 

The group passed by dozens upon dozens of shops and stores carved into the lower level of the city. It was at this moment Bran noticed something off about this city: he hasn’t seen any Gaharots around. There are Ferids for miles and miles, but he hasn’t seen one single Gaharot. He glanced on ahead to Halix, who was more than uneasy being here. Like he said, just because he has that ribbon doesn’t mean rogue slavers won’t try to snatch him. As for the absence of intelligent dinos, the answer was obvious: slave labor elsewhere.

“We haven’t run into any Gaharots yet… have we…?” Bran hesitantly said, not wanting to bring up a sensitive subject.

“Yeah…” Eia said. “There were Gaharots when we came though a few days ago, but… I haven’t seen any. Could they be inside, forced to run shops?”

“We’ll see when we meet with the part shop owner over there.” Halix gestured to a shop up ahead that had a gear on a wooden post outside. That must be where they’re getting their part. “But it is strange… it’s like they up and vanished. Slave or not, 2,000 Gaharots don’t disappear this fast. Something is going on here.” 

After several minutes, they reached the shop. “Eia, you’ll come in with me. I don’t trust that guy in there.” She nodded. “You two wait out here and don’t get into any trouble.” The two shipmates walked on in, leaving Sokuro and Bran outside.

Bran immediately turned around and sat down on a ledge, pulled out his journal, and began sketching the port, starting with the docks and all the ships at anchor there. “Straight to the drawing, huh?” Sokuro asked as she sat down next to him.

He periodically looked up from his journal to get a fresh look before looking back down at the paper. “This place is impressive. I want to get it down while it’s here. If it wasn’t for the slave trade, I’d say this place is downright gorgeous.”

Sokuro sighed as she looked down out of shame. “Yeah… I wish it was abolished… my predecessor really screwed things up.” She slapped a stone off the ledge and into a bush below.

Bran stopped drawing for a moment before looking over to her. He tapped the back of his feet on the stone beneath him. “… This Great Change that Silvers bring to Dragenia… does it only have to be one change?”

“… no, there can be more than one, though that is a rarity.” Her tail perked up. “Wait… you think I can abolish the slave trade?”

“I don’t see why not. Xelut started it- you can end it. It would be a poetic full circle.”

She never really thought about it. She thought Bran and his ilk would be the only changes she’d bring. She never considered ending the slave trade. “huh… yeah, I guess so. And here I thought you and the colonists would be Dragenia’s only great change with me.”

“As if that was ever going to be the only thing you’d bring to the table.” Bran chuckled before going back to drawing.

While he sketched away, Sokuro thought about how it would work. Like she said, Evioly doesn’t support it, but the rest of the world does with varying degrees of severity. While some have abolished it all together, there are those who not only support it, but have put in increased pressures on the Gaharots. Thankfully, Bokurol is not one of those places, but Roko Harbor is far enough to where it can get away with treating their slaves horribly without any governmental oversight. And the slave trade has been part of their culture for over 500 years; giving it up won’t be easy for the other nations.

Sokuro grumbled as she rested her head in her hands- this was going to take a long while to come up with an answer to this global problem.

But right now, she’ll have to deal with a more local problem. Well, not so much a problem, more like an annoyance, one that’s been hating her ever since Ascension Day.

“Well… well… well… if it isn’t the Silver twat.” A very familiar and very irritating voice said. Sokuro recognized it instantly and lowered her head in aggravation. She had forgotten she came from Roko Harbor. She slowly turned her head to find Gallna standing there with a smug grin and crossed arms. Beside her was a Gaharot slave- she could tell because he has a collar around his neck and he had a sad expression. 

“… Hello, Gallna…” Sokuro droned flatly. Bran heard her flat voice and looked back to see someone standing over them. The two of them noticed that her scale has been turned into a brooch. 

“Here to see how us normal folk live?” Gallna hissed with disdain. “I’m not sure why someone of such ‘high caliber’ would want to mingle with the common folk.”

Bran’s first impression of this girl: complete and utter jackass. “… Sokuro, who is this and why is she talking to you like this?”

“Bran, this is Gallna, one of the other Ferids from Ascension Day. Her father is the leader of Roko Harbor and, as you can see, she is a jerk. I never met her before until Ascension Day, but ever since we got our scales, she’s thought I was some snobbish little twerp who looks down on others, all because I became a Silver.”

Bran looked at Gallna with lidded eyes. “… If you ask me, she’s the snob.”

Gallna looked at him the same way he did at her. “And who is this, your servant? Or is he your plaything? Or better yet, your lover?”

The two of them exclaimed loudly, stunned that she would even ask such a question. “Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, nononononononononononono…” They both went.

“We are just friends!” Bran exclaimed.

“And I’m shocked you would even ask that!” Sokuro said in kind.

“… un-huh. Sure. Whatever you say, Silver. I’m sure you are able to do whatever you want, seeing as how you no longer live amongst us mortals.”

“She still lives in an orphanage.”

“Probably she can make them lord over her hand and foot.” She smugly finished with a grin.

That did it. That ticked Sokuro off. She has a lot of nerve acting like this to her, Silver or not. She doesn’t even known her. Sokuro bounced up off the ground and got up in Gallna’s face. “You have a lot of nerve talking about my friends like that, jerk!”

Gallna didn’t take kindly to her being this close. She wanted to punch, but instead resorted to verbal attacking. “Look at the Silver, acting all high and mighty. Heh… it’s hysterical.” She started to walk away.

Sokuro growled with gritted teeth as steam hissed out of her ears. Literally. When a Ferid gets too angry, steam literally erupts form their ears. Bran never saw that happen outside of cartoons. “You know the Great Change I’m going to bring?! Well, I’m going to work to make it so that it’s the abolishment of the slave trade!”

“Yawn…” Gallna went. “Tell it to someone who cares, or actually believes your bogus tall claims. Come along, 13.” She walked off as if she was high and mighty while the Gaharot slumped after her, not really wanting to come with her. He looked back at Sokuro, hoping she’s telling the truth about ending the slave trade, even if it is just to show his master up. 

“Jackass.” Sokuro and Bran both said. 

“And you only knew her for, what, an hour?” He asked.

“At most.” Sokuro snarled. “She claims I’m high and mighty when she’s the daughter of Roko Harbors magistrate! At least I don’t flaunt it!!!” 

Eia and Halix had exited the shop just as they watched Sokuro’s little freakout there. “Whoa…” Eia cooed. “What happened to her?”

“We had an unfortunate encounter with the biggest jerk I have ever met.” Bran slammed his journal shut. He doesn’t care about sketching the harbor, not in the mood he is in. He’ll finish it later. “And there is a HUGE emphasis on Jerk!”

“Gallna?” They both asked.

“You know her?”

“She tried to buy Halix and Coloume from us- says she loved her colors. That girl thinks she’s the best thing to happen to Roko Harbor since Teegls.”

Bran would ask what a Teegl is, but he was in too foul a mood to ask. Sokuro took a deep breaths to calm herself down; it’s not worth having a episode over. “… did you get your part?” She asked.

Halix held up a filled-out voucher. “It’s being held at a warehouse in the extensions. We show this to the guy in charge there and we have our part.” He handed it to Eia, who folded it up and put it in her pockets. “And I take it you two want to head back home already.”

“You think?” Bran snarked. “I was interested in seeing all Roko has to offer, but after encountering that horrific jackass, I just want to go back to someplace that’s pleasant.” He walked on over to them.

Sokuro followed suit. “Next time we come to Roko, let’s avoid running into her.” Eia transformed into her Aerid form and everyone climbed on. “But geez, what is her problem?”

As if it was that big of a mystery. The answer was plainly obvious and Halix knew it; “I’d say half of it is spoiled rich kid, and the other half is just a bad personality.” 

“That would do it.” The three children said in unison. Eia spread her wings and took off to go get that part. 

“Oh yeah, did you figure out what happened to the missing Gaharots?” Sokuro asked.

“Yeah…” Halix droned. “Except for those owned by the magistrate, all of the enslaved Gaharots are on direct orders from Councilor Asaip to construct a brand new airship, one that can withstand the windstorm of the Northern Wastes, on a island just outside of the harbor.”

“Councilor?”

“To the king.” Sokuro added. 

“Oh…” This doesn’t sound like good news. “So is this for the king or just for this Asaip guy? Because if it’s just for this Asaip, then he may be up to no good. He could try to do something bad on the mainland.”

“Maybe… or it’s to hide from the Janissaries.” Eia chimed in. “Asaip is a known supporter of the slave trade and they made several attempts on his life on more than one occasion. Hiding in the wind storm in the Wastes would be a good place to hide from them.”

“Either way…” Sokuro droned. “… using the slaves to construct a new airship that can withstand those strong winds means it’ll be tough and it’ll take a long time to build. Even the toughest military airships we have today can’t stand up to the Windstorm.”

“Well, whatever the case, it’s not our problem.” Bran said. “It’s all problems on the mainland and we’re months away from the mainland. Whatever happens there won’t affect us here, right?”

“Here’s hoping…” Sokuro crossed her arms and slumped down her head. “… but I still have a bad feeling about this.” She felt a shiver run up her spine, sending a chill though her. It felt like someone was watching her. She didn’t bring it up because they had other things to focus on, but it was still chilling. 

Her intuition was right on the money. She was being watched from the top of the cliffs, by a male figure with flaming red hair with orange streaks, wearing a plain brown travelers cloak. “Sokuro el’Fitan…” He sinisterly said. “It will be interesting to see how you change the world…” He turned around and gave a wicked smirk. “Assuming you don’t destroy it.” He vanished into thin air, leaving behind a single tuff of green fur. 

19: Chapter 17: Hunting

Chapter 17

Hunting and Farming

2/22/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

 

A lone Felm grazed in the forest glen, surrounded by nothing but tall trees, singing birds, and yummy grass to call breakfast. It was the same Felm that Sokuro and Bran encountered some time ago, back before the civilizations knew of each other. It was a old creature, to be sure. Felm’s have a average lifespan of 50 cycles/years- this one is going on 90 and it’s not slowing down. It doesn’t even look a day over 20.

Unaware to the Felm, it was being watched though a scope; a scope that had a crosshair pointed right at its chest. The scope flipped to x-ray vision and the scope sloooooowly made its way over its heart.

“Ah… you’ll make good eatin’…” A lone Kitsune man with three black tails commented as he aimed his custom RR Sniper Rifle at the unsuspecting fauna. Dressed in a gillie suit, his finger hovered over the trigger as he waited for the animal to lift its head so he could get a clear shot at its heart.

The Felm lifted its head and the otherworldly hunter pulled down on the trigger… as it was suddenly jerked back by a hunter from Misken and fired harmlessly up into the air. The sniper exclaimed in pain as the rifle was pulled out of his hands, almost dislocating his fingers while the hunter that found him getting ready to kill a sacred animal was rightfully perturbed.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!?!” Polosa yelled at the top of her lungs. Her scream scared the Felm and it jotted off.

The sniper snarled and growled as he got up off the ground. “I was hunting dinner!” He took his gun back from the native. “You almost dislocated my fingers!”

Polosa scowled at him. She had on several pouches holding berries, spare arrowheads, and medicine for wounds and poison. All hung over her hips on a belt, over a black leotard that left little to the imagination. A green poncho was draped over the outfit, leaving it obscured. A crossbow and quiver hung off her back, over the poncho.  “We told the lot of you before- Felm’s are sacred to us! To kill one is to commit an unforgivable atrocity to the Ferid people!”

The Kitsune grumbled as he checked the barrel, making sure she didn’t do anything to wreck it. No telling how strong these Ferids actually are- they could bend metal with their bare hands, for all he knows. “Well, I didn’t know that!”

She found that hard to believe. “How in the heck could you not know that? Me and the other hunters went over this in great detail when we went over the animals of Evioly!”

“Yeah, well…” He had no argument. “I was not there. I was asleep.”

“ASLEEP!?!” She screeched. “How could you have been asleep- from what I heard, meeting us Ferids and Gaharots was a highlight!”

The sniper grumbled as he rubbed his fingers in his ears- she was LOUD! “Hey, I had a long night before, ok?! We just set up a bar and I was very thirsty!”

She tilted her head. “A bar?”

“It’s like a tavern, only more rowdy.”

She is interested to see what a Bar is, but chastising this idiot lout was first and foremost. “Well, like I said, Felm’s are OFF LIMITS!!! Especially Aspoula!”

“Who?”

“The one you almost shot.” She looked to where he was grazing to find him gone. The shot must’ve scared him off. “He’s the king of the forest- he’s been alive far longer than me and continues on, even well into old age. You know it’s him because his horns are far bigger then a normal Felm’s.”

The Kitsune turned his back to her so she wouldn’t see him roll his eyes. “Ok, ok, I won’t hunt one of these special deer’s, especially sacred Bambi there.” He ejected the used laser clip from his gun and loaded in another one. Like their Earth projectile cousins, these only have one shot before reloading.

Pelosa exhaled in exasperation as she felt herself get drained as she talked with this newcomer. She then noticed the ears on top of his head and the blue fluffy tail sticking out of his suit. She looked back at her own tail, which was also blue, but had scales instead of fur.  “You’re not one of the humans, are you?”

“Nope. I am a Kitsune. We are an immortal race- we don’t die of old age, but we can still die from… basically everything else. Anyway, I am still a young Kitsune- only 14000 years old. By human standards, I guess that would put me around 16, 17 years of age.”

Even if she doesn’t know what a year is, that is still a high number. “Whoa. You’re that old and are still so young?”

“Yep.”

“Why are you out here all alone? I thought your food stores were good for more than 3 ye—cycles. That IS going to get annoying…”

“We do. I’m what you would call a lone wolf- I do things my way, and right now, I’m hunting because I am STARVING! The crap they served for breakfast this morning was really bad and I need something filling! Besides, I need the training.”

“Then eat some Fogoya Berries-they’ll fill you right up and prevent you from hunting a very sacred animal! Especially one as old as him!”

“Back to this, are we?” His stomach growled loudly. He wasn’t kidding about the breakfast they served this morning being absolutely terrible. It suffered from freezer burn and was almost completely inedible, even after cooking it. Most flocked to Misken to get something remotely decent there, something he didn’t know they were doing as he left to hunt right after he discovered his dish was horrible.

Polosa rolled her eyes in aggravation while making a like-wise grunt. “Uuuuuuuugh… this day is going to take forever…” She tossed him one of the berry pouches. No use hunting on a empty stomach. “Come with me. If you need something to eat, it may as well be something that isn’t sacred.”

He looked down at the pouch for a brief moment before returning his attention her way with a raised eyebrow of puzzlement. “Why would you help me?”

“Because if you stumble around in the forest as you are, you’ll likely fall into a crevice and become trapped or end up encountering an animal you are in no position to tangle with like a Yulak or, Velx forbid, a Turquoise.”

“Turquoise?”

“If we encounter one, I’ll tell you. And besides, I’m doing some hunting myself. I could use the extra help, even if you are, as you say, training.”

“Huh… well… thanks, I guess.” He put his rifle on his back. It attached to it via a magnet that is built into the vest he had under the gillie suit. “My name is Ventus, by the way. Ventus Argist. But you can just call me Vent for short.”

Polosa smirked as she pulled out her crossbow. It was originally to only be used by Gaharots, but she made modifications to let her use it. “Alright, Vent. Let’s go huntin’.”

 

Meanwhile, a small survey group from the colony, flanked by a pair of Gaharot farmers who know the land well, and a pair of security forces for protection- including Arlye himself who was carrying some garden hoes, were making their way through the forest to find a perfectly good spot to start a farm for the colony. If breakfast from this morning is any indication, a good chunk of their supplies may’ve gotten bad freezer burn, making them virtually inedible.

One of the survery corp members stomach growled loudly. The poor Adlez frowned underneath his helmet as he rubbed his belly. A quick refresher; Adlez are humanoid aliens that live their entire lives inside impressive space suits for the atmosphere on other planets are poison to them. That and they are the ugliest species to ever exist in the universe. If you met one out of the armor, you’ll be losing your lunch for a week. It’s a good thing they are also the best machinists in the known universe, otherwise they would be avoided like the plague. “I’m so hungry…” She moaned. Her voice came though an electronic filter. “Remind me to kill that idiot chef…”

“It’s not his fault that the seal on that crate wasn’t air tight.” Arlye commented. “If anything, blame the person who boxed up the crate to begin with.”

“I would if I could.” The Adlez mumbled under her breath.

The two Gaharots who were accompanying them wondered what they were talking about. It sounds like their breakfast was terrible, but they haven’t been told why. “Un… why was your food terrible?” One of them, a brown male, finally asked.

“It was freezer burnt.” Arlye replied.

“Freezer?” The two dinos asked.

“You don’t ha—wait, what am I saying, of course you don’t.” The agitated Adlez commented.

“Ignore her.” Arlye said. “She’s just hungry. Anyway, a freezer is a machine you can store food in. It freezes them to sub-zero temperatures that allow them to last for LONG periods of time. Meat can spoil in a few days if left out, correct? Well, a freezer can extend that time to months or even years. And before you ask, the reason we haven’t eaten another batch after this bad one is because we’re trying to make our supplies last.”

“Wow.” The other Gaharot, a purple and black male, exclaimed. “Wish we had something like that.” He said to the other one. “We’d save food for a long time.”

“No kidding.”

Arlye didn’t want to rain on their parades, but he had to bring up the bad stuff. “But… if you aren’t careful in storing it, it will get freezer burned, making them virtually inedible. Think of it as Frostbite for food.” The two Gaharots winced. Based on their reactions, it was no secret that they get frostbite on this planet. “Yeah, it’s not pleasant to eat.”

“It sucks!” The Adlez exclaimed. “And I don’t see you complaining, big guy!”

“Built-in nutrient tanks.” Arlye said as he pointed to his back. “Just like one of Earth’s Camels.” The Adlez mocked him, mimicking how he spoke and acting rude as she said it in a child-like ‘meh meh meme’ manner.

In the lead of the pack was another Adlez, this one in charge of a in-depth scanning device. It was set to scan deep into the earth to find the best soil content for the crops they brought from the Milky Way galaxy to grow, assuming they weren’t freezer burnt as well. Given their luck today, it’s likely a given.

The PDA in his hand beeped as they walked over a potential farming spot. He tried to access the soil contents, but the blasted machine was turning on and off. He smacked it to try and turn it on, but that didn’t do a thing. “Well… I think I found a potential spot to set up a farm.” HE said. “But the dang thing is on its last legs- I can’t access the soil content.”

“What’s so important about soil content anyway?” The rude female Adlez grumbled.

Arlye slowly shook his head. “You are not a pleasant person hungry.” He slammed the hoes into the ground. They stuck up like fence posts. “It’s to insure that whatever we grow here actually grows and is edible. If the soil is bad, then the food will be bad.” The two Gaharots nodded in agreement.

The PDA hissed as smoke seeped out of it. “Well, we’re not gonna find out with this.” The other Adlex commented. “This thing has seen better days.”

“Well, it is over 100 years old at this point.” Arlye commented. “I’m amazed it still worked to find us a potential farming zone.” He turned to their two Gaharot companions. “What do you think? You’re the expert farmers around here.”

The purple and black Gaharot took a walk around the land to get a feel. The grass and dirt felt right enough. The land around them is nice and flat, and the trees could be cleared away to make more room and give good sunlight, and they are not that far from a river. Odds are that the newcomers have a way to transfer water from the river to farmlands, so that won’t be a problem. “Well… if the soil is good and the trees are cleared, this could make for good farmland. You’re feeding, what, 20000 people? You’ll have to clear a lot of trees to make room, but this place should be doable.”

“I have a question.” The other Gaharot interrupted. “Why didn’t you use the area that the Phagos flattened? It’s practically made for planting.”

“We tried, but nothing would grow. Something happened there that turned it into a dead land. Scans indicated that it was dead land, which was puzzling. Maybe the Phagos did something to it, like corrupted it with it’s sheer presence or maybe its blood had corruptive properties. We’ll never know now.”

The natives looked each other, wondering if that was even possible. They’ve never heard of a Phagos corrupting the land before. This has some disturbing implications. Whenever the Phagos attacked their village, it didn’t corrupt or kill the land it tore though. Maybe it does have something to do with its blood, but they don’t really know- nobody had wounded a Phagos before. The villagers at Calo-Calo killed theirs with something that the thing found poisonous, though they haven’t quite figured out what- nobody wants to experiment on another one to find out. If it does have something to do with its blood… then the Phagos is a perfect killing machine; it not only kills animals and plants, but also the land too.

“At least this place is closer.” The female Adlez commented. “The places the Phagos flattened were further than this. But without that scanner, we won’t tell how much of this land is fertile.”

“Oh, we can.” Arlye said. He activated his transmitter in his ear. “Our ship has a advanced mineral scanner- it can scan the area. Hopefully Solstice is in a good mood.”

“When is he ever…?” The other colonists with them commented.

“Who’s Solstice?” The brown Gaharot asked.

 

Solstice is the Smart A.I. of the Argo Marquis, the colony ship that transported the colonists from the Milky Way to Messier 32. Ever since the colonists left for the planet, the ship had been in geo-synchronous orbit around the planet, remaining directly above Evioly. Nobody remained onboard the vessel anymore, nobody except for the A.I. that was assigned to it.

And he. Was. BORED!

There was nobody to talk to and nothing to do on this dang ship. He’s done the same tasks over and over and over and over and over and over and he was getting sick of it. He’s rather pissed that Arlene got to do down instead of him- he’s the one who got them here, for Creator’s sake.

“{Solstice, are you there?}” Arlye’s voice came over the communication system. That prompted Solstice’s hologram to appeared on the viewing table. As he had nothing better to do, he decided to try and take up napping- see how that organic pastime worked for him.

A.I.’s can choose the form their holographic bodies can take. With so many templates and versions they can take, each A.I.’s body is almost always unique, none more so when it comes to Solstice. His avatar body took the form of a Eluet.

An Eluet is a type of creature from Argalith mythology. They are bird-like in nature, with large encompassing wings that are five times larger then their own body, with a large head and a equally large beak with teeth and fangs. Unlike most birds, Eluets have a pair of large yet slender arms hidden underneath their feathers, a single horn coming out of the back of the head, and even a second mouth hidden inside the beak.

In Argalith mythology, Eluet’s are pure powerhouse monsters- they are tough, they are ruthless, and they can snap a frigate clean in half… if they ever existed. The story goes is that the first Eluet came when a Argalith woman was a little too… reckless when it came to her nightly prowess and was impregnated by a Argalithian demon called a Tokas- think of it as their version of a Ifrit from humanity’s Arabic myth, but with feathers and much more evil; this particular one did it because it was bored. The Argalith gave birth to the monster, which was a female, and the subsequent offspring from the first Eluet would go on to become monsters that live to sow chaos and give in to their bloodlust. That’s how the story goes, anyway- there’s no proof that such a beast existed in their fossil record or recorded tomes. The paintings it inspired are something to behold, though. They are really detailed and… really graphic.

The Argalith who programmed Solstice was a jerk who always cracked wise. So, keeping with the form he chose, the Argalith programmed his personality to be that of a trickster; a joker that can usually cause trouble, often on a large scale. And Eluet’s are just that: tricksters, but with sadism and are much more sociopathic. 

“{Solstice, I know you are there.}”

Solstice grumbled awake, rubbing his eyes. “That was a pointless endeavor…” He grumbled to himself as he stood upright. “I basically did nothing for days- how is that productive?” He snapped his claws, activating the internal comm. system. “What do you want, you overgrown lizard?”

“{That’s a fine hello.}”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I am just up here, minding my own business… because I got nothing else to do because you all LEFT ME ALONE up here with nothing to do and no people to talk to. No, I’m not bitter- not in the slightest.”

“{No… you clearly aren’t bitter. We’ll bring you down when we can, but right now, I have a task for you.}”

Every fiber in his conscience was telling him to tell Arlye to bounce right off and go jump in a lake of acid or something similar to that. But, his coding didn’t allow him the luxury of refusing his task. He had to do it. “Alright… what is it?”

“{We need you to scan the ground at my GPS coordinates. We are testing soil viability and the device we brought broke.}”.

“And you are surprised? It’s over a century old- of course it’s going to break! Be amazed half of the crap we brought still works.” Even though he can’t see it, he can tell Arlye is giving him the stink eye. He’s predictable that way. “Alright, alright, alright. Gimme a moment. Guy can’t take a joke…”

“{I heard that.}”

“You were supposed to.” He activated the passive ground scan and focused in on where Arlye was. There was a underground laydar scan, along with cameras that are just cameras. “Let’s see… I’m detacting seven heat signatures that belong to the colonists and one major jackass.”

“{Ha ha… not funny.}”

“Wh… are those dinosaurs? Arlye, do I see some of Earth’s Dinosaurs with you?”

“{Un… not really. It’s a long story, but we discovered a native civilization. The fact that one of the races looks like Dinosaurs remains a mystery, some with--}”

“More like they found us.}” Solstice interrupted. “{Did the Scout even bother to scan the entire planet before sending the all clear, because I doubt this is something it can miss that easily.”

“{Solstice, please, while we’re young?}”

“Ok, ok, ok…impatient prude. Let’s see…” The scan penetrated deep into the ground. “We got a healthy balance of Potassium, Nitrogen, Phosphorous- the perfect among to start growing, actually. And the ground seems to be covered in a type of peat moss- you organics are really lucking out with this rock … along with a mineral that’s not in the database. It must be one native to this planet.”

“{…do you fellas have any special minerals in the dirt?}” Arlye asked one of the Gaharots. “{Like, are there anything special about the food you grow that may be specific to Evioly?}”

“{Mmmmm……. Well, our crops can grow fast compared to the rest of Dragenia- Uela, to the rest of Evioly, actually, but I think that’s about it. And there is no guarantee the same will be true for yours.}”

“{If it can still grow crops, it’ll work. Thanks, Solstice.}”

“Whatever. Now, if I may be so bold as to ask, HOW MUCH LONGER AM I GOING TO STAY COOPED UP IN THIS EMPTY SHIP!?!”

“{Wow… temper today. Alright, I will personally come up tomorrow and bring you down. will that make you happy?}”

Solstice crossed his arms and mumbled. “I’d rather you did it now, but since you are busy, I doubt that’ll happen… fine… but you better come tomorrow, otherwise I’m gonna tan your hide with a laser cannon.”

“{… duly noted.}”

Solstice was about to shut off the scanner when it picked up a MASSIVE flare of energy coming from a tall mesa, overpowering the laydar scans he was in the midst of doing. He focused the scanner there and zoomed in on the source: a house on the outskirts of a small village. “What the heck…?” He tried to zoom in further, but all he got was a detailed image of the home’s shingles. It didn’t matter- the energy was gone. He was going to tell Arlye, but decided not to and completely ignore it. It’s not his problem. He shut off the scanner and went to work installed basic subroutines that can run the ship when he leaves.

 

Back down on the ground, Arlye shut off his comm. and flexed his arms. Time to get to work clearing out these trees. “Alright… seems this ground is good for planting.” He rubbed his hands together. “Now we just need to remove a good chunk of foliage.” He walked over to one of the trees.

“Alright, and how are we going to do that?” The brown Gaharot asked. “We didn’t bring a hacksaw or even a Ferid, so… what, we should leave and then come back with--” They heard the ground beside them rip open as Arlye effortlessly pulled a tree right out of the ground, stump and all. Their mouths dropped at this sheer display of this unparalleled strength. “Holy moly…” Arlye walked past as if nothing was different, except for the large tree he was carrying on his shoulder. “How in Evivo’s name….?”

“Yeah, he’s strong.” The male Adlez said.

“But HOW is he that strong?”

“Well, I don’t really know for certain… but rumor has it that he was a test subject for a Hesk experiment to create implants that can enhance a person’s strength. Arlye is rumored to be one of them, though I can’t really say for certain- it is just a rumor, after all.”

“Huh… alright, but that brings up another question: what are implants?”

The female Adlez decided to speak this time; she had been pouting too long and still doing it won’t make food grow faster. “Machines that are… mm… planted, I guess would be a familiar term for you? They are machines that are implanted into a person’s body. They are still HIGHLY experimental and can still kill a person, if you’re not careful.”

“Then why take the risk?” They heard a loud thud beside them and felt the ground underneath them shake. They looked to their left and saw that Arlye had slammed down several more trees beside his growing pile. “… Never mind. I see why. And you said he’s one of the lucky ones?”

“Really lucky. He hasn’t had any problems with his implants… if he actually has them cause, again, rumor. He could just be unnaturally strong, and Argalith’s are strong enough as it is.”

“So either way, he’s a powerhouse.”

“Pretty much.”

Arlye picked up his 7th tree in as many minutes and he hadn’t even broken a sweat. He is scarily strong- he could probably tangle with a Aerid and actually put up a fight. Nobody wants to find out, of course. He looked to the others and spoke up; “Hey! Are you seriously just going to stand around, doing nothing? Do something. Make a borderline or something- just don’t stand around looking like idiots.”

The Gaharots nodded and went out to establish a perimeter for this new farm. They came with colored sticks with crystals on the top to mark their territory. The male Adlez pulled out a combat axe, which on it’s own is just a little twig until he pressed a button. The twig extended into a staff and a large energy broadaxe came out of it. He started chopping off the trees to use for the perimeter, with any spares to be used as kindling.

The female, on the other hand, was soooo hungry, she wanted food now. She rummaged around the bags of the Purple Gaharot and found some kind of granola bar. She opened up a slit in front of her mouth and took a bite. Around the mouth was grayish-purple skin with warts and gashes. The mouth was worse- it’s like a sharks… but worse. The bar tasted sweet—too sweet for her taste. But she was starving, so she could not complain. She needed something in her belly. Once she finished it up, she burped and closed her helmet back up. “That’ll hold me until dinner… unless that’s also freezer burnt… in which case, crap.” She ran after her fellow Adlez to lend a hand.

This was going to take a few days to clear out and get ready for fertilization and plantation. But as long as the farm works and grows the food they need to survive, the wait will have been worth it.

 

Meanwhile, Polosa and Ventus were on the hunt for an elusive prey that she had been hunting for some months now, but never came close to nabbing it for one reason or another, but not this time. This time, she was gonna get it for sure. She didn’t tell Vent that is what they are hunting, not that he would’ve minded, she thought. He’s too hungry to argue- he wants something to eat badly.

While they walked down a animal trail, Polosa was looking over Ventus’ sniper rifle. She saw weapons like this back at the colony, but never up close, and not of this model. She looked down the scope- she remembered from her brief lesson the other day to never look down the barrel when it is loaded. “Wow… this can see far away.”

“It’s called a telescopic scope for a reason.” Vent said. “You saw sniper rifles before, right? Back when you were at Novalle, explaining the various animals?”

“Yes, I did, but I didn’t touch one. This is the first time I’m holding one.” She looked at the mechanism and saw that it was different from the others she saw. “You don’t have a gun like the others.”

“Yep. This is a family heirloom. It’s a custom made sniper rifle my great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather made himself. He named it the Arbiter and he made it to be a lethal powerhouse. For some reason, he loved the Human’s Bolt Action rifles from long ago- he said it provided better accuracy and stopping power, but you have to reload every single time you fire. It’s a hassle, but you can’t argue with the results.”

“I guess I’ll believe it when I see it.” She handed it back to him.

After several minutes of walking around, they came upon a lone Yulak eating away at a dead Grek Gea, a body that was thankfully out of sight thanks to tall grass and a perfectly placed tree from their angle. Vent winced in disgust- he had never been to Earth himself, but he’s seen images of the various animals that existed on that planet, and this moose had taken a demonic and ugly turn. “This is why you keep the ugly stick away from nature.” He commented under his breath. He asked aloud, “Those aren’t sacred, are they?”

Peloso scoffed. “Of course not.” She pulled out her crossbow. “Yulaks are not sacred. They aren’t even friendly beasts. They are vicious and unpleasant. If one is truly agitated, you can kiss your arm goodbye.” She took aim at the beasts head. “They make for good eating. They have tender meat that can be quite succulent.”

“I guess I’ll believe that when I try it.” He readied his sniper rifle in case she missed.

Peloso took some time as she got her aim just right. “Yulaks have terrible senses of smell. You can be right up next to it and it won’t make your scent. I know cause I tried it- I hadn’t bathed in days and I was right up beside a Yulak that was wide awake. He had to visually look at me before he realized I was there.”

“So the trick is to cripple them by going for sight or hearing to prevent them from fleeing, right?”

“You’re not that far off. But that likely won’t be a problem with this one. He has a gimp leg.” Vent peered though his sniper rifle and saw that one of the beast’s back hind legs was mildly deformed. “He’s not going to run if we miss.”

“Good. I am in no mood for a chase.”

She daintily moved her crossbow up the Yulak’s neck. “Now… a kill shot on one of these creatures… is to go for the brain or the heart, which are obvious for any creatures. The neck is also a good spot… but I’m in a beneficial mood today… I’m gonna make his end quick and painless.”

Vent looked at his sniper rifle for a moment and then to her crossbow. “Then let me take a crack at it.” He boasted. She didn’t dare look up from her crossbow lest she lose her perfect shot. “These can fire plasma bolts. They can kill instantly, and any wounds they leave are cauterized instantly from the heat.”

That intrigued the young native huntress. She saw these rifles in action and was mesmerized by what they fired- beams of pure light called lasers, if she recalls correctly- but it was at a target, not a real animal. “Alright then, newcomer… let’s see what that thing can do.”

Vent nodded and got low. He went prone, lying flat on the ground as he nestled the rifle in front of him. He closed one eye and hovered a finger over the trigger. “Sniper rifles- psh, all modern weapons in general have a kickback. Same holds true for this heirloom. But as I said… it’s got real good stopping power.” He activated modifications to the scope- a passive scan that outlined everything in a yellow line and a grey everything. The vital organs of the beast showed up on the scope, colored red.

He took the shot, striking the beast in the head. It was a painless death that left no entry and exit wounds. The Yulak went down milliseconds after the shot rang out. Vent got up and shouldered his rifle. “And that’s how it’s done.”

She twisted her lips and pursed them to the side. “Ok, I admit, it would’ve suffered with my shot.” She put her crossbow away. “And that will make some good meat.”

“If you say so.” They started walking over towards the body. “This will be the first time I’ll try this… what’s it called again, a Yulak?” She nodded in confirmation. She glanced away for a moment and saw something in the distance that made her frown angrily. She walked in the direction she looked while Vent continued to the body. He looked at the face and groaned in disgust. “Ick… it’s uglier up close.” He put the sniper on his back and pulled out a handle. He pressed a button, activating a laser knife. “So what part has the tenderest meat?” He looked back when he asked that question and saw that Peloso was gone. He looked around to see if he could find her.  “Un… dragon lady?”

Peloso pulled back hard on the launching mechanism and slammed a crossbow bolt into place. She tossed her poncho away and raised up her crossbow with villainous intent. She was about to fire when she heard loud, clunking footsteps behind her.

“There you are.” Vent commented as he ran over. Each step made a loud clunking noise from the boots, light armor, and sniper. “What are you--” Peloso spun around and slammed him against the trunk of a tree, which shocked him to say the least. “Whoa.”

“Will you shut up!?!” She snarled though her teeth.

This was a complete and utter shock to him. She seemed so nice before. What changed?  “… whoa… what’s with the sudden change of attitude?”

“Him.” She snarled, pointing across a small creek. On the other side was a Felm that had a darker fur color then the others, but that wasn’t the only thing odd about it. Its right eye had been clawed out long ago, it had claw marks all over it’s pelt, and its horns were blood red. “I’m gonna kill that dastard!”

This is a complete 180 from what he had been told about these creatures earlier. “Um… I thought Felm’s were sacred… so why are we stalking one?”

She let him go and he slid down to the forest floor. “They are sacred…..… except him. Dresco has lost his sacred rights long ago. Nobody knows how it happened, but he started killing Ferids and Gaharots out of the blue one day- his first victim was my cousin. He has been killing for over 10 cycles now and nobody could do a thing about it because he was a sacred Felm. It wasn’t until Velx’s former handmaid was killed by that prick three cycles ago that he finally declared that Dresco is not sacred anymore- he is a monster that needs to be put down. Thing is… that thing is tough to kill. That bad eye of his- that was from a bolt I fired at him.”

“… You really hate that thing, do you?”

“I despise it. My cousin was going to marry the love of her life three months before her death. And before then, she was a kind girl who never hurt anyone, and even if she wanted to, she was frail. Even her Aerid form was dainty.” She lifted up her crossbow. “Don’t get in my way- I’m gonna finally get that mohako!” You don’t want to know what ‘mohako’ means. It is a very, very bad curse word.

“I’m not even going to try. You are a scary lady when angry.”

Peloso scoffed and went to aim her crossbow at the demon beast but saw that it had escaped. It must’ve been when she was explaining things to him. This fueled her anger. “AAAGH!!!” She fired the crossbow into the tree- she needed something to let her rage loose on. “YOU IDIOT!!!” She bellowed. “I HAD HIM!!!”

“How was I supposed to know you had a vendetta against that thing?! I’m not psychic!” She angrily mumbled to herself as she paced back and forth. “And don’t take this out on me- you’re the one who went off to kill this thing without at least saying a word. ‘hey, I gotta go deal with something, I’ll be right back.’ It’s not that hard to say!”

“RRRRAAAAGH!!!” She punched the tree hard, creating a large hole right in the middle of the trunk. Vent whimpered in fear as he gulped and looked up- a few feet lower and that would’ve been his head. She angrily snarled as she pulled her hand out of the hole. “So close…. I was so close…” She scowled at Vent, who is feeling like maybe he should’ve just stayed quiet. “…” She walked off without another word. There was no way she can track it now, so she returned to the Yulak body.

Vent, on the other hand, couldn’t move. He was quivering in fear at just how powerful a Ferid can get. This was a full grown Ferid, and a hunter at that. He can only imagine what warriors for armies are like, or even special guards- they have to be the best of the best since they are guarding royalty and the like. “N-n-n-n-n-n-note to self: d-d-d-d-don’t piss Peloso off…”

 

Later that day, with the day entering twilight, the Yulak body had been properly taken care of and turned into meat to be consumed, and its bones and organs set aside in leather bags. Two Yulak steaks had been cooked up on a makeshift rotisserie over a open fire. The two of them ate in uncomfortable silence, with Peloso still fuming over missing her chance to take out that beast.

She looked up to Vent, who was glancing at the ground to avoid making eye contact. She exhaled with a sigh. “… I’m sorry for yelling at you- I didn’t mean to take my anger out on you. I was just angry I missed my chance to finally kill that monster.”

Vent gulped down a piece of the meat he had been given. “You… aren’t the first person to have a grudge against an animal. Just... you don’t let that thing consume your life, do you?”

“Of course not… I’m not an obsessive, vengeance seeking, blood thirsty psychopath. I hate Dresco, but I don’t let it take control of my life. I have a life of my own. This is the first time anyone’s seen that thing for months, actually. I just… I don’t want my cousin’s murderer to get off without consequence while she’s lying in a grave.”

“You must’ve really loved your cousin.”

She lightly smirked. “She was the best. She was the nicest girl in Roko you could meet. She was always willing to help others, despite her body being so frail. She constantly got sick and she had no strength in either form, but she always lived with a smile on her face and a warm feeling in her heart. Despite that, she met the love of her life and the two of them were set to get married here in Misken. But… as I said…”

“The rogue Felm killed her…”

She nodded. “… Yeah… that’s why I’m so angry with that thing. And it wasn’t just my cousin it killed- she was the first. There have been dozens of others afterwards. The most recent was three months ago; another hunter that hadn’t been paying attention to his surroundings got skewered by its horns.”

“Ouch…” Vent winced. “Sounds like this thing has a grudge against Misken’s people, even those who visit from other cities, it seems.”

“Yeah. And like I said, nobody knows why it became a murderer. Though I have heard theories- he’s seeking revenge for its dead family or he ate something it shouldn’t have and it messed with its mind or he was born this way.”

“If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s the revenge angle. There’s proof that animals can hold a strong grudge, but this Felm went too far and has officially gone Rogue.”

She sighed as she leaned on her meatless skewer stick. “I guess…” She tossed her stick into the fire and got up. “Well, that’s enough gloom for one day. I should be heading back to the village.”

“I should be heading back to the colony as well.” Vent tossed his stick into the fire as well. “That was some surprisingly good. A bit salty, but not bad.”

“Yeah, you need to soak it in a brine to get rid of the salt, but otherwise, it can be good.” She walked over to the bags and lifted them up. Vent tilted his head in puzzlement about why she would take bags of bones and internal organs. She knew the question that was coming and beat him to the punch. “We don’t waste. We find uses for these.”

“I wasn’t even going to ask.” He said as he got up. He kicked dirt into the fire, putting it out. He grabbed his sniper rifle and put it on his back.

“Same time tomorrow?” She asked.

That made him stop in his tracks. “What?”
            She looked back with a smile on her face. “Wanna go hunting again tomorrow?”

This is the first time Vent saw a smile on the gruff and stoic Peloso’s face. That’s when he noticed how cute she was. “Un, sure.”

She shouldered the bags with a warm smile. “Until tomorrow then. Bye.” She walked off, heading back towards Misken.

Vent lightly smirked to himself before pulling out his GPS locator. He found the direction back to Novalle and walked in that direction. By the time he got there, dinner would be served, and it wasn’t freezer burnt this times.

 

Now I know what you are thinking; where the heck were Sokuro and Bran this chapter? This story is about them. Well, they were back in Misken, with Bran finishing up his explanations to the rest of the orphans that he coaxed his way out of doing yesterday thanks to the trip to Roko Harbor. After that took virtually all day, they sat down for dinner, which was Gea legs.

“Wow… this is actually pretty tasty.” Bran commented after trying Gea for the first time. “The first Dragenian food I tried made me dunk my head into the nearby pond in a failed attempt to cool it off.” The rest of the orphans looked to Sokuro, who nervously chuckled to herself as she sank in her seat and out of sight. The girl loves her spicy foods- practically lives off them.

While putting a piece of Gea in his mouth, Bran got a idea- an idea of how to introduce the local populace to Milky Way style living without having to go into such long and drawn out explanations.

All he needed was the projector up on the Argo Marquis, and complete access to the movie library in the database.

20: Chapter 18: Dragons in Space

Chapter 18

Dragons in Space

2/23/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

Early into the morning, with the sun just about over the horizon completely, Bran was awake in his bed- has been for the past half hour, and has been flipping though the massive library of downloaded movies in the Argo Marquis’ databanks. There were millions installed; most of them were human made, but there were some from other species as well: Kitsunes, Dracons, Veleis, even Argalith’s had movies of their own.

His room completely black from a lack of light both from inside and outside, Bran was surfing though the stock because he believes that this could be one way the native peoples can learn about another peoples if they look at what they consider entertainment. It makes absolutely no sense to anyone else- you can’t learn an entire culture just be watching a movie, but Bran was determined.

He left out Horror and Thrillers- he wants to entertain them, not scare them. Animation, Comedies, and Family Friendly flicks are what he are looking for. It narrowed down the search significantly. It helped more because he was looking at a specific type of movie: those that involved Dragons. It would be interesting to see how the natives would be react to movies depicting…. well, themselves, in a sense, in how humans saw them long ago when they were just mythical monsters.

He just needed to find the right one. The first impression is always key. But the question is which one? He didn’t want anything too kid friendly- that’s just personal preference. He hates it when people explain what the audience had just witnessed in front of their own eyes. Besides, he wants to ease the natives into this: this will be the first time they’ve seen a movie and he doesn’t want to go all the way in and give them the wrong impression that all of the movies, and how humans depicted them, are about… bad things.

He passed by ones that would be good for some reason or another. “Too scary. Too action heavy. Paints Dragons in a bad light. Too childish. Too Earth focused- I need pure fantasy. Too--….. Mmmm…. Maybe.”

He heard a tapping on the window behind him. He tilt his head back and nearly jumped out of his bed when he saw Eia and Sokuro dangling upside-down off the roof. Their faces were pressed against the glass as their eyes darted around. “Geez louise…” He hissed. “Almost give me a heart attack…” He pressed a button on the windowsill behind him. Part of the glass opened up on its own- a process that fascinated both of the natives. “What are you two doing here?!” He snapped.

“We wanted to surprise you.” Eia said in a cheerful tone.

“By nearly scaring me to death? And this early in the morning?”

Sokuro grinned like a idiot. “Sorry. It just felt like a good joke. Besides, she was insistant. She came to me while I was still sleeping and was begging me to find your place for her.” She pushed her hands off the glass and swung a couple of times before letting go of the piping she had her tail wrapped around and flipped right in. She landed effortlessly and gave a playful bow. “So this is what your room looks like… is what I would say if it wasn’t as dark as a cave.”

“You’re not supposed to be in here!” He snapped.

Eia fell right in effortlessly as well. “You are not a morning person, are you? You should just like Sokuro.”

“You’re not supposed to be in here!” He snapped again. “Get out, please! Before my parents come in and start getting ideas!”

Sokuro tilted her head in puzzlement. “What ideas?” Rather then wait for an answer, she noticed his phone on the bed and snatched it. “Heeey now…”

“HEY!” Bran shouted. He shot up to try and get it but Sokuro was too fast. He remembered he was in his boxer shorts and curled back up underneath his bed.

“Ooooooo…” Eia proclaimed, her eyes lit up at the sparkling new device that was a common cellphone for the 5699 era. “What is it?”

“He calls it a ‘cell phone’. It’s what allows everyone here to communicate long distances. It also has a wide wealth of information that he can access on a whim.” Eia looked on, completely enamoured by this new technology while Sokuro tried reading what was displayed on the screen at the moment, but she is still a basic beginner at this. What may be Basic for the Milky Way’s inhabitants is still brand new to her. “Ugh… I can barely read it. What does this say, Bran?”

Bran snatched it back in a huff and hid it away underneath the bedsheets. “First off, don’t take other people’s property without permission.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “And if you truly must know… I’m looking up a movie that would be perfect for a first viewing to the native races.”

The two girls tilted their heads in bewilderment. Sokuro heard the word ‘movie’ before, but she had forgotten what it meant. “Heh?” They both went.

Bran pursed his lips to the side. He brought his phone back out and, without looking, put on a old family video from back home. “In layman’s terms, it’s a moving picture with sound.” He played it and showed it to them. “See?”

“Whooooooooa…” The two gasped, completely mesmerized by this stunning feat of technology. The video showed a much younger Bran playing with a previously unknown girl at a park in Ferous, the now former capital of Vega.

The first thing Eia noticed was the girl. First there was this runt gunning for Bran? How many others does he have to contend with? “Un… who’s the girl?”

“My cousin Elena.” Eia internally breathed a sigh of relief. So her only ‘threat’ is Sokuro- she can work with that. “She and her family were visiting Vega that time for… something I don’t remember. I was four at the time- so sue me.” Eia raised a eyebrow at that turn of phrase. “But yeah, she never had many friends- she was a shy girl. Last I heard… she was on a transport heading for Andromeda, so… well, I’m hoping she got there ok, first and formost.”

The first thing Sokuro noticed, on the other hand, was how depressing the surroundings all looked. The sky and the ground were a dead brown color, as were the leaves on the trees and the side of the large buildings. “That’s Vega?” She asked. “It looks so… depressing.”

Bran pulled his phone back and paused the video. “Yep… that’s Vega… and that’s what pollution will get ya…” He somberly closed out the video, hoping she was ok. Even before cryosleep and the hundred year nap, it had been a few years since they saw each other. No sense dwelling on it now. “Back to what we were talking about, I’m trying to find a movie that would… work for newcomers to the artform like you two. Something that would be entertaining, yet not too… overly taxing. Something that won’t overload your senses; to ease you all in into this strange new world. And so far…” He slapped it down on the sheets. “…it’s been rough.”

“How many are there?” Eia asked.

“Millions.” Both girls mouths dropped. “But I’ve narrowed it to Family Friendly, Comedic affairs for the first time out. And to make things more interesting, I’m focusing only on Dragon movies.”

Sokuro picked up the phone and looked again. These are movies based on them? “Wow. There are movies about us?”

“What? No no- you forget, before we met all of you, we all thought Dragon’s were a myth, and there are barely any stories about those who can shift forms like you can.”

She was disappointed by that. “Oh…”

“And besides… I need to get one of the projectors up on the Argo Marquis.”

“Argo Marquis?” Eia asked.

“The ship that helped them cross the Black Abyss from their home to Dragenia.” Sokuro explained. “It’s supposed to be high up in the sky, in… what did you call it, ‘orbit?’It’s up there in orbit… whatever that means. With that out of the way, what is a projector?”

“Well… mm… it’s like the holographic projectors to project Arlene around Novalle, but it’s made for movies. I know there is one big enough on there- they needed to entertain us before we reached the Milky Way’s edge and entered our 100 year nap. And I already have a place big enough to show it off. I just need to get the dang thing.”

“Why can’t we just fly up?” Eia asked. “You know we can.”

“Because the ‘Black Abyss’, as you call it, is just that- an abyss. There is no air, no gravity, no… anything to keep us alive in a void that is completely cold. If we go up as is, we’ll turn into popsicles while we suffocate to death.” The two girls winced in pain; Sokuro held her neck while Eia gulped out of fear. “Now you know why we use ships.”

“Then just take one of those Beetle dropship things.” Sokuro suggested.

“I would, except I don’t know how to fly one.”

“Then ask someone to take you up.”

“I can’t exactly force anyone to take me.”

The two girls looked at each other and came up with the same devious idea, portrayed by such a devious grin that was painted on their faces. “We have an idea.” They said in unison. Bran sank in his bed as the two of them adopted creepy faces- it is NEVER a good sign when someone does a creepy face.

 

Despite being sore from doing all of the work clearing out the trees yesterday, Arlye made his way to the little port they had set up on the outskirts of Novalle, where the Beatle dropships were being kept. He had to keep his word to Solstice and bring him off the ship. He can’t exactly fault the lonely program for wanting off the ship; he would be a bit antsy if he was stuck up there alone for weeks as well.

The whole reason they kept him on the ship in the first place was in case they needed to make a quick getaway if things took a sour turn here. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. The Misken people are a nice enough bunch so far, but from what Bran said about Roko Harbor, not everyone on the planet is like that.

He approached the little airfield and saw a perplexing sight- two of the native girls trying to force one of the colonists onto one of the Beatles. Immediately, he recognized two of them as Sokuro and Bran, who was now fully dressed. “What in the world…?” He walked on over just as the girls pulled him into the ramp. “What’s going on here?” He asked aloud.

The three youths stiffened up, frozen solid as they tilted their heads down the ramp to see the biggest person in the colony looking up at them with crossed arms and a gruff stare. “Un…” Sokuro went. “Un….. unnn…………..uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuun…………..” She turned to Eia and whispered harshly, “I can’t think up a good lie!”

“I can’t either.” She replied in kind.

Bran hit his head on the ramp, creating a loud metallic thunk. “Thanks a lot, you two…” He mumbled. He lifted his head and looked down to Arlye. “If you must know…. I need to get something off the Argo Marquis… and these two idiots thought they could fly a Beatle.”

“Well, we can fly ourselves.” Eia proclaimed, turning around to show off her tail. “And I live on a airship, so flying this thing should be a piece of… un… what’s a Milky Way dessert?”

Arlye slowly shook his head and disappointment as he started his way up the ramp. “Flying a Beatle is far cry from working the spinning wheel on those airships of yours. There are a lot more variables you need to take into consideration, not to mention that they are entirely different designs.  You would’ve crashed on take-off.” He passed by them. “But lucky for you, I’m heading up there myself. I could find what you want.”

But Bran wants this to be a surprise, even to him. From what he had heard in passing on the ride to the edge of the Milky Way, he’s not a movie person. He’s hoping to change that. “Eh… thanks, Arlye, but it’s a surprise I got in mind. Something you will see with everyone else tomorrow night.”

“Why then?”

“Because it will take me a while to set it up and get everything together, that’s why.”

That sounded very suspect. At the top of the ramp, he crossed his arms. “Just what do you have planned?”

“Like he said, it’s a surprise.” Sokuro insinuated. “But it’s nothing bad, if that’s what you are wondering. If anything, it’s hopefully something beneficial.”

“… un-huh.” He didn’t have time for this. The sooner he gets Solstice, the sooner he can get back. He hates zero gravity- makes him feel like a paperweight. “Fine, whatever. Hurry up and get on before I change my mind.” He went up the ramp into the ship. The children snickered with grins as they clamored on board. “Just don’t bug me in the cockpit.” He ordered as he reached the ladder. “And don’t wreck anything.”

“I won’t.” Bran said. Behind him, Sokuro had tapped a stack of barrels holding holokh’s- the Adlez version of whiskey- while Eia was messing around with a pair of night-vision goggles. The stack of barrels fell over while Eia was temporarily blinded and fell back. “…………. Them, on the other hand…”

Arlye slowly shook his face in disgust. “Ugh… this is gonna be a long day…” He grumbled as he climbed up the ladder.

            Bran moaned as he went back to the girls. Barely a few seconds on the ship and they are already wrecking things. That has to be some type of new record. “Can you two please not wreck everything?”

            “We were curious.” Eia said as she stuck a finger up.

            “I get that, but can you please not destroy everything? This is expensive and, currently, rare and irreplaceable. We have no way to remake these for now.”

            “Fine fine.” Eia put the goggles back where she got them and rubbed her eyes. “What even were those things? I can barely see 3 feet in front of me.”

            “Night vision goggles. It’s pretty self explanatory. And they are meant to be used at night or else… well, you experienced it.” He heard Sokuro clamor over one of the barrels. “Those, on the other hand, aren’t for us.” He put one onto its side. “This is a grown up drink- a highly flammable one, by the way.”

            “Why the heck is that on this thing, then?”

            “Obviously, they didn’t unload it.” The ship lurched for a brief moment, which scared the girls. Bran remained unfazed and walked over to another barrel as the ramp behind them began to close.

            They heard a loud hum in the back that was progressively getting louder. As they had not experienced this before, the girls were frightened by what was going on. Eia ducked underneath the table that had the goggles. “S-s-s-s-should that be happening?”

            “Yes, of course.” Bran said as he stood another barrel up. “The ship is warming up- Arlye is going though preflight checks.”

            “So…?”

            The ramp came to a close, latching shut with a loud hissing noise. Sokuro jumped in her skin, slipping on the slick floor. Bran breathlessly chuckled with a slack smile. “Wow. You two are jumpy today.”

            “This is our first time on this thing, ok?!” Sokuro exclaimed. “You may be used to this but, again, this is the first time we’ve been on these things!”

            “Ok. Ok. Relax. Sheesh. So loud.” He picked up the last barrel and set it upright. There were some dents, but nothing to worry about. He looked over to her and chuckled again. “Ok, if it’ll help, I’ll tell you what to expect. First, there is going to be a roar in the back- that is the engines igniting. Next, you will feel the ship move under you as it lifts up off the ground. And you don’t have to worry about faceplanting into the wall back there- these things speed up gradually. It doesn’t go from 0 to 400.”

            “0 to what?”

            The engines in the back roared to life, just like Bran had predicted. “Just hold on and keep your hands and legs inside the ride at all times.”

            The girls looked at each other in confusion. “What ride?” They asked nervously.

           

            Outside, the Beatle slowly lifted up off the ground. It slowly turned so it wouldn’t hit anything as it positioned itself in the direction of the Argo Marquis. Once it was far above the skyline of the colony, the engines kicked into high gear and the dropship blasted off, heading up into space.

 

            The inertial dampeners kicked in, keeping everything inside the hold from bouncing all over the place. It lessened the blow of the sudden speed boost. Somewhat. Bran’s warning about faceplanting into the wall should’ve been said to him as well as he hit the wall. But it was on his back, not a faceplant, so there.

            “Ow… what’s the rush, Arlye?”

            Sokuro and Eia were spared from that thanks to their little hiding spots, but the sudden and strong thrust of speed pulled them out of their spots- Sokuro held onto a pipe while Eia didn’t really go much anywhere. “Yeowza!” Eia exclaimed. “I thought you said it was a gradual thing!”

            “I thought so too.” He groaned as he slid down the wall. “Arlye must be in a rush or something…”

 

            Velx lightly slumbered on his temple, lost so deep in dreamland, it would take something big to wake him up. And something did. He opened his eyes as he sensed four life forces, two of which were Dragenian natives, fading away from the planet- they aren’t dying, but they are moving away from Dragenia, like they are leaving the confides of the planet. He lifted his head and saw, in the distance, one of the Colonists ships heading up into the air and towards the Abyss. He rested his head back down and snorted. “This is going to take some getting used to...” He muttered to himself before closing his eyes.

 

            Breaking though the atmosphere, the Beatle dropship broke free of the confines of Dragenia’s sky and entered the near-infinite mass of space for the first time in weeks. Its destination, the Argo Marquis, was dead ahead. Ever since dropping off the colonists, the extra-galactic vessel has stayed in orbit up here, floating in the cold expanse between the planet and its three moons.

            Too bad the Beatle doesn’t have windows- Sokuro and Eia are missing out on a spectacular view. The entirety of Evioly could be seen and it was something to behind. As it was told before, there is a constant windstorm on the northern most part of the sub-contient, and it was visible from space as a large hurricane that stretched out from epicenter, slowly dissipating the further away the winds got, until it was non-existent when it neared the volcano in the center.

            The Beatle made its way towards one of the hanger near the front of the vessel. It was large enough to hold five of these dropshps. The dropship flew right in without a fuss. Steam hissed out of the bottom of the ship as landing struts extended out. They attached to the pad and the ship touched down.

 

            Arlye climbed down the ladder to see the three of them groaning in pain as they laid on the floor. “… ok, I get why the native girls are on the floor- they never experienced spaceflight before, but why are you?”

            Bran groaned as he rolled onto his front. “You’re the one who went from 0 to Lightspeed in seconds. Ugh…”

            “I know. I just want to get this over with.” He walked over to the exit ramp- more specifically, the button to lower it. “I have a lot of things I need to do today, and this deal with Solstice just wormed its way in.” He pressed the button and the ramp slowly began to lower itself. “You won’t take long finding your mystery item, will you?”

            Bran pulled himself up off the floor and cracked his back. Not even in puberty and his back is already going to give him troubles thanks to this. “No no. I know where to go.” He looked to the girls and saw them getting up. “I just wish I had a video camera so I could record their reactions to Zero G.”

            Arlye hit his head on the wall. “Ugh… I forgot we turned that off when we left to preserve power…” The ramp hit the pad. He turned to the children, “Alright, the moment we step off the Beatle and onto the Argo…. There will be weightlessness.”

            “Weight-what now?” Eia asked.

            “You’ll see.” Bran grabbed some extension cord and tossed them to the girls. “You’ll want to tie those around your skirts.”

            Sokuro raised an eyebrow as she looked at this bizarre looking piece of flexible plastic. This was nothing like what they have on Dragenia. “Why?”

            “In Zero Gravity, everything floats. Even objects as heavy as, as… Eia’s ship would weigh nothing in space. And like I said, everything floats, including loose articles of clothing… and skirts are loose articles.”

            Eia and Sokuro looked down at their clothes and, after sharing a concerning glance with each other, tied the cord around their skirts. “You could’ve warned us about that before we came up.” Eia asked.

            “Eh.” He pulled out his phone and pulled up the text message reply he received last night. “Here’s hoping that his directions are correct.”

            “Whose?” Sokuro asked.

            “Another colonist named Mukembe. He’s a movie buff and has his own cameras. I asked him if there were any projectors on the ship that could work for what I got planned, and he said that the one on the Observation Deck would work. They weigh a ton, but with us floating in Zero Gravity and with your Aerid forms down on the surface, getting it and finding a perfect spot will be a breeze.”

            With the cord wrapped around her skirt, Sokuro tried to move, but found it pretty difficult to do so. She hopped like a rabbit over to him. “Ok then… so, shall we?” She hopped down the ramp. The moment she reached the landing pad, she slid backwards and floated in midair. “WHOOOA!!!” She exclaimed. She felt her hood float off her head. She looked around before flipping around, facing the pad. She couldn’t help but chuckle. “This is reeheheheally weird.” She guffawed. The fun soon faded as she found she can’t go backwards and forwards. “Um… I can’t move. Why can’t I move?”

            Bran pulled her back in. She fell onto the ramp as she had no legs to brace herself. “You need momentum to move in Zero G. Watch.” He hopped off the ramp, having the momentum needed to reach the wall that was opposite of the Beatle’s ramp. He grabbed a pipe and floated around to look at them. “Like that.”

            “Huh… seems easy enough.” She knelt down before bouncing off the ramp. Like with Bran, she had momentum to reach the wall on the far side. This sensation of floating is really, really weird. She had never felt anything like this before and it’s doubtful she ever will again. she grabbed onto the pipe and held on for dear life. “Whooooa.” She chortled. He legs floated up without her trying. She held on tight. “This is super weird.”

            “You’ll get used to it.” He commented.

            “aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!” Eia smashed into the wall. She had come in too fast and she hit the wall hard. Sokuro pulled her head out. Eia awkwardly groaned as her eyes spun. “Mommy… can I go to the fair…?” She croaked. She shook her head hard, coming back to reality. She blinked once before rubbing between her eyes. “Ugh… that hurt.”

            “Well, this is your first experience with Zero G’s.” Bran commented. He moved his hand down and grasped the horizontal railing that ran across the entire wall. He took Eia’s hand, who blushed upon impact. “Grab Sokuro’s hand.” That ruined the moment. Eia grumbled under her breath as she grabbed Sokuro’s hand. “To the Observation Deck.” He said aloud. The girls raised a eyebrow in puzzlement for a brief moment before a light appeared on the railing. The light pulled the three of them along, much to the girls shock and amusement.

 

            Having left the children to their own devices, since they can’t get into too much trouble or they’ll end up in space, Arlye reached the server room to withdraw Solstice from the massive server farm that rested at the end of the ship, near the engine room.

            Solstice’s hologram popped up on the only holographic projector in the server room. “Took you long enough.” He snarked with crossed arms. 

            Arlye rubbed his eyes. “Don’t start with me. I had to wake up early to grab your sorry butt.” He reached the center console and inserted a chip into one of the many slots. A computer screen came to life and he began typing in the command to download Solstice to the chip for transfer.

            “Early? Strange, I thought children loved to sleep in.” Arlye looked up from the screen. “Security camera’s still work.” He ‘kicked back’ on a lawn chair and rested his head in his hands. “Everything still works, he mumbled under his breath.”

            “You’re not funny, Solstice.” Arlye commented as he continued. “And those kids insisted that they come along. The boy, Bran, has something planned but he won’t tell me what he needed.”

            Solstice looked at a invisible screen that showed the security footage of the whole ship. He saw that the three kids were trying to tear something out of the overhead- the manifest lists it as a film projector. They were installed into the two observation decks so that the passengers would be entertained until they got to the edge of the Milky Way, and into cryosleep, and so that the immortal Kitsune’s could be entertained during the 100 year voyage. “If I were to guess, I’d say it would have something to do with the theater-grade projector they are trying to force out of the wall.” He made it visible and showed it to him.

            Arlye looked up again and tilted his head ever so slightly. “Why would they want that?”

            Solstice looked at him with lidded eyes. “Really? It’s a movie projector. It, you know… projects movies?”

            “I’m not a movie guy.”

            Solstice slowly shook his head in a disappointed manner. “…… you are a sad little man.” Arlye grumbled and hit a button he wasn’t to. The A.I. yelped as he felt an electric shock course though his hand, like static charge when touching something metal. “You also have a short temper.” Arlye did it again. “Agh! Fine, I’m shutting up. Sheesh. No sense of humor.”

            And once more for the heck of it. “AH!”

 

            Meanwhile, having caught a ride on the transfer system, the kids arrived at the observation deck. The momentum shot Eia and Sokuro past Bran at the same speed they were traveling, but Bran held on to Eia’s hand and the railing to keep them from slamming against the glass and breaking it.

            “WOO!” Sokuro cheered. She ran her hands though her hair to try and get it back to normal, but that was a lost cause when in Zero Gravity. “That was FUN!” She laughed. “Let’s do that again!”

            Eia, on the other hand, felt dizzy. “Can we go home yet…?” She croaked.

            Bran let go of the railing and pushed himself into the laaaaaarge observation deck. “Soon. Soon.” He said as he lightly pressed against the glass. “But first… take a look at this.” He said with a wide smile.

            The two girls looked his way. Their lights lit up in astonishment and wonder at something they could only see from space: the best view on Dragenia with the best spot on the ship.

The sunlight was in just the perfect position, lighting up the three moons and the planet in a ethereal orange glow, and catching Evioly in just the right balance of morning twilight. In the background was a purplish-red nebula that encircled Dragenia’s seven planet solar system, and beyond that, the grand majesty of the Andromeda Galaxy, resting on its ‘side’. It’s all relative, but to them, the galaxy was on its side like a collector plate.

            “Whoa…” the two girls gasped in astonishment.

            “This is… this is amazing…” Sokuro breathlessly gasped.

            “That’s our home…?” Eia gasped just as equally. “It’s… amazing.”

            “And there’s Evioly, right down there.” Bran said as he pointed down. The girls looked in the direction he was pointing. They can’t tell where they came from down there- they can see the volcano and the hurricane-style storm clear as day, but nothing else. All of the villages and the towns were too small.

            “Wow… everything seems so… so small from up here.” Sokuro rested her head on the glass, feeling the weight of it all come down on her. “(It makes our problems seem… small and… insignificant…)” She looked down at her scale, resting it in the palm of her hand.

            “This is a spectacular view…” Eia gasped, with the two of them oblivious to Sokuro’s little episode. “Is it like this all the time up here in the Abyss?”

            “Yep.” Bran pulled out his phone. “Yes it is.” He angled the phone just right and took the most spectacular photo he could.

            She looked his way when she heard the ‘snap’ on the camera phone and tilted her head. “Hmm? What did you do?”

            “I took a picture of this stunning view. It’s like a painting, except its instant, easier to move, and doesn’t take a century to make.”

            “Oh. Why not sketch it?”

            “I would.” He checked his phone to make sure he got the photo, and nodded in confirmation when he saw he did. “…But there are just some things that cannot be caught with pen and paper.” He put his phone away.  He clapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Ok now…” He looked around the room. “Where is that projector?”

            “Where should we look?” Eia asked as she gently pushed off the glass and over to him.

            “It would need to be someplace that gives everyone in this room a good view of what is being shown… so it would be somewhere up high and far in the back.” The two of them looked up to the ceiling. “This is going to take some time.” He pulled himself up by grabbing a railing and gently grabbed the edge of a light. Eia floated up and he grabbed her hand.

            “So what are we looking for?” She asked.

            “Un… oh.” He pulled his phone back out and showed her the camera lens that is installed on it. “Something that looks like this, but bigger. Like as big, or bigger, then your fist.” She looked at her hand and formed a fist with it. She has such small, dainty hands- not what you would expect from a cabin girl. “Yeah, like that.”

            As the two of them looked along the back ceiling for the lens, Sokuro was still looking out the gigantic window and towards the stunning view that is Dragenia. Seeing everything like this, seeing it on this grand a scale, it makes everything seem so… miniscule. Their entire history, their beliefs, ever her… it all seems so tiny in comparison to everything else that exists out here.

            She wondered if the individual races among the colonists went though this same thing when they were able to travel across the Abyss- to find that all of their disputes and conflicts are just nothing compared to the near-infinite scale Bran built the universe up to be. Did the Humans, Argaliths, Kitsunes, Adlez, and Hesk all go through this same period of realization, that their squabbles over land and power were nothing? How will everyone else on Dragenia react when they realize just how big everything is compared to their small marble?

            She pressed her hand on the window and tapped her forehead on it. She feels like her status as a Silver Aerid means absolutely nothing compared to the grand scheme of things. What Great Change could she bring to Dragenia that would be worth it or even last? She never realized how lonely having such a destiny is before now. She’s the only Silver on Dragenia and she’s got the future of her whole race on her shoulders. The Colonists were one thing, but who’s to say that what they brought would be good for Dragenia’s future? So many things could go wrong and Dragenia would end up like the moons- lifeless. And nobody would even bat an eye if it happened; extinction on a planet is inconsequential to the larger universe.

            “(What am I even doing…?)” She thought to herself, feeling downtrodden. “(We’re nothing compared to this…)” She glanced on down to Evioly. “(The daily lives we all live… is it just for nothing?)”

            “Is this it?!” Eia shouted from across the room. It made Sokuro look back to the two others she came with.

            Bran floated over to where Eia was, in the center of this steppe ceiling. “Is this it?” She asked, pointing towards a machine resting inside a glass case. It had an identical lens as the one on his phone.

            Bran pulled up a photo of the projector he needed on his phone and compared it to this. A perfect match. “Yeah, that’s it.” He put his phone away. “There should be a button around here that will open the case and detach this.”

            “I hope so.” Eia smiled. “I’m dying to see what a movie is like.” She giggled as she helped look around the case for the button.

            Sokuro looked away from them before looking back out onto the grand view. “(Maybe all we live for and what we are are inconsequential, and nobody will care if my home becomes a wasteland…)” She closed the hand on the glass into a fist. “(But so what? It’s still my home. Bran, Eia, Taled, Vela, Velx, Gallna… everyone calls this place home. Maybe we are nothing to the scale of the Abyss, but so what? That’s not going to stop us from living our days to the fullest.)”

            She looked down at her scale again. “(I already brought Great Change to Dragenia with the Colonists… this will be our future someday… but nobody said that had to be my only Change.)” She looked out towards Dragenia again. “(This is still my world… and I can change it for the better. There are many things I have to do on Evioly before I can move on to the rest of the planet… but I will make things better for everybody, regardless of how miniscule it’ll seem. And once I do… the Abyss is next. I’ll be the most famous Silver Aerid of all time. I’ll-)”

            “Hey, Sokuro!” Bran shouted. She was snapped out of her little inspirational trance and blinked once before looking back. She looked back and saw that they had gotten the case open and are now trying to pull the machine out. It’s half as big as them- how are they going to move it on the gr—Aerid form, never mind. “Are you going to help or not?”

            “Sorry.” She looked back one last time. “I was distracted by the view.” She pulled herself up towards them the same way they propelled themselves to the ceiling. “So what do we need to do?” She asked as she reached them as Eia tried to rip it out of its socket.

            “We gotta try to get this off the ceiling…” Bran looked the thing over. “Sigh… but of course, we don’t have screwdrivers.”

            Eia grunted one last time as she tried to get it loose, but nothing happened. She panted and rubbed her sweaty forehead. “What’s a screwdriver?”

            “It’s a tool that is needed to take these out.” He pointed towards the cross-head screws that are holding the projector in place. Eia frowned at him, wondering why he didn’t bring that up sooner. “And we don’t have those, so we’re stuck.”

            “{You have to hit the yellow button located next to it.}” Solstice ordered over the ships intercom. “{It’s a emergency release function.}”

            The girls jumped in their skin from that sudden and unnatural voice. It sounded so… abnormal. Bran was taken aback by the sudden help form the shipboard A.I., but he’s not complaining. He looked around the projector and found the button in question. He pressed it and, like Solstice said, it detached from the ceiling effortlessly and cleanly. It was attached to a pole that had it connected to the shipboard databanks. There were no power cords to worry about- these projectors are Logoron made; they have internal power sources that can last for millennia.

            There aren’t any among the colonists of Dragenia, but I’ll give a quick run down anyway. Logorons are beings of pure energy that reside inside gas giants. Jupiter and Saturn were once Logoron colonies millions of years ago, during the time of the Dinosaurs, but they died out just like the thunderous giants. Like Kitsunes, they are immortal, as they are beings of pure energy. To exist alongside the other races, they wear a special suit of armor that allows them to interact with everything that isn’t gas or energy based.

            “Sweet.” Bran smirked. “Now we just need to get this to the surface and stage one will be complete.”

            “Then what’s stage two?” Sokuro asked.

            “We find the perfect place to set this up. Then comes stage three: Showtime.” He pushed it down to the floor. “Come on, let’s get back to the shuttle.” He pushed off the ceiling and floated towards the projector. The girls followed suit. “This thing will be heavy when we get down to the surface, but that should be nothing for your Aerid selves.” He’s not wrong- Aerids can lift up to 50 tons.

 

            A half hour later, the Beatle dropship landed back down on the landing pad it took off from earlier. The rest of Novalle was beginning to wake up and begin a new day. The ramp lowered and Arlye was the first one off. “Finally.” He grumbled as he looked at the chip containing Solstice’s complete A.I. “You better appriciate all I do for you.” He said to the chip. Solstice can hear him- just because they are in chips doesn’t mean they can’t hear what goes on outside.

            He heard commotion coming from the ship and looked to see the three of them trying to move the now heavy projector. The hold was too small for one of them to go Aerid, so they needed to get it outside before they can do that. Arlye rolled his eyes and walked back up. He picked up the projector effortlessly, shouldering it without a fuss. “You know, if you told me you needed one of the projectors, you should’ve just said so.”

            “I know, but we wanted to keep it a secret until tomorrow.” Bran explained.

            “It’s just a movie.” He said as he walked back down and put it down on the ground. “Our future doesn’t hinge on it, so there’s no sense in keeping it so secretive.” He said as he walked off towards the command center.  

            “He won’t blab, will he?” Eia asked as she was the first down the ramp.

            “Nah. He can keep secrets.” Bran followed after her. Sokuro tried to follow but forgot she had the cord rapped around her skirt. She tore that off and followed back. “Right now, we need to find the perfect spot to set this up, somewhere where everyone from Novalle and Misken can see it without obstruction.” Reaching the ground, Eia’s scale began to glow. “Good thing we’re going by air- it’ll cut all of this searching in half the time.” A few seconds later, Eia’s Aerid form took the scene. “I’ll ask Mukembe to help set up the projector after we find the perfect spot. And maybe the four of us can find the perfect movie to show everyone.”

            “Sure…” Sokuro sighed.

            Bran looked back to her. “You ok?”

            “Huh? Yeah… I’m just… dwelling on things.” She shook her head to get her mind back on track. She doesn’t want to bring Bran down as well. “Come on; let’s get this thing set up.” She climbed up on Eia’s back as Eia grabbed hold of the projector. Bran was going to ask what she was thinking about, but ultimately decided to not to. It’s probably private. He climbed on Eia’s back as well and she took off moments later.

21: Chapter 19: Movie Night

Chapter 19

Movie Night

2/24/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            When Bran, Sokuro, and Eia returned to the surface of the planet, they went right to work getting everything set up for the big night, or as Bran is putting it, the grand opening. The first thing they had to do was find a perfect spot. After flying around for a few hours, looking at both the mountains near the colony, and at Misken Mesa, they had found a spot. It was a cliff face on the northern side of the mountains. The smooth wall of stone faced a series of rolling hills that had been untouched. There were some trees around, but there were barely any. If anything, the trees are extra seats. The cliff has some problems, but nothing that would affect the viewing experience. They hope.

            Once they found the perfect viewing location, they had to find the right place to set up the projector. That was easier said than done for the first few hours because of the direct sunlight, and they needed to recruit Mukembe into Bran’s little plan to run the thing because he’s the only one who knows how to operate cameras. As if by some decree from the heavens, grey clouds rolled in. It didn’t rain, but it helped them. Besides, the projector is waterproof. A downpour wont’ hurt it. When there is nothing playing, the projector emanates a blue screen with a exclamation point. It actually helped them out as they were able to find a good spot.

            Aerid Sokuro and Eia flapped their wings towards the sea, clearing the hills of anything loose that anyone could sit on. After that was done, Sokuro flew up to the cliff face and smoothed out the rest of the cliff with her firebreath. The scorch marks helped blacken the cliff, which made things a lot better for the screen.

            It was around twilight by the time they were done setting up surround sound speakers over the viewing area, but at that point they were exhausted. As it was their first time in outer space, Sokuro’s and Eia’s bodies were aching and sore; they couldn’t handle the G-Forces. Bran was just exhausted- he’s been in space before. Mukembe, unlike the other three, wasn’t pooped. They’ve been moving non-stop all day. It was a good thing Bran set the grand opening for tomorrow night.

            But now came the truly hard part: what movie to pick.

            “I am exhausted!” Sokuro exclaimed as she fell face first into a pile of leaves. “Guess there is a limit to how long someone can fly…” She reached back and rubbed her back. “I can still feel my aching wings…”

            “You and me both…” Eia whined as she rested her feet in a small puddle. “When I get back to the ship, I’m sleeping till noon…” Bran was beside them as well, front down on the ground and stretched out like a slinky.

            “Really?” Mukembe asked as he looked at them from the projector. “The three of you are pooped from all this?”

            The girls gave him a evil stare; Sokuro a glare and Eia a leer. “We’ve been moving since early in the morning.” Eia groaned. “And me and Sokuro left the world for the first time in… EVER, and the trip was not a pleasant one, I can tell you that much. Add on flying for most of the day and smoothing out that thing, I’m amazed I’m still awake.” She yawned. “You’ve only been here a couple of hours.”

            “Details, details.” He ducked under the hefty branch the projector was resting on. “So what is he going to show tomorrow?”

            “He hasn’t said yet.” Sokuro said. “He’s having trouble deciding.”

            Bran lifted his head up. “It’s hard to find the perfect movie to show people who never saw a movie before. I’m trying to find one that’s appropriate for a first viewing.”

            “So…. Family friendly?”
            “Pretty much. Along with romance, action, adventure, comedy, maybe a little drama. All involving dragons, of course.” He plopped his head back down. “That’s why it is haaaaaaaaaaard.”

            Mukembe rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone to look though the selection of movies they have. He put in those criteria into the search engine and found a selection of moives under that category. He scrolled though and found one. “Will this work?” He asked as he dangled his phone in front of Bran’s face.

            Bran looked up from the dirt and saw the movie he had suggested. It was a perfect one to show the natives: plenty of action and comedy, with romance. Best of all, it’s not set on Earth, so they don’t have to worry about explaining everything. “Wh—yes, that is perfect!” He sat up and grabbed the phone. “How did you find this?”

            “You do know you can edit the search engine, right?”

            “……………………………….. I did not know that. But still, this is perfect!”

            “What is?” Eia asked as she looked his way.

            Bran hid the phone. “Oh no no no. That’s still going to be a mystery. I want you to be as surprised as everyone else.” He handed the phone back to Mukembe. “But trust me, you’ll like it.”

            “We better, after moving all day today.” Sokuro rumbled. “This whole movie thing better be worth it.”

            “It will be. Trust me… again.” He stood up off the ground and wiped all the dirt off his front side. “And tomorrow is going to be easy. All we need to do is spread the word that this is going on. It’s just telling people. Simple, right?”

            “Sure. Simple. Right.” She grumbled as she rested her head down. “But first… I’m gonna sleep.”

            “It’s not even dinner time yet.” Mukembe commented.

            “That’s how tired I am…”

 

The Next Day…

 

            “A movie night?” The orphans all replied in unison.

            Not long after Sokuro woke up from a really long night’s sleep- she was lucky enough to make it home and eat dinner before plopping down on her bed; not even the burning sting in her neck could wake her up- she had her breakfast and told them about what she and Bran have cooked up for tonight, even if she doesn’t’ understand it herself. She knows that they are moving pictures… but so far, the only one she has seen was Arlene, and she wasn’t really a picture, but some mist ghost thing.

            She chugged down the last of the water. She was asleep for so long, her mouth was arid. “Yep.” She panted as she wiped her mouth. “Movie night.”

            “Uh, what’s a movie?” Hela asked from her soft chair in the living area.

            “I believe they call them moving pictures.” Eriod commeneted. “Isn’t that Arlene whatchamacallit a moving picture? “

            “No.” Sokuro said as she lifted her head off the table. “She is a… what did Bran call her?... eeeerrr… A Hologram. She’s a hologram, ergo not a movie picture.” She swiped her brothers cup and drank out of that, much to his dismay. “Look, I’m as curious as the lot of you.’

            Vela found that hard to believe. “You mean to tell me that in the weeks you’ve known each other, he hasn’t showed you what a moving picture is?”

            “We were busy trying to understand what we were saying.” She chugged down the last of Taled’s drink, which irritated him. He took it back when she placed it down and went to fetch another glass for himself. “Look, we’ll all find out tonight at the site on the north end of the Vichizi mountains. The entire village is invited, and Bran is doing the same for the colonists. He wants it to be a bonding experience.”

            Nobody could find any reason to protest; their curiosity about what a movie is is overpowering any other second thoughts they are having. It could be a lot of fun. But telling the entire village… that’s going to be a pain. There are over 250 people in the village; an almost 50/50 split between Gaharot and Ferid, plus or minus a few dozen from either race. And who knows if even Velx will want to come.

            Still, the payoff would surely be worth it, she hoped. She got up out of her chair and stretched her arms over her head. Way she has it planned, she should tell everyone and be done before lunch.

            And she was pretty spot on. She was able to tell everyone in the village about what Bran has cooked up and their curiosity was as infections as the orphans. Even Velx was curous what a movie is like. She also relayed what Bran told her and that everyone should bring their own snacks and drinks.

            Back at the colony, Bran was doing the same thing, except his was a lot easier. Rather then going from person to person, telling them about this, he instead told Arlene, who made a colony-wide baordcast, telling them about the event tonight. He wished she didn’t turn this into a spectical, but there weasn’t much he could do about that. Besides, they’re going to a spectical tonight, so it’s surprisingly appropriate, maybe?

 

            After lunch time, Bran was at the projector, installing the movie that Mukembe had found into the device. He plugged a data drive into the side and it was at 50 percent, last he saw. The rate it was installing, it should be done in 10 minutes.

            He heard the sound of flapping leather wings up above, followed by a small gust of wind as a shadow passed him by. He didn’t even look up from his phone- he knew who it was. One flash of light later and Sokuro jumped down from the trees onto a lower branch with her arms still glowing from the transformation for a few seconds.

            “How did I know you would be here?” She smirked with a light rhasp in her voice.

            “I’m guessing because of the giant blue screen on the cliff face?” Bran commented without looking up.

            “Hehe…” She leaped down to him.  “So, what is this thing doing now?”

            “Right now, it is currently installing the movie. It’ll be done before everyone comes over.”

            “Cool. Speaking of which, I was able to tell everyone back in Misken about this and they are all very curious about this whole ‘moving picture’ thing. Even Velx is interested.”

            His head darted up from his phone. “Velx?! Wow, if he likes it, that’ll be a high honor…. It will be, right?”

            “Yeah, it will.” She rubbed her still sore throat. “Though my throat hurts from talking too much.”

            Wait, did she go around telling everyone in the village? The native people may be primitive, but don’t’ they have pamphlets or brochures that she can hand out? They have flying machines, but no newspapers? “Wait, you told literally everyone in Misken?”

            “Yep… and my throat is on fire. Uugh, there isn’t enough water in a river to--” She stopped talking as she crossed her legs and did a little dance. And here’s the downside for drinking too much water and having a small bladder. “And there’s the downside for the chugging. Be right back.” She zipped off to find the nearest bush to use as a restroom.

            “Find someplace that isn’t around here!” He called out to her.

            “I know!”

            Bran took a gander at the machine to see how it was doing. It was at 71 percent, so it was downloading at a rather fast pace. Should be done in a few minutes, by his calculations. He sat back down, only to be startled by the sudden appearance of the other girl.

            “Heya!” Eia squeaked from behind, hanging upside down off the tree.

            “WHOA!” Bran nearly jumped off the branch, but thankfully didn’t. He looked back to Eia, who was softly giggling to herself. “Not funny, Eia.”

            “It was a little bit funny.” She snickered. She flipped herself upwards before landing down on the branch right beside him. “So, what’s the word?”

            “It’s currently downloading into the projector, but it’ll still be awhile.”

            “Oh. Alright.” She hung off the branch with her tail. “… sooooo… you think the movie that big fella chose will work?”

            “Big fella? You mean Mukembe, right?” She shrugged. “Well, he’s the biggest movie buff in the colony, so I would assume so. Even has his own camera.”

            “Ok.” She looked to the projector. “You do have such interesting technology, Bran. Too bad I won’t be able to experience it for myself.”

            “Huh?”

            “We’re leaving first thing in the morning. Captain’s orders. We’ve lingered here for too long, making repairs on the ship.”
            “Oh. Well, that’s a shame. I hope I get to see you again.”

            So quick on the goodbye. She was actually a little hurt that he was so quick on the goodbye. “I’m not leaving now, graka. We’re leaving tomorrow morning- they are dying to know what a movie is themselves. And we will meet again. We’re going to the other towns on Evioly, so we’ll be back this way before leaving. Well, I will at least. Captain always likes to make a stop at Roko. I can fly here while she’s getting plastered.”

            “Un….. ok.” Eia booped him on the nose with a light chuckle. A few seconds later, the projector beeped. Bran looked at it and the movie had finished downloading. “Well, the movies ready to go. Now we gotta wait for tonight.”

            “Aw…” Eia whined. “The wait is going to kill me.”

            Bran chuckled as he got up off the branch. “Try waiting years for a new movie in a franchise you like.” A small thought creeped into his head, which made him put a devious smile on his face. “Hehe… oh, I need to learn how to make CGI.” Eia tilted her head in puzzlement.

           

            Twilight creeped up a lot sooner then expected. The people from Misken knew where the Vichizi Mountains were, but the colonists sure didn’t. Thankfully, they were easy to find: They were right next door. They are the same mountains Bran and Sokuro appeared on after their subterranean escapade, as well as the same mountains Sokuro rammed the Phagos into. Regardless, all they had to do was follow the Aerids and Airships heading that way.

            The hills that were chosen weren’t big enough to fit everyone. 20250 people are a bit too much for a few hills to handle. Thank the Gods for Airships. They can hover in place and they offer the best seats in the house. Hearing the sound will be a hassle, but that was easily remedied: just hook up more speakers and put them on the ships. Easy peasy.

            The landscape was filled with chattering voices, most of which were from the natives, eager to see what kind of technology this will be. Everyone from Misken was here- EVERYone. They even brought the babies and the very old.

            “What do you think this whole movie thing is about?” Inoute asked his assistant as they sat underneath a tree with others.

            “I wish I knew.” Ifil commented as he set of bowl of covicas beside him. It’s basically Dragenian popcorn, except the popcorn is boiled Tonton fish eggs. Cooked caviar- not exactly tasty to humans, but very tasty to them. “But if Arline is any indication, I’d say we have a good idea of what it’ll be like.”

            “Hmm. True.” He looked to the cliff face. “But still, moving pictures. It sounds so ludicrous and… well, impossible. But given what we have seen in the past few weeks with these newcomers, moving pictures sounds a lot like childsplay to them.”

            “True enough, true enough.”

           

            “I’m a little bit nervous.” Leoi said as he messed with his fingers as he and the other orphans sat on a tree branch, giving them a steller view. He always gets a bit nervous when about to try something new, and this movie experience is completely new. “Do you think it’ll be scary?”

            “Scary how?” Buron asked as she hung upside down by her tail.

            “Like what if it’s a portal to a alternate universe where demons will come and snatch us up and take us to their world and use us for food?”

            Zalet looked at him with lidded eyes, knowing full well what’s causing this panic kerfuffle. “… You read Ato’ricke again, didn’t you?” Leoi lowered his head in shame. “Oh geez… there’s a reason it’s scary: it was made scary. You know that.”

            “What’s Ato’ricke?” Dan asked. He was up there sitting with the rest of the orphans, leaning back on a comfortable pillow.

            “It’s a very scary story.” Aka went to explain. “It’s about a poor Gaharot merchant who makes a deal with a demon called a Gudush for fortune, but he ignored, or just flat out didn’t hear, the demons warnings and the deal he was to keep. The Gaharot has a curse put on the fortune by the demon that will continue to affect him, driving him to madness until he lives up to his end of the deal, which is a sacrifice. One of the scenes that Leoi mentioned has the Gaharot suffering a VERY vivid and realistic hallucination. In the end, the Gaharot sacrifices his fortune, which appeases the demon.”

            “Huh… throw in a twist ending and it sounds like it could make a interesting horror movie.”

            “Do you Milky Way people have any scary stories?” Set asked as she swung her legs back and forth.

            “Peegh, you kidding me? We have nearly limitless scary stories from back home. Some with happy endings, some bittersweet like that Gaharot synopsis you just told me, and some where the monster or evil force wins. Those were strangely popular for a time.”

            “This isn’t going to be a scary movie, will it?” Taled asked, feeling a little bit worried about what they are to watch.

            “No no no. Knowing Bran, he found something lighthearted that you could all probably handle. And knowing him, he probably picked one with Dragons, too.” He got comfortable on the tree branch. “I giuess we’ll find out in a few minutes.”

 

            Vent sat by himself on the leftern-most side of the crowd, sitting beside a large tree while leaning on his upright sniper rifle. He never was a fan of crowds; that was part of the reason why he became a hunter for this trip- he would spend all his time out in the wilds and away from people.

            “I’m guessing you’re not a people person.” Poloso asked as she walked up to him from behind.

            Vent looked back and saw her approaching him. He turned his head back to the screen, waiting for things to get started. “You are spot on. I don’t like crowds. I always feel claustrophobic and like I can’t breath.”

            “Sounds like you got some bad anxiety.” She commeneted as she sat down on the other side of the tree.

            “Only when it comes to large crowds. Everything else, I’m as fine as a clam.”

            She raised a eyebrow in curiosity. “Clam?”

            “It’s some Earth animal now extinct- all I know is the name and that it is some kind of shellfish.”

            “Huh. There is a lot I need to learn about the Milky Way races. That is such a odd name to call a home- the Milky Way. Who came up with that?”

            “I don’t know. It has something to do with a country called Greece back on Earth. The Earthlings adopted that for the name of the galaxy for some reason. Anyway, that’s what they called home, but we all had various names. We Kitsunes called it Koltatu, which means the Grand Expanse. The Argaliths called it Xoco, the Hesk the White Field, etc, etc.” He pointed back behind them. “You lot call Andromeda the Great Light, which proves my point.”

            “Yeah yeah.” She looked to the screen. “So are movies a human invention too?”

            “Nope. Every race had some form of visual entertainment. You must have something too, like picture books or, or paintings, and I’m sure some day, you’ll make your own version of movies too.” He pulled out a canteen and took a drink. “But that’s gonna be a long ways away.”

            “I think we’ll be satisfied with just these for now.”

 

            Velx rested comfortably behind the large crowd, having found a good spot with a good view of the cliff face while leaving everyone else with enough room. He had to clear out a few trees to make room. The other leaders- Georgia and Belfast- were with him. Inoute was doing his own thing, as you saw, while Arlye liked his own privacy.

            “I’m honestly surprised you are curious about this, m’lord.” Georgia commented as she rested on his head. “No offense, but… you’re a god. Surely something as trivial as moving pictures is beneath you.”

            “Not really.” He said back. “Like everyone else here, I’m curious to see what this will be like. Just look- everyone from Misken is here because they are as curious as me.” He smirked to himself. “Imagine… barely a month after the ceremony and we’re co-existing with otherworlders and acting like we’ve been doing it for years.”

            “And that’s strange to you?”

            “I can see his point.” Belfast said, knowing full well what can happen when two civilizations mingle. “To us, the Ferids and the Gaharots are a unknown species, with one of them being able to perform something long though impossible back home. And the same holds true vice versa- we are not of this world and we have technology that should be scaring them. I’ve seen it on countless first contacts; if the race is too underdeveloped, they’ll either fear the newcomers or worship them as gods. Even with civilizations with the level of technology as this planet, it should be a all-out fear frenzy. Yet it’s not happening here. By all rights, the people from the village should be attacking us, not setting up trade rules. It’s a puzzling anomaly.”

            Velx chuckled warmly. “Well, the people of Misken are a peaceful and friendly bunch. Has been for eons. That’s one of the main benefits of living so far from the mainland, and so far from all of the chaos that occurs like Xelut’s rampage. Misken is the friendliest place I can think of on this planet, though there are some other contenders on the mainland: the desert oasis of Tokoi comes to mind.”

            “And if we were to land anywhere else other then Misken and this Tokoi place?”

            Fayin chimed in, laying on top of Velx’s head. “Then you would’ve had the trouble you feared would’ve happened, especially if you landed near Aflhegeu. That’s the worst place to be.” Shivers in distaste- it truly is that bad a place. “And as Velx was saying earlier, living so far from the mainland has it’s benefits. But it can also have its drawbacks. With the exception of the fall of the Gaharot Empire, nothing in interest ever happens on Evioly. People can get bored. The arrival of all of you shook things up more then the new Silver Aerid ever did. But just be ready- not everyone is going to give you the same steller reception we did.”

            “I expect the worse to happen some day or another. You can’t introduce an unknown to a working system and expect things to keep going swimmingly. Things are going to shake up, there is no denying that. The question is when.”

           

            Bran and Sokuro waited on the branch right near the projector, waiting for the right moment to activate the movie and get things going. Everyone was here to see what could be the start of a new tradition, he hopes.

            It would’ve happened a few minutes ago if Bran wasn’t feeling anxious. There’s no telling how the natives will react to this; what if he is making a huge mistake? This could go so wrong so quick. “…iiii’m not so sure about this anymore, Soky…” He whined as he messed with his fingers. “What if things go wrong? I could be starting something really bad.”

            “They won’t.” Sokuro said as she laid on the edge with a leg dangling off the side. “You give us too little credit. If puzzling machines, strange new races, or the fact you are from the Black Abyss didn’t scare us into combat, I don’t think moving pictures will.” She sat back up. “You give us too little credit.”

            “You know I didn’t mean that. I just…”

            “You’re just getting cold feet.” She grunted as she got up. “Nothing bad is going to happen. Everyone is just going to have a good time.”

            “I hope so…” He rubbed his hands together and breathed into them. It was starting to get chilly; the perfect time to start the movie. The sun had set behind the mountains, so it’s pretty much the perfect time to get this started. “Alright… let’s do this, Sokuro.” Sokuro snickered. This was going to be interesting. Bran grabbed a microphone off the projector and switched it on. There was loud feedback, which made just about everyone cover their ears. Even Velx flattened his ears from the ear-piercing sound.

            “{Um… hello, everyone.}” He said nervously. Several Miskenites moved away from the speakers, shocked to hear someones voice come out of it. One of the children poked a speaker’s side. “{For those who haven’t met me, my name is Bran Shkirando and, un, I set up this up with my friend Sokuro as a, un, attempt to bring us all closer together. We’re going to be neighbors going forward and, while everyone has been getting along, I am hopng this movie night thing will cement that.}”

            “{A lot ofyou may be wondering what movie I picked for Dragenia’s first ever movie night. Well, I wanted to choose something that would make a good first impression on people who had never seen moving pictures before. A fellow colonist named Mukembe actually picked it out and I thought ‘yeah, this could work.’ So… for Dragenia’s first ever movie night, we present the 3131 award winning classic, The Dragon Sworn.}” He hit the button on the top of the projector and started the movie as Eia sat down beside him.

 

            The Dragon Sworn is a award-winning and record breaking action-comedy-fantasy-romance epic from the year 3131. It was the first Earthian movie to be directed by an alien- an Argalith and Kitsune duo, in this case. The Kitsune provided the emotion while the Argalith provided the action. It won multiple awards, including best costume design, best screen play, and best picture.

            The movie follows a prince named Fitheiral as he is about to be crowded king of his expansive kingdom. His first act as king is to make peace with the Draconian nation of Vo’tis, which his kingdom was at war with for some time. The Dragon King Dulas believed the new king to be a vile trickster and chose to ignore him, believing that their kind could never co-exist. His daughter, Coulae, believed otherwise and wanted to prove her father wrong. She volunteered to go to prove that they can co-exist. Knowing she would sneak out anyway, Dulas accepted her proposal. She even took on a more human form to better fit in amongst the humans- she looked like one, except her tail, wings, and horns were all exposed.

            Around roughly 30 minute’s worth of awkward hyjinks ensued as Coulae tried to fit in with the humans, with…. moderate degrees of success. It was tough for her to fit in with humans, especially with hatrid for her kind still high, despite there being a truce. While most of the peoples on both sides of the conflict are wreay of the constant fighting and wished for peace, there are those who wanted the conflict to keep going; most notable the human guard captain Dralo and the dragon vizier Talaka.

            On the human side of the equiation, Dralo attempted to assassinate Coulae in her sleep while in a disguise, but was stopped by a Dwarvin mercenary hired by Dulas to protect her. Eventually, the Dwarf was discovered and Coulae kept her around, knowing that her father would just send more to protect her. Later, when they were heading into town, he attempted to kill all 3 of them using a runaway wagon. He had clearly underestimated Coulae’s strength- even in a human form, she could wreck that thing with her pinkie.

            On the dragon side of things, Talaka was ploying with Dulas’ worried state, telling him that Coulae is not safe among the humans and that she will pay the ultimate price for his stupidity. He pleaded with his king to launch a rescue assault or else humans will slay her, but Dulas refused, knowing his daughter is much stronger then that. Talaka tried again and again, but kept getting the same result.

            Things came to a head in the third act. Talaka learns of other like-minded indivituals over on the human nation. He learns of Dralo and contacts him via crystal ball. The two form a plan to reignite the war. At the same time, after spending months together, Fitheiral and Coulae had fallen in love with each other and shared a passionate night together. That same night, Dralo took refugees back to their home village on the border, telling them that the war was over. When he left, Talaka started his end of the deal and destroyed the village, killing everyone.Dralo ‘launched’ a counter-attack by going into the Dragon lands by himself, only to be ‘captured’ by Talaka’s trustworthy guard and brought to Dulas. Talaka tells their kind that the human was attempting to cross their border to slay their children while word of the village attack reachs the capital.

            Left with no choice, both sides ready for war. Coulae, not wanting to lose both her father and her new boyfriend, seeks out the Temple of Eia, a goddess who all races worship, to find answers. 2 months pass and both sides amassed at the border to do battle, to reignite the war despite Fitheiral’s best attempts to stop this. Dulas brings for Dralo as a hostage, demanding his daughter be returned. When Fitheiral said that she wasn’t there, Dulas took that to mean she’s been captured, now believing Talaka’s false words.

            The battle was to ensure when Coulae appears out of nowhere with a new glowing form and visibly weak, creating a temporary barrier to prevent the fighting. She pleads with both sides and tells them they have been tricked by their own who wanted the war to continue. Before she could reveal who they are, Talaka sacrifices Dralo and uses hisbody to create a giant monster made of rock and lava. Both Human and Dragon are forced to unite against this new giant foe while Coulae went after Talaka.

            After a long 10 minute battle, Coulae was able to defeat Talaka by making the monster swallow him whole, which was then destroyed by a combined blast of human and Draconian magic. While they won, it was a hollow victory. Coulae had been mortally wounded by a dirty move by Talaka and, as she laid there dying on the battlefield, she had proven her father right: their two races can co-exist; the battle served as that proof and, to a lesser and not as great of an extent, Talaka and Drola too. Her final words to Fitheiral and Dulas were ‘I love you both… and I left you a gift at the temple’ before succumbing to her wounds.

            A few days later, after mourning the loss of Coulae, Dulas and Fitheiral formally declare that the war was over and that a permanente truce was to be made. Assigning their most trusted officials and advisors to draw up the truce, the two kings set off to the temple to find Coulae’s last gift: 3 eggs containing the first ever human-dragon hybrids.

 

            The film was well regarded, obtaining high reviews. It was able to blend a perfect mesh of action, drama, and comedy while having stunning battle sequences and gorgeous cinematography. It got several sequels following it’s high box office take, which followed the hybrid children, but that is a story for another day. There were attempts to remake this in a more contemporary setting or futuristic, but everyone agrees that the original saga was the best version.

                                                                                                           

            Bran was on edge, wondering how the natives would react to something like this. This was a movie with a lot of laughs and a lot of tears. All he heard was stunned silence, even from Velx. This was either a good thing or a bad thing. It wasn’t long until he started hearing cheers from everyone around.

            “W-wow…” Sokuro cried as she wiped her teary eyes. Bran and Eia looked her way. “That was… that was something.” She sniffled. “I laughed, I cheered, I cried… are all movies like this?”

            “A good chunk of them.”

            “That ending…” Eia sniffeled as she wiped her eyes. “That was… wow, that was bittersweet.” She looked back. “Even Velx is speechless. I never though a God could get speechless.”

            Sokuro hugged him from the side. “This was a good idea, Bran. I loved it and I’m sure everyone else does too.” Eia pouted in annoyance at this sight of affection. “Are there more like this?”

            “Un, yeah. It got several sequels.” Looking around and hearing nothing but praise from the natives, it’s a safe bet that the first ever Dragenian movie night was a resounding success. “Well, we got ideas for the next movie night, if anyone wants to do it again.”

            Everyone really wants to do it again. The natives fell in love with this new thing and they want more. He just needed to find a free night for everyone.

22: Chapter 20: Lurking Evil

Chapter 20

Lurking Evil

                                               3/5/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

           

A couple of weeks had passed since the movie night and things were slowly starting to become routine between the colonists and the natives. Learning of each others culture was taking precident. They know for a fact that the Miskenites won’t go into a frenzy if the colonists say something or do something bad because they are still brand new to this world. Anywhere else in the world and they would be in jail, dead, or worse. Thanks to this strange learning environment, the newcomers can learn what to not say or do around other natives on the planet to avoid causing a conflict.

The same holds true vice versa. Since there are Humans, Argaliths, Hesk’s, Kitsune’s, and Adlez’- five distict and different races- among them all, the natives have to be careful on what they say as well. They could offend someone and, while they don’t have numbers, they do have superior firepower when compared to crossbows and cannons.

Learning what NOT to say- that’s more difficult then just learning to talk, but given the last month or so, they are on a good track. But trying to cooperate with the rest of the world, which has been told numourous times by multiple people to be a lot rougher then Misken, was going to be tougher, especially when it comes to those who speak for the Astral Aerids. Mouthpieces can be bought and their messages corrupted.

They had a lot of work to do before trying to make contact with the other regions. It took a lot of work, but Georgia was able to convince Dexyl and her crew to keep the colonists a secret from the other villages on the sub-continent before they left. The colonists like their chances with the sub-contineint tribes, especially with the Miskenites on their side. It’s everything past the scar in the sea that’s going to be a problem.

Sokuro and Bran may’ve laid the groundwork, but both civilizations still have a lot to go though before they can truly co-exist without any problems. Speaking of whom…

 

            Bran and Aka watched from the table in the orphanage as Sokuro put herself though a vigerous training regiement: for two hours a day, it was nothing but squats, sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, and crunchs. For the first hour, it’s as a Ferid. Second hour, Aerid, and that one has additional flying lessons to deal with. There was a reason for this sudden bout of exercise.

            “So… is there a reason for her to be doing this?” Bran asked as a piece of Keks Grass hunt ouf ot his mouth. Kek’s Grass is like Wheat from Earth- it can be made into bread and other pastry products. Unlike Wheat from Earth, eating it raw has some health benefits. At least the cinnamom-like taste wasn’t bad. “I’m starting to regret showing you all of those excercises.”

            “I need to… improve on… my stamina!” Sokuro grunted as she did push-ups. “Fighting the… Phagos last month… showed me… that I still have… a long ways… to go.”

            “Well, weren’t you only a Aerid for a week at that point? That’s how long we knew each other before the craziness.”

            “True… but I figured… once I got my form… I’d be unstoppable… that proved me wrong… that doesn’t’ even… bring into the fact… that the trip to… the Black Abyss… wore me out… if I go… up there again… I don’t want to… risk getting exhausted… again… especially… when new threats come… like another Phagos… or lord forbid… a even worse monster…”

            “Not to mention the Koloron is coming up next week and she wants to be fit for that.” Aka commented as she read her book.

            Bran looked towards her. “The Koloron?”

            Aka put the book down so that she could explain it. “The Koloron is an extremely dangerous race that takes place in Meoho Village over to the east every year. The contenstents, whose numbers range from year to year, must fly though a treacherous mountain range of sharp, knife-like peaks and jutted cliffs amid high winds. There is only one rule: no killing. Other then that, everything is fair game.”

            “Do people actually die during this race?”

            “Not in recent cycles. But there have been dismemberments. Like I said, it is extremely dangerous and should not be taken lightly. Only the bravest of the brave dare challenge that race.”

            Bran returned his attention to Sokuro. “And she wants to try and go though that—why the heck would you want to go though that if it is so dangerous? Is it because of that Gallna chick from Roko Harbor?” Sokuro stopped exercising for a moment, giving him the answer he needed. “Oh for p—it is because of Gallna, isn’t it?”

            “What’s this about Gallna?” Aka asked as she closed her book.

            “When we were in Roko, waiting for Eia and her friend to get the part needed for their ship, we encounted a girl named Gallna, whose father is the mayor or governer or whatever term you use for a person in power. She was a total snob, treating Sokuro like she was the one acting all high and mighty because she became the Silver Aerid instead of her. She even thought Sokuro stayed here so you can all wait on her hand and foot.”

            Aka was offended to her core, and when she tells the others, they will be too. They know Sokuro and they KNOW that she wouldn’t act like that. “Say what?! Ooooo, I hate her already and I never met her.”

            “Pray you never do.” His attention turned back to Sokuro. “But doing a dangerous stunt just to show up a spoiled rich kid is a really bad idea. You could get hurt, or worse.”

            Sokuro briefly shook her head before getting back to her excercises. “You worry too much, Bran. I’ll be fine. Nothing is--” Her neck began hurting again, making her wince in pain. She stopped her excercises and sat on the floor, rubbing where the Phagos bit her once again. The wounds are long gone- why is this still hurting, and why does it feel like its getting worse?

            “Like heck, you can. Your neck is still hurting from your fight with the turtle demon thing, so flying though mountains with the bad winds and knife-sharp cliffs and jutties are just a seriously bad idea.”

            “I agree with him.” Sokuro, still holding herneck, got up off the floor and headed towards the kitchen to get a drink of water. “Also, you should have that looked at. It’s been nearly a month now and the wound is still hurting.”

            “I don’t have a wound anymore. And I told you, I am fine.” Though it is making her wonder. The giant snake that teleported her and Bran to the surface after their discoveries underground- it healed their wounds and repaired their clothes, but she is still dealing with this burning sensation? Did the thing not know it at the time, or was this something else, something physical?

            Their conversation was interrupted when Vela came out of one of the nearby rooms with a bowl. He rushed over to the kitchen, poured out the water in it, and refilled it. He was in a state of concern and panic, especially with what was going to happen today.

            “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Bran commented, seeing Vela in such a state.

            “Wouldn’t you be in this situation?!” The dinosaur-lite boy barked. The bowl was filled up and he went to grab something to heat it up with.

            “Mmm… yeah, I guess I would. Anyone would, really.”

            Sokuro grabbed a Pisj- the Dragenian equivalent to grapes; they are orange in color and strangely taste like caramel- and tossed one in her mouth. “How’s Hela doing?”

            “Still in pain.” Vela panted as he put the bowl of water on top of a coal bed. “Who knew labor would take this long?” Sokuro raised her hand, seeing as she was there when her brother was born. She was too young to see the process- thank Velx- but she remembers it taking a really long time. Vela didn’t want to hear none of it. “You shush up.”

            Yesterday night, just as they had finished up supper, Hela had gone into labor. The first contraction hit and it was a doozy. The next one came an hour later, so she still was on the long road before she was going to hold her second child in her arms. To make matters tenser, she was two weeks late, so this was going to take longer then usual. Fast forward to the next day, at this hour- the contractions were 5 minutes apart. The baby was close to being born, but it’s already being stubborn. Gotta give props to Hela; she is a trooper. She went though worse when she had Vela, so this was a cakewalk for her. Still, this was going to be a long and painful one. It’s already going on 20 hours.

            The other orphans had left to take care of their own things. Sokuro made sure Taled wasn’t here to see the process- she practically begged one of the others to take him for the day. Set, Aka’s twin sister, went to go get the healing shaman once the contractions reached 5 minutes. Aka stayed to help things out and Bran was here because he was curious to see what is different between the Gaharots and Earth’s old Utahraptors, aside from speaking and being technological. On Earth, all of the old Dinosaurs laid eggs. He wanted to see if that was true here or if they had evolved to live births. All he had heard and read seemed to be pointing to the latter, and he knows the doctors and nurses back at Novalle will kill him if he doesn’t bring back any useful information.

            Sokuro lifed her shoulders with a shrug. “I’m just saying, I know from experience. I don’t remember much, but I know Taled took ages to be born.”

            “I highly doubt you remember that. You were, what, 3, 4 at the time?” Once the water was heated up to the right temperature, Vela took it off the coalbed and went back to his mother’s room. “I just wish there was a way to speed this up. The wait is killer.”

            “It always is, but it won’t be long now.” Aka reassured him. “I’m certain of it.”

            Vela heaved up the bowl and quickly walked towards the door. “I hope you’re right.”

            “And if you need help, just holler.” Sokuro said. Vela nodded before bumping the door to his mother’s room with his tail.

            Bran turned his attention back to Sokuro while the stick hung down. “Do you even known how to deliver a baby?”

            Sokuro lowered her head in shame. “No… and I was too small and too young to see Taled being born- dad says I would’ve gotten nightmares.”

            Aka pattered the poor girl on the back. “Just be glad you don’t remember it. I, on the other hand, have had my fair share.” Bran raised a eyebrow, wondering what the heck and how the heck she could see the number he’s imagining. She rolled her eyes and went on to explain. “I volunteer at a farm, a’ight? It’s this small place just off the mesa- I hitch a ride down on the cargo lifts. I do what I’m told to do with little fuss, usually with feeding the animals or tending the fields. I’m usually rewarded with free fruit.” She plucked one such piece out of the bowl, a Belu, and ate it. “And the animals there can get pregnant and I, on occasion, help with the deliveries. It’s really gross and I almost threw up a few times, but darnit, if the babies weren’t cute as a button, I’d quit.”

            “But those are animals.” Sokuro said. “This is Hela we’re talking about- a Gaharot. Last I checked, those two don’t really mix.”
            “It’s the same basic principle.” Aka responded with a full mouth. “To repeat Bran, do you know how to deliver a baby?” Sokuro pouted as she crossed her arms. “Thought so.”

            Sokuro pouted as she sunk in her seat. “I would if I could, you know.”

            Bran scooted over and patted her on the back. “We know you could.” Sokuro gave him a glare that made him stop. Those are never good.

           

            Meanwhile, Velx was fast asleep on his temple, waiting for the new baby. He can sense the new life coming, and he can sense it was going to be soon. Once a new life is born, a Astral Aerid christens it with a single touch of a claw on the forehead, promising a long and happy life.

            His eyes shot open when he heard a bloodcurdling scream of agony. His head darted up and he looked form side to side. That was not Hela. He heard her screams before when she had Vela and during the current one. This was not her. This was someone in pure agony… and it was someone from here on his domain.

            He could sense the identiy of the person in question and the pain being dealt should not be felt by mortal hands. He could sense the very lifeforce of the person disappear completely, as if it never existed- as if it was being… eaten.

            There is only one person he knows that can cause this much suffering and deliver such a horrific end… and he’s here on Evioly. He must’ve heard about the new Silver Aerid and came to see if he can do to her what he’s done before to countless other Aerids. Or maybe… maybe he sensed the same energy he and the other Astrals felt. There are only two reasons for him to be here, and either one of them is bad.

 And the scream… it must’ve been his new victim of the year. He dug his claws into the stone, infuriated that he can’t do anything about it. He and his fellow Gods know he is still here on Dragenia, but he keeps hiding his location somehow, and even if they were able to do a thing, their strict rules would keep them from doing a thing about it.

Fayin approached with a plate of food and saw the furious look on his face and his claws dug into the temple. “Um… lord Velx?” That snapped him out of his pained train of thought. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, I am, Fayin. I’m just… lost in thought.” He took his claws out of the temple. “I”ve been thinking about something from the past… something that always angers me.” He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “… I’m fine now.”

“That’s good to hear.” She said as she approached him. Velx subtlely nodded along, guilty that he can’t just tell her the truth- that he can’t tell anyone the truth. He hopes Sokuro can do something about this soon… otherwise, they will all pay the price for their silence. He sent his sympathies to the poor soul- they deserved far better then this.

 

Out of nowhere, Sokuro felt a shiver go down her spine. “Brrrrrrr…” She shivered feeling off and hollow from it. She held her hands to her shoulders and shivered.

Bran, who has just now eaten the wheat-like thing, noticed that. “What’s wrong?”

She slowly shook her head, not knowing why this happened. “… I don’t know. I just felt… cold, like a chill had slithered its way into my very soul.”

Aka looked at her oddly- she didn’t know shivers could do that. “… I’ve had chills go down spines, but never a slither in my soul. And it’s not cold today- the cold season doesn’t start for another month.”

Bran rested his head on his fist. “You know, there’s a superstition about chills up spines back on Earth, with a lot of different meanings. From what I looked up, it can be a sign from up above that you are on the right path in your life, or a warning that something ghostly, and more then possibly violent and evil, was around and you were being warned.”

Sokuro felt a shiver just from that explanation. “Well, that last part is creepy.”

“I never said they were all good.”

“And you just happened to look that up out of the blue?” Aka asked with twisted lips.

“When you are bored out of your mind, you do whatever it takes to entertain yourself.”

A loud shout came from Hela’s room, and it wasn’t her, but instead Vela. The sudden scream and the high pitch surprised the three of them, even knocking Aka out of her seat. He was freaking out because it was game time. “AKA!! I NEED YOUR HELP- IT’S TIME!!!”

“Oh shoot!” Aka quickly burst up off the floor and ran towards Hela’s room. Sokuro and Bran followed after her to help in whatever way they can. She found Hela leaning against her bed, panting rapidly as she felt it was time. Her entire body was covered in sweat from doing this for almost an entire day. She really is a trooper.

Aka slid in and put a blanket down on the floor. She then helped Vela lay her down on the floor. “Ok, keep on breathing, keep on breathing.”

“Are you sure you know what you are doing?” Vela asked with such strong concern for his mother.

“Yes, I know. I helped deliver farm animals all the time.”

Vela looked at her with lidded eyes. “… mom isn’t a farm animal.”

Aka rolled her eyes with a annoyed grunt. “Well, the Shaman is busy, so I’m all you got.” She handed him the bowl. “Fill this back up with clean warm water- this next part is going to be gross.” Vela took the bowl and ran out the door. “Ok, Hela, when I tell you to, I want you to start pushing.”

He passed by Sokuro and Bran, who had just arrived. Aka is the fastest person in the orphanage, so she reached Hela’s room before they were even halfway. Bran pulled out his phone and turned on the recorder- the medical staff back home better thank him for this. The two of them entered,  “Alright… is there anyway we can--”

“Alright, Hela, push.” Hela screamed and grunted as she did.

The sight Sokuro and Bran saw made the color drain from their faces, left them short of breath, and made Bran drop his phone.

They immidately relocated outside to the orphanage steps, catching their air as they panted as if they saw something traumatizing, which they did. Aka was used to it- this was their first time seeing the miracle of birth, and they… well, you see their reactions.

“That was horrifying…” Sokuro grunted as she held her hands to her knees as she leaned forward.

Bran breathed into a paper bag, freaking out. “Who knew the miracle of life would be so gross?”

Sokuro put her head between her legs, feeling like she was about to throw up. “Now I know why Dad kept me from watching Taled being born…” Bran passed her the bag, which she took.

 

Velx sensed the new life beginning to enter the world. He knew this was important to the family, but his mind was elsewhere. The scream of agony from earlier- it was followed up by a few more, which infuriated him even more. He was able to pinpoint the origin point for the anguish- Foloa, a fishing village on the island of Dor off the eastern coast. He had a obligation to uphold here… but sensing the agony there took presidence. He needed to go. He needed to handle this before things got worse.

Fayin was busy washing the plate she had the food on when he heard Velx shuffle. She looked up and saw him getting up. “My apologies, Fayin, but I need to depart.”

“Wait, what?” She put the plate down. “But the new baby is due to arrival any minute now. It’ll need your blessing.”

“I know, I know… but this is something I cannot put off.”

“… then what do I tell the haidmaiden of the Orphanage?”

Velx thought about that for a time before coming up with a solution. He gestured Fayin to approach with a small bowl, which she did. He put his claw over the bowl. A orb of light dripped out like water and splashed down on the bowl. “Here. This is pure essence of light. It is the same magic I would’ve used.”

“Huh…. that’s new.” She tapped a claw in it- it felt otherworldly, which sent a shiver up her spine. She looked back up to the god and saw that his wings were spreading. “If you don’t mind my asking, m’lord… why ARE you leaving?”

“…… it’s a personal matter. I’ll try to be back as quick as I can.” In a single flash of light, he vanished, leaving her confused more then anything. She looked down at the bowl and, seeing nothing else to do, began walking towards the orphanage, wondering what was so important that would cause him to leave in a rush.

Walking slow enough to where she didn’t spill the liquid light, but still fast enough to reach the orphanage before sundown, Fayin reached the orphanage… and saw Sokuro and Bran sitting on the steps leading up. Sokuro had her head between her legs while Bran passed a bag to her, which she breathed into.

“Children…?” She inquired in a puzzled tone. “What are you doing out here?”

Sokuro breathed into the bag again before putting it down to speak. “We… are trying to get a very haunting image out of our minds.” She breathed into it again.

“Un…… what is she talking about?” a clueless Fayin asked Bran, seeing as how he saw the same thing since the two kids share the same expression and color-less faces.

Bran rubbed the back of his neck, still traumatized himself. “… Take a wild guess.”

She didn’t need to. There is only one thing going on in that orphanage that would facilitate their response, and while it is understandable for someone so young, she doesn’t understand why they would be so distressed. “Oh… but it’s a beautiful miracle of nature. New life is created this way- how can you not be excited?”

“It’s gross.” Sokuro yelled from the bag. “And sounds so painful.”

Fayin popped her lips and tapped her claws on the bowl. “Well… ok, there is that, but holding that new life in your arms for the first time must be worth it.”

Sokuro gave her a leer as she rested her head on the palm of her hand. “…either way, I’m waiting for a looooooong time.” She finally took notice of the bowl in Fayin’s hands and wondered what was with that. “So what’s with the bowl?”

“Heh… confusing story, actually. Velx left.”

“Left?” Bran asked. “They can do that?”

“Of course they can. The temple’s are only their homes in the mortal realm. They don’t live live here on Dragenia with us. They are not bound to one specific place all their lives. If they were, Sokuro would be Phagos chow.” Sokuro gave her antoher leer. “Anyway, Velx said he had sensed something happening and just left.”

“He left?” An unbelieving Sokuro asked. “Just like that?”

“Just like that. It was odd, too. I asked him what was wrong, and he just said it was personal. He didn’t give anything else before he vanished.” She gripped the bowl as she felt it slipping in her claws. “Before leaving, though, he gave me this.”

“What is it?”

“I believe it is pure essesne of light. All I do know is that it is to be used to christen the new baby.”

Bran put his hands into his pockets. “So it’s like Ambrosia.”

“Ambrosia?” the two girls asked.

“Saw that coming. In Earth’s old Greek mythology, Ambrosia is the name given to the food or the drink of the gods. It’s said to be so heavenly, one bite or drink will give you infinite wisdom and/or immortality.”

“Wow. That sounds actually cool.”

“Yeah, and now it kindof exists. Kinda.” Bran got up and took a look in the bowl. The water was perfectly clear and formless- his reflection was caught in a white light inside it. He could feel the divine powers emanating from this- it made him lightheaded. “Whoa…” He gasped as he staggered backwards. “That is some intense stuff.”

“Really?” Fayin asked. “I don’t feel a thing and I’ve been carrying this for an hour.”

“Well, you work for a Astral.” Sokuro interjected as she put her hands in the pockets on her skirt. “You’re exposed to their energies all the time. And from what Bran told me, the Gods of Milky Way haven’t existed with them for a really long time, so a few thousand years would make them lose their tollerence for pure magic.”

“I guess that makes sense.”

“That makes sense?” Bran droned. Fayin began walking up the path towards the orphanage. While hesitant because they don’t want to be scared again, the kids slooooowly followed after her. Bran recalled something Vela said earlier. “So… correct me if I’m wrong, but Vela said the Shaman was busy. Shaman’s exist here?”

“Yyyyeah?” Fayin asked, wondering why this was a big todo. “Why ask? Don’t you have Shaman’s?”

“Not in the way you are probably thinking of… why don’t you describe Dragenian Shamans to me and we’ll see if they line up.”

“Ok…?” Fayin and Sokuro shared the same awkward expression- how can they not have Shaman’s, they wondered. “Well… I guess to explain what Shaman’s are, we should explain something that courses deep beneath the world: The Mystic Rivers. Invisible to the naked eye, the Rivers course though the world, imbuing life and soul to everything. It’s there that the soul is purified for reincarnation if it was denied into the Great Light or served it’s sentence in Uela if they were evil. Certain people are able to access the Rivers with magic. All Ferids access it when they become Aerids, but that is the limit for the vast majority. The rare cases are able to use it to perform certain feats of magic without going to their Aerid form, such as conjuring fire in their hands or walking on water- feats like that.”

The way she described it sounded familiar, and he realized what quickly. “Huh… sounds a lot like Ley Lines.”

“Ley Lines?” Sokuro asked.

“We have a similar story about… Mystic Rivers, as you would call them, back home. They are supposed to crosscross and zigzag across the planet, and where the lines intersect is where intense magical craziness is to happy. But nobody on Earth uses magic and there was no proof Ley Lines existed at all- it’s all just conjecture and philosophical.”

The three of them reached the top of the path. “Well, not here.” Fayin went on to explain. “You’ve seen what we are capable of. You said it yourself- Dragons, as you call them, are myths from your world, yet they are real here.” Sokuro grinned as she held up her scale.

Bran lightly shrugged along, agreeing with them. “True.”

“Anyway, those certain people with access to magic without changing are known as Shaman’s. They are a rare breed- they aren’t as rare as Silver Aerids, but there aren’t a lot of them. Last I heard from Velx, there’s like 24 total in the whole world at the moment. They serve the Astrals by acting as their… liasons, if you will. Don’t forget, an Astral cannot interefere in the affairs of us mortals, except in really, really, really rare cases. Shaman’s, on the other hand, can.”

“Huh… sounds like prophets. So what does the Shaman do?”

Fayin hugged the bowl as she thought about it, tapping her claws up against it. “Well… they are healers- they can channel the magic from the River and use them to heal the sick and cure the broken. They can bless an area to protect it from harm and rid evil spirits from our lands. Every decade, they can see visions and prophecies of the years to come, though they are incredibly cryptic, though after meeting the colonists, the ‘metal men from the sky’ bit makes sense.”

Bran crossed his arms. “Yeah, sounds like we share similar descriptions of Shaman’s, at least as far as roles and abilities go, but none back home could conjure fire with their hands.”

“Evioly has a Shaman too and he lives here in Misken.” Sokuro went on to interject without prompt. “He’s an elderly sort- pushing up on 80-something. His name is Ohloar’Keqpushopa, but everyone calls him Hopa for short. Right now, I think he’s at the Bokural trading outpost on the sea bridge, overseeing a funeral for one of the Bokurol soldiers. They said he died from mysterious circumstances. He just stopped living.”

“Sounds like natural causes to me.” Bran commented.

“And how in the world did you hear all that?” Fayin asked with a tilted head. “That was a private meeting between the soldiers and Hopa.”

Sokuro grinned as wide as the Cheshire Cat, feeling rather proud of herself. “I am that sneaky. I can be so light on my feet, I scare even myself.”

Fayin slowly shook her head in disbelief. There is no way that can be possible. Even thieves aren’t that light on their feet. “There is no way someone can be that sneaky. Not even hunters or thieves are that silent.” Sokuro pulled her hands from behind her back, having plucked Fayin’s coin purse on their way up the stairs. She held it up, prompting Fayin to check her pockets to see that it was, indeed, in Sokuro’s hands. “You little sneak.”

“Told you I was that good.” She tossed it back to her. As Fayin’s hands were full with the bowl, she let it drop onto the ground. “And you let it fall.”

The Gaharot looked at her with lidded eyes. “Full hands, genius.” Sokuro rolled her eyes and silently repeated her as she picked up the coin purse for her.

As she straightened back up, they heard the door open. The three of them looked towards it and saw Vela standing there, looking beaten and disheveled- if you’ve been on your feet for 20 hours with no sleep, you would be too.  

Vela breathlessly chuckled to himself. “It’s done… heh, I’m a big brother…”

“Aaaawwww…” The girls both swooned.

 

Back in her room, the exhausted and physically drained Hela laid on her side with one arm drapped over her newborn son. The baby had the same coloring as his older brother, except with a purple stripe running down the spine and in the cracks on the claws. It was a tiny thing, too, barely a foot long from head to tail. If this was a litter, he would be the runt.

Hela looked at him with a tired smile while Aka put the dirty linens and towels in a nearby basket. These are in desperate need of a washing. “He’s so precious…” She swooned as she lightly petted him.

“He is a cutie.” Aka commented before she sat down on the bed. The two heard the door open and saw the group enter. Sokuro and Fayin were just about to coo when Aka put her finger to her lips, keeping them quiet. “Quiet.” She whispered. “Tired mother here.” Points down to Hela.

They nodded as they tip-toed in. When they saw the newborn baby upclose, they just had to do it- they cannot resist. “Aaaaawwwww……” Fayin and Sokuro cooed. “Soooo cuuuuute…”

Aka leaned back on her hands. “10 seconds… I’m surprised they lasted that long.” She commented to Bran.

Bran softly chuckled to himself before picking up his phone, which had the camera facing down. He checked the recording. There was no picture- it was nothing but black, which was to be expected. The sound was muffled, too. The medical stuff back home were gonna hate him for this. “They better be good with a vague description.” He huffed as he put his phone away.

He went and sat down at a nearby tea table while Sokuro was enamoured with the new baby. It was the cutest thing she had ever seen. “Soo cuuuute…” She whimpered. “You’re so lucky, Hela…”

“I know…” She gently replied. She heard Vela plop down on the bed and immideately go to sleep. She can’t blame him- he’s being working almost a day to keep her comfortable. It was an intense 20 hours, to be sure. She lightly chuckled before speaking to her newborn. “You’re lucky to have a older brother like him.”

“Have you thought up a name for him yet?” Fayin asked as she set the bowl down on the floor.

Hela softly nodded before looking back down to her new baby. “His name is Tela.” The baby squirmed about, making Sokuro go ‘aaawww’ again.

Aka smiled before she noticed that something was off before Hela did, not that she could probably notice given her exhaustion: They were short one massive feathered deity. “Un… correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Velx supposed to be here to christen the new child?”

Fayin shrugged. “It’s the weirdest thing, actually. He was ready to come, but before we left, he looked so… harsh, like he was hiding his rage or something. He said he needed to go take care of something, and then he just vanished without saying where he was going. He gave me this divine water to use, though.”

Aka felt fretful. What would force a Astral to leave without divulging any information? The very least he could’ve done was tell her where he was going, but he didn’t give that too. “That’s… odd.” She bit her lip.

“I know. It was really weird.” She looked at the bowl before looking to the baby, then abck to the bowl. “Hmm…I guess I have to bathe him in this.” She reached over and veeeeeeeeeeerrrry gently picked Tela up. She slowly and gently put him into the liquid, keeping his head up above it. The water began to softly glow like a sunlit reflection. The glow slowly went into the baby, causing the body to briefly glow. This was nothing new- the same thing happens to all babies when they are christened by an Astral, so Fayin did something right here.

Sokuro walked over to Bran’s table and sat in the chair next to his. “Crazy day, huh?” She asked.

Bran simply nodded. “Yeah.” Sokuro repeated what he said and looked at the baby’s first bath with a smile. That smile slowly turned nto a frown. She tapped her fingers on the table, thinking about what Fayin said. Astral’s do not simply leave, not without clear provocation or explanation. The tapping caught Bran’s attention. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s what Fayin said…. She said that Velx just up and left without any clear warning and that he looked angry. It had to be something big if he isn’t here to christen Tela. Velx is one of the sweetest fellows around, so to hear him be mad without any clear reason is offputting. What do you think could’ve caused it?”

It could be any number of reasons, but it was clear Velx wanted to keep it a secret, whatever it was. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s not our place to know. Even God’s have private lives they don’t want to share.”

“I guess…” She solemnly sat back in the chair, wondering what could’ve done it. “But I just can’t help but worry…” She felt a pit form in her heart, worried that this is something much better then they think.

 

Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtlalymx848 Full of Unrest – Tales of Vesperia OST

 

Velx appeared seconds later high above the island, which was a bad idea as the isle was in the midst of a violent thunderstorm. Most people would write off the thunderstorm as the cause of the screams he head, but they didn’t sense the souls being devoured. He knew the cause lay on the island itself.

He glided down to the island and landed near a bay, the location he’s sensing the disturbences. He took a few steps towards the water before coming across a ruined house- embers were still smoldering, so this just happened. This was no Phagos attack- it had to be him, otherwise there would be no ruined house. It would be eaten too. This was destroyed pure and simple. There was no other explanation.

            “I know you are here.” He said aloud, not caring if any innocents were around to hear him. He felt a few droplets touch down on his feathers, but he didn’t care.  “Why don’t you show yourself?”

            “And miss the fun of the dramatic reveal?” A smooth and confident voice with dark and sinister undertones said. Velx looked in the direction of the voice and found him sitting on a boulder facing away from him, his clawed hand clutching the head of a dead man. There was no color or life in the corpse’s eyes- they were pure white. He was in a cloak, but the voice made it a dead giveaway who it was to him. “Now where is the fun in that?”

            “You…” Deep rage filled Velx as he bared his teeth and the rain slowly began to increase in intensity. “… I knew it had to be you.” He brandished his claws. “What are you doing here?”

            “Oh, Velk, you wound me. Or did you change it again? The lot of you change your names all the time, it’s agonizing, really.” Velx wasn’t having any of it. He was in a permanent battle stance. The figure grunted a sigh. “You want the long version or the short version?” He got up and tossed the body away like it was nothing. “I sensed one of my Phagos being killed here on Evioly, so I had to come and find out why. Except for those lucky louches at Colo-Colo, nobody had killed one before, so I had to know if someone found out a way to slay one. Imagine my surprise when I found out YOU were the one to kill it. I thought gods weren’t supposed to interfere in the affairs of mortals… but then I saw the reason in Roko some time later… the new Silver Aerid had finally come. You were protecting the inexperienced whelp, but what i don’t understand… is why. She is just another Silver.”

            “And you will never know why.” Velx snarled as the rain reached a downpour. “The new Silver isn’t so easily manipulated. The new one is--”

            The cloaked figure threw his head back and grunted in boredom and aggravation. “Oh, save the mystery, I already know it’s a little girl from your favorite village. She was not very discreet when she came to the harbor. And that’s when I saw reason number two…” He turned to face Velx. Sinister silver eyes could be seen under the hood. “The past has finally caught up to us. Earth has once again branched out to the stars. Took them long enough- I was getting lonely.”

            Energy sparked between Velx’s teeth- he was getting ready to blast this evil lummox to kingdom come. “You are not going anywhere near them!!”

            “As if I’d risk destruction at the hands of Q’uq’umatz. I know he’s taken a strong interest in the Milky Way peoples. I’m fearless, but not stupid.” The cloaked figure took a few steps towards Velx. “But I would risk my end… because I know what you know: I sensed the energy surge when someone finally grabbed it... the Pashupatastra has been found.” He snickered to himself. “And thanks to you, I know it’s in either the Earthly colony or your favorite village.”

            There was no way he could know that. He could sense the energy, sure, but there is no way he’d be able to sense its location: the energy was that great. “How did you know that?” a stunned Velx asked as the rain increased to a torrential downpour, obscuring their vision.

            “Hmhmhm… You just told me. Your tone and your question said it all.”

            Velx snarled like a wild animal. He didn’t like being played for a fool. He reared his head back and fired a beam of energy from his mouth. The beam struck the stranger and melted away a large part of the beach. Velx kept his guard up- there’s no way it was this easy.

            And he was right, but he wasn’t prepared for the sneak attack from behind. A large clawed hand hit him in the side before grabbing him and slamming him into the ground, making him lose his breath when his neck hit the bounder the stranger was on. He was then stabbed in the shoulder by a red gem, which encased him in a energy field, rendering him completely immobile.  

Wheezing away, Velx peered up and saw a large Aerid form standing over him, but this onc was…. different. He couldn’t see the body due to the heavy rain, but he could see the upright, bipedal  sillhouette. “You… changed Aerid forms…?” Velx wheezed.

            “You mean my apperence? I had to- all you Astrals knew what I looked like as a Aerid, so I had to change it. It was painful, but worth it given how much more flexable I am.”

The Stranger bent down and got in Velx’s face. Velx felt a shiver go down his spine as the stranger whispered in his ear. “You’re not as powerful as you once were. Age is inally catching up with you all.” He felt a claw go across his neck, scrapping it like a razor. “I could end you right now… It would be that easy… But I won’t… out of respect for the snake…” He removed his claw. “And out of respect for the old man in charge, I won’t go after the girl or the arrow either. Not for a year, anyways. I still have affairs on the mainland I need to attend to, and I want my new conquest, this… Sokuro, to be a challenge. Xelut was a weakling.” He shoved Velx’s face into the dirt and removed the gem. Velx slowly lifted his head up to see the stranger walking away. “I’ll be around… old man.” He vanished in a flash of negative energy.

Still panting and wheezing, Velx stood back up off the dirt and scowled in the direction he saw his foe leave in. He knows of Sokuro, the colonists, and the Pashupatastra… but he doesn’t know where the last one is. That much is a gurantee and their only trump card at the moment, but he knows it won’t last long. “Nachsa…” He dug his claws into the mud. “Next time we meet… I won’t hesitate… rules be damned, I will kill you before I let you near my people.” The rain was at a fever pitch, drowning him in water.

23: Chapter 21: Koloron Part 1 Departure

Chapter 21

Koloron Part 1: Departure

3/10/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

As it had been described before, the Koloron is a race of endurance, skill, and speed, to see who could make it though the razor-sharp and danger filled Meoho Mountains alive... that is how it was back then, but now efforts are made to keep the flyers alive throughout the race. The objective used by the ancient people was to weed out the weak and the stupid so that they could make better the strong and smart. It worked, for a time. Before they made the mistake of allying themselves with Xelut.

Once upon a time, Meoho had some of the fastest and strongest flyers on Dragenia, who have the best stamina and durability of all Aerids. They still do these days, but now it’s all inclusive to everyone all around the planet instead of being exclusive to Meoho only. That said, there have been efforts made over the years to try and make the race a bit safer. They aren’t perfect by any means, but the mortality rate has dropped a bit since their implications.

The mountains themselves were something else. Stretching for miles up into the air and being an incredibly long range, stretching for 30 earth miles from the sea all the way inland, nearly cutting the peninsula Meoho, Roko, and Misken inhabit off from the rest of Evioly, save for a small 10-mile gap on the southern edge. The race is to go from the southern gap all the way up to Meoho village to the north, avoiding dangers along the mountain range such as the aforementioned razor-sharp edges, gusts of wind that can reach 100 miles per hour on a bad day, and a rumored albino Yeet that had been “seen” by eyewitnesses in the last few years.

And it is this race that Sokuro is getting ready to participate in so that she could get better endurance and stamina, something she needed after the fight with Phagos. Over a month and she is still feeling the consequences of her failure of a first fight, one she hopes she won’t ever repeat. She needs experience and she needs it now.

 

            “You coming or not, Sokuro?!” Vaset shouted to the top of the path leading to the orphanage. She, Eriod, Set, Zalet, Dan, and Bran were all waiting out front for her to come outside. They were accompanying her to the race to cheer her on. Vela, who really, really, really wants to go, can’t this year due to the new baby, which left Hela so exhausted, she had been sleeping non-stop, waking up to feed Tela and use the bathroom. 

As for the other orphans, they had already left, as did a sizeable chunk of the village who wanted to see the race this year. Everyone else stayed behind to prepare for the coming winter. Much like Earth, the seasons differ based on the hemisphere. Evioly is on the southern hemisphere. The Koloron is not only an famous endurance test, but it takes place before the turning of the seasons, from summer to autumn, that means it’s time for harvests to come in and for everyone to get ready for the harsh cold…

            …Something that the dumb Scout once again failed to deliver. The data it recoded made it believe it was in the northern hemisphere, not the south. They REALLY got the short end of the proverbial stick. Thanks to this little revelation, everyone in the colony is getting ready for the cold climate too, with some a little pissed cause they established their farm too soon. This will be a good test to see if the pre-fabs could handle cold weather, and thankfully they got plenty of food to last for 3 years, so going hungry isn’t a problem, and the Beatles are rated for all kinds of atmospheres, high-octane blizzards included. Scouts, however, are not adept at withstanding the force of thousands of bats to the chassie.

“I’m almost ready!” Sokuro shouted from inside.

            “So this Koloron thing…” Bran went on to ask, seeing it as a perfect time waster. “… It’s some sort of endurance race, right?”

            Zalet flatly waved his hand- he’s not that far off. “Eeeeeeeh… more or less. It was established thousands of years ago by an ancient king named… well, Meoho, who wanted STRONG, BRAVE FERID WARRIORS!!!” He pulled off poses that showed off the exact opposite. “Even after his passing, it has become so engrained into Meoho Village’s culture, they continue to do it to show off their might. Any Ferid can participate… so long as they aren’t afraid of dying.”

            Set slowly shook her head in disapproval. “I still think it’s stupid. Why would Sokuro want to participate in such a dangerous race? It’s too dangerous for her- she was only able to start flying weeks ago- some of the flyers doing this have years, if not decades, of experience. So why is she taking part?”

            “Well, the answer is quite obvious.” Dan said with his arms behind his head.

            “… and that iiiis?”

            “She’s an adrenaline junkie.” That wasn’t even close.

            Set slowly shook her head again in disappointment. “Well, when I get my scale next year, I am SO not going to do that.”

After a couple of minutes, Sokuro came outside and strode on down the path with knapsack in hand. “Sorry for taking so long. I just had to say goodbye to Tela.” She reached the bottom of the path. “I hope Vela and Vaset will be fine by themselves here.”

“They’ll be fine.” Eriod assured her. “And it’s taking care of one baby- how hard can that be?”

“Very.” Everyone replied in unison. Bran and Dan have seen enough television and movies to know how hard something like that can be… often it’s for comedic effect, but it still stands.

“Well, at least it’s still a newborn, so it can’t be that tough, right?” Bran oh so innocently asked, not knowing how wrong he is.

The natives all laughed to themselves, leaving the new kids confused. “Haha… you’re in for a surprise.” Sokuro chortled as she pointed at Zalet. “They can grow fast, and they have ravenous appetites after the 3rd week.” She walked past them and started heading down towards the docks, where an airship was waiting to transport them to the Koloron. “I bet you when we get back, the little stinker will have broken Vela and Vaset.” She chuckled with a grin. Sokuro could fly them over, but she wants all her strength for the race.

“Wow.” Bran whistled. He looked on over to Zalet. “So how old are you? Just for reference sakes.”

“I’m going to be 8 years old in a few weeks time. Vela is, what was it, 10?” Eriod nodded. “And Vaset is the same age as me, but she’s ahead of my by a few months.”

The group reached the airship as the crew was loading up the supplies needed. It’s a full day’s ride to the southern gap. They climbed on and joined up with the last of the passengers that were departing from Misken today.

 Despite this being a significant cultural event, barely any of the colonists from Novalle are going. They needed to prepare for the coming cold months… while also taking pot shots at that crummy Scout- the best way that pile of trash can be useful now is as target practice. The Argalith’s and the Hesk are especially bitter about it- they hate the cold, for more the obvious reasons. Only Bran and Dan are able to head to the race, and they’ve been tasked to record everything they can so that those back home can learn what they can.

While the coming cold was a concern, there was also another reason. What Velx said to Georgia and Belfast got to them, about how they were lucky by choosing Evioly, and more specifically Misken, to touch down at, and landing everywhere else would be… less then hospitable to beings from the Black Abyss. The two of them took that to mean that if the rest of the natives learn they aren’t from Dragenia proper, there would be riots and attacks by those who view them as demons and monsters sent to destroy their way of life, and if they saw a Argalith and a suit less Adlez, they would jump to that conclusion. Belfast had seen this happen on primitive worlds before: the primitive natives reacting violently to a technologically advanced race.

Right now, until they can get a gage on how the rest of Evioly would react to their presence, they needed to play this safe. At least it’s only Bran and Dan that are going to the Koloron; they are young enough to pass as orphans, and if anyone asks where their tails and scales are, they can say they lost them in a tragic accident. It sucks to lie, but again, they want to play it safe.

“So why isn’t anyone from the colony coming?” Set asked as they found spots on the ship to sit and relax.

“Who knows?” Dan shrugged. “The cold is coming, so they need to prepare for that. The Argalith’s and the Hesk aren’t big fans of the cold. They are cold blooded, so they require heat to do things… well, normally. A lot of people are angry at the Scout for delivering the wrong information, so much so they’re beating the snot out of it.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah, we got a really bad model.”

“Sure sounds like it.”

Bran leaned back on the railing, resting his head on the pole. “And for some reason, the mayor doesn’t want us to reveal who we are to the general population yet. She’s having us lie about being orphans who lost out tails in freak accidents.”

“Why?”

“I think I know why.” Eriod said, having some knowledge in this regard. “Everyone on Dragenia believes in the Word of Umatz, and in it, it states that the Black Abyss houses nothing but death and desolation for those who have done evil before being reborn. It’s also believed that demons and monsters live out in its infinite void.”

Dan twisted his lips. “Well……. They’re not wrong. It’s not where vile souls go to be reborn, no no no, but everything else is mostly true. Without special gear, you will die, it is VASTLY empty, and there are a lot of monsters, mostly friendly and benign, but there are some nasty critters lurking about.”

Eriod sucked in his lips. He wasn’t expecting that to be true. “… Well…. That’s cheery… Moving on… people think nothing but bad things exist out there, and if they learn you were from there, they may freak out and possibly attack you, especially if they see your more… monsterous cohorts- I forget what they are called. The big ones that look like the Gaharots but BIGGER, and those in special weird suits.”

“The Argalith and the Adlez.”

“Yeah, them. If people outside of Misken see them, they could panic and cause all sorts of trouble for your kind. Worse yet is if the Druids of the Word learn of it.” He shivered in fear. “That is a scary thought.”

Sokuro groaned loudly as she hit her head on the railing behind her. “AAAAGH…. Why are we talking about all of this gloomy political stuff on our way to the Koloron?! I just want to have fun! Save this mess for the grown ups- it’s not our problem.” She jumped up and began stretching her arms up. “We’re going to Meoho- we need to be ready for the insanity.”

The airship lurched as the propellers up top slowly began to spin like helicopter blades. The ship was untied from the docks and slowly drifted away. The sudden movement caught Bran and Dan off guard, who should be used to sudden movement after all the time they spent in space.

 “Eh, she’s right.” Set said. “Let’s leave all of this messy stuff for the grownups.”

“Agreed.” Everyone said.

Bran laid out on the floor, sputtering his lips. He looked up at the spinninger propellors. They looked similar to old 20th century propellers on boats stretched out like helicopters. With nothing else to do on the flight over, he pulled out his phone and hit record. Once again, he, and now Dan, had been asked to recording all of the videos they could of the event. It was going to be difficult explaining this strange device to the native population. While the name Umatz sounds strangely familiar, he decided to save those kinds of questions for another day.  “Insanity? So what’s Meoho like?” He asked as he pointed his phone to the orphans.

What WAS Meoho like? Eriod had never been there before, neither have Taled or Vaset. Sokuro and Set have been there before, and with Sokuro’s eidetic memory, recalling what it was like was a snap. “Well… it’s full of adventure seekers.” She went on to explain. “Like, everyone in town is just so pumped up. Even the elderly have a lot of energy. You can’t go one step without running into something just full of energy, ready to do the impossible.”

“Huh. Sounds like my kind of place.” Dan snickered.

“When have you EVER excercised?” Bran retorted, remembering times when Dan found ways to get out of gym class.

The airship reached a certain altitude, prompting the propellers to spin at tops speeds. The ship lurched forward and began its flight towards Meoho. “… here’s one: shuddup. I just exercised my mouth muscles.”

Bran only rolled his eyes. “Ok, that’s the people you described… but what about the village? Where’s that located? The Evioly map Sokuro showed me is… well, difficult to read… I really need to learn how to read Dragenian.” He shook her head to get back to the train of thought. “ There’s like a dozen spots in the mountain range. Are they all landmarks?”

“Yes they are.” Eriod said, taking Sokuro’s thunder. He pulled out a book, making the orphans moan as they kno what’s up next: another long Eriod lesson. He flipped the book, ‘The History of Evioly’, and went straight to the back, which had comprehensive maps of the sub-continent. He flipped to the page with the Meoho mountain range. Based off the sketchs, it’s very jagged and very tall. “The village proper is located on the northern-most side of the mountains, carved and built directly into the rock itself. It’s just a straight beeline to the beach from there. The other dots are landmarks and locations in the mountain range, such as outposts and camps. The one in the center is the halfway point of the Koloron. It’s the safest place in the range, so it’s used for a lot of things.”

“Huh…” Bran leaned on his arm. “I never knew a mountain range could have so many dangers. Makes me glad I was raised in a huge city.” He turned his attention back to Sokuro. “So, what are the people of Meoho like? I know you said they are adventure seekers, but there has to be more to it then that. Are they as friendly as the folks back in Misken?”

“Eh…” She twisted and pursed her lips to the side. Set sucked in her lips while the others just whistled non-chalantly. “Well… they take their competitions VERY seriously. They pretty much built their whole lives around it. The more you win, the higher your ranking in the village is and how respectable others treat you. I don’t even know how they decide on chiefs, and I don’t think I want to know. As for outsiders like all of us, it still holds true. But they give outsiders more leeway since they aren’t from around there, but proof that you did win something is a plus. Did you two win any games from your homes?”

The two colonists thought to themselves for a moment. There were games back on Vega there were privy to. Unfortunately, they were video games, which won’t count here. Even the Miskenites were having trouble trying to understand video games, so no, they can’t use that. They needed something physical… thing is…

“Um… does backgammon count?” Bran chuckled. Dan only shook his head. No, it doesn’t.

 

The airship passed over the temple, where only one of the people there looked up. “Are you not going, Lord Velx?” Fayin asked as she returned to washing the brooding Astral’s claws. Ever since he had come back from his sudden mystery trip, he had been acting weird- brooding and moody and strangely wet and covered in mud, like someone ruined his day. It has left her more than a little concerned about her masters’ mental mood. “Lord Velx?”

“No, I’m not going.” He mumbled.

Fayin stopped washing a claw and put the cloth back in the bowl of water. “Is something the matter? You’ve been acting distant ever since you returned.”

“It’s been a… difficult week.”

“Clearly…” She let the cloth sink to the bottom of the bowl. “What happened?”

Velx looked her way, seeing the concern she has for him on her face. He wanted to tell her- he wanted to tell everyone what was going on, but he couldn’t: Voul’s orders, and the king’s word is law. Besides, it’s so ludicrously farfetched, she probably wouldn’t believe it. “Let’s just say I… made one of my fellow gods angry and they took it out on me.” The one who did this to him wasn’t a god, but with his strength, he may as well be.

“What did you say?”

“… It’s private business. That’s all you are going to get out of me.”

“Oh… alright.” Now she was really worried. Velx was being secreitive- that can only be something bad happened. It has to be. But a fight with his fellow Astrals wouldn’t leave him gloomy- she’s seen how he acted after bouts with Alta. He would be cussing and fuming, but never gloomy. Just what in Dragenia’s name happened out there? But orders are orders and she wasn’t going to pursue further. “So… do you think Sokuro will win the Koloron?”

Velx picked up on what she was doing and internally thanked her for that. “Well……. I don’t know. She’s still new as a Aerid, and she doesn’t know any of the tricks her Silver heritage can perform. I know she had been training, but there’s only so much training can do. Besides, she said that experience is what she is looking for.”

“Well, she’ll get it there… thought I’m unsure why she would want to partake in the most dangerous race in the entire world.”

Oh, the answer to that was so simple, it may as well have been in morse code to present a challenge to him. “She’s a daredevil. You’ve seen how she acts.”

“I think everyone in both villages got that idea when she took on a Phagos single-handedly.” She pulled the cloth out of the bowl and went to another claw. “That wasn’t brave, that was stupid.” Velx stayed silent. He thought it was very brave. Most would cower and flee, but not her. She had someone to protect: her colonist friend. As Fayin thought about it, the slower she washed his claw. “… Now that I look back on it… She got bit on the neck by the monster.” She lowered it. “I… honestly don’t think anyone has been bitten by a Phagos… ever. They usually eat things whole sale.” She looked up at him. “Nothing bad happens when bitten by a Phagos, right?”

That is actually a good question. Fayin’s right, Phagos tend to eat almost everything whole. It’s very rare that they actually bite and chew. And looking back on the last few weeks, Sokuro had been constantly rubbing where she was bitten, always looking like she was in pain. And Astral noses are a lot more potent then regular Aerid noses. He always smelled something horrible when she was around, like rotten eggs mixed with death.

“In all honesty, I don’t know… but I honestly hope not, for her sake.”

                                                   

As the day wore on and the ship continued on its trek towards Meoho village, now only a few hours away, the orphans were getting bored by a lack of nothing to do on this ship. They should’ve brought a game. There’s only so long until a game of I Spy gets reeeeeally old. It’s enough to drive a person bonkers.

Bran, meanwhile, wasn’t having any trouble staving off boredom, because he was busy trying to figure out the mystery behind that giant door underground. He looked at the sketch he drew in his book, wondering why such a thing would exist down there among ruins. Everything around it was delabitated and barely holding together, while the door was still shiny and golden, like it was brand new. Then there’s the mystery arrow. Could the arrow be the key to opening it? If it is, he can’t use it. Only Sokuro could, for some strange reason. Granted, they didn’t try to let anyone else grab it, so it could’ve been a fluke, like unusually strong static electricity. Even then, there’s still the mystery of what is behind the giant door. When it comes to reading Dragenian script, he always draws a blank- show’s what a week of lessons will get you.

“Coin for your thoughts?” Sokuro asked as she stood over him, rubbing her neck as it began to hurt again. She knelt down and looked at the sketch. “The Golden Door again?”

“Yeah…” He scratched the side of his head with his pencil. “It’s still bugging me. I keep trying to figure out what it is in my mind, but it’s easier said then done… it is way too big and way too extravagant to be just a decorative piece. No one would waste that much gold and jewels on just art. There has to be a reason for it. Everything has a reason, but trying to find out this one is proving to be a challenge.”

“You are going to blow out your brain if you keep this up.” She said to herself before sitting down beside him. “Well, it IS a door. Doors ope to places. If we can find the key, we could get the answers.”

“But the queston is, what does it look like? It would need to be something pretty thin to slid on in there.”

“Hmm… I’m at a loss. We may never find out what that thing is or what the door does.”

“Ugh… that’s what aggravates me the most. I hate not knowing things… and this is a big mystery that is going to keep eating at my mind until we solve it somehow.”

“And that seems like a really big problem with you. If you don’t know something, you just need to find out the answer. I don’t know if that’s a problem with you alone or with everyone from the colony, but Voul alive, you’re all gonna run yourselves ragged.”

“You do know a good chunk of the questions are for our survival, right?”

“And the other half is just random stuff that comes to your mind.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’m a curious boy. Speaking of which, does Meoho, The Southern Gap, or the outpost in-between have a library?”

She snorted a laugh. “A library? Among the hard heads? You must be joking.” She snorted again. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of them read that didn’t have pictures. Besides, you have so much trouble reading baby books.”

Bran rolled his eyes as he closed his sketchbook. “Given where we are going, I suspect there will be a lot of pictures. Unless Meoho is secretly a village of genius’s?” Sokuro waved her hand from side to side. They are genius’s alright… just not the brain kind. “Then yeah, I suspect they’ll have a lot of pictures.”

 

It was close to twilight when the airship finally arrived at the Southern Gap. To the left of the approach was the Meohic Mountain Range, a large and grand expanse of steep, sharp mountains and cliffs with snow covered peaks and many, many, maaaaaaaany caverns and caves. According to what Bran and Dan would later tell the colonists, they look similar to the Rocky Mountains from North America, but with a lot more razor sharp edges for cliffs. The mountains are so enormous from long range, it makes the Southern Gap look miniscule by comparison.

10 miles from the last mountain to the shore, the gap, as explained earlier, serves as the connecting bridge between Misken, Meoho, and Roko to the rest of Evioly. Nestled at the foot of the range rests Konkor, a small trading village, serving as the epicenter of trade between the three villages to the rest of Evioly. Despite the village being few in buildings, the people who live here are a hearty bunch.

A red glow could be seen off in the distance, barely breaking over the horizon. The colonists thought it was the sunset, but the sun was setting over the Mountain Range. The glow was coming further into the land.

“What’s that glow?” Dan asked.

“That is Mokurot Crater.” Vaset explained. “A volcano that has been active for eons. It is always filled with lava, but thankfully, it has never erupted. …. Well, not in a village ending manner.” She rested her head on the railing.

Dan was on the verge of freaking out. He never really understood why people would live near such horrendously dangerous locations. “Wait, there’s a village there? Near a active volcano? That is so stupid and insane.”

“Un, Dan… we had cities near active volcanos back on Earth too.” Bran interjected. “Tokyo, Naples, Hilo, Shimabara, Auckland, everything that was near St. Helens and Krakatoa when they blew, and there was Yellowstone a century ago that wrecked the planet, and who can forget Pompeii?”  Sokuro and Eriod shared glances, wondering how crazy people back on Earth were to live near so many volcanoes… assuming those were the names of volcanoes, and by the sounds of it, Yellowstone and Pompeii were really nasty volcanos too.

“… then why live near them and risk getting burned alive and turned into living art? It’s insane.”

While his fear is understandable, he’s ignoring the benefits. “Volcanic soil is really good for farmlands.” Zalet explained. “It’s full of nutrients and is excellent for growing crops. Besides, the Mokurot’s don’t’ like on the volcanic rim. They live in stone houses and live a respectable distance away to flee if it erupts.”

Dan rolled his eyes. “It’s still a terrible idea.”

“Oh, unclench already.” Bran droned. “We’re not going there, so get off your worry horse. You aren’t in danger. Besides, if the people that have lived here for hundreds of thousands of years say it’s ok, then it’s ok.” He looked over to Sokuro and saw that she had dug her hands into the railing. That’s right- her parents were killed by a stray ember from the volcano. Seeing the glow and being near it, and quite possibly hearing that many people back on Earth were stupid enough to live near there like the Mokurots, is probably not a good thing to hear. “You ok…?”

“Yeah. Just some… bad memories about this place. Among… other things.” She shook her head, clearing her mind. “When we land, let’s find the others. They should be here with Ifil. After that, I’ll go and register for the race.”

“When is it supposed to begin?” Set asked.

“Early morning.”

Dan, Vaset, and Eriod all groaned like whiny children, with Dan lowering his head. “uuuuuuugh….. Just kill me now already… I hate mornings.”

“And it hates all of you.” Sokuro joked. Her neck began to burn again, prompting her to rub it. She’s hoping that this won’t interfere with the race in any way. She really needs to get it looked at, too.

24: Chapter 22: Koloron Part 2 Preparations

Chapter 22

Koloron Part 2: Preparation

3/10/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

Konkor, a small trading village established eons ago to serve as the meeting place for the villages of Misken, Roko, Meoho, and now Novalle, to the rest of the Evioly sub-continent.  Despite it being so important, the village is very small. REALLY small. There are only seven buildings that rest near a pond and a natural mountain trail wild animals use. Each building is three stories tall with a basement, and a nearby shelter built into the mountain for safety from threats, so there’s no space problem. Though it begs the newcomers to ask why there are so few buildings to such an important place, to which the people who live here would reply, “because we like it that way.”

Konkor is more then just a trading village, though. It also serves as the launch point for the Koloron, which is why they share similar names. And tonight, it was lively with all of the participants for this year’s race. From all over Evioly, they came to partake in this event for fame and bragging rights, knowing full well the dangers and troubles. The winner also receives a hefty prize of 30000 Sels- converted, that’s about 10000 Galactic Units, or around 9000 dollars American.       

“Small place.” Dan commented as their ship slowly began to set down near a docking tower, where a few more ships were nestled. “I thought a trading village would be… you know, bigger.”

“Since when does the size of a village matter?” Eriod asked. “If it still functions, that’s all that should matter, right?”

“But it… you all said… agh, forget it.”

Bran walked over to the edge of the ship and saw a lot of people down below, most of them family and friends from other participants, to just casual observers of the race. There was a lot of people, which made him uncomfortable. He hates large crowds and this is a biggen. “That… is a lot of people.” He looked around. “And a lot of tents. Are we going to be camping out?”

“You guys are, but I’m not.” Sokuro said as she stretched her arms. “All participants get to stay in that big building over there.” She pointed to one of the three story buildings, the only one with a tower. “I didn’t make up the rules, but that’s how it is.”

“Aw maaaan.…” Dan lowered his head in sadness. “And I didn’t bring a sleeping bag.”

“A what?” Leoi asked.

He perked one eyebrow up as he lifted his head to give Leoi a glare. “… seriously? You guys don’t have sleeping bags?”

Bran slowly shook his head, knowing that Dan was going to make a big deal out of this. The volcano argument was understandable, but this is just going to be petty and grasping at straws. “Dan.”

“What?! They do a lot of traveling, so why haven’t they invented sleeping bags? They should have them, right?”

Wow, he is really invested in this. It’s rather scary, to be honest. “… un-huh.” He quickly turned to Sokuro, knowing she has firsthand experience with this. “Sokuro, tell me, when you are in your Aerid form, are you warm on the inside?”

“Yes. I don’t know what it is, but if I were to guess, I’d say it’s a… let’s call it a storehouse of all the magical energy I have. I assume all the other kinds have their own, like warm water or a warm breeze.”

“Guess that means the ice Aerids are cold on the inside.” Zalet joked.  

“That would explain a whole lot.” Eriod joked back.

Sokuro was looking out at the view. She had been to Konkor several times before with her parents when they came to trade artifacts that weren’t worth much on the historical side of things.  Now this is her first time here without them, making her hurt inside. She kept it hidden while also knowing that Taled may be feeling the same way.

“Thinking about tomorrow?” Set asked as she walked up beside her.

“You could say that.” Sokuro replied. She shook her head to change her mind. She then recalled that one of her fellow Ascendants was going to be at the Koloron as well. “Wonder if Alled is here.”

“Alled?” Bran asked as he and the other kids approached.

“Remember back to Ascension day?” Everyone but Bran and Dan nodded. Of course they don’t know it- they never saw it. “There were four other kids with me: the twins Amz and Temz, the annoying jerk Gallna, and the most hyperactive person I’ve ever met, Alled. I got to talk to them before our performance skit and Alled mentioned he was from Meoho. Knowing him, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was going to partake in the Koloron as well. That kid is so hyper; I think he could win it on the first day, if not the first hour.”

“Sounds like you got some competition.”

She brushed him off. “Nah. I told you, I’m not looking to place. I just need some experience, and the Koloron is the best place to get experience in a short amount of time. If anything, I’m gonna help him win. I’m nice that way.”

The ship finally touched down, allowing the crew to throw ropes to the docks so that it can be tied off and the ganeplank to be attached. “If you can find him in this crowd.”

“True…” Once the gangplank was attached, Sokuro was the first one off, eager to get herself registered for the compition. “But right now, I gotta go find the registraitors.” She jumped off the last step and onto the dock. “Wish me luck.”

“Good luck.” Leoi called out as he politely waved.

The group reached the bottom of the ramp, almost hitting a really nasty looking blue colored Gaharot with a scar over his eye. He looked at Bran and gave him a nasty snarl before walking off with a large crate on his back. “Yikes. Scary.” He gulped.

“Yeah.” Dan agreed. “He looks like someone I don’t want to mee tin a dark alley.” They looked around and saw that there were several other rough looking… er, ruffians here, all looking as nasty as the Gaharot. “um… is Konkor a gathering spot for bad looking people?” He asked the bookworm.

“No?” Leoi responded. “Why?”

“Then we should probably keep our distance from the bad crowd.” He pointed over towards what he were hoping were dock workers.

“And don’t forget our cover story.” Bran said to him. “We lost our tails and scales in a freak accident.”

“I know, I know. I’m not stupid.”

“Just making sure. and I never said you did… though you do have a habit.”

“I do not.” The rest of the entourage gently waved their leveled hands. He does have a bit of a habit of forgetting things on a regular basis. “I don’t!” He exclaimed to them.

 

Making her way through the impressively sized crowd, Sokuro looked around, wondering where the sign-up for the race was. Last year, she saw it was near one of the ponds, but it wasn’t there this year, making her think that it may’ve moved. She wandered all around town, wondering where it could be. Her first thought was to check the central inn and see if it was in there.

She passed by some rather unscrupulous characters which gave her the heebie-jeebies. “(Just keep your distance from them, Sokuro. You don’t bother them, they won’t bother yo--)”

Suddenly, the world came to a screeching halt.

She took a step and saw that everyone had frozen in place. She looked around, wondering what was going on. Drinks being gulped out of flagons hovered in midair, there was a group about to get into a fistfight over someone cheating at a gambling game called Niton- it’s basically Poker, and she saw a hat frozen in place as it was being flung off of someones head.

“You…?” She finished. She took a few cautious steps towards the building, hoping she was just hallucinating. “What in the world is going on…?” She whimpered as she continued on, passing underneath a Ferid that was being tossed like a ragdoll into a barrel by what one would assume to be his companions.

It wasn’t until she reached the front entrance to the tavern that she finally saw someone who wasn’t affected by this strange freezing. She could tell because the cape to the persons cloak was moving. Their back was to her, so she couldn’t see who it was. And even if he was turned, he was in a cloak, so it was doubtful she could see her face.

Even just by looking at him, she could tell this guy wasn’t friendly. “Who… who are you?”

“I am no one special.” He spoke. His voice… it sounded nice and friendly enough, but hidden behind it was enough venomous intent, enough to kill a whale. “I just wanted to see the new Silver Aerid without getting interrupted by… them.”

Sokuro clasped her scale in fear. She didn’t want to risk transforming in this strange occurance, and even if she could, there’s no way to know for sure everyone around her won’t be affected. “Again… who are you?”

“If you must know… just someone who is observing. For now, anyway.  But sooner or later, I will make my move.” He began walking over to the tavern while she was left even more confused. She watched him walk over to the building, frightened by all of these confusing things. The cloaked stranger stopped in front of a pregnant Ferid woman. By the looks of her clothes, she must work here. “Life is a fragile, fickle thing.” He placed a single finger on top of her stomach. “It could be taken away as easily as stepping on a grape…” He ran his finger down the belly. “…And as harshly as tearing off a head.” With his other hand, he summoned up a dark fireball, which put Sokuro on edge. Her scale began to glow, causing a light sprinkling of sparkles to arise. “Like this woman and her unborn child… I can easily snuff them out of existence.”

Not wanting to risk the woman, Sokuro ran over and slapped his hand away from her, getting between him and her. “Like Uela you are!” That resulted in a smirk on the only part of his face she could see under the cloak. “I don’t know who you are or what in the world you are prattiling on about, but like Uela I’m going to let you hurt someone.”

“Hmhmhm… Such a vuger mouth on a little child. Hmhm… you are going to be a intereting Silver, to be sure. Maybe even more fun then Artox or Xelut.”

“What?”

The stranger sent the fireball away as everything around them began to distort and blur out.  Not letting her guard down, Sokuro moved away from the woman, believing that everything will be returning to normal soon. “I’ll be seeing you around, Sokuro el’Fitan. You’ve interested me enough to make this time freeze worth it. But before we say our farewells, I want you to deliver a message: Tell Q’uq’umatz that I know it has been found, and that there is nothing he or Tripura can do to hide that fact.”

Sokuro lerched forward with a tilted head, confused by what the stranger was saying. She has never heard those two names in her life, and what has been found? Nothing this guy is saying is making any sense. “Who… what…. Who?”

“Hmhm… you’ll know them soon enough.” He took a few steps forward, “exposing” his tail- a sharp blue Gaharot-style tail. She took notice of that, which he was planning on. “And before I leave… I’ll give you a little warning. You interest me enough to where I don’t want anything bad to happen to you. Well, not yet, anyway.” He coldly chuckled to himself. “My warning is this: there are a number of unsavory characters here that will make this race a little more… dangerous.” Sokuro lightly let down her guard, thinking back to the louts she had passed before being… frozen, was that the term he used? Are they up to something no good? They sure look the part. “Have fun at the Koloron, girl.” He vanished before she could ask anything and time began its normal flow once more.

“---nd don’t forget the linin!” The woman the stranger threatened called out to whoever was out there before turning back to head inside the inn, not noticing the stunned and confused girl to her right.

Sokuro was clearly shaken up by this. Her mind rapidly wandered, wondering if it was all some sort of a hallucination or a vivid vision… but that wouldn’t explain everything. If nothing else, she was left with more questions then answers. What was this stranger talking about? How did he know who she was? Why does he act like he knew Artox and Xelut, two vile despots from the distant past? And who was Q’uq’umatz?

All lingered in her mind as she held a hand over her wildly beating heart as she shivered while panting. Whoever that guy was… he was scary. Despite not seeing any part of his body other then the hand and the tail, she could tell he was a horrifying being if he was going to attack a pregnant woman without remorse. That’s what she feels would’ve happened if she hadn’t stepped in, anyway.

She had to put that aside for now. Once she registered for the race, she’ll go find her friends, get something to clear her mind from the confusion, and hopefully try to make some semblance out of any of this.

“Well, if it isn’t a small continent!”

But first, she was going to have to deal with a out-of-nowhere reunion. And by out of nowhere, it’s meant literally as jumping in from out of the blue was none other then Alled, the boy Sokuro mentioned when they landed. Sokuro fell back out of surprise and shock, still on edge from her puzzling encounter.

“I never thought I’d see you in this kind of place.” He said with a snicker on his face. Sokuro shook her head to clear it up. She feels like she could trust him and the other three that ascended with them, but… she doubts that she’ll get any of her friends to believe her.  At least this was a much needed distraction, but her delayed response puzzled the simple boy. “What? Do I have something on my face?”

“N… no.” She got up off the ground. “I was just… lost in thought when you scared the living daylights out of me.”

He put his fists to his hips as he got a big, giant grin on his face. “Heh. It was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Never thought I’d be able to scare a Silver.”

He wouldn’t be the first one. “Heh… like I said, I was lost in thought.”

“I heard you the first time.” He leaned forward, getting in her face, which made her feel uncomfortable. “You do remember me from the Ascension, right?”

“Yeah. Your name is Alled., a hyperactive minx from Meoho.”

“Minx?” He tilted his head. Sokuro realized her mistake and sucked in her lips. She heard one of the colonists say that phrase when Taled tried a parculiar drink called Coffee, being the first Dragenianite to do so. He was bouncing off the walls all day after that. She later learned that a minx was a wild cat from old Earth that was very active. “What’s a minx?”

She thought to herself, concluding that she didn’t need to lie. She just had to tell a half-truth. “Un… it’s a Misken saying. Heh… it means that you are like a… like a cat, but with so much energy.”

“Huh. Yeah, I can see that.” Sokuro internally breathed a sigh of relief, glad he was able to buy it. Hopefully his reaction will be just as mellow when the colonists are finally comfortable to expose themselves to the rest of Dragenia. “So, are you here for the Koloron?”

“Yeah, I am. I was just on my way to get registered before I got lost in thought. You?”

“Already done.” Alled reached into his back pocket and pulled out his number. Tied to a looped rope like a necklace was a wooden plank that read 112 in Dragenian script. “Did it before running into you.”

The memory of this mysterious and scary meeting was still fresh on her mind, but she needed to focus on the race at the moment. If she doesn’t sign up in time, she won’t be allowed to race at all. “Um, mind showing me where the registries are? I’m turned around here.”                                      

Alled nodded and began by turning her around. “Well, for starters, you’re facing the wrong building. The place you want is over there.” He pointed over towards another building… one that had a moderately sizeable line in front of it. Sokuro hunched over, wondering how she missed that.

 “How… did I miss that?” She can’t really blame herself. That scary interruption by the stranger was a giant distraction if there ever was one. “Heh… guess I better go get in line, huh?” She sheepishly scratched her cheek before walking over in the same.

Aled followed her with his hands behind his head. “So, why are you going to participate in the Koloron anyway? You know it is extremely dangerous, right?”

“Everyone else does and they still join up by the thousands.”

“But not everyone is a Silver.”

Ugh, that argument, she thought. That is why she’s not revealing herself to be a Silver until the race. She wouldn’t be able to hide it then, not when they are going to fly through a mountain range. “Right…” She grunted.

“So why would you want to enter?”

“Well… sigh, about a week after the Ascension, I had my first battle… and it was a really bad one.” She rubbed her neck where she was bit. It still stung whenever she touched it. “The Phagos attacked and I fought it.”

Aled sucked in his lips. He saw the Phagos before when it came through his village when he was a toddler. It scared the living daylights out of him, seeing such a pure, destructive force of nature rampage through town, destroying and eating. “T-t-the Phagos? What would possess you to fight that devil to begin with?”

“It was endangering one of my friends, along with a then crippled merchant ship. I couldn’t just stand by and watch them be killed. I had to try something, and I thought my Aerid form would be what was needed. Boy, was I wrong… thank the gods Velx stepped in. He killed the Phagos, but it delivered a cryptic warning before dying that I didn’t really hear all that well.”

“They can talk?”

His surprise was appropriate, as nobody ever knew that any of the Phagos could talk. Normally, people are trying to live when a monster like that attacks. “Apperently.”

“And Velx intervened? I thought the Astrals couldn’t interfere with mortal affairs.”

That’s what she thought too until later the same day as the battle. “I doubt he was going to let the new Silver, and a orphaned kid at that, be killed a week after ascension.”

That’s as good of a reason as any. “I… guess that’s a reason.”

The two of them arrived and got in line. Sokuro put her hands in her skirt pockets and pursed out her lips, sputtering and popping. “I’m gonna be in line for awhile, aren’t i?”

“Eh, it won’t be that long.” He patted her on the back with a leg outstretched to make a run for it. “Have fun waiting for an hour.” Sokuro made a very audible grunt as Aled ran as fast as his little legs would let him.

“AN hour!?!” She exclaimed, knowing he was still within earshot as he ran away. He KNEW it was going to take a long time to get registered- the little runt set this up. She couldn’t help but respect that. He’s not some hyperactive monkey after all. He has some smarts. “That sneaky little dillweed, he’s trying to sabotage me. Oh ho ho... he must trying to keep me up later then usual so he could get a headstart. The joker must think Silver’s have enhanced speed. Hoho… tricky little sneak.” She crossed her arms. “He just got himself a rival for this little shindig…” She snickered.

With no choice but to wait, Sokuro turned around to face the fella in front of her. She took this time to think about before, not her conversation with Aled, but with that mysterious stranger. The way he talked… they’re going to meet again someday, that much she can be certain of, but why? The best answer she can come up with is that he’s planning to try and use her for her power. He obviously won’t be trying anything now, not with all of these people around. And even if he did try to do the time freeze and take her now or during the race, people will notice. There are witnesses like Alled who saw her. She’s hoping that time freeze has limits, too. It didn’t look like he was controlling when it would end, so hopefully that means there is a limit to how long it can last, and hopefully a long recharge time. If this is magic, then it must follow the same rules the Shaman’s go by. But she had never heard of any Shaman, past or present, that can freeze time for a short amount of time. Either this stranger was a rogue Shaman or someone completely off the spectrum.

“Hey, you mind moving?!” A voice yelled from behind, breaking her out of her train of thought. She looked back and saw that there were others behind her. “You’re holding up the line!” She looked ahead and saw that the line had moved forward into the doorway, and she was holding it up.

“Oh. Sorry.” She nervously chuckled before jogging ahead to catch up. The line moved at a really good pace- she made it to the sign-up desk faster then Aled would’ve expected. He shouldn’t have tricked her the way he did, now he’s gonna lose the race.

“Name.” The male yellow Gaharot recruiter said in a extremely bored and tired tone with his tired head on his equally tired hand. You would be too if you were doing this for most of the day.

“Sokuro el’Fitan.”

The recruiter looked up and slightly raised a concerned eyebrow. “Aren’t you a little young to be partaking in this? It is the Koloron, after all.”

“I am well aware of that, sir. The thing is, I’m signing up because I need some experience. I had a.. nasty encounter with a monster and--”

The recruiter interrupted her by handing her her badge- the wooden plank with a rope tied like a necklace chain. Sokuro’s number was 612 in Dragenian script. “I didn’t ask for a life story…” He checked a few boxes on the tab. “… though I do need it to check this off… next of kin?”

Kin? She had never heard that word before. “Kin?”

“Family?”

Oh, that’s what it meant. She could’ve guessed worse. “Um, only a brother- Taled. Um… why do you need to know that?”

“Because if you die in the Koloron and your body is identified, your next of kin will receive a fair compensation of 2000 Sels.” He stamped a box next to Sokuro’s name, clearing her to participate. “Next…”

Sokuro bit her bottom lip as she got out of line and headed back out the way she came. She never thought of that. She had been so focused on preparing for the Koloron, she never thought of him. If she dies, that Taled will be all alone. If she was in it to win, she would be in extra trouble. Thank Velx she is doing this only for experience. And on the morbid side… at least Taled will get a decent wallet if she does…

She shook her head, getting rid of that throught process before it could go to the worst case scenarios. Between everything that happened in the last half hour, she needs to go find her friends and get some positivity going.

 

Speaking of her friends, the ones that came with her had found and met up with the others from Misken, having been able to claim a table for their very own, and then they had found one of the buffets set up for everyone here for the race and were scarfing their faces full of yummy, delicious food. It tasted so much better then then food back home. Bran and Dan were taking their meals slow because this is all stuff they are going to be trying for the first time, like Vooc, which is… coagulated blood pudding. Yeah, disgusting, but if people on earth can it supergross stuff, they can try to eat this… that was the thought process until their first bite, but it was so nasty, they had to push it away and move on to other stuff they can actually stomach.

Aka looked up from her food and saw the puzzled Sokuro walking around as she was trying to find them.  “Over here, Sokuro!” She called out, waving to her. It caught her attention as she waved back and walked on over. “Got you a plate.” She moved back into Vaset, who was busy eating, She was elbowed in the side, forcing her and the others on their side of the table to move over to give Sokuro room.

“Thanks…” Sokuro distantly said as she sat down.

“Hmm?” She watched as Sokuro, with her heavy head n her hand, lazily bit into her Gea leg. “You ok?”

“Yeah… just…” She set her leg down as she sputtered her lips, wondering how best to tell them. “…something weird happened.”

“Weird how?” Buron asked as the orphans undivided attention was on Sokuro.

“Well… I ran into someone really, really weird. He was wearing a traveler’s cloak, so I couldn’t see who he was, but… I think he was a Gaharot because he had a tail just like theirs, but he was standing upright like a Ferid or human.”

“That’s weird?” Dan asked.

“You’ve seen dinosaur movies.” Bran replied to him. “When was the last time you saw one of them upright, or evidence that their skeletons could even do that?”

“Point taken.” They looked back to her, to find her glaring at them with her fingers tapping on the table. “… sorry. Continue.”

“Anyway… what’s weirder is that he could use the same type of magic that Shaman’s use by summoning up a dark fireball, but Gaharots can’t use magic, right?”

“No we can’t.” Buron said.

“Yeah, but the strangest part about it is that he actually froze time.”

“Froze time?” the kids all responded in the same level of confusion and perplexion.

“Yeah, I was surprised too. But I don’t think it can last long, and I don’t think he can control when it ends as well… but that’s not what is important right now. He froze time so that he could talk to me, saying he wanted to see the new Silver before, and I’m paraphrasing here, had his fun.”

“Had his fun?” Leoi asked.

“Yeah, it freaked me out too. He was… really scary. He went on and on about life being fragile and even threatened a pregnant lady. He then spoke like he knew Xelut and Artox personally.”

“I know who Xelut is, but who’s Artox?”

“Another Silver Aerid who went mad with power. Unlike Xelut, who wanted to control the world, he wanted to destroy it. Thank Velx that never happened. But back to what I was talking about, this… creep then spouted some noncense about ‘knowing something had been found’ and someone called Q’uq’umatz.”

“Who?” Everyone responded.

“I had that same response.”

“Wait, Umatz?” Eriod replied. “Like the Word of Umatz?”

“… I honestly never caught on to that. I wish Hela was here, though. She studied the Word of Umatz when she was younger.” She grunted like a gorilla as she rubbed her hands on her neck like a massage. “But… in all honesty, I don’t know if this really happened. I could’ve only just hallucinated. I was training like crazy for the past few days, so I’m hoping I’m just sleep deprived.”

“If you think a Gaharot can use the powers of a Shaman AND stop time, you must’ve been.” Taled said.

Bran rested his head on his hand as well, wondering if this could all be true. Given what he and Sokuro had seen, it could be likely that she did experience this for real. “Alright, but let’s say this wasn’t a hallucination and is real. What do you think it could mean? What do you think he wants?”

“If I knew, I would tell ya, but my best guess… power. he kept going on about Silvers and he brought up Artox and Xelut, so it’s more then likely.” She shook her head and slapped herself several times on the face like someone waking up and putting on aftershave, bringing herself back to her usual cheerful mood. “Alright, that’s enough of that. Real or hallucination, I need to forget about it so I can focus on the Koloron.”

“Distracted flying is bad flying.”

“And how.”

“Everyone’s gonna be surprised when they find out a Silver is competing this cycle.”        

“I think they’ll be more surprised when they see me lose.”

 

Meanwhile, the stranger had appeared on a mountain peak, looking down upon the trading village. In his left hand, he held his tail… a fake tail made out of paper-mache and paint. He held it up and looked it over. “Well, this was enough to throw her off cue.” He tossed it away like it was trash.

“Ah… Sokuro, Sokuro, Sokuro…” He knelt down, putting his arms on his knees. “You’re more important then you know. You’ll have the glory of being my first kill once I obtain what I seek.” He looked at his right hand, feeling it shake with anticipation. “Assuming you survive the Koloron, that is.” He stood back up and put his inquisitive hand to his shadowy chin. “But now to the question of the century… where IS the Pashupatastra?  I know it has been found… but Dragenia is still a big place, and there are some knooks and crannys I haven’t looked.”

He would’ve paced as he thought, but the peak he was on was barely big enough for one foot, let alone to pace.  “Hmm… No skin off my back… I’ve waited a long time for the Pashupatastra to be found- I can wait longer till I can find it for myself.” He snapped his fingers, summoning up a portal made of dark flames behind him. He looked back down to the village, focusing on Sokuro in particular. “Sokuro el’Fitan… you’ll go down in history as Dragenia’s LAST Silver.” He walked into the portal. It closed and disappated after he walked through.

 

Down below, Sokuro sneezed into her food, spraying gravy onto a unsuspecting Dan. She snorted as she wiped her nose with her arm. “Ugh… ish… that came from out of nowhere.” She looked up and saw that Dan’s face was covered. “Oops…” She chuckled sheepishly. “Hehe… sorry, Dan.” He wiped most of it off in one swipe while giving her a mean glare.

“Yuck. That looks gross.” A familiar voice said from behind Sokuro- well, technically behind everyone on her side of the table, but you get the idea.

She and the others on her side looked back and she had a light smile cross her lips. “Heh… Eia. Been a while.”

Dressed in a amazing-looking blue and yellow blouse with a puffy skirt with lace, Eia smiled as she waved at the group. “Hey guys. Long time, no see.”

“I didn’t expect to see you this soon.” Bran commented with the faintest of red on his face. Eia walked on over to the front of the table, grabbing a chair from a nearly empty one along the way. “I take it you were all able to deliver the shipments?”

“Yep.” Eia said as she placed her chair. “We delivered the last of it to Mokuro. We were passing by when we overheard that the Koloron was a day away, so we decieded to stick around and see the race before heading back to the mainland. I take it you all are here to see it as well?”

“Yeah. Though Sokuro here is going to participate.”

Eia rapidly shook her head in stunned belief before looking towards the girl who was stuffing a piece of meat into her mouth. “Her? Why in the world are they letting her race? She’s too young, and a Silver no less.”

“The recruiter didn’t care what my age was.” Sokuro commented as she sucked on her fingers. “And nobody here knows I’m a Silver yet, so shush on that. Mum’s the word, got it?”

That was a confusing and puzzling phrase for the young natices, leading to scratched heads and puzzled murmers. “Mum’s the word?” Eia asked with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s a human saying. I have no clue what it is, but it means keep the secret. Right?” Both Bran and Dan nodded. “Yeah, it means secret keeping.”

“Huh. ok.” Eia grabbed a piece of meat off Sokuro’s plate, making her exclaim loudly. “I certainly grew some perplexing eyes when we arrived at Mokurot, though.” She ate it up. “I forgot I borrowed one of those phone thingies to learn how they work. One of the dock workers saw it and we told them that there are visitors from the Black Abyss living near Misken.” Eveyrone’s hair stood on end every part of their body froze out of shock. “You should’ve seen the look on their faces when I told them about moving pictures with sound. They were in complete disbelief.” She chuckled before looking up, seeing that the colonists were… not happy. Dan faceplanted his face into his plate while Bran just sat there with a eye twitching. “What?”

“Ooooh, Eia…” Sokuro whined as she buried her face into her hands. “Eia, Eia, Eia, Eia, Eiaaaa…”

“I did something bad, didn’t i?”

“They wanted to keep all of this a secret to avoid causing a huge incident. How do you think everyone else on Dragenia will react when they learn that what we know of the heavens was wrong? And that a new civilization just magically appeared out of nowhere, with technology that far superceeds ours, with strange sticks that fire glowing bolts or metal beasts? They lucked out when they landed at Misken, but even then, everyone in the village, even Velx, was afraid. So imagine, just imagine, how everyone outside of that area would react if they learned of this?”

She did and it was not pretty. “… oh… crud.” She hung her head back off the chair. “Oh my lord, I did a bad thing.”

Bran lifted up his own head form his hands and held up a single finger from each hand, trying to find some silver lining in all of this. He did eventually think of one. “Ok… ok… no need to painc… I think we can salvage this…”

“How the heck can you salvage this?” Vaset asked.

He held one of the fingers to her to quiet her up. “Eia, where was it that you told that there were aliens living on Dragenia?”

She lifted her head back up from the chiar, with her left eyebrow cocked up in puzzlement. “The local tavern of the village.” She sat back up. “It was funny too- there were a lot of drunkards trying to play Loclin… heh…” She saw that they were not thrilled about that. “Heh… I’ll come back to that…. it’s not important. But yeah, they were really out of it.”

That helps them out a considerable amount. “Yeah, I was hoping they were drunk because, drunk people are never known to have good memories of the night before at all, especially if you get blackout drunk.”

She twisted her lips as she sat back. “Huh… I guess that is true.”

“And did anyone else on the crew mention us, or was it just you?”

“Just me.”

“Even better, becusae they were think you have a active imagination. When I told the people in charge of the colony I had encountered a native girl- I.E. Sokuro here- they didn’t believe me. They thought I was making up a story- even my own parents didn’t believe me. And while Sokuro only told the others at the orphanage, they didn’t believe her either. It’s possible that the people at that tavern who weren’t wasted probably thought you were making up a interesting story about a technologically advanced civilization that came from has traditionally been a place where the souls of the dead reside.” He stoped for a moment as he really thought about it. “Huh… now that I say it out loud, I wouldn’t be surprised if they start calling us zombies.”

“Zombies?” The native orphans responded in the same bewildered tone.

“The undead. Reanimated corpses. They eat brains. And are completely fictional.” He got back on track. “Not important right now. What is important is that hopefully everything I said will be true and people will be either too wasted to remember what Eia said or think she was just making up a story.”

“But what if someone does believe her?”

“Then it is a 50/50 shot between the person fearing us enough to try and hurt us, or being friendly and welcoming. And as we have no place else to go and no way to leave since we’re out of fuel, I’m strongly rooting for the friendly part.”

“Me too. I don’t want to spend another century in space.” He rubbed his neck. “The cryopod has no support.”

“Cryopod?” Taled asked.

“And here come the questions again. I swear, we should just handout brochures.” Bran just shrugged it off. “They are… well, beds that freeze you so that you can be revived much, much later. It’s really useful if you want to live to see 3000 years into future.”

“And no, you are not going to try it out.” Bran interjected, which disappointed the kid. “It may be refined in the modern day, but it is still dangerous. One wrong step and you are a dead popsi—oh, right, you guys don’t’ know what that is, un… a dead icicle from where you can’t be revived.”

Sokuro held her hand to her throat, feeling some sort of sympathy pain from that description. “Yikes. How can something so useful be so dangerous?”

“Asks the girl who’s about to fly through a fatal mountain range tomorrow morning just so she could get some intensity experience.” Eia said in a smug tone.

Sokuro sank her head into her shoulders. “… I’d like to withdraw my previous question.”

“Yeah, I thought so.” She scooted closer to an oblivious Bran.

 

            Later, when the celebrations and preperations were starting to die down for the night, Sokuro was brought into one of the buildings so she could sleep in one of the fancy beds for the contestents. She was sharing the room with several other contestents, all of whom were asleep. She sat down on the edge of her bed and lifted up her locket. She clicked it open and looked at the image of her parents.

            “Well, mom… wish me luck tomorrow…”

            She heard shuffling feet out in the hallway. She looked up and saw a shady character walk past, looking inside to check up on things. She felt a shiver go down her spine as she got a really bad feeling: why are there so many shady people here? It wasn’t like this last year. Something was going to happen tomorrow, to be sure.

            She got up out of the bed and headed to the desk readily available in the room. She opened a few drawers and found a nail file. She took it and began shaving her scale. Even if nothing happens tomorrow, it would be nice to have a contingency plan. She had planned this for some time, but never got around to it till now.

25: Chapter 23: Koloron Part 3: The First Leg

Chapter 23

Koloron Part 3: The First Leg

3/11/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            The moment morning broke, the racers for the Koloron were up and about, getting ready for the start of the event. Everyone knew they had equal chances to get killed by all of the hazards, but they were pumped with adrenaline and anticipation, so any warning bells going off in their minds were ignored.

            Those who weren’t participating had relocated to the many airships that had brought them here, giving everyone a bird’s eye view of the race. The orphans, Dan, and Bran followed Eia towards the Rose Shatter so they could watch with her and the crew. The kids are a little snippy because of how early they had to be woken up.

            “This looks friggin NUTS.” Dan exclaimed, seeing all this from up above. It gained a whole new sense of fear from the colonists now that they are seeing it from a different angle.  “I feel sorry for any unlucky sap who turns into… well, sap.”

            “Why would anyone want to do this?” Bran whimpered, holding onto the railing so he wouldn’t fall into the mountains.

            Well, that was obvious. “Fame, glory, bragging rights, the smug satisfaction of surviving a death trap.” Leoi counted down. “Need I go on?”

            “They should at least give a age restriction.” Bran continued to whimper. “Sokuro and Alled are insane for attempting this when they’ve only been Dragons for, what, a month now? There is no way this would fly on our world!”

            Buron grumbled loudly, having grown tired of his insessent whining. “Well, this isn’t your world, is it?” She snapped. “This is Dragenia, not… whatever your rock was called. Things work differently here- accept that, mfalsha!”

            Everyone was taken aback by how harsh she was, but none more so then her fellow orphans. Mfalsha is a derogatory term, meaning something that I can’t repeat. To try and put it simple and cleanly, it’s a really, really bad term for foreignhers. How someone her age could’ve learned it is anyones guess. Since Bran and Dan don’t know what that word means, they’re just stunned by her shouting. “Ok.. ok… forget I said anything.”

            “I don’t care…” Buron tiredly rubbed her forehead. “Sorry… I am not a morning person.”

            “Really? We hadn’t noticed.” Eriod snarkily replied.

            Buron growled towards him, “Hey, watch it, or else you’re eating wood.”

            “Sheesh. From what I’m seeing, none of you are morning people.” Dexyl commented from behind, drinking a piping hot cup of Dragenian-style coffee, and it’s no joke on the hot factor- both races have steel stomachs. If a human, Hesk, or Adlez tried it, there would be holes with their guts would be- a Hesk would immediately shrivel away. Kitsunes and Argaliths would be able to stomach it. “And where did you learn such a horrid word?” She asked Buron, only to be answered by her crossing her arms and darting her head the other way in a huff. “… Someone woke up on the wrong side of the cot this morning.”

            “Is she always like this?” Eia asked the colonist boys.

            “This is a first for us.” Dan replied. “And what was that word she used?”

            Eia wasn’t sure she should tell them. She heard it before and felt hurt when she was called that to her face. “It’s… bad. Let’s just leave it at that.” She went to someone else for information, tapping Set on the shoulder to get her attention. “So why’s Buron so… hostile today?”

            “She’s like this sometimes.” She whispered back. “She can switch emotions on the fly. It’s rather scary, seeing her go from happy to sad and then to angry in a second.”

            The two boys overheard her and came to the same thought: she’s bipolar. EXTREMELY bipolar, if that claim of going though three emotions at once is true.

 

            Back down on the ground, Sokuro could feel the tension in the air as everyone prepared for the race. She could see everyone was ready to either win big or become a stain. It was now that she was starting to get cold feet, thinking that this was a stupid idea. She needed experience, sure, but there were other ways of accumulating experience. She had just become a Silver, and while they are powerful, they are not invinsible.

            It just dawned on her that she was going to expose her identity as a Silver Aerid to everyone here- the only one here who knows is Alled. They all going to look at her and likely throw the race to let her win, and that’s the best case scenario. Worst case, almost everyone will come to her, begging for special magic to win the race. She didn’t want special treatment then and she doesn’t want it now, but in all that adrenaline, she didn’t think all of this though.

            On top of all of that, her mind still thought back to last night, and that mystery time stopper she encountered. Until she fell asleep, she tried to figure out what he meant, but couldn’t come up with any answers. Even then, the way he talked and carried himself was… frightening. Whoever this was… he was danger.

            In stressful times like this, she always looked at the image of her parents in the locket, thinking back to more peaceful times. In this large crowd, she needs it.

            Alled noticed her in the crowd, looking at the locket. Without making a sound, he walked on over to her and looked over her shoulder, staring at the people in the locket. He didn’t need to say or do anything for Sokuro to know he’s there. “Can I help you, Alled…?” She asked jadedly without looking away.

            “No. Just wondering what you were doing all by your lonesome over here.”

            “Sure it’s not some other way to sabotage me like last night…?”

            “Now why would I do that again? Heck, how could I do it again when the Koloron is about to start? Hard to sabotage wh…” He stopped talking when he noticed that she didn’t look at her not once. “Are you ignoring me?”

            “No… I’m just… worried…”

            “About the race?”

            That was half of it. The other half was the stranger, but like her friends last night, there’s no way he would believe her. Doubtful any of her friends believed her as well. “Yes. I was excited for it last night, but as I was going to sleep, I realized that... a whole lot of people are going to see me transform into a Silver Aerid. I know they must’ve learned a new Silver had been chosen by now, but… I doubt they know who. I just know that the moment I change, I’m going to get swarmed by everyone, begging me to do something to change their lives, or giving me special treatment like throwing the race or something like that. I didn’t think this though…”

            Alled put his arms behind his head. “It sounds to me that the pressures of being a Silver is getting to you. Or you just don’t like crowds, especially ones that surround you en masse. And didn’t a lot of people already see you transform back during the Ascension Ceremony? They must’ve spread the word that you were it. And they didn’t swarmyou back then, or now. And I never heard of a Silver being some magic wish granter. You’re worrying over nothing.”

            “Maybe…”

            He could see that this was really eating away at her. He never saw such black marks under someones eyes before. This is the opposite of the excited girl he saw last night. There’s no way this could be just from the fear of being swarmed. Something else must’ve happened last night, and he feels she isn’t going to tell. The whole swarming thing could just be some sort of ruse.

            He turned around for a brief moment and scratched the back of his neck. With the Koloron about to start any minute now, giving the competition some advice wouldn’t be prudent, but she is clearly struggling with something more then just the Silver thing. “I’m gonna regret this…” He turned back and tapped her on the back to get her attention. “Hey… I’m gonna give you some advice, but don’t you dare repeat this to anyone.”

            This can only end well.  “Ok?”

            He pointed to a spot towards the left of the range. “When he was my age, my grandpa found a secret route over there- a tunnel that leads deep into the mountain range. It goes deep and you come out near the bottom, where the dangers are non-existant.”

            “Huh…” That would be the perfect place to transform where nobody could see her. She won’t be able to repeat this during the second leg tomorrow- nobody can get that lucky twice. At the very least, this is a delaying tactic for what is something completely pointless to him and later everybody else. No sense in putting off what can be done today, but that’s something she doesn’t know. She’s still a kid.

            She slowly began closing the locket. “But I want the danger… I need the experience. That’s the whole reason I came to participate in the first place.”

            “If you say so.” Sokuro mostly ignored that until she was poked in her cheek, making her look at him. “But un… you’re not gonna win first place. That honor is mine.”

            Sokuro scoffed a smirk, clicking the locket shut. He’s still thkining she’s a threat? Well, it’ll be more experience in the long run. “I didn’t want first place to begin with. But after the trick you pulled last night, I made you my rival, so if that means getting first place… hehe, you’re gonna regret it.”

            Now it was on. “You must be joking. I’ve been training for this since I could remember. I memorized the maps inside and out. Meanwhile, you decided to do this on a whim. I’m gonna win.”

            “Not when I beat you to the finish line.”

            “We’ll see how long that cockiness lasts by the time you reach the midway house.” Sokuro slyly coughed a laugh. Alled took notice of a disturbing green mark on the back of her neck. “Hey, what’s--”

            All of a sudden, a red Aerid swooped in, flying up and over the crowd. Sokuro saw a multitude of scars on its underbelly, along with a dazzling jeweled necklace with hanging beads. Whoever this is has seen a lot of action, or got all of these from the Koloron. Either way… she was both in awe and unsettled. She pulled her lips inside her mouth, wondering how many she’ll accumulate in her life. She can still feel the bite.

            The red Aerid flew up towards a airship and began to change form as he settled down onto it. Out of the twirling sparkles came a really old man with grey hair everywhere. Really up there- well into his 80’s. He sported a very fashionable green and orange robe with fanciful markings, along with the same necklace but smaller, symbolizing his status. Despite his age, he was still spry. He wasn’t going to do any jumping jacks anytime soon, but he can still fly like the best of them. Experience comes with age, they say.

            “Everyone.” He proclaimed out to the eager crowd. Despite his age, his voice was still loud and clear. “Another cycle has come and gone, and with it another Koloron has come around, and just like the countless times before, I see that we have a lot of eager participants this time, along with some young blood ready to try this for the first time...”

            While he spoke, Sokuro whispered a question to Alled, “Who’s that?”

            “My grandfather, Mokati. The current chief of Meoho.”

            “So what makes you what, a prince?”

            “Eh, not nessicarily.”

            “…For those among the participents or the onlookers that are new to the Koloron, the race itself was founded many eons ago by Meoho, the founder of the village that he named after himself. A ruthless conquerer with a ego to match, he invented the Koloron to weed out the weak and the lame, and to use it to make vibrant warriors out of the strong who survived. Ultimately, it proved to be his end as he attempted to fly though the Sawfield, losing his life...”

            “Sawfield?” Sokuro whispered to Alled again.

            “A part of the range where the rocks just jut out and are as sharp and brutal as saw blades. Just as straight, too. Nobody except the wreckless or the suicidal would attempt to fly though there.”

            “And you?”

            “I’m brave, not stupid.”

            Sokuro slightly and breathlessly laughed to herself. “… Where is it so I can avoid it?”

            “It’s not until the second leg, so you got nothing to worry about today.”

            “…Nowadays, the Koloron is a friendly competition, held once a year among the villages of Evioly and those visiting from across the sea, to see who among you all are among the best of the best. While we have worked diligently to lessen the many dangers you can experience and suffer in the vast Meoho Mountain Range, it is not perfect by any means. You can still die. I hope you have made peace with your life if the unfortunate were to occur…”

            Sokuro felt a chill go though her body and up her spine. It felt like somebody was watching her. She moved her head around to see if anyone was looking her way. Everyone here was so violent looking and dangerous, any one of them could be. Could it be that strange cloaked guy from last night again? No, she thought. She didn’t feel a chill then.

            A cloth hung off the side of the ship- a flag emblazoned with the sigil of the gods, which was a coiled serpent. The Word of Umatz, the Shamanistic order that the Astrals created to do spread their blessings and work, use the same sigil, but theirs has wings.

            “Here we go…” Alled said to himself as he jumped in place, warming himself up to what is to come, but all Sokuro saw was just him leaping up and down like a doofus. “When that flag drops, it starts.”

            “Oh.”

            Mikati walked to the ropes hanging the flag over the side. One of the crewmen handed him a saber for him to cut it with. “When this flag drops, the Koloron shall begin. The prize this year is 150,000 Sels, along with, as is tradition, the right to govern and rule Meoho for a whole year. This year will be the last time I race the Koloron, so will it be one more year of me ruling Meoho, or shall some new blood finally beat me?”

            So that was how they chose their new chiefs- the Koloron. Given its history, it makes sense. This was once a torturous method to weed out the weak and supliment the strong, so it would make sense that the one to emerge on the other side first would be the strongest and wisest out of everyone involved.

            Sokuro looked around at everyone participating in the race. Most of them are so brutish looking- having one of them rule an entire village for a year doesn’t sound very appetizing. Then again, neither is her ruling. She doesn’t want that, not in the slightest, so as much as she was teasing Alled earlier with, if it comes to be that she was to cross the finish line first, she would just skid to a halt and let him win. And yes, the money would be helpful in fixing up a lot of things around Misken. And even if she did want to rule, Xelut and Artox did not paint ruling Silvers in a kind light.

 

 

Begin song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP3xY3iYY1E Break the Ice by John Farnham – RAD soundtrack

           

 

            Mokati cut off all the ropes but one, making the flag hang there by the fabric of it’s stitching. That signaled every one of the racers to get ready, transforming into their Aerid forms. So many colored sparkles danced together as they rose up in to the air, mesmerizing the young folk in the crowd, especially the colonist boys. Bran and Dan made sure their phones were recording so they could capture this from their hiding places.

            Sokuro watched everyone transform, but she didn’t change yet. Her body was in the process of glowing and giving off the sparkles, but she wasn’t changing yet. Even if she didn’t want people to know she’s a Silver at the moment, she had a stylish flair.

            She looked down at her locket one last time, which was overly illuminated by the glowing scale. “Well mom… wish me luck.” She put it and the scale under her dress. She cracked her fingers and got ready for the flag to drop.

            Mikati raised the saber over his head and then swung down, cutting the last rope with one single and clean slice.

 

            And so, the Koloron was on.

 

            Aerids of all shapes, sizes, and colors took to the air, kicking up enough wind to make the airships high above list and shake. Eia took the opening to fain a dilemma and “accidentally” fell right into Bran, who caught her before she could hit anything.

            As everyone took to the air, Sokuro was running as fast as she could along the increasingly empty streets, her glow increasing as she neared what she designated her launch site. She looked up and made sure she had enough of a opening to do this:

            On the last step, she had transformed into her Aerid form and launched off the ground with all the force her wings could muster, rocketing right into the area Alled had advertised: a cave opening that she hoped would lead to the other side. And she looked like a rocket, too- the sparkles and the glow left a impressive trail behind her as she went from 0 to 120 in seconds from the village to the opening.

            And Alled’s information was spot on- there was an opening large enough for several Aerids to fly though. It was smooth and lacking any stalagtites and stalagemites, as if it was carved yesterday despite being hundreds of years old. By the time Sokuro was dozens of feet inside, she had fully formed into her Aerid form. She looked back and saw that she was the only one in the tunnel, leaving her more then a little apprehensive. Did Alled trick her yet again?

            “Ha… I can’t believe he fell for that trick.” She giggled to herself, feeling a small ounce of shame for leading him on like that with her depression. She is scared of people clamoring to her for being a Silver, sure, but she knows it’s all overblown hooey. She can’t change people’s lives- its overactive imagination.

            That’s what she is forcing herself to believe, anyway.

            She looked back on ahead and saw that there was someone else here in the tunnel with her- the red Aerid that began the race, Mokati. How did he get here ahead of her? They all went at the same time, didn’t they? Or is he just that fast?

            She flapped her wings and caught on up to him. It was the same guy- the necklace was the same, as were the scars. Mokati noticed her out of the corner of his eye and looked. “Well, the rumors were true after all: a new Silver Aerid is among us.”

            Sokuro kept silent for a moment, unsure how she should respond. Ultimately, she decided to play it safe and cool for now to avoid appearing rude. “Um, yes, your elderness. My name is Sokuro. Sokuro el’Fitan.”

            “Ah. This is a fine name for a Silver Aerid. Far better then many of the other ones, in my opinion. Wait, did you say Sokuro? Alled spoke of you last night. He said you were in this just for the experience, correct?”

            “Yeah, you’re right. I am in this solely for the experience. I’m not in this to win and I don’t want to rule anyone.”

            “You are one of a kind, then, to be in this for fun and not for a reward.” He looked on ahead and saw light at the end of the tunnel. “Well, you are soon to get the experience you want. We’re about to join the others.”

            Sokuro noticed it too, but she looked back and saw nobody else with them. They were all alone in the tunnel. “I’m surprised nobody else flew in here. This is a straightforward route.”

            “Well, it is a easy route, and they usually want a challenge. I’m taking this route due to my old age… but then why are you in here?”

            “I can believe that. And I took this route to ease my way into this.” She chuckled to herself. “I had to trick your Alled into telling me this shortcut by telling him I’m scared about being a Silver due to all the pressure and everyone clamoring to make me change things for the better.”

            “And are you?”

            “No. I’m happy as a clam.”

            He tilted his head in bewilderment at that line. “Happy as a clam?” Sokuro realized her mistake and sucked her mouth in. “What is a clam?”

            “Un…” Sokuro was cursing herself out on the inside. The colonists told everyone to keep their being not from this world a secret for fear of bad consequences and she just about blew it. Clams don’t exist on Dragenia, and she just used a human saying that involved them. “Un... it’s… just a phrase I made up.” She nervously chuckled. She really didn’t want to try and explain it- she’s quick witted, but not that quick. “Um… first one to the midway house is a rotten egg.” She flapped so hard, she accidentally created tornado-force winds that knocked him back a bit.

            In seconds, she burst out of the exit and right into a veritable minefield, almost colliding with a pillar. She instinctually tucked her wings in and rolled to the right to avoid hitting it. She ran along the side of a hill for a few brief seconds before spreading her wings and heading back into the air.

            The old man had plenty of time to warn her about that.

            The innards of the Koloron are a geographer’s nightmare. There is no way any of this should exist in this manner, but it does. Underneath the extremely dense fog canopy was a twisted and deranged mess of cliffs, deaddrops, deadend caves and valleys, and upside-down mountains balancing precariously? There is no way that should be possible, but it is.

            She spiraled though a… well, a stone spiral and spread her wings at the right time to avoid hitting another racer that sped by, only to be blindsided by dozens of others that blaed by, making her spin like a top. They didn’t notice she was Silver- they didn’t  notice her at all: that color in dense grey fog is really good camouflage.

            The other colors of the Aerid rainbow were not and she saw hundreds of other colors all up ahead of her, and also trailing far behind. She flapped her wings and followed the guy she almost hit, since he’s going in the right direction.

            This was truly a a no-holds barred race as she saw several of the competitors slamming their rivals into the sides of mountains to knock them out of the race. Even though she was virtually invisible in this fog, she took care to avoid them to avoid being smacked. It can be fatal here. 

           

            Alled was barreling his way through the competition, having studied maps of the range inside and out. He knows them so well, he felt like he drew them himself. He rolled to the left, passing right between a couple of Aerids that almost collided with each other.

            He tucked his wings and dove into a narrow tunnel lined with sharp spikes. He got though it with ease. Ever since he obtained his Aerid form, he had been training non-stop for this- he’sonly going to get one chance at this.

            He emerged on the other side and spread his wings wide, almost coming face to face with a outcropping shapped like a roaring head. He rolled away, almost a pitch-blue Aerid. He barely had time to course correct, almost hitting another.

            “(I knew it was going to be crowded, but geez…)” He flapped his wings to ascend upward. He steeled himself, seeing the rest of the competition as insignificant. “(I’m going to win this year… nobody else…)”

            He flapped once more, and then pulled his wings in to divebomb the two Aerids he almost hit. At the last moment, he spread his hind legs and brandished his claws. As he dove past, he scratched them on the wings, making flying more difficult for them.

            He flipped onto his back and flew backwards. “You know there are no rules in this!” He called back to them. “Anything goes!” He flipped back around and sped on ahead.

 

            That is true. This is a no-holds barred race. Except for killing, anything goes. That allowed some of the contestants to get really, really nasty with their tactics. Some were simple, like simply tricking people into going in the wrong or longer direction.

            Others…….. weren’t like that.

            Others were in this for more… bad purposes.

            Flying on his side though a narrow corridor, one of the competitors, a slender and intelligent blue Aerid with a mark on his right shoulder, looked back and saw several young Aerids right behind him, He scoffed a smirk- this was almost too easy.

            Exiting the corridor, he spun around, launching a blue blast out of his mouth and into the air, puzzling the two behind him.

            This was a signal.

            Out of sight from both the racers and from the spectators above, several mysterious and dastardly troublemakers were doing nasty things. From the protective confinds of several caves, unknown goons tossed down weighted nets to ensnarl whoever they were able to get. The unfortunate ones that got caught in the nets were sent plummeting towards the bottom of the range.

 

            Alled noticed one of the nets coming for him. He spun out of the way in one directiong to avoid and Sokuro, who was following him, rolled in another direction, sending the two down separate paths.

            “When were nets added in…?” Alled pondered to himself, looking up to see who would throw weighted nets in the middle of a dangerous game. He kept on flying, not going to let him get caught in these nets. There was no way his grandfather would approve of nets during the race- absolutely not.

            He rolled hard to the right, avoiding a mini avalance that almost took him out, but did take out another. Based on the size of the rocks, she was going to survive, but her body was going to hurt for a long time. He blasted another that was falling his way before continuing on.

 

            Up on the airships, the audience watched in anticipation, eager to see who was going to win, and more importantly, who was going to survive.

            “How can they tell what’s going on?” Bran commented as he looked over the side. The camera of his phone poked out of the top of his pocket, trying to record what was going on, but the fog was so thick, he can barely make out the colors.

            “We can see in the dark.” Zalet mentioned. “I’m guessing humans don’t.”

            “Very astute observation.” Dan joked. Bran rolled his eyes at that lame response.

            “Well, it’s true. Both Ferids and Gaharots can see in the dark. Gaharots are much more adept then we are, so they can see in more detail and distance. Not so true in Aerid form- it’s equal footing there.”

            The onlookers exclaimed in agony. The humans heard this noise before. There were already several fatalities before, not it sounds like someone else bit the proverbial dust. Spcialized airships floated over.prompting special airships outfitted with craw cranes to retrieve the dead. Some of the deaths were pretty gruesome, so I’ll spare you the details.

            It made the younger members of the procession gag as they felt bile come up. “Oh gods…” Taled gagged. “That… is nasty…” He gagged again. “I think I’m going to throw up.”

            Dan could barely keep his lunch down as well. “I thought that guy said the Koloron was safer then before.”

            “SafER, not free of danger.” Buron scoffed. “Get your head out of the clouds.”

            Bran kept his lunch down. He looked back down over the side, trying to find hair or hide of Sokuro, worried about her. If everyone isn’t screaming out in terror over a death, then she’s still alive. On that note, nobody’s commented that a Silver is a part of the roster this year. Maybe nobody noticed her- her scales ARE the same color as this really dense fog.

            “You better be safe, Sokuro…”

 

            Sokuro sneezed out of nowhere before she was suddenly blindsided by a sudden and violent gust of wind. It pushed her towards a mountain with a razor-sharp cliff ready to slice and dice. She tucked in her arms, legs, and wings, and changed back into her Ferid self. That was a good move as she missed the cliff edge and rolled safely on top of it.

            She picked herself up and shook off anything she had accumulated on the crash landing. “Huh. I can’t believe that worked.” She commented to herself. She saw Alled blaze on by, banking to his right, not really seeing her on the cliff. Showboating, yes, but it showed her that the wind had died down if he didn’t go though the same thing she did. “And there goes the trickster…” She wiped her thumb across her nose and leapt off. She transformed back into her Aerid self and flew after him.

            While flying at breakneck speeds to catch up to him, she heard screaming coming from above. She looked up. She looked up and saw someone falling- someone was caught in a net and wasn’t in a position to use his claws to help him escape. He fell straight towards the ground, with no way to save himself. When he hits, it is going to cripple.

            As much as Sokuro wants to beat Alled, her nice nature demanded that she dove to save the helpless contender, and she did. And even if her nature wasn’t a thing, this was only the first leg of the Koloron- tomorrow is where it counts.

            She flew down as fast as she could, flapping her wings hard as she went her fastest. She had no clue nets were going to be a problem in this race- this complicates things considerably.

            “Come on…” She grunted to herself. She didn’t need to stop him complete- if she can cut a few ropes, he can get out himself. She reached out with brandished claws. “Almost… got it…” Once she felt she was close enough, she swiped at it. The claws sliced though it clearly and not a moment too soon.

            He managed to pull the net off and flap his wings to catch some air seconds before they were ever close to the ground. Sokuro pulled up as hard as she could, drafting off a small pond and creating a large splash when she flapped her wings to head back up.

            “Holy moly, that was close.” She grunted with a pant.

            “Thanks for the save, kid.” The guy she rescued flew above her. “But you do know this is a no-holds barred race, right?”

            “So?” She flapped her wings and flew on ahead.

 

            The blue Aerid looked back and saw several more racers had been caught by the nets. This is turning into a rather productive day. He smirked to himself before flying up to a outcropping to meet with someone.

            “This is turning into a productive haul, boss.” The one hiding in the shadows commented with a sniveling, conniving voice.

            The blue Aerid spoke in a smooth, slimy voice that would send shivers down your spine. “Good. Once the second leg begins tomorrow, haul them out…” He looked down and watched as a certain red Aerid blazed on by, heading into a nasty part of the Koloron. “…After you get him.”

            “Him? Mokati’s grandson?”

            “He’s got strength. That’ll come in handy.” He pushed off the outcropping and flew down a different direction to prevent Alled from getting suspicious in the offchance he noticed him.

            “If you say so, boss.”

 

            Next on the path was a truly dangerous part of the mountain range- the Den. Aptly named because a race of wall-crawling nastiest called Rokh roam around here, ready to snatch any poor fool foolish enough to enter their territory. Ugly in their own right, these monsters, which look like a cross between the lower body of a spider- the eight legs and the enlarged abdomen- and a upper body of a praying mantis- the pincers and the long torso- and with a face that combined all their creepy qualities- the large bulbous eyes of the mantis divided into eight, and both mouths morphed into some nightmarish combination, are nasty business. They are carnivorous, but the scales of the Aerid are too tough for their pincers or fangs to break though- they rely too heavily on their pouncing to take care of their prey. And they are easily susceptible to the elemental attacks an Aerid can dish out.

            Alled knew this was coming from all the stories his grandfather always told and he was prepared. He had fire under his belt, so he’ll burn whatever Rokh’s are foolish enough to try and pounce on him.

            And as bad luck would have it, they were in a pouncing mood today. Alled heard shrieks up above like nails on a chalkboard, sending shivers up his spine. He looked and saw one of these ugly beasties jumped down on him from up above, sending him down into the swampy ground. With only one wing available, he tried to keep himself aloft, but the Rokh are heavy as ships.

            The Rokh shrieked like a insectoid demon from hell before trying to bite Alled’s back. As stated before, they rely on their pouncing to weaken their prey because they aren’t physically strong. And if what they got was an Aerid, they wouldn’t be able to do any real damage because the scales are tough as diamonds.

            The bite bounced off Alled’s back, disorienting the monster long enough for Alled to grab one of its legs with his tail and swing him off, sending him straight into a deep pond. He prepared a firebreath to take it out, taking his guard down for another monster to try and get the jump on him.

            A beam of light suddenly shot from behind, hitting the Rokh in the back and smashing it against the mountainside. The sudden act caught Alled by surprise, but it didn’t last for long as a familiar sight flew by him. She flapped up and turned around to hover. “What in the world are these things?” Sokuro panted, seeing them scurry along the mountain.

            “Rokh’s. Nasty bugs.” He flapped away from the site to avoid getting pounced again. “Thanks for saving my hide, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to win the race.”

            “I did it to be nice- sheesh. But I’m still going to beat you.” With a flap, she was away, leaving behind a dust cloud shaped like her. Alled snorted like a bull before flying after her… as did a swarm of the Rokh’s as they creeped along the ground and the sides of the mountains after them.

            Sokuro looked back and saw the bugs were chasing after them. “Are you kidding me?!” she exclaimed.

            Alled looked back and frowned. “They’re nothing if not persistant. One is nothing to be afraid of, but a whole swarm- the force will knock you out for the more dangerous predators” He launched a fireball back at them, taking out one of the big ones. He looked on ahead and saw they were nearing a narrow canyon. Up above were natural bridges as thin and as sharp as swords. “Great… this’ll make things worse… This lasts all the way to the Midway House.”

            Sokuro flipped onto her back and fired a fireball. “We can use it to our advantage. It’ll force them to single-file in. Right?”

            “One way to find out.” The two of them flew into the canyon with the swarm in hot pursuit.       

 

            After hours of intense flying though the most dangerous race on the planet, the racers were nearing the end of the first leg, which ends at the Midway House smack-dab in the center of the mountain range: a single house nestled near a small lake with a waterfall. The airships were already hovering above the place, waiting for the contestants to appear.

            The blue Aerid scumbag was the first to appear, cresting down the edge of the range. More soon appeared, exhausted but triumphed to have survived the first leg.

            “That was too easy.” Mokati commented as he landed on top of the house. “I could’ve done it in my sleep.”

            “You practically did, old coot.” The blue Aerid said to himself.

            Suddenly, an explosion burst out of the side of one of the mountains. Sokuro and Alled fell out of it, riding on top of the dead Rokh in their Ferid forms., with several alive Rokh’s behind them, leaping down to them.

            The dead Rokh sledded off a outcropping, prompting the two to leap off. In unison, the two changed back to their Aerid selves, spun around, and fired a pair of huge fireballs towards the opening they had made, blasting it shut to prevent more from coming in.

            As for the three bugs that fell after them, Sokuro spun upwards, slicing one from abdomen to head with her tail while Alled used his wing to knock one of them into a spiked pit.

            As for the last, the two rolled backwards and kicked it it with all their might… accidentally to the Midway House. The bug shrieked all the way to the house as it flew faster then a jet. The blue Aerid caught it by the throat and crushed it with his bare strength.

            Flying at top speed, Sokuro and Alled skimmed along the ground as they shot towards the Midway House. Sokuro’s claws dipped too close to the ground. She caught on something, which disoriented her. Before she knew it, she was rolling head over heels towards the House. Several of the racers moved out of the way as she slammed back first and upside-down into the body of the dead bug.

           

 

End Song.

 

 

            Alled landed without fuss, scoffing a laugh as Sokuro’s eyes spun around like dinner plates on a stick. “Mommy… can I have a piggy-back ride…?” She croaked. Her friends on the airship moaned and groaned; Bran, Baset, and Leoi faceplamed, covering their eyes.

            Mokati chuckled to himself as he looked down from on top of the House. “Not the best way for a new Silver to make a first impression.”

            The blue Aerid was more interested in the fact she was a Silver then the rest. They can be insanely powerful. Maybe she should be among the others as well. Along with the grandson, of course… “I don’t think she can hear you, Grandpa.” Alled said as he splashed water on her to try and snap her out of it.

26: Chapter 24: Koloron Part 4 Rest and Kidnapping

Chapter 24

Koloron Part 4: Rest and Kidnapping

3/11/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            Soon, the first leg of the Koloron came to an end. Nearly everyone that went through the first half of the mountain range came through. And while this may’ve been the first leg, it was a bloody one. 3 racers lost their lives- one to a runaway boulder, another drowned in a river after being dragged down by one of those mysterious net traps, and another dragged into the darkness by something you don’t want described. 21 other racers were unaccounted for; their bodies missing and presumed dead.

            Another typical Koloron.

            Everyone was resting before heading back out tomorrow to deal with the second leg of the race, and it’s going to be harder then the first leg, by far. If the first half of the race was already this dangerous, then imagine what the second half will be like.

            Sokuro and Alled made a spectacle when they came blasting in, becoming the talk of the house tonight. Sokuro made even more of a splash with word spreading she was the new Silver. They heard rumors that one had showed up, but they never would’ve guessed an orphan. The last few dozen Silvers were important even before ascending to their new role: princes, nobles, magicians- one was even the daughter of a super famous hunter at the time. Ask a historian and they’ll agree that none before were orphans: Sokuro is the first. That’s now lead to rumors that the change she will bring about will not be as grandiose as the others- as terrible as they were, Xelut and Artox did bring about some world-shattering changes.

            If only they knew.

            One already happened and another will happen soon.

 

            Inoute sat down at a table next to Ifil and Polosa, with a tray loaded to the brim with food. The sheer amount of it disgusted Polosa, who only had a small protion compared to his king’s feast. He clapped his hands together and got ready to chow down.

            “What happened to watching your weight?” She snidely commented as she popped a berry into her mouth.

            He turned her way and spoke while pointing a fork at her. “Do you know how much I burn off from stress alone? I can eat all of this and be fine because I’ll burn it off by midday tomorrow.” Polosa leaned back, as did Ifil. She silently gestured if that was even remotely a thing that can be done. He slowly shook his head- it was all bogus. He fell off the wagon.

            Ifil pulled himself back. “Or we could ask our new neighbors if they have a machine that can extract everything you ate.” That part was overheard by another racer. “I bet even they have issues with over-eaters.”

            “Are you trying to be a killjoy? It’s the Koloron- let me eat in peace.” He got reach to take as huge a bite as he could of this feast.

            “Alright.” Polosa had a wicked plan to make him stop. “We’ll just get the pyre back home ready for when you croak. Our miraculous chief, dead to overeating.” She snickered a sneer.

            Inoute was stiff for a moment, hand inches away from grabbing his first meal of the night. He lowered his hand and glared at the head hunter with devious-looking eyes. “I hate you…” He grumbled a growl as he pushed the plate away.

            She playfully patted him on the head and ruffled his head, distracting him while she grabbed a Gia wing off the pile and brought it over to her plate. “You’re too kind.” She chuckled as she held it up.

            Ifil  tapped his claws on the table. “Well… switching topics from this morbid conversation, do you think Sokuro has woken up yet?”

            “I dunno. She did take a nasty tumble on the way in. Couple that with exhaustion from the first leg and she’ll probably be out till tomorrow.”

            “I wouldn’t worry too much.” Polosa mentioned. “She’s a tough gal. If she can survive being bitten by a Phagos, a little spin won’t keep her out for long.”

            “I hope so.”

            She tapped the side of her plate, quickly getting lost in thought. She did survive a Phagos, yes… but that was a nasty bite she suffered. She noticed that she frequently rubs her neck- where the Phagos bit her. And it had been increasing in frequency too. Did that thing leave something behind to cuase this? She doesn’t look like she’s in pain when she does it.

            She was hoping it wasn’t anything too bad.

 

            The burning sensation on the back of her neck woke Sokuro up. She was in one of many beds given to the racers, feeling absolutely dizzy. Her little tumble earlier knocked her out cold and rattled her brain. She felt loopy and unfocused- it felt like her eyes were spinning uncontrollably. She could hear a lot of commotion outside the room she was in. It didn’t take long for the reason to be made known.

            The door opened up and there was a crowd forming outside, all eager to meet the new Silver, but her fellow Miskenites and the guards to Meoho’s chief were keeping them back as best they can.

            “Back. Back, I tell you!” She heard someone shout. The shouter was Dan, and he and all her friends were shoving their way though, working diligently to avoid suffocation. They managed to push out and into the room, falling down onto the floor, though they felt like they just escaped an enemy encampment. Dan got up and went to the door. He jokingly spoke in a Bostonian accent, “I said back, ya vultures!” He slammed the door shut. “SHEEEEESH!”

            “Hey, she’s up.” Aka said as she approached the bed.

            Sokuro sat up and rubbed her aching back and her head. “Ugh… I feel like blowing up chunks…” She sat forward, exhaling loudly. “I hate somersaults… and I hate that darn rock I hit…”

            “I think we noticed.” Set said.

            “Errrrrroooffh…… someome stop the spinning…”

            Alled crossed his arms. “It’s only been a couple hours- how can you still be dizzy? And how could it be that bad- it was only a few dozen dofes.” It took Bran and Dan no time to figure out that dofes meant either feet or meters. Considering the distance between Sokuro’s roll to the house, it was most likely meters.

            “Well, she did roll a long way.” Vaset commented.

            Sokuro put her head between her knees and took several deep breaths. Doing this, most of the dizziness had dissipated. Somewhat. “Errgh… did I hear yelling when you guys came in?”

            “Well, I wouldn’t call it yelling, per se…” Dan tried to play it off, but even a dizzied Sokuro wasn’t going to fall for that. “But there is a crowd of people outside wanting to meet you.”

            Sokuro tilted her head up, looking queasy. “Everyone came to see me?”

            Aka shook her head. “No, they had their own things to take care of, like finding a place to sleep with this huge crowd of people. Most of the others went to the funeral of those who didn’t survive the first leg. Only 3 died this time, so that’s… good or bad, depending who you ask. But… then again, the race isn’t over, so… moving on from the morbid talk. So, people are doing either that or eating or sleeping.”

            “Then who’s outside my room?”

            Leoi sat down on the bed. “A few reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally devout followers of the Word of Umatz, along with the superstitious who believe you will grant every single wish they ask for.” That caused Sokuro to grumble and moan as she lowered her head back down. Can’t be more then a few dozen or so- the chief fella ordered a couple of his guards to keep them from bothering you.”

            “Huh… I could’ve sworn I heard hundreds…” She lowered her head further, knowing full well what that means. “Heh… I’m hallucinating…” She croaked. “That’s not the sign of a healthy mind, is it?” Her friends all shook their heads ‘no’. “I was afraid of that…”

            “Has this happened before?” Bran asked.

            “No… least not that I can remember… though I did imagine that I saw Velx in a Ferid form. But that is impossible- the Gods don’t have Ferid forms. ……. Though to be fair, there was a talking Gea bird.”

            “Dream.” They said in unison as it was the very obvious answer. “Any other times?” He asked.

            Sokuro thought about it and the only thing that came to mind was that weirdo yesterday, the one that seemed to stop time itself. She could’ve hallucinated that- she was awake and she was under a lot of stress; still is. That could’ve done it, but she never mentioned him to her friends, and given what happened the last time when she explained the colonists to her fellows, she’ll likely get laughed at for having an active imagination again. “Mmmm… not that I can think of.”

            “Well, to be fair, you did take a nasty tumble on the homestretch.” Dan commented das he made himself comfortable by leaning back on a chair and putting his feet on the bed. “I didn’t know Dragon’s could spin like that.”

            Alled raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. Yet another word these two strangers have said: first was vulture, now dragon. On that note, he took notice that they didn’t have their scales, despite being of age, and that their tails were gone and that they were dressed funny. “Dragon?” He pondered aloud. “What’s that?”

            Everyone froze, forgetting that Alled doesn’t know that Bran and Dan weren’t from Dragenia, but from another planet. And they were under strict orders to keep mum about that until things settled down enough to where nobody outside of Misken would attempt to slay.

            Right now, with him, they needed to play it safe. Fortunately, Alled is a simple lad with simple thoughts. He should be easy to handle. Sweat coursed down Dan’s head like a cartoon; he’s that nervous. “Un… it’s a word I made up.” He laughed nervously as he looked away. “Un, yeah, that’s it. It’s a word I made up to describe your----- our Aerid forms. Heh…”

            Everyone was worried he was smarter then he looked, like he was a genius savant behind all of that gusto and bravado. “Ok.” … or he was just that clueless. Everyone present internally breathed a sigh of relief- that’s one crisis averted. “And I’m guessing Vulture is a made-up word as well?”

            Dan could feel the scorn coming his way. He forgot that he dropped vulture when he slammed the door shut.They really need to tape his mouth shut to keep him from doing this. “Un… yep. It’s my term for a scavenger bird… not that I’ve seen any yet on this pl--” He got pelted in the head by Sokuro’s pillow, sending him down. They placed Taled on top of the pillow to sit on him. Dan muffled a scream as his arms and legs flailed.

            Alled was lost by all this. Was this commonplace? “Um… what?”

            “Sorry, but the idiot doesn’t know what to shut up.” Sokuro rubbed her throat, feeling parched. “Hey, I’m feeling a little thirsty. Think you can get me a glass of water?”

            He looked at her before returning his attention to the screaming loon on the floor. “I’m guessing you want to talk to him in private.”

            “And so he doesn’t suffocate, so could you be a doll?”

            Be a doll? He’s never heard that phrase before. Either these two tail-less boys are some of the weirdest people in Dragenian history, or everyone at Misken are crazy people. “Um…….” He’s leaning heavily towards crazy. “Ooooook…” With a hesitant step, he went out the door to get that drink.

            Once the door closed, and after Alled was somehow able to make his way though the crowd, Taled got up off of Dan and grabbed the pillow. He shot up and took in a gasping deep breath. “Are you trying to kill me!?!”

            “You almost blabbed!” Eriod grunted.

            “It was a slip of the tongue!”

            “Whatever. You’re lucky that Alled guy was easy to trick.”

            Sokuro rolled her eyes and nabbed her pillow back from her brother. “Moving on…”

            “Yes, thank you, let’s move on.” Dan brushed his nose with his finger, knowing that Taled must’ve done something to it. “What in the seven hells were those bug things?! They look like a mantis and a spider had bus-sized babies and beat them with an ugly stick.”

            “They’re called Rokh.” Zalet went on to explain, not even going to ask what a bus is. “They are nasty bugs, but they keep to the depths of wherever they lurk, preferring the muggy and dark to everything else. They are carnivorous too, so if you are a Ferid or Gaharot and find yourself somewhere in those depths, you’re not coming back. The teeth aren’t that strong, so Aerids stand a much better chance when one on one. Swarms, however… that’s pushing it.”

“Depths? Swarms?! As in plural?! You mean there’s more out there?!” Dan bit his fingernails, sawing though them like a cartoon character. 

            “He’s not a bug person.” Bran pointed out. “As if that wasn’t obvious enough.”

            “Then stay away from Effied Marsh on the mainland.” Zalet continued. “That is a haven for those pests.” That prompted Dan to slide under the bed, making it shake with his shivers. “… exactly how big with the bugs where you came from?”

            “Bigger then Rokh’s, I’ll tell you that.”

            Alled soon returned with the cup of water. “Here.” He handed it to Sokuro.

            Sokuro was about to take a drink when she was stopped by Buron. “… you didn’t put any sleeping powder in it, did you?” Alled stayed silent for a moment as he stood there, insulted that they would think that… but it was ultimately true. He tossed the drink away and wealked back out. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

            “He’s quite cute.” Aka commented.

            Sokuro sat back on the pillow, crossing her arms and puffing her cheeks out. “Annoying is more like it. He’s the one who kept me in line for so long yesterday. Why was he here with you all, anyway?”

            “Well, you did make that dramatic entrance.” Eriod said as he sat on the floor. “And you are technically his rival…”

            “That doesn’t really constitute checking up on someone they knew for the collective time of 3 hours.” She rapidly put up three of her fingers, one at a time.

            “Maybe he likes you.” Aka teased, playfully elbowing her on the shoulder.

            Sokuro, however, wasn’t so enthused by that. This was, by far, the last thing on her mind. “…un-huh.” She slapped her hands down on the blanket and pulled them off. “Ok, the dizziness has subsided mostly and I am feeling cramped.” She leaped off the bed. “I’m getting some fresh air.”

            “What about the crowd of Word followers outside that door?” Buron smirked.

             “...right. Forgot.” She popped her lips, twiddling her fingers. There was only one other option, and while the crowd is only a few dozen and not everyone here as she thought, it’s still one too many for her to want to deal with. She was gonna have to take the rebellious approach. She flapped her hand on the bedsheets, getting an idea. “Mmmm… I’m going out the window.”

 

            The Blue Aerid from the race, the one that crushed the windpipe of the Rokh the children launched his way, stood alone, away from the crowd. His Ferid self was quite handsome- having the appearance of that of a 28-year-old man with a face full of a five o’clock shadow, he smoked on a Dragenian equivalent of a cigar called a Alix. Like its earth cousins, it’s cylindrical, but that’s where the similarities end. Alix’s are pure white, made out of a malleable plant that doesn’t exist on Evioly. And like earth, children are not allowed to have them because the effects on younger bodies are nasty.

            The man was dressed in what could be passed for a business suit on this planet: a yellow tunic with green overlays accompanied by a dark-blue overcoat, a red stripe of a scarf that could be mistaken for a tie by the earthlings, skin-tight pants, and hard yet stylish leather boots made from Vocoks: Dragenian cows.

            Off in the distance, he could see the funeral being given to the three unfortunate souls who died during the race. Three bonfires were lit, with the bodies of the dead on top. It’s tradition on Dragenia to cremate the dead, so that their souls could be judged to be either refreshed or reborn, or to move on to paradise.

            He heard flapping behind him. He recognized the flaps as simple and tepid. He knew who it was. There was a brief glow as the Aerid that came to him changed back to his Ferid self. The person who approached him had a haunched back and a drag in his left left- nothing of which affected his Aerid self. This poor young lad was born this way, and modern Dragenian medicine had no way to help him. He usually stayed in his Aerid form whenever he can.

            “Did I thee that there wath a thilver Aerid, bothth?” The hunched man asked with a strong lisp.

            “Indeed you did, Iore. She was one of the racers.” He took a puff of his cigar. He then let out a puff of smoke. “Young, too. I don’t recall hearing a Silver that young. Well, except maybe Lolye.”

            “Thilver’th are throng, aren’t they? Thould we catch her along with the otherth chothen?”

            “Hmhm… a man after my own heart.” He took another puff. “But given her status, it’s going to be difficult. She’ll likely be in the best room of the place and be surrounded by throngs of fans and followers…” The two of them noticed one of the windows open up. Tied up sheets were tossed out, creating a rope to freedom. The first to climb out was a very familiar figure because they recognized the purple and black clothes. “… or she can make it easier and sneak out for some reason.”

            “What in Velx’th name are thee doing?” His boss was at as similar a loss as he was. They had unknowingly borne witness to Dragenia’s first bedsheet rope. They say others climb out of the window as well. “What about them?”

            “As tempting as that is, ignore them. You all have your list of targets- we go any higher and they’ll notce. Besides, two of them have lost their tails and their scales. Not worth it.” He pushed off the boulder he was leaning on and put out his cigar. “Tell Alaxe and Vozeir to get off their behinds.”

            “Which one thall I go after?”

            “Go for the Silver. I’ve seen that she is a sympathetic helper. Use that. Try to do it away from prying eyes, though.” He headed back towards the house and the crowd that surrounded it.

 

            Sokuro grunted when her feet contacted the ground. She must’ve seen one too many human movies to think of this. She really needs to cut back on that. She walked away to let the rest of her friends climb on down. If the mob wasn’t at the door, they would’ve just left that way… but they’re not so fortunate. Her Ferid and human friends would be able to climb down easy. Vaset… since she was the only Gaharot here- Vela and Buron were still back home in Dragenia- had two options; be the last one down or risk the door.

            As if there was any other choice.

            Dan was the next one down. He slipped on the step, but quickly shot himself up to prevent himself from looking bad. A screaming Vaset from above dashed any thoughts of that as she slammed down right on top of him.

            “Oooooh.” Most of the kids winced.

            “That had to hurt.” Eriod said.

            Their eyes spun like dinner plates as they made a strange croaking noise.

            Sokuro chuckled softly to herself. She pressed on Dan’s shoe, bringing him up like a plank of wood. “Owowowowowowowowow. That actually hurts.”

            “You’re the one on the ground.” Sokuro coldly sneered. Behind him, Vaset got up, wobbling as she worked to keep her balance.

            “I was flattened!” He exclaimed, gesturing back to the dino that fell on him.

            “Agree to disagree, now let’s go eat- I’m starving.” She clapped her hands together and rubbed them as she turned to head towards the crowd, leaving behind a stunned Dan as he was confounded by how little she cared.

            “That was rather cold.” Eriod commented.

            “I’ll say.” Leoi agreed.

            Vaset was finally able to obtain her balance. She had barely taken a few steps when she smelled something off. “Anyone else smell something bad?”

            “You know darn well we can’t.” Set brushed off as she and the others followed after her. Bran patted Dan on the back before he and Aka dragged him along.

            Vaset twisted her lips in uncertainty. She smells something bad and she knows its here… but what around here would smell like sulfur? Mokurot is still days away, even by flight, and there are no springs around here. “Hmm…” She followed suit, still smelling that smell.

            Sokuro found the nearest open table and took a seat. Well, open is a strong word as there were still people sitting here, but they were talking with people at the next table. “I remember dinner being good last year, so here’s hoping it’s the same cook.” She rubbed her hands together and licked her lips. Her enthusiasm slowly faded when she saw the size of the crowd. “… yeesh, though the waiter will probably take awhile.”

            “I think it’s a buffet.”

            Music to her ears. “Oooooooh, ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho. Time to earn my dignity back.” She lept off the chair and sped off to find the buffet, leaving behind some confused fellows.

            “Diginity?” Dan repeated.

            “What does dignity have to do with a buffet?” Taled asked.

            “That tumble must’ve scrambled her brains.” Bran said. “She’ll return to normal soon… assuming Ferid brains are like humans, that is.” One of the Moeho villagers overheard that little tidbit at the end there. He acted like he wasn’t overhearing things.

            “Well, we look similar.” Set pointed out. He simply shrugged back before following after her to make sure she’ll be ok.

            “Yeah, but you can change into giant fire-breathing lizards.” Dan added. He snickered with a wide grin. “And it’s so dang epic, I need a picture.”

            Set slowly shook her head in disapproval. She pushed back on his chair. He yelped as he fell backwards “What you need is a time-out, drago-nut.”

            “Witch.” He retorted.

            Vaset pinched her eyes, annoyed. “Anywho… Sokuro may’ve only just woken up, but she’ll need to go back to sleep soon to be well-rested for the final leg tomorrow.”

            Sleep? Just after she woke up? This may be a different world, but it’s just about universal that when kids get wired, they STAY wired until they work it all out, and unless Sokuro was about to run the rest of the race tonight, she wasn’t going to sleep. “…. Yyyyyeah, going back to bed after a several hour nap isn’t going to happen.” Dan said as he got up. “You saw her a minute ago- she is wired. She’s like a hamster on coffee.” The Meoho native kept on listening in, puzzled by all these strange words.

            Leoi: “A what?”

            Taled: “On what?”

            “… ok, bad analogy.”

           

            Sokuro skidded to a halt in front of the buffet table, her eyes all aglitter and her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth. She came in so fast; she bumped the guy in front of her out of the way. “Heeeeeeeee… free food, free food. So many choices, so little time.” She grabbed as many plates as she can carry and went to town, loading up on the free food.

            And all completely unaware that the guy she bumped was Alled. “Un… this is a sudden turnaround from a few minutes ago.”

            “Whaa!” She was startled by his sudden ‘appearance’, making her drop several of the plates. They didn’t shatter- they were made out of wood. “You scared me!”

            “You bumped me onto the ground!”

            Sokuro then remembered the task she asked him to do. “Hey, wait a tick; you were supposed to be getting me water!”

            “I got hungry. And the well is right there.” He pointed to the water well that wasn’t too far from the feasting area. He got up off the floor and dusted off his side, where he landed. “How did you get past the crowd? They would’ve eaten you alive if you tried to leave.”

            “We didn’t deal with the crowd. We climbed out the window.” He tilted his head. “Yeah, we made a rope out of the bed sheets and used that to climb out.”

            “Huh. That’s… actually ingenious.” Sokuro grinned from ear to ear before picking up the plates she dropped. “But you know it’ll be a matter of time before someone recognizes you from your tumble. You changed back after you passed out, so everyone knows what you look like... Though I’m amazed nobodies surrounded you yet.”

            “Maybe I’m just that lucky.” She began loading up on food. “Or everyone that really wanted to quote unquote “meet me” is still at the door.”

            “Quote unquote?” She froze up and she could hear her rapid heartbeat in her ears. Now she was doing it too. This was going to be a lot harder then she thought. “What is with you amd these weird words?”

            Sokuro is lucky she’s a fast thinker and he’s a simpleton, otherwise this would’ve gone a lot harder.“It’s, un… something my friends made up. Heh... yeah…”

            “Like dragon?”

            “Y-yeah. One of them has a really active imagination. Heh heh… I think he should write a fantasy book.”

            “The guy in all black or the one who wouldn’t shut up?”

            “Guy who wouldn’t shut up.”

            “Who wouldn’t shut up?” Bran asked as he finally approached. He saw the plates and grabbed one of his own, hoping that there will be something from this planet that looks edible. Except for the oversized chickens, nothings really spoke to him.

            “Your friend, the loud one.”

            “Oh yeah. Him. Yeah, he’s… energized.”

            Sokuro breathed a sigh of releief. Bran provided a much needed and very fortuitous distraction. “(Whew. That was too close.)” She went back to filling up her plates, calming down to more comfortable levels.

            “That said…”

            “(Aw, come on!)” She stopped loading and slowly looked back his way.

            “You and he do wear such strange clothes.” He pulled on Bran’s scarf, prompting him to pull it back. “I’ve been to the mainland and I don’t remember people wearing clothes like this. And the lack of tails and scales is puzzling, to say the least.”

            “Un………………” Sweat beaded down their heads like a stuck kaches over a fire- kaches are Dragenian pigs. Like Felm’s, they have three eyes, along with antlers and a long spiked tail. Fortunately, they both had the same idea, “We need to get back to our friends.” She took what she had and walked as fast as she could back to the table, feeling like they’re close to being busted. Bran tried to get something for his plate first before he was pulled away.

            They returned to find that Set had Dan in a choke hold. “……… should I even ask?”

            “Not really.”

            “All the pain I took in the last 10 minutes cannot be good for me!” He grunted. Set finally let him go and he fell to the ground. “… I was sat on by a pillow, crushed by a dinosaur, and put in a choke hold by a psycho! I’ve had enough of it!”

            Set mocked him in his own tone of voice, “Oh, don’t be such a baby.”

            Dan hauled himself up and planted his forearms and head on the table. “I will end you!” He snarled like a hungry dog. This banter made the kids laugh. These two should be a comedy troupe- their chemistry is just too perfect.

            Sokuro sat down on her seat and set her plate down, still feeling on edge. Bran sat next to her and bit his lips. “Meanwhile… we may have a problem.”

            “Problem?”

            “Alled is a lot smarter then we give him credit for.” Sokuro added before taking a bite of her food.

            “What, did he finally learn how to tie his shoes?” Eriod joked.

            “No, he’s piecing two and two together because we won’t shut up. The way me and Dan look and the odd words we’ve been using around him- even a simpleton would figure some things up if they listen in hard enough.”

            “I don’t get why we need to be hush in the first place.” Leoi commented.

            They were told why by the heads of Novalle, who were told by Velx. Clearly some need a refresher. “… aha, Dragenia has to have had colonists in the past, right?” Bran asked. “You explored the planet to colonize new lands, correct?”

            “Yeah.”

            “And did those lands have people already living there?”

            “Yeah.”

            “Then tell me, how did it work out for them?” Nobody answered- they remained silent, which was all the proof he needed. “See? It’s universal: whenever someone invades to claim your land, the natives tend to fight back. It happened on Dragenia, it happened on Earth, and I imagine it’s happening on loads of other planets during this exodus. We were lucky that Misken is as friendly as you are, but imagine what would’ve happened if a different group landed, one more… mmm… intense? Or if they landed somewhere else on Dragenia- or if we landed somewhere else on Dragenia.  History shows it wouldn’t end well. Again, we were lucky with you all, but I doubt people elsewhere on the planet will be as homely and welcoming.”

            “Did you forget we were freaking the Uela out?” Vaset said. “You didn’t see it that night, but everyone in the village was on edge. If it wasn’t for that ship captain…”

            “Dexyl.”

            “… and Sokuro… I bet things could’ve gone a lot worse.”

            Sokuro gagged as she held her mouth. “Uuurb… speaking of Sokuro…” She gagged again as she held her stomach. “Maybe having a feast after waking up from a nasty tumble wasn’t such a good idea. My stomach is doing somersaults… erb… I need a bathroom.” She bolted upwards and sped towards the house.

            “Ew.”

 

            A repeatedly puzzled Alled returned to his grandfathers table, which was located near the front of the large crowd. As he was the chief… well, for one more day until the new chief is decided tomorrow. The chief’s table was more or less like everyone elses, except that it had a green tablecloth with a darker green trim.

            Mokati, slowly eating a bowl of flokes pudding- blood pudding- noticed his grandson approaching. “Ah. There you are, Alled.” He gestered his grandson to sit down next to him, which he did. “How is your Silver friend doing?”

            “She’s awake, but just as strange as ever… maybe the tumble scrambled her mind. She keeps sprouting these weird words I never heard before- her friends do it too.”

            That sounds familiar. “Oh?”

            “Yeah, words like Dragon and Vulture and something about ‘being a doll’. Her friends are strange, too- two wear really strange clothing and they lack scales and tails. They say they lost them in a accident, but for both of them to lost two vital parts- it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”

            “Yes, she said a strange word to me too when we encountered each other in the tunnel. Something about a clam, whatever that is.”

            Alled lowered his head and slowly shook it. “Father was right- people from Misken are crazy.”

            “I wouldn’t call them that. More like… eccentric.” Alled looked at him with a slightly raised eyebrow. “All words are made up, my lad. We just use them so commonly, we don’t give it a second thought. Maybe she’s writing a book.”

            “At her age?”

            “I’ve seen and heard weirder things.”

 

            Like right now.

            About 20 minutes later, after she had bolted to find the bathroom in the midway house, Sokuro came out of it, green in the face and looking terrible. She rubbed both her belly and her forehead, hoping she wouldn’t have to upchuck anymore. “Ugh… scarffing down food after a nasty tumble and still dizzy was not my smartest decision…”

            She had unknowingly passed by the hallway the room she woke up in was located. One of the devout followers noticed her as she passed by the hallway. “Hey, there she is!” He shouted. The rest of the followers looked and saw her as she mozzied on by. They ran after her.

            Sokuro barely made it to the lobby when she was swarmed by her…….. let’s say overzealous fans. She heard loud noises behind her and foolishly looked back.

            Big mistake.

            She was swarmed like flies to honey. She hates crowds, so this is going to be hell.

            “Holy Voul, it’s really you!!!”

            “A Silver Aerid, as I live and breath!”

            “A cutie, too. She’ll be a heartbreaker when she gets older.”

            “Can you make me rich?!”

            “Can you find me a lovely bride?”

            “Will I be able to make good on my project?”

            “Oh, me too.”

            Internally, Sokuro was screaming her head off. She REALLY hates crowds and being surrounded by devout followers of the Word of Umatz is doing hell to her. And what do these people think she is, a wish granter or… what did Bran call those creatures, genies? That’s not how Silvers work. Not that she cares at the moment- her first instinct is getting out of here. Least this is a much smaller crowd that she had imagined.

            “Please… I w… can i… st…. please stop!”

            “Hey hey hey hey hey hey hey!!!” Most of the crowd was ripped back by an unknown person. Sokuro looked to see who her savior was and saw that it was a hunchbacked person. “Leave her alone! Can’t you thee thee ith thcared?!”

            One of the followers leaped into the hands of the other, scared stiff. “What in the world is this thing?!”

            His scale began to glow. Green sparkles began to emanate from it- he’s an air Aerid. Whenever someone transforms, the sparkles that come from the scales are the color of the Aerid they represent, and Air can be scary costumers. It’s never fun to suffocate. “Thomeone who’th about to kick your athth if you don’t leave!”

            Scared for their lives, they fled. Air Aerid or not, they don’t want to be around a hunchbacked person. Running over each other, they bolted for the exit. Sokuro stood still, feeling her heart trying to beat out of her chest; that’s how scared she was. “T…. thanks for the save…” She croaked. “I thought I was going to die.” The hunchback helped her up. First a tumble, then a swarm- what next, an explosion?!

            “It wath no problem. I dealt with devouteeth before. They’re like leecheth.”

            “Heh… won’t argue there… though I’m wondering where they got the idea I can grant wishes. Do they not read history books?” The hunchback only shrugged. “Again, thanks for the save… un…”

            “Iroe.”

            “Iroe. I owe you big time.”

            “Well, you can pay that back now. My friend- the’th trapped in that row of thpiked pillarth that you blathted that Rokh into. Thee really wanted to thee what one looked like thkewered and tripped.” Sokuro gasped in fear. “The’th clinging to one of them for dear life, worried the’ll fall in and I heard Rokh clickth when I left to find help. I athked everyone I could find, but nobody would believe me or thimply ignore me. I can’t rethcue mythelf becauthe I’m not that throng ath a Aerid and if Rokh’th are around, I’ll get dogpiled mythelf.”

            “Oh no. Oh, how can people ignore you on matters like this? I’ll help, but if there are Rokh’s, I’ll go and bring Alled. I think he owes me a favor too… come to think of it, he’s the only one I can ask- none of my friends have their scales yet.”

            “Oh, yeth yeth. He’th throng. If Rokh’th do attack, he’ll come in handle.” She nodded and ran off to get Alled for this rescue mission. Iroe watched her leave. He waited until she was out of range. “That wath almotht too eathy. I feel thortof bad.”

 

            A few long minutes later, Sokuro, Alled, and Iroe arrived at the row of stone spikes the two of them launched the Rokh into. “You’re certain it was here?” She asked the hunchback.”

            “Yeth. We were looking in from up on a cliff when thee thtepped on a bad thpot and fell in. Thankfully, thee didn’t hit anything and wath able to grab onto a thpike. I couldn’t do a thing, tho I left to find help.”

            “Well, we can rescue her.” Alled stayed silent. He had been in enough situations to know that something was off here. She patted him on the shoulder, distracting him. “This’ll be easy.” She approached the pit and peered in. She winced when she saw the Rokh body, still skewered on top. “Ew…”

            Alled approached her and tapped her on the shoulder. With both of them focused, Iroe took a step back and his scale began to glow. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

            Sokuro rolled his eyes unbelieving. “Oh geez.”

            “No, really. Why haven’t we heard any screams for help? And he said cliffs when we got here… but you said she tripped in off the side… both things are somewhat impossible because of those huge boulders. Don’t you find that a bit odd?”

            She crossed her arms. “Are you telling me that you are scared of spikes?”

            “Pbt. I’m rarely scared. No, I’m saying this feels like a setup.”

            She rolled her eyes again as she shook her head. “Now you are just imagining th--”

            And then there was darkness.

            The two of them fell to the ground, knocked out and asleep as a pink mist hovered around their heads. Behind them, the silloute of a Aerid tossed aside a pink flower that had just released a powder.

27: Chapter 25: Koloron Part 5 Escape

Chapter 25

Koloron Part 5: Escape / Where’s the Fire

3/12/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)

 

 

 

            Tha-pum.

            Tha-pum.

            Tha-pum.

            A deep, throbbing headache and a parched throat were what awaited Sokuro when she finally woke up. She was face first into the dirt. “Ugh…” She whined. She struggled up from the ground, seeing nothing but blackness all around. “W… what hit me…?” She opened her eyes… or at least she thinks she did. All that was around her was darkness. “Wh… where am I…? Alled? Alled, are you here?”

            “I’m here…” He grunted in pain. “Wherever here is…”

            She looked around but couldn’t see him. She couldn’t see 4 inches in front of her. “Are we dead?”

            “If we were dead, we wouldn’t be in pain… or cold and wet… I get the feeling we’re in a cave.”

            Sokuro moved her hand and splashed her hand down in something wet. “… Please let this be a water puddle…”

            Torchlights suddenly came on, illuminating the cold, damp cave they were in. It was so sudden; it took some time for their eyes to adjust to the light. Sokuro looked down and silently thanked Voul; it was indeed a water puddle. Sokuro turned her head to the right and saw the torch. She turned left and saw Alled, sitting against a wall… next to someone else around their age.

            Alled looked and saw the kid next to him. She looked so depressed and shaken. “What in the world…?” They looked around and saw they were in a closed room big enough to hold the crew of a airship, and there were other kids and even teenagers in here, all of them Ferid. No grown-ups, no Gaharots, no babies. “… This is freaky…”

            Sokuro reached down to grab her mother’s locket for emotional support, but didn’t feel it there. She looked down and saw that her locket was gone, along with her scale. Naturally, she started to freak out, having lost her only momento. “OH no, oh no no no no no no no.” She frantically moved her hands along the floor, holding it was in the dirt somewhere.

            “What’s wrong?” Alled asked.

            “My locket is missing. I need it back.”

            “Your locket? Why is that so imp--”

            “It is to me! My scale is also missing too. Do you still have yours?”

            Alled moved his hand to his eat to see if he still had the earrings he made out of them. He did not- they were gone. “Uh-oh. Oh, no no no. Those were grandpa’s earrings. He gave htem to me. Don’t tell me I lost them.”

            “How do you lose earrings? They’re in your ears.”

            “Don’t ask me.”

            “You lost your scales too?” One of the captured kids asked. “I lost mine as well.”

            “What about something important to you?”

            “Hey, I see light.” Another of the kids pointed out.

            Sokuro looked up to see light pouring into the room they were all trapped in. She ran over to it as quickly as she could and saw that the opening was a window… a window that is too small for anyone of them to fit through, not to mention that it has been barred up like a jail cell. “What the…?” She took a few steps back and saw that the light shining in was that of the moons. She tilted her head right to left, seeing nothing but black to the sides of the celestia objects. “It’s moonlight. It’s still night out… and by the looks of their placement in the sky, it’s almost sunrise.”

            “That’s rather smart.” Alled said.

            “I had smart teachers…” She reached for her locket, forgetting it wasn’t there. Her clasping at air reminded her of that.  “Ms. Hera and Leoi combined have a ton of books- perfect for when you are bored.”

            “It doesn’t really help us at the moment, now does it?” Someone else among the captives spoke up. It was a girl around the same age as her, but with flaming red hair. “We’re still trapped in here with no way out.”

            “If they didn’t take our scales, a ground-affiliated Aerid would’ve been able to get rid of this wall.” Sokuro smacked her hand against it.

            “Aren’t we missing the bigger picture here?” A teenaged boy with vibrant green hair spoke. “Someone kidnapped us- kidnapped children. Why else would we be in this makeshift cell to begin with, because this doesn’t look like a palace suite to me. Someone took us away from our friends and family and we don’t know why.”

            “For ransom, then?” The girl suggested. “There must be some people here worth some big Sels.”

            “Well, my grandfather is chief of Meoho.” Alled modestly mentioned. “But even if he wins this cycle, it will be his last.” He gestured to Sokuro. “She’s the--” Sokuro silently and rapidly shook her head. She made a buzzing sound while slicing her hand across her neck. “… Servent to the god Voul.” She lowered her hand- that’ll work. “Maybe some other kids here have important backgrounds too. If Gallna was here, that would certainly back up the hostage angle. Her dad is the majestrate of Roko Harbor, after all.”

            The boy wiggled his finger for a moment. “You may not be far off… maybe its slavery.”

            “Impossible.” The girl proclaimed. “Only Gaharots suffer from that, and I don’t see any here. Besides, slavery is illegal on Evioly, except in Roko Harbor.”

            “Well, then I’m at a loss then.” Sokuro hissed in aggirvation. “If it’s not slavery and if it’s not for a ransom, then what? They wouldn’t do this for no reason.”

            The sound of crunching stone caught their ears. The group of children saw a door open up on the far wall. Another kid was tossed in, rolling in as the door closed behind him.

            “Hey!” Alled and Sokuro shouted as they ran towards the lowering entrance. It closed right in front of them. The two of them still shouted.

            “It won’t work.” Another boy among those captured spoke up. “I tried.”

            Sokuro scrunched up her face, unwilling to say give up. She pounded her fist against it, shouting as loud as she could while Alled tried to push it open. “HEEEEY!!! Let us ooooooout!!!”

            There was a sudden boom as they were launched away from the door. Sokuro landed on her back while Alled rolled onto his front. On the door was a huge pawprint- much bigger then any Aerid they’ve seen.

            “Thhut up in there!! You’re giving me a headache!” An all-so familiar voice shouted back.

            “A lisp?” Alled cocked an eyebrow.

            “Wait…” Sokuro got up off the floor. “I recognize your voice- you asked me to help you save your friend.”

            “And what of it?”

            “You lied to me?”

            “Yeth. I lied. Welcome to the real world.”

            “Why are you kidnapping us? What use would you have for Ferid children whose scales you likely stole?”           

            “I’ll answer that question.” Another voice, one smooth and suave, said from a distance. A slit near the top opened up like bars on a jail-cell window. A face came into view, but the light was behind him, so his face was obsruced by shadows. “You are going to be tools. Seems a shame to waste it on the two of you: Alled ef’Chan, Grandson of the soon-to-be former Chief of Meoho. And Sokuro el’Fitan, the newly christened Silver.”

            Murmers came from the children in the back, at the revelation that one of the captives is the fabled Silver Aerid… but given their situation, it has led most to believe that her change was their uncertain fate.

            Sokuro could feel their looks on her and it weighed down on her, but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was the lout behind the door that kept them hostage for... “Tools…? What do you mean by tools?”

            “It’s rather simple: am leading a dangerous project and I require cheap labor, and what’s cheaper then children?”

            “Then why not Gaharots?” Alled pointed out. “You can still buy them at Roko Harbor.”

            “I have, but my project requires more, and there aren’t enough Gaharots in Roko Harbor for that. I could try to enslave Gaharots from other parts of Evioly, but then I’d have the authorites on me faster then you can say ‘Voul sucks’.” Sokuro snarled as she closed her hands into fists. “On top of that, Gahraots have so many protections here on Evioly, they’d notice if one went missing for a hour. Children, and especially orphaned children, can be easily misplaced.”

            “But I’m not a orphan.” Alled said. Several of the other kids spoke up, agreeing with him. “My Grandfather is still alive and my mother is at Mokurot on business.”

            “True… but this is the Koloron… and you all know the reputation this race, and this mountain range, has…”

            They all knew, all right- this is the most dangerous game in the world: people have a reputation of dying. And this… this explains what Sokuro witnessed during the race,  “... The weighed nets…” Sokuro said to herself. She spoke up, “…that was your doing?!”

            “It was my underlings doing, yes. Those we captured during it are already on their way to the project. Shame, too- some of them are powerful mercenaries.”

            “You won’t get away with this!” Alled snarled. “Even if he loses, my Grandfather has enough respect to mount a search and rescue, and you don’t want to tangle with an angry Meohinite. He may be old, but Grandfather is the toughest nut I know. And to top it off, you kidnapped the new Silver too- even the Gods will look for her if she goes missing.”

            “We’ll be long gone before they notice you two are missing. Besides… don’t the Astral’s have a rule against interfering with mortal affairs unless absolutely necessary? So unless your girlfriend here is planning on destroying the world with a doomsday weapon or enslaving us all, I doubt they’ll get involved.” He let the finality of their situation sink in. He could see the terror slowly seep into their eyes. “Hmhm… Now… if you will excuse me, I have a race to win.”

            Alled felt a chill run up his spine as he freaked out, “Wait… you’re in the Koloron too?!”

            “Indeed I am… yet an even better way to get cheap labor. Then I’d have an entire village under my thumb for at least a year- long enough to finish the project.”

            “Grandfather won’t let you get away with this.”

            “Your old man won’t be able to do a damn thing. Rules are rules: Whoever wins the Koloron is the new chief of Meoho, no ifs, ands, or buts. As long as I cross the finish line first, I’ll be safe from his wrath.”

            “You don’t know grandfather very well then…”

            Their captor scoffed a laugh. “Yeah. Like I’m that afraid of a dying man.” He turned to talk to his underlings. “Look at me; I’m shaking in my boots. Hahahahahahahaaha…” His laughter faded as he walked away from the cell, leaving the children to except their fate, that they were never going to see the light of freedom again…

            Some of the kids began to cry, begging for their mommy or daddy to save them, while others just cried or stayed silent from heartbreak. Even Alled was stunned by all this, mostly by one of the last things he said: his Grandfather was dying? He closed his hands and went to find a dark corner to cry in.

            Everyone had given up.

            All except Sokuro, that is. She was going to find a way out, even if it kills her.

 

            All it took was an hour and a half for the moons to set and for the sun to rise, bringing forward another day and kicking off the second and final leg of the Koloron. The racers were up, ready, and fed. So many were raring to see who was going to be the new chief.

            The leader of the brigands that captured the children was among them too, having arrived an hour earlier so he could ‘fit in’ with the crowd, so that nobody would get suspicious if he appeared from out of nowhere. He kept mostly to the back so that he could talk with someone who would be shipping the children to the location.

            “Well?” Drexyl asked as she non-chalantly ate a piece of bread.

            “The merchandise has been rounded up. The ship just needs a skilled pilot.”

            “Then I’ll tell my crew I’ll be going away for a couple of days to meet a suitor. They’ll be none the wiser.”

            “Good. We don’t want any suspicions, especially with Eia being a never-ending gossiper. Otherwise, our employer will have our hides.”

            “I’m well aware....” She was on the verge of telling him about the colonists, about how there’s 20,000 fresh souls from beyond, most of which are really strong, just eager to try and fit in with the native races… but that would ultimately be a bad idea; given their highly advanced technology, they would very easily tell if any of them vanished. Their weaponry would be a huge issue too, as would their ability to communicate long distances. They’re a open target, but one with enough force to bite back… just not worth it, even with Iroe. “…It was a lot easier stealing away Gaharots.”

            This always felt cold to the boss- how can she be so cold to her own kind? It’s a lingering question he doesn’t want to ask. “I am well aware of that, Drexyl. Just be sure to follow Iroe when the race is over. Long as we remain discreet, we’ll be sure to have some new blood by the end of this.” Drexyl nodded before walking back towards her ship. He rejoined the crowd and got ready for things to begin.

            “I’m surprised she didn’t ask about the cargo.” He said to himself. “She would’ve been amazed to learn we captured a Silver.”

 

            The orphans, Bran, and Dan had returned to the Rose Shatter, which was waiting for Drexyl to return before taking off. Eia came out of the hold, yawning loudly from all of the noise. “Yaaaaaawn… the second leg is about to begin already?”

            “Yes, and we tried waking you up.” Dan commented. “You are a heavy sleeper.”

            “So I’ve been told…” She rubbed her tired eyes. She saw Bran, which perked her up a bit, but noticed that he was in a concerned mood. “What’s with you…?”

            “It’s Sokuro… I wasn’t able to find her anywhere. None of the people that run this place have seen her since the feast. And I haven’t been able to find Alled as well. It’s like they both vanished.”

            Eia yawned again as she approached. “Maybe they’re still sleeping. Either of them could’ve found someplace private to hole up to avoid the crowd. I know I would’ve.”

            “Then they would’ve been here by now.” He said as Drexyl climbed on board. She glanced towards the kids. Except for Eia, all of them would be perfect for the project… but Misken would be aware of all their orphans went missing. As for the colonist kids, terrible idea. Everyone back there would be up in arms. Plus, how would she begin to explain their lack of scales and tails? “It’s just not like her to be late.”

            “I wouldn’t worry too much.” Drexyl said, unaware that her partner in crime had captured Sokuro. “She’ll show up sooner or later. I’d bet on it.” She walked away, waving her finger around as a signal to her crew to begin take off procedures. Bran, on the other hand, was still concerned. He just can’t help but feel like they’re missing.

            He didn’t have long to ponder as he felt the ship lerch. He saw the motors up top begin to spin. Time for the Koloron to begin once again… but where in the world was she?

 

            Sokuro pounded her fist on the wall for the umpteenth time, growing tired from the constant shouting and pounding. “Let us out…” She shouted in a hoarse voice. She took a few steps back before ramming her body into it again. Her entire body was feeling sore from all the slams she had been doing.

            “Will you knock it off already!?!” One of their captors shouted, hitting something had against the wall that made her fall back.

            Sokuro panted heavily, wiping her mouth. Her shouting made her throat sore to the touch; she needed water to sooth it. But she wasn’t going to get that anytime soon. She rubbed her forehead as she stepped away, instead heading over to Alled, who was tucked away in the nearestcorner. “I’m making some good progess.” She croaked like a frog. “I think if I keep shouting, they’ll come storming in to shut me up and we can overpower them.” She heard nothing from the unusually silent Alled. In her diminished state, she took it the wrong way. “You got a better idea, I’m all ears.”

            “I don’t care…” He curled up. “I’m a hopeless loser…”

            Well, this is a complete 180 from his chipper self. “One bad thing happens and you’re already shelling up?”

            “It’s not that…”

            “Then what? Am I going to have to force it out of you?”

            His eyes moved to look at her, with his eyelids closing like he’s getting furious at her. But he’s not mad at her; he’s mad at himself. “… last cycle, when grandfather won the Koloron… we found out that Cylus had contracted the Froypes virus…”

            Sokuro gasped, knowing that anyone who contracted that was already dead. The only thing anyone can do when they contracted it is get their affairs in order. “Oh dear… and… who’s this Cylus?”

            “My brother. He kept it hidden from us for cycles… none of us knew he had it until he started coughing up dust. I was mortified- we already lost our parents to a Phagos attack; I didn’t want to lose him too. The day he died… I swore to him that I would enter and win the Koloron in his honor and the honor of our parents- to show I wasn’t the weak kid he knew and that I would be fine with him gone… I wish he lived to see this… he died the day before the Ascension ceremony.”

            “… o… oh…” Sokuro felt horrible. All this time, she didn’t know how terrible he must’ve felt. He looked so cheerful during the Ascension- half of that could’ve been from actually gaining his scale, but… could he have been putting on a brave face all this time? He seemed to be genuenty loud and obnoxious back at Konkor. “I’m… so sorry…” She leaned in close to him and rubbed his back. “I know how you feel… losing someone that close to you is… is a horrible feeling.”

            He wiped his eyes. “The promise to my brother was one of the reasons I wanted to win. The reason before was to show my grandfather that I can be a worthy successor. He may not look it, but he can be hard to please. I can’t count the number of times he was a knucklebuster. He is old… I know he’s dying… and I entered hoping that if I won, he would be proud of me.” He buried his face into the back of his hands. “I failed them both…”

            It was Sokuro’s turn to wipe her eyes.            “Damn, Alled…”

            Alled sniffled as he wiped his eyes once more. “I still miss Cylus… you would’ve liked him. He was a evil little jokester, like you. He would often swipe grandfather’s scale without him noticing.” He warmly chuckled. “One time… he tricked grandfather’s bodyguard to give it to him, saying he was going to make it all pretty. Grandfather was so angry… heh…”

            Sokuro wiped her eyes yet again when an idea slowly began to manifest itself. “Wait… trick…” Alled raised his head ever so slightly as she got up off the floor. “Wait… haha, Alled, you are a genius.” She ran back over towards the wall with the bars. He got up and slowly made his way over, watching as she did whatever she was going to do.

            She hit her hand on the wall again, annoying their guards once again. Their guards were both men; one, Alexe, was as thin as a stick and the other, his partner Vozeir, was as stout as a cauldron. “Sir, pleeeeease. Please, giveme back my locket!!”

            That wasn’t her usual cry. “Locket?” Alexe repeated. He reached into the crate that had all the children’s scales and accessories. “You mean this?”

            “No, it’s the one that’s burnt.” The guard pulled it out. He and his partner looked at each other, wondering what could’ve burnt metal. “Pleeeeease… please give it back…” She strrted breaking down into tears. “It belonged to my mother- it’s all I have left of her! PLEEEASE!!!” She started to sob.

            They had grown so annoyed with her constant shouting; they honored her request since it will shut her up. They removed the scale from the string before heading over to the bars. “Fine already!” Vozeir screamed. He took the locket from Alexe’s hands.  “If it will finally shut you up!” He threw it into the cell as hard as he could.

            Sokuro wasn’t worried about it being thrown; it survived a fire, it can survive a toss. She ran over to where it was thrown and picked it up. She held it close to her heart, happy to finally have it back. “You did all that for a locket?” A very baffled Alled inquired.

            Once she had settled, she looked back towards him with a mischevious grin. “First off, I want to say thank you for the idea.”

            “The idea? You mean from my story?”

            “The one where your brother tricked the guard, yes.”

            “But all that for a burnt locket?”

            Sokuro got off her knees and leaned on him, putting her left elbow on his right shoulder. “Oh, Alled. When you grow up like I have, you always learn to plan things in advance. When I saw a lot of unscrupulous characters back in Konkor, I got scared-scared enough to make a contingency plan if I were to be captured and my scale taken, which obviously did happen. Anyway, you know how you can modify your scale to be whatever it is you want, like a bracelet or a tiara, just as long as it stays on your person?”

            “Yeah. Wait, are you saying…?”

            With a grin, Sokuro clicked open the locket. On one side was the picture of her family… and on the other were rainbow-colored shavings from her scale, compressed and compacted nestled within.

                 The two kids looked at each other and got the same evil smirky grin on their faces.

 

                 Time for a prison break.

 

 

Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7XCQCfXQG8 Where’s the Fire – The Wraith soundtrack

 

 

                 Down below, Iroe felt a really strong tremor as he walked down in the hidden hanger for their airship. He very nearly fell over, but kept his balance. He looked up, sensing that it came form there. “What are thothe nitwitth doing now?” He snarled before heading towards the staircase.

 

                 Before the guards had any chance to know, the wall burst open and they were pinned to the opposite one by the clawed paw of a really furious Silver Aerid. They were pinned so hard, they couldn’t move a finger. While they were pinned, Alled shot towards the crate holding everyones scales and accessoried.

                 Sokuro’s massive girth filled up the cell they were in and then some, leaving the children feeling trapped. She tried best as she could to have them crawl underneath to get to Alled, but it was hard. “Hurry up.” She grunted. “You have no idea how tight this is.”

                 “Let us go, you halfwit!” Vozeir shouted. Sokuro dug them further into the wall, making them grunt in pain.

                 “You’re not in much of a position to demand things.” Alled retorted as he rolled the crate over to a more roomy and open spot- AKA the hallway. “Ok, everyone, come get your things. We’re getting the heck out of here!”

                 “But… how do we tell whose scale is whose?” One of the younger captives asked, seeing that the scales and accessories were thrown in without a care in the world.

                 “My brother taught me this.” Alled said. “He said if you concentrate hard, your scale should float over to you.” He closed his eyes and held out his hand, concentrating on his scales immense magic.

                 A sharp red glow came from the box. One of the kids walked over to it. “Un… one of the scales in here is glowing.”

                 “Is it floating?” Alled grunted in a constipated manner.

                 “Nope. Just glowing.” He reached in and grabbed the scale and the accessory that was glowing with it.

                 Alled stopped concentrating and took back his things. “Glowing, floating- either way, we know how to tell ours apart.” He put his accessory back on- fit perfectly. “Ok, everyone, just do what I did and we’ll find them in no time. Do it one at a time, so you don’t overlap. Let’s have one of the ground ones go first.”

                 “Why?” Another kid asked.

                 “So we can tear down the wall keeping us from the outside.” As he said it, one of the children concentraited and found her scale. It had been fashioned into a belt. As she put it on, another kid concentrated and found his as well. “Though… now that I say it out loud, transforming now is a bad idea since we don’t have a lot of room.”

                 “You think?!” Sokuro grunted, feeling her back starting to cramp up..

                 Before long, everyone was able to get their property back. Alled peered in the crate and saw one scale left, and since everyone got theirs, it must be Sokuro’s. “And lastly, our lovely leading lady.” He threw it like a frisbee to her. She caught it in her mouth, between two fangs. She pushed the two guards further in, trapping them in the stone, kinda, before transforming back to her Ferid self. She stretched, undoing the knots she had accumulated, before grabbing a nearby glass bottle of water and chugged the whole thing down to sooth her aching throat.

                 “So what’s the plan?” She asked Alled, slipping her scale and locket back onto the string and proceeding to tie it back around her neck.

                 Alled pounded his fist on the wall separating them from the outside. Thanks to the window, this should be the easiest spot to blast open. “We run, find anyone who will listen to us, and warn them about all this. Find a racer, find a airship, find whoever and tell them.”

                 She finished tying her necklace back on. “What about the race?”

                 “We got no time for that.” One of the kids shouted.

                 “Yes we do.” Alled affirmed. “You heard their boss- if he crosses the finish line first, he’ll enslave the entire town. I don’t care who crosses it, as long as it’s not him.”

                 “But we don’t know what his Aerid form looks like.” Another one pointed out. “We don’t even know his name.”

                 Sokuro walked forward. “Then we better make sure He crosses it first.” She put her hand on his shoulder. “We can serve as a distraction if they get loose and come after us while the lot of you get away. Cheap labor is one thing, but there’s no way they’ll pass up a Silver and a chief’s grandkid if they decide to go for a ransom.”

                 It was a sound plan, and it was the only one they had. As they spoke, Alexe was able to get his hand loose and started removing the rock around his neck.

                 One of the tougher looking teenagers stepped forward and pounded his fists together while cracking his neck. His shoulder band began to glow. “Enough chitchat- let’s get out of this dump.”

 

                 Having climbed up the myriad of stairs as effortlessly as a hunchbacked man could, Iroe had reached the top of the flight and ran as fast as he could. He fell over when a powerful explosion ripped through the side of the mountain they hid in.

                  

                 A combination of earth and fire sheered off a large chunk of the mountain with the ferocity of a volcano, followed by a reverse waterfall of sparkles of every color under the rainbow. With a way out, the kids all took to their air, transforming into their Aerid forms as they leaped out to freedom, something they feared would never see again. True to their plan, they left to find whoever they could to warn them about the rogue slavers.

                 Sokuro and Alled remained to insure that everyone got away before they did their part. They didn’t have long to wait for as the alst of the kids were away, they heard shouting behind them. They recognized the voice as Iroe.

                 The two looked at each other and nodded. Their scales began to glow. Almost in perfect unison, the two ran towards the exit and jumped as far forward as they could go. Sparkles engulfed them both as they fell.

                 Just as they leapt, Iroe arrived and saw the two massive holes in both walls, along with both guards trapped in the rock. The thin one had already worked his way to his chest. “What in Uela’th pith happened here?!”

                 “I-it was that girl!” Alexe shouted. “The one with the hood. T-t-t-t-t-t-t-the Silver! She and that chief’s kid planned a breakout!”

                 Iroe glared out the holes that had been made and snarled like a wild animal. Children are a lot smarter then people give them credit for. He could see a pair of fliers off in the distance, booking it towards the mountains. It was them- no doubt about it. He bared his teeth as his scale began to glow.

                 The two guards yelped in fear as their second in command changed to his formidable form. A huge clawed paw tore into the stone, freeing them both. “Transform…” He spoke confidently and without the lisp. “We have a Silver to catch.”

 

                 A fountain of sparkles enveloped both Sokuro and Alled as they fell along the side of the mountain they were held captive in. Halfway down, their Aerid selves erupted out and kicked off, flying away at the toppest speed they had accumulated. They took a quick look around and saw that the kids had all split up, and they all kept to the mountain tops. They didn’t see any airships in the immediate vicinity, so the Koloron must not be going through here.

                 They were a sizeable distance away from their prison before they slowed. They needed to serve as a distraction, but more importantly, they needed to know where they are.

                 “Got any clues where we are?” Sokuro asked.

                 “We must be in the Sehu region- it’s the only part of the mountain range that is mostly devoid of death traps.”

                 “Mostly?”

                 “The bug’s thrive here.” He turned his head and caught a glimpse of floating dots in the distance. “And I think I found the race.” He pointed in the direction. Sokuro leaned in and looked down his arm to see the dots of moving, flying ships far off in the distance. “If that is the race…” He turned his hand to the right. “Then that way must be Meoho. If we fly at max speed, we should reach it before their boss.”

                 “And if we don’t?”

                 “Then hopefully they’ll listen to us and declare this race illegitimate due to the circumstances. That is our only option if we lose.”

                 “We won’t lose.” Sokuro assured him. “Even if it’s not you or your grandfather, anyone would be better then this rogue slaver.” He nodded in agreement. He knows many people participating in the Koloron this cycle and he knows what their Aerid selves are. He doesn’t know the slavers boss’, but they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it.  “Now, how long do--”

                 Suddenly, a green bolt shot between them and struck against the mountain in front of them. The two put their heads together and looked in the direction it was going and saw it hit the top of a mountain. One kaboom later, no more peak.

                 In unison, the two truend their heads to look backwards and saw a really, really furious Green Aerid barreling towards them, with barred teeth and glowing vine-like markings running up and down his extremely buff body?

                 “… He’s an Ajixis.” The two gulped.

                 An Ajixis is a Dragenian term for an Aerid that is able to control an element other then the big primal eight of Fire, Water, Air, Ice, Energy- or Lightning if you prefer, Earth, Light, and Darkness. You can tell what one apart because of the markings. Like normal Aerids, their color determines what they are strongly affiliated with; since he is Green, that means he can control Air with ease. The markings indicate he can control something just as dangerous.

                 The kids didn’t wait around to find out. The moment they said what he was, they flew as fast as their wings could flap as the Green Aerid barreled after them at top speed, and then some. Since he can manipulate air, he has a HUGE speed boost.

                 He caught up in no time.

                 The inside of his mouth glowed for a brief moment before he fired more bolts at them. Sokuro and Alled banked and rolled in every conceivable direction to evade the seemingly endless onslaught of bolts. Green colored explosions dotted mountainsides, creating craters and evaporating

                 The duo passed under a hanging row of vines, flying as fast as they could through. The Green Aerids paws glowed and he thrust his left one out. The vines came to life and shot towards the fleeing kids. He was trying to puncture their wings so that they could fall.

                 The kids heard movement above and saw the pointed ends of vines launch towards them. They dodged the best they could in this confined space. “I think we found what the markings control!” Alled shouted.

                 “Vines or all plants?”

                 “I think all plants!!” He shouted as a huge flower blossomed from one of the vines. A powder fell from the open bulb. Alled fired a fireball at the plant; it hit the powder instead, creating a massive kaboom that engulged the entire cave.

                 The kids and their pursuer dove to avoid the flames. Once they neared the cave floor, they pulled up and skimmed along it. “At least they still light up the same.” He spun around and fired a fireball at their pursuer.

                 His paws glowed again and he swung his right one to the side, creating a gust of wind that put it out and almost sent them careening to the floor, but they were too low to get hit.

                 The two flew out of the cave first. They spun onto their backs and let loose a pair of energy bolts that struck the top of the entrance. The rubble from the explosion caused a cave-in that trapped the Green.

                 “YES!” Sokuro shouted.

                 That was very short-lived as merely seconds later, the rubble of stone and rock blasted open like they were hit by a really powerful bomb, sending tiny meteors everywhere in the vicinity.

              Sokuro’s face melted after seeing that display of power. How can a Green Aerid be so powerful?               “Nope.” Alled winced. The two spun back around to their rightside and flew as fast as they could, which isn’t much given that their foe has speed.

              Sokuro looked back and saw that two more Aerids had joined in the chase, and they are clearly allied with the Green Aerid. One was orange, which indicated a affinity to fire- red and yellow work in the same regard, while the other was purple like Eia, meaning another lightning Aerid.

              “Are those the guards?” She asked out loud. The gears turned in her head, piecing together who their chaser was. “Oh sweet Caseiye, it’s the hunchback….”

              “What?” Alled shouted back.

              “The Green Aerid is the hunchback!”

              Alled looked back. There’s no way that’s the same guy… but it would explain how they were captured so easily… but more importantly, at least in Alled’s mind,“I need to know his workout routine.”

              “Focus!”

              Iroe reared his head back before launching antoher barrage of energy bolts their way. Alexe and Vozeir joined him by launching their own elemental attacks. The duo moved to dodge newly increased barrage of hailfire. There were much more to dodge and some got in a few good hits. One hit Sokuro in the wing, but only barely. She was still able to fly.

              The chase sped around a steep mountain side, and straight into a flat box canyon that is nothing but marshland. The first thing they hit was a terrible noxious smell. HUGE mistake on the kids part to fly this way as Iroe’s paws glowed again.

              The two of them knew he was going to use the marshland as soon as they saw it down below. “We’re dead.” Alled croaked. “Wait, I recognize this place. This is Lokshey Marsh- this isn’t that far from Meoho.”

              “How close?”

              They saw the grass and algae of the marsh begin to glow green as Iroe began to take control. “Still far enough to where we still need to worry.” They caught with a singe-kind of smell. Only one thing that could be: a fireball of death. They dropped down to avoid a surprisingly huge fireball.

              Sokuro looked back and saw Iroe smack the back of the red Aerid, then yell at him over something. “Why is he…?” The smell hit her again, making her exclaim. IT smell familiar, too. Almost like… “Wait… Alled, this marshland… why does it smell?”

              “It’s because it’s a natural gas pit. It was lit on fire several times in the past. Fire Aerids would be suicidal to fly this way because one wrong spark and this entire place would become …” A light went off in his head. “A raging inferno…”

              Another barrage of energy bolts came their way, as did growing vines and grass to constrain them from below. They looked back and saw the two guards fly towards them at breakneck speed while Iroe covered them with his breath attacks.

              “This is insane…” Sokuro mumbled. She looked to Alled and saw that he was getting ready to launch his own breath attack as the inside of his mouth glowed. “Will we survive?”

              “Survive, yes. Come out unharmed…well…” The hesitation spoke volumes.

              He reared his head back as the guards came closer. He then lunged forward, firing the biggest fireball he could muster… down towards the ground. Alexe and Vozeir screamed like fightened little children while Iroe went wide-eyed in horror. The fireball tore through the growing plantlife.

              The five of them flew at top speed in the same direction. Iroe used his powers over air to increase the speed of him and his flunkies, blazing towards Sokuro and Alled at insane speeds.

              It wasn’t fast enough for the fireball struck the marshland before they got close.

              In seconds, fire spread throughout, igniting everything ablaze, including the pockets of gas below the surface. The fire turned into an EXTREMELY POWERFUL explosion that torn the land apart like a zit being popped.

 

              A pair of the Koloron’s racers darted out of a small cave, having gained the lead over the rest of the competition. High above, the audience for those two cheered them on. Bran and Dan can’t tell who’s who in the fog because they don’t have special eyes, and they can’t use any outside tech do to what had been stated so many times before. Regardless, they can see why everyone enjoys the Koloron, despite the dangers: it is very vigorous.

              Drexyl looked down on the race… more specifically, at the first five. The slaver boss was high up in the lead, along with Mokati and several others. Colored Blue in his Aerid form, he used water to condense the water in the fog and clouds to slow down his competition. A sound strategy, but one of his competitors can use wind, and she blasted most of his tricks away, much to his chagrin.

              He was getting ready to blast a water bolt her way when he sensed something off, as did she and the other racers.

              Suddenly, a humougous kaboom echoed through the mountain range, followed by a enormous gust of wind on par with a category 5 hurricane, sending most racers crashing into the sides of the mountains.

              Up in the sky, the airships rocked and spun uncontrollably; the passengers and crews of the ships screamed as they hung on for their lives. Several unfortunate souls were flung off by the spinning- Buron being one of them. Fortunately, several good samaritans were able to catch them once the wind had died down enough for them to fly.

              Once the wind had died down, everyone took the time to assess what on Dragenia happened. Nobody had to look hard as the evidence rose up like a bloom. In the distance rose a humongous, voluminous wall of fire- the sheer size and magnitude had it on par with the same blast that covered Pompeii, minus the lava and ash.

              “Holy crap…” Dan held back the urge to chortle with his exclamation.”I didn’t know Aerids could be that powerful.”

              “They aren’t.” Eia commented back. “But something happened…”

              “What’s over there, anyway?” Set asked.

              Drexyl held a finger to her chin as she remembered what was over in that general direction, “If memory serves… it’s a huge marshland. It’s dangerous because it’s over a natural gas line. Someone may’ve accidentally ignited it.”

              “An explosion that size would kill someone.” One of the crewmates of the ship commented.

              “No, I never heard of anyone dying. Getting horribly burned, yes, but that just means the Aerid form can’t be used until it healsup. And I heard that it’s been ignited several times in the past. The gas… well, it doesn’t last long when ignited, as if that wasn’t obvious enough. I’m sure whoever was over there is fine. Burned, but fine.”

              “Here’s hoping.” Bran said. “I know I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of that, and Sokuro’s not that stupid. I think. ….. is she?” Taled and Aka casually shrugged.

                 

              Sokuro and Alled flew away of the rapidly expanding plume of fire as fast as their wings could flap. They should’ve flown away a lot sooner because the flames were catching up at a dangerous pace.

              “Coming this way was the worst move we did!!!” Alled shouted, feeling the flames right on his tail. He may be a fire elemental, but flames can still hurt him. He can use it- it doesn’t mean he’s immune, nor is he anywhere near powerful enough to even attempt to stop this rapidly expanding plume; he suspects only the gods can, however briefly.

              “I NOTICED!!!” Sokuro screamed.

              Against all odds, the duo had reached the edge of the marshlands, much to their relief as their lungs and wings were on fire, figuratively. The plume of death stopped there- there was no gas to burn beyond there, so it stayed in the marshlands.

              The duo had no time to rest for Iroe and the guards were still on their heels, with Iroe using his affiliation for air and Vozeir’s over flame to get through the violent blast… barely unscarthced. Alexe took a hard blow, scarring his entire left side. This is only for his Aerid form, though; Ferid, he’ll still feel the burning sensation on his skin, but he won’t have burn marks.

              Once out, Iroe dropped the barrier. With the wind acculmiated, he creted a localized vortex, in the form of a miniature tornado made of white strands. He swung his paws, sending the wind towards the escapees.

              The rough current of wind hit the duo hard, picking them up and flailing them about against their will. They screamed like scared kids on a crazy roller coaster. Iroe smacked them hard against the sides of all the nearby mountains. They exclaimed in pain with each hit, accumulating a lot of bruises and cuts.

              Getting fed up, Sokuro’s mouth began to glow. Waiting for the perfect shot, she opened it up and let loose a beam of light. Iroe went wide-eyed. He had no time to cancel his powers and dodge. The beam struck him in the left wing, punching a big enough hole to make him lose his lift and fall to the valley floor. Alexe and Vozeir flew down after him.

              With their newfound freedom, Alled and Sokuro flew away from the scene as fast as… er, Aeridly possible. With this new headstart, they didn’t have to worry about shortcuts and such- they just needed to get out of the range. They came to the same idea that skirting the top of the mountains would be the faster route- less death traps, too.

 

              Meanwhile, Iroe landed in a puddle of water- more specifically, in a pile of seaweed and grass. It was shallow enough to where he can stand on his legs, but it was still deep enough to where it was up to the top of his chest- from a distance, he looked like a boat.

              “Iroe!” His underlings flew down and landed on the banks.

              “What are you idiots doing?!” Iroe snapped. “Go after them! Don’t let them get away!”

              “But boss would kill us if so--”

              Iroe hit his clutched paw so hard on the banks of the bog, he created a miniature crater the size of a two-person car. “WILL YOU GET GOING ALREADY!!!?!!!” Out of fear, the two guards flew after them. Iroe gave them a speed boost with his wind affiliation. “Those two idiots are going to botch this up…” He grumbled. His paws glowed again, this time controlling the seaweed and grass. The plant life moved along his body like leeches towards the hole on his wing.

 

              “HEEEEEEELP!!!”

              The audience for the Koloron looked up and saw a flock of Aerids fly towards them at a recod speed. A Yellow Aerid streaked towards the Rose Shatter, followed by several others. He clasped onto the side of the ship, making it spin around more then before.

              “Can my ship stop spinning for one second already!?!” Halix demanded as he clasped the wooden railing for the stairs. Drexyl gave him a glare that he didn’t notice- it was her ship, not his… but seeing as how he’s their only mechanic- least the one that’s competent- she lets that slide. Usually.

              The Yellow gathered his breath before speaking, “T-There are rogue slavers hiding in the mountains! They’re kidnapping children and anyone lost in the race!” The yellow Aerid shouted, shocking virturally everyone. Drexyl, knowing that they don’t know she’s involved, took a few steps back. Just in case.

              “And it’s worse!” A younger Aerid, this one colored grey- still rock affiliated- squeaked as she struggled to get her breath back. “Their boss is in the race and if he wins, he’ll have the entire village under his thumb! That’s… I don’t know how many new slaves, but it’s bad!”

              “Really bad!” Gormonia shouted. As a former slave herself, she can’t even wonder why some monster would be taking kids- Ferid kids, no less- to use as slaves, and she doesn’t want to know. All she wants is to kick their butts.

              The Yellow spoke up, still panting. “The Silver and the chief’s son are rushing towards the village to keep that from happening, but… Umatz knows if they’ll make it in time. They also said they were going to serve as a distraction for whoever would come after us.”

              “The Sil—wait, he kidnapped Sokuro!?!” Zalet shouted.

              “If that’s her name, yes. She was really protective about a burnt locket.”

              “That’s her.” Baset, Dan, and Taled said in unison with a droning tone.

              It quickly dawned on Bran’s mind that the explosion was related. “Wait… then it must’ve gotten really dangerous!” He pointed towards the still-rising explosion of fire and smoke. “Why else would that have happened if not to shake of pursuers?!”

              Drexyl had hidden herself under the stairwell, biting her claws. “(Those idiots captured a Silver- the same Silver who has clout in two separate villages with enough force to turn this island to dust?! What were they thinking!?!” Sensing that this was uncouth and moreover unneeded behavior to a captain who is not “related” to these crimes, she walked back out, keeping her compusre. “Helmsman, set a course for Meoho.” She ordered to keep up her ruse. “If what they say is true, then we’re in for a lot of trouble.”

              “And knowing Sokuro, she likely IS in trouble.” Leoi commented.

 

              And how right he was as she and Alled flew underneath a crumbling natural bridge that had been blasted apart by Alexe and Vozeir seconds ago. Alled flew straight through while Sokuro pulled a barrel roll to deflect any that came much too close. The two slavers flew over the crumbling bridge.

              Alled recognized the area- they were close to Meoho. They just needed to get past this mountain. Sadly, there are no shortcuts and caves here lead into dead ends. They gotta go up. “We’re gonna have to fly up.”

              “Up?”

              Alled rolled into a ball and spun forward, stricking at a outcropping with his tail. He uncurled himself and blasted the rock towards the two chasers, distracting them. With a hard flap of his wings, he scaled up the side of the mountain with great ferocity. Sokuro followed suit, and so did the slavers seconds later.

              The grey and white of the mountainside sped by them as they ascended like rockets. The duo entered the upper blanket of fog. They burst through, breeching the clouds like a whale coming up for air.

              They were at the top of the mountain range, which offered a great view of the surrounding area. Meoho village was half a mile to their left, resting on the shoreline.

              “There’s Meoho.” Alled pointed out. Sokuro looked in the direction he was pointing and saw the village; a charming little fishing village built entirely out of stone, with the town stretching from the water up towards the mountain, where the remains of a castle could be visible seen.

              Speaking of said castle, a group of Aerids blasted through the gates, speeding down towards the village. One of them was Mokati, and they can only assume that one of the other five was the head slaver.

              “The finish line is on that islet off the shore.” He pointed towards a barren black rock just off the shoreline. It had a couple of airships hovering beside it. “There is no way I’m going to make it in time; we’re not fast enough. I know it’s a good shot grandfather will win, but… but you see how many racers are there- any of them could be the slaver.”

              He’s right; it took them all their energy just to get here and they don’t have any abilities to give them a speed boost like the Green Aerid had. Sokuro then had an idea, snapping her claws like fingers. “I have an idea. It’s crazy, but it’s the only shot we have, but you are going to have to trust me.”

              Trust her? That doesn’t sound very assuring. Just what does she have planned?

 

             Alexe and Vozeir burst through the cloud cover and snapped their heads around to find their quarry. “There they are!” Vozeir shouted.

             Alexe snarled and flew in the direction he was looking… but stopped and held his companion back for a moment. “Hold on. Something’s not right.” Their quarry was only the Silver, and she was alone. “There’s only one of them here… and…” They saw her raise her front legs over her head like a dancer. “What the heck?” They tilted their heads in bewilderment.

 

             Clasping her paws together as if she was holding a ball, Sokuro took a calming breath to clear her mind. She saw the colonist’s play this several times and she’s hoping what she saw was transferable. Snapping her eyes open, she raised her front legs up and put the rear left one out, as if she was standing on a mound. Bringing her arms down to chest height, she then reared back, holding back her right arm as far as they can go while lifting up her read left leg.

             She thrust forward as hard as she could, pitching the Ferid form of Alled out of her hand as fast as she could possibly throw. She said this was crazy, but it was surprisingly working as this gave him an immense speed boost.

             Encased in a red aura, Alled shot towards the village as fast as the pitch would allow him. Once he was nearly there, sparkles erupted from his scale, turning him back into his Aerid self.

             Sokuro had underestimated her strength as Alled was going right overhead. He banked had to the right, skimming his wing along the ground, kicking up a lot of dirt. The kicked up dirt got in the eyes of one of the racers, making him exclaim in annoyance as he covered himself.

             It was neck and neck between Mokati, the head slaver, and another racer. It was anyones game…

             …up until Alled came in right out of nowhere, blazing over the top of their heads. He reached the island first, slamming his feet into the ground. His momentum was still too much and he skidded along, digging his heels into the rock. He tripped over a protruding boulder and spun into the water.

             The slaver and the other racer exclaimed in pure aggravation and anger that the race they were so close to winning was taken away at the last second. Mokati, however, was stunned that he was beaten by his own grandson. He knows he was getting old, but still… beaten by his grandson.

             Alled poked his head out of the water and shook it off. He looked to his grandfather, who warmingly smiled to him. Alled awkwardly smiled back.

             Despite how… messy it was, Alled was the winner of the Koloron- the first youngter to win in a couple hundred years.

              The group at the islet could hear cheering coming from far away. Many panned their heads around, wondering who was doing it. Alled chuckled with a scoff, knowing full well who was doing it. He, Mokati, and the slaver looked in that same general direction.

 

             Sokuro whooped and hollered in victory that Alled crossed the finish line first. “WHOOOO!!! Go Alled!” She put some claws to her mouth and whisteled loudly. She kept cheering, dispite knowing full well that the slaves were sneaking up on her. “She stopped cheering. “Now then…” She said with a gasp to reclaim her breath. She snapped her head towards the guards, making them freeze up. “… who took my locket back at the cell?”

             The slavers exclaimed in fear before flying downwards towards the floor to escape her wrath. She followed after them. It’s amazing how quickly the hunters can become the hunted once things change. Halfway down the mountain, the two idiots flew into a cave, with her following them inside.

 

End Song.

 

             Alexe and Vozeir scrambled over each other as they entered the cave. It was just big enough to move around on foot. Flying was complicated as their wings touched the ceiling, so on foot it was for all three of them.

             The duo made it a good ways inward before Alexe tripped over something, making him fall on top of Vozeir, and making them both tumble onto the floor. They scrambled to get up before she caught up, but it was too late.

             Sokuro stomped her paw on the floor hard, making a loud boom that made the slavers freeze up. They slooooowly creaked their heads in her direction. Her eyes glowed brightly as she had a breath attack all ready and waiting. But first, she had some questions.

             “Alright!” She bellowed. “Speak up.” She stomped over to them. “Who is your boss?! What is he planning?! Why go after kids only?!” She got up in their frightened faces. “Speak up!”

             “We don’t know!” Alexe quivered. “We’re just underlings- we just do what we’re told!”

             “Festv!” She cursed. “You know something! And you are not leaving until you tell me!”

             Panicking, Vozeir fired a fireball towards her. She jumped to the side to avoid it. The light from the fireball illuminated the cave walls. The slavers didn’t notice it, but she did- the walls were covered in drawings, and one of them looked scarily familiar. But she didn’t have time to marvel at the artwork; she still had these two miscrients to deal with. “Bad move.” She snarled. The two slavers held each other in fear as they quivered as such.

             She got ready to launch her own breath attack at them when she was suddenly hit by a gust of wind that carried a overkill amount of a powder-like substance. Normally, this would take minutes, but she breathed in a unearthly amount. She fell over instantly.

             The two guards stopped their groveling and calmed down, waiting an appropriate amount of time to make sure she was indeed knocked out. Alexe moved to the side and saw Iroe standing at the entrance, with a familiar bloomed flower hovering beside him. This particular yellow bud is called Flazious, which is a ancient Gaharot word that roughly translates to ‘binding plant’. It puts whoever breaths its pollen into a temporary state of paralysis if you are a Aerid. For Ferids and Gaharots, you are knocked unconscious. “Oh, thank heavens.” He let go of Vozeir and headed over to their savior. “I thought we were dead.” His adulation was short lived as Iroe snarled and puffed out smoke from his nostrils. “W…. what?”

             “This whole operation was a waste of time.” He snarled as he forced his way past the clueless underling, tossing the flower away. “The cargo is all gone and they likely warned everyone they could about what happened. When word reaches Mokati, he’ll declare this Koloron insubstantia.”

             That was a big word the guards didn’t recognize. “… in-what?”

             “The short version is that it means no matter who wins, they won’t be made chief as this will be declaired false. And once word reaches Velx, we’re doubly screwed.”

             “So what do we do?” Vozeir asked as he got up.

             “We meet him at the rendezvous point, as planned. We just won’t have any cargo…”

             “Not even her?”

             Iroe shook his head. “No.” He flared his left wing. The hole she had made had been patched up by plants and seaweed, but it wasn’t much. There were several smaller holes- none that would hinder flight. “Until this heals up, I can’t carry a thing without extreme difficulty.” He furled his wing back up. “And I know you two can’t lift a bundle of wood without complaining, even in your Aerid forms, and if all three of us did carry her, we’d be going too slow and they’d spot us instantly. Besides, she tricked you two into giving her scale back and inciting a breakout- who’s to say she won’t do the same thing at the dig site?”

             “So we leave her.”

             “Unfortunately, yes.” He approached her paralyzed self. Her panicked eye looked towards him as he got uncomfortably close. “I know you can still hear me, Silver. You may’ve won this round, but if we meet again, you won’t win the next one.” He stood back up. “Let’s go.” He ordered the two guards. They nodded and ran towards the cave exit. Iroe lingered whilst looking at her before following after them.

 

             Back in the village, Alled was warning everyone about what had transpired. More Aerids began to gather as they finished the Koloron. Naturally… there were a lot of shocked and frightened expressions. Slavers kidnapping Ferid children-such a thing had never been heard of, not since the Ancient Gaharot Empire at the dawn of time.

             “SLAVERS!?!” Everyone present bellowed. The slaver leader kept to the back of the gathered crowd. While the lad doesn’t know what he looks like in both forms, it’s best to play it safe and follow along.

             “Yes!” He said with confidence. He was antsy to get back to Sokuro; every second here is another second they have to kidnap her again. “They kidnapped me, Sokuro, and a couple dozen-or-so other kids! We were able to escape thanks to some quick thinking from Sokuro, but… I’ll be honest, I was scared we weren’t going to see anyone friendly again. I don’t know why they were doing it- they kept mentioned something about a project.”

             “Do you know who the slavers are?” Mokati demanded.

             “Only four. I don’t know if that’s the full crew or a small amount. I… I don’t know their names, but I do know what three of them look like. One of them was a skinny fellow- he was a walking twig. Another was as big as a cauldron. But the most dangerous one out of all of them was the hunchback. He plays the sympathy card well; that’s how he got me and Sokuro. Worse of all, he’s an Ajixis; his affinity is to air, but he can also control all plant life. He’s half the reason that’s a thing at the moment!” He gestured over towards the still-erupting marshland.

             “What about their leader?” The leader innocently asked. He’s lied plenty of times before, so this was nothing new to him. He raised his voice a couple of octives to avoid being recognized.  “Did you get a look at him?”

             “No. I don’t know what he looks like in both forms. All I got was his voice and maybe his eye color, and even then it was behind a thick wall. He had us held captive in a stone prison in a mountain deep in the range. And I forgot to say this before, but their leader was planning to win so he could use the entire village as cheap labor.”

             “How are we supposed to believe this?” One of the more buffed Aerids proclaimed. “You’re just a kid.”

             Alled puffed out his cheeks; this guy is being a right jerk. He went through all this and he’s being ridiculed? Now of all times? It was a good lead into thinking he was the leader, even if he would be wrong in the future, but if they weren’t going to listen to him… “Then ask them!” Alled pointed behind them, towards the sky. They saw a flock of Aerids flying towards them. He recognized most of them as the kids from the race. Airships flanked behind. Without another word, he flapped his wings and flew back towards the mountain range.

             Mokati watched his grandson fly away for a second. He looked towards one of the chieftain’s guards. “Go with him.” The guard nodded and flew after Alled.

 

             Minutes later, Sokuro groaned as she regained control over her body. This was the first time she was paralyzed and it was a really strange feeling. She had trouble moving as she stood back up, but slowly regained full control. She was noxious in her stomach, and hot in her head. Sweat dripped down from her scales, prompting her to rub it.

             “Ugh… that is… not a good feeling…” She stammered like she was going to vomit. This was worse then being unconscious; at least the noxious feeling she’s feeling would’ve gone awhile while in that blackened state. She heard voices coming from outside. She worried it was going to be the slavers again, but that soon faded away as she heard Alled’s voice among them.

             Before leaving the cave, she looked towards the wall to her right. Why would there be drawings on the cave walls, and in the Meoho mountain range, no less? She’d have to come back later to look things over… and would likely have to bring Bran, mostly for his image device.

             She made her way towards the cave entrance when shadows hovered out front. “Found her!”Alled called out to the guard that came. He then ran in, seeing that she was staggering in her steps. “What’s wrong? Where are the slavers?”

             She wiped her forehead. “G… gone. The big guy caught up and got me with a Flazious flower- paralyzed me instantly…” She wiped her forehead again. “They left after he said that carrying me would just slow them down… I mean, they’re not wrong, but you took your sweet time getting here.”

             “Sorry. I had to rush what happened to everyone. Good news is that they believe me and that the kids made it to the town.”

             That is good news- at least they believed him from the beginning and didn’t need extreme proof like she did. “Whew… that’s one crisis averted…” She sighed in defeat. “…but they did get away.”

             “But I told them what they looked like. … Well, their Ferid selves, anyway. I couldn’t tell which guard was which Aerid… and we were speculating that the Ajixis is the hunchback.”

             “I know. But it’s something. But at least they know an Ajixis is among the bad guys, so that narrows it down the list of suspects considerably.”

             “True.”

             Sokuro rubbed her forehead again. “Ugh… I’m gonna need to drink a gallow of water…  While in my paralyzed state… the Ajixis spoke about a dig site… I’m guessing that’s the project they are referring to.”

             That is puzzling, to say the least. They need cheap, easy slaves for a dig site? “Dig site? Why would they go through all this trouble for cheap labor over a dig site?”

             “I know… something doesn’t add up.” She exhaled again as she rubbed her forehead once more. “Ugh… can we continue this after I get something to drink? That plant did a number on me…”

             Alled turned around. “Change back. You’re in no condition to fly.”

             Normally, Sokuro would protest, but she did breath in too much of the pollen. It’s a wonder she’s still able to move. “Sure… sure…” Her body glowed in a soft tornado of sparkles and she changed back to her Ferid self, shrinking down right onto Alled’s back. Alled walked out of the cave entrance and spread his wings to take to the air.

             Sokuro took one last look at the cave as they flew away, memorizing its location. She would have to return here to check out those paintings when she’s feeling better.

             But the lingering question remains: what were they kidnapping Ferid kids for? If it’s for a dig site… what in the world are they digging up? What is worth all this craziness? Something just doesn’t add up. Something doesn’t make sense. It is a question that won’t be answered today, but it will be in time.

28: Chapter 26: Koloron Finale - Glimpse of the Past

Chapter 26

Koloron Part 6: End of the Race / Glimpse of the Past

3/12/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)




 

        At long last, the Koloron was finally over, and it was going to be one to remember. With the revelation that rogue slavers were interfering with the race, this years Koloron had been declared false, meaning Alled's win wasn't going to be recognized. He didn't mind, though- he came in first place, impressing his grandfather; who would once again be ruling for one last year, and honored his promise to his brother. That's all that matters. Even though the race is now declared false, the families of those who died would still get their compensation. 

        After things had calmed down, the freed children lead the more seasoned warriors back to the mountain where they were held captive in. There was evidence that this was used as a base, but everything had been cleaned out fast. They must've moved fast to get back and clear out before they got here- benefits of having a wind-affiliated Aerid on your side. They left behind no clues on where they were going, leaving only the children's overheard claim of a island all they had to go on. Thing is, there are more then 5 dozen islands circling Evioly, and hundreds, if not thousands more out in the Great Sea. Finding the dig site would be next to impossible, and even if they find it, how can they be sure it's one operated by slavers and not archaeologists or a group establishing a village? There was nothing nobody could do, so they went back to Meoho.

        And to make matters worse, they don't know who they are or what they look like. All they have are the descriptions the kids gave of three of them: one was as wide as a cauldron, another was as thin as a stick, and the last, and the most dangerous in terms of Aerid abilities, was a hunchback. They can work with that last one- as with humans, it is a rare disorder. And his Aerid form will stick him out like a sore thumb too since he is an Ajixis. But there's also the chance the slavers know this too and may keep him hidden.

        Speaking of the slavers, i wonder how their leader is reacting to losing the race...

        ...the answer is not well.



        Being forcibly dunked into a bathtub on main deck of a Gaharot airship, Alexe and Vozeir struggled to get loose from it before it became their watery grave. Their boss was keeping them dunked in personally. He was so close to winning the race, but their incompetence allowed the grandson to win in the end. He was the Blue Aerid near the lead- he was so close to the finish, he could taste it. Their arms and legs flung over as they desperately wanted to get out of this and breath. He waited until the bubbles stopped popping on the surface before he pulled them back out. The duo coughed water up violently.

        "I swear, i don't now why i keep you idiots around!" He snarled.

        "W... we're sorry, boss..." Alexe coughed. "We didn't plan on her being so cunning."

        He picked him up by the collar of his shirt. "She's a kid- they're always cunning!" He shoved him back down. "Rrr... she played you two like a clovlidl." That is a Dragenian instrument that closely resembles a fiddle. He pinched his eyes, wondering what he was going to do with them.

        "We're away from Evioly." Iroe said as he walked down the middle stairway. "We're in open waterth now."

        "Wait a tick, why isn't he getting punished like us?" Vozeir demanded to know. "He messed up just as bad as us."

        His answer came after he was shoved back to the deck floor by the boss' boot to his face. "Are you sure you want to be saying those words right now, Vozeir? Because from what i heard, he put up more of a fight then you did getting the children back!" He dug his heels into Vozeir's cheek. "It was you two who fell for her trick in the first place while he was in the hanger. He could've handled the Silver and her boyfriend while you two went after the rest, but no- you had to play 'follow the leader' and lose them anyway. If it was a 2 on 1 fight, i would accept that loss as he would've been going up against a Silver, but no... you two had to put your noses in it and fail when you had a golden opportunity to at least catch the Silver when she threw that boy. So not only did we lose a free and easy claim for slaves for the project, but we also lost everyone we captured." He kicked his foot off Vozeir's cheek, walked over to the railing, and slamming his hands down. "This whole diversion was a complete waste of time! They'll be looking for us and be cautious on who they let participate next cycle... We won't be able to come back to Evioly for awhile..."

        "At least they don't know about Dexyl." Iroe pointed out. "And the children only thay your eyeth and they never thaw your Aerid form."

        The boss took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. "I supposed that's true..." He tapped his fingers on the railing. "She'll keep us updated... for however long she stays, anyway."

        Feeling like they weren't going to be punished anymore, Alexe got up while still coughing up water. "So... what now...?"

        "Now, we head back to the site." He pushed off of the railing and walked to the captains quarters. "When we get there, you two are still going to be punished for this massive screwup." They whined in fear as they lowered their heads. "... there is one thing that puzzles me, though." They looked back up. "You said she used a very strange pose when she threw that boy. What was strange about it?"

        The two of them looked at the other, wondering how best to explain it. "Well... just the way it looked, i guess." Alexe said. Vozeir nodded and proceeded to act out the strange throw they saw her do as best as he could. It wasn't spot on, but it sent the point across: It was a odd pose. "It's kinda like that."

        "What odd throw was that?" Iroe asked with crossed arms.

        "Your guess is as good as mine." The boss commented. "But it was effective if it made the kid win." He walked into the fairly fancy captains quarters and locked the door, wanting some space from this nincompoops. He leaned on the door and ran his hand down his face. His quarters were spacious and decked out- comes with being a slaver as long as he. There was a fancy bed made of quilchin silk- the Dragenian equivalent to Egyptian Cotton-, and the curtains covering the windows were made of the same material. There were a number of swords on the wall, and a carved desk custom made. "Uuuuuuugh... i swear, these nitwits are going to give me a heart attack... Uuuuugbbbbbrllla..." He ran his hands down his lips. "I need a hard drink."

        He walked over to the wooden desk at the end of the room and headed around to the seat. There were several drinks on it already, but none would have the right amount of kick necessary. "...... i need some of the good stuff." He pushed the chair out and bent down til he was on all fours. He got under the cubby and bumped his fist on the left side first, then the top, then the right, then once again on top. A hatch on the right side opened up after the right combination was put in, revealing several bottles of high quality Dragenian booze. These already have a kick with Ferids and Gaharots- if one of the colonists drank some of that stuff... well, who knows what'll happen.

        He grabbed the neck of a big bottle nad pulled it out. "1113. Good year." He backed out of the seat and sat back up, nearly having a heart attack when he saw a familiar someone standing in the middle of the room. There was no noise when he entered, so his sudden appearance scared the boss enough to make him lose his grip on the bottle. He yipped as he caught it before it hit the floor- this was some good stuff, and expensive too. 

        "Good catch." The cloaked stranger commented, his face obscured by the hood. "Too bad you couldn't catch the kids."

        The boss growled as he put the bottle back on the desk. "Hakan... to what do i owe this... disturbing pleasure?"

        Hakan slowly approached. "I was told you were the best of the best on the mainland, that you would never lose your catch..." He grabbed one of the cheap bottles. "So then... when i came by this morning to check on the progress... i find out that you lost all of them... and even your best man couldn't stop them from blabbing everything..."

        "That wasn't my fault. I was close to winning the damn race. It was the two idiots out there that lost them all. Iroe did everything he could, but there were too many to go after and the Silver and her boyfriend were a lot more cunning then we had anticipated."
        
        "Ah, yes... Sokuro... i encountered her before the race started..." He tapped a finger on the bottle. "... i just have one question about your selection process..." He gripped it tighter. "ARE YOU STARK RAVING MAD!?!" He tossed the bottle to the wall, shattering it upon impact. The boss was about to protest but was slammed into his seat via magic that doesn't exist on this world. "What would possess you to try and kidnap a damn Silver?! You know how important they are and you know the gods would've come looking if she went missing! If they did, your operation would be found out and busted, all your crew would've been tried in Loklis, and i would be exposed after years of planning!"

        "B... but i thought she would be a great boon in the excavation."

        Hakan tightened the grip HARD on the boss, making him soundlessly exclaim in pain. "She would only be helping if she was in her Aerid form. As a normal kid, she would be as weak as you. All that would've happen is everything i pointed out!" He shoved him back out of his seat. The bottle rolled out of his hands. "... you're as clueless as your subordinates...."

        The boss rubbed his aching chest as he got up, grabbing the bottle as he did. "So what happens now...? Do we cancel the dig?"

        Hakan tapped a single finger on the wood, wondering what the wisest course of action would be. "... No. We continue as planned. It'll just take a lot longer then we planned, but i'll survive. I'm a patient man. You won't be able to try and pull any slaver operations on Evioly for a good long while, not until the heat dies down at least. You will have to resort to more drastic measures." He uncorked a bottle of the cheap stuff. "As for Sokuro, leave her to me. It shouldn't be that hard to corrupt a Silver." He took a drink straight from the bottle. 

        "Silver's cant' be corrupted." The boss said. "They're either born good or evil."

        Once his drink was done, Hakan loudly exclaimed as he felt the kick hit. He put down the bottle and chuckled darkly. "Hehe... if only you knew..." He then vanished in a flash of black fire. 

        That always freaked him out; never before had anyone been able just...... vanish like that, and in such a scary manner too. "... and i don't think i'll ever want to know..." He forgone the glasses and just drank the expensive stuff out the bottle. One hearty swig and he shook his mouth, making a noise like a rapid dog. "Rrrrpbbpbpbpb... that is a strong flavor."



        Back at Meoho, the contestants were all being congratulated by Mokati on survived yet another Koloron and a moment of silence was given to those who died during both legs. After that, he made the announcement that the race was to be declared false due to the heavy interference from the rogue slavers, much to the detriment of all involved. Sokuro and Alled were congratulated for exposing the slavers and freeing the kids, even if they weren't able to catch the slavers themselves. 

        As for the children who escaped, they were reunited with their families. Most of them were kidnapped during the Koloron, like how Sokuro and Alled were. The rest were taken from other villages and were to be escorted home tomorrow.  They were hungry, thirsty, and tired- all bad things when flying. According to some, they had been held captive for over a week, so this had been going on for some time but for how long?

        Normally, a celebratory feast would be given for the new chief, to celebrate his or her's ascension to power. As this years Koloron has been declared false, it's just a giant meal with no celebrations involved, like at the Midway house. The giant meal was on the Meoho Beach, a stretch of sand starting at the eastern edge of the city and stretched the entire length of the range heading that way. 

         As for Meoho proper, the mountain range had extended all the way to the sea. The founder of the village- Meoho himself- had carved it out of the rock, building the homes right into the northern-most mountain side, similar to the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, the Mogao Caves in China, and the Ajanta caves in India. Every single original building were carved right into the mountains. Additional add-ons, like dockyards, ports, and additional homes, were built out of wood and placed along the coastline.
         

        Sokuro sat with her friends at a table at the eastern-most part of the beach, looking at the trinket she had been given for what she and Alled were able to do. Sokuro was given a necklace head, designed by the three moons in the sky. She saw something like this when a trader came to Misken last year- they were said to be a romantic gift for your special someone. Her's was just a reward. She was lost in thought, feeling oblivious to the fact that she didn't eat for over almost 16 hours.

        "You must've been so scared." Aka said, having not touched her food. 

        Sokuro had been so entranced by her new trinket, she had lost track of what they were talking about. "Sorry, what?"

        "Being kidnapped by slavers and having your scale taken- that must've been so scary."

        "It... it really was." Sokuro said as she began untying the cord to her necklace. 

        "What happened out there?" Eia asked. She, like the rest of the crew, were oblivious to what their captain was a part of.

        "It's a long story, but i'll try to keep it short." She finished untying her necklace and set it down on the table. "Well, after i left for the bathroom, i was ambushed by devout Word followers. I was able to escape thanks to Alled, but then we were approached by this guy- a hunchback with a lisp- begging us to help his friend. We went out to where he said his friend was, but he was a slaver- knocked us out. We woke up inside a carved-out mountain with a bunch of other kids and we all had our scales taken away, most of whom were trapped for who knows how long. They had all given up, but i was tenacious. I pulled out the charm and was able to convince them to give back my locket." She held it up and clicked it open. "A locket that has part of my scale inside."

        "How did you manage that?" 

        "Well, when i saw those nasty looking people back at Konkor, i thought something bad would happen. I used a nail file to shave off some of it and packed it into my locket." The inside of the locket door had a mirror sheen. "Perfect planning, no?"

        "Yeah, it kinda is." Taled said. "I should remember that when i get my scale."

        Sokuro chuckled as she ruffled up his hair. "Heh... but anyway, i was able to get my scale back and i used that to pin our guards to the wall while Alled got everyone's scales back. By the way, did you know that you can call it to you if you lose it?" Eia shook her head- this was news to her. "Yeah, surprised me too." She put the trinket on and let it slid down till it was in front of her scale. "So, we all got our Scales back and a ground-affiliated Aerid created our exit by blasting open the side of it. They left to go find any who would listen while Alled and I stayed to distract the guards by having them chase us. ... that almost turned bad... because the hunchback chased after us as well. Turns out, in Aerid form, he is DEADLY! He is ruthless and almost got us a couple times. To make matters worse, he's an Ajixis."

        "A what?" Dan asked.

        "An Ajixis is a Aerid that has control over a element that isn't that common or is something really specific, like salt or clouds. This guy- his primary elemental affinity is wind, but his Ajixis is over all plant life- flowers, vines, the whole she-bang. And like i said, he was deadly. I thought i was going to die at one point. Alled got the crazy idea to cause that huge explosion everyone saw. But, somehow, against all luck, we were able to get a lucky shot in and ground him. His two buddies chased after us, but they were no match for us. When we got close to the finish line, we saw a lot of people neck and neck, and we knew the slaver leader was one of them because he told us. With little options, i threw Alled as hard as i could using a... what do you call it? that sport thing i saw you do a couple days ago."

        Dan twisted his lips as he remembered back to find what she was referring to. A sport thing? Was she talking about Baseball? They played a impromptu game. "You mean a baseball pitch?"

        "Yeah, that. I threw Alled like a baseball and it worked. With that extra speed, Alled crossed the finish line first and ruined their plans." She slid her locket back on. It stopped in front of the trinket.

        "But why were they kidnapping kids in the first place?" Eriod asked.

        She began tying her necklace back around her neck. "Something about cheap labor for a dig site- that's why they wanted to win the Koloron too. An entire village of free workers: who wouldn't want that?"

        "Well, they certainly made the mistake of taking you." Bran said, with a cut-up piece of tentacle on his fork. "I mean... you're globally famous by title alone. If you disappeared, i'm sure the entire planet would've launched a rescue operation. And knowing you, you would've found a way to incite some sort of revolt. Probably would've freed more kids and take down that whole operation. And Meoho isn't tied to any leader, are they? They don't blindly follow whoever's in charge, do they?"

        "Why didn't i think of that? Oh, yeah, i didn't want to toil away at some dig site for months on end. Besides, i didn't think that far ahead. I was scared too- i wanted out of there." She finished tying it back up as she thought about what could've happened if she had been taken to the dig site. "... though in hindsight, it probably would've been a good idea... Meoho doesn't blindly follow... and the gods can sense us individually, so he would've tracked me down quick.... Ugh..." She faceplanted on the table. "The more i think about it, the more i think i should've been taken..." She leered towards Bran. "Thanks for ruining my mood."

        Bran felt terrible about taking away her. She felt so positive about herself. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be a downer."

        "Yeah, nice going, Bran." Zalet scoffed.

        He sucked in his lips and tapped his fingers on the table, wondering how he can fix this. Before long, he had a answer. "...w... well, they could've killed some people who resisted, like the chief. And who's to say the revolt would've worked. They could have fighters much worse then the Abilis..."

        "Ajixis."

        "...and then things would've been far worse. And-- why didn't i lead with this?-- you said the gods could sense people individually, right? Then can't they just focus in on that guy? A wind Aerid that can control plants should be easy to find."

        And like that, Sokuro's mood perked back up. He's right- the Astral's can pick anyone out of a planetary crowd thanks to the unique life force everyone gives off. With that logic, finding an Ajixis should be easy. "...yeah, he would be easy to find. Bad feeling averted- i just need to talk to Velx about this when we get home."

        Dan was the one to open his mouth to point out the contradiction, "But didn't you say that the gods don't interfere with the affairs of mortals unless it's really important, like the end of the world or that ascension whatsits?"

        And the depression is back again, but it didn't last long. "Eoh... right..." Sokuro sucked through her teet. "Well... he can still pinpoint the location. That'll be enough for the governor of Roko Harbor to go on and launch a rescue mission... provided he does anything about it."

        "Lazy?"

        "Yep." She put a forkful of food in her mouth.

        "Well, i can agree with that." Mokati said as he and his guards approached. "I've never known Foli to be one to actually do things."

        Sokuro almost choked on her food when he approached. She wasn't expecting him to come to her; he's the chief and they'are always busy. "M-Mokati!" She gulped it down and gasped for air. "This is a surprise. W-what are you doing here?"

        "First off, i just wanted to thank you for saving those poor children. I don't know what those vile slavers would've done, but they're safe now, thanks to you and my grandson. I was hoping we could have a talk. We never were able to finish our chat in the tunnels before you sped off."

        "Chat? Wha--" She recalled that she used a human saying, one completely foreign to Dragenia, when they met in the shortcut tunnel when the Koloron began. Is this about that? If so, she's going to have a hard time lying her way out of this. "Oh... wwwhat do you want to talk about?"

        "You mentioned that your name is Sokuro, yes? You have a younger brother and you are from Misken, correct?"

        She and Taled looked at each other. Why was the chief asking about their name? Why is he even asking all of these stuff to begin with? Some of her friends were getting a creepy vibe. "Yeah? Why ask?"

        "I knew your parents- Amosit and Imilae."

        "You did?" Taled asked.

        "indeed i did. They came by a number of times to check for ruins and such in the mountains. They were kind-hearted people. It saddened me to hear that they died."

        "Thanks, but... why bring all this up?"

        Mokati reached into his robes and pulled out a big book with a number of added pages that stuck out. This thing was huge- he had to hold it with two hands, it was that heavy. And in height and width, it's as big as a platter. "The last time they were here, they were investigating a cave with murals lined along the wall. They accidentally left cycles of research notes behind when they left. I had planned to give it back when they came by next, but since they died, i wasn't sure what to do about it. When i heard you mention your name in the tunnels, i knew i should return it." He handed it to her. "It should stay in the family, after all."

        Sokuro took it with both hands and flipped it open. Each page was littered with notes, remarks, drawings, and observations. The drawings were not that great- she was spoiled due to Bran's expert skill. "Thanks." 

        Taled stood up on his seat so he could get a look into the notebook. "Wow." He snorted. "Mom was... she was not that great at drawing."

        "I think Bran spoiled us." She closed the book. "Well, thank you, Mokati. It's nice to have something of theirs that... isn't broken." She was, of course, referring to her locket, somewhat forgetting about the dagger and the jar she got for her birthday. "(At least he's not bringing up that human saying slipup.)" She closed the book. "And i wish you luck on your final year as chief."

        "Thank you. It's rare to see someone so polite at this age. Your parents raised you well." Sokuro lightly blushed from embarrassment as he walked away.

        As she watched him depart, she caught a glimpse of Alled off in the distance, sitting on the rooftop of one of the nearby dockyards. She never did get a chance to talk to him after the race finished. "I'll be right back. Make sure Taled doesn't destroy the book." She got out of her seat and headed over to him. She climbed up it the nearest ladder. Reaching the top, she approached him from behind. He was curled up into a ball for some reason, staring out towards the sea. Given everything they've been through today, she approached kindly and made her presence known instead of surprising him. "Hey."

        He turned his head to see her there. "Hey." He tiredly responded before looking back out towards the sea.

        "Long day?" She said as she sat down beside him.

        "Very. What i would give for a nap right now." She can agree to that- she can feel her eyes struggling to stay open. "I'm still amazed that we were able to do it."

        "Same. Though i still head a headache-- hedd a--- havt... pbbt... you know what i mean." She sputtered like a horse, irritated she was having trouble speaking. "Blegh..."

        Alled warmly chuckled at her tongue-tied self. "Hehehe... heh..." He looked back out towards the sea. "... i kept my promise, at least. I may not be the new chief, but i still won the Koloron, like a promised i would." He opened up his left hand, looking at the trinket he had been given. It looked exactly like Sokuro's. "I just wish he was here to see it."

        Sokuro warmly patted him on the back before pulling him over to a slight hug. "I'm sure he did somehow. At least you'll have one heck of a story to tell your friends. Mine are still flabbergasted it happened to me."

      "I can bet." He looked back out to the sea, wondering where the rogue slavers would've gone since their operation failed.  "... do you think we did the right thing? It didn't sound like this was the slavers first foray into stealing kids. They could have other kids working at that dig site of theirs. If we were there, we could've led some kind of revolt or something."

        "Bran said the exact same thing and it depressed me, but he pointed out that if we did go, we probably would've encountered someone stronger or worse in personality then the Ajixis that chased us, and that guy was already a demon." Alled nodded in agreement on that one. "Besides, he was able to turn it around. The gods can sense us individually, so if they focus on the Ajixis, we should be able to learn where the dig site is."

        "Huh. That is a good point. And of course, a few villages of pissed off people would be a scary army to go against those slavers. Most would probably quiver in fear."

        "Wouldn't it for anyone?" She fell backwards onto her back, feeling exhausted. "Ugh... i can't wait to go to sleep..." Her mind wandered as she laid there, eventually returning to the cave she had those two losers trapped in, but was knocked out cold. When the fireball passed her by, she saw murals lining the walls. That must've been the same cave Mokati was referring to that her parents investigated. She had inherited her parents curiosity: she needed to know what she saw. "Hey... that cave i chased the bad guys into... Is there something special about it?"

        "What, the Red Cave?" Crummy name, but it's not the worst she's heard. "Why would you want to know about that?"

        "My parents were researchers and archaeologists- i got their natural curiosity."

        "That explains a lot. Bet you also inherited their ability to make up bogus fears on the fly, miss fearful." She playfully stuck her tongue out. She honestly was afraid exposing the fact to everyone here, and what happened at the Midway House was proof of that, but after saving those kids, she feels better about the whole matter. "Well, from what i heard, it was a refuge the ancient Ferid's used back with the Gaharots ruled the world, before Nascent got the first scale and become the first Aerid. The Gaharots who lived here hunted Ferids for sport."

        "So it's an important cave."
    
        "Eh, kinda, sorta, not really. It's been ages since it was used. I bet half the people who live here don't even know it exists."

        "Forgotten to time, then." He slightly shrugged in passive agreement. History was never his strongest suit- he only knows about the cave thanks to her parents coming to investigate it. Sokuro put both of her hands on her belly and thought to herself while tapping her fingers. There's just something about that cave... about those murals. It wasn't going to let her go until she goes to check it out.




        Soon, night fell upon Meoho and everyone who partook in the race fell asleep out of exhaustion as soon as the sun dipped below the horizon. It wasn't long for the rest of the townsfolk and audience to fall asleep as well. Those that stayed up were having romantic rendezvous's, or were traumatized by losing a family member in the race. Those families knew the possibilities with the Koloron and had a number of chances to talk their loved ones out of it.

        Sokuro couldn't get to sleep. She tossed and turned on the main deck of the Rose Shatter, unable to find a glimpse of drowsiness and slumber. Her mind was begging her to return to that cave to ease her curiosity. It wasn't going to let her gone and she knew it. She rolled onto her back and grumbled to herself, "Yep... i got their curiosity, alright... won't let me sleep..." She got up off the deck and stretched her back. She's learning to hate hard floors.

        Knowing she won't be able to get to sleep anyway, she needed to go investigate that cave. But first, she would need Bran's phone for its flashlight. Torches aren't the most reliable things and there's no way she can keep a light source lit for long in her Aerid form, not to mention they are all combat related.

        She tip-toed her way over to the sleeping colonist, who had an arm over his eyes. Eia slept close beside him, but that was after Bran had fallen asleep- she snuck over. Sokuro was careful where she stepped- the slightest creak could wake everyone up, and ships are notorious for that... though to be fair, people would assume a ship would creak and just accept the noise as is. Still, she was careful where she stepped.

        She got to the slumbering kid and went to reach for his phone when she realized that she has no idea where he puts it. He has pockets, but his wardrobe has about a dozen of those. She was gonna have to look for a rectangular bulge somewhere. She put a finger to her lip, trying to figure out where he would keep it.

         Left with little options, she stuck her hand into one of his back pockets to try and find it. No phone, but there was something. Felt like... what do the humans call it? Popcorn. She pulled out a few kernels to confirm that. "Movie night was days ago... gross." It wasn't in there, so she moved to his other pocket. Nothing there either. She moved up to one of his shirt pockets... and saw that his arm had moved up and he was looking at her with glazed-over eyes. She stood still for a moment as she gave a fake smile. "Hi."

        "What are you doing...?" He drowsily asked.

        She responded in a hushed tone, "I'm looking for your phone." 

        "Why?" He replied in the same tone.

        "Reasons."

        "Which are?"

        She twisted her lips- she may as well tell him. "Well... after the race was done, i chased those slaver louts to a cave. Before i was knocked out, i saw a large display of murals on the walls and it's been bugging me all day. I can't sleep because of it- i got my parents curiosity and i just need to know what is in there."

        "... so you're trying to steal my phone because...?"

        "Well, torches suck and all my Aerid stuff are all combat related and i don't want to blast it to smithereens. And in both cases, i won't be able to look at my parents book."

        Bran looked at her with lidded eyes, annoyed that she couldn't do this before in the day time, or just come back later when it's daytime out. No, she had to do it tonight. "Do you have any idea what time it is...?"

        "I know and i'm sorry, but... i won't be able to sleep unless i go look."

        He sighed in pure aggravation before resting his head back down on the hardwood floor. "Ugh... fine..." He got up off the floor. "Let's get this over with so i can get back to bed..."

        "Wait, what? I just need your phone."

        "I don't want you to accidentally delete all the video i recorded of the race. I'd get a lecture from everyone back home, especially after i was specifically told to record for them to watch and study." 

         She crossed her arms. "You don't trust me?"

        He rubbed his eyes. "It's late at night and i know for a fact that you aren't that great with electronics yet." She stuck her tongue out in protest. "Now let's go... the sooner we get this over with, the better."

        "Alright." She had planned to transform here, but intimidate realized that was a bad idea. "Now, let's see if we can find a private spot so i can transform."

        "Why?"

        "Because there tends to be a big light show when we transform, even if it's a quick one, but i'll let that stupid question slide because you're still half asleep, now shush. We need to be quiet."

        The two of them slowly made their way to the ramp, tip-toeing carefully to avoid waking anyone else up. When they reached it, he had the same fears about the creaking, but came to the realization that they're all used to it, just like she did. Upon reaching ground level, they turned their tip-toeing into a stride as they made their way towards the village: plenty of spaces to transform there without being seen. 

        Their first bet was the dockyards, of which there are several small boat hangers. The first hunch was the right one as it provided good enough cover for her to change into her dragon self and enough height to avoid hitting her head on the ceiling when she did. Her scale glowed and she kept the sequence as short as she could.

        It wasn't until Bran was about to climb onto her back when he realized something. "Um, won't people hear us flying away?"

        "Well... true... but-- ok, you know Aerids can control all the elements, but they have natural mastery over one or two, depending on the color of their scales- Eia, for example, may be strongest when conducting energy, but she can also manipulate water and fire among others, to a minuscule degree. So, i'm hoping to use wind to glide us to at least the top of the closest mountain before flapping."

        First she escaped a guy who used wind to a dangerous degree, now a newbie is going to use it to glide? This can only go so well. "Can you even use wind?" He asked as he climbed into the paw she offered.

        She wasn't quite sure about that. She knows she can do energy, fire, and even light- a element reserved for the gods- with ease... but never really tried all the rest. "Eh... i guess we're going to find out." She replied with a lack of confidence as she placed him on her back.

        Then... why is she risking it in the first place? She could blow the roof off this place if she wasn't careful. "Then why are you risking using it if you don't know if you can?"

        "You got a better idea?"

        "Yeah. Just flap as softly as you can, like a dove or a swan. We can test what other elements you have some sort of control over at home."

        She tilted her head. "A swan?"

        Right. They don't have swans here. He never saw one himself, but he's seen pictures. "... just fly so we can get this over with and i can go back to sleep." She stuck her tongue out and gave a soft raspberry. She slowly exited the hanger and climbed up onto the roof.  Following his advice, she flapped as soft as she could. It worked, barely, but getting to the cave was going to take some time now. She ascended to a good enough height to where she can flap normally without worry of waking anyone up.



        With the race over and his grandfather now ruling Meoho for one last year, Alled had retired to his room back into the chief's spire, which was carved at the top of the tallest mountain, sleeping soundly after the insanity he had went through today. A flash of light peered in through the window and hit him in the eyes. It woke him up as he rubbed them. He got out of his bed and walked over to the window to find a certain dragoness ascent up into the sky and fly towards the mountains. There's only one reason why she would be heading there- it's the last thing she talked to him about before heading back to her friends.

        "She couldn't wait till morning to check the cave...?" He groggily said to himself. "That girl is not patient." He returned to his bed and plopped down on it, letting dreams take him away once again.

        

           Reaching the rim of the mountain range, Sokuro started flying normally. With no one in ear shot, there was no risk of her waking anyone up. She retraced her path from chasing the slavers and followed it back towards the cave. It was extremely dangerous to fly at night, especially in a dangerous mountain range, but they safely made it thanks to a brief fireball she launched that illuminated the way. It dissipated into nothingness- she launched a really small one- before finally arriving at the cave entrance.

         "How far in is this mural?" Bran asked.

        "It wasn't that far. I think. Turn on your light thingie."

        "Flashlight." Bran pulled his phone out of his back pocket- the one she didn't check- and scrolled through until he found the app. "I don't know why you can't use your breath stuff. It would probably be a lot more effective then my flashlight."
        
        "If i do, i'll be too exhausted to fly back and we'd be spending the night here, and i'm already sore from two days of non-stop flying through dangerous perils."

        He turned on the flashlight. It was much brighter then any torch she would've made, illuminating all the sides of the cave. "Ok, i was wrong: flashlight better." Now that there weren't any danger to worry about, she finally took notice of the cave's design: it's just like the tunnel she and Mokati used back at the beginning. 

        "It's like a perfect tunnel." Bran commented as he moved his phone around, shining the light everywhere he could.

        She began walking into the cave. "Alled did say this was used as a refuge for the ancient Ferids back when the Gaharots ruled the planet... but we didn't gain the ability to transform until the end of their empire. This must've been carved out by the Loflat's."

        "The what?"

        "A worm species that was hunted to extinction. They were cavernous and would destroy any village they came across in search of food, which was usually us. They were wiped out more then 1700 years ago. They haven't been seen since."

        "And now you got a giant dragon turtle demon that's near invincible."

        She twisted her lips- he's not wrong. With the worms, they can at least could be hurt. "Yeah, that was a bad trade off."

        After only a minute of walking, which was further into the cave then she originally thought, the duo finally came upon the mysterious mural Sokuro had been tortured by her brain to see. It was blood-red in color and covered the entire left wall. They were looking at the edge of it, which roughly showed a Gaharot in armor. At least that's what it looks like. Bran moved his light to the ceiling and to the other side- it covered all those area's too. 

        Bran was freaked out, not by the fact there is a mural, but what it was drawn with. "Is that... blood?"

        "Looks like it." Sokuro confirmed. She sniffed some of it. "Smells like it too."

        "Eeew. Gross." He slid off of Sokuro's back so she could transform back into her Ferid self, which she did as he slid down, changing back when his feet touched rock. "That is a lot of blood they used." He returned his light to the mural. 

        "Yeah. It is. But doesn't blood dry up and fade away after a few days?"

        "Normally, yeah." He moved the light to the other side of the tunnel. "Maybe your ancestors found a way to make it last as cave paintings; mixed it with a compound, maybe."

        "Maybe. Alright, hand me the book."

        Bran looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "What book?"

        "My parents book. Mokati said they were investigating this place, so i was hoping it could shed some insight."

        "You didn't give me the book."

        "Yes, i did. I.. gave it to Taled to hang on to before..." Tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick tick ding. She slouched over when she finally realized, "We forgot the booooook..." She fell over in a melodramatic way, crying dramatically.

        Bran was dumbstruck that she would forget something as important as a family heirloom, especially one that seemed tailor made for spelunking like this. "Are.... you kidding me? You had a book that you could've just read anyway? Why did you need me to come along?"

        "Because the book was incomplete..." She whined as she collapsed onto her back. "I skimmed through it beforehand- i plan on reading it in full detail later." She let her arms fall to her side. "Everything cuts off after a certain point and this was the last thing they were investigating before they died."

        "Oh. Oooh..." He looked away for a moment, thinking to himself. This must be why she is so antsy about wanting to do this now: she wants to follow in their footsteps. She misses them so much, she's trying to continue where they left off. Feeling guilty for arguing with her when she woke him up, he decided to open up a new video file on his phone and began recording. She can try and put what wasn't put into the book from looking at the video he was taking. "So... what do you think these murals tell?"

        "I don't know- i only skimmed through, remember? I only looked at the pictures- i didn't read what they wrote."

        "I meant just by looking at these murals." He moved the light around, shining everything that he can. "They always have a story to tell, right?"

        "I guess..." She got up off the ground and dusted off her back. She let her prior years of her parents teaching take over. "Well... that looks like a Gaharot decked out in ancient armor, so this must've been when they controlled the world and the Ferids were newly born. If i were a betting girl, i'd say this was telling the origins of our modern world."

        "I assume there's a tale behind that."

        "And you would be correct. There are three tales for how things came to be: the first is that Umatz created the Astrals, the Astrals then created the Gaharots, and the Gaharots, in turn, created us. The other is we were first, but the Gaharots rose to power later, then we took it back, sort of like a bloody cycle of highs and lows."

        "And the last one?"

        "The last one... that seemed far'fetched to me, but after the lot of you arrived, i think it's the correct tale." They continued on down the mural, with Bran continuing to shine a light on them. Miraculously, the images painted on the walls seemed to tell the same story she was to give. 

        "It's said that long ago, the Gaharots, known back then as the Saureeds, were a advanced race, with flying airships that didn't require propellers and towers that stretched to the skies. Their empire stretched to all corners of the globe, with Evioly as their capital. Then, one day, from beneath the ground and dirt, the first Ferids came: a pair of brothers named Nazhka and Nascent. They claimed to have come from a underground society that was dying out and needed help. While the general populace and the Astrals were sympathetic, the emperor of the time was corrupt and refused to help and sought to control the brothers. They fled back underground and stayed there for many a cycle until they returned with thousands upon thousands of their kind. The emperor tried to destroy them in a purge that was slow and systematic. 

        "The Ferids had no way to fight against their weaponry and were close to extinction until one of the Astrals- it's still debated on who was the first to give,but most people believe it to Zolomile- be bestowed upon Nascent one of their scales. He unlocked the magic inside and used it to become the first Aerid, and the first Silver as well. Soon, the rest of the surviving Ferids were granted scales to give them a fighting chance against the Saureeds. After a long war that resulted in the Great Chasm separating Evioly from the rest of the world, the Ferids somehow won, killing the emperor and dissolving the old ways. The Saureed empire was no more and their amazing advances were lost, never to be recovered again. Not long after, the Ferids enslaved their former foes and renamed them Gaharots, which was a word they made up to mean 'subjugated'. That was almost 7000 years ago. And things have been like that ever since."

        "Wow. And i thought our creation myths were bizarre." She looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'll tell you later." They continued on down the murals. "Whatever happened to that Nazhka guy? He seemed to have been dropped completely."

        "Nobody really knows for sure. There's no explanation as to why he is excerpt from the story. Maybe he did something terrible that had him stricken from the record, or maybe he died by illness or battle. Unless concrete evidence is found, it's all speculation."

        "And Zolomile? I don't remember that name being listed when we were being taught about the Astrals."

        "That's because he was killed in the war. And here i thought Gods couldn't be killed."

        "Well... we have some religions on Earth that had gods die. I think it's to show they can be as fallible as us."

        "I guess." They continued walking in until they reached the end of the murals. It looked like they were to continue, but it was suddenly cut off. The walls after that were devoid of color and drawings- it looked like they were destroyed. "I guess this is the end." She sighed. "Guess the image in mom and dad's book was right all along. I was hoping it wasn't... but i guess it was...."

        "What... the hell...?"

        She looked back to him and saw that he was mortified in fear. "What?" She followed the light to what it was pointing at and was struck by fear as well.


Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtlalymx848  Full of Unrest - Tales of Vesperia Soundtrack


        What they saw at the end sent shivers down their spines and through their souls. The last image they saw before it cut off was that of a frightening monstrous dragon laying waste to Gaharots, Ferids, and the Astrals. Since these were all crude, the proportions could be misconstrued... but for some reason, this thing had extra detail, adding more to the nightmare. 

        It had scales or feathers like scales that went all the way to the back of the wings, while the inside were leathery with bones shaped like trees. It had a long serpentine tail- even with it wrapped two times around round its waist, it was still incredibly long, and razor sharp talons, all of which were used to slaughter its foes, with the end of the tail piercing the chest of the Astral being depicted. The most puzzling aspect was the head. Antlers poked out of the top, and...

        Bran gulped. "Is... that a human face...?"

        The face of this face was more human like then having a snout like most dragons. It's not... that uncommon, but it's incredibly jarring when most media depicts dragons with long snouts. The eyes were locked in a furious rage while the mouth was gaped open in a furrowed scowl, like a Japanese demon called the Oni. A thick, bushy beard flowed down.

        "What in the hell is that thing...?" Bran quivered, feeling afraid over what is just a drawing.

        Sokuro didn't have much of a response- her soul feels like it was being tied up and thrown into the coldest waters around. "I... i don't know. I never saw anything like it." She moved her attention to those it was fighting, or rather slaughtering. It had a person in its jaws, either to kill or to eat. "Is it... killing all of them...? Did it slay a Astral...? Is that Zolomile...?"

        Those are questions he had no chance to answering with such limited information. But there is one positive note here, "W.... well... i think we can safely say it's dead.... i... don't think that's.... anywhere around here. Right?"

        He's right. She has never seen or heard anything about this thing at all. "R-right... only Astrals are immortal... we don't know how old the Levaithan is and the Phagos... well, they're an unknown. This thing... it must be dead... i hope..."

        Bran pulled the light away and panted. How can a drawing be scaring him like this? Why is it... why does it feel like it wants to kill him? Drawings can't harm.... can they? He looked to Sokuro, who looked like she had the life sucked out of her- she was so pale. "... not what you want to find...right?"
        
        She finally managed to look away. "R-right..." Why does she feel like she's about to pass out or that it's going to devour her any second now? She shook her head and rubbed the side of it. She looked to Bran and saw he was as scared as her. "How is... how is a drawing doing this to us...?"

        "I don't know..." He rubbed his eyes, feeling heavy like rocks. "I'm feeling like the endless fire out there has something to do with it..."

        "The endless fire?" Her mind pieced together that he was talking about the still erupting swamp she and Alled ignited to escape the Ajixis. It's no secret that the fire caused by it can last for weeks on end. Due to its position in the mountain range and the wind flow sending the smoke south, Meoho itself had nothing to worry about. "... right... it... it must be the gas from the swamp that is doing this to us. Yeah... i should've thought of that before coming..." She wiped her forehead, praying to all the gods that this is from the gas and not the drawing. "... we should get going before we breath in too much."

        She changed back to her Aerid form as Bran approached. He shut off the flashlight as she lowered her paw. He got on and she put him on her back. Bran regained his composure as he cleared his throat and messed with his collar. "So... is your curiosity satiated?"

        "Yeah..." She looked back to the scary drawing and felt another shiver. "Though i feel like i'm gonna have nightmares for weeks..." She flapped her wings and flew towards the cave entrance. Come morning, they would head home and put the Koloron behind them, which she wants: between being kidnapped and this, she's had enough. She got the experience she wanted; it just wasn't the way she hoped she'd get them.


        If they had waited a little while longer, they would've heard thunderous footsteps echoing through the cave, slowly approaching the mural wall. Razor sharp talons came down on the frightening dragon image and clawed it out. A guttural growl followed as menacing red and yellow eyes peered through the darkness.

29: Chapter 27: Secret Wounds

Chapter 27

Secret Wounds

3/14/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)




 

             A single airship made its approach to Misken from Roko Harbor, flying up to one of the docks on the eastern side of the mesa. The propellers slowed down as it came in to dock. Rope was tossed down from the ship and caught by dockworkers who tied it off to the pier. Soon after, the ramp lowered and passengers began to disembark. Kids who hung out at the docks scattered to let the crew do their job.

        Among the passengers was a elderly man, deep into his late 80's. Hunched over by old age, he slowly descended down the ramp, using his cane, modeled to resemble a ancient magic staff, to hold him up. After 2 months in the air, going to the trading post between Bokurol and Evioly to attend to a funeral, the Shaman Hopa had finally returned him, and it did his aching bones good. He prefers the warm climate of Evioly to the cold, un-ending cold and wind of the trading post.

        Despite being someone as important as a Shaman, Hopa was dressed rather modestly. The only thing that differentiated himself from a regular Ferid was a special headdress he himself had made out of Gea feathers and fur from a Felm and Yulak. A leather crown with feathers in place of jewels, it could be grossly called.

        He took a deep breath as he walked off the ramp. Kids ran by as they played among the crew. "Ah... good to be home." He spoke a old, gravely, almost gravely voice. He's old, so his voice has aged up with him. It doesn't help that he grew up in Mokurot, and living next-door to a active volcano can do some damage to your lungs. He made his way towards home, letting the crew of the ship handle his luggage. Late 80's, remember?

        "Who do you think won the Koloron?" He overheard some of the crewmen speak. It was mostly Gaharots, as usual, but there were a couple of Ferid's here and there. Sometimes, you need the extra maneuverability that a Aerid can offer.

        "I don't know." Another crewman replied in a exasperated tone. "Ask around- i'm sure someone will tell ya."

        Hope let them continue on about their talk about sports and went into town, ready to return home and have a nice, long rest after a combined 2 months of travel. But first, he would have to visit Velx. The Ascension Ceremony was to happen some time after he had left and he was curious to see what new Aerids had come from it. He would also have to check in on the other Shamans of the town. 

        See, Shaman's have the ability to gift someone with a light magical ability. It is nowhere near the level of what a naturally magical Shaman is capable of doing. To put it in perspective, the full range of a natural Shaman's magic is like a full grown tree, but the gifts they can grant unto others is a sliver; a stick to play fetch with, if lucky, and even then it's only temporary: it'll fade after some time- three months, at max. More then enough for his helpers to survive his absence. Ocous, the village physician, is a Gaharot and isn't able to channel magic like Ferids, but his aides can. For lack of better terminology, Hopa refills the aides fuel so they can continue for another month.

        Reaching the end of the stone path that connected the eastern docks to the town, he immediately went towards Velx's temple, eager to inform him of his return and learn what had transpired during his absence. A strange glint got him in the side of his eye, making him grumble as he raised his hand, shielding himself from the glare. 

        Soon enough, he had arrived at the temple and saw Velx resting on top. Fayin was busy, as usual, chasing away bugs from the steps.  "Hey hey hey, get out. Shoo. Shoo." She proclaimed to the bugs called Blghs. Take a cricket, make them 3 feet long, and annoying as hell. And like bugs on Earth, they are easily startled and flew off when they were shooed off. She put her claws on her hips and puffed out her cheeks. "Hmph." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the approaching elder. "Shaman Hopa?" Velx opened one eye. "When did you return?"

        "Just now, young Gaharot." He said with a light, but concealed disgust of contempt in his voice. "My luggage is at the eastern docks- be a dear and fetch them for me, will you?"

        She crossed her arms. "What's the magic word?"

        "Fayin." Velx said form atop the temple.

        Fayin chuckled nervously; she was only playing around. "I'm going, i'm going." She ran off towards the docks- the soon she's done there, the sooner she can get back.

        Hopa watched her leave and slowly shook his head in a barely noticeable way. Why would Velx make someone like HER his handmaid? It's puzzled him since it happened. "Lord Velx, i have returned from the trading post."

        "I can see that, Shaman." The Astral said nonchalantly. He got up and made his way down the steps to the temple base. "I trust you had a pleasant trip."

        "The ride was decent enough, but the sea air does Uela on my old bones." He used his magic to lift himself off the ground and approach the temple steps. The two old men intercepted the other at the base. Velx summoned a chair-shaped cloud for the elder to sit in. "Ah... much better."

        "You could've flow there yourself." He was referring to Hopa's scale, which he had turned into the centerpiece of his little crown. While a Ferid body can get old and worn as time goes on, a Aerid body remains more or less the same until death. That's due to the fact that the Aerid form is usually hidden away in the scale until called on. Thanks to this, they remain just as durable as the first day they were obtained.

        "Eh. Didn't feel like it." Velx subtlety rolled his eyes. "So, what transpired while i was away?"

        "Well, you know the Ascension Ceremony was to take place while you were gone." Hopa nodded. "And it was more or less the same as every other ceremony- the children of age received their scales, the celebration went off without a hitch... but one or two interesting things of note took place."

        "Like what?" He yawned, getting as close to an equivalent to jet-leg a Ferid can get. 

        Velx chose his next words carefully. Hopa is a Shaman, but there was no rule that said Shaman's had to be pure-hearted or virtuous. Hopa is a big of a grouch as they come, and it's no secret he has.... less then stellar views on the Gaharot race. There's no telling how he would react to all the new races they live next door to. So, he lead with something easier to digest. "A new Silver had been chosen."

        That perked up the tired elder. "Say what?"

        "Yes. A new Silver has been born into the world, and right from this humble little village."

        "And i was away for it? Why did that soldier have to die at the most inopportune time? Made me miss the biggest historical event of the century." While Velx on the outside remained the same, inside he looked at him with lidded eyes. He was gonna dial this up to grouchiness. "Well, who is the new Silver?"

        "A orphan by the name of Sokuro." That name sounded familiar to the Shaman. "She left to go participate in the Koloron, but she's currently on her way back with her friends. I bet she will be terribly exhausted, given every--."

        Hopa raised a hand and stopped him for a second. He recognized the name. He knows everyone on Evioly and can recognize them by their face. "Wai-wai-wai-wai-wai-wai-wait. Wait... Sokuro? The annoying brat Sokuro? The hyper-attentive troublemaker who's always causing mischief?"

        "An annoying, hyper-attentive troublemaker? I admit, she's got a low attention span and has played a few tricks with her friends, but i don't remember her doing one thing that would constitute her being an annoying troublemaker. And even so, she's turned herself around when she obtained her scale. She knows how important her new position is."

        "Regardless, i must check on her." He tried to mutter under his breath, but he always forgets that Astrals have hte best hearing of anything on the planet. "Gods above, there's no single worse person to make the new Silver. She's going to be a disaster." Now Velx looked at him with lidded eyes on the outside. "Where is she?"

        "Like i said, she should be back from the Koloron any moment." As if on cue, the Rose Shatter flew overhead, flanked by several other Misken airships. The sudden gust of all the propellers caught the attention of the two. The ships all headed to the western docks, while the Rose went away from the village and out towards the countryside. "Speaking of which...." Velx returned his attention to the elder, only to find that he had vanished. 

        "He can move fast for a old man." Fayin commented as she returned with Hopa's luggage, of which there were many. There must be a dozen bags, at least, each containing something important. She had used a shortcut to get to the eastern docks and back in a flash, something that not a lot of people know about, even though it's for public use.  

        "Wind abilities, most likely." Velx started back up the steps of his temple. "With it, he can move faster then anyone around."

        "Yet the old curmudgeon loves that cane." She set the luggage down and cracked her back. Most were a lot heavier then they looked. "Where did he go in a such a rush, anyway?"

        "He learned of the new Silver. Surely you can guess."

        "...... yyyyyep. Poor Sokuro."


          "Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed..." Sokuro croaked like a frog as she collapsed onto her bed, happy to finally be home after such a wild, crazy, eventful week. If she had the energy, she would kiss her pillow, but she's just glad to be back home. She got the experience she wanted to obtain and helped expose a secret, illegal slave ring, so she feels good. She can't enjoy that feeling as it was overpowered by a sore body. "I missed you, bed..."

        Taled came into the room and collapsed onto his bed as well. He's not as exhausted as his older sister; he's just happy to be back home. He's never liked traveling to other towns. If he could, he'd stay home all the time. Besides, the beds at the Koloron don't hold a candle to the orphanages. "I missed the soft..." He purred.

        The siblings heard a knock at the door. Vela soon came in and saw the hero of the day facedown into her pillow with her arms spread wide. He leaned in the doorway and crossed his arms. Taled had already fallen asleep, snoring away. It wasn't even midday. "I don't get a 'nice to see you, Vela, we missed you?' I feel hurt. You didn't even bring me back any souvenirs?"

        Sokuro responded, but her reply was muffled by the pillow. She realized it halfway through her speech and turned her head to look at him. "I've been through Uela and back, so get off it."

        "I know. Everyone filled us in." He walked into the room, with arms still crossed. "You were really kidnapped by slavers?"

        "Yep." She moved her head to follow him as he entered. "Narrowly prevented them from taking a bunch of kids, freed said kids, kept them from getting the entirety of Meoho... got flung around by an Ajixis like i was a doll..."

        "I know. Like i said, everyone filled me in." He spotted the musty old book at the foot of the bed and picked it up. "I'm amazed you were able to survive battling an Ajixis. I heard those things are nasty fighters."

        "And they are... and this one had plant-based abilities too..." She buried her face back into the pillow. "I still feel dizzy..."

        Vela chuckled to himself before beginning to flip through the book. "Sounds like I missed one heck of a show. Just be glad he didn't have any Djklosia. You'd be throwing up non-stop." If she could, she'd stick her tongue out at him, but a lack of energy kept that from happening. Djklosia is a kind of herb- very good; a more powerful Thyme. Sokuro, however, can't stand it. She always ends up throwing up whenever she has it. At the very least, it's not a common herb, and she can always ask if she ends up in a tavern if their food serves a dish with the herb. Regardless, Vela continued to flip through the pages. "Where did this book come from? You didn't leave with it."

        Now she obtained enough energy to move. She creaked up like a vampire rising out of a coffin and snatched it out of his hands. "No. No touchie. My bookie." She closed her eyes and fell back down with the book in her hands.

        Vela was at a loss of words. "Un..."

        She opened one eye and snickered. "Heh..." She sat back up and put it on her lap. "If you are that curious... it belonged to my parents." She opened it up to the last page- the last part they filled in. "A week before they died, they were investigating a cave lined with murals. They left after the Koloron, but left their book behind by accident. Mokati had been looking after it until me or Taled came along."

        "And i take it that is the mural." Vela said as he pointed towards the drawing.

        "Yep. Bran and I investigated it the night before we left. Two of those slaver goons ran in there and i chased after them, but got knocked out by flower boy. I saw the mural before i conked out and didn't have a chance to look before i was carried back by Alled. I couldn't sleep- the mural just kept on calling to me. I think Bran mentioned something about something called OCD on the flight home." Vela made a face that was all the telling: what is OCD? She doesn't know either. "Well, anyway, we went to investigate- he tagged along because i wanted to use the light no his machine, because it's a lot brighter then a torch... then we got to the end..."

        "The end?"

        She nodded. "At the end of the mural was a very... disturbing drawing that they weren't able to put in before they left. It was some... THING, some Demon Aerid that was killing everything around it: Gaharots, Ferids, even a Astral. It may've been just a drawing... but i could sense evil coming off that thing... everything else looked like it was drawn in a red ink or paint. This thing... it smelled like blood, and was more detailed then everything else."

        "A drawing scared you that much?"

        She shivered and nodded. It's not uncommon to feel any emotion when looking at art. But this thing... this thing generated pure terror. "I felt like it was gonna come for me next... though most of what i was feeling may've been coming from a gas leak."

        "What did it look like?"

        "Like some... like a Aerid covered in feathers, a tail with a stinger, and a..." She stopped talking when her gaze fell upon the Lithograph her parents left her for her birthday. It was more basic then the mural drawing, but it had the same image, more or less. "It looked that thing." She pointed to it.

        Vela headed towards the Lithrograph on the dresser and picked it up. The image was a side-profile, but he could see how this can be a demon. "Brrr... that thing?" She nodded. "Yeesh... well, it's dead now. I doubt that thing was immortal. If we never heard of it before now, it must be dead."

        "I came to the same conclusion." She looked back down to the book and realized that the Lithograph could fit perfectly in here. Were her parents so scared by the original mural, they had to give it its own drawing? She had to move on from this feathered monstrosity- this was creeping her out. "... moving on." She flipped back through the book. "I had planned to look through this on the ride home, but i got so exhausted from the whole ordeal, i could barely move an inch. I'm amazed i made it back to my room."

        "You seem to have energy now."

        "And i'm gonna regret it later." She closed the book and set it on a nearby lamp desk. Suddenly, the back of her neck began to burn. She hissed when the burning sensation struck, instinctively running her hand to the back of her neck. "Ow..."

        "You ok?"

        "Yeah. Just some... lingering pain from the race." She grunted. "I took a lot of punishment from that Ajixis fella and it's..." The burn stung like crazy as it sizzled, causing her to exclaim yet again. "Agh..." She inhaled through her lips.

        Vela smelled something nasty in the air, making his face twist in disgust. "If it's nothing, why do i smell sulfur and rotting fruit?" Sokuro rubbed the back of her neck again, wincing in pain as she did. That's when he pieced it together: the smell was coming from her. "...... take off your hood."

        "What? No." She replied, feigning a flabbergasted tone.

        He put the Lithograph down walked over to her. "I wasn't asking."

        "And i said no." He pinned her down with one hand and moved to pull back her hood with the other. Gaharots are physically stronger then normal Ferids, so this was easy for him. "Hey, get off me!!" She kicked her legs, struggling to keep him away from her hood, but his superior strength didn't leave her much of a chance. She could go Aerid, but that would wreck the whole house.

        He pulled the hood back and saw what was going on with her neck, which made him sick to his stomach. The back of her neck was a nasty, gnarly, pukish-green color. A nasty odor came from it. "Gods above, that smell..." He backed away. She got up and pulled her hood back up. "Sokuro..."

        "It's nothing." She stubbornly looked away. "Like i said, it is a wound i got during the race."

        "Nothing, my behind. There was no way an Ajixis could leave a wound like this, like alone a R--" He stopped talking as his mind wandered back to the battle that introduced their world to the colonists, the day the Phagos attacked. Sokuro fought against it, but was no match... and she was bitten on the neck. He had no clue wounds from Aerid forms could transfer over. "... it was the Phagos... It bit you and left that nasty gift!" She stayed silent. "How... how in the Uela could you keep this a secret?!"

        "Because it's none of your concern." She rudely responded. "It hasn't bothered me for days now- it'll go away. It's nothing."

        "No it is not! If it was nothing, it would've healed up by now. But it's not: it's festering and it looks like something out of a nightmare. What if the Phagos poisoned you or it left behind a parasite?"

        "I'm fine, alright!?!" She sharply barked, catching him off guard. The two were fully unaware of a mysterious glow coming from Sokuro's hidey hole in her closet. "I'm fine, this is all fine, so just drop it!"
 
        Why is she acting like this, he wondered. Why is Sokuro being so stubborn and stupid about what is clearly a very bad, possibly life-threatening wound? There is no reason for her to be acting like this- she should've let someone check it out ages ago. There was no way he would let this linger. "... i can't." He backed up to the door. "You need to see Ocous right now." He ran out the door to go find his mother. "Mom!!!" 

        Sokuro angrily squinted at the door before plopping herself down into her bed with her arms crossed. Now this was going to be made into a giant spectacle, she thought to herself. The burning sensation came back, worse this time, making her lose her train of thought. The glow from the hidey hole intensified, yet still did not catch her eye.

        She grumbled angrily to herself before she got up. Maybe she can catch him before he gets to anyone. She pulled her hood back up and ran out the door as fast she could, knowing that she still has some sort of a chance to stop him. She came around the corner and reached the stairs when she saw someone standing in the doorway, talking with Hela. Vela was there, but he could get a word in edgewise. She realized it was the shaman in record time and tried to screech to a halt, but came in too fast. she fell down the flight, hitting each stair with a different body part. By the time she crashed onto the bottom, she was sore all over. She landed facedown, which hurt even worse.

        The headmaster of the orphanage and the shaman looked to her as she bounced down the stairs. "There she is right now... falling down the stairs, for some reason..."

        "...Which is what i am trying to tell you!" Vela exclaimed. "Sh--" He was shoved aside by Hopa, who came in as if he wasn't even there.

        "That hurt..." Sokuro groaned. She raised her head off the floor, just as a armored boot came into view. She moved her sight up and saw the robed elder standing over her. "... Shaman Hopa?" She rolled onto her back and sat up. Her hood fell down as she did, but she turned before he or Hela could see. "When did you get back?"

        "Today. And Velx filled me in on what happened during my absence. As i understand it, you are the new Silver."

        "Un, yeah, i am. No one was more surprised about it then me."

        He presented such a false smile, but she fell for it. "That makes the two of us. Because i thought if a new Silver were to be chosen, i would've went with someone much better."

        "Sokuro has been a good Silver so far." Hela said. "And the ch--"

        "So far, Hela. That's the term. And i find it unlikely that someone like her will bring about a positive change to Dragenia. Someone so mischievous will only bring about ill changes."

        "You are just a ray of sunshine today, aren't ya?" Sokuro joked, keeping up a positive tune to hide the anger Vela stirred up. Speaking of which, he tapped his foot impatiently in the doorway, waiting for someone to find it so they can point it out. It would be rude to interrupt the conversation, which is why he's kept silent. "And how can you be so sure? I've only been a Silver for, what, a month? How can you be so sure i'll be bad if only a month went by? Besides, it doesn't so--"
    
        "OH, i do know that you will fail as a Silver. You are short-sighted, easy to distract, hyperactive, mischievous, devilish little troublemaker. Those are ill qualities for something as important as a Silver."

        She puckered out her lips as she crossed her arms. This stubborn ol' goat needs a reality check. "Really? Re-he-he-heeaaaaally? Did you forget about Artanla? He brought about a grand new age to Dragenia that lasted until Artax, and guess what, he was pretty much from the same background as me."

        "He doesn't count."

        "Doesn't count? It so does count! And what about Karli, a circus performer?"

        "She doesn't count either." 

        "Quik-Qa; she was living in dirt, for Velx's sake!"

        "Still a no."

        While he was worried about Sokuro's health, Vela couldn't help but be blindsided by Hopa's extremely stubborn attitude. He and his mother looked at each other with the same perplexed looks that left them slack-jawed. Why would he say that three Silvers that brought positive changes doesn't count? It makes no sense at all. Even Sokuro was awestruck at how much of a stick-in-the-mud he was being. She knew he was a old grump, but this is something new. This must be something the colonists call "stupidity". Whatever made Sokuro stubborn must've transferred to him. "... you're kidding me, right?"

        "As i said, you--" Everything stopped when a foul stench reached his nose. He snorted in disgust as he wiped it. He waved his hand in front of his nose, sticking his tongue out. "Oh, Gods, what is that smell?!"

        Hela sniffed the air. "What sm--" She sniffed again and caught the bad scent. Sokuro looked away in shame and reached back to pull her hood back up, but was stopped by Vela. She wasn't feeling stubborn anymore- she wasn't sure what caused it to begin with. "Vela? Why are you holding her hand?"

        "Because i know what's causing the smell." He turned her around, much to her inner grief, revealing the horrific Phagos wound to her and the Shaman. Hela gasped in fear as she held her hands to her mouth. "She got this from her fight with the Phagos and it's been festering ever since."

         "She fought a Phagos?" Hopa said but the two others weren't listening to him. They had more serious concerns. 
    
        "By the gods..." She looked towards the somber girl, who looked at the floor. There's no way she can hide it now. "Sokuro... why would you hide this?" She stayed silent, not wanting to respond. "... Sokuro?"

        "Because she's exhibiting the same problem all the past Silvers do: over-confidence and quiet vileness." Hopa so rudely interred. "She kept a grievous wound like this a secret and foolishly tried to battle against a Phagos- even a baby knows not to try and battle one of those things. And that's just the beginning: who knows what else she is hiding."

        Hela grimaced at the old crow with glaring eyes when she realized something off about all of this. "... wait... she was bitten in her Aerid form... how can she have it as a Ferid?"

       Sokuro finally spoke up. "... while the more simple wounds can be kept to our Aerid forms...... the more egregious wounds can sometimes transfer over..."

        "But why hide it at all?" Vela asked.

        "... i think i know." Hela said after figuring out the probable reason behind her deception. "When i was around Taled's age, i did something really stupid. Before i moved to Evioly, I lived on the mainland- at the Oasis in Ruthalek Sands. My friends dared me to take a dive into a pit of water in the nearby mountains and, like the kid i was, i did it without thinking of the consequences. I ended up breaking half of the bones in my body. I didn't want to tell my parents; they would be disappointed in me and reprimand me, possibly even ground me for doing something so stupid. So... i tried to keep it hidden for as long as i could. It didn't last long- i ended up collapsing and passing out from the pain. If it wasn't for our Shaman, who was trained in the healing arts long before she became one, i would've died. It was the fear of my parents disappointment and disapproval that kept me from speaking about it sooner, and i almost paid for it. I think that, coupled with her new Silver status, kept her from speaking."

        "Why would her Silver status keep her from talking?"

        "Because she IS a Silver. All the ones before her brought great changes, both good and ill, and were paragons of their time. She was gravely injured and almost killed by the Phagos after only being Silver for a week." Hela approached the somberly quiet Sokuro and patted her on the head. "You need to have this looked at, dearie... it will kill you if you don't..."

        "... i know, Hela..." She blankly stared at the floor. "And you are right about... about all of that... a Silver only for a week- that would've looked bad in the history books. Paxxon had a short run as a Silver too with only a month under her belt, but she brought down her tyrannical father of a dictator."

        Vela brought his hand to his mouth and coughed to get the attention of his mother and his friend. "I hate to be that guy, but... should we tell anyone else about this?"

        "No." Sokuro demanded. "I don't want to scare anyone, especially Taled. If anyone does ask about this, tell them it's from the Ajixis."

        "Ajixis?" Hela replied. Even Hopa is surprised to hear of that. "There was an Ajixis at the Koloron?"

        "Yeah. There was. It's a long story." The burning senstation came back again, making her wince in pain as she rubbed her neck. "Ow... if i live long enough to say it."

        Hopa, who everyone seemed to have forgotten was here, stood at the doorway for a moment, tapping his foot. "Right..." That got their attention for a brief moment as he turned around. He's not going to be Sokuro's biggest fan in the near future- he can sense that will be the case- but he knows having a Silver die would look bad on Misken. "ii'll go grab my supplies from the temple. I should be able to cook up a healing incense that could work, or maybe a ointment, or--"

        They ignored him as he rambled and spoke among themselves as he started to leave. "We know nothing about the Phagos, so there's no telling what it did to you." Vela said. "Maybe someone at Novalle might know, like that living construct Arline or whoever their healer is. Or maybe there's something in their records."

        Hopa stopped in his tracks when he heard words that no Dragenian outside of Misken had heard before. If he had been here when it happened, things might've gone differently. "... who and where?" He asked as he turned around



        Back at the colony of Novalle, Bran and Dan were showing footage of the Koloron race to the rest of their people. They had plugged their phones into the main terminal and Arline was transmitting the footage to everyone in the colony so they could see it on... whatever they can see it on; television screens, phones, what have you. As they were high up above in the airships, the recorded footage was grainy from the distance and the zoom function. Arline and Solstice were able to clean it up as best as they could, but some parts were just too pixelated. 

        The videos showed a yellow Aerid slamming a black one down into a shallow body of water. "This is better then most reality shows." A Hesk colonist commented as he ate from a bag of shells- their digestive system can devour shells like oysters and clams no problem. They can't handle berries for some reason, though- especially cherries.

        "But those are all staged." A Argalith colonist replied as she ate a bag of popcorn.

        The camera violently shook as the camera were knocked on their backs by the sudden and violent explosion that left a still-ongoing plume of fire in the middle of the Koloron mountain range. The audience was caught by surprise by the sudden explosion. Finally, some actual excitement.

            Arline and Solstice worked to repair the audio- ever since the race began, it's come out in a monotone way. The phones may be over 100 years old, but they were cryofrozen, like everything else on the ship. They should still be working, unless this was a side-effect of the cryo-freezing process. They were able to upgrade the audio to stereo, but that was as high as they could get it. Everyone was gonna have to suffer.

             {{{"Holy crap…” Dan held back the urge to chortle with his exclamation.”I didn’t know Aerids could be that powerful.”

             “They aren’t.” Eia commented back. “But something happened…”

             “What’s over there, anyway?” Set asked.

             Drexyl held a finger to her chin as she remembered what was over in that general direction, “If memory serves… it’s a huge marshland. It’s dangerous because it’s over a natural gas line. Someone may’ve accidentally ignited it.”

             “An explosion that size would kill someone.” One of the crewmates of the ship commented.

             “No, I never heard of anyone dying. Getting horribly burned, yes, but that just means the Aerid form can’t be used until it heals up. And I heard that it’s been ignited several times in the past. The gas… well, it doesn’t last long when ignited, as if that wasn’t obvious enough. I’m sure whoever was over there is fine. Burned, but fine.”

             “Here’s hoping.” Bran said. “I know I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of that, and Sokuro’s not that stupid. I think. ….. is she?” Taled and Aka casually shrugged.

             “HEEEEEEELP!!!”

             The observers on the ships looked up and saw a flock of Aerids fly towards them at a record speed. A Yellow Aerid streaked towards the Rose Shatter, followed by several others. He clasped onto the side of the ship, making it spin around more then before.

             “Can my ship stop spinning for one second already!?!” Halix demanded as he clasped the wooden railing for the stairs. Drexyl gave him a glare that he didn’t notice- it was her ship, not his… but seeing as how he’s their only mechanic- least the one that’s competent- she lets that slide. Usually.

             The Yellow gathered his breath before speaking, “T-There are rogue slavers hiding in the mountains! They’re kidnapping children and anyone lost in the race!” The yellow Aerid shouted, shocking virtually everyone. 

             “And it’s worse!” A younger Aerid, this one colored grey- still rock affiliated- squeaked as she struggled to get her breath back. “Their boss is in the race and if he wins, he’ll have the entire village under his thumb! That’s… I don’t know how many new slaves, but it’s bad!”

             “Really bad!” Gormonia shouted. As a former slave herself, she can’t even wonder why some monster would be taking kids- Ferid kids, no less- to use as slaves, and she doesn’t want to know. All she wants is to kick their butts.

             The Yellow spoke up, still panting. “The Silver and the chief’s son are rushing towards the village to keep that from happening, but… Umatz knows if they’ll make it in time. They also said they were going to serve as a distraction for whoever would come after us.”

             “The Sil—wait, he kidnapped Sokuro!?!” Zalet shouted.

             “If that’s her name, yes. She was really protective about a burnt locket.”

             “That’s her.” Baset, Dan, and Taled said in unison with a droning tone.

             It quickly dawned on Bran’s mind that the explosion was related. “Wait… then it must’ve gotten really dangerous!” He pointed towards the still-rising explosion of fire and smoke. “Why else would that have happened if not to shake of pursuers?!”}}}

        The video sped forward to the end of the race. With the new knowledge of the slavers, the people of Novalle were at the edge of their seats, hoping that they would be stopped. Bran and Dan may be home, but that doesn't mean the slavers were still stopped. Soon, the video showed a sprawling view of Meoho proper. The scale was staggering for the planet's current technological tree. A red orb soon rocketed into view and blazing out of it came a red Aerid- Alled. Skirting along the ground, he sped past the leaders and crossed the finish line first. 

        That was where the videos ended. While there was a happy ending, it didn't answer the questions the colonists were already forming in their heads.

        "Wait wait wait, what happened with the slavers?" Belfast asked as he looked away from the screen he and the rest of the command crew were watching in the command center. "Why were there even slavers to begin with?" Arline and Solstice activated the PA system so that the words the two kids speak will be heard by everyone.

        Bran decided to speak,covering Dan's mouth before he had a chance to speak. He knows him- he knows Dan would play it up for more grandiose then it was... which was already grandiose, and somehow make it convoluted and hard to follow. "Well, we didn't know about the slavers until the kids showed up. According to Sokuro and Alled, they were kidnapping Ferid children of all ages to send them off to some dig site on a island somewhere. They employed nets as well to catch racers in the mountain range; since they weren't among the escapees, i'm guessing they were taken. They also planned to win the Koloron so they could have an entire village of slaves: whoever wins the race is chief for a year; until the next race. Sokuro and Alled were actually kidnapped by the slavers, which was a big mistake because... well, you saw how it ended."

        "Did they catch them?" Arlene asked as she got uncomfortable close to him- passing though his body close.

        "Sadly, no. They didn't know what Aerid form the slaver leader had, nor do they know his Ferid self- they only saw his eyes through a narrow viewport. However... they know who his goons are, but they escaped as well. Two of them could melt into a crowd, but the third... he could be picked out. He's a hunchback in Ferid form, and as a Aerid, he's known as an Ajixis."

        "Ajixis?"

        "A rare type of Aerid that can control uncommon elements. Most Aerids can do the primal stuff- fire, water, air, what have you. Ajixis' broaden their horizons, being able to control specific things like animals, clouds, and i just know there's a blood one somewhere in the history books. The one that chased them, the hunchback, he has control over wind and all things plant based."

        "Plants and wind?" Solstice responded. "That sounds like a very deadly combination. He could use the wind to spread a sleeping pollen."

        "Which is what he did. Least that what Sokuro says. And i know someone is going to ask this, so i'll beat whoever it is to the punch: thanks to the slavers, this years Koloron was declared invalid- unsubstantial. It's like it never happened at all, so the entire race was a waste of time."

        "Not necessarily." Georgia commented as she took the boys phones out of the servers. "She did stop a criminal plot to enslave children and an entire village, so i wouldn't say it was for nothing."

        "I guess." Bran said as he took his phone back.

        "It does sound like it was a interesting time. Hopefully more of us will be able to go next year... if we're lucky."

        Belfast patted her on the shoulder. "One step at a time. You know we can't rush this."

        "I know."

        "Thought Sokuro did kinda screw up." Dan oh so bluntly said. "If she let the slavers take her, the gods would've tracked her down in a flash because she's a Silver. they can personalty single people out thanks to energy signatures from the magic scales or whatever- i wasn't paying attention all that much when it was explained by the dullest storyteller ever."

        "That would've been helpful to them." Arlene said as she put her hands into imaginary pockets. "...but too late now."

        Bran got an idea: maybe Arline or Solstice could track down islands with strange signs of activity. "Wait, can't you--"

        She held up a single hand. "Ep. Stop. I know what you are going to say. No, i can't track down unique energy signatures like magic scales because my sensors aren't calibrated that way. If they were, we would've been able to detect all those transformations that were apparently happening on our doorstep. But therein lies the next problem: on the approach, i saw dozens upon dozens of islands between this land and that giant water canyon. Any one of them could house some hidden dig site, and who is to say they aren't already populated with a small community to begin with? But all this talk is moot because of one thing: we don't have any satellites in orbit, and we won't until we get the communication tower constructed. If we did, Solstice or I would've been able to do this no problem, but no satellites, no search."

        "Ok, ok, I get it." Bran grumbled. "It was just a thought."

        "Well, until all three of those problems are dealt with, it'll remain a thought."

        Arlye got up off the seat he was using and shut off the feed from the control room to everywhere else in the colony, effectively ending this little session. "Well, if that's all for the Q&A, we should get back to work. We still have a few months till our first winter here, and i want to get everything set up before hibernation season."

        As if it wasn't obvious by their basic appearances, Argaliths and Hesks are cold-blooded creatures, as in they take in their temperature from their environment to function. Argaliths strongly prefer warm, tropical, or arid climates for maximum productivity- their ships are even past temperatures a normal human would find tolerable. Hesks- they have water-proof heaters in their bubbles to help, but it has a limited battery life of 7 hours. Even then, the temperature they prefer in their water is tropical. To keep themselves warm during the winter months, they are constructing several "heating stations" around the colony for them to take shelter in during the truly cold days. The most extreme cases can just go in and hibernate until the first thaw. They don't know how many months winter will be, only that, according to their Misken friends, it's gonna be long.

        The two kids walked out of the command center and headed into the steadily growing town. Dan walked with his hands behind his head, with his elbows sticking forward. Bran looked down at the ground, with his hands in his pockets. Dan could see he was sad, and it's obvious why. "Hey, it was a good idea- she said it herself."

        "I know. Just not used to being put down."

        Dan raised a single eyebrow. "What?"

        Before Bran could respond, a shadow was cast over the town. Unless it was an eclipse or a rampaging demon dragon turtle, there's only one thing it could be. They looked up and saw a Aerid flying towards them. It landed at the outskirts of town and offloaded its passengers before changing back. This sight has happened so much since their arrival, everyone in town had grown used to it and kept going about their business.

        Bran, however, took notice cause it was of Silver coloration, and that only meant Sokuro. He jogged over to where the dragon landed and reached the sight as she changed back into her Ferid self. Her passengers were threefold- Hela, Tela, and a mysterious man dressed in odd garb, even for Dragenia.


        While they were on approach to Novalle, all Hopa could do was look on in shock at the mysterious new village of metal that appeared during his absence. When they got closer, he grew more and more nauseous at how... disturbing everything looked. Everything looked so shiny and white... it was unnatural. Such buildings do not exist anywhere in the world. When they landed, the queasy feeling grew much worse as he took good notice of the slowly growing town. 

        That is when he took notice of the machines- strange contraptions that seemed to hover and lifted objects that could only have been lifted by powerful Aerids. Strange sparks seemed to come from them as they put things together permanently. What was even more shocking were spinning... THINGS on top of these puzzling buildings.

        But the thing that scared him the most were those that inhabited this scary town. There were Ferids that lacked their tails completely, then Ferids whose tails were covered in fur and had strange protrusions coming out of the tops of their heads. Then came the odd ones: strange creatures that wore strange suits that covered their bodies, humongous reptilian creatures, and hovering aquatic monstrosities. It's like he was in the depths of Uela itself.

        "Sokuro?" One of the tailless Ferids said as he approached. "What are you and... un..." He snapped his fingers over and over, trying to recall the names of her Gaharot entourage. "... sorry, but your names are alluding me. Anyway, what are you doing? I thought you were going home to take a nap." 

        "She was." Vela said. "But... but we have a bit of a problem and we're gonna need to see your doctor."

        "Our doctor?" He tilted his head. "Why? Aren't your Shamans enough?"

        "Not for this one." Hela said as she held her newborn baby in her claws. The two of them looked to Sokuro, who was rubbing her arm. "Show him."

        She didn't want to... she REALLY didn't want to... but if they are right and this is truly serious, then she can't play around anymore. She needs to show him and get this dealt with. With a somber sigh, she took her hood down and turned enough to show him the egregious wound on her neck. "What the..." he gagged from the god-awful smell. "What the hell am i looking at...?"

        "A wound... one that she kept hidden from everyone."

        It was all he could do to keep his lunch down. "But how... ergh... how could she have got--" It soon dawned on him- out of all the times they spent together following their meeting, there is truly only one time where she would've gotten such a wound. "The Phagos did this?" The Gaharots nodded in confirmation. "B-but that was in her dragon form..." The Shaman cocked a confuzzeled eyebrow. "...and it's faded away, so how could a wound from THAT be on her now?"

        "We don't know." Vela said. "We were hoping your advanced medicines could figure out what to do about this."

        "I, un... i really don't know how much of a help it'll be... we still don't know much about Dragenian physiology, but un.... i guess it can't hurt to try. But i'm no medical expert, so you will have to see the doc.... assuming i can find where he set up shop..." He led Sokuro and the two of them into the town. 

        Hopa followed slowly, still amazed yet horrified by everything he is seeing. None of this, NONE OF THIS... should be at all possible... yet it is, but how? It makes no logical sense. Towns of this magnitude don't just pop up overnight. It took centuries for Misken to get as big as it is, and it's still nothing compared to Roko Harbor, Meoho, or Mokurot.


        Later, after Bran was able to finally located where the doctor was after 10 minutes of wandering around aimlessly...

        Sokuro was sitting on the edge of the examination bed, waving her legs in the air while the doctor, a Adlez female named Harseen, took a close examination at the wound on her neck. While they would be gushing at how clean and sterile everything felt in here, they kept it hidden due to their friend's current predicament. As for Hopa... he vanished when they walked in. Bran never noticed him the entire time other then the innitaial meeting, but the wound's reveal took precedence. 

        "You weren't kidding about that smell." She gagged. "It's sifting into my suit. Ugh... geez, and i though Hetions smelled horrible. Gag..." 

        "Hetions?" Hela repeated with a tilted head.

        "I'll give you a brief rundown." Bran said as he pulled a picture of one on his phone. "Hetions are another race of aliens that require suits. Unlike the Adlez, who wear them to hide their many, many deformities and problems from us, Hetions require them to survive, for they are a mysterious race of beings that is comprised of both gas and energy- think ghosts that can create laser beams. The suits, while more clunky then those belonging to the Adlez, are capable of channeling the laser energy. And to beat you to the punch, none of the Hetions came with us, and given how forested this planet is, that's probably a good thing."

        "We didn't really need a biology lesson, you know." Harseen coughed as she activated the filters on her suit, getting rid of the rancid smell. "Ugh... much better."

        "Yeah, for you, but we still gotta smell it." Bran said while he plugged his nose. "So what's going on with her?"

        "Simple. It's poison."

        "POISON!?!" Everyone in the room shouted in pure shock and terror.

        "Poison." With a press of a button, a floating orb took a quick full-body scan of Sokuro, something that surprised her by the lights going over every inch. After it was done, it floated over to the center of the room and showed a X-ray of her skeletons, her nervous systems, and her muscles. A gross green patch appeared around her neck. "Near as i can tell, it's very slow acting. She got bit a month ago, right? It hasn't left the mark on her neck-not yet anyway."

        "But she was bitten while in dragon mode." Bran pointed out. "How can a bite mark appear on her as she is now?"

        "Well, as she said after the battle, they can feel phantom pains- like someone will still feel their busted wing even though they are hu--- Ferid. This terminology is going to take some getting used to. And we don't know anything about how these Phagos things work."

        "You aren't the only one." Vela said. "We barely know anything about the Phagos as well, other then they are eternally hungry and nearly impossible to kill. I wasn't even aware they had poison."

        "They do." Hela said. "At least, i heard they do. I guess this confirms it."

        "Back to the matter in question..." Harseen brought it back on track. "Right now, the poison remains in her neck, but it's only a matter of time before it spreads to the rest of her body." She played a little animation of what the spread would look like. "Since the lot of you barely knew about the poison, i'm going to assume there's no antidote." The three natives shook their heads. "Thought so."

        "Well, why would we have one in the first place?" Hela said. "Whenever a Phagos appears, you either survive through luck or turn to lunch. There's no in-between. If anyone knows how to make an antidote, it would have to be someone in Xoelsu. They're studying the Phagos. And even then, you colonists barely know anything about Dragenia to find the right supplies."

        "That's more truer then you know." Harseen shut off the orb and caught it in her hands. "Well... if anything, the poison is slow, so i wouldn't worry too much at the moment, but unless someone finds a way to create a antidote... well, i think you can imagine."

        Sokuro somberly looked down at the floor. She's really screwed it up now. She'll go down in history as the Silver who died to Phagos poisoning. "... yeah."

        "Wish there was more i could---" A loud, obnoxious thumping noise came from the walls. It sounded like something was hitting it repeatedly over and over and over and over and over. It changed the mood in the room, that much was certain. "What the hell is that?" She put the orb down and headed for the exit. The other four followed her.

        Outside of the small building she had turned into a makeshift hospital, they saw the old man that came with them whacking his cane against the side of the building as hard as he could, and given his age, it wasn't very hard. The whacking had attracted the attention of those nearby. "Hey hey hey, stop that!" Harseen shouted as the three natives came out.

       Sokuro grabbed the staff before he took another swing, which angered him greatly. "Shaman Hopa, what are you doing?"

       He pulled the cane out of her hands. "Trying to get rid of the evil that permeates this place."

       "Evil? They aren't Evil."

       "Yes they are! None of this is natural. None of this is as it should be. This is pure evil, simple as that. I don't know what foul dark sorcery cooked up this place, but it needs to go!"

        "No it's not. They're friendly." Hela explained. "They've done nothing to harm us and they've been very helpful."

        Sokuro walked around and headed back to Bran. "They're just looking for a new home and found one here. They traveled so far across space to--"

        He held up a hand, shutting her up as he tried to process everything he was being told. "Space? What in the world is this 'space'?"

        "It's their name for the Black Abyss. They traveled for over 100 cycl--- years to get here and it's-"

        "THE BLACK ABYSS!?!" He slammed his staff into the ground, shutting her up and frightening the observers that had gathered. He looked around and got more tense. "We're leaving! Now!"

        Bran scratched the top of his head, confused as to why this new fella is acting so aggressively to all this news. He's from Misken, right? They're supposed to be a friendly lot. "What's got you freaking out?"

        Hopa thrust his staff into his face, scaring him. He backed up when it stopped mere inches away. "You are, Demon! Only evil, vile monsters exist in the Black Abyss!! The fact you desecrate holy ground with your presence is proof enough. If this entire town came from that place, then this world is doomed! I will not let your evil ways destroy Dragenia!"

        "They are not demons!" Sokuro exclaimed as she got between the two of them. "They are friends! I mean, yeah, they're weird and the fact they can record moving pictures is freaky..." Hopa staggered backwards at the mere thought of moving pictures. "... but they have done nothing to harm us. They've healed me after i battled the Phagos and have shown us all plenty of amazing things. I've been to the Black Abyss in one of their ships and it was one of the most beautiful sights i have ever seen. If they are demons, as you say, then they are the friendly type."

        Hopa was stunned, not from all the good points she brought up... but from the fact she had been up there. "Unbelievable..." He gasped. "... i never dreamed that a Silver would be corrupted by a demon and taken in the Abyss." Sokuro went slack-jawed. Is this guy for real? The tip of his staff glowed. "This whole place is vile and must be purged... if it can corrupt a Silver, then it can corrupt anybody..."

        "They're not evil!! How many times to i have to say it!?" Sokuro felt the back of her neck flair up again, but she powered through it. "Look... they've been here for close to 6 weeks now and the only bad thing they have done was ALMOST shoot a Felm, key word being ALMOST. And besides, Velx knows about this and he approved of it."

        He staggered back even more. "....... Velx knows that demons live here?"

        She rolled her eyes into the back of her head before planting her hand on her forehead. Talk about stubborn. "Yes he does. And he gave them permission to use this land."

        A myriad of thoughts raced through Hopa's diseased mind. "(Velx knows... and he approves...?)" He slowly backed up as the scale in his leather crown began to glow, surrounding him in brown sparkles. "This... wait till i speak with him... until then, all Miskenites are forbidden from setting foot in this hellscape."

        Vela crossed his arms. "Yeeeeah. Good luck with that."

        "Shut it, wyrm..." Hopa snarled, baring his teeth. He transformed and flew away in his dirt-brown Aerid form as fast from here as he could. The group craned their necks back and watched him fly away.

        "What did he call me?" Vela asked as he craned his neck back all the way. Once he was out of range, he brought his neck back to it's regular position and rubbed where it hurt.

        "He's not going to let up, is he?" Bran asked.

        Sokuro pursed her lips to the side and sighed. "... nope. The old man is as stubborn as a rock, but he's also predictable. He'll go complain to Velx, then after that... who knows." She slowly shook her head as she pinched her eyes. Its not even noon and she's already had a trying day. "... well... i no longer need a nap..."

30: Chapter 28: No Rest for the Weary

Chapter 28

No Rest for the Weary

3/14/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)



 

        
        A loosed arrow missed its target, causing the herd of Ueelius to scatter- think of them as turtles with longer legs and are as fast and strong as bears. They had come onshore to prepare for winter, which is the best time to hunt for them. The hunter who let the arrow loose cursed at herself as she hit her fist on the nearest tree. "Aaaagh, Velx bless it." Polosa snarled. 

        "That was lousy."

        Polosa quickly readied another arrow and aimed her crossbow at the shocked colonist Kitsune who had appeared out of nowhere. He swiftly thrust his hands up into the air. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey. Put the crossbow down."

        She did lower it, only after seeing who it was. "... that wasn't funny, Ventus." She scoffed as she put her weapon down. "You could've been killed if it was someone else."

        "I'll remember that for next time, sheesh." He stepped clear of that thing and went to the tree. "So what are these things you are hunting?"

        "Ueelius. They usually keep themselves in the water, but they come onto the short to prepare for winter. we use their shells to fashion our bowls, and their shells are durable- the biggest ones, we use as firepits."

        Vent put his arms behind his head. "Humans did the same thing, except they called those ashtrays." Polosa raised a eye towards him. "I don't know what those are either, but they were apparently popular for a time." He awkwardly popped his lips. "Moving on... do you use these.... Ueealikus's's's's for anything else?"

        She checked her crossbow bolts to see if she still had enough for the hunt. "Ueelius. And yes- their meat makes for a hearty soup."

        He stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Yuck. Not a soup guy or a turtle guy... And wait a ticket, you said they came up to prepare for winter... but i thought winter wasn't for months."

        "So your fancy magical instruments say, and they're wrong." She picked up her crossbow and heaved up her sack. "Winter comes twice a year. You all came after the Snowmare months. We're approaching Frostnight in five weeks time."

        3 months of spring before a second winter? What is up with nature on this planet? "What's the difference?" He asked as he pulled out his phone to record what she says.

        "Plenty. Frostnight occurs when the three celestial bodies..." She pointed up to the three moons still visible in the daytime sky. "...come together. The massive combined size blocks out the light of the Zatchies..." Obviously, that was the Dragenian term for the sun... which doesn't make sense as they said sun before, and even then the word provided was different. He chocked it up to his translator being frigidity. "... sending Dragenia into a month-long darkness. Frost slowly encroaches in, and that's what gives it its name: Frostnight."

        Ventus' ears drooped at the description. They just got here, and already they got a month-long permafrost situation coming. "....... wonderful. Now people back home will have to worry... And i'm just going to assume to Snowmare is just regular winter, with the snow and the sledding and the fun stuff." She tilted her head as he put his phone away. "You know, that information would've been nice to know earlier."

        "You honestly didn't know?" He rapidly shook his head. "Huh. I assumed you did. And don't you have special things to combat the cold?"

        He lifted up his arms in a flapping motion before pacing to the tree. "It'll be very difficult. We're not even done finishing up the town, so to work in a month-long permanent darkness with deep frost is a bit of a setback." He hit his head on it purposefully. "Uuuuuugh..."

        "You REALLY didn't know?"

        "Does this sound like someone who knows?" He lifted his head away from the tree and rubbed his injured forehead. "... ugh..." He walked around the tree and walked away.

        "Heading back to warn your people?"
        
        "Yyyyyep!"

        She watched him leave and prepared to go back out on her hunt... but didn't, knowing that he'll end up getting lost somehow on the way back. "Sigh... you're too nice for your own good, Polosa..." She said to herself. She then ran after him to lead him through the forest.


        Sokuro sat back on the crate she was sitting on, resting on the side of one of the food storage bins in the center of town, burying her head into her shoulders. Bran had gone inside the storage shed to look for something, but wasn't told what it was, only that she needed some cheering up after the bombshell that she was poisoned dropped. She had let the world drown out until it was nothing but noise as she kept to herself. She didn't even known where Vela and Hela were.

        She felt the back of her neck burn up again, making her wince. Ever since they found out, she's been thinking over how could she have been so stupid to keep this a secret. She should've told someone the first time the burning sensation hit her. Now it may be too late to do anything about it and she could be dying a slow death. She doesn't know where or when, but she knows its coming.

        She hit the back of her head against the bin, cursing herself for being so stupid. She's hoping that Velx may have a way to handle the poison, but given her luck with all things Phagos related, she's not holding on to much. She closed her eyes and hit her head against the bin again, wishing this was just a dream.

        The sounds of cheering broke through the noise, prompting her to open her eyes and look down the direction it was coming from. She saw colonist kids around her age playing some sort of game where they were kicking a black-and-white ball around. Her curiosity was enough to break her out of her stupor. She slid off the crate and made her way towards the field where the kids were playing. She saw Humans, Kitsune, Argalith, and Adlez children playing. She didn't see any Hesk children playing- to be fair, she still hasn't met one, but from what she heard about them, being telepathic squids, it's likely they would do well at this game.

        She reached a fence post and leaned on it, watching them play their little game. On the far side of the field, a Argalithian boy kicked the ball into the opposing teams net- the goalie was nowhere near close enough to stop it in time. The Argalith and his team cheered. "Whooo... now that's how we do it on Walith." Walith being the Argalith homeworld.

        "Well, we're not on Walith." The Kitsune goalie for the opposing team said as she picked up the ball. 

        "Yeah yeah yeah, just throw the ball." The goalie stuck out her tongue. She dropped the ball and kicked it as hard as she could... all the way over the teams and straight to the edge of the makeshift field. It hit the ground, bounced a couple times, and rolled to Sokuro's feet. She looked down the ball as it touched her ankles. She looked down at it, blinking mindlessly. "Hey!" The Argalith boy shouted to her. "You wanna toss that back?"

        She bent down and picked up the ball. "What is it?" She asked back.

        "It's called a soccer ball, now are you gonna throw it back?"

        She did one better and walked onto the field. "I'm guessing that's the name of the game you are playing." She gave the ball back to the kid.

        "Smart cookie." A female Adlez said. "Yes, that is the name."

        "Huh. So.... how do you play it?"



        Back home in Misken, Velx stood atop his temple, spreading his mighty wings as he got ready to take a flight to strech out his body and work out the kinks from constantly living here. At the same time, Inoute, Ifil, and Ocous were being informed by Fayin that Hopa knows about the colonists and they.... well, like Velx and Fayin before them, they weren't too enthused that he knows.

        "Oh lords above.... oooooh, oh, we're gonna be in the middle of it now..." Ifil whined as he paced back and forth, biting off the claws from one hand while running the other over his head.

         Ocous tried to comfort, but shrugged in uncertainty, "Maybe he'll take it in stride?"

        He got a nasty pair of glares from the two Gaharots, which made him regret that statement. "This is Hopa we're talking about." Fayin said. "Hopa... the same lunatic who almost started a war when Velx took me as his new handmaid. The same maniac who almost turned in runaway slaves. The same--"

        "We get the picture- he's nuts." Inoute rudely interjected. Fayin looked at him rather sternly. "Sorry, but you were going to take forever." She puffed out her cheeks and looked away with crossed arms. 

        "It's bad enough he'll learn about a orphan being the new Silver..." Ifil whimpered. "But when he learns about the colonists, he's going to lose it."

        "Well, there's no explosions or loud yells." Inoute pointed out. "So maybe we're in the clear."

        "VEEEEEEEEEEEEELX!!!!!"

        It's alomst as if that was on purpose. The two Gaharots whimpered as Ocous lowered his head in shame. "............................. then again, i could be wrong."

        Velx's muscles went slack when he heard Hopa's crazed yell. So much for taking his flight- now he's gonna have to hear the ramblings of a madman and shoot them all down. Again. He looked back just as Hopa, a ground-affiliated Aerid with brown scales, came in at high speeds, digging his claws into the ground as he skid to a halt. "To what do i owe this pleasure again, Hopa?"

        "You stupid idiot!" Hopa yelled. "You didn't tell me that we had... THINGS living right next to us!!"

        "And there it is..." Fayin sighed as she lowered and shook her head. "Wonder what colorful words he'll come up with this time."

        "... so i take it you met the Colonists." Velx spoke in a calm, civil tone to keep up appearances... but with this wacko, it's hard to keep it up. There were so many times he wanted to stop Hopa before he did something he'd regret, but the rules of the gods says they cannot interfere with the affairs of mortals save for very specific times. "How did it go?"

        "Rrrr... don't act like this is something that can be brushed off!" The elder snarled as he stomped his way over. "We have monsters living on sacred soil and you're acting like there's nothing wrong with that?!"

        "Those 'monsters' are living beings like you and me, and they have my permission to live there. There is nothing wrong with their setting up a home there."

        "Yes there is!! There are so many things wrong with that, i don't even know where to begin!! i don't even know how to begin!!"

        "Then don't!"

        "No. Their mere existence completely violates everything the Word of Umatz represents! We've lived our lives, believing that nothing exists out in the Black Abyss, that it's a cold and desolate wasteland where only the most vile of monsters live! And you just let them set up camp on holy ground!"

        "That's what we thought when we wrote it, in case you forgot!" Velx countermanded. "There were a lot of things we were never aware of when we wrote the Word. And at the time, we thought monsters WERE the only things to exist out there because that's all that came from there! These people proved otherwise. And if you had just bothered to get to know them--"

        "Know them?! I learned all i needed to! They live in barbaric structures that make no sense whatsoever, they use words that should not be said, they have strange windows and can manipulate light, their "medicine" is complete garbage, unnatural flying machines and clothes that made me want to vomit... and... those... monsters. A humanoid Aerid? Ferids with fur on their tail and strange protrusions on their heads, and those with no tails at all? Floating food? I thought the mindless Gaharots were bad enough, but these things too?!" Fayin and Ifil were ready to smack his behind all the way to next week. "Velx, you go to far!"

        Velx felt his anger slowly rise, but did all he could to keep his mind and body calm. "I have not. I'm simply saying that they mean no harm. They just came looking for a home and have done nothing to harm us."

        Hopa spat at him, ignoring his words. "Astrals above, i'm talking to a wall! I should've expected that from you... it's truly no wonder you are the worst one." Fayin held her claws over her mouth as Ocous and Inoute sucked in their mouths. He went there, and now he was going to pay the price. Velx's anger was reaching hieghts that haven't been seen since Xelut's days. "You are such a pathetic god, it's laughable. I wonder how Voul feels, knowing he had such a horrendous weakling of a worm like you as his son."

        That did it.

        Velx leaped into action and pinned the horrid shaman to the ground, holding him down with his claws, with one right over the shocked elders neck. "Now you listen here and you listen well, 'worm'! Those people are under my protection! The rest of the Astrals know of their existence and in agreement with me. Sokuro trusts them, and i do too, as does everyone else here in Misken. Silvers are signs of great change to come to the world, and this one occurred the same day she obtained her scale! That is significant. And if i am such a weakling, then you should've broken out of this hold by now." Hopa snorted out smoke in defiance. "Choose your next words carefully, Hopa... or your retirement will come a lot faster and be more permanent!... then you have planned." Velx pulled his paw away, kicking up some stone as he did.

        Hopa got up off the ground and rubbed where Velx has stuck his claw. That has to be the first time a Astral had handled a follower in such a way since Xelut. But this isn't the days of Xelut... to Hopa, this was the start of something much worse. "They may be under your protection... but Gods aren't allowed to interfere with the lives of mortals. Remember?" Velx snorted out smoke. "And you know you don't speak for everyone. While some... questionable people trust those things, math is on my side- not everyone is as gun-ho about these THINGS as you let on; it's not in your place to assume how a person thinks and feels. There are like-minded individuals like me here in Misken. They're just keeping silent for they know offending you as a death sentence." He spread his wings and took to the air, returning back to his hut after 4 months away and one bad day.

        Velx snorted out smoke again as he watched the crockery old man fly away. Once he was away, Velx sat down and let loose a deep sigh. "To use one of the colonists sayings, that guy was an ass." Inoute commented.

        "But as much as i hate to say it, he's right... I cannot read the minds or see into the hearts of others. No Astral can... there must be others in the village who are like him and view our new neighbors as monstrosities- it was foolhardy to believe everyone would just agree and be happy. And if he truly does start something, i cannot interfere until it reaches the point of no return, and by then it may be too late."

        "Especially if they are devout follows of the Word of Umatz like him..." Ocous said. "The colonists existence... does put many things about the scriptures into question..."

        "It'll be fine..." Fayin said to try and reassure everyone, even if she was nervous and frightened herself. "The Silvers and what they represent are also in the Word of Umatz too, so they'll have to trust the judgment of Sokuro, right? It will be... right?"

        "I think everyone will be skeptical about trusting Sokuro out of blind faith, handmaiden." Ifil somberly said. "That blind trust was ruined by the last Silver. And to be honest, who believes kids outright to begin with? We certainly didn't when she talked about the colonists before we officially met them."

        "Sad, but true..." Inoute rubbed the back of his hand while hiding the spreading cracks. "Let's just hope Hopa doesn't do anything stupid, or someone here or there causes something stupid to make him act."

        "For some reason, that one seems the most likely." Fayin sadly commented.



        Bran came out of the storage bin, having finally found what he was looking for: Ice Cream. More specifically, Popsicles. He made sure to grab the popsicles made for humans, seeing that she didn't have any problems with human food earlier. Sokuro hadn't tried Ice Cream before, so this should be a interesting reaction to her. He went to the crate she was on earlier, but saw that she was gone. He turned his head on a swivel, wondering where she could've gone.

        He eventually found her, out in the makeshift sports field they put up at the edge of the colony. He approached and saw that she was on the field itself, getting lessons from the other kids on how to play soccer. He leaned on the same fence post she did, thinking this was going to be interesting to watch. 

        "Ok, so... the goal is to kick the ball into that string box over there, right?" She repeated in insure she was right on the money. The kids all nodded. "And... you can't use your hands- only they can. You can only use your feet."

        "Yep." A human boy said.

        "Hmm... I think i got it... I think."

        The Argalith boy clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's get back to it." He rubbed them as his team got back into position. "You guys can take the new girl."

        Sokuro darted her head around, caught off guard by being brought into the thick of it so soon. "Hey hey hey, i just learned the rules, now you're just going to throw me into the Fargaks den?" Fargaks are two-headed lions that can breath a noxious gas that can knock anyone out. There's even talk of developing the gas into a anti-Phagos weapon.

        "You'll pick up on it." The Adlez girl said before running over to her team.

        "This quick?!"

        "She has a point." The Kitsune added. "You know they'd give us a chance to try out a Dragenian sport for the first time. We should at least see if she can handle the ball."

        The Argalith boy rolled his eyes and his head back, exclaimed loudly in pure aggravation. "uuuuuuuugh... fine." He tossed the ball over to her. She caught it with her hands. "Ok, see if you can get it into the goal. I'll be playing interference... easily..." He stuck his tongue out to the Kitsune, who stuck her tongue out back. "And no special giant lizard tricks."        

        "Um... ok." She walked forward till she was at the halfway line and dropped the ball in front of her. "And no hands, right?"

        "Right. Feet, legs, and chest only. And the opposing side can use those to try and stop you, along with a sliding kick that can do as much damage to you as it can to them... like broken leg bad, but you can jump over those."

        "Alright." She got herself ready, getting a feeling she's going to go headfirst into mud. "Let's see if i can do this." 

        She kicked the ball ahead of her and slowly began to run towards the goal. The Argalith boy cracked his neck as he made his move- screw going easy; Argaliths never go easy for anything. The Kitsune saw this and rolled her eyes, wondering why she even bothered telling him to go easy. Sokuro saw him go into a sliding kick and, following the others advice, jumped over the slide and kept on kicking. 

        Reaching the goal line, she went to go in for one final kick...

        ...and missed the ball entirely, launching her feet upward and slamming down hard on her back, knocking the wind out of her.

        "Oooooo." Some of the kids winced. One of them commented, "that had to hurt."

        "It did hurt..." She wheezed, sounding like a old man. She was helped up and brought over to a box they were using as a bench. "Thanks. Ugh..." She patted herself on the chest a few times to get some air flowing again. It worked, somewhat, as she slowly sounded normal as she coughed. "I'm fine. I'm fine... it'll take more then a bad fall to take me out. Errrrgh... but i think i'm not going to play this game anytime soon."

        "Well, you were doing good until the fall." The human said. "But if you're ok..." They ran back to join their friends and continue playing their game. Sokuro grunted as she cleared her throat from all the coughing she did. A few more coughs came out, but she's confident she's back to normal.

        "That looked bad." Bran commented as he approached her, hiding the ice cream behind him.

        "I've had worse." She coughed. 

        "Put your head between your legs. I hear that helps."

        "I'm fine. I'm fine." She grunted one last time before coughing for the last time. "Ugh... that knocked the wind out of me."

        "We noticed." He sat down beside her. "Got a surprise for ya." She looked to him, which prompted him to pull the popsicles out from behind his back. "Got you some ice cream. Figured you could use some cheering up after the fall and receiving the poison news."

        She cocked a eyebrow and tilted her head. She's grateful he's giving her something to cheer her up, but... what in the world is this, exactly? "Ice... Cream? What in the world is ice cream?"

        He really should've seen this coming. "It's a treat. It's.... well, it's in the name, it's ice cream. I don't know how better a way to describe it."

        "You... freeze milk?"

        "Un..." He twisted his lips as he looked at the popsicles. "Un... yes. Yes we do. Then we add a whole bunch of, un... of un..." What do they add in? He swears he saw a documentary of it in school back on Vega, but it was so long ago, he doesn't remember. He could look it up on his phone, but he didn't feel like it. "Look, i don't know how they make this stuff- it's yummy and it's good."

        He handed hers to her, and she grabbed the stick. She looked the yellow popsicle over, wondering how best to take this. "So... what do you do?"

        "You lick it." He gave her an example with his popsicle. "Simple as that. You can also bite it, but i don't do that because it feels so weird on my teeth. But it melts, so you don't want to take too long."

        "Oh." She looked it over one more time before finally taking a bite. It tasted... salty, yet sweet. "Tastes good. What is it?"

        "Sea Salt Popsicles." He leaned back on one hand as he continued to eat it. "These are the easiest to make, so we got a surplus in the freezers."

        "Oh." She took another bite of it- he was right, it does feel weird on her teeth, like there's a unnatural shiver. "Brrrr... bad idea to bite it."

        "Told ya."

        She then resorted to licking it- that was the more preferred method as it didn't leave such a weird feeling. The two of them ate in silence as they watched the kids play the game. Before long, Bran was lost in thought, not only about the poison, but about the local shaman reacted to everything here. It's like he was afraid, but angry at the same time. 

        "You know..." He finally said, getting her attention. "... i think i understand why our leaders want to keep us a secret for now."

        "Because of the Shaman?"

        "Right on the first try, but... there's more to it then that. You saw how he reacted to us- how he acted to everything he saw here. He looked so... afraid, yet angry and enraged. Everything here was brand new and, in your planets eyes, unnatural, and that can be scary to someone who's never experienced it before. Then there's us as a people- we're five completely different races and a complete unknown, and he's probably afraid that we will do something horrible. And Fear... fear can be a scary motivator- it can make someone do something stupid, like whack a building with a stick."

        Sokuro glanced away, looking towards the grass to keep herself from making eye contact. "...i... think i get what you are leading towards. I won't lie- the night after everyone met you, they were freaking out. The fact that there is life in the Black Abyss, and that most of our beliefs were lies... it scared a lot of people. Some were even suggesting we attack you before you attacked us. Thank Velk Dexyl and I were able to convince them to give this a shot. But... i still think some of the people at Misken are still afraid of you, despite Velx giving us the OK to try this. And... i think Hola would be a good example of how people outside of the village would react to the news of you." She buried her face in her hands and slunk backwards, draping herself over the crate while keeping the ice cream facing out. "Uuuuuugh... why can't things ever be simple?" 

        "Life never is... uuuuugh..." He buried his sorrows in his popsicle, taking a big bite out of it. Sokuro followed suit. Both instantly regretted it as they got a nasty bout of brain freeze. "Aaaaa......." they both hissed, rubbing their heads.

        "Here you are." Eia squealed as she hugged the two of them from behind, catching them completely off guard. "i was wondering where you two vanished to."

        "Agh..." Bran almost fell off the crate, but Eia kept him up. She didn't do the same for Sokuro and she fell onto the dirt. "...were you looking for us?" 

        "Yeah. Everyone heard what that grumpy old coot of a shaman did and i was worried."

        "I'm fine. Sokuro, on the other hand..."

        Eia's eyes lidded when he brought her up. "What about her?" She asked emotionlessly.

        Sokuro got up and put her elbows on the crate, keeping her popsicle out of hte dirt as she did. "I'm poisoned." She spit grass out of her mouth. "The Phagos left me a little parting gift." She rubbed her neck where she was bitten. "It's slowly killing me from the inside."

        That brought things back into perspective for Eia. She sometimes forgets this is the Silver, and if she dies at a young age thanks to a Phagos... well, it's gonna have repercussions. "...i... wow... i... i'm sorry, Sokuro." And she actually meant it. 

        "It's not like it was your fault." She got back up on the crate and stuck her popsicle back in her mouth. "At least the prick who did it is ether."

        Eia saw the strange treats the two of them were eating and got curious. "What are these?" She pointed to Bran's popsicle.

        "Ice Cream."

        "Oooo, i love ice cream." Sokuro raised a eyebrow as she slowly turned to look at her. How in the world does she know what ice cream is? She never knew what it was until now, unless there was some town on the mainland who is able to make this stuff. In that case, she needs to get out more. "Though... i never saw it like this before."

        "As a popsicle?" He passed his to her. "Try it out then."

        Eia beamed as she took it gladly. "Bet since this was made by advanced people, it must taste amazing." She bit down on it, frightening Bran as she took it down in one gulp. She was going to regret doing that in 3.... 2.... 1.... "Aaaah." She hissed as she held her head.

        Bran and Sokuro winced. "Yeeeeeeah, you shouldn't have done that." He took the stick back. "Brain Freeze... it's what happens when you eat cold stuff way too fast." Sokuro rubbed her own head- that explains their pain earlier. 

        "It feels like a knife is stabbing me in the head." Eia whined.

        "It'll pass. Press your tongue onto the top of your mouth. It helps." She did what she said. It wasn't effectively, but it was better then nothing. "See?"

        "Yeah..." She whined. She rubbed her head as she had one eye open. "...ow... ugh..." She shook her head. "... ugh, so... we're leaving tomorrow. We're going back to the mainland, so we won't be back until next cycle. You won't see me or the rest of the crew for a long while."

        "Aw... that's a shame." Bran said. "You were a lot of fun." Eia looked away to hide her blush from him, but not from Sokuro, who saw that full sale. 

        "T-thanks." SHe worked hard to hide the giggle in her voice. She shook her head, regaining her composure. "Anyway, we're leaving tomorrow from Roko Harbor, so if you want to see us off, you're welcome to come."

        "I think i will. I barely saw any of Roko Harbor last time- that jerk Gallna cut us off before we got to do much." Sokuro nodded in agreement. "So yeah, i think we'll come."

        "Yay." Eia clapped her hands together. 

        There was a loud kick and one of the kids yelled 'heads up!', which prompted the three of them to look towards the field. In just a few seconds, the soccer ball pelted Eia in the face, knocking her down to the ground. Sokuro and Bran quickly got up and ran to her, as did some of the soccer players. "Eia!" Her two friends shouted as they got to her. "You ok?"

        Her eyes spun like dinner plates as little yellow birds fluttered around her head. "No, mommy,  i don't want to eat my supper..." She croaked. "I wanna keep playing in the quarry..."

        "Doctor?" Sokuro suggested.

        "Doctor."



        "I told you you would get lost." Polosa said as she followed Ventus, who was cluelessly wandering through the forest, trying to find the way back to Novalle. She had warned him multiple times, but he was a stubborn fox.

        "Shut up, i'm not lost. Kitsunes never get lost."

        "You did just now." She smugly jeered. The two of them reached a very big bush that stretched for miles- getting around this was going to take some time.

        He looked at her with lidded eyes. "And you don't?" He pulled out a machete and began hacking away at the bush- he was not going to go all the way around.

        "I've been hunting in this forest for decades. You've only been here a few weeks." She followed him through the bush, keeping her distance as he swung his blade. "Plus, i can change and fly anytime i want. Experience and power goes to me."

        Vent hacked away at the last of the bush, finishing the little shortcut he had made. They could see the path continue and put his weapon away. "Suuuure." She rolled her eyes, following right behind him. They took a few steps, "You're just too proud to admit that you can get loooooooo-" and the two of them fell right down into a deep, deep hole. They yelled for a good while before they hit what they hoped was the bottom.

        "...... well, tsk.... i think we're definitely lost now."

        "........... ugh..."

31: Chapter 29: Into the Golden Gate...

Chapter 29

Into the Golden Gate...

3/14/5791 E.S.D. (Earth Standard Date)



 

        Pebbles bounced down the rock wall, echoing deep into the cave. Following them was a screaming Ventus, who yelled as he fell for the umpteenth time, this time landing on his side, bruising it. Polosa winced in pain when he struck the ground- he did it exceptionally hard that time. "Oooooow..." He whined.

        "That looked like it hurt." She said.

        "It did..." He rolled onto his front. "I think i broke my kidney..."

        She looked up at where they fell in. Even after so many years, there's always something new to find on this sub-continent. The question is: how did they miss it? It wasn't surrounded by bushes or trees. Was this a recent development? Since the tunnel they're in isn't that big, it's possible that a adolescent Yeet was responsible. But all the speculation is fruitless if they don't find a way out of here. "I think we confirmed that the walls are too slippery to climb." She put her hand on one side, feeling moss. "Though i thought you... un... what was it... Kitsunes were acrobatic."

        "I failed gym class..." He groaned, pushing himself onto his knees. "Ugh..." He looked to her. "Don't you have a scale? You can just transform and burst us out of here."

        "It doesn't work like that." She said. "This tunnel is too small for my Aerid form to materialize. And even if i was that strong, i run the risk of burying you alive in rubble."

        "You have a weak form?"

        "I rarely use it, if that's what you mean, so i'm a bit out of practice. On top of that, i use wind. If i were affiliated with the ground, i could get us out, but i'd still run the risk of burying you."

        "Great..." He grumbled. "Wait a tick, i thought Aerids can use all the elements."

        "Through months of practice, i'd be lucky enough to move a boulder half the size of a Airship. It's not that we can't use the others- it just takes far too long to learn how to move something so small. Silvers can--"

        "Yeah yeah yeah, Silver's are special- yaddi yaddi yadda. I heard that so many times, i'm keeping carpel ear." He got up and grabbed the barrel of his rifle he had leaned against the wall. He attached it to his back via magnets as he looked up where they fell in. That must've been a 40 foot drop, easy. It's a miracle they don't have any broken limbs. "If we had a grappling hook, we could probably toss it up there..."

        "But we don't." She turned her attention down the tunnel. "Our best bet to getting out of here is to follow the tunnel and hope it brings us out to a bigger cave to where i can change or, or possibly an exit."

        "It's our only option." He added. "You don't have any subterranean monsters that can eat us, do you?"

        "None that i can remember. Not on Evioly, anyway. Our only threat would be a Yeet- a beast that constantly digs, and digs, and digs. This tunnel was likely one of the adolescents learning how to dig. We don't have to worry about them eating us: they only eat worms and bugs and edible rocks. Our biggest threat would be them crushing us. But again, since a adolescent likely made this tunnel, we'll probably be ok."

        "How big can they get?"

        "Pretty big. Heard of one the size of a house over at the Gfolaut Desert on the mainland." He tilted his head in puzzlement. "Or to use a example close to home, they would be the same size as one of those... what do you call them, prefabs?"

        "Pre-fabricated homes. And that is big." A normal prefab home is around 100 feet long, 15 feet tall, and 40 feet wide with 5 rooms- a meeting/family/living room with a connected kitchen, a bathroom, and two bedrooms. If one of those diggers is that big, then Polosa is right- the crushing weight will kill them before the critters even thinks about eating them.  "Well... no sense staying around here, so.... which way do we go?"

        "Hmm..." She looked to her left, and then she looked to her right. Depending on which way they go, this could take hours or days. She lost her bearings from up above, so she doesn't have a clue which way may be the correct way. "Mmmmmmm.... that way." She pointed to her left. "i got a good feeling about that direction." She hauled up her bags and shouldered her crossbow. "We should hurry, though. I don't want to get lost down here when Frostnight comes."


 The Next Day.... 3/15/5791 E.S.D.


        The light of the rising sun seeped through the curtains and into Sokuro's room. She sat at the table, finally getting around to reading her parents book. There were so many notes and observations in here; this was going to take days to read, at least. Also within the filled pages were drawings and theories- the mural on the last filled-in page wasn't the only one. There were so many things in here she wasn't aware of before, and she lived with them 7 years out of her life. 

        She can remember her time with her parents perfectly. It's almost like it was yesterday when she and her mother were sitting in a chair and she was reading a sweet story to both her and Taled. Has it really been 2 years? Have they really been gone that long? She remembers so clearly, and yet... she knows they can never come back, no matter how much she wishes for it. How long, perhaps, until her memory of them starts to fade? It's a sad, but true fact of life that even your most precious memories will fade away with time. It's something she doesn't want, but it's one she knows will happen, and there was nothing she can do about it.

        The book, the mystery jar, the bejeweled knife, the Lithograph, and the burnt locket- she would protect these things unto her dying breath in order to keep those memories. Well... maybe not the Lithograph. The mural from the Meoho cave didn't give her much love for the creature designed on it.

        Speaking of which, she flipped to the next page and got a shiver when she saw detailed drawings of the beast in question. The thing had two whole pages dedicated to it. The face was drawn in disturbing detail. Notes scattered all over the pages filled in some of the questions. She rested her head on her fist as she read it.

        "(During a Phagos attack, my wife and i hid with the rest of the town in a cave near Raxsho. Inside, the two of us discovered a small carving of a unknown, yet frightening creature...)" She glanced over towards the Lithograph before burying her face back in tht tome; that thing still sent shivers down her spine. 

        "(The creature appears to be a Aerid, but disturbingly mutated and possibly deadly, based on its design. And based on the composition of the carving, it must be at least tens of thousands of cycles old, meaning this thing could've been around since the dawn of Dragenia. We asked the village Shaman what it meant, but he was as clueless as we were. After the attack ended, we went to Xoelsa to uncover what we could. Even the heads of the academy were at a loss, and our research barely turned up anything. From what we can gather, the beast is ancient... and as it hasn't been seen for eons, it must be dead... though i have my doubts. There have been reports of strange creature sightings, about a feathered Aerid with a frightening demeanor. The sightings have been dismissed as heresay, but what if the creature still exists? Did a Ferid discover immortality? And if so, what was the cost to be given to have such a scary form? It's a question i don't think anyone wants answered. For now, we're simply going to call this thing the Feathered Devil. Seems a fitting description as ever. Regardless, i hope the monster doesn't exist- i don't want my coming child to be killed by this thing.)"

        "So even they couldn't figure out what it was... the monster must truly be old..." She said to herself. "And i hope it doesn't exist too, dad." There were notes, going into hypothetical detail on its armaments- the teeth, the claws, and the tail. Her mother theorizes that the tail could act like a spring, given how uncommon it looks.

        As she flipped to the next page, she heard footsteps running down the hall. The door opened up and Taled ran on in. "Heeeeey, sis!" He slid in on his socks. "Guess what we're going to do!"

        "Not be loud?"

        "HA! Funny. No no no, we're gonna go hit the beach!"

        That made her pull her attention away. "Hit the beach?"

        "Yeah! With Frostnight approaching, we better get what fun we can before we're freezing!"

        She put a cloth between the pages she was on and closed the book. "But it's still morning, and it's mating season for the Calcaus, isn't it?" Calcaus' are very aggressive and very vicious. Resembling a shark with a couple large humps like a camel, these things almost have a big a appetite as the Phagos. It gets worse during mating season as they stay near the shore instead of out in the deep sea- approaching the water is suicide at that point. Mating season for these carnivores is also another sign that Frostnight is coming.

        "Well, i don't know how, but they did. Now come on!" He ran back out the door.

        Sokuro pursed her lips before looking back at her book. She wanted to keep reading this to learn more about what their parents were... but a trip to the beach does sound like a good, fun time before the month-long frost arrives. Besides, she can't lie; she's interested to see how exactly they were keeping the sharks away. Taking her book with her, she followed her little brother, knowing she was going to have to give him a ride.

       

        Down below, lost within the seemingly endless tunnels, Ventus and Polosa had stopped into a small alcove to sleep and recover their strength. Deep into their slumber, the native hunter had snuggled up close to the alien colonist, who didn't realize she was that close to him until he woke up.

         "Mmm........" He yawned and rubbed his eyes. He felt pain in his back- probably from sleeping in the dirt and rock. "That was unpleasant..." He groaned. He shimmied around to rub his sore back. That's when he finally noticed Polosa's head nuzzled deep into his chest. "Un.........."

        Polosa finally woke up and yawned like a cat. "Ugh... i'm gonna need a massage to work out the knots in my back..." She noticed her position and sucked in her lips. She looked up at Ventus, who had the same perplexed expression on his face that she has. "... We didn't do anything last night, did we?"

        "No. No. We went straight to sleep- that much is for certain." Polosa pushed herself off his chest and straightened up her shirt. Ventus sat up and did the same. "This must've happened while we were asleep.... i think."

        "You think? That's not reassuring."

        "We didn't do anything, so there's no reason to fret." He got up and stretched his arms above his head, cracking his back to work out all the kinks. "Moving on before things get more awkward..." She nodded in agreement as she stretched her back. "You do remember which way we're going, right?"

        "Yeah." She walked over to a wall on the opposite side of the tunnel and pointed to a crossbow bolt she left sticking out. It was pointing to her left. "I left this here before going to sleep so we don't get turned around."

        "Smart thinking." He squatted down and opened up his knapsack to see if he had anything to eat. He was starving and so was she. They walked for so long last night, they fell straight asleep without any food. He hoped he had grabbed some granola bars before leaving the day before. Sadly, they weren't so fortunate. "... crap." He droned disappointingly. "We don't have any food..." He closed it.

        "And i haven't seen any insects either." She added on. He tossed her knapsack over and she caught it. "We better hope this leads to an exit soon, otherwise we're in deep trouble."

        Ventus stood back up and put his pack on. He clicked his fingers when he remembered something. "Didn't two kids get trapped down here before?"

        "Sokuro and one of your colonist kids, yes. It was during that surprise quake." The same idea Vent had clicked in her head. "And they found a way out. And they mentioned Tay Sokuro Besen."

        "You're gonna have to refresh my memory on that."

        "Tay Sokuro Besen is said to be the birthplace of all life on Dragenia. The place is sacred- a holy site nobody can enter. But... unfortunately, we're going to have to go there if we want out." She checked to see how many crossbow bolts she had left. "And if it's as grand and massive with it's own ecosystem, as she claims, we could possibly find some food."

        "If it's that big, why haven't we fallen into it?"

        "You'd be surprised how big the underground actually is around here, especially with all the digging Yeets can do. The gorge they fell into was near the shoreline whereas we were near Misken's mesa, so... eliminating all possibilities, maybe the Basen is under the sea. We do have shallow waters in these parts, and ancient maps depict Evioly in a different shape then what we have today."

        "Shifting landmasses." He concluded. "That's not Dragenia exclusive, i can tell you that much."

        She shrugged. "Well... sacred or not, it's our only way out of here, so let's hope this tunnel eventually leads there."


        As Sokuro neared the beach, she saw what her little brother meant when he said they didn't have to worry about Calcaus' attacking them while at the beach. She saw several mechanical pillars rising out of the water in a semi-circle, stopping where the waves crashed onto the shore. While it may be a simple semi-circle, the pillars were huge and spread out over a large area- from the center, it's a mile in diameter. 

        She would later learn that the colonists had constructed the pillars to give the Hesk a safe place to reproduce for the time being. Like their earth cousins of octopi and squids, they lay eggs in water to carry on their species, and as such, they needed a place to do so as they didn't have the time to build embryonic water tanks specifically for this purpose; fortunately, the Hesk don't lay a lot of eggs. The colonists learned about the vicious sharks and revived old technology to create a invisible field that would keep anything that would eat the eggs out. Luck was on their side as the Calcaus don't really care where they breed, just as long as it's near the shoreline, in shallow enough waters to where the young could learn to swim and eat before venturing out into the big blue wet thing, something the Hesk weren't going to do. And this more or less a temporary thing as the head honchos don't want to disrupt the local ecosystem anymore then it is. They don't have the time to build water tanks, but they do have the resources; they just need to finish setting up for winter. Until then, however, this makes for a pretty good retreat, and will be again once mating season for the Hesk is done and they move to the water tanks.

       As Sokuro drew closer, she wondered what she didn't notice them before, but she did have something to worry about, such as being poisoned. And as she got closer, she saw they weren't tall- they weren't even as tall as the trees, so there was no way she could've seen them from Novalle. She imagines they'll get bigger or the colonists will construct some way to get there.

        "Told ya we didn't have to worry about the Calcaus'." Taled chortled as they touched down on the sand. 

        "Yeah... i guess you're right..." She said passingly. She spotted the tent used for Georgia's and Inoute's first meeting the day after first contact. She's surprised it hasn't been taken down yet, but it does belong to the colonists, so maybe it's being reused for something. Their things are multipurpose, for all intents and purposes. There were people here, but none of them were going for a swim; they were technicians making sure the pylons weren't electrocuting everything in a certain radius. "But nobody is swimming or playing. Like i told you, it's too early."

        "You aren't even a little bit interested?"

        Sokuro had more or less had just woken up when she started reading. Only thing she did before then was go to the bathroom, so she is hungry and not having any of Taled's shenanigans today. "No."

        "Fine." He slid off her back and landed on the sand. She began changing back to her Ferid self as he ran off. "I'm gonna go check it out anyway."

        "Yeah, you do that." She said dismissively, with the book still in her hands. Finding a nice, mossy rock to sit down on, she opened the book and started reading once again.

        Reading through several more pages of animals and ruins that aren't on Evioly, she flipped to the next page... and saw something surprising that caught her full attention. It was the door- the same large, gargantuan door she and Bran saw when they were trapped underground. Like everything else in the book, it was rendered in loving detail. The description her parents had wrote read as follows,

        "(With permission from Voul, we were granted access to the mysterious birthplace of all life on Evioly, a place nobody had been since the fall of the ancient Gaharot Empire. Down below, we discovered a massive chamber, rich with life. A ecosystem separate from the surface had risen here, and beyond was a gargantuan cavern that opened up into stone pillars that led on forever, into the mist. Amosit claims to have seen something equally as humongous in the distance, but i didn't see anything; if true, could that have been the enigmatic Umatz himself? He is said to be as big as the world he created. We soon came upon ruins of the ancient Gaharots... and something out of place...)"

        It continued on the next page.

        "(... a door, unlike anything we have ever seen before. This thing was hundreds of feet tall, bare minimum. It was solid gold, with jewels embedded into the frame. We've started calling it the Golden Gate, as there wasn't really a better term for it. Could this be how the Gods came to Dragenia? Through this forgotten artifact of impressive size and scope? If it is, i can see why the Astrals would've wanted to keep this a secret. Anyone could enter their realm. Or was this created instead by the Gaharots? Legends tell that they had technology that we haven't reached yet, capable of amazing and impossible feats. If that was true, then did they build it to try to usurp the Gods? Or to try and gain access to other realms as well? There's nowhere in the Word of Umatz stating that Dragenia is the only world, at least none that  i am aware of....)"

        "If only they knew..." She said to herself.

        "(...regardless, all we can do is speculate as we have no way to activate the Gate, if it can even be activated at all. Amosit discovered something that seemed to be a keyhole, but it is so thin, no modern key would work. It is the same size as the dagger we uncovered at a dig site near Mocurot, so maybe it's the key? We'll never know as we've only been allowed this one time to study the location. Whatever the Gate's true function is, it won't be answered anytime soon.)"

        She was about to move on to the next page when she remembered one of her birthday gifts was a dagger. "Wait... didn't i get one for my birthday...?" She rolled back to the page where the dagger she received was on. It was near the front of the book, but she couldn't remember the exact page. It was- the same shape and design. The information was the same as what she read before, but she never paid much attention to the notes. They were usually just random observations, anyways.

        "(Addendum; further speculation and observation have us determining that maybe the dagger wasn't just a ceremonial piece, but is in fact related to the massive artifact we discovered under Evioly. Imilae believes it to be the key needed to activating the artifact's true function. While they don't share the same gold coloring, they are related in the fact they have jewels embedded into their design, and it's the only thing we've seen thin enough to fit into what we're assuming to be the keyhole. But we'll never find out as repeated requests to enter the Basen have been rejected.)"

        Her eyes widened by this new information, she set the book down and chuckled to herself. She has the key to a unknown gate in her room, gathering dust. Her smiled widened as excitement took her over. There was no way she was going to pass this up, not when she's this close to finishing that mystery her parents started. Velx and the rest of the Astrals will probably be angry when they learn she entered the Basen without express permission, but that's what kept her parents back in the first place, and she was down there before. Not on purpose, sure, but she was down there, with a outsider from another world, no less. And if that giant serpent was Umatz the Creator, then he won't harm them. Legends say he's a pacifist at heart, but not against fighting should the need be absolute. 

        "I need to tell Bran." She closed her book and began to transform. 



        Where was Bran? Well, since this was still into the early hours of the morning, he was still asleep while the adults were waking up to get the day started. He usually woke up to the smell of coffee. He doesn't drink it; the smell just wakes him up from his slumber. Not today as a certain energized friend burst right in, eager to get this mystery answered.

        She skidded in front of his bed and bounced her hands on hiss side and his bed wildly. "Bran, Bran, Bran, Bran, Bran, Bran, Bran, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake uuuuuuuup..."

        He was up, and not at all enthused at what she was doing. "I-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i-i'm u-u-u-u-u-u-u-up..." She stopped bouncing him. His eyes spun like plates as his upper body seemed to keep on bouncing. Worst wake-up call ever. "YEakp... hblutigka...." He shook his head, regaining his sanity. When he saw Sokuro grinning from ear to ear, he got a bad feeling about this already. It's rare for him to see Sokuro this energized, so it can never bold well. "Oh lord...."

        She bounced up and down like a energetic puppy. "Guess what, guess what, guess what!" 

        He could care less about guessing right now. He was having a good dream. "... what time is it...?" He looked at his alarm clock and saw that, for him, it was too early. "... are you kidding me...?" He fell back down and pull his sheets back over him. She rolled her eyes and swiftly pulled the sheets back. "Aaaaare you kidding me?!"

        "I need to tell you something!!"

        "Tell me at noon!" He grabbed the sheets, but she held on tight like a monkey to a branch.

        "But i need to tell you noooooow..." Her feet hit the ground fast enough to pass for the pitterpatter of mice.

        "It can wait till lunch!" She grimaced and grumbled at his resistance. She was not going to wait for him. SHe plopped the heavy book down on his lap, making him exhale loudly as it landed on sensitive materials. It woke him up, though. "Aaaaagh... feeeeeeeeehit...." He whined with a high pitch. He was ready to bean her for dong this particular stunt. "Sokuro.....!"

        "LOOK!" She pointed to the open page.

        "Oh good grief, fine!" Under pained protest, he looked down at the open page and saw the giant door etched into it in loving detail. "....... that's.... the giant door."

        "Yeah! Mom and Dad investigated it!"

        His ears rang from all the shouting she was doing. "Agh. Ok. Ok. Simmer down- you're hurting my ears." She realized how loud she was being and put a finger to her mouth to show him she can stay quiet. Bran picked up the book and looked at it. He can understand the pictures well enough, but not the writing. There's still no visual translator, and nobody's volunteered to teach calligraphy classes yet. "Un... what does it say?"

        "They called it the Golden Gate." She hopped onto his bed and sat down across from him. "They don't know what it is either, but they speculate that it's a doorway to other worlds or even the Realm of the Gods."

        "Well, it's a huge door, right? Doors go places. But... tsh, Dragenian Olympus, that's... that's stretching it a little, right?" She glared at him with lidded eyes. "Sorry."

        "Anyway... that's not all." She flipped the pages back to the dagger and slapped her hand on it. "Behold, the key."

        Now this he found hard to believe. "Really? A knife?"

        "It's the only thing thin enough to fit into the keyhole, they figured. But that's not the best part: I have it! I received it as a birthday present the same day i got my scale! It was one of the few things to survive the fire and me and Taled inherited it. It's in my room right now." He rolled his head back as he closed the book. "Not since the Gaharot Empire has this Golden Gate been opened. This was forgotten to time and history- there's no telling what this leads to!"

       Bran rubbed his tired eyes as her tail wagged wildly in excitement. He never saw that happen before, so she must really be eager to get see what's inside. "You really want to know what's behind that, don't you?" She nodded with a wide smile on her face. "Sokuro....what if this doesn't work? I mean, this all seems astronomical and impossible and--"

        She grabbed his hands and held them tight as her eyes shimmered with emotion. "Bran... please... i need to do this..."

        The puppy dog eyes- it's effective even with other races. He was going to regret this, but it's crystal clear that she wants to do this. "............ sigh, i'm gonna regret this... fine. We'll check it out." She giggled in anticipation. He slid her off his bed by pulling back the sheets towards him. "But before i do anything, i need to eat, dress, and potty, can you let me do that?"

        "Fine. I need to go get the dagger from my room anyway." She ran out the door and back to home as Bran pulled the covers back onto his bed and stood up, stretching his arms into the air.

        He remembered something he had to do first, though. "OH, right, Eia." He checked the time. "Eh... Sokuro can wait a bit..."



        The way Sokuro was wired right now, there was no way she was going to wait for him. Proof: she flew from Novalle to Misken in record time, traveling at speeds accessible only to wind-affiliated Aerids- now where was this speed for her escape during the Koloron? She landed at the dock neatest to the orphanage and changed back, running as fast as her little legs could carry her.

        She burst on in, completely ignoring Vaset and Leoi as they said hi as they ate breakfast and jogged up the stairs as fast as an olympic runner. "What's got her in a hurry?" Vaset asked. Leoi only shrugged and took a bite out of some toast.

        She skidded into her room and bolted straight for her dresser. "Please still be there, please still be there, please still be there..." She moved some of the trinkets aside and found the dagger under a book, acting as a impromptu bookmark. 'Ugh... !" She grabbed the book and put it on top of the Lithograph- that'll work as her bookmark. She grabbed the dagger and clicked in the button on the handle. She pulled it out partially and smiled. "Hope you can see me..." She said to herself as she put the dagger back into the scabbed. 

        She took a few running steps towards the exit when she suddenly stopped, overcome by a out-of-nowhere bout of dizziness. Her vision blurred as her ears rang. "Wh.... what is...." The Phagos bite flared up again; She had difficulty staying on her feet. Even if she did look, her watery vision would not be able to make out the faint rainbow glow coming from her hidden floorboard. "Why do i... feel... so...." She collapsed onto the floor and fainted on the spot. The glow stopped the moment her face touched the floorboards. 


        "Ow. Ow."

        Eia walked out of the infirmary with her head hanging backwards. The soccer ball that hit her yesterday did some damage, cracking her nose and deviating her septum. The doctor in charge was able to repair it, but she was going to have to wear a cast on her nose for the next few weeks. Timing it out, it should be healed by the time they reach the Trading Post. 

        "You're sure i'm not missing any teeth?" She spoke in a nasally tone of voice. It sounded like her nose was plugged and she was sounding like a frog, running her tongue over her teeth. "I feel like i'm missing teeth."

        "You're not missing any teeth." Bran said as he escorted her out of the infirmary. 

        Eia grunted with exhaustion as she sat down on a nearby bench. The anesthesia used seems to be extra-effective on Ferids as she still feels a bit out of it. When she first got it, she was as loopy as a cartoon. After a good nights sleep, most of that loopiness was gone. She still feels as high as a kite, and that was gonna last a while. That didn't stop her from acting like her normal self. "When i catch the punk who hit me with that ball, i'm gonna fry him."

        Bran rolled his eyes as he checked the pain medication the doc gave for her to take. "Well, you were pretty brave in there." He said as he read the instructions, especially since the natives still can't read Milky Way Basic. "Most are still afraid of all our tech."
    
        "It's still going to take some getting used to. I mean, a machine that can see your bones- that just screams of evil sorcery."

        Bran rolled his eyes when he finished reading the instructions. "Ok... you are supposed to take one pain pill a day after dinner, and you're to keep this up until you run out. By that point, it should be healed enough to take the cast off."

        She sat back on her hands, slumping her shoulders over the bench. "I'm guessing there is a reason i can't take them all at once."

        "You would overdose and die."

        "There it is." He handed the bottle of pills to her and she took it. "Can these even work for Ferids?"

        "It should. They're meant to be universal- the other four races can take them, so i don't see why you can't. If it makes you feel any better, a Ferid broke her wrist and she was in so much pain, she took one despite knowing the risks- she pretty much volunteered to be an experiment. Thankfully, she lived, but was a little loopy for a bit too long."

        "I'll take loopy over pain."

        Bran tapped his foot on the ground and checked the time on his phone. "She's taking a bit too long on a simple grab."

        "Huh?"

        "Sokuro- she's taking way too long grabbing..." Bran put his phone to his mouth, wondering if he should tell her. It's not every day you are able to answer an mystery whose answer was lost to time. What's the worst that could happen? It's not like anyone will believe her. To be safe, he'll leave out the mystery arrow and the giant snake; he didn't want to scare her. "Well... i guess i can tell you."

        "Tell me what?"

        Bran sat down next to her, which made her slightly blush. "Well... remember that nasty Ear---- Drageniaquake that happened? The one that trapped me and her inside that giant crevice?"

        "I don't think anyone in the world forgot that quake. But why bring that up?"

        He popped his lips. "Well... we followed a tunnel as she was too hurt to fly and found ourselves in a place called Ty Sokuro Basen." Eia gasped and was going to speak up, but he kept her quiet. "I know, i know, sacred place, i got that hammered in. Anyway... there, we found a gigantic golden door- bigger then anything you'd ever seen. It was taller then the Shattered Rose." Her mouth dropped. Something that huge exists? Shattered Rose and similar ships of its class are the biggest ever built. "We eventually found our way out, wondering what we saw and we just sorta forgot about it. At least i did and i assume she did too. That was until today. She burst into my room and slammed her parents book down. Taking up two pages was that same door. They called it the Golden Gate and believed it could access other realms."

        "And by the sounds of it, i'm guessing Sokuro now knows how to open it."

        "She thinks she does. She got a few relics for her birthday and one of them was a knife. Based on what she read, she thinks it's the key."

        A knife serving as a key? What next- swords shaped like keys? "Is it?"

        "I guess we'll find out, if she ever gets back." He leaned forward and rested his head on his hand as he put elbow to knee. She woke him up for this, and now she's taking far too long for something she was this eager for. Either she got held up or this was a mean joke. He glanced over to Eia, wondering how she was reacting, and saw that she was just sitting silently with her hands on her stomach, not even asking about this. "And you're not questioning any of this? You don't think i'm making this up?"

        "Why would you be making this up? What COULD you gain from making a story like this up?" That's true. "Besides, i have an hour to kill before we depart to Roko Harbor, so even if this is phooey, it'll still eat up time."

        "I guess." He tapped his foot impatiently, glaring up towards Misken. "Do you think you're well enough to fly?"

        "You wanna go see what's taking her so long, don't you?"

        "Am i that transparent?"

        
        A splitting headache, a burning neck, and a ear-grating ring tore through Sokuro's ears as she regained consciousness. Her entire body hurt as she forced her face off the floor. "Ow..." She whispered. Everything about her felt numb, which was concerning, seeing as how she was vibrant no more then a few minutes ago. She leaned back on the end of her bed and panted in pain. "What... hit me...?" She grunted.

       From the hallway came in Bran and Eia, the first of whom was getting ornery he was being, for lack of a better term, stood up. They saw her sitting at the foot of her bed with a big bruise on her forehead, telling them that she fell. "What happened?" Bran asked as he approached. Eia, on the other hand, walked around Sokuro's room.

        "I don't know..." She exhaled. "I grabbed the dagger and was ready to go when i suddenly felt dizzy... next thing, i'm just now waking up with my face in the floor... now i have a splitting headache and my ears are ringing..."

        "Maybe you overdid it with your excitement."

        She rubbed her forehead. "I guess..." She winced. "i do know pain sucks big time..."

        Bran had just the remedy for that. He reached into his pockets and pulled out a box of breath mints. He's saw this done on medical sows before- placebos; sugar pills doctors give patients to trick their mind into thinking they were given magical cure-alls. There's no guarantee it'll work here, but stranger things have happened. He made sure she didn't see the name and pulled out a mint. "Here. This is a pill to help with the pain." Sokuro took it and gulped it down without even thinking. Granted, with how pained her mind feels, how can she think?

        Eia looked around the room her 'rival' lives in, aghast that it's not the pig sty she was suggesting. "This room is quite nice." She commented as she wandered around. "I honestly thought this place was going to be a huge mess."

        "Well, sorry to disappoint you..." Sokuro hissed as she waited for the "pill" to take effect. "And why is she here?"

        "I.... may have told her about the door."

        Figures. Eia's always found ways to get involved with their escapades. ".... of course you did."

        "WHOA!" Eia exclaimed as she held the Lithograph. "This is one ugly fella." She showed it to them. Bran recognized the monster on it from the mural. 

        "Mom and dad left that to me and Taled. It was one of the few things to survive the fire, along with that jar, my locket..." She held up her hand with the knife. "... and this dagger. Hela was holding these until i got my scale."

        Bran spotted a inconsistency in her story, "Wait, i thought you got those for your birthday."

        "I got my scale early. My birthday is so close to Ascension Day, they didn't feel like making me wait another whole cycle until i got my scale. Guess i continue to be lucky, seeing as how i'm now part of a important lineage."

        "So when is your birthday?"

        "Hey." Eia clapped her hands. "Let's focus here. I only got 50 minutes to spend before i have to head back to the Shattered Rose and leave, so i would very much like to get this done. You can continue your discussion on the flight there."

        "Someone's being rude." Feeling a little bit better, Sokuro pushed herself off the floor and onto her feet. "I'm feeling better. Whatever you gave me did the trick." Bran modestly shrugged and waved his hands, while Eia was naturally perturbed she got healed quickly while she has to deal with a broken nose for the foreseeable future. "Come on, then. Let's go get that mystery door open." She walked out the room.

        Bran walked to follow but was stopped by a irritated Eia. "Hold on, you gave her something that heals instantly yet i have to deal with this pain for Velx knows how long?"

        Bran caustically and carefully pulled out the tin, to insure Sokuro didn't see it as he showed it to her. "I didn't give her a real pill." That didn't do much to dissuade Eia's glare. "It's called a Placebo- doctors use it on patients to trick their mind into thinking they were given magical cure-alls, when it's just a fake."

        "That's devious."

        "That's modern medicine and psychology for ya. Well, modern for us, but... you get the point."


        "I'm starviiiiiiiiiiing!!!" Ventus painfully whined as he rubbed his empty stomach.

        Polosa slumped forward, tired of his constant whining. It's only been an hour since they woke, yet he's gotten this bad. "I'm hungry too, but whining about it won't change things." She said as they tiredly made their way down the mysterious tunnels. Their legs were hurting from all this long walking. SHe took a drink out of her canteen and offered it to him.

        He took it and took a drink. Having cold water fall into a empty stomach is a strange feeling. "I knew i should've brought some granola bars, but noooo... i told myself i was gonna be back in a few hours, now i'm stuck down in tunnels dug by some overgrown ferret with a constant need to dig, with someone else who didn't think it wise to pack some food herself."

        "Like i planned for the two of us being stuck down here." She sighed. She saw how far they still had to go and got concerned. They were close to running out of water, and add lack of water on top of lack of food, and she's not feeling too hot about their chances of surviving down here. "I hope we get to the Basen soon- we'll be in big trouble if we run out of water."

        "You just had to remind me." Vent groaned.

        Pebbles fell from above and fell in front of them, forcing the two to stop. They looked up and prayed there weren't about to be buried under rubble. Or worse, a different subterranean monster; there always has to be more then one. 

        The answer came soon as Ventus was suddenly hit on the back and fell to the ground. Polosa looked and chucked when she saw that a cute little and very familiar lizard had fallen onto his back, with its catch in its mouth. It ate it up whole and licked its chops.

        "Why me?" Ventus whined with a face full of dirt. The tiny terror hopped off his back and strode along, feeling mighty fine about itself. He lifted up his head and gave the salamander a glare. "What is that thing?" He snarled.

        "I think that's a Kalamanker."

        "No." He licked his lips, pushing his chest up with his hands. "That's lunch!" His legs spun like wheels as he ran after the little pseudo-dragon. The critter shrieked before running down the tunnel.

        "Ventus!" Polosa shouted as she ran after the animal and the hunter.

        Ventus laughed like a hunger-crazed maniac, ready to put this creature on a spit and roast it over a open fire. The Salamander was a lot faster then it looked and was able to keep a good distance away from the lunatic. Polosa kept pace, but slowed down a tad when she heard something odd coming from the end of the tunnel. It...... sounded like a waterfall.

        "Get in my bellay!!!" Vent shouted as he dived towards the tiny tot. The Salamander dodged it and ran out the tunnel exit, running to the right and out of sight. He got back up and ran again. "Get back here, dinner!" He ran out the tunnel exit, ready to turn and snatch his snack... but stopped the moment he exited. Polosa was right behind him and came to a stop as well.

        The tunnel had opened up into the vast, seemingly impossible underground world Sokuro and Bran had uncovered not too long ago. Like the kids before them, they came out onto a cliff ledge, overlooking the vast array of trees and unknown animals far below them. The entrance to the massive cavern of connected stalagmites and stalactites was to their left, and close enough to where it felt like they were going to be sucked in.

        "Holy..." Ventus gasped, taken aback by how enormous this place was. "... i take it this is Ty Sokuro Basen..."

        "It must be..." She gasped in earnest. "It matches the description the children gave: massive, underground world..." She turned to follow the path and was taken by surprise at yet another impossible sight. Vent heard her gasp and looked in the direction she did and saw something that should be impossible with Dragenia's current level of technology: a gigantic golden door that stretched all the way up to the roof of the cavern. 

        "That... is a big door..." Vent chuckled to himself. He followed the gold all the way up to the roof. "It's almost half as long as the Argo Marquis..."

        "Amazing..." Polosa gasped. "The ancient Gaharots must've built this. Before they were our slaves, they--"

        "I remember the history lesson. They had a empire in ancient times but were overthrown by ancient Ferids. Even so... hoho, wow! That thing should be impossible to make with your current level of technology. That... that has some implications."

        She looked on in marvelous awe before the flapping of wings caught her ear. From the other side of the cavern came two Aerids; one purple in color, the other a very familiar shade of grey. The purple one stopped, likely in awe, but that only lasted a moment. They flew in through another tunnel- likely linked to the crevice up on the surface- and headed straight for the door. "...what's Sokuro doing here?"

        "How can you tell that's even her?" He joked. He glanced over to her to see if she got the joke, only to be met with a angered glare. "... it was a joke. Heh... i do them." He wiped his thumb under his nose. "Well, un... we can always just ask." He walked away from her and towards the kids, wanting to get away from that evil stare.



        When Eia entered the Basen, she experienced the same shock and awe Bran and Sokuro felt weeks ago and what Ventus and Polosa felt now. How can something this grand and magnificent exist under their feet? Such a thing should be impossible. "Whooooa..." She gasped.

        "I know, right?" Bran said as he hitched a ride on her back. "I'm still shocked this place exists."

        "Hey." Sokuro spoke up. "Focus here."

        "Right. Sorry." Eia followed after Sokuro as she made her way towards the giant golden door and the ruined village that surrounded it. "Are those... buildings?"

        "Yep." Bran quickly confirmed. "If this is the origin point of all life on the planet, it would make sense for there to be buildings here. You don't become a world-spanning powerhouse overnight. That takes a lot of time."

        The two dragonesses landed at the entrance to the village and began to change back into their Ferid selves. Bran slipped off Eia's back as sparkles emanated from her. Sokuro ran on ahead, book and dagger in hand before Eia finished transformer. "Wait, Sokuro!" Bran called out, but it was no use. There was no way she was going to listen. 

        "Figures." Eia said as the sparkles stopped and she walked out in her Ferid self. Bran shrugged in reply before the two walked after her. Eia looked up at the ceiling and was just amazed at how high up it was. "How can this place exist? it's so big- it should be impossible. The ceiling alone is higher then the Misken Mesa. And i bet you can fit the entirety of Roko Harbor in here and then some. How can all this exist down here?"

         Bran put his hands behind his head and exhaled. "If i were to take a guess... i would say shifting landmass would be the culprit here. Odds are that this was up on the surface long ago, but a quake or something equally as powerful buried it all the way under here, accessible only by that crevice. Best guess: we're under the ocean. Not even going to try and guess how far down we are or where in relation to both towns it is."

        "I guess that would make sense... there are maps that show Evioly is much bigger then it is now. One even had the Basen labeled." The two rounded a corner on the ruined road and headed straight for the door. They could see Sokuro was already at it, looking between the book and it. "What's the hold up?" Eia asked as they approached.

        "It looks simple: just put it in and turn, but..." She scratched her head with the daggers scabbard. "I honestly feel like i'm forgetting something."

        "Like how you are not supposed to be down here in the first place!?!" Polosa shouted with authority.

        Sokuro nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her voice. The other two kids were shocked as well by the sudden appearance of an adult, though why a Kitsune was with her was a bigger question. "P-Polosa?! How did you--"

        "We fell into a hole yesterday and we've been trapped down here ever since, following tunnels and hoping for a way out." Ventus quickly explained as he poked out from behind. "I'm Ventus, by the way. You can also call me Vent. By the way, do you have anything to eat, cause i am starving!"

        "Ventus!" She commanded. He stopped and stiffened up- this is a new side of her he wasn't expecting. She turned her attention back towards the kids. "Again, why are you down here? This place is off limits, ESPECIALLY to little kids."

        "You're here." Eia mouthed.

        "Not by choice."

        "Wasn't for us the last time either." Sokuro explained. "You remember the story me and Bran told. We just... didn't explain everything."

        "Like this giant door?" She gestured to the enormous entryway.

        "Yeah. The Golden Gate. People already have a hard time believing me and i'm a dang Silver. You think they were going to believe there was a giant door down here made out of gold and covered in jewels? Or that a giant snake that could swallow Misken in one gulp possibility teleported us out of here?"

        "Say what?" Eia and Ventus said in unison.

        "Look, Polosa, i know i'm not supposed to be down here- i get that, and this was gone from my mind for some time, but..." She held up the book. "I got this back in Meoho. The village chief was holding on to it after it was accidentally left behind. It belonged to my parents- they were archaeologists and with Voul's permission, he allowed them to investigate the Basen. They saw the Golden Gate, as they called it, and were mesmerized with wanting to solve its mystery, but their visit was for one time only... then they died, and......" She went silent for a moment, feeling she should show her her wound, but that would probably make force Polosa to stop her. "...again, i know i'm not supposed to be down here, but... but i want-- no, i need to do this."

        Polosa stayed silent for a moment. She remembers Sokuro's parents well- they were nice people. It was a tragedy that they died in that horrible fire. But even so, "Sokuro, i get where you are coming from, but this is still forbidden."

        "But she's a Silver, right?" Vent absentmindedly mentioned. "Doesn't that give them, like, free reign to do whatever they want?"

        "No. They may be powerful signs of changes to come, but they aren't exempt from the law... though those born into royalty are a pain in the ass..."

        "Ok. But then... what if opening this brings about that great change?"

        "I think we're that change, Ventus." Bran commented. "New neighbors from the stars that put a wrench into established religion and mythologies counts."

        Vent crossed his arms. "So there's a rule saying there can only be one change per Silver?" Everyone remained silent as the thought never really crossed their minds. There is no rule or records saying that a Silver can bring about only one great change to the world. "That's what i thought."

        Polosa thought about what she should say next. "... e-even so, how can you be sure this will work?"

        "I don't." She looked down at the dagger in her other hand. "But i have to try."

        "What if it opens to some dark dimension housing all manner of monsters?"

        "Then we close the door back up and fight whoever comes through before hand." Eia said with gusto at the prospect of fighting a unknown beast. "We have three Aerids here, and one of them is a Silver. And the colonists amazement should make mincemeat out of any that come their way anyways. Right?" She asked Bran.

        "Un, right." They didn't do much on the Phagos.   


Begin Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD7H6K_-WQM Temple Secrets - Assassin's Creed 3 Soundtrack



        Polosa rubbed the back of her neck with both hands. She had a really bad feeling about this. Something about this just feels it could go bad at any moment, but Sokuro is a determined lass and if she says know, she'll sneak back down here again when nobody is around to try this. And as they said, she's a Silver- she has powers Polosa can only dream about. "....... i'm going to regret saying this, but... fine.... just... hope you don't open up into a hellscape..."

        "I don't even know how this thing ultimately works, but i'll try..."

        Sokuro turned to the door and took deeply exhaled to relieve some stress. She looked back to her friends. Bran gave her a thumbs-up while Eia pursed out her lips and puffed out her cheeks. She returned her attention to what she hoped was the keyhole and steeled herself. Even if this fails, she needs to prove to her parents she isn't hopeless. 

        "Well... let's hope this works." She clicked in the button on the handle and pulled out the dagger. The blade shined in the natural light from the monstrous cavern far away, catching her reflection. She took another deep breath and steeled herself. "This is for you, mom and dad..."
        She approached the keyhole and inserted the dagger. It was a clean fit and it sounded like something clicked inside. Working off the logic this was still a key, she turned it to the left.

        Nothing happened. 

        So she turned it to the right.

        Ventus twisted his lips, not wanting to be that guy, but it needed to be said. "... nothings happen--"

        A soft white light emanated from the keyhole, coalescing around the inserted dagger before slowly spreading out. A deep rumble came from the door itself, prompting Sokuro to stand back.

        The white light spread outwards, snaking its way up the frame. Spreading like mystical runic vines, the light curled around the many, many jewels embedded in, making them glow their appropriate colors. The same was true on the other side of the frame as white light snaked up like vines and illuminated the gems as well. 

        Sokuro backed all the way up to her friends, their mouths agasp at the sight that was slowly gaining life for the first time in... Voul knows how long. Their eyes light up in the myriad array of colors that slowly lit up. 



        All the way in Misken, Velx's eyes darted open in panic as he sensed the activation of the Golden Gate. Not just him, but all the other gods sensed it as well. It had been reborn, something they hoped had ended so many years ago. "No..." He gasped. Without a word, he quickly took flight, hoping to get there before anything horrible were to happen, his abrupt actions confusing Fayin, who was on his back clearing his wing sockets. 



        All the gems on the door frame all glowed brightly for the first time in eons as the methodically growing vines soon merged into one and were absorbed into the jewel at the tiptop of the door. The jewel shined like a rainbow, painting the entire Basen in its light.

        A single sliver illuminated down from the top jem, cutting though the voidless center of the gate. Reaching the bottom, it slowly expanded outwards, eventually reaching the edges.

        For the first time in countless generations, the Golden Gate had been reactivated.

        Everyone present were stunned by the gorgeous and stylish showcase of light, none more so then the one who brought it to be in the first place. "It worked..." Sokuro breathlessly gasped. A smile slowly creeped across her face as tears formed in her eyes. "They were right..." She shivered.

        Down at the keyhole, a hatch opened up beside it. Green lights shown within it, formulating symbols in a matter similar to a number pad. Below that, a device extended out, once again with green light coming from it.


End song.


        "I... don't believe it..." Eia gasped, awestruck that she wasn't pulling her leg. "It really worked..."

        Wiping the tears from her eyes, Sokuro jogged back over to the keyhole and towards the new things that had appeared. When she arrived, she opened up the book and looked through it for any new information that could be. "And i thought the Akashiacka Lights from Korval was the most beautiful thing i would ever see in my life..." Bran gasped with a chuckle. "That was amazing..."

        "I've seen better, kid..." Ventus laughed back. "But this is in the top 5, easy. And when were you at Korval?"

        "Field Trip."

        Polosa was just as stunned as the rest of them. She thought her first transformation was beautiful, but this... this was something else. She shook her head to snap out of it; she couldn't linger too long. "We should still be careful. There is no telling what this opened up to."

        The four of them approached Sokuro, who was jotting down notes in her parents journal. She copied the symbols into the book... but couldn't go anywhere with it as she had no idea what they mean or represent. "Um... does anyone know what these symbols are?"

        Polosa: "Nope."

        Eia: "No."

        Ventus: "Not a clue. If this thing is as old as you think it is, that language must be long dead." Bran approached the new additions and looked at them. Vent rolled his eyes back into his heads. "Come on, kid- if i don't know them, you don't either. I don't remember those being used in the local alphabet."

        "It's not the symbols. It's how their arranged." He pulled out his phone and flipped it on, going straight towards the call function. "Look at this." He held it up next to the number pad that appeared. "This looks just like the call pad on my phone."

        Eia came in close and looked between the two. "That is scary..."

        Bran nodded rapidly before moving aside to the thing that came out. "And look at this thing- this suspiciously looks like a keyboard."

        "Upgrade that to really scary."

        Polosa cautiously stepped forward with crossed arms. Ventus stayed behind as he got distracted by a certain little lizard that brought them here. He stuck out his tongue and snuck over to the observing scaley minx. "So whoever made this... must've been as advanced as the colonists, or perhaps more. But... what does that mean?"

        Sokuro spoke up. "It means that either the ancient Gaharots were more advanced then we remember... or the colonists weren't the first visitors from beyond the skies, or it could be some third option we're not thinking off. Whatever the case, this is just astonishing that this even exists to begin with."

        Eia leaned on the door, making sure it was on some part that wasn't important, and looked at the devices. She spotted an open slot that didn't have any glows, save for a shelf. "Hey, what's this one do?" She pointed to it.

        "Oh, right." Bran remembered. "We saw this the last time we were down here. We theorized that they must've used items to travel- sort of like using them as guideposts. Looking at all these options, i guess they had more then one way to travel to use... which would make sense. What if there was a world you want to go to but you didn't have the item from there?"

        "Get back here lunch!" Ventus shouted. They all looked in his direction and saw that he was chasing the Kalamanker once again. Polosa groaned a sigh as she pinched her eyes. Like before, he dove to catch the tiny drake, but instead skidded in the dirt. The creature leaped into Sokuro's arms, who was shocked by that. "Dangit!"

        "Ventus!" Polosa exclaimed.

        "Pearl!?!" Sokuro and Bran exclaimed in shocked surprise as they recognized the little one. 

        "Whaaaaaat?" He whined. "I'm starving- i need something to eat baaaaaaad!" He got distracted when he looked up at the keyboard. "So... now what? Do we just step through and see where this takes us, like a restaurant, or..."

        "ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!" Velx slammed down in the town, making the ground shake and scaring everyone in the process. The shaking made Fayin slide off and roll to the group, much to her chagrin. She got no say in being dragged along so quickly. It also made Ventus bounce, smashing his back into the keyboard, turning the green light red.

        "L-Lord Velx!!" Polosa and Eia exclaimed in shock. Sokuro stepped forward and spoke,  "I'm sorry for disobeying the rules, Lord Velx, but i just needed to--

        "Step away from that right now!!!" He proclaimed loudly. They were all taken aback by his sudden anger. They have never seen him this furious before. Even when he fought the Phagos, he kept a calm head. This... this is scary. 

        Ventus rubbed his back and felt something shock it, making him jump up. He looked back and saw that the keyboard was sparking. "Un... should it be doing that?" He spoke up, catching everyone's attention once again. The light on the number pad turned red as well. Red spread along the vines as well, painting the door in a foreboding color. ".... oooooooooh, i did something bad..." In fear, he pulled out the dagger, hoping it would do something. He was not supposed to do that as the door gave a loud horn as the crystal at the top turned blood red, as did the glowing entryway. 

        Velx's eyes went wide. It's just like last time. "Get away from it!! Now!!!!"

        But it was too late. The entry quickly became like a vortex, turning into a ominous spiral that generated a hurricane-force pull. They were caught off guard by it. Before they knew what was going on, the winds picked up and dragged in Sokuro, Bran and Eia, as they were the closest to the vortex. Sokuro grabbed hold of the doorframe with one hand and held onto the lizard with another. 

        Polosa slammed one of her knives into the ground to keep herself from being dragged in, but there was no way a knife was going to last long against the pull of the winds. Her knife slipped out of the ground and she slammed into Ventus, launching them both into it as well. Velx dug his claws in to keep himself from being dragged in as well.

        Sokuro hung on for dear life, but her fingers were slipping away, as was her grip on Pearl. Fayin came screaming in and grabbed hold of her foot, digging her claws into the shoes to keep hold. It was painful, but she wasn't in much of a position to argue, but it was a losing battle as her fingers were hurting like crazy. The lizard slipped out of her hands and hit Fayin in the face, forcing the clueless Gaharot to let go and be sucked into the vortex as well.

        Her hand free, she held onto the doorframe with both, struggling not to let go as the pull got stronger and stronger. Using all her strength, she pulled herself upwards towards the frame, grunting with each movement as the pull was getting stronger still. The back of her neck flared up again from the poison- the strongest one yet. She yelled in pain as it distracted her long enough to let go. She realized teh folly of her mistake too late as she was sucked in as well, yelling in both pain and fear as she disappeared from sight.

        Velx held on as long as he could, which could be forever, given his godly stature. He just had to run out the clock- with the dagger out, it would only stay open for a few more seconds. He was right on the money as the vines faded away, as did the glows in the jewels and the pads. The vortex grew smaller and smaller before it finally poofed out of existence. Once the wind stopped, he pulled his claws out of the ground and jumped over the buildings to the gate. 

         "No... no no no no no no no..." 

        Calcota, one of his fellow gods, appeared in a flash of light and saw him staring in shock at the Golden Gate. "Velx, what just happened?!" He demanded. "We sensed the Silver and several others vanish completely!"

        "........ she inherited her parents curiosity... and it got the better of her..." He turned to look at him, still shocked. "She mindlessly activated the Gate... and she and several others, my handmaid included and two of the colonists, were sucked in. I don't know where they ended up..." He looked down at the broken keyboard. It didn't go in when the gate deactivated. "... i don't think they even knew how to use this..."

        "........" Calcota silently landed and approached the gate. He's normally the fight first, ask questions later kind of person, so this is beyond his expertise. "So.... what do we do...?"

        The two of them looked towards the Gate. ".... pray they return safely from... wherever they end up..."

32: Tales from Dragenia: Lost Souls

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MImLykfXXck  Want you by Rynx

0:00. 
        
        *Camera pans up from a valley of trees and untamed life, towards a cliff face at the edge of the underground world*

        Nestled deep underground, untouched for eons, rests the gigantic and mysterious Golden Gate, surrounded by ancient buildings that have crumbled away. 

        Lights in the shape of vines slowly rose up the sides of the door, curling around embedded gems like snakes to prey, causing them to glow. The light vines reached the top, causing the bismuth gem at the top to glow as bright with all the colors of a rainbow.

        A streak of light came down from the top and slowly spread, opening up like a gate.

        *slow but dramatic zoom into the white light*

0:14.

        *amidst a swirling rainbow cacophony of colors, Tales from Dragenia x Tales of Silverwind briefly appear in black*

        *The titles dissolve away into sparkly dust, coming apart before merging back together into the main title*

        Tales from Dragenia: Lost Souls

 

0:33. 

        *Against the backdrop of the setting sun, with light slowly illuminating everyone*

        Sokuro curled up underneath a single tree, somberly looking away. Her parents book clutched tight in her arms as tears welled up in her eyes. She buried her face in the book to her her sadness.

        Around the tree, Bran and Eia stood back to back with a thin rock between them- two souls from two different civilizations. Eia reached back to grab his hand, but Bran motionlessly stood there.

        Fayin, the only Gaharot among them, curled up by a root, shivering in fear. Pearl, the little animal, was curled up in a small cave, shivering just as well. She saw the scared Fayin and came out, curling up in her arms, which Fayin held tight.

        Sitting atop a boulder, Polosa angrily checked her crossbow. Below her on the other side, Ventus reloaded his custom sniper rifle, stuffing a round into the chamber. He glared to the camera as he pushed the bolt action back in.

        The seven of them suddenly appeared underground, with their backs to the gate. They moved their heads, wondering how they got here. The gems upon the gate suddenly turned red and the doorway turned into a raging vortex that sucked in everything around.

        The group stood no chance of standing up the hurricane-force winds as they were pulled in against their will. 

0:51. 

        Ventus, Polosa, Fayin, Pearl, Eia, Bran, and Sokuro, in that order, fell in a spiral, down into a mind-numbingly tunnel of rainbow colors admit ethereal clouds.

        Chains appeared out of nowhere and wrapped around everyone's waists, except for Sokuro. 

        They were dragged away into portals that vanished from sight the moment they were pulled in. 

        Sokuro reached out to grab one of them, but had no chance of grabbing them that quick.

        Chains appeared around Sokuro and dragged her down the tunnel. Her scale glowed and engulfed her in sparkles. When she emerged, she doned her Aerid form and broke the chains. A hard rainbow glow erupted from her wings. With a flap, she flew down the tunnel

1:12. 

        
        From skies up above, she emerged out of nowhere. In her high speeds, she was unable to slow as she slammed into someone. 

        Both tumbled over the other as they crashed down into a beach, kicking up sand as they skidded along, streaking a trail for some distance.

        Sokuro flipped forward onto her back, a look of pain painted on her face. She rolled onto her front as the one she accidentally slammed got up as well. 

        Her eyes met the eyes of another Aerid- a dragon. But to her surprise, the other was Silver colored as well, with some differences. The bottom of his wings, his underbelly, and his horns were as yellow as the sun. Three little yellow blades came out his tail, giving it the appearance of a flame.

        He reared back in fear before flying off, leaving her puzzled as he took to the skies.

1:31. 

        
        In the middle of a forest, Bran woke up to find himself surrounded by draconian guards, with Pearl hiding within a nearby tree.

        Elsewhere in the same forest, Polosa woke up, rubbing hear head. She looked up and came face to face with a two headed tiger-like creature, who roared in her face.

        In a third part of the forest, Fayin leaped to avoid being seen by dragons who were searching for her for malicious intents.

        Out on a distant island, Eia soundly slept without a care. A scaled blue paw came down beside her, gently bending the grass without waking her up.

        Chained up to a wall with irons on his hands, Ventus opened his eyes and angrily glared up at the draconic figured that entered his cell. 

        *Dramatic line down the middle with two busts back to back*

        Velx and a emerald-colored menacing dragon stood back to back to each other, with Velx looking down in fear and shame, while the emerald dragon turned his head with a villainous scowl.

 

        The silver and yellow dragon sat by himself, isolated from everyone else. From behind, a pair of claws turned his frown into a smile. He pulled his head back to see a pair of red and brown dragons grinning from ear to ear.

        The cliff beneath them opened up, making the three of them drop into the open arms of three brown dragons, who were standing on another cliff face. The weight was unexpectedly strong as it gave way, making the six of them drop once more, this time not by choice or design.

        the six of them fell into a spring where a green dragoness and a red and orange dragon were taking a relaxing bath together. The splashdown created a small tidal wave that carried the eight of them out onto a grassy field.

        the group of friends stayed silent for a moment before breaking out into fits of laughter, all except the red and orange dragon, who scowled at the lot of them.

 

 

        Far away on a distant island, surrounded by fog and shrouded in mystery, a glow came from underground.

        In the shadows of a underground city, mysterious monsters slithered and moved admist the corners, surrounding a Golden Gate as it slowly opened up.

        *Rapid zoom into the gate*

1:59.

        *dark clouds rumble overhead as rain falls*

        Sokuro, in her Aerid form and surrounded in a white light, streaks through the air, crashing into the side of a flying metal ship, piercing it from one side to the other. Explosions ripped out of it as she streaked towards another high above.

        Polosa, also in her Aerid form, brought her front right leg up and made it glow green before swinging it, unleashing a blade of air that tore through the masts of everything for miles.

        Ventus ran atop a exposed giant root, leaping over enemies decked in advanced armor. He leaps over one before spinning around to roundhouse kick the baddie in the head. In that same kick, he brought up his sniper rifle and fired a round into the one behind him.

        Bran, with Pearl in his arms, ran along a similar root, but was more running away from the bad guys rather then fighting. He leaped over a thorny bush, which the bad guys stopped at. He turned and fired his stun gun, causing the bush to erupt and launch the thorns up, piercing the baddies. He spun again and tossed Pearl at an armored baddies head, biting on his helmet like a rapid animal. 

        With a snarled look on her face, Fayin leaped down onto  a soldier, sinking her claws deep into the chest. She spun around and launched the soldier into a group coming up on her, knocking them down like bowling pins. During that same spin, she sliced her claws in a upward motion, slicing into one last soldier.

        Energy swirling around her, Eia, in her Aerid form, spun up into the air, climbing as high as she could. Reaching the clouds, she spread her wings and legs as wide as they could and roared. She unleashed a powerful and devastation bolt of lighting, stricking the ground and unleashed a nasty shockwave of dirt and stone.

 

        The group once again fell through the rainbow clouds. The clouds parted, revealing rows of millions upon millions of Golden Gates.

        A surge of energy separates them all, propelling them through other gates and separating them once more.
        

2:38. 

        Sokuro found herself floating a black void of nothingness, with no light in sight.

        Her feet touched solid ground, upon which rainbow-colored light suddenly erupted from beneath. The light curled into two circles, forming the Infinity symbol.

        in the center of the connected circles was a mysterious artifact enveloped in such bright light, what it was couldn't be seen. 

        In the other circle was a figure in a brown robe, his face obscured by the hood. The figure raised his head, smiling evilly.

        Sokuro took a step towards the artifact and the figure when her neck suddenly erupted into pain, making her fall to the floor. Green shadows came from her bite wound and encircled her. The shadow soon took shape, forming into dozens of Phagos, all of which looked at her with a hunger.

        She got up and backed up to the center, panting in fear.

        The figure stretched out his hand and swung it.

 

2:57. 

        The Phagos all dissolved back into green smoke and swirled around her like a tornado before rushing to the robed figure. 
    
        The smoke turned to sparkles and the figure grew, and grew, and grew.

        Soon enough, he towered over the fearful Sokuro as a unseen monster.

        She clutched her locket tight, steeling herself as the only thing capable of fighting this monstrosity. Her scale glowed and enveloped her in sparkles.

        her Aerid form erupted out, spreading her wings wide. Flames enveloped her front left paw as she threw a punch. The mystery monster did the same. The two powers collided, creating a catastrophic effect that led to a massive explosion that engulfed all.

 

        the mysterious artifact, the same unknown arrow Sokuro had found, fell deep into the void, pulsing as it did, eventually fading out of sight....

33: Chapter 30: ... to a World of Parallels

Chapter 30

...to a World of Parallels 

???

 

        Storm clouds whipped overhead. Violent winds tore through the landscape of a distant island, far off the mainland. Trees lurched and creaked in the wind. A palm leaf was ripped off a nearby tree and slapped against the wall of a huge home made of mud and stone.

        Inside one of the many rooms, someone was having trouble sleeping, not fro the storm outside, but a storm internally. A young dragon, silver in color on his main body, and yellow on his wings, row of spines, sharp horns and claws, and tail blade, tossed and turned in his sleep, mumbling something as sweat dripped down his face.

        "Erah... no.... no...." 

        Images flashed through his mind, images of that day. They were still as fresh as they were a year ago. 

        "No.. no no... stop..."

        Images of destruction. Something.... happened to him, something horrible that scarred him psychologically and mentally.

        "Stop... stop..."

        The last image seen was of him, his back arched in pain as energy erupted out of him, creating a massive explosion in the shape of a glowing dome, a explosion that stretched for miles.

        "STOP!!!" He yelled, shooting up off his back. He panted heavily and rapidly out of fear and regret as sweat drenched his entire body. 
"Oh gods..." He held a paw to his head, still panting heavily. "Why... why do i keep having them...?" He pulled the blanket off of him and left his room to clear his mind.

        He stepped out into the storm, letting the water from the rain wash the sweat away. He continued to pant as he put his back to the wall and slid down to his rear, quivering in fear.

        "Breath in.. breath out... breath in... breath out... that's what they said... breath in... breath out..." He followed his vocal advice and took in deep inhales and exhales, going well into the night until he finally fell back to sleep, this time peacefully.


        
        Hours later, morning came. Water dripped down from flows, grass, tree leaves, and the crops in a nearby field. The Silver-and-Yellow dragon had returned to his room after he had calmed down, but he was soaking wet when he came in, and when he shook off the water, he got the dining room soaking wet, something his roommates had to clean up. What also didn't help is that he had the door open.

        One of them, a pretty green dragoness with yellow stripes running down her back, emerald-colored horns and tail blade, and a brown underbelly and leg & nose plates, yawned as she walked into the room that triples as a kitchen/ dining room/ living room and saw that the twins- both male with orange scales covering their heads and back and brown everywhere else- were wiping up the mess. 

        Standing at a stove was a gorgeous blue dragoness, whose scales shined like sapphires in the sunlight, as she was making breakfast for everyone. Her scales were as light blue as the sky, while every other part of her body was as dark as the depths of the sea. She was also far older then everyone in this home. Despite her kind and caring nature, she had the look of a seasoned warrior.

        "Why are the twins moping?" She grumbled as she rubbed her eyes.

        "Water from the storm came in last night." The older dragoness replied. Her voice as as soft and as smooth as silk- again, not what her outer looks would imply. "Not sure how- we had the entrance covered."

        "I think i know." The green dragoness replied as she sat at the table. There were five glasses of water on it. They didn't have chairs to sit on, but they had cushions. "I heard Sil shouting in his sleep last night. He was having another nightmare."

        The blue dragoness sighed forlornly. "Poor thing... it's been a year, and he's still suffering..." The meat on the pan sizzled as she brought the heat, igniting the stove- a tower of stones put together like a pyramid- by activating the crystal within it. "Hopefully some food will cheer him right up."

        "I swear, you should open a restaurant..." The green dragoness passingly commented. "Should i go wake him up? You're busy and you sure can't send maniac and crazy here to do it."

        "HEY!" The twins shouted.

        "Well, it's true." The green one commented as she got up and went back down the hallway she came up.

        She peered into his room and found him fast asleep in bed, drool falling out of his mouth and turning the pillow wet. "If only he was this sound a sleeper all night..." She said to herself. Despite his slumber, she strode on in without worrying about waking him up- that's what she came in to do, after all. She wrapped her tail around the curtain and pulled it open, allowing sunlight to peer in and strike him in the face. His eyelids twisted as he dug into his pillow. "Up and at 'em, sleepy head!"

        "No..." He groaned, digging his head into the pillow. "Me wanna sleep..." 

        "Too bad, lazy bones." She used her tail to pull the blanket down. Without opening his eyes, he reached down, grabbed it, and pulled it back over. She rolled her eyes and crossed her front legs as she stood on her hind legs. "Sil, I'm not going anywhere."

        "Then you'll see me sleep for the next 15 hours..." She twisted her lips as she tapped her clawless toes on her forearms. Every single day... She knew how to wake him up, though. She grabbed him by the ankles and pulled him out from under his blanket and into the hallway. "....... i hate you, Seqy."

        "You know you love me."

        At the same time, one of the twins approached a pedestal that had a crystal floating over it. On the pedestal were several plate-sized knobs. He stopped what he was doing and messed with the knobs, going through the frequency's like a radio. "Hey, put on Emerald Corsair!" His brother exclaimed. "I wanna know if he's gonna survive being eaten by the serpent."

        "Not a chance." He continued spinning the knobs. "I'm putting this on Captain Agile!"

        His identical twin scowled at him before tossing the mop aside. "Emerald Corsair!" He demanded as he approached to do it himself. 

        "No, Captain Agile! Sheesh."

        The brothers snorted smoke in each others face. Next thing they knew, they were on the ground, playfully wrestling with each other over control of the radio. 

        The blue dragoness slowly shook her head and sighed. "Not again..." She put down the plates and approached the battling brothers. She slammed her legs down, creating a small shake that made them stop. They looked up at her like helpless kittens. "That's enough, you two! It's too early in the morning for this!"

        "But Ms. Alua..." They whined in unison.

        "No buts." She approached the radio and switched it to the channel she wanted. It was only playing commercials at the moment, but it'll come on soon enough. "Since you can't come to a compromise, we're putting it on the news." The twins whined again, falling onto their backs in defeat. 

        Alua slowly shook her head at them before returning to the stove. She saw Seqy dragging a protesting Sil down the hall, making her sigh again as she pinched the bridge between her eyes. "Stars above, give me strength..."

        "He wouldn't wake up." Seqy explained as she brought him all the way to the table. "So i dragged his sorry butt out of bed."

        Sil held up a single paw with one claw sticking up. "Under protest!!" He pulled his legs out of Seqy's grip and got up off his back. "That hurt, you know."

        "Then next time, wake up." She booped him on the nose before taking her seat once again. He stuck his tongue out at her as he took his, which was at the end of the table. Sil put a paw up onto the table and rested his head on it. Alua went back to cooking up enough food for everyone. "What smells good?"

        "I'm cooking up some Alnerian bacon and some Alnerian steak. Just the basics- didn't want to do anything fancy today. Storm kept me up all night."

        "Couldn't find a suitor last night?" One of the twins joked, prompting playful elbow jabbing from his brother.

         That was so out of left field, Alua nearly fell over. That was a loaded question and a half. She kept silent for a moment, nor really sure what to say to a question like that. "Uh... heh... m-my personal life isn't something you children should be joking about." She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Moving on... breakfast is ready. Take a seat, you two." The twins playfully jabbed each other as they listened to her and sat down at the table. These two are always so wild and aggravating. Sil and Seqy still have no clue how the caretaker puts up with them, but she has the patience of a saint to have done so for so long

        Speaking of Sil, he withdrew himself from the world. He stared off into space, tapping a claw on his cheek as he blankly stared out through the window on the far side. He long dreamed of leaving, leaving to far off places and sparing everyone the misery of being associated with him. He knows everyone in the orphanage is putting up with him out of obligation, especially after what happened last year... 

        He was brought back to reality when his plate was put in front of him. "Eat up." Alua said with a smile.

        "Un, thanks." 

        As everyone began to eat their breakfast, the news report on the radio finally began to play.

        "{Good morning, Nexia- i am Forgali of the The Nayan Herald and this is today's news. 

        Today's Topic: "Isolation: 70 Years Without Contact With The Outside World"

        Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the Isolation, where all outside communications with the rest of the world were suddenly and mysteriously silenced without any warning. The mysterious event have left all of Naya without any way to communicate to other continents, leaving many to wonder if they still exist and not destroyed in some terrible calamity. Many Nayan's visiting overseas have been presumed lost since then. Are we and our neighbors of North and South Alneria the only ones left behind? If so, why were we spared? Were we just lucky?

        Scientists have been hard at work seeking answers... but after seven decades, no results have yet to bare any fruit, leading many to give up and presume that we truly are alone. Many left on expeditions to find the sudden long-lost lands, in hopes that we are not alone, despite knowing the dangers the outside world held before hand. None ever returned. i think i speak for everyone as we pray for their safe return, or a peaceful rest.

        General Termundus had this to say on the subject when we approached him about this just last year: "We can all still listen to the absolute silence from those who we trusted, those who were close to us... this is just another reminder that we can only depend on us... no one else shall come to save us... yet even when abandoned we can't let this events just fill us with dread... Do i believe the countries that stopped responding to us still exist? Yes. But after seven decades, it's clear they do not wish to talk to us, and if that be the case, let them. With or without them, Naya will remain the greatest in the world, and Nexia, its greatest state."

        So tomorrow, be sure to come to Lexcial Square in Nexia Port for the memorial.
    
        Coming up next, "Beauty Tips from Madame Scaloris, How To Capture Your Mate".}"

        "You should take notes on that one, Seqy." One of the twins snickered with a wheeze. She scrunched up her face at his rude joke. "You could use some tips- don't wanna keep Selilox wanting." He wheezed a laugh.

        She responded by flinging her eggs into his face. "Shut up, Piracus." She huffed as he licked it all up with his tongue. As she returned to her attention to her food, she saw that Sil hadn't touched it- he was just messing with his fork, absentmindedly pushing it back and forth with his claw. "You ok, Sil?"

        He blinked as he somewhat returned to reality. "Yeah..." 

        "Long night?"

        He glanced over to her with glazed over eyes without stopping messing with the fork. ".... you could say that..."
    
        Seqy and Alua shared concerning glances with each other, worried sick about him. He has never been stable since last year- nightmares on a daily basis, being continually withdrawn from the world, a world that hates his guts. They can't help but be concerned. "You know you can talk to us about it, right?"

        Sil stayed silent in his response. He really didn't want to talk, nor does he ever want to. "I'm going for a flight..." He got up from his cushion and headed for the door. 

        "But you didn't eat anything." Alua spoke, gesturing to his full plate.

        "I'm not hungry." Once he stepped out the door, he spread his wings as wide as they could go, and with one flap took to the air.

        "Poor kid..." Alua sadly sighed, feeling helpless. 

        "Dibs on his food." Piracus' brother proclaimed as he snatched Sil's plate.

        "Not a chance!" Piracus exclaimed as he grabbed the plate as well. The two brothers tugged back and forth for ownership of the plate and its contents. 

        "Piracus! Firacus!" Alua shouted in a demanding voice. The twins were completely still for a moment, not wanting to incur her wrath. They put the plate back where it was and sat back down like good little angels. She somberly rubber her forehead. "Sorry for snapping at you, boys... i'm just worried about Sil... he seems to get more and more withdrawn every day..."

        Seqy had an idea to help: something that would boost his spirits. "I have an idea: it's almost his birthday, right? How about we throw him one heck of a shindig- one he'll never forget. We get him his favorite dinner, a few good games, invite some people who don't hate his guts. It'll be a epic blowout. Whadya say?"

        Alua grabbed her fork and took a bite of her steak. "At this point, i'm willing to try anything. I've exhausted all my ideas." She took another bite. "We just need something to cheer him up. To get him out of this horrible rut."



        Waves crashed upon the shore, birds chirped in the air, and the sun rose on yet another day... so why does this feel so weird?         Feeling a warm breeze wash over her face, Sokuro awoke from deep slumber. Her legs felt warm, as if they were covered by something that wasn't a blanket. She mumbled under her breath as she forced her eyes to open. The first thing she saw that day was an eye the size of her staring back. The eye was connected to some sort of strange, mutant crustacean- it had the legs and pincers of a crab, but the body of... something that faced one way so there was no shimmying, headed by a reptilian-style head with razor teeth.

        blink blink

        Sokuro yelped as she bounced up and crawled backwards, away from whatever this foul thing was. She had pulled her legs out of sand- she could feel it against her feet in her boots. She had backed from the truck-sized crab, all the way towards a tree. She panted in fear, wondering just what that thing staring at her was. She nearly jumped out of her skin when a coconut fell in front of her.

        The crab thing skittered and made a strange rolling noise before scampering off to who-knows-where. In the direction it went off, she saw a humongous root sticking out of the shoreline, stretching all the way out to the sea.

        Sokuro's heart raced a mile a minute- just what in Umatz's name was that thing?! There is no species on Dragenia that even REMOTELY looks like that. There aren't even any crabs near Misken. 

        ....... nor are there coconuts.

        She peered up where the coconut fell from and saw thick, large leaves that are excellent for providing shade. She was underneath a palm tree... and there are none on Evioly. The only island near the sub-continent that was tropical in nature was across the Divide. 

        Another of the crab things started crawling down the tree. Sokuro yelled as she ran away from the tree and back out onto the sand. Palm trees, palm trees, palm trees- it was nothing but palm trees and that humongous root. Fearing some of those crab things were in her boots, she took them off and poured the sand out of them. "Oh no... oh no no no no no no no, tell me this isn't happening..." Lucky for her, only sand came out. She breathed a huge sigh of relief, rolling her head back onto her shoulders.

        "Ok, think Sokuro, think..." She told herself as she started putting them back on. "There has to be a explanation for all of this..." She got one on as she thought back on what led to this. "We opened the Gate, and then we were... sucked in... but to where? To other parts of the world?" She slipped on the second shoe and saw her parents book sticking out of the sand. She exhaled another sigh of relief as she jogged over to it. "Well... at least something good is coming out of this..." She grabbed it and pulled it up... but something kept it still. She pulled again- it was attached to something, alright. "Ok, what is this malaka?" She stopped for a moment. "... what did i just say...?" She shook her head- she has enough on her plate right now. "Great- first i get displaced, now colonist words are coming out of my mouth... what next, a monster?"

        She should've kept her mouth shut as when she pulled up the book out of the sand, it was attached to a claw of one of those weird crab things. Unlike the last one, which seemed docile enough and was half as big as her, this one was twice as big and looked angry, like she had forced it awake. "... you wouldn't happen to be related to the other crab thing, would you...?" She yanked it out of the claws, making it snarl. 




        Sil flew over the massive root that served as a bridge between his home on the island and the mainland. He flew slowly, like he had lost everything in the world and was just going through the motions. What was even the point if everybody hates him? He was ready to just leave and never come back.

        Reaching the mainland, he landed on the beach, wanting some alone time away from everyone right now. Why bother going into town, anyway? They're all going to ridicule and berate anyway. He curled up into a ball and sighed, feeling as if the whole world was out to get him.

        Beneath, he saw the tracks of a Fleacrab in the sand- the way they were laid out, it's like it was chasing something. He saw other tracks- this one belonging to a really odd animal. Following the tracks, he saw that they went all the way to the root... and the crab in question was trying to get at something in one of the small holes.




        After pissing off the mystery crab with her wakeup call, Sokuro ran as fast as her little legs could carry her as the monster gave chase. She didn't transform because she didn't think of that- between not knowing where she is and running from the crab from hell, the thought never crossed her mind. She eventually made it to that root and saw a opening big enough for her, but too small for the crab to get in.

        Well, fully get in. Its head is sticking in and its legs were trying to push it further in. It snapped its jaws at her, trying to get in a bite. Sokuro sat on top of a coconut within the root cave, kicking it in the face over and over, but all that did was anger it even more. "AGh Ah! Back! Back! Get away, you stupid thing!" The crab snapped at her, clipping the rock and making her push back into the root even more. That thing was going to get in, she was sure of it.

        Suddenly, the crab went wide-eyed as something grabbed it. It was soon pulled out and tossed away, as far as it could go, splashing into the ocean. Sokuro panted in a mixture of fear and adrenaline. She was too on edge to check to see if it was safe.

        "Hello?" A voice on the outside said.

        Sokuro's hair stood on end as she hid behind the coconut. There is no telling who this is- if this is one of the slavers who came to find her, she needed to play it safe. "H-hello?"

        "Holy stars, there's actually somebody in here?" Sokuro peered out from behind to see the sand outside be blocked as something came down to block its view. She hid behind it again, unaware that it was the eye of her savior. "You'd have to be pretty small to get in here. Even i can't get in."

        Sokuro gulped. Her heart beat so fast, it's like it was trying to fly out of her chest, bounce off walls, and open a coffee shop. She took a few rapid breaths to try and calm down, but that may've been a mistake as she felt a bit lightheaded. "W-well... i'm still growing, so i'll get a lot bigger... hopefully."

        "... oooook? If you say so. What's your name?"

        She took a gulp of air. "You first. I don't make it a habit of giving my names out to strangers." After the incident with the slavers, she wasn't taking any chances. The voice remained silent, and it went on for far too long. "Well?"

        "...My name is Silverwind..." He sounded hurt; that name must have a bad connotation attached to it. "...though everyone calls me Sil for short."

        Sokuro picked up on the hurt feeling in his voice- it's almost as if he's ashamed by it. If the name was any indication, his parents must've wanted him to be the next Silver... but instead, it went to her. Something also happened to make him apprehensive- his parents kicking him out, maybe? She'll never find out by staying silent. "{Silverwind...? And here i thought all the colonists names were weird.}" She took a few more deep breaths to calm down, taking it slow this time. At least it's not a name associated with the slavers... or anything on Dragenia, for that matter. "Sokuro. My name is Sokuro."


        
        Sil stood up for a moment as he scratched the back of his head. Now it was his turn to be surprised by the odd name choice. "Sokuro?" He muttered to himself. "And here i thought Termundus was a odd name." He went back down. "So, Sokuro, mind telling me how you pissed off a Fleacrab enough to try and turn you into breakfast?"



        She cocked a eyebrow up at that puzzling name, but more so at the scary implications behind it. "Fleacrab? That thing was a flea!?!"

        "One of the bigger ones, yeah. They normally don't bother anyone unless you anger them, so you must've done something to have it try and burrow into the root."

        She held her book tight. "All i did was take my book out of its claws. It was my parents and i didn't want to lose it."

        "Really? You risked being killed for a book?"

        "It belonged to my parents, ok?" Sokuro rubbed her face, groaning loudly as she down onto her behind. "Uuuugh... and on top of this... i don't know where i am or where my friends are- you're the first person i met all day! I'm cold, i'm hungry, i almost got eaten by some demon crab, and scared out of my mind!!" She sat still, waiting for a response. She turned her head, waiting. ".... Silverwind?" The cave suddenly shook when something hit up against it.




        Sil grunted in pain as he was shoved up against the root, held in place by one of the many people in town who hate him who was a nasty thief. This one was more his age, but it didn't matter if he could fight back- Sil hates fighting, he was a pacifist in nature and tends to avoid it whenever he could. Boy should grow a backbone- this was the fifth time this week and just continues getting out of control.

        "Alright, you miserable waste of space! Give me all your goldz and you'll end up with only a broken horn then a broken body!" The red-colored Dragon demanded as he held Sil against the root by the throat.

        "None of those sound pleasant..." Sil coughed as he struggled to breath. "And i don't have any money on me... i left it all at home...!"

        "Broken body it is!" He snarled. Sil whimpered in fear as he readied himself for the coming beatdown. 

        "Hey!" The two heard shout. Sil opened his eyes and the two looked around to find where the voice came from. "Over here!!!" The two glanced back to the root and saw a very strange creature with even stranger clothing shouting at them, with her hands angrily on her hips as she tapped her foot. 

        To them, it was obvious what this creature was. "A human...?" Sil grunted in surprise under his breath. His shock was genuine; they're supposed to be gone.

        "Me and him were having a conversation before you rudely interrupted!" Sokuro shouted, pissed that this jerk was interrupting their conversation. She's had enough excitement for one hour. "Now get lost."

        "How about you get lost before i beat you, twerp!" The thief snarled. "This is between me and the freak!"

        Sokuro crossed her arms in defiance. She wasn't going anywhere. "I'm gonna say it one last time- go away before i turn those excuses for horns into something they should not be!"

        The thief snarled again. He dropped Sil and brought his face down to her level, snarling and baring his teeth. That was a huge surprise, but Sokuro was too hoped up on adrenaline to take notice; she was the same size as these Aerids; her height is the same as theirs... something that should be impossible. Just like the stories on Earth, the Aerids of Dragenia are towering beasts, with the smallest build being 30 feet tall. "That does it... i don't care what you are- right now, you are lunch!!!"

        Sokuro scoffed. "Really? You think you scare me. I'll have you know, I've almost been lunch before." A glow came from within her dress, puzzling the two natives to this land. "It was not a fun time!" A tornado of sparkles erupted from underneath her, with enough force to launch the thief onto his back. "So let's see how you like it!!" She completely vanished in the swirling light. Seconds later, wings erupted out, stretching as far as they could.

        The sparkles vanished as suddenly as they came. Sokuro, fully into her Aerid self as the glow from her body faded away, slammed her front legs down into the sand and got in the thief's face. He shrunk back at how powerful she felt. Something here made no sense, however; she changed her form from Ferid to Aerid, so she should be towering above them... yet she's still the same exact height as before, if only one or two feet taller. "So do you wanna run that by me again? 'Twerp'?" He was shivering in fear, probably close to crapping his pants, if he had any. "That's what i thought." She snorted smoke in his face. "Get lost." The thief screamed to the high heavens as he ran as fast as he could into the forest. "Peh... big talker. Yeah, who's the twerp now, sucka!?!"

        She shook her head when she realized that she used a colonist colloquialism again. "Geez, they're rubbing off on me faster then i thought..." She turned to look at her savior from before and saw that he was stunned as the thief... but she didn't focus on that, but instead on what she should've started with before. "Wait... you're a Silver, too...?" she breathlessly gasped. She slowly approached him. "That name wasn't just for show...? I thought i was only one..."

        She reached out to touch him, but he reared back in fear. Without a word, he took to the air out of fright. "Hey! Wait!" She shouted to him. "I didn't mean to scare..." It was to no avail as he disappeared into the clouds. "... you..." She lowered her head in shame. "Sigh... nice going, Sokuro... you don't know where you are and you scared away the only friendly person you met..." She could fly up after him, but it would probably make things worse. He was clearly scared- if she chased after him, she'd likely traumatize him.

        She rubbed her forehead, calming down after being put through so much in under a half hour. "Ok... think, Sokuro... if there are people here... there must be a town. And if there is a town, there's people, and where there's people, there's answers." She got up and flex her wings. "You'll find a map and find out where on Dragenia you are and why there's another Silver... though it was strange he had yellow highlights... i thought we were all solid colors... but Ajixis' do have colored vine-like runes all over their body. Maybe he's yellow and the Silver is a mutation...? But that doesn't make sense... could it be painted on...?" She shook her head to get her mind back on track. "Focus, girl, focus. Find a town- you can get answers there." She looked towards the forest- more specifically, to the spot where the thief ran into. "There must be a town in that direction."

        With a flap of her wings, she took to the air. She pulled a loop-de-loop to direct her into the general direction the thief was heading in. "With any luck, someone i know will be there." She counted on her claws who came with her through the Gate. "Bran, Eia, Pearl, Fayin, Polosa, and what was that other guys name...? ........... Ventus. that's it. They came through with me... if i ended up on the beach, they should be somewhere in the area... hopefully none of them were unconscious if they fell in water." 

        Her memories flashed back to the moment they were sucked into the Golden Gate. It was all so sudden and violent. And then there's Lord Velx's reaction. He was so angry, like he was legitimately going to kill them for tampering with it. "And why was Velx so angry about us messing with the Gate?"

        She and the rest of her misplaced compatriots would learn the answers over time, but right now, the goal was simply two-fold: find out where they are and work on reuniting. The rest can be worked out later. But even so, the question most prevalent on her mind was:

        Where is everyone?

34: Chapter 31: The Whereabouts of Others

Chapter 31

The Whereabouts of Others

???


 

        Sokuro had woken up upon a beach, where she had met another Silver Aerid- something long thought impossible. While so many questions ran through her mind about who she met and where she was, she was not the only one. Do not forget: six others were dragged through the Golden Gate, just like her:

        Bran, Fayin, Eia, Polosa, Ventus, and Pearl.

        They could be anywhere, in who knows what kind of dangers that may be trying to end them before they can get their bearings. While Sokuro's and Silverwind met in a more... friendly circumstance, everyone else wasn't so lucky.

        This is what happened to them in the first ten minutes of their arrival.






        Whereabouts of Bran




        "You swear, you don't know what he is?"

        "If i did, i wouldn't be asking, now would i?"
        
        The sounds of confused voices and disturbed murmurs were the first things Bran heard when he finally woke from what felt like years of slumber. His head felt like it was being squeezed in a vice that was continuously getting tighter and tighter. "Ugh....... my head..." He groaned and moaned. He forced one eye open and saw that he was face-first on the ground. Using all the strength at his disposal, he rolled onto his back. 

        Sunlight hit his eyes like a fish, blinding him temporarily. "Ugh... that's the last thing i need..." He grumbled as he held a hand up to his eyes, shielding his eyes from the intense sun. At least their were leaves in the trees above to help him. That was a peculiar thing on his mind: why was the sun suddenly so strong and so bright? It's spring back on Evioly and it was never this intense before. On that matter, it was never this hot on Evioly either- it almost felt tropical. But Evioly isn't tropical. This was a bit early to surmise- he's only been on the planet for a couple months and it's still technically spring, and he hasn't left Evioly yet. He was jumping the gun, he figured.

        He moved his hand once he had adjusted... and all color drained from his face. Looking down at him were several large, imposing, and armored dragons. They were armored right down to the claws- the only part of their bodies that weren't in armor were their wings. But that was nothing compared to their size- they were the same size as him... well, kinda. They seemed to be a foot or two taller, but that matters little then the big question: Did he grow or did they shrink?

        ".................................. this can't be anything good..."

        The biggest one out of all of them, and that is saying something, lowered his head and looked him squarely in the eye. Bran never felt so insignificant, yet equal, in his life until now. "What... is this thing?"

        What is he? If they're Aerids, then they should have a Ferid form, even if it is the same size as them for some reason, so they should be able to identify him as one that lost his tale. On that note, he noticed something odd about their voices. They were speaking with a recognizable accent. "What?"

        "It's a furless Anthromorph? And i thought they were small." The smallest out of them commented. 

        "You're one to talk."

         He rolled his eyes. "You know what i mean, you big bully. I didn't know animals could get this ugly."

        "They can, but they tend to be called Micoosho... Miphogo... Mikei.... mmmm..." Big crossed his forearms and pondered. The third of their troupe, who had a medium build compared to the rest, "i swear, it's on the tip of my tongue."

        "You'll hurt your brain." Tiny joked.

        What in the world was going on here? How can they be this surprised? Are Ferids not thing on... whatever plot of Dragenian land he's on? "Hey hey hey, hold it!!!" Bran shouted as he waved his arms around, getting their surprised attention. "Can someone tell me just what the heck is going on?!"

        Tiny fell onto his back out of shock. Bran groaned as he pinched his eyes. "Ho--- it can talk!!"

        "It understands our language." Big commented. 

        "Well, of course i do!" Bran shouted. "It's kinda easy when you have uuuuu...." He almost dropped the ball again. Nobody else on Dragenia knows about the colonists. He almost let mention of universal translators slip. "....uuuuuuunlimited knowledge in all things arithmetic. Hehehehe... i saved it at the end there, right?" He finished with a nervous, high pitched whimper.

        Big brought his head in a little too close for comfort. His fang is as big as Bran himself. "You're hiding something, aren't you?" 

        "Of course he's hiding something." Tiny rudely intruded. "Look at him- i never met such a shifty eyed creep in my life."

        Big groaned in distaste and raised his head. "And you're suddenly the expert on... whatever this thing is?"

        "Well, i'm a better judge of character then you."

        Big went slackjawed at the mere provocation of that claim. "A better ju-- You cannot be serious. Let's run down the list of things you let happen due to your "Better" judge of character. How about the time you let a sought-after murderer go, wanted from here to Unia because he gave you a compliment and you, and i quote, said that people who compliment don't commit murders! Or how about the time you thought a holy priest was running a drug smuggling operation by smuggling them through bags of seed?! You accused him while he was in the middle of a ceremony!!"

        "I still say i'm right about that." Tiny affirmed as he crossed his forearms. "We just never found the location of his hideout yet."

        "He's dead of old age, you idiot!"

        "And that's the perfect cover!! How can nobody see that?!"

        While the two of them argued, and their third friend did nothing except watch the madness happen, Bran buried his face into his hands and rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands before dragging them down his face, pulling on his eyelids and lips. "Ughhrrrrgha....... i'm being interrogated by the Spanish Three Stooges..." He crossed his feet and rested his head in his hand. He tapped a finger on his cheek, waiting for this to end. Wait a tick, he thought to himself. What was he thinking? This is a perfect escape opportunity. Run, idiot, run! Which he did.

        The medium built of the three have had enough of this insanity. He grabbed them by the heads and clunked them together. "Focus!" He ordered.

        Tiny rubbed where he and Big butted heads and hissed in pain. "Ow ow ow... ok... ok, little guy, wh--" They returned their attention to Bran, who had the bright idea when the guy got up to run away as fast as he could. "And he's running."

        Big spread his wings. "He won't get far."



        Running as fast as his little legs could carry him through the muddy forest, Bran pushed through shrubbery and low-hanging branches, wondering just what in the world was going on. "Huff huff huff.... ok... i got three weird Aerids acting like they've never seen a humanoid form in their lives, decked out in what i can assume is battle armor... Where in Dr--"

        The branches above crashed down in front of him, along with the humongous dragon that crushed them down. He skidded to a halt in the mud, but instead fell onto his back. He continued sliding until he was pinned down by Big's clawed paw. "Going somewhere, bug?" He snorted. Bran tried to pull himself out, but he was pinned down but good. It didn't help that the other two big boys arrived.

        "So what do we do with it?" Tiny asked as he got close.

        "I dunno. Do we take him to Termundus? Feed him to a hound? Leave him to be eaten? So many options...."

        Bran continued in his struggle to slip free, but he was trapped through and through. He wasn't getting out of this. "C.... Come on. This is all what i hope is a misunderstanding. IF you can find Velx, he'll be able to--"

        "Velx?" The medium built one repeated. "What is a Velx?"

        "Velx the God?" Big tilted his head in confusion. "One of the Astrals? One of those who rule and watch over the people of Dragenia?"

        "Astral Gods?" Tiny repeated. "Are you making stuff up?"

        "No, i'm not, i......." It then dawned on him. The Golden Gate didn't send them to another part of the planet. It sent them to another planet entirely. "...... this isn't Dragenia..." He gasped as he realized. 

        "... if you say so... crazy weirdo." Big looked to his companions, mouthing "wow" as he used magical powers to pick Bran up with his claws; Bran's not sure how this guy did it, but he felt weightless, despite being the same size as these normal behemoths. "Captain Lefira would like to know about this."

        "Hello, days off." Tiny whooped.

        They took to the skies, with Bran afraid of what was going to happen to him when they get to wherever it is they are going to. He should've picked up on all the clues, but his shocked and addled mind was running a million different thoughts at once. Now only one thought dominated his mind: how is he going to get out of this?






        Whereabouts of Fayin



        Fayin groaned as she hung upside-down off a tree branch, her tail caught in the split. A thick splinter of a branch had embedded itself, which is what was keeping her up there. She didn't feel it when it stabbed itself in when she fell from above, nor did she wake up from the cacophony of jungle noises. No, it was her empty stomach that woke her up. When she saw her predicament, she, of course, freaked out, but she couldn't move a thing because of her precarious situation, which wasn't at all helped by her Gaharot physiology. One wrong move, and she could say goodbye to her tail.

        "Ugh... today just isn't my day..." She moaned. "First Velx goes crazy for some reason, then i get dragged into some vortex or whatever..." Her stomach growled, making her whine. "And i never even had lunch yet..." She puffed a cry. 

        She heard rustling in the bushes down below. She tensed up, fearing that it may be a monster that could eat her- turn her into lunch. She slowly moved, hoping to get her tail loose once more, but it was too high up for her to reach with her clawed arms. Gaharots are not built to climb trees or reach for high things.

        Left with no choice, she resigned herself to whatever fate would come her way.

        Luckily, it wasn't going to be today as a familiar, but disoriented, little Kalamander staggered out, trying to make sense of things. "Finally, a familiar sight!" Fayin cheered, getting Pearl's attention. "I've never been so happy to see a Kalamander in my life. Hey, un..." Given that she was with Sokuro and the rest, she had to have had a name, but she doesn't remember if they said it with her around. "Un... crud, i don't know what your name is, but can you help me out please?" Pearl tilted her head to the side, making Fayin whine through her teeth as she dragged her claws down her face. "(Come on!! Do they even understand regular speak?)" Fayin thought to herself. "Come on, Kalamander, you gotta help me out here! There's no telling where in Dragenia we are, or where everyone who got dragged in with us are. I saw that you like Sokuro and them; help me and we can find them."

        That seemed to do it as Pearl sprung into action, running towards the tree whose branch Fayin was hanging off of. "Oh, Voul bless you, you are a life saver!" She didn't need to worry how the tiny drake was going to get up the tree; they are like squirrels- they can just climb up by digging their claws into the bark and running up. "Wow. Quick and nimble little thing."

        Pearl soon reached the branch and ran along it towards where Fayin was hanging. "Hi there." She nervously chuckled. "I... honestly don't know how we're going to do this. Um..." She looked to the Kalamanders tail. She could swing and reach for that, but then she'd run the risk of putting the little beasty into the same situation. "Hmm.... i really should've thought this through, cause i have no clue how you're gonna--"

        And before she could finish, Pearl shoved Fayin off the big splinter with her head. Fayin blinked a couple times before screaming as she fell to the ground. She hit multiple branches on her way down, which helped break her fall, but it made it hurt even worse. After the fourth branch, she slammed into a muddy puddle on the ground, losing her breath as she landed. "--.... help me..." She wheezed. 

        She couldn't move not because she can, but because she hurt all over. Pearl jumped down onto her, making Fayin exhale in excess. Pearl flipped off and pulled a ten-out-of-ten pose when her pads touched grass. "You are evil... i ask for help and you almost kill me..." Pearl innocently mewed, not aware what she did could've gone poorly. She is still an animal, after all. 

        After some time had passed, Fayin, still sore, grunted as she rolled onto her front. "Ugh... even that hurt... i swear i broke a rib." But since she can't look inside, she'll have to deal with what she can see on the outside- her tail. She looked back and swung it over as far as she could go and saw that, yep, a piece of branch was still embedded in it, with dried blue blood on her tail. "Figures. This day has already gone to moshla already- may as well pile on..."

        As there was no way she could reach it with her arms, she just sat there and exhaled loudly, like she was puffing out air. She looked up towards the trees and saw light shimmering in through the massive leaves on the enormous trees. "Those are big trees." She commented as she craned her neck. "... there are no trees that big on Dragenia..." She rubbed her head. "Ugh, on that note, what even was that giant door? That looked like nothing i've ever seen... but it had Velx so freaked out." 

        She wasn't gonna find any answers sitting here... wherever here was. Working through the pain, she got up and rubbed her rear. Between being muddy and being in pain, she can't tell which was worse. "Well, we're not gonna get answers just sitting around here." She said to Pearl. "Come on. Let's hope we find someone." 

        She hadn't taken more then a single step when she stepped on something she shouldn't have. The two looked down, and were suddenly hoisted up into the air. A cage made of something similar to glass, but not quite there, suddenly clamped down around them and left them suspended in midair, dangling on rope. 

        "OH, COME ON!!!" Fayin shouted. She slashed at the faux-glass cage with her claws, but to no avail. She didn't leave a single scratch. "UUuuuugh, you've gotta be kidding me!!!" She plopped down on her rear and growled as she put her head to her hands. "Can today possibly get any worse?!"

        And she jinxed it.

        As if on cue, a odd looking, Aerid came out of the forest. He had something strapped to his back, something that looked like a spear of sorts. "This oughta make for some good grub tonight." He undid the rope and caught the cage with his tail. Fayin screamed as she fell, but the big guy didn't hear it. He headed over to it and was puzzled by what he saw inside. "What the... you aren't food...?" 

        Fayin's eyes rolled as she felt her heart race a mile a minute. This has got to be the worst 10 minutes of her whole life. Stabbed, dropped, soaked, snatched, then dropped again. Her poor ticker can't take much more. Same is far worse for Pearl; she's freaked out from being dropped too. "Ugh... so many pains... ouch..."    

        The apparent hunter tilted his head. "What even are you?"

        She was too dazed to speak properly. "I'm... un... so many stars... un..." She shook her head, clearing it up somewhat, though not by much. She looked up at the Aerid, and was astonished at how big he was. Not even Ticloka, one of the Astral gods and the biggest Aerid ever, was this big. For comparison, if Ticloka is a normal, everyday house, then this new guy was a temple. But... that makes things confusing; by all outwards appearances, she's the same size as this guy, which should be impossible. "Un... Ahem. My name is Fayin, and i am a handmaiden for Lord Velx. If you can take me to the nearest town, i would be more then happy to--"

        "Who and what?" The hunter rudely replied, catching Fayin off guard. "What's a Velx?"

        "Un... heh... L-lord Velx. He's a Astral. One of--"

        "Never heard of him." He rudely replied again. "And what even are you two? Never saw anything like you before."

        Was this guy serious, she thought? How can he not recognize a Gaharot or a Kalamander? Has he lived under a rock in some remote part of the world all his life? That could help explain why he is so big. "Heh.... y... you're kidding, right? I'm a Gaharot. This is a Kalamander. You know what those are, don't you?" He stayed absolutely silent. "....What rock have you been living under?"

        Now the hunter was getting perturbed... until he realized what he had come across. A brand new, never before seen species. Two of them. And one could speak. He could become famous for making such a amazing discovery, and all purely by accident too. "Ho ho! I found two brand new species, and one can even talk! Haha! I'm gonna be rich!" He spun around, giddy as a cucumber. And all this did was make Fayin and Pearl nauseous. "I'll be the most famous Nayan since Termundus himself!"

        Fayin kept what little food she had in her as best she could. "Nayan? Termundus? What are you--" It then dawned on her, on what was going on. ".... oh Voul..." She looked to Pearl. "We're on another world...." Without warning, the hunter pressed something on the side, releasing an electric current powerful enough to knock her and Pearl out like lights.






        Whereabouts of Polosa



        Polosa, compared to everyone else that had dropped on this mysterious new land thus far, got the lucky draw in this strange, often dangerous lottery. While Sokuro woke up on a beach, and Bran, Fayin, and Pearl awoke in woods, Polosa's surroundings were more beneficial, yet just as confusing as to how she got there in the first place.

        A pounding head is the first thing she experienced when she opened her eyes. Finding herself face first into the dirt, she grumbled. She pushed herself off the floor but ended up bumping her head on something hard. Rubbing where she hit her head, she looked up and was surprised to find she had hit floorboards. The pounding was coming from up above.

        "What the heck?" She said to herself. "Since when did houses get so big?"

        Once her mind cleared, she took proper stock of her surroundings. The building was normal sized, but it now had a hole in the roof thanks to her. Her body was sore, so she had no choice but to crawl on her hands and knees, which she did. She followed along the entire length of the house, towards the nearest exit she could find. Her eyes adjusted to the light when she emerged. What she saw when she did adjust confused her.
        
        She had come out into a market place of sorts- a bazaar square that seemed way too big for everyone present. They were all stalls that either were built independently or operated out of someone's house. She saw Aerids walk all over and hanging, chatting among themselves. All the vendors were operated by Aerids, though she saw one of them that was operated by a strange feathered one that had the head of a bird. That was the one that confused her the most.

        "What the...?" She saw a couple of wooden steps before her. She slipped under and crawled underneath. She reached the bottom of the steps- the tallest of which was only a foot taller then her. She cracked her back to work out the knots. While she did, she took note of all the buildings she could see. They were all made of stone, mud, or wood. She saw a pyramid off in the distance. It looked like Velx's... but more red in color with stripes alternating on the sides and steps.

        Polosa was seasoned; she had been to a number of places on Dragenia and read about others, but she had never came across a city or town where everyone was in Aerid form all the time, and there wasn't anything written in what she read on Dragenia's past that showed this was a thing. And besides, nobody in the history of Dragenia has a Aerid form that has the head of a bird. Some gain feathers, like Velx, but no one had a unique head like that.

        She actually figured it out far quicker then all the rest: "This isn't Dragenia." She said as she finished up her stretches. "Ugh... No doubt this is Sokuro's and Ventus' fault. If it wasn't for her, that stupid door wouldn't have been opened. And i need to kick Ventus when i see him again- that idiot and his hunger pains." She crossed her arms as she continued to observe and hopefully get an edge on what the place is like. 

        "Ok... what can we learn..." She muttered as she rubbed a finger on her chin. She then pulled out a pencil and parchment to write on. At least the steps were hard enough for her to write on. "(This world has a very high concentration of Aerids, with mutations that can give them heads of birds, apparently. There are no Ferid's or Gaharots walking about... so they must not be able to transform.)" She looked at herself, pulling her scale out. "(Good thing i decided to bring my scale on the hunt earlier, otherwise this would've ended badly...)" She continued to observe. "(At least they're as colorful as the ones back home.)"

        She moved away from the people and began taking notes of the buildings and everything else. "(The design of the architecture backs up the Aerid-only hypothesis, with humongous homes and stalls, at least compared to my current si--. wait... i'm still a Ferid... if these homes are built for Aerids in mind, why was able to crawl out so easily?)" She looked up. How is she the same size? "(... no way i can find answers this easy. May as well move on...)" Looks back out to the world. "(...The vast majority of the buildings seemed to be made from either stone or mud. Very rarely do i see anything made of wood, like the house i'm under now.)" She moved her eyes to the myriad of poles that rose up from the ground. "(Those look similar to those-- what did the colonists call them? Street lights? Yeah they look similar to the street lights the colonists began installing the other day. But... i don't see anything to indicate that they are run by energy; i mean electricity. They must use a different energy source.)"

        She heard thumping coming from above. She glanced up and saw the occupants leave the home. How did they not notice her as she crawled out? And how are they not noticing the hole in the roof? "Now you two have a good day." A female said to smaller non-Aerids as they left the home; a mother talking to her children, obviously. This also helps confirm another thing that will be a big help: she can understand their language. "And be careful- you know what comes out after a storm."

        "We know mom." One of them responded before they ran off. Leaning out, Polosa noticed that their wings were really, really stubby. The mother soon left and went towards the bazaar, closing the wooden door behind her.

        Using the opportunity, Polosa came up from behind the steps. There was no telling how long either of them were going to be gone, but this was a questionable opportunity to learn more about this place. 

        She reached into her back pockets and pulled out her scale. She was going to need it to traverse this place without scrutiny. She tucked into a corner and transformed. Sparkles came out of hers and swirled around, quickly changing her to her Aerid form. Her form was very, very slender- almost like a snakes. She was sea-foam green from head to tail, so her strong elemental affinity is to wind. She was going to need it to quickly traverse this home, so wind was going to be a big help. And she saw a few other green-colored Aerids out there, so she wasn't going to stick out like a sore thumb when she does leave. 

        As she entered the home she had just escaped from, she noticed that she was the same size as before. Everything looked the same as it did before. Everything is supposed to be smaller when one changes, not the same size. "That... can't be anything good..." She looked at her paws. "I did change... but i'm the same height? My scale didn't look broken..." She scratched her head. "Just what is going on...?"

        It was a modestly sized interior- it was a single living space with a hallway that led to several rooms. She was going to ignore the bedrooms and focus instead on the family room- she did make note of the door at the end of a long hallway. It obviously led back outside, so perfect for an escape route. They had books, but it was doubtful she was going to be able to read them. She can't even understand the titles. Still, they could have pictures; those are always universally understood. She grabbed the beefiest books and quickly flipped through them. The first two had nothing, so she put them back exactly as they were before- she wanted to leave no trace she was here... though she wonders how the hole will be explained.

        One of the books she grabbed seemed to be an almanac of sorts. And it had pictures. She flipped on through and saw recreations of paintings of what she assumes to be famous Aerids of this world. She continued flipping through and came upon what seemed to be a map. This confirmed everything: what was shown here is not what Dragenia looks like. There's nothing even close. 

        She took a few steps back and bumped into something, scaring her. She quickly spun around and saw that she had turned something one.

        "{Good morning, Nexia- i am Forgali of the The Nayan Herald and this is today's news. 

        Today's Topic: "Isolation: 70 Years Without Contact With The Outside World".}" 
        Polosa went to turn it off but ultimately decided to keep it on. She could learn two things in one swift stroke. She risks exposure, but the colonists equipment would turn on by themselves all the time, so she's hoping the same thing is also a nuisance here.

        "{Tomorrow marks the 70th anniversary of the Isolation, where all outside communications with the rest of the world were suddenly and mysteriously silenced without any warning. The mysterious event have left all of Naya without any way to communicate to other continents, leaving many to wonder if they still exist and not destroyed in some terrible calamity. Many Nayan's visiting overseas have been presumed lost since then. Are we and our neighbors of North and South Alneria the only ones left behind? If so, why were we spared? Were we just lucky?}"
        "Naya, huh...?" She said to herself. She looked back to the map. "At least i know what to call this place now." She put the book back just as she heard something coming from inside. In a panic, she quickly moved and hid inside a closet. She spun around, reaching back to her crossbow, but remembered she's in her Aerid form and couldn't access it.

        "{Scientists have been hard at work seeking answers... but after seven decades, no results have yet to bare any fruit, leading many to give up and presume that we truly are alone. Many left on expeditions to find the sudden long-lost lands, in hopes that we are not alone, despite knowing the dangers the outside world held before hand. None ever returned. i think i speak for everyone as we pray for their safe return, or a peaceful rest.}" 
        "Hey, you wanna find a different hiding spot?" Someone next to her rudely asked in a groggy tone like he was just waking up. "This spot is taken."

        Polosa froze up. She was caught after all. But... wait a minute. There was someone hiding in here as well? She looked back and came face to face with a tired, but completely alien, bipedal canine. Both of them shouted and scampered away from each other to opposites sides of the radio.

        "What in the world?!" Polosa panted in a huff. "What the heck are you?"

        "What? Did you hit your head or something?" The person she had met was a strange creature, to be sure. He was the same height as her, and fully clothed, but... that's where the similarities end. This thing, whatever it is, was covered in golden fur, with huge pointed ears coming out the top of his head. His nose twitched, and to top it all off, his tail was very fluffy. She recalls the Human colonists saying that some wished they brought their pets along or something about unfreezing their pets or something to that regard. She saw some pictures and this looked like a bipedal version of a dog.

        "{General Termundus had this to say on the subject when we approached him about this just last year: "We can all still listen to the absolute silence from those who we trusted, those who were close to us... this is just another reminder that we can only depend on us... no one else shall come to save us... yet even when abandoned we can't let this events just fill us with dread... Do i believe the countries that stopped responding to us still exist? Yes. But after seven decades, it's clear they do not wish to talk to us, and if that be the case, let them. With or without them, Naya will remain the greatest in the world, and Nexia, its greatest state.}
        "My name is Polosa and--"

        "Hey, this is my hiding spot!" The bipedal dog abruptly called out. 
        
        "Hiding spot?"

        He reached into his pocket and pulled out a sack. "Look, if you leave now, i can give you some good cash. Just don't tell Olvian and we're good. Just don't tell anyone you saw me."

        "I don't even know who this Olvian is!" Polosa shouted back. "As i was saying before you so rudely interrupted me, my name is Polosa. I have no clue where i am. I was dragged here by a stupid girl and a even stupider idiot and i'm trying to find them before we end up becoming... you food!"

        He took offense to that. "Hey! We're not cannibals!"

        "How am i suppose to know? I--" The door suddenly opened. The two of them shut up and looked out to see that the matriarch of this family had returned home.

        "{So tomorrow, be sure to come to Lexcial Square in Nexia Port for the memorial. Coming up n--}"    
        "That's strange." She said as she approached. "I swore i turned this off when i left." She turned the radio off and went towards the kitchen.

        "Ah, crap..." He whispered in a hushed voice. "I was hoping to leave before they all came back, but noooo. You had to distract me." He sneered to Polosa.

        "You were asleep." She whispered back. "And not even supposed to be in someone's home without permission."

        "You're one to talk." Polosa pursed her lips as she tapped her finger on the wall; hers was by mistake and for research. He is likely here to rob. "Don't give me that. And don't do that either." She stopped. "We're obviously not going to get much done here." He went to the wall behind them and softly moved a small piece of wood out of the way, revealing a exit to the outside. A hidden passageway in a closet? Why is that a thing? Did he put it there himself? "You coming?"

        "What do you mean?"

        "Well, we can't stay here. They'll find us eventually and i don't want to spend another month at prison." He slid out through the small opening, but left it open for her. "You coming or not?"
    
           Polosa sucked in her lips. She just met this man... thing and he was really rude to her. But she was severely limited on options. She needed to find everyone that came through, but she needs to know how this world works before doing that so she doesn't get figured out. This culture is foreign to her and she didn't want to risk started up something bad. "Fine..." She gave in as she slid out. Her tail got caught on a exposed nail, but she picked it up. "But i want answers to my questions as we go to... wherever. Got it?" She didn't wait for a reply.

        "Yeah yeah." He let go and let it fall back into position.






        Whereabouts of Eia


        
        Completely unconscious after suffering a nasty arrival compared to all the others, and in the middle of a muddy grassland, poor Eia laid on her front. She barely breathed, nasty welts covered her head, and blood trickled out of her nose like a stream into a pond. If help doesn't come soon, she's going to d--

        A blue paw softly touched down on the grass beside her, pressing it down. The owner of the paw didn't mess with the body like most others would. Instead, it picked up the unconscious girl and carried her away- to safety or to something worse, who can say at this point?








        Whereabouts of Ventus



        The sound of chains rattling against the other woke Ventus up. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a place no one would want to wake up in. His eyes shot wide when he saw that he was dangling in a jail cell of sorts, his hands cuffed above him and his legs and tail dangled freely. He tried to get loose, but the chains were stuck on tight.

        "Oooooooh, this is noooooot good." He whimpered. He tried again to get free, but all he did was just mess with the chains. He panted when he stopped. He looked all around the cell and saw that he wasn't the only one. There were others- all Aerid and all dead, their bones were the only things that remained. "That doesn't bold well..."

        The door at the other end opened up. He saw two someones come in- Aerids themselves, but they seemed to be covered in armor, with the smaller one of the two dragging a rolling table with their tail. The one who approached him was big, imposing, and intimidating. He was emerald in color, but he had enough scratches to tell a story.

        "So you are awake." He said. Even his voice was nerve-wracking. "Good. Now we don't have to wake you."

        "Aw maaaaaan." The smaller of the two whined as she lowered what looked to be a taser. "And i wanted to have some fun."

        "Whoooooooa whoa whoa whoa. Whoa." Ventus nervously coughed a chuckle. "Let's, un... let's not do anything hasty. I am... very wide awake! You can put that thing away!"

        "So you understand us and we can understand you. Good. That makes this easy." The big emerald went over to the table and dropped Ventus' things onto it. "We found you passed out at our doorstep a short while ago. With you were such strange items... and one that has not been seen her in eons." He grabbed his sniper rifle with two claws and held it up. "Tell me... human. Why did you come back?"

        "Human? I'm not human."

        "Bullroar." The smaller one scoffed. "You clearly are human, even if you do have a strange extremity." Vent rolled his eyes, which peeved her. "General Termundus, grant me the honor of ending this morons life after we're done."

        Termundus held up one claw, shutting her up. "Calm yourself, Ocilua. You'll have your fun soon enough. Right now, i want to interrogate this one." He took the sniper and put it back on the table. "You clearly look like a human... but they have been gone for so long, it would make sense for you to change to adapt in whatever hole you are hiding in. Though i am amazed the Shadows haven't claimed you." Ventus tiled his head as he raised an eyebrow in confusion while Termundus brushed his claw over the rest of his things. "If you aren't one, then why do you look like one?"

        "Take it up with the universe, cause i have no clue myself. The short of it is that i'm not from here!"

        "Oh stars, don't tell me you're one of those disgusting Anthromorphs." Ocilua said in disgust as she stuck her tongue out. "Disgusting creatures."

        "Great... you're one of those..." Ventus spoke in a mocking monotone. "No no no- what i mean is that this isn't my home. I'm not form here because this is not my world. I'm a Kitsune from Malisiolnkia! We came to Dragenia to find a new home and...." 

        Termundus held up his paw, shutting him up as well. He felt such raw, untamed power inside this beast of a general; he had no choice but to comply. "Kitsune? Dragenia? What in the world are you talking about?"

        "Are you kidding me? Dragenia! That's what this place is, isn't it? And I just told you- i am a Kitsune! We look like humans, but we have what they call the additions of a fox. The ears, the tail, our keen eyesight and vast......." He stayed silent as it slowly dawned on him. ".... oh cripes, this isn't Dragenia."

        "Now he catches on." Ocilua snarkily spoke. 

        His eyes darted around as he thought to himself, "(This isn't Dragenia. Then why are... oh crap, that's right- i broke the keyboard and i think that made the gate go haywire...)" He loudly groaned as he lowered his head. "(crap crap craaaaaaaaaaap... this is bad.)" He raised his head back up to see that the big guy was approaching him once more. "So now what? Are you going to keep me chained up in here until the end of my days like these poor losers?" He gestured his feet towards the skeletal remains.

        He looked to them. "Those are before i became general. I asked them removed numerous times, but janitors are always a lazy bunch."

        "... yyyyyyyyeah. Sure. Whatever you say, big guy, but that still doesn't answer my question: what are you going to do to me?"

        "That all depends on how well you cooperate, Mr... what did you call yourself? Kitsune?"

        "My name is Ventus, actually."

        "Ventus." He held a claw to the helpless saps chin. That is when Ventus caught on that he was the same size as these Aerids. Either Aerids.... Dragons are grown small here or he grew a lot. Then there's the General... this guy was MASSIVE compared to him. For some reason, he's the same size as that Ocilua chick, but this guy... he towers above her, with his claw as big as his head.  "Cooperate and you won't be harmed. Well... harmed excessively. Fight back, and you'll be put through a lot worse then what they went through. You can see on their bones they went through a hell of a time. Cause me grief in any sorts, and you'll get worse then that, and it will be sloooooow. Understood?"
        Ventus gulped out of fear for his life. He was in no position to refuse or negotiate. He was at their mercy. He hoped they weren't sadists and that this was going to be a mostly calm visit to this lovely dungeon of death and decay. "C... you made things c-crystal clear..."

        Termundus coldly smiled with a hidden, wicked sneer. "Hmhm... good boy." He softly tapped Ventus on the cheek before turning to depart. "Ocilua. Come." She looked at him with not-so-subtle and hidden wickedness in her eyes as she followed after the general. The door closed behind them once they were out.

        Ventus finally breathed as he couldn't during the scare tactic; he was that frightened. Cold sweat dropped from his forehead. And he would receive worse then what his dead occupants went through if he refused to play ball? There was no way in hell he would survive that- they are big, muscular, scaly lizards and he's a small, fleshy meatbag of a mammal. For now, he was going to have to be the gracious guest to his host, whatever his motives might be.











        And so everyone's current dire straits have been revealed, and almost all require rescue in some capacity. At around this time is when Sokuro and Silverwind had their first meeting on the beach. And this was just the beginning of their stay in this strange land, but it wasn't to be for long.
        
        This world has a dark secret... and it will infect and kill them if they are not careful...

35: Chapter 32: New Lands, New Problems

Chapter 32

New Lands, New Problems

???




 

        It is either a good idea to follow a thief back to his hideout or lair or wherever the scumbags are lurking to learn about their layout and such, or it is a really bad idea and going guarantees one of many horrible, gruesome things happening to you. Following a thief is a risky, dangerous game that could end things terribly or prove a boon. A 50/50 shot, and those are bad odds in this game.

        Sokuro didn't have that luxury. She had no options to go off of: she was in unknown lands and she has no clue on what to do, where to go; she doesn't even know the simplest things about this world. And they have their own Silvers: whatever this world is, they must be commonplace. Or maybe they are as rare here as they are in her world, but without all the fanfare and gravitas- the thief didn't seem awe-inspired when he cornered the kid.

        Still... that was really strange, encountering another Silver. It's been proven through history that only one can exist at any given time, so meeting another one is nothing short of surreal. But this isn't Dragenia; there are obviously different rules of nature here then back home. 

        As she flew through the skies, she thought that maybe she should've followed him instead. He may've been a scared, but in the minute she had to interact with him, he wasn't that bad a person, at least as far as she could tell. He could use some lessons in self-confidence, but a good kid all around. But it was too late now- he vanished and she was left with the only option open: follow the thief.

        Eventually, she came into sight of a port city. Or at least it looked like it did- she doesn't remember ports having a massive tower that stretch all the way up to the clouds; there's no building like that anywhere on Dragenia. She does remember pyramids, though- the seat of power for Astrals. Seems both those were near the center of the city, or closer to the countryside. But port or not, it's the first town she's seen in whatever crazy world she ended up in, so she's gonna take it. She can get answers and figure out just what is going on. At least she can understand them; that's a blessing in of itself.




        Elsewhere, tucked away from prying eyes in the seemingly-endless jungle, Sil sat by his lonesome, panting and freaking out by what he saw. What he saw should've been impossible- it had to have been. "Ano... ano... another Silver..." He gulped, swallowing nothing. "H-h-how is there another Silver? The... there shouldn't be. How i-- why is it a human?! How could... when could..."

        He held his forehead as he struggled to find his breath. Images flashed through his mind- images of things he did and cannot undo. He held his paws over his eyes and rapidly shook his head as he hyperventilated, begging this to end. "No no no no no no no... not again... not again... stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop..." Faint markings appeared on his wings for the briefest of moments before they vanished.

        In-between the hyperventilating, he took in a few deep breaths, following Alua's advice to calm himself down. "Breath in... 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... and exhale..." Which he did. He did this more times then should be allowed, but it eventually happened. 

        He exhaled like he came from deep beneath water and surfaced for the necessary life-giver known as air. He gulped on nothing again as he removed his hands away from his eyes. "Ok.... calm down, Silverwind... you..... you need to calm down...." He leaned forward as sweat dripped from his brow. "Y... you're freaking out over something... you have no clue about..." He wiped his mouth and took more deep breaths. "So she's... a furless Anthromorph or... something that should be extinct... and can somehow transform into a Dragon..." He shook his head. "That makes no seeeeeense...."

        He crawled over to the nearest river and stuck his head in it to cool himself down. He kept it under for minutes before pulling back out, panting as he was close to running out of air. "Calm down, you idiot..." He gave a few deep exhales. He looked at himself in the rivers reflection. He looked so messed up by his reaction to this. "You need to calm down, Sil... or it's gonna happen again..."

        Out of nowhere, he suddenly felt lightheaded. After the long stretches of freak outs and lack of air, it's a wonder this didn't happen sooner. He fell over onto his side, still conscious, but remarkably loopy and unable to think straight. 

        "Just... what was she...?" He rolled onto his back- his wings and paws stretched outward. He stared up into the sky, watching as birds fluttered by without worry or doubt. Once upon a time, he was like that. Now look at him- he's so afraid of himself, he can't do anything simple without breaking down. "Wish i could be like them... and not be me..." He turned his head to look at the river again. On the other side, he could see a hunter lurking about as he went deeper into the woods, likely out to bag some game. "I'd even settle for being like crazy Homshilonm..."

        Waiting for his light-headedness to fade away, he sat up, shook his head, splashed some water in his face, and clapped his paws against his cheeks several times. "Aeeeragh... stop this, Sil... you need to stop doing this to yourself..." He took one last exhale before getting back onto his feet. Whatever happened in the last few minutes seemed to have work as he was thinking clearly again.
  
        "Ok... so that girl... what did she call herself? Sokuro? The way she acted and talked... it's like she wasn't from anywhere around here at all- she didn't know what a Fleacrab was and she was shocked when she saw that i was a Silver too... almost as if... ugh, if only i heard what she said when she muttered..." He looked back up towards the sky. "She said she was looking for her friends... if she truly isn't from around here, then she must not know what i have done... and if she's not from around here..." His eyes slowly widened as the thought entered his mind. "Then everyone in Nexia port is going to think she is me... oh stars..." He spread his wings and quickly took to the skies, hoping to get to town as fast as he could.
        
        At the same time, the hunter had made a very interesting discovery... two, in fact...





        After what felt like an eternity, which was only a half hour, she had reached the city. From the skies above, Sokuro scouted out the port city she had come to. Following the thief was no longer on her list: she found civilization. Now she needs answers: The mysterious creature on the beach, the fact there's another Silver; one that doesn't carry the same level of mysticism she and her past Silvers have, and a humongous root that seemed to stretch out over the ocean- all evidence points to this being not being Dragenia. 

        Observing the town from up on high, she got in the general layout of the town: the port wasn't terribly big- in comparison, it was half as big as Roko. The roads seemed to be in a grid-like formation, with blocks of homes within those grids. She got a good look at the tower: It was tall, but not the tallest thing she had seen. It rose 600 feet into the air, and was topped by a dome, like an observatory. A few blocks over rose a huge temple; it looked just like Velx's back home, which puzzled her. 

    She landed at the outskirts of town, feeling hunger rear its ugly head. Even if whatever these people have for food looks terrible, she has no choice. She does have one advantage in this new land, though: she can understand them and they can understand her. Either that's from the universal translator doing its job... which doesn't make much sense as none of the Dragnian natives were given any, or the language they use her is similar to basic Dragenian- that one seems the more likely. 

        Reading, on the other hand... yeah, no, this is gonna have to work like a pop-up book; screw the words, focus on the pictures. 

        She quickly learned that not understanding the words was true in her mind. As she approached the town, she noticed a sign along the dirt path she was taking. It was written in a language she had no clue on how to understand, nor did it look like any of the languages the colonists use. It was completely foreign. 

        "Guess i'm going by picture book logic today..." She exhaled to herself. "Nothing but visual." She puffed up her chest and strode on in, unaware that she had already gotten the attention of many locals at the entrance, and it wasn't positive.

        She entered the town, acting like she had lived here her whole life while taking care to avoid the puddles. At the very least, that huge tower can serve as a guidepost of sorts. She kept to her Aerid form, as that seems to be the norm here. She has seen no bipedal creatures, so four-legs seems to be normal. As she walked, she looked at all the houses she passed by. They were all made of either stone, mud, clay, or wooden. Stone and Wood, that's obvious: plenty of buildings back home were made of that- it's a basic cornerstone. Mud and Clay, on the other hand... that's something she never assumed could be turned into lodging. 

        Maybe this is Dragenia, but the Gate opened up to some... alternate version. 

        If only she was that lucky.

        As she walked along the path, taking in all the sights she could, she noticed something about the people that call this place home: they all had multiple colors. It wasn't isolated only to Silverwind- seems everyone in this world has two or more colors. Working off that, she can assume that everyone either has two elements that they are proficient with, or they have access to all of them and the colors are just for show. If Sil or the thief bothered to use their elements, she'd have her answer, but as it stands...

        As she thought back to that moment, she realized that she was the same height as them when she was in her Ferid form... and nothing changed when she went Aerid. They stayed the same, even thought they should've been made smaller by her transformation. As she passed by a Aerid chipping away at a statue, she compared her size to her's. Same height, for the most part. This new one seemed to be a foot or two taller. Did she imagine things like that back on the beach? Did the gate change something about her when they were pulled in? She wanted to look at her scale to check, but changing here would bring the same reaction she got from that other Silver.

        Her stomach rumbled again. She wanted food now! She should've checked the beach to see if there were any tropical fruits. Ah well: hindsight is 20/20. It wasn't long until she reached a square or a park, surrounded by stalls: stalls that sold rugs, to trinkets, and yes, even food. She smelled fish coming from a nearby stall; this is a port, so of course fish was gonna be a major selling item.

        She sped towards the nearest stall that had the food. She approached, and nearly crapped her pants when she saw that the one in charge of the stall was not a Aerid, but was instead a oversized feline as tall as her; his back was turned to her as he tended to the food. Frightened, she dug the heels of her paws into the mud and skidded to a halt. Mud from the momentum she built up kicked up and got the unsuspecting cook in the back of his head.

        "Agh! What the stars was..." He turned, ready to strike the idiot with a shish-ka-bob skewer, and saw the scared but confused girl standing there all wide-eyed in shock. That's not what he was going to focus on first, however. "Whoa. There's more then one." She stayed silent, not sure how to respond. "un..." He waved his hand. "Are you going to say something?"

        "What... the heck... are you...?"

        "Wh..." He scratched his head with the skewer. "What kind of a question is that? You don't know a Anthromorph when you see one?" She stayed silent still. So far, her silence was telling him all he needed to know. "Ah... now i think i'm getting it. I'm the first one you've seen, haven't you?" She nodded. "That explains it. But how? Were you living under a rock this whole time?"

        She opened her mouth to speak, but delayed for a brief moment. The people from Misken didn't take kindly to the colonists when they first arrived, with many suggesting they run them out, with most of that stemming from the fact they are from another world and that their mere existence poked holes in their faith. Now she was the stranger in a strange land, and she could ruin a lot of things if she's not careful. "Un.... you.... could say that..." She hesitantly spoke. "I was... raised out in the wilderness my whole... life and this is my first time in the city..."

        "Must've been pretty secluded to not know a Anthromorph is."

        "Heh... yeah..." She needed to change the subject before he asks a question she doesn't have the answer made up for. "Un... how much for one of those skewers?"

        "That'll be 20 Goldz."

        Goldz? That's the name of their currency? She could come up with better if she wrote a fantasy book. But regardless, there was no chance they'll take Sels, and she can't change back to grab any out of her coin purse- so far, no Ferids have been seen, and this rodent was the first bipedal seen all day. "Goldz? What's a Goldz?"

        "You don't have any?"

        "Does it sound like i have any?"

        "No Goldz, no food."

        No food? But she was starving. "But i--"

        "HEY!!!" Someone shouted behind her. She looked back and saw that she had formed a line, and most all of them looked at her with vitriol. "Didn't you hear him?! He said no Goldz, no service, now take a hike!" She was stunned by his rude and shocking provocation. She moved aside to let him up to the front of the line. She walked backwards before turning to leave. As she walked away, she heard the same one say to her, "...  soul-stealing freak..."

        "(Soul-Stealing Freak...?)" She thought to herself as she walked away, hoping to find a stall that sold food for free. During her trek, she looked towards the park and saw that they were getting ready for something as they were setting up... whatever. Seems she arrived in time for a festival. But even seeing the coming festival being set up, which should bring free food if she is both lucky and unlucky, it wasn't going to be soon enough. She just haaaaaad to figure out the Gate before breakfast.

        "Monster..." She heard someone hiss in her way. "Disgusting freak..." She heard another snarl. 

        Reaching a bench of some sorts- this too seemed to be made out of clay- she sat upon it and rubbed her eyes with her paws. "Uuuuuugh... i can't think..." She plopped down on her side and stuck her tongue out like a dead animal. 

        She turned her head to the side and gazed out at the stalls across from her. They sold merchandise that wasn't food, which was a good thing: now she won't be lamenting the fact she's going hungry as she took it more information about this world, but with her stomach running on empty, that was a hard task. The growling of her stomach distracted her more times then she can count.

        Her eyes wandered, and eventually caught a sight she wasn't expecting: a feathered Aerid with the head of a bird. It's no secret on Dragenia that the Astrals are the only feathered Aerids. Even if an Ajixis with the specific ability to control birds were to gather feathers, it would only be temporary. Besides, nobody has the head of a bird to go along with it. She should be surprised, but after encountering a strange crab and a mouse bigger then her, she's learned to accept that this world is going to be a odd one. Well... odd for her, but normal for all of them. He was selling rugs, so there was no chance he'll have any food with him.

        She heard footsteps approaching, but didn't bother to look. It was likely going to be someone demeaning the bench; she is taking up a huge chunk of it, but she didn't care. She grabbed some blades of grass, pulled them out of the dirt, and just ate them. She was that hungry.

        "Sigh...why am i not surprised your lazy bag of bones is taking up valuable space?" The voice belonged to a boy, not that Sokuro was in any rush to know.

        "Surprised by what? By how hungry i am?"

        "... wait. You're not Silverwind."

        "Silverwind...?" The timid boy she met at the beach. He knows people? Sokuro spat out the grass and sat up. Staring at her was a red-scaled Aerid with brown highlights on his wings, same-colored stripes on his back and running down his underbelly. He had saddlebags on his back and a inquisitive look on his face. "You know Silverwind?"

        "In a... sense..." The new boy hesitantly replied. 

        Sokuro was hesitantly on the reply as well, not sure what will happen if she talked to him. Given her luck in the last couple of hours, this guy could be the son of a spiteful emperor. Worse still: could he be as spiteful as the jerk from the foodstall? He's not telling her to sod off, so that's a plus already. If things go well, she can question him for information about this place. "... Sokuro. Th.. my name is Sokuro. ... and now its your turn- what's your name?"

        "Seliox." 

        "Seliox? Ok, Seliox, do you mind telling me just--"

       His tailblade flattened itself on her snout, making her look cross-eyed at it before returning her attention to its owner. "No No NO... The better question that must be asked first is: how do YOU know him? The idiot is a spineless, antisocial wimp and i know he'd run from you given the chance." He spoke with such a air of superiority about him.

        "... he didn't seem that bad."

        "Just wait till you get to know him. Now talk: How do you know the idiot?"

        Does he really have to call him that? Obviously, this Seliox guy knows who Sil is... and doesn't take very kindly to him. Maybe they were friends and it broke up badly due to some unknown reason, or they are brothers, in which case, this is natural sibling rivalry stuff; there are times Taled has been angry at Sokuro, and vice versa, and they spoke like this. "Um... well, i... am not from around here. I'm from... far away and I got separated from my friend and acquaintances and i woke up on the beach, then these crab things scared me and i took shelter. He got rid of them and we talked for a hot minute until a thief came. I stepped in and scared the thief off, but then Sil just... ran. He looked so shocked and scared."

        Seliox looked up and down her self, obviously taking into account the most noticeable aspect. "Well, there's no question as to why he ran... he's a Silver."

        "What does scale color have to do with anything?"

        He stayed silent for a moment before he moved his tailblade away from her mouth. "I guess you must be from far away. Or you lived under a rock your whole life." Technically, she lives on top of one, but he didn't need to know that. And the only function scales serve back on Dragenia is to showcase with element they're strongest with. "In that case, you better tread carefully. Thanks to the idiot last year, Dragon's like you are not looked upon in favor." And there was visual proof to back this up as several bypassers glared towards her with furious intent.

        She felt uneasy with all these evil looked toward her. "What... do you mean? What did he do?"

        "Let's just say he...left a scar on the psyche of many. A lot of things can be forgiven- what he did cannot." Him, she thought? That shy, meek kid did something bad? She knows appearances can be deceiving, but still... "I hope wherever you are from, Silver's are pitifully weak, otherwise Nexia-- no no, all of Naya are going to eat you alive."

        Nexia and Naya... at least she has words to call this place by- now the question was which name went with what location. But that's for later. "Will you just tell me what the troska he did?" She spoke up. She softly gasped as she held a paw to her mouth. She said another colonist word, and one of the bad ones from the Argalith language, or so she understands. Worse still, it's likely a word this world likely doesn't know about.

        And her concern was right- that was a word unknown to this place. "Troska? What's that?"

        "Um..." She scratched the back of her head and her neck, nervously breaking out into a nervous laugh. "Eh... hehe... um... it's... a... curse word i made up. Heh... yep. It's one i made up a fe----- some time ago. It quickly took off at my home... hehehehehehehehehehee... (please buy the excuse, please buy the excuse, please buy the pitiful excuse.)"

        He bought the excuse, but he could tell that she was keeping secrets. There was more to this, he figured. "... riiiiiiight..."

        She stopped laughing and closed her mouth. "Now it's my turn to ask: what did he do?"

        "Look, i'm pressed for time, ok? The short of it? He went out of control. He killed a lot of people and his powers went berserk, leaving a crater in the land."

        That sounds... eerily familiar... a lot like Xelut and Artox, but... something clearly happened to this Silverwind character. "No way... him? That sweet, shy little boy?"

        "Don't let his appearance fool you. Underneath that facade lies a dangerous reservoir."

        Sokuro is no stranger to a dangerous reservoir deep inside. Silver's like her back home are essentially demi-gods. Is it the same here too? But, if they are all permanently Aerids here, then he had to be born with this power; his color is just some byproduct. If he was different, then people here would be embittered towards Blue-colored Aerids, or green, or even pink. 

        As for Sil himself... her mind ran wild with possibilities. Maybe he suffered amnesia of the event or in his rampage, he accidentally killed his parents, or he's so guilt-ridden, it's eating him up inside and he forced himself to change his personality. She can't decide which one is worse.

        "All this talk of Silverwind is depressing me." Seliox suddenly spoke, interrupting her train of thought. "Let's switch to you: you said you aren't from around here, correct? Why else would you eat grass watered by sewage?"

        Sokuro spit up whatever grass was left in her mouth as hard as she could. They water their grass with sewage? Gods, that is disgusting in of itself. She whimpered as she wiped her paws over her tongue, hoping to get rid of the taste and residue. As she did this, she thought about his question: He had no idea, but she couldn't say. Best to keep it vague. "Um... yeah." She rolled her tongue back in; it still had an aftertaste "A really far away place, one you probably never even heard of. Have you heard of a place called Evioly. Have you heard of it?" He stayed silent. "That's what i thought. Anyway, Evioly is... really far away. It took us years to get here. But our... vessel was destroyed and i got separated from my friends."

        "Well, there was a nasty storm last night. You must've bad a bad captain if he didn't know how to sail through a storm."

        "Yeah, that... did us in. And no, our g--... CAPTAIN, Velx, is talented. It... just caught us off guard."

        "Caught you off guard? It's been gaining power all day yesterday and went wild last night. No way it could've snuck up on your ship unless your captain was drunk at the helm."

        She...... won't deny him there. Velx can be a heavy drinker around festival time. "......... heh.... well.... it did." She coughed, planning and hoping to get out of this awkward spot and move on. "Anyway... the crew... unfortunately went down with the ship. Me and my friends were able to fly away in a break in the storm, but it only last a few seconds. There were seven of us- not counting myself, there's Polosa, Eia, Ventus, Br--"

        "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, slow your roll, lady. I'm not gonna be looking for your friends. I doubt anyone here will due to you being... you know." She looked down at her scale colors as he gestured to her. "If you ended up on that beach, then they did too. Or they are at the bottom of the ocean." She had ever even considered that; He didn't need to say like that, but it ultimately is something she didn't plan on. What if one of them did end up in the water and drowned? She would be responsible.

          "I... dead..?" She shook her head, refusing to believe that is even a remote possibility. "How could you think they are all dead? How are you so cold and callous?"

         "I've seen some harsh realities, sweetheart. Your story is nothing new."

        She looked to the ground, feeling downtrodden about it. "Well... still, you still didn't need to say anything..."

        "Oh no, not again..." A female voice spoke out. Sokuro looked to her right, and from one of the roads came a dragoness like her; a certain green and brown number. "Seliox, he had a terrible time last night, so please let up on the teasing today, ok...?"

        And just like that, Seliox's rude demeanor was instantly gone. "I would, Sequiana... if this WAS Silverwind."

        "What are you talking about, of course this is..." Seqy looked towards the new Silver in town and realized that it was all one color; there were no yellow anywhere on her whatsoever. The only things that are a different color are the soft purple eyes and the horns that came out of her forehead and jutted back over her eyes, like epic eyebrows. "... you're not Silverwind."

        "You weren't the first to make that mistake..." Sokuro softly responded, feeling Seliox's words starting to weigh down on her.

        "So... wait, why is there another one? I thought Silverwind was the only one."

        "Ask her if you want answers, cause i need to go." Seliox said as he took a few steps away. 

        Seqy took a few steps toward him in a attempt to keep him from leaving, but stopped knowing that she'd be pissing off a dangerous powerhouse by doing so. Not Seliox, but the one who is raising him. "Sel... I wish you'd come by.... We all miss you, Sil included."

        He looked back to her, keeping up his stride. He really didn't want to be late today. "I'm surprised he does.... but maybe one day, i'm come by... I'm not going to make any promises.." He spread his wings and took to the air. 

        Seqy watched him fly away with a somber look and a dismal sigh. The last year has been hell for everybody in Naya, and it was showing no signs of getting better. She rubbed one paw over the other before turning her attention to the new girl. "... hard to believe there is another one."

        "Everyone had hammered that in.."

        Seqy nervously chuckled as she scratched her cheek. "He's nothing if not brutally honest. I know he didn't get it from us." Her eyes looked to the ground for a moment, figuring that he had to have brought this up. Brutally honest, but doesn't know when to shut up. "So, he mistook you for Silverwind, didn't he?"

       If she was in her human form, Sokuro would be fidgeting with her fingers and messing with her hair. If she was in her human form, maybe this whole mess could've been avoided. "... yeah. I got the feeling he isn't exactly... popular... or any Silver's, for that matter... someone called me a soul-stealing freak." 

        Seqy rubbed the back of her head, feeling guilty that a newcomer is being mistaken for her friend, and is getting the shade he has to put up with. "Right... of course they did..."

        That's something she's afraid to know the answer to, but one she needs to know. Given they share the same color, it would be best to know what she is getting herself into, even if it does suck. "What did he even do? He didn't exactly go into details, only that he snapped."

        "... which he did, in a way..." That jerk Seliox was right? That's something Sokuro really didn't want to hear- truthful jerks are hard hitting. Seqy looked up to the sky to check the time. "Listen, if you're willing to help me gather up some supplies, i'll tell you the whole story."

       She doesn't have much to say and protest. Since she needed information, and she has no idea where anything is or who will remotely treat her nice, Seqy here is her best bet. "I really don't have much of a choice in the matter. I'm completely lost and clueless, and you're the first one i met so far who hasn't badmouthed me or treated me like a jerk or ran away. So i'm going with you."

        "I... don't know if i should feel complimented or insulted."

        Sokuro lazily chuckled. "Heh... should've worded it better... heh... Oh, my name is Sokuro, by the way."

        "And you already know my name thanks to Seliox. But call me Seqy for short." She nodded in response. "Come on; we'll talk as we gather up replacements and supplies."

        "So why do you need supplies?"

        "I don't know if you noticed, but there was a nasty storm last night. It was pretty nasty and it ruined our crop fields, so we need new seeds and food and even a new garden hoe to last until we can replant. Good thing about living in the tropics- it's nice year round."

        Figures it had something to do with that storm. At least that's a story she can work with since it was very recent. "... funny you should mention that storm..."




        Slowly and lazily floating along the wind currents, Sil made his way to Nexia Port. Since he didn't see the new girl since their encounter on the beach, he can only surmise that she followed the thief or the shoreline until she found civilization. He took his time because he didn't really want to go to town; he knew what he would be getting into once he stepped foot there. But... then the girl would be subjected to the same abuse he's privy to every day.

        But worst of it all: what would happen if she ran into Seliox, or stars forbid, Termundus? There was no way she would be able to survive that encounter. He can't tell which scenario is worse: if they encounter another Silver, or encounter another Silver that can change into a human and vice versa?

        He grew apprehensive what he saw the Council Tower stabbing into the sky. He always felt uneasy and nervous whenever he saw that, not since that day. He can't linger on it for too long; he needed to find her before something bad happened.




        He didn't have much to worry about, as the one Sokuro had met after all the rude people and Seliox was probably the best one she could've met. She even bought Sokuro a beef skewer, much to the hungry newbies delight. Sokuro followed her around as Seqy bought supplies and replacements for everything that was ruined or destroyed from the storm, all the while Sokuro told her the story she came up with- Seqy may be the nicest one she met so far, but there's no telling how she would react if she knew Sokuro was... well, since she's seen no humanoids so far, she's gonna have to go with a shape-shifter.

        "-- this wannabe thief had Silverwind pinned, so i had no choice but to intervene. I think my intimidation spooked them both, because both the thief and Silverwind ran away..." Sokuro took a bite out of the huge piece of meat. It tasted... different then meat back home. Not terrible, but different. It's a different world, so obviously different spices and cooking methods are used. "...though given everything that jerk told me, i think the fact i'm a Silver scared them more then my scary display."

        "Yeah, that would do it." Seqy replied, lugging a saddlebag filled with fruit and covered meat on her back. The two of them approached a stall selling vegetables- after this, she needed to find a place selling seeds and also buy a new garden hoe. "Seliox described it best when he still lived with us; Sil is a coward. I'm not saying that to be mean or anything, but it's just who he is. He hates fighting." 

        "Then what did he do to make everyone hate him?"

        Seqy stopped for a moment. Sokuro sucked in her lips, feeling like she asked a really loaded question. "... well... We were inside the orphanage, various adults suddenly came and went to adopt various of us, Seliox being one of them... when suddenly we heard some heavy discussion outside followed by a crimson shockwave alongside a golden-like energy flash"

        "Wait... orphanage?" That word rang hard for her.

        "Yeah... our eggs suddenly appeared in front of the orphanage doors. Alua didn't see who left them, but we were left there by someone. I wish i knew who. Silverwind's egg appeared a week after mine..." She looked back and saw that Sokuro was looking a bit shocked, like in a trance. "Hey, are you ok?"

        Sokuro snapped out of her trance and blinked. "Y... yeah. I'm fine. Just... shocked that he's a orphan." She looked away. "(Gods... why are Silvers these days getting punched in the gut? I...is this world parallel to ours...? Another Silver without a family... but unlike me, he never knew his... and his life is far worse, by the sounds of it.)"

        "But... yeah. Nobody knows the caused the explosion to happen, but... one day, out of nowhere, there was suddenly this massive golden light. It was huge, punching a hole in the clouds and spread for miles. A lot of people were killed and a lot more were injured. And you can guess who was in the center of the crater..."

        "Sil..." Sokuro sadly answered. 

        Seqy nodded in confirmation. "He was unconscious when someone finally found him... but there were whisps of etherial energy coming off him, so everyone logically assumed that he was the cause of it... he did a lot of damage, so everyone hated him... Afterwards many of the adults saw him with hatred in their eyes, making it impossible for him to play with anyone, talk to anyone, or just treat him nice..." She sighed hard and depressingly, feeling bad for him. She felt sympathy tears forming and rubbed her eyes. She would give anything to help him end this mess. "If you ask me, I doubt it...I really doubt he could have done it, even when everything points out that he did it- i mean... it's just... He would never dare to harm a fly...It just doesn't add up..."
        Sokuro lifted her head, giving a warm smile to the more mature one of the two. "You're a loyal friend, aren't you?"

        "Well... you could say that... he's like a brother to me... just like to the fire twins and to everyone that ever was with him on the orphanage, even Seliox"

        "Wait, Seliox was a orphan?"

        She nodded. "Yes..." She sighed once more, but more of a worried sigh. "It's been a year since then. You can see how Sil is treated by the vast majority of people, and Seliox... he's started to act weird, different... almost like he wasn't himself."
        "Wait... a vast majority?"

        "Well... there are some, myself, Alua, and the Twins included, that believe while he was the cause, it wasn't by his own accord. We have the Gryphons on our side, and surprisingly the Phoenixes... Like i said, he is timid and meek- he wouldn't hurt a fly. But... something happened to make it erupt out of him. Sadly, we're outnumbered by those who hate him outright... and it's been going on for a full year since then. On top of it all, it made Dragons look bad to the other races; made us look like we're somehow engineering children for war or something. It's stupid, but you can't control how people think."

        "Other races...?" That giant feline she saw must be one of them.

        "Right. You aren't from around here. I bet you had a scare when you met one." Sokuro subtlety blushed in embarrassment as she scratched her cheek. Seqy ordered some seeds from the head stall clerk, who went behind to get what she asked for. She clicked her tongue and turned back to Sokuro. "Well, there's two types of creatures here: Feralis and Anthromorphs."

        "Huuuuuh?" Fer-whosits and Anthro-whatsits? This is as confusing as learning the species of the colonists. At least they had visual examples to back up what they are. 

        "I'll go into detail and try to go slow. Feralis come in three species: there are the Dragons, like you and me and Seliox and the clerk here. Then there are the Gryphons, who look like us but are covered in feathers and have the heads of birds in place of our pretty angular looks. They live by a strict code and don't believe in material wealth, but even people who live like that need to trade, and they make some pretty good stuff. Most of the stalls here are made by them. Despite being master woodsmiths, they usually tend to live in ruins- they're pretty much the only scavengers in the world, digging up relics of our past buried away."

        "Huh..." Covered in feathers. That sounds a lot like Velx. But he didn't have a bird head. And Scavengers? Sounds more like Archaeologists to her. If her parents were here, they'd try to find the Gryphons lickity-split.

        "Then there are the Phoenixes... they're a hardy bunch. They almost went extinct 70 years ago, and those that survived retreated are currently working to bring their numbers back up, which i think worked. They lived at volcanoes before their current predicament, and i think they still do. They tend to live in seclusion, but every so often, a tribe of them will come by to trade- i think one is coming for the Remembrance tomorrow. They tend to live off the land, but they still trade- like the Gryphons, we have stuff they need and vice versa. Other then fine works of art in jars, glasses, and sculptures that i swear i made out of crystal, they make some pretty good weapons and armor, ranging from silver to bronze to soul--"

        "Wait, what? Soul?" Not even the Astrals have the ability to mess with someones Soul- at least not the degree she is thinking of. All they can do is direct it to the next phase of its existence: reincarnation trough the River, suffering in the Black Abyss before reincarnation, or paradise in the Grand Light. That's it. "How can they use souls? Bronze and silver, that's a no brainier, but they can mess someones actual Soul? That should be impossible."

        "Oh. Right. Well... it's kind of hard to explain. Like... REALLY hard- I don't even know were to begin with explaining it. Um... i think a Phoenix merchant described it as like a sort of energy that all life exudes. It nurtures it, strengthens it, and empowers it, and one skilled in can awaken their latent powers, and those extremely powerful can awaken it in others, but they have to go way beyond their limits to do so, and that is impossible. And only Phoenixes can manipulate it. They never explain how they do it." 

        "....... huh..." That's not the explanation Sokuro was expecting, but she's gonna have to live with it. The clerk came back with the seeds and handed them to her. Seqy paid for it with the local currency and put them in her saddlebags. "So moving on, i guess- what are those Anth... thingies?"

        "Anthromorphs? 

        "Yeah, those." She pointed to the feline merchant that rudely denied Sokuro service. 

        So that's what they are called... but it doesn't explain everything. They walked down the muddy streets as Sokuro asked, "Everyone here seems to walk on four legs and have wings, but the one i saw was bipedal and looked like a giant cat." 

        "They prefer to be called felines, and... And they come in four different species: Felines, Canines, Lizards, and Rodents. They are all as big as us and almost as powerful. Except for rodents. For some reason, they're barely as big as a clutched paw."

        "Ok...? But WHAT are they? Where did they even come from? Everyone here are four-legged fliers, so why are they... them?"

        "Same as all things: evolution. That's like asking why birds and fish exist, on top of asking why they come in different varieties."

        So she's not going to get an straight answer; at least Evolution is as good a answer as anything. "I get the picture."

        "As for why the Rodents are huge and everyone else is so small... that's a question nobodies been able to answer."

        "Ooo. A mystery." She rubbed her paws together. "I love a good mystery." Especially since she has twenty thousand back home she still needs the answers to, like the mystery arrow and the rogue slavers.

        "Good luck. You won't be able to answer it."

        "Heh. Trust me, i can be very i--" She was suddenly hit in the back of the head by a hard rock. She yelped in pain as she lurched forward. "Ow... what hit me?" The girls looked back and saw a group of kids run away, with one of them carrying a pile of rocks in their saddlebags. ".........this is what Silverwind deals with daily?"

        Seqy sadly sighed as she nodded. "... yep. Almost every day, i want to give him a big hug and tell him things are going to be ok."

        After finding a stall that sold garden supplies and buying a replacement garden hoe, which she carried by wrapped her tail around it like a snake, the two started towards the edge of the city to leave this place behind for now. Sokuro finished off the last of her skewer and purred happily- her stomach was full and she was content for now. She looked around for a waste bin to toss the stick in, but didn't see one... or anything that could pass for one. She shrugged and hid it in Seqy's saddlebags. 

        Seqy picked up speed as she jogged up ahead. Sokuro looked ahead and saw the reason why: Silverwind. He was standing- leaning, more like- against one of the pillars holding up the entrance sign. He stared blankly at the ground; he must've been trying to work up the courage to come into town, but... obviously didn't.

        "There you are, Sil." Seqy warmly said as she jogged up to him.

        "Hey, Seqy." He softly said. "What are you doing here?"

        "Alua sent me to buy some supplies. The storm did a lot of damage..." She leaned forward to look him in the eyes. They were watery- he must've been crying. "You ok?"

        "Yeah, i was just... trying to work up the courage to head into town." He rubbed his eyes and changed gears. "Look, you aren't going to believe this, but there is another S--" He was tapped on the shoulder. He looked and saw the new Silver standing there with a grin on her face. And since Seqy isn't freaking out... "It's you! ....... you two already met, didn't you?"

        "Yeah." Out of nowhere, Sokuro gave him a giant hug, which caught him off guard. He blushed in embarrassment as she held him tight like a snake. "It'll be ok..."

        He grunted as he struggled to breath- this new girl had a vice grip. "... you told her, didn't you?" He asked Seqy.

        "She got some of the abuse that are normally meant for you and she wanted a explanation..."

        His heart sank when he heard that- nobody should be privy to the horrors he has to put up with, least of all a stranger in a strange land. "Oh..." He looked down at the hugger. "Sorry you had to experience that.""

        "Trust me... i know pain..." Sokuro croaked. Between losing her parents, the fearful pressure of not trying to be Xelut, almost getting kidnapped, and the probably guilt of killing her friends, she has a close proximity. She then let him go, feeling like he had enough. It felt like he's never used to hugging.

        "Sorry for running away like that back on the beach. You just... i thought i was the only Silver and you know why..."

        "You and me both; i'm the only one back home too. But... think we can talk about this on the way back to your home? If they hate one Silver, imagine how they will react when they see two."

        "Oooooo... i didn't think of that." Seqy backed it up. "Besides, Alua's stuck with the twins and you know that is not going to end well for either of them. I can already hear the punishments being doled out left and right." Without a word, Silverwind spread his wings and took to the air. 

        "I guess he's really eager to get home..." Sokuro commented as she slowly spread hers. "Not that i blame him." Seqy nodded in response before the two flapped their wings to follow after him. 

        As they flew towards the sky, Sokuro's mind returned to what Seliox told her, about her friends. There is... there is no way they could be dead, could they? She saw nobody else on the beach except for Sil and the thief, so... they must've ended up in other parts of this world. There should be no way she's the only one here, right? So... they must  be here. It's only logical... right?

36: Chapter 33: Welcome to the Hotel Nexia