[Closed] After the Engine

Elizabeth stood and looked around. She was surrounded by great trees and thick vegetation. Her surroundings were rather pleasant, at least, they were for a moment.

Crash...Snap....Pop...Snap...Crash...

Clenching her eyes, her face twisting into a look of utter frustration, Elizabeth shouted, "Bloody Hell, Tony! Is it too much for you to be quite?!?!" She quickly turned around, spinning on her right foot, to face a six foot tall grey robot.

"But Ma'am, were you not just yelling and making much more sound than I?" A great whirring sound came forth from the machine's jaws. His voice was metallic and a slight ringing diffused through the air as he spoke. His outer plates were starting to fall off, leaving parts of his back, chest, and upper left arm exposed. There was a slight coating of rust along the edges of his plating as well.

"Yes, I know that I was yelling. I don't need you to tell me. Anyways, be quieter, ok." Elizabeth's eye twitched. She had just escaped from her people's prison, and she had no wish to revisit it. All she needed was for Tony and her to get far enough away.

"Ma'am?" asked the familiar mechanical voice.

"What?" was Elizabeth's reply to her companion's distinctive whirring.

"We should be nearing the Terkaurai Territory rather soon. I reckon that we will be out of the Mutt City's borders in less than a day." Tony told Elizabeth this information, staying far enough behind to be able to escape her sometimes sudden rage.

"Well, ain't that a good thing." Elizabeth gave Tony a wide smile, which only made the robot cringe more. She was excited. Finally, she would be able to leave those annoying a**wholes who think they can determine her life for her.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Cinder smiled and said "You're welcome gabby! It worked! Hah! Well see you when I am rested, here is some gold if you need anything." He handed her 40 pieces and went back to sleep, moving his bed back to the back. While he slept the transformations slowly faded, the stone floor and beds switching back to sand. He would sleep for 45 minutes before waking. During that time, the other two conversed.

Cedric watched the dragon carefully from inside of his brother's head. He did not like this dragon, none had acted like him before and he did not see what Cinder even gained from helping them. As soon as the dragon was asleep again he took his chance to reform. He stared at Gabby for a brief moment, then looked back to Cinon. Wordlessly, the two seemed to come to some sort of agreement. "We should leave for Argamment now, Gabby," Cedric whispered his gravelly voice heavy on the tones of the draconic name. Cinon headed out to the beach of the cave, dark scales suddenly becoming much more visible in the sun.

"This Cinder has been kind to us," Gabby whispered, "Taken care of us and fed us. He isn't going to hurt us. Besides he may be able to tell us more about what to expect when we arrive. We should at least wait till he wakes up to say thank you."

"We have thanked him enough. I will carry close to the city, then join Cinon. He will escort you in and we can find another dragon to speak with, somebody who is tagged and will know the most about the Terrans. Come on now."

Gabby stood slowly, working out the aches in her body for a moment. Her arm ached. Not the worst pain she had ever felt, but fairly prominent. She bent and then placed the coins they had been given next to the snoozing Cinder. "It doesn't feel right taking his money."

Cinder turned in his sleep, the coins rolling off his scales to the floor, mumbling in his sleep. "And some grisin flowers to please mum." He went back to snoring quietly as normal.

Gabby frowned at cinder's sleepy mumbling, as she recalled what the amulet had said regarding his mother. She pulled the blanket over, a little higher on his back and made her way over to Cedric who was waiting. She felt guilty for having made him crash. "Perhaps I should take a walk for awhile?"

Cedric looked Gabby up and down, staring at her legs for a bit too long. "If that is what you wish. Walking along the beach will take us to the city."

Gabby nodded, curious as to the look Cedric was giving her. "I think it would be good for awhile," she said with a smile, "Lead the way?"

"Hmm," Cedric grunted, starting to walk down the warming beach. The sun was slowly rising on the horizon, and seabirds were flocking in the distance. Cinon ran along after them, distracting himself with odd shells, plants, and terrified tiny animals every few hundred meters like an excited puppy. "Do you know if your people are like the Terran?" Cedric asked suddenly.

She was watching Cinon and giggling a little as he bounced away from a shell which had suddenly begun to scuttle away when Cedric asked. Pausing, she considered his question for a moment and then looked to him. "They might have been at one point. The 90 continents on my planet used to be at war with each other for a long time. Wars over land, resources, technology. But they put those differences aside to work towards mutual peace eventually. While some continents do have more...excitable cultures...Peace was far more advantageous for my people. and with that, they learned to work together for everyone. I don't see them being...conquerers... Why do you ask?"

"You are of the same kind as Terran. Human. You would know of us on the most basic level the same as them. What do you see in us? You would know of us the same way as them on the most basic level"

Gabby's face fell a little, not necessarily insulted...but a little saddened. "I'm a humanoid, yes. But I'm not a Terran, Cedric," she replied quietly, "What I see in you, as dragons are beings with lives no less worthy than mine. I also see my friends."

"I am touched by the sentiment, Gabby, but that is not what I need to know." Cedric was as cold as always, methodical in his speech. "You have instincts like we do, correct? You fear the dark, you crave the hunt... What do you see of us?"

"You are asking what the Terrans see you as not what I see," Gabby said as a high-tide wave brushed against the toe of her boot, "Human instincts include fear and the drive to survive. If they are like humans from my people's history, they probably fear you in the sense that you are different, and look nothing like sentient life on their world. Also, invasions simply just don't happen for any reason at all. I imagine these Terrans have come for resources and may view you as a commodity."

"Hmm. You are avoiding my question Gabby. When I look at you I see weak, I see naive... I see prey. Do you see us as your predator? Do we scare you Gabby?"

Gabby stopped a little and looked at him with a flash of spirit in her usually calm, gray eyes. "When I look at you I see coldness. You ask if I see you as a predator? Yes. Wild's beasts have the same cold and killer precision about them," she replied her voice low, "And yes, you may see me as weak and.... naive...a sheep to prey upon. But sometimes those that look weak are nothing of the sort."

Cedric paused, then continued on the beach, pondering what she had said. "Thank you." Ahead of them, Cinon returned to Gabby with a large green skinned fruit in his mouth. "Hegh, I fenn dis."

Gabby shook her head a little and mustered a smile. "What is this?" she asked with a quiet laugh as she took the fruit.

"It's a Tergermerg! Try it! Just need to use your claws and take the peel off. Oh, wait..." Cinon looked at Gabby's sad-looking claws, sure that they would be too weak for the skin of the Tergermerg.

She gave Cinon a chuckle and scratched under his chin. "Here, you take it for you." She laughs as Cinon enjoys her "small claws" on his scales and lets him have the fruit. As he takes it she glances down at her own hands and her arm bound by the bandages. Perhaps she was weak, prey to them. She didn't fear Cinon and Cedric, or Cinder for that matter. But she had feared Grekan, despite her bravado in face him down. Dealing with dragons like him would be part of her future, she knew. While that worried her, what scared her more was a deeper question she knew had to ask herself. What was her place in this world?

Behind them, a bright streak of silver flew at incredible speeds towards them. As it got closer it grew dimmer and slower, eventually coming to a stop mid-air in front of them. It held there for a second before gently flying around gabby's neck. Kynareth spoke to her in its soft but loud voice. "Cinder will awake soon."

Gabby's thoughts were interrupted by a familiar object appearing before her. Cinder's amulet. " Hello, Kynereth." It looped itself around her neck and delivered the message that Cinder would soon be awake. "What will he do when he wakes?" she asked, curiously.

"He will probably join you. He has excellent tracking skills. I shall return in a moment." It flew from her neck to Cedric's, striking up a quick conversation with him. "Hello. One who is named Cedric, you are brother to Cinon yes?"

Cedric felt a presence connect to his mind at the same time as the amulet touched his scales. Quickly, he defended himself, narrowing his mind to all but speech. "You enable Gabby to speak to Cinder, what of the Terrans? Is she able to speak to them?"

"Calm yourself, I have little power or reason to harm you. I merely wish to gain information. You have a high mental fortitude, is this because of your link to your sibling?" The gemstone within it started to glow a deep purple. "Since I know you it seems only fair I introduce myself. I am the amulet known as Kynareth."

"Your name is not helpful. I require information about your use, and if you are able to speak the language of the Terrans."

It's blank and toneless voice turned very slightly and subtly sour, saying "My use is given only to the kind of heart and the pure of soul, child. And I can 'speak' all languages, as I do not actually have the use of words and different tongues. You should know this, Young one."

"I have no way of knowing what means of telepathy you utilize. The dragons I have interacted with have all spoken Lowlands, even in their mind. That is all I need to know."

"Then tell me what I need to know.... You."

"You may find out what you must from Cinon and Gabby. You have already shown you have no respect for the mental territory of others."

It rushed off Cedric and flew onto cinon's neck, It's gemstone turning into the entire spectrum of the rainbow. "Greetings. I am kynareth."

Cinon's mind was not nearly as strong as Cedric's but was stronger than the average mind due to his brother's influence. He stopped in his tracks and looked over at Cedric, then to Gabby, and finally down to his chest at the amulet. "Hello?!"

"I am indeed the amulet upon you. How are you, child?"
 
Last edited:
"Oh, good. We are going back to Argamment now and then we get to go home. Are you a spirit? My Mom told me that some dragons become spirits when they die, like the Thirteen Äncients. You're not a demon are you? Unless you're the good kind of demon, because I heard there are good demons too, sorta like Cedric. Can you see anything? I can't see any eyes for you unless the gemstone is an eye."

"That is wonderful news. I am an amulet forged of magic, and no, I can only see the spark within you. My world is the color of souls, and yours is quite a spectrum. Why are you going to Argamment?"

"'Cause it's on the way and we can get food n' stuff n' see what the Terrans are like. I hope they're like Gabby."

"I am sorry to tell you that not all are. While Gabby sees you as a compatriot in adventures these would see you as lesser beings. A few might be similar of mind to her though, so do not lose hope. From what I have of humans they can be quite unpredictable." The voice turned into it's soft female self gradually as it conversed. " You say you need food from the town, but with what coin would you obtain such sustenance?"

"Uhh..." Cinon's eyes shifted away from the amulet, despite the fact that they were entirely uniform and the amulet had no eyes to begin with. "So some of the Terrans are like Gabby, but some are like... I don't know... Blue when he got angry?"

"....Yes... and the warden in that scenario as well. Like that."

"Okay." Cinon started walking along again, something shiny in the sand catching his eye. A single fin-like piece of metal painted white with a blue stripe was protruding from the ground.

"Goodbye, young one."

The amulet left back to gabby saying when it got there and changed, "If Cinder dies, please keep me. The cold one is rude, and the curious one is slightly simple, though Cinon is much better than his brother. Cinder is outside the cave. I can see his light. If you need me or if this dragon in the city cannot help you, tap the gem." And with that it flew away back towards the direction of the cove.
 
Last edited:
The necklace delivered its message and then flew away leaving Gabby a little bewildered, bit also knowing what to expect. Cinder would undoubtedly catch up to them and Cedric would not be thrilled. She would have to see what happened when he did but she imagined the two would not get along in the slightest.

Cinon bounded up to a strange looking metallic object poking out of the tan sand. It gleamed in the morning light like a shiny new toy and Gabby shielded her eyes with her hand to get a better look before realizing that this glistening thing was familiar.

"Cinon! Dont touch that!" She yelled as she took off running toward the curious dragon, "Its dangerous!"

"Dont touch it," she said quickly, "Its a defective weapon. Stay far from it."

Cinon perked up, looking back at Gabby worried.

Cedric stepped up to Gabby's side, watching Cinon carefully. Cinon slowly backed away from the metal fin, tail drooping down in the sand

"Hold on, this weapon shall be diffused shortly." Cinder flew over, quickly moving the sand away and revealing the rest of the missile.

The rest of the missile was painted white, each of the four fins in the front and back as well as the head of the missile being painted with a bright blue stripe. Foreign black symbols were painted on the side. It appeared to have been buried for some time, but little other than the paint had eroded.

"Does anyone have any metal? Preferably conductible?" He looked around the sand for such item, raising a small wall of sandstone in-between them and the missile and lifting it in the air.

Gabby felt around in her tattered jumpsuit pocket and grasped her compass inside its Tykrin metal case. It was the last thing she really had from her old life. Feeling over the battered, silvery case of case was with her finger tips, she bit her bottom lip, and considered its worth. It wouldn't work on their planet. The compass had been specially designed for Kaereals unique gravitational and polar pulls. It was a relic even on that world too, after so long. It didnt fit in anywhere. She pulled it out and sighed. " Try this Cinder."

Then she tossed the compass over the sand wall with a grunt and it landed in the sand on the other side next to Cinders back foot.

He picked it up and attached it to a shrinking missile. He curved and twisted it, bent and shrunk it until it was a small dense cube of metal, and the ordinance in a blue metallic prism. He touched the side of it and lightning with a wave of heat trickled up him and all across his arm to his chest before he took the finger away and only held it at the thicker metal top and bottom. "Okay lets go."

Cedric watched cautiously as Cinder did his magic work. He had not seen something like the weapon before, not even with Ethan in the Engine. It looked harmless enough, little more than an ineffective ballista bolt with more fins. "What sort of weapon is that? How does it work?"

He looked over at the two and then nodded and took off a piece of the blue container, reforming the rest and throwing the chunk up in the air before tossing a coin at it and watching it explode with a little 'pop'. "Terrans. Worse then guns, explosive things. Missiles."

"They look like ones we used to use on Kaereal," Gabby added as she watched, " They are meant for causing damage over a wide area. To hurt many people and buildings too."

"Like Ethan's grenades..." Cedric said, watching the metal pop. "The Terrans are using these against us. Cinder, have they attacked the cities with them?"


Cinder shook his head. "No, but if a war broke out I am certain that they would. That and deadlier. That missile is often accompanied by others. And newks. Explosions bigger then cities. Armies of armed robots and very fast metal ballistas called rail-guns. Terrans are much more deadly then us, but having the biggest stick does not command power in my book, and in the book of some others."

He started to walk towards the city. "So, what rock have you been living in to have missed all this?"

"We weren't here for twenty years 'cause we were with Gabby in a place called the World Engine and when we came back it was now. When we left there were no humans at all."

Gabby stayed quiet for a moment, listening to the dragons speak. The sun was at its pinnacle in the sky and the heat of the beach was starting to make her sweat. Wiping her brow, she unzipped the top to her jumpsuit down to her hips and slipped her arms out of the sleeves before tying them around her waist with a wince. The breeze rippled through her white tank underneath and her short, unkempt hair as she glanced at Cinder and Cedric. "Its how I came here. I'm neither Terran or Native, but I feel your friendly amulet might've told you-"

Her word stopped short as a large, winged shadow passed over head, slinking across the smooth sand and blocking the sun above them. She looked up to see a small dragon with shining, pearlescent scales moving past and pushing hard with its wings. It seemed to be in a hurry. Cinon and Cedric both looked up, spotting the Pearlescent scaled dragon, a rather rare trait.

Cinder looked up for a split second before looking back down at gabby. "My amulet keeps secrets. She woulden't tell me about you if you didn't want her to."

It flew off him and into the center of the group, glowing. "I have secrets from long ago, hidden passages and buried tombs. It's quite fun when you have a secret of power."

"This is all interesting, but we really must get going to the City by wing." Cedric said, "I am not sure that you will want to follow us there Cinder, if the stories of Terrans are accurate. You would know more than I about Argamment's state."

A low hum filled the air as a strange looking white flying machine with four propellers zipped through the air over their heads. Gabby watched as it paused just above them, like a curious animal, scoping out and observing them. This was something she had never seen before...a unique design that allowed the craft to hovering, wavering slightly in the breeze.

"A Terran craft, I'm guessing?" Gabby asked quickly, "Maybe that's why the other dragon was in such a hurry."

The craft covered over them a made a shuddering click sound before, dipping lower to dragon- eye level. "This is a randomized check point inspection," it said in draconic, "Hold up your identification wrist bands for recording and clearly state your business before continuing."

Cinder looked up at the craft with curiosity before it talked and his face changed to that of horror. He shouted "YOU TWO, RUN!" before forcing a rock to appear to hit him, falling down and lowering his temperature playing dead.

Cedric quickly formed back into Cinon as he bolted, his body turning invisible as he took off. The drone's camera watched them briefly before it looked back to Cinder and Gabby. "Please hold, an MCI response team in enroute." The speaker switched to English suddenly, giving an instruction to Gabby, waiting, then repeating the phrase.

He slowly and subtly sank into the ground continuing his act of death.

Gabby looked at the craft with a raised brow as it spoke gibberish, in what she assumed was the Terran language, and continued repeating the message. She had no idea what it wanted her to do...maybe it would follow her away from them if she ran?

The craft spoke in another voice, a third language, repeating that message twice, before the first voice came back, speaking Lowlands now. "Nod if you can understand me."

Gabby nodded, her knees bending slightly and her feet digging into the sand. She was ready to fight or run.

"Hold please..." The drone hovered silently for a few moments before a new voice came, a woman's voice. "A team is on the way to check on him, are you able to check if he is breathing normally?"

Gabby knew he didnt have a wrist band and knew the Terrans were coming. Not good. "I think he's dead actually."

"No," she replied sternly

"Are you in immediate danger?"

"Are you able to tell if the dragon in the sand is conscious?"

Gabby nodded before kneeling and lifting up one of Cinder's heavy paws. He'd done an excellent job at going totally limp. "He is unconscious," she lied.

"Copy. Are you able to identify yourself and the dragon?"

Gabby wasnt sure what to do. At least Cinon and Cedric had vanished and were safe but Cinder was not tagged. She nodded and then mouthed as if she was speaking, but let no sound come out. Maybe they would think there was a malfunction with their machine?

The amulet which was previously floating now flew to her and worriedly stated "Walk away from cinder as loudly as possible, He is going to try to burrow to the city."

She didnt know how Cinder would accomplish that, but she clasped the amulet in her hand, keeping it safe and started walking away from the scene, her bootfalls sloshing in the wet sand.

By now the operators had noticed the steadily sinking dragon in the sand, an obvious use of abilities. The supervisor realised what was happening, changing the code on the response from "Medical" to "Investigate". "Dragon, attempting to leave the area will put you onto a global fugitive registry. Please cease your use of abilities."

By now the operators had noticed the steadily sinking dragon in the sand, an obvious use of abilities. The supervisor realized what was happening, changing the code on the response from "Medical" to "Investigate". "Dragon, attempting to leave the area will put you onto a global fugitive registry. Please cease your use of abilities."

"Orgorn biscuits." He flew up above it and dived behind it, burring himself in the sand before it would have the chance to turn around. Underground he dug towards the water, heading back towards the hidden city when he reached the sea.

Gabby glanced around. There was no where to run to or any easily accessible hiding spot to wait for the heat to die down. With her jaw set, she kept walking without looking back but with the amulet grasped tightly in her hand. Running might attract its attention again. She hoped Cinder got away and prayed Cinon stayed hidden.

With the dragon vanished into the Earth, the human was the last one to follow. The drone ascended up a few meters, keeping a healthy distance away from her as they waited for the team to arrive. From the direction of the city, a jeep-looking vehicle was on the horizon.

She could hear the buzz of the craft following her. Good. It would be away from Cedric and Cinon at least. Cedric would have enough sense to keep Cinon away from her. Another sound began, a grumbling sound of a motor. She peered down the beach and saw another vehicle approaching fast. It was hard to tell how many Terrans it might hold, be she suspected a few at least. She glanced down at Kynereth, shining in the mid-afternoon light. "Can you make yourself smaller or unrecognizable? I don't want you to be taken from me."

Kynareth shrunk to just the gem and stopped glowing, turning the color of her jumpsuit and starting to wriggle towards it. She let Kynereth loose to camouflage herself in the folds of her frayed jumpsuit. The Terran's grew closer in their vehicle and were heading right for her.

The jeep stopped a few meters infront of her, two men and two humanoid robots stepping out of the cabin. All were wearing arid camouflage with high-vis vests overtop and were carrying identical rifles, the humans having ones with optics on top versus the laser of the robots. The humans stepped forwards to her, rifles slung on their chests, as the robots waited behind.

She scanned over the four Terrans. Two were made of machinery, like Ethan had been, but the other two were flesh. It bothered her slightly that they really did look like her in almost every way. Her grey eyes landed on the guns strapped across them and then back up to their tanned faces. She wished she had her own pistol rather than being a sitting duck, as she stopped and stared them down.

The men stepped up to Gabby, shoulder mounted radios chattering away in English. The first, a rather rugged man with a brown beard and sunglasses, addressed Gabby in Lowlands. "I am Sergeant Edwards with the MCI local police unit based in Argamment, we got called out for an injured untagged dragon that apparently has already fled, can you tell us anything about him? What is your affiliation with him?"

She blinked at the officer, as the wind whipped through her hair and she her ground. Apparently this one spoke lowlands. "I just met him," she shrugged truthfully, "I dont know anything about him other than he bandaged my arm."

"I see. The drone couldn't grab any ID from you ma'am, do you have a temporary card or can you show me an implant?"

Gabby looked to the man, mustering as innocent of a face as she could, "I'm sort of new around here....and Ive had a rough few days....as you can see. I dont have anything to give you."

Edwards looked at his partner, slightly confused. "You're not registered with anyone? You look Terran to me."

"I'm not," she replied sternly, "I do need to keep moving though, is there any law that I have broken that prevents me from moving on?"

"...No, you haven't. Can I get a name for the record before you leave?

"Calista," she lied, giving her sisters name, "Calista Feulk."

"Alright. Wait here for a moment will you." Edwards walked back to the jeep, saying something to the robots in English before one stepped into the vehicle. He opened the driver's door, fiddling with something insude before returning. "Are you heading to Argamment today?"

She watched the Terran warily as he rummaged around in his vehicle and then came back to her. "I suppose so," she said casually, "I should probably have this arm looked at anyways. Know of any good facilities?"

"Just the base right now. We are pretty much the only humans around that we know about, though you change things. We can give you a ride back in the jeep, if you don't mind sitting next to the bots."

She changed things...she thought to herself...if they took her back to base more questions would ensue. "That's alright," she said, "I don't mind walking. Thank you for the offer however. "

"Hm. I see. Look, those dragons you were spotted with are fairly smart, but they need to be tagged. It is a necessary safety measure, just like a gun registry. As for yourself you will need to file some paperwork and get an personal RFID tag as soon as possible. Have a good day." The two soldiers returned to their vehicle, the dusty jeep turning around on the beach and heading back to the city, the small drone included, but another drone had shown up now far above them near cloud level, one looking much more like a plane.

Gabby sighed in relief as they drove away out of sight. She saw the other craft passing high above. She wondered if it could see her. Maybe. But doubted it could hear her. "Cedric? Cinon? Are you close by?"
A few minutes pass and Gabby continued walking at a leisurely pace in case anyone else was watching, but kept a sharp eye out for her friends.

A puff of sand blew up from the beach, a black dragon forming from it soon after. "Gabby, get on."

The amulet wriggled out of its previous spot, shining for a brief moment before gaining back it's silver dragon. "That drone might delay cinder, but he will return. He is currently at sea. The human lied. It's a gun registry for their safety. The safety of the invaders because our current inhabitants are just too dangerous. A species that leaves to drain other worlds just because they ruined theirs, one that imposes itself like a hungry stow-away at a feast. Placing bracelets like shields fearing what they don't bother to understand."" It had raised an angered voice. "My apologies miss, just used to the cruelty of this world, not otherworlders like yourself." It lightly pulsed as if taking deep breaths before saying again. "Not meaning to offend your world, from what you have given me they seem to be a while before they impose. If they impose."

Gabby smiled at the sight of Cedric, feeling relieved that they had stayed out of the sights of the Terrans. The amulet spoke to her and she gave Kynareth a calming stroke with her fingertips. "It's alright. I understand. They even want to tag me it appears. And I look like them." She dashed over to Cedric and climbed aboard his back, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Is Cinon safe?"

"How do you think I got here?" Cedric said, taking off from the sand and gaining altitude quickly over the water, accelerating to the city. The Terran jeep slowed down as they passed its 90 degree point, obviously being noticed by the Terrans. It continued on at the same rate a few minutes later as the grew closer. "If they want to tag you as well then they must be doing it to everyone. Perhaps it is simply normal for their society. Did you see bracelets on them?"

Gabby made a face at his sarcasm, even if he couldn't see it and then watched the jeep far below them. "No, I didn't see any bracelets on them either. One wore a ring though."
Cedric did not reply as they flew on over the beach.
She shuddered at the idea of being tagged and gave Cedric neck a small squeeze out of instinct. "Thanks for coming back for me at least," she said to herself, "Even if I do look like one of them."
 
Last edited:
The city was mostly the same for Cedric and Cinon. Some of the shops had moved, the wall expanded slightly to the east, but the majority was exactly as it had been left twenty years ago. Several glaring differences were the new signs for "Prohibited Zones" set up around the human camp outside of the wall and the arrays of solar panels they had brought with them, and the new "Human Wares" Store near mid town. A patrol was standing around one of three old entrances to the city, not really doing much other than harrassing the odd dragon here or there for reasons ranging from missing bracelets to reports of stolen goods four towns over.

Cedric set down a hundred meters from the closest gate, letting Gabby off. He quickly deformed into Cinon again. "Go through the gate, I'll fly overtop."
The gate has 3 men, 1 woman, and 4 robots. 1 of the men is wearing a funny looking helmet that kinda looks like it has dragon horns.

Gabby nodded as Cedric disappeared, leaving her to pass the gate. She surveyed the guards, 8 in total, and one wearing a strange, horned helmet of sorts, Running would be difficult if she had to. With a deep breath she strolled casually up to the walls and toward the gate as if she belonged there.

The guards did little to stop her, except one. Dragonhorny, as the gods had dubbed him, stared at Gabby knowingly. He held some sort of glowing pad-like device in his hand, watching her the entire time as she walked in. A moment later his commanding officer stepped over and he turned his attention away.

She watched out of the corner of her eyes. The horned guard kept his eyes trained on her until someone else walked over. She took the moment to scurry the rest of the way into the city and into the streets which bustled with traffic and were lined with shops. That could be used to her advantage, since she had a feeling that she may be pursued. Dodging into the side streets and eventually bumped into a Terran man who gave her an angry look at first before she apologized in Kaerealean, which left him confused.


Passing by the random Terran, she caught a glimpse of herself in a shop window. Her hair was unkempt, face dirty, and her old jumpsuit hung off her hips looking the worse for wear. She stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Are there any visible signs of pursuit?" Gabby whispered to the amulet.

"I'll check and find you later," the pretty necklace said, before unlatching from her and falling like a feather to the nearest surface, glowing invitingly.

"Thank you," she said with a nod as she started to walk again.

Cinon appeared around a corner, running up to Gabby. "Gabby! I found a good place to stay tonight. I've never had coin like this before, it'll be great. Anything you want to do right now, the best bakery ever is still here."

She smiled as Cinon bounded toward her, glad to see they had made it into the city without incident. "A place to stay? And coins? Where did you get that, Cinon?"

"No, Cinder's coin. I'd never steal someone's coin. I mean maybe one time but that doesn't count, they kinda deserved it. So, what do you wanna see first?"

Gabby raised a brow at Cinon. She'd meant to give that back to Cinder, but it appeared that it was too late now. Maybe she could find a different way to repay the red dragon. Giggling a little she shook her head at the dragon and patted his shoulder. "Why dont you show me the bakery, huh?"

Cinon nodded and started into a light trot down the street, taking a few turns before stopping infront of a blue stained clay building. Glass windows covered the front and baked pies and breads were lined on display shelves for all to see. A small draconic sign hung over the large door to the bakery. Inside, a medium sized Fulhai-Mutt looking dragon sat at the counter patiently.

The smell of baking bread was intoxicating as they entered the shop and stared at rows of bread loaves and pastries. There were all different kinds; dark earthy .looking loaves, rolls topped with tiny seeds, braided breadsticks baked golden brown. She spied one with a pink fruit and some sort of nut sitting on top of a flaky bun. "That one...looks delicious," she said as she licked her lips, "You've been here before Cinon?"

"Oh yea, just once. Ghunge gave me a free roll 'cause I told him about my quest." The old dragon behind the counter nodded once, his frail feathered wings shaking slightly. "I'm afraid I don't recognise you, hatchling. I'm also afraid I don't have the machine for the human to make any purchases today, coin only."

She looked at Cinon, realizing that when this dragon had last seen Cinon, he would have been in mid-life. Of course he wouldn't remember. She wasn't the only one who had come to a new world. "We have a few coins," she said gently to the old dragon, as she picked up the fruity pastry and let Cinon pick what he liked.

Cinon grabbed a nutty loaf from the front shelf and walked back over to Gabby.

"That will be five coins please."

She almost asked if Cedric would want anything before remembering he didnt eat. Or was content to let Cinon do that for both of them at least. They paid the elderly baker with a small exchange of pleasantries and left the shop snacking on their treats. Passing by a flower shop, Gabby stopped to look into the window.

The flowers of the area seemed to fall into four major categories. Glowing, pastel, neon, and patterned combinations of the three. Various bouquets were lined up around the front, including one that looked like a smiley face with flat black and dimly glowing yellow flowers in a circle.

Gabby pointed to the flowers, letting Cinon tell her the different kinds until she stumbled upon one that sounded familiar. The one Cinder mentioned in his sleep. A pretty white glowing one with red stripes and a yellow middle. "May I?" she asked Cinon as she pointed to the flower.

"May you what?" Cinon asked.

"Do you mind if we get some of those?" Gabby asked Cinon with a smile.

Cinon looked at a sign briefly, thinking a bit. "Sure, it's three for one coin."

Gabby stepped inside the primly kept shop and took a deep breath, taking in tall the scents of the flowers. The young dragon clerk inside gave her a curious stare as she selected a 3 bunches of the pretty white flowers and paid with a golden coin on the counter. As she turned to leave, a familiar Terran passed by the window and she froze immediately. The guard with the horned hat was walking past them casually, right behind Cinon.
***
Thirty minutes after their arrival, a squad shift took place on the Eastern gate. After being relieved by another squad, Dragonhorny, the other three humans, and all four robots moved through a thin crowd of Dragons back to the human camp outside the North gate. Dragonhorny was at the back, smiling cheerfully at several dragons he had spoken with regularly.

Kynareth slipped away into the shadows before sliding quickly as it could to the passing dragon lover, Her neutral voice quickly connecting with the being as it slid up to his heart. "Hello."

Edwards stopped in the street, briefly looking around for a telepath trying to reach him. The locals had done it a few times, usually children, due to his choice of headgear.

The voice immediately turned soft and female, it's volume lower then her regular loud. "Can we have a private mental chat for a bit?"

Seeing nobody, he continued on with his group, slightly perplexed by the voice.

The voice immediately turned soft and female, it's volume lower then her regular loud. "Can we have a private mental chat for a bit?"

Edwards stopped again, looking around for a bit. "Problem, Edwards?" The Woman asked. "Nah, no. I think it's just some kids again."

Again the voice defined, this time with a discernible age slightly younger then him, this time sounding confident and gentle. "Please? I'm lonely."

Edwards looked around again, confused at why the telepath kept changing the sensed voice. "Keep up, Edwards." The Woman said again, slowing down the rest of the group now. "Yea, yea. They keep trying to talk to me, it's distracting. I'll ignore it."

It would be very kind if you did not ignore me please. I only wish to talk." it pleaded, keeping the same voice type.

Edwards kept walking, ignoring the voice in his head. It would be gone soon, they never followed them out to the camp.

"What must I do for you to have you reply? Please?"

Edwards gripped his rifle tighter, spinning around and looking for the dragon tormenting him. Nobody. "Edwards!" The leader of the group grabbed Dragonhorny by the shoulder, turning him around. "Yes, sir." "Is somebody bothering you?" "... No, sir. They probably left."

"I shall wait when you want to talk. No hurry." With that she slipped off him and unto a nearby dragon, instantly recognizing the mental experience in them. "Hello."

*****

Gabby scurried outside as Dragonhorny passed by looking confused and as if he was searching for someone. She stood next to Cinon facing away from the street and gave the dragon a smile. "Maybe we should go find that spot to rest you mentioned?

Cinon lead Gabby down a few side-streets until they came to a bridge. The stone arch was put over a set of canals, large stairs on the other side leading down to a path following the redirected river. Another few hundred steps, many turns, and several piles of what looked to be trash and waste, and they came to a relatively clean dead end in the canals.

"Is this fine?" Cinon asked.

"This is good Cinon, thank you." Gabby sat on the edge of the smooth stone-brick canal, her feet dangling over the water. The water was mostly clear but occasionally rippled as if something was beneath the surface, stirring the calm canal into gentle eddies. The afternoon wore one as she nibbled her treat from the bakery along side Cinon and kept the flowers close at hand.

Later, a group of young dragons had taken to flying off the canal wall adjacent to them and landing in the water with increasingly daring acrobatics in between. They laughed and cheered each other on as each splashed into the water It had been a long time since she had done something like that and she had the urge to join them, but she suspected she would scare them away, looking like a Terran.

Cedric reformed a few minutes after they stopped in the canal, lying down regally on the upper of the two levels. Cinon laid around for a bit, but often went and came out of boredom, bringing back a couple of little things he found including a strange hollow metal cylinder that smelled a bit like it was burnt.

Eventually, Cinon settled in too, flicking his tail in the water boredly. "Hey Gabby?" He asked quietly.

Gabby looked up from watching the playful dragons and looked to Cinon curiously. She'd never heard him speak quite so timidly before. "Hmmm? What it is, Cinon?"

"Why do all you humans wear stuff?"

"Clothing?" Looking down at her jumpsuit tied haphazardly around her waist she considered how to answer the question and then looked back up at the inquisitive dragon. "I suppose it started out as a form of protection," she mused, "We dont have tough scales or claws. So we used clothes to protect ourselves from stepping on things, and the sun, and the cold. Though it does go beyond simple need for most. Sometimes we like to look nice. There's "fashion" which is solely for the purpose of looking pretty. I was never much for it, but sometimes I would wear a dress on Kaereal too."

"The sun? Why would you want to block the sun?"

Gabby chuckled and scratched the young dragon under his chin gently. "Unlike your scales, my skin would burn from too much light. It's painful." She looked down at the cool clear water below them as the late afternoon sunlight made the surface sparkle. "It can be fun though. Being in the sun. Like when you go swimming."

"Oh. That's silly. Do you take off your clothes when you go swimming?"

"Sometimes," Gabby laughed, as she remembered certain daring stunts on Kaereal, "Sometimes, Cinon." On a whim she looked at the dragons diving in and then started untying her heavy boots. She wanted out of these old clothes, just for a bit. It wasn't her anymore. " Can you swim? C'mon lets give that dive a try!" She slipped off the jumpsuit to her shorts and tanktop underneath and laid them to the side, feeling bold.

And then padded her way barefoot to the higher level of the canal, took a stance and dove off. The water was cool and clear. She hadn't done something like this in...well she couldn't remember the last time. She swam and dove several more times, then came over to the dragons as the sun began to set to dry off in the last light of the sun.

"That was fun," she laughed as she shook out her short hair and sat on the edge of the canal.

"..." Cinon looked at the stones at his fore paws, a sad frown forming on his face.

"Why are you so sad looking Cinon?"

"We can't swim. We never learned how." Cedric said from above.

Gabby frowned and stood back up on the edge of the canal. "Why didn't you say something? Its something everyone should get the chance to try. I can teach you. Doggy paddle is...well...universal I imagine."

"... I don't want to..." Cinon said grumpily.

Gabby didnt understand his sudden mood change. She'd have figured the fun loving dragon would have liked to try. She sat down next to him and patted his shoulder, "What's wrong, Cinon?"

"... I... I don't like the water."

Gabby blinked, and stole a glance up at Cedric. "I'm sorry. I didnt know that," she replied, "Is there a reason you don't like the water?"

"..." Cedric looked back at Gabby, motioning her near with his head.

Gabby left Cinon with a gentle pat on his head and stepped over to Cedric. She sat beside him and folded her legs under her comfortably to listen.

Cedric began talking as Gabby sat, keeping his flat voice to a hushed tone. "There was an incident about ten years ago -for us that is- when he was learning to fly. He was too close to the river and ended up flying into the water. It carried him away, nearly drowned him. Nearly drowned us. He hasn't gone near it since. On our way out we were here for a week as I tried to talk him into flying to Undur."

"I see," Gabby said a she bit her bottom lip, and glanced over at Cinon. She sat quietly for a moment considering the two dragons. The two brothers and how different they were. "You know," she said finally, "Cinon is sweet and a bit haphazard, but he is brave. He's faced every fear he could think of. For you. I admire that. Even if he doesn't see it himself."

"..." Cedric looked down on the downtrodden dragon. For the first time that Gabby would have seen, he smiled, just barely. "He is special. I know him... I know him better than anyone. His ...heart, is strong."

She glanced over at Cedric just in time to catch the smallest of smiles, barely a whisper of one, curl to the dragons face. A first. She nodded, saying nothing of the smile. "And so is yours." Then she rose easily to her feet and walked over to the forlorn dragon on the lower steps.

Cinon shifted slightly on the lower canal, looking up at Gabby, then back to the water.

She tried to think of a way to cheer up Cinon. "Hmmm...so Cedric was just telling me that there were some neat things to see in the evening around here. Would you want to show me? I'm sorry it wasnt safe to explore earlier."

"... There's a cool palace here. It has rooms for all the different types of races here. A watery room, a cold room, a hot room..."

She gave Cinon a smile, "It would be fun to go, if you wanted to show me."

Cinon jumped up to his feet, leaping up the difference between ledges and turning around to face Gabby. "Sure! It's in the middle of the city where the canals and main street meet. Follow me." Cedric lept across the canal and caught up to Cinon, reforming into him.

She laughed at Cinon's sudden enthusiasm as he took off toward the palace. "Wait up!" Managing to snag on her old jumpsuit and slide into her boots, she began running after Cinon down the canal as fast as she could. They ran along side the water front as insects buzzed and the last of the light dazzled over the waters. She could see the large building he mentioned in the distance. It was indeed a large, beautifully sculpted building. Buildings like this didnt really exist on her home continent. It was too small. There were some on others, but not accessible by the public, meant only for royalty.

Cinon stopped at a dimly lit fence on the exterior of the palace. It was a strange fence, not familiar to him. Interlinked metal wires crisscrossed between metal poles, covered on the top by spiky-looking barbs on another wire. The entrance path was blocked by two robots sporting deactivated spotlights and rifles. Beyond them and the fence, the palace seemed relatively untouched. Four tall walls with square towers at their corners extending up several dragon-sized stories over the surrounding buildings. The walls were constructed of a combination of quartz and granite slabs, each at least a meter wide and tall.

"I think things have changed..." Gabby whispered to Cinon as she looked up at the palace, blocked by the tall fence, "The Terrans..."

"But... why?" // Across the yard, a dragon wearing a very Terran looking utility vest with draconic on the front spotted them. He was a good bit larger than Cinon, but not quite as large as Grekan, his shoulder meeting Gabby's head. He stopped on the other side of the fence, his gaze falling on the human before him. "Hatchling, the palace is closed for the night. You may return tomorrow at eight. The human following you will have to wait with you until then."

"Can you ask him why there is a fence here?" she said to Cinon, not looking away from the dragon-guard.

"Why is there a fence here?"

"The Terrans put it up to protect the embassy at night, they don't want anyone sneaking in here. Eyesore if you ask me, but they are in charge now. Come back in the morning and have a good night."

She looked at Cinon with a raised brow. An embassy. That she understood. But the idea that the embassy needed such heavy protection was interesting to her. Either way, they werent going into the palace tonight. "C'mon Cinon...lets go."

Cinon turned, tail low as he slowly walked back to the canal.

"I'm sorry Cinon," Gabby said as she walked along side the disappointed dragon. She stole a glance backward at the metal gate and the guards who had already gone back to their duties. Stars shone above them, making strange, but beautiful patterns between patchy bits of cloud. A warm breeze wafted through, ruffling her hair. "Maybe we can come back tomorrow. Is there something else we can see?"

Cinon shook his head, lying down on the cool moonlit stones and closing his eyes. "Tomorrow is a new day."
 
Last edited:
A purple and white Kynareth zoomed past them, gliding soundlessly above the water, before stopping and turning around, shining like a star for a second, before floating over to gabby and connecting to her, 7 gems glowing, it's largest changing to a soft teal. As it latched to the neck of the lady a light wave of calm content flowed from necklace to wearer, her voice saying "Hello, child. I have come to see if you are doing okay. How are things?"

Gabby's eyes fluttered open at the familiar voice and the warm presence. "Mmm? Is that you Kynareth...I was getting worried about you," she whispered, "Everything is...okay."

"And I you child....... Good to hear. Cinder will be here by morning.... He has a surprise for you, would you like me to reveal it? "

"A surprise?" She whispered sleepily, "What is it? " Her fingers fumbled around until they fell upon the flowers she'd bought for Cinder. "I have something too."

"He plans on getting you new Terran apparel of your choice." The wave of calm stopped, only the joy continuing.

Gabby ran her finger over Kynareth's smooth stone and looked down at the pretty teal color in the moonlight. "Really?" she said a bit more excited than she meant to, "That...that would be wonderful. I've been in this suit...for...well...I died in it actually."

A small wave of pleasure emanated from the necklace when it was stroked before it disappeared and turned to drowsiness. "Something to look forward to then. Goodnight child."

"Good night...Kynareth..."Gabby whispered as her fingers slowly stopped petting the necklace and she drifted off. The necklace then slowly un-clipped and began quietly flying away, towards the camp and the soul she recognized as the dragon-loving guard. He was alone. She transformed into just the gems, camouflaging and changing with the floors, quickly snaking its way to him.

Dragonhorny was up late again, busy working on a stack of paperwork on his desk. Complaints against officers, requests to review cases, tag update requests, letters written in draconic that he could barely read about unfair treatment... Too much to handle. He had been working as the head (and only) local "Interspecies Relations Officer." He loved the job, of course, but not the mounds of evidence of inhumane treatment he had to sort through every night, picking out things that really mattered to the dragons and making sure people were punished for shaking down the ten-year-old "hatchling" who looked like he was up to no good in his own street at the cost of ten other cases of minor slurs that were let to slide. Still, he was doing his part to help someone, and that made him feel good, even if that someone had scales and horns... Especially because that someone had scales and horns.

Kynareth flew up the leg of the guard at the desk and connected with the stressed man, whispering to him the feelings of calmness and happiness for a few minutes, simply sitting there feeding him emotion and staying hidden. When it finally talked, It was from her place on his neck with the gentle woman's voice. "I decided you are worth the effort. Hello again. I am sorry if I disturbed you earlier, but are you ready to talk this time? Still really want to chat."

Dragonhorny looked behind himself to the flat bed. Nobody, but that same voice was there again. "Are you invisible? You don't need to hide from me."

Kynareth's cyan greater gem started to glow and pulse with light, the necklace hovering just above his neck rose slightly more, its back chain touching a few hairs. "Okay. Hello."

Daniel looked down slightly, his eyes crossing at the floating necklace in front of his face. "Hello?"

Kynareth pulsed with her words, stretching out so that she could be seen, what it thought was a worthy but risky gamble. "Hello! How are you?"

"Fine, thank you... If it is fine I would prefer talking with you face to face, if you are comfortable with that. Can I come to you?"

Kynareth was getting slightly annoyed at the disbelief of this man... but she could possibly indulge him. No, she was not strong enough for that. It unlatched from the guard and floated in front of him, above all his work. "Okay.... Though my face is a bit small."

"Uh... This is you..? You're not a dragon?"

"No, but trust me," Her voice turned into a light seductive tone. "If I had a body, it would be gorgeous." The light flashed at him, a slight, non-blinding wink. "And I would Love to use it." The voice returned to its normal. "But for now it's just me."

Daniels blushed slightly at the flirting. "I think I'll stick to humans for now."

"I am kynareth, the magic gem necklace."

Daniels pushed his chair out on the bio-plastic floor, grabbing a tablet from the bed and sitting back down. "My name is Daniel Edwards, nice to meet you Kynareth. Do you mind if I record this conversation? I don't need to show it to anybody else if you don't want me to, just for my own log."

"No, not at all. Though, I am currently conversing with you telepathically... What language would you like me to 'speak'?"

"Oh... I did not think of that. Can you "speak" English for me? I would prefer it as well, as long as you can understand it."

Daniels quickly activated the video recorder on his tablet, setting up the kickstand to capture himself and the table in the frame. <<Wonderful. Now, just for the log, you are Kynareth, magic gemstone."

"Yes, telepathic communicator and detector of kind souls."

He waited a moment, making sure the recording was running. "I work here as the Head Interspecies Relations Officer, basically I am the one that makes sure the dragons and... beings, such as yourself, are treated fairly by the Terrans and Native Peoples."

The voice changed, becoming slightly happier in tone. "I like your job already. Morality may be for the living, but in my centuries of experience fairness is...nicer." her smile was almost tangible, despite having no mouth. "So are you the only one in your department?"

Yes, currently. In this region at least, we don't have the resources to spare for more people like me. About yourself though, you said you have been 'alive, at least in a sense, for centuries? You must be familiar with the term 'Ancient' used to refer to dragons with similarly long lifespans?"

<< I'm... hold on... 617 by your chronological arrangement. I've seen quite a lot in those years, been with the rising and falling of empires, been in tombs before they were buried, know of ancient secrets told by those who lived then. It's quite fun, holding a powerful secret... But I have mostly stayed with my current wearers kin, and they are some of the purest souls I've seen.. >> There was a short pause. << Is it okay If I ask you a few questions daniels? Like why are the Terrans here?>>

<Yes, of course. We came here twenty years ago by both of our counts, luckily they are only a few days desperate, your planet- nevermind. We came by accident at first really, discovered an artifact that we still don't understand on a planet in our solar system... the other planets that go around our sun, and one of our explorers found this place and a tiny tribe of Native Peoples up North. He was able to speak with them due to the artifact it seems, and they ended up asking for our help. Our weapons gave us an advantage over even the adept dragons here and we managed to save our parallel relatives from the situation they were in. Now more of us are migrating over, building a new civilization here that we can all be part of, looking for opportunity.>> Daniel laughed to himself for a second. <<You wouldn't believe the amount of politics that are happening back on my planet over you all right now though. Technically you are all owned by the people on the other planet right now because they never thought that we would find you, of course, but now there is talking about resources here, migration, exploitation of Natives, whether you all are worthy of human rights... It's a huge mess.>>

Kynareth stayed silent for a moment, quietly glowing. Finally, she spoke in her emotionless (not toneless) voice once more. << Do you have something that blocks dragon telekinesis? I would like to do something. >>

<<Block telekinesis? No... right now we are still trying to figure out intricacies in your language and just starting in biology, never mind your metaphysical powers. I took a minor in it before I came here and so far I've learned more than my prof knew just from talking to kids around here.>>

<< Ah. Are you fluent in the different dialects of draconic?" >>

<<No, I have only learned a bit of Lowlands, nothing else. I was under the impression that it was the only major dialect in this region.>>

Kynareth slowly floated towards him. :: In this region. :: << I have the ability to fix that for you... Would you like me to? >>

<<As in granting me the universal speech ability? You can do that?>> The necklace bobbed up and down once. <<That was a nod, yes? That would make my job much easier, translating orders is becoming a chore I would rather not think about.>>

<< Yes. >>

<<As long as there are no significant side effects I need to know about, go ahead!>>

"There is one big thing about this. You must open yourself completely to me. I would know everything."

<<Everything? Well... I suppose you would be used to keeping private details to yourself by now. I... I guess that is alright.>>

The amulet floated above him, glowing and shimmering, mere inches away from him. It flew over to the table and said. "I would prefer this part not recorded."

<<Of course. Whatever you want.>> Daniel shut off the device on the table and putting the glowing side face down.

"When you are ready, touch my center-most gemstone." She said, its color changing to the purple of the others. Kynareth had done this with only a few dozen people in her entire lifetime. It was quite the experience, always different in fun, never getting old. She wondered whether or not it would be different since he was human. She flew to above the center of his bed, turned to him and prepared.

Dragonhorny stood, stepping over to the bed and putting his hand out to touch the gem, feeling pleasure emanate from the gem... Not directed to him like the emotions before, but solely from her as she glowed like a sun, filling the room with a bright white light. Memories and images flashed through certain scenes of dragons conversing in various languages, the words quickly becoming understandable and clear. The process slowed down and stopped, the white replacing itself with a station suspended in a massive void, orbiting a distant star with countless more filling the sky. Polished aluminum and firetruck red metals covered the exterior of the oblong craft, white stripes changing direction and flowing across the surface. The interior was largely oak and pines, rustic furniture mixing with the high-tech items scattered around. A sculpture of a dragon, one covered in green scales with an open cyan mouth and glowing horns, was in the center of the largest central window. A blue tie sat around his neck.

Kynareth spoke in an out-of-breath whisper. "There.... you....go..."

"Are you alright?" Daniels asked, looking around the room as he realized where he was. "I... I've seen this place before, in a dream... and that's... Novahorn?"

Kynareth formed into a detail-less purple humanoid figure. "This your mind palace, the holder of memories and creator of dreams." She smiled a wide smile, a face with sky blue eyes forming. "And I'm wonderful, thank you for caring."

"Good, good... I made this guy before I came here, Novahorn. I drew him based on things we drew before we even discovered your kind... I actually thought I might meet someone like him here sometime, funnily enough, like the world was made from our minds or something." Dragonhorny stared at the figure for a minute, then turned back to Kynareth. "You're humanoid here... Did the Natives make you?"

"No, I was made by... I was made by both humans and dragons."

<<So you were made in a time of cooperation? The last case I heard of that was.... thousands of years before you would have been made.>>

"It was a group of a few lovers, not one large enough to be recorded. Their sacrifice, I shall never forget.... Though I seem to have forgotten my purpose...."

"Lovers? Do you mean that in the way I understand it?"

"Yes, mates."

"I see. I wasn't aware your world had seen that sort of relationship between species. I guess every rule has an exception though."

The smile which had vanished momentarily returned and the voice changed to sly in nature. "Why so interested?"

Dragonhorny blushed slightly at Kynareth's suggestion. "I suppose that would be a rhetorical question... you did say you would know everything."

"Indeed. That, and I like fresh reactions better than memories.;) There is someone....rather similar to your statue, but he doesn't have a tie. I could arrange you two to meet if you want."

"Oh no, I made him... Look, there is a big group of humans back on my planet who just really like to imagine being other animals, other beings. I was one of them, and this was the dragon I pretended to be online... I'm not sure if you would know what that is, but it's too complicated to explain. Basically, that is me if I was a dragon, not a human."

"I can understand it through you, in a way.... You two are quite similar, actually. So that's a no on the meeting?"

"Oh I would love to meet as many dragons as possible, that's why I came here." Daniel looked back at the statue, thinking for a second. "You said this was all in my mind, right?"

As a response, kynareth's form fell forward onto all four limbs, quickly changing to
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/1hWIep4Fts8RFinp9DBoQDbp-cBtYxHWsps8t4IXD9jI/edit?usp=sharing
She stared at him with her bright blue eyes, smiling widely. "Hold on..." the air around her changed in scent, a strong but unidentifiable aroma. "There we go."

"So you can change form... might I be able to? Grow horns or a tail or something like that?"

"Daniel sweety, I know your question, that's why I changed."

"Ah. I'm just not sure of how to do that exactly. Everything feels so real here."

She moved over to him and touched his arm. "Does this feel real?"

"Yea..." He moved his arm towards her head, catching himself partway. "Sorry, do you mind..?" She shook her head. He put his hand on her head, stroking down from the patch of fur and gently feeling along the ridged horn. He looked from her eyes out to the starry void around them. "This is so incredible."

She closed her eyes at his touch, purring quietly like a cat. More pleasure emanated from her. She opened them again and spoke to him. "Look at your hand. Do you really think it is a human hand? Do you want it to be? Why not..." She took it in her paw and turned it so he could not see it. "See it as the object you want it to be."

Daniels closed his eyes, listening to the dragon's instructions. A moment later, he opened them, drawing back his hand from her paw and getting giddy at the sight of green scales. A second later, they faded, leaving him with normal skin again. "That is... That is simply amazing. I could feel the scales."

"This is your world, your will is the truth around here. One day, you might be able to change your whole body, but It will take some practice. When you go to sleep, imagine this place, and when you dream, train yourself to be your other self. "It might take quite a few weeks, but I am sure you can do it. Strong soul like yourself ;)"

Daniel looked out into the starry void silently, pondering over the experience. "Thank you for showing me this place Kynareth. I really needed a break like this. It is difficult watching yourself repeat the same mistakes your ancestors made hundreds of years ago."

"Of not understanding equal life, and the worth of those here before you?"

"Yes, exactly. We come here and start stomping around like it was our right to step in, stripping you of liberties in the name of progress. We have helped a lot of people, and quite a few dragons too, sure, but at what cost?"

"I look at your history and see other problems you have overcome. I have seen lessons learned from the dragons and the natives, and know from you that it can be done. Dragons, they will not be slaves, they will not be Indians. Peoples can live in harmony, and it is my hope, that this time, you will."

Dragonhorny nodded slowly. "It's tough, coming here and doing all this... this colonizing. We need this land too, right. Earth is just so damaged, and there are so many people there that we can barely get by with feeding everyone. Then we find you and the magic and the Natives who are just like us but different... I don't know. Sometimes I wonder if there is any reason we came here, a reason the Nexi links our worlds and we are just messing up like before."

"Have confidence. Have hope. Besides, I'm not here to share doubts of the unchangeable past :)" As she said this she flowed joy into the palace, trotting over to sit beside him. She sighed and it was replaced by peace. "A spectators view is an odd one. My material I need is essentially company of living souls. Though it's not like oil, fossil fuels, or oxygen, It has a chance to end like all things do, and when that happens, I will end... But it feels as though I never really began. I see life through people like you. Your actions. Your lives. I've never been more than a voice on the shoulder. Don't misunderstand me, it's not terrible... I just wish for more." She looked around the place. "Here is where I ever shall live. A mental form with a physical anchor. What fantasy you feel so vividly in here is my entire reality. Here is where I am strongest, I am most sensitive, I am... Me."

"...Wow. That is pretty incredible. So are you the angel or the devil on the shoulder?" Dragonhorny asked, a smile cracking on his lips.

She returned the smile, saying seductively "Depends on who you want me to be. ;)"

Daniel chuckled at Kynareth, his cheeks turning a pale rose. "I'll keep that in mind."

The aroma grew in strength as kynareth lie down on all fours, her wings folding over herself like a blanket. "So... We have a while before my other owner gets here, (2 am) You wanna do something?"

"I need to get to sleep right away, I'm starting patrol right at six in the morning and we have reports of a fugitive heading this way. A real big fish, dangerous as hell." He waited for a second, thinking. "Unless I am already asleep... Say, what happened to the real me when you brought me here?"

"You are." She waited a short moment. "So my question is still valid."

"Oh. Well, I hope I landed on the bed. What did you have in mind, Kynareth?"

"I believe I asked You." she booped his nose with her claw.

"Oh, haha.... I guess talking about your history pre-contact would be helpful. You would know what I already know, so no need to cover that again."

"What would you like to know?" The scent grew stronger. Kynareth flowed out curiosity.

"Ah... well, how about you? You said that you were created by a group of lovers? How did that happen?"

The scent decreased slightly "They sacrificed themselves to draw their life force into me. I had a purpose, I just cannot remember it."

"Is there any way I can help you there, help you remember maybe?"

"Sadly not. The only thing I think could help is if I learned more about my previous selves. There is not much I know about the human and dragon pairs." She thought for a moment, the scent increasing in strength. "I know one had my name... and that that pair was the one that guided the rest."

"Actually, I might be able to help you there. Not right away, but maybe as we get more resources moved over. I have been working with a few other people in positions like mine, and the head of the city here, to draft a proposal to digitize and build a database of all the records, legends, and stories of the planet. The oral history. If it went ahead, then someone somewhere must know something about your origin. I would be on the team for that project, I could keep tabs on your name for you. Something like humans and dragons mating off like that must have drawn some sort of attention. The twolegs- Twolegs, no, the humans have legends as well, thing like a maiden who played flute and charmed a dragon. We already found a similar version among your people, so any lead is very likely to have been factual."

Kynareth leapt up from her sitting position to hug dragonhorny. "Thank you."

Daniel stepped back as the larger dragon grabbed him, returning the hug as he regained his footing. "It's the least I could do, really."

She tapped the back of the man, using some of her own energy to make him dragon-sized. "You are the kindest purest-souled human I have met."

"Thank you. You are the most beautiful dragon I have ever met, soul and all."

Kynareth blushed, the scent increasing even more. She stopped the hug and looked at him. "I have given you enough energy you can change forms if you like."

"Really? I..." He turned to the statue of Novahorn sitting near the window, his heart fluttering with excitement. "I just close my eyes and visualize. Right. Visualise... Visualize..." // His body broke up into tiny fragments of green and cyan, dust spreading in the air and taking the shape of a dragon where he just was. Within seconds, Daniel had become the being he had been imagining for so many years. Green scales and glowing cyan horns reflected back at him in the glass of the spacecraft. He stared silently for a minute, his face becoming happy and sad at the same time. "This is so strange." His voice cracked, full of raw emotion. "I want to cry, but I can't. No tear ducts..."

The scent increased greatly as she looked at the dragon version of dragonhorny. "There are many strange things about the dragon anatomy." She paused for a moment, considering something. "Want to figure some of them out? ;)"

Daniel felt something stir within him, a primal urge, as the scent filled his nostrils. He looked over to the large bed on one side of the oblong ship, large enough for two dragons to fit in comfortably, and gave a suggestive grin to kynareth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||[FOURTHWALLCURTAIN]||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 
Last edited:
Daniel woke up to the alarm on his desk, a long artificial buzzer that grew louder every time. He was still wearing the clothes he collapsed in, not had having time to change. Kynareth had left on her own volition in the middle of the night, leaving just memories behind. He had a massive grin across his face, an aura of confidence surrounding him. Quickly, he took a shower and got to the mess hall for breakfast.

Abe was already in the hall, making sure that everyone was filing in and getting ready for patrol. His older brother was the leader around here most of the time, his personality and rank making sure that was true.

"Dan, you look happy today. Find something good in all that paperwork finally?"

"Haha, no. Just slept well."

"Good, we have a full schedule ahead of us today. You're on the city response team today, keep you inside and away from the gates. That base we struck has emptied out finally, but now they are heading this way. Comms specialists will all have today's bulletins and fugitive list to look over, and we still need to spot the unregistered Native and her accompanying dragons, get them the proper paperwork and tags and all."

Dan nodded, still grinning from ear to ear.

"Twenty minutes to go. Better get fed."

--- --- ---

The patrols left the camp on foot, aside from Dragonhorny himself. He was tasked as a response team for the day and received an overbuilt electric ATV to drive between parts of the city. The fresh air felt nice, but his mind was still elsewhere in part. First task of the day, clear out the canals of the homeless dragons who frequently used it as a resting place overnight. The sun had barely come over the horizon, and the streets were still mostly empty. Getting there on the ATVs would be quick.
 
Cinder was able to pass the dragon guard with his fake bracelet, glad that it had worked. He bought some supplies like new herbal leaves and began the search for kynareth and the group. However, it was not a long time of wandering about before she found him. "Hello. Which way to the group? And what's that on-" He turned too late and got splashed in the face by kynareth dipping in the river. "Okay don't tell me then." He was sure to be quiet as he rounded the corner to the corner they were residing in. He floated his blanket to land on gabby and put on a one-way eyepatch so he could look around without others knowing, closing the other eye and laying down protectively in front of them, keeping his guard up for anything to come.

Gabby had been chilled, despite the warm scales of Cinon at her back as she slept. The cool canal paving stones had permeated her skin making it hard to sleep. Still, exhaustion had given over and she had drifted off. However, when her eyes opened slowly she found herself warm, covered by a blanket. Cinders blanket. She sat up a little and looked around for the red dragon, only to find a green one snoozing nearby. It looked oddly like Cinder. Then she chuckled, seeing a patched of missed red scale on the tip of his tail. He had painted himself green. Rather than wake him, she looked around for her other friend, "Kynareth? Are you here now too?"

"I am here, child." She sounded more excited and happy than her calm and usual self, and her many gems shined in the moonlight.

Gabby grinned at her friend as her gray eyes looked over the changed form of Kynareth. "You look beautiful, when did this happen?" she asked as she reached out and plucked her out of the air gently. As soon as her fingertips touched the smooth metal, she felt a warmth...a..shadow of a delight fade into her. It was a sensation she wasn't familiar with, but it seemed nice none the less. "You are in a happy mood too," she added, "Is it because you're glad Cinder found us?"

"That, and...other...reasons.. how did your night with the twins go? Did you enjoy what this town has to offer?"

Gabby raised a brow as if she wanted to ask, but did not press the subject. Even sentient amulets needed their privacy. "We did walk around a bit and I did get to swim for awhile, We even tried to go to this palace in the center of the city, but it's a well-guarded embassy now. I worry a bit about the twins, to be honest... They have come home to their world so changed."

"I would learn more, but they do not seem that open... Perhaps they will be more talkative in the morning. Get some rest, child."

"They are very protective, of each other," she whispered as she laid back against Cinon again, "I may be a little lost in this world too, but I want to protect them too....Good night...sweet dreams...." She closed her eyes and listened to Cinon's heartbeat for awhile. Cedric had called his heart strong and she knew that was true without a doubt. Gabby felt the warmth of the rising sun chase away the cool night air and opened her eyes. Dawn was breaking over the canal in a beautiful array of warm oranges and pinks. She smiled a little to herself and rose quietly from her spot, careful not to wake Cinon. She draped the blanket over Cinder and sat, feet dangling on the edge of the canal to watch the sun rise. It felt peaceful here and she wondered if dragons found peace in the sunrise too.

Cedric reformed on the cool stones, looking exactly the same as always. He stepped over to Gabby, stopping at the water's edge and looking out in the same direction as her. "Good morning."

She glanced up at Cedric and gave him a smile. "Good morning, Cedric. How did you...sleep?"

"We slept well, thank you. Yourself?"

"Well enough," she replied, "Want to sit and watch the sunrise with me for a bit? "

"I would like to, but I need to speak with you privately first." He glanced over to the sleeping Cinder and Kynareth next to him. "More privately than we are currently."

She nodded, looking a bit concerned and rose to her feet. "Of course. I'll follow you."

"No need to leave, just sit by the wall of the canal here."

Cedric guided Gabby over to the wall next to where they were sitting and she slid down it, taking a seat, and giving Cedric a curious look. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you grant me permission to bring you into my mind?"

She blinked in surprise at the sudden gesture. This was...a large gesture from the reserved dragon. It made her a little nervous, but also a little honored. "Yes, of course," she whispered as she reached out and clasped his paw lightly.

Cedric sat, closing his eyes as he focused. A second later, both he and Gabby slumped over as their consciousnesses appeared in the twin's mind. The massive wooden mansion, fit enough for twenty dragons to live in, was set in the center of a giant walled-garden. The borders of the pine castle were covered in strips of carved wood darker than the rest while the walls were made up of tall interlocking vertical planks. The front door had a latch instead of a knob. "You were speaking with Kynareth earlier, what are your thoughts on it and Cinder?"

Gabby didn't respond at first as she looked around the beautiful wooden mansion. Houses were never this big on Kaereal. There wasn't enough land space. She peeked into the garden, fascinated by the plants she could see until she realized he had asked her a question. "Oh...I'm sorry...it's just that this place is quite beautiful too. You have a mind for architecture, Cedric," she said sheepishly, "Cinder and Kynareth? I...think Cinder may be a little lost like me...but he has a good heart too. He doesn't mean us any harm. Kynareth is curious mostly, but I don't think she means us any harm either. "Gabby reached out and brushed her fingers over the wooden walls of the mansion, on a whim, as she considered the two more. "I don't understand why Cinder...or Kynareth decided to help us. I don't think it was any untoward motives though. Perhaps, they both weren't able to help someone else, and now they do what they can."

"Hmm. That makes sense. I cannot help but feel that they are trying to find a use for us though, dragons do not simply drop everything to help strangers like that. The dragons I knew, at least. Kynareth is especially unsettling. The way it invades the mind... Pries at you. It tries to know more than it should be allowed. Cinon and I... have secrets that are important enough to keep to each other. From each other." He stepped up the marble stairs to the door, depressing the handle easily and pushing the door in. "As for Cinder... For him to have lasted twenty years in these conditions... on the surface even! I am not sure what sort of dragon is capable of that. Grekan is, that is all I know at this point."

Gabby followed him, thinking of his words for a moment before replying. "Maybe they didn't drop everything thing...twenty years ago...but much has changed. From what I understand, dragons used to be fairly divided before the arrival of the Terrans? A common enemy can create the need for camaraderie. It can pull even the most divided together and change things. As for his being able to survive on his own, I don't know. I imagine having Kynareth is owed much for that. I understand the need for caution with them, but I haven't sensed any ill will. Even if Kynareth can be overly curious. Do you think they would expect repayment, like joining a faction?"

"I have no way of telling yet. I doubt either of us will be able to figure that out before it is too late, not from a dragon like him. Just be cautious with him, don't let him talk you into something. Don't make the same mistake I almost made on the beach the first day."

Gabby stopped and turned to look at Cedric in the eye this time. Grekan had wanted them to join the rebellion, which later they had discovered was more of a rogue cell. Cedric had seemed keen against fighting Terrans at first. For a time, she thought he might even dislike her, for being a human. "You mean...you..feel differently than that day?"

Cedric nodded. "I was thinking about what would have happened. I know it is useless, I just could not stop myself for some reason. If you were not there... We would have ended up going with him. We would have been fighting alongside him of all dragons. From what I have seen of the Terran weapons, the way they move and act... We would have stood no chance. You saved our lives, Gabby. I truly believe it."

She reached out and put a soft hand on his shoulder, with a smile. "I wanted you to be able to decide for yourself. I don't think you've had many chances to do that prior to having your own body. you've been thrown into your world with it having changed so much. I would face Grekan, however, many times I needed to, to give you that chance to make your own decision. I think you're right too. The Terrans...are here to stay and they are more advanced than anything I've seen. Besides Ethan perhaps."

Cedric nodded again, stepping into the foyer of the mansion. A single painting he had made was on the wall, two eggs, one just barely larger than the other, and two dragons, a male, and a female. A thought visible came to him, almost passing by his teeth, but he stopped. "That is all for now. Look around if you want.

She was surprised at the open invitation to explore. This was a rarity for Cedric to let anyone in. She would guard his secrets well. Stopping in the foyer, her eyes fell on the painting of the two eggs. They were painted so well, with shadow and light, with tiny imperfections on the shell, she almost believed them to be real. "Did you paint this Cedric?"

"Yes. I have too much time on my hands while Cinon is sleeping. I found a way to pass it. That is the second earliest memory I can pull clearly."

"Oh...I always thought when you came here...you slept too," she said quietly, "Have you ever dreamed, Cedric?"

"...No. Never. I can not even see Cinon's dreams when he sleeps here. That is one thing that solely you and he would have experienced."

Gabby looked at the two eggs a bit longer, and then tucked her hands into her jumpsuit pocket as she wandered through an open archway and into a grand room. "I don't know if dragons do this...but humans often equate their dreams with their hopes...do you...." Her voice trailed off as her eyes followed the sweeping staircases on either side of the room and focused on the painting hanging over the balcony. This one depicted a dragon she recognized immediately as a younger Cinon accompanied by two older dragons and a smaller female dragon with fluffy bits of yellow. She assumed that the two older dragons were their parents, but she did not know who the female dragon was. "Is this your family? I 'd known Cinon's smile anywhere, but ...the little girl dragon...she is a sister?"

"Older sister, yes, not of the same clutch. Her name is Pryn. She is mischievous at heart like no other but caring. I hope to meet her still. My parents as well. As long as nothing happened to them they should still be alive."

She stared up at the painting. Why hadn't she thought of that before? She had known Cedric was still new to experiencing things in his own body. But she had never once considered how...alone he had been. Even if he had been with Cinon for so long, Cedric would not appear in any family portraits. He would have no relationship with his, sister, mother or father because they didn't even know he existed at all. And now after everything that has happened in his world, he may never get that chance. Tears welled up in her eyes and she blinked, trying to chase them away before Cedric noticed. "I hope you get to meet them all too," she mumbled.Waiting for a few moments, she discretely wiped at her face with her sleeve and then wandered up the stairs to explore as much as Cedric would allow.

Cedric followed up the stairs at a respectful distance, not saying anything back to Gabby yet. The upper floor contained two parallel hallways, bedrooms laid out on the outer sides with a large common space in the center. All seemed to have some sort of theme such as fire, ice, flowers, even one that looked like it was redesigned with a human in mind, a soft rose paint on the walls and warm blankets on a raised bed versus the flat mats or furs of the other rooms. The common area leads to another balcony overlooking a living space, a sleepy Cinon lying in front of the central fireplace. A third painting hung halfway up the chimney, a crazy looking Cinon pouncing, wings extended, on a fluffy brown rabbit.

Gabby poked her head into each room, fascinated by each. The flower room quickly became a favorite with its light scent and beautiful greenery. The room with the raised bed, similar to a human style also caught her attention. The air inside smelled like cedar wood and the blankets were soft as she brushed her fingers over the covers. How long had it been since she had slept in something like that? Too long to remember. She wandered a bit more until she found another living space and saw the mental form of Cinon by the fire. He was still snoozing comfortably it seemed. The painting of a wild -eyed Cinon pouncing on a small creature made her giggle. "Do you capture every moment or just your favorite ones?" she asked Cedric.

"Not every moment, but I try to make three or four per moon. I find the most notable thing that happened in the last few days and create a depiction of it. I am still catching up from the time in the World Engine to now, too many important images to create quickly." Cedric sat next to the rail of the balcony, looking down on his brother. "Your family, you watched them grow around you, just like I did. Trapped as an observer. I am sorry you will not have the experience of reuniting with them. Thank you for helping me reach mine."

Before she could think, her arms opened and she bound Cedric's neck in a tight hug. He understood. "You are family now," she whispered, "You and Cinon both. Thank you."

Cedric froze slightly at the hug, but quickly loosened up, putting his bug arm around Gabby's back and caressing her with his head. Suddenly, he jolted up, his head tilting slightly to hear something.

She felt Cedric jolt and looked up at him as she let go. His head was cocked to the side as if he were listening intently for something. "You here someone in the outside world?"

"No, it's something. Cinon! Wake up! Gerh! Gabby, I'm kicking you out, get Cinder up. I will wake Cinon from here." With that, Cedric slipped down the balcony, floating unnaturally to the floor as a quick white flash enveloped Gabby and she was forced back to her own body.

Kynareth saw a cyan echo moving towards the place they were residing, recognizing that dragonhorny would not be welcome and would be a worry for the others, she immediately got to work, flying to daniel first and quickly telling him. "Wait for a moment" before flying over to gabby and connecting with her as she was getting back in her own mind "I need you to trust me, child, I have this threat, just try and keep the twins in check." Before flying over to Cedric and telling him. "I know you trust me as much as I weigh, but I need you to right now. The human heading towards us is a good friend of mine and I have asked him to skip over you, just please do not... hurt him."
She then flew off to find cinder in the massive town, flying above the tinted black lines of souls houses, the roofs defining with every colored echo. She found him near someone else in a sea of no others and headed for him before crashing into a previously unseen wall between them, falling down, one of her gems chipping and cracking sending pain through her feeling of worry. She tried to see through the void of souls, but nothing but black stared back at her. She tried to fly towards the nearest soul. Another wall lied in the way. She tried flying up, out of this nightmare of blindness, before bumping and cracking another gem on a ceiling and falling once more. She tried to cry out for help, a plea for freedom from the cage of pressing darkness and the pain that now ran through her. Trapped. Alone. She remembered she had no mouth... and stopped trying. A few minutes passed. At last, she saw the orange echo of her savior and flew to it, her words filled with tears she remembered the situation and told him "Hurry cinder! *sniff* Human with the others!" He took off and glided across the canal to the others, at one point seeing people and having to slow down and walk along the side. He finally arrived to ____.
 
Last edited:
Dan stopped his quad as a familiar voice joined his head. He looked down just in time to catch the necklace flying away, heading back in the direction of the canals. "Robert, hold up."

<<Huh? See something?>>

<<No, someone... just wait here. Radio me if you need help.>>

<<Sure thing Dan.>>

Dragonhorny laid on the throttle, the electric motor whining and tires rumbling on the stones as he crossed over the different parts of the canal. The wind whistled funnily in the gaps between horns on his tan helmet. A quick bend later and he found two dragons and a woman in one of the many dead-ends of the waterways. The black one was sleepily standing up, rubbing his eyes with his forepaw while the grey one was helping the woman up.

Gabby woke in her own body with a start and gasped as the bright light of the morning hit her once again. Her ears pricked to the sound of a motor coming as Kynareth delivered a message about a threat coming and to keep everyone calm. It must be a Terran from the sound of the approaching vehicle. Cedric helped her up as a four wheeled, open topped vehicle rolled into view on the canal with a Terran straddled over it. Squinting into the sun, she saw the same helmeted guard from yesterday bring the vehicle to a stop, essentially blocking them into the alley. Her heart began to flutter with a few nerves, but she swallowed them, maintaining her look of control as he spoke to them.

"Hello, are you Kynareth's friends?" He called out in lowlands.

Disregarding his question in favor of caution for all three dragons and Kynareth she looked over the Terran soldier carefully and stepped forward. "Hello...'" she started cordially, but firmly, "That depends...who you are you...?"

Cedric noticed a look of confusion on dragonhorny's face and translated without being asked.

Dan dismounted from the ATV, smiling at Gabby and the dragons. "Daniel Edwards, Head Interspecies Relations Officer" he put his hand out to shake, his other arm resting on his hip away from the rifle on his chest. "I saw you come in the other day, but I didn't get a chance to chat with you in private. I don't recognise that language, but your file said you speak Lowlands."

She looked over the weapon across his chest and then at his extended hand. If he had wanted to hurt them, he would have done it already, but still she had no desire to be caught off guard either. Reaching out, she shook his hand with a few firm shakes and looked him in the eye. "I saw you as well, but I can't speak lowlands. Only understand it when it's spoken to me. You are a diplomat?"

Cedric translated again, Dan keeping his eyes on Gabby's. "Somewhat, but I'm also part of the security force here in the day. Your file said your name was Calista?"

Hearing he was also part of the security force made her nerves jump a little. "It could be," she said, "It depends on the reason you let me pass...and sought us out, Mr. Edwards."

"Please, call me Dan. You're a very interesting human. You're not a Terran, we know who all the Terrans are here, so you must be a Native. Almost every Native here dislikes the dragons though, but here you are running around with two of them and now Kynareth as well. I just stumbled on you now, Kynareth stopped me and told me that her friends were up here and it turns out to be you. Now, I have a lot of discretion in what actually goes back to the rest of my people in terms of information, like a counsellor, so you you can tell me whatever you want and it will stay with me if that is what you wish."

So, he knew Kynareth and she knew him apparently. It didnt necessarily dispel her uneasiness about talking with him, for fear Cedric might be right about her. However, she still had no evidence to the contrary, and she also knew one thing to be true. The Terrans were here to stay. This meant she would have to assess their merits as she went. For this smiling man, she didn't feel any ill will from him, and if he was involved with the information line of the Terrans, he could be helpful. "My name is... Gabriella Asualtak, Gabby is what most call me, " she replied, "I am neither Terran or Native but these dragons are my family. We're simply trying to go home."

The (fully) painted green dragon looked over at daniel as he conversed with gabby. "Greetings. You must be the charitable human kynareth was mentioning. I am Cinder. " His stomach rumbled audibly. " How about we all catch up over breakfast? All this action is getting me starving." His horns glowed as he summoned the pouch of gold to him and pocketed the note. He then looked over at C/C "That sound okay with you two?"

Cinon nodded quickly, perking up at the mention of food. Cedric kept his eyes fixed on Dragonhorny. "I am on duty still, but I can put in a call for special investigation. I just need to finish clearing out the canals first. If you tell me where to meet you I can swap out with someone and get over there."

Gabby smiled a little, happy to see Cinder who seemed to know a bit more about what was happening. "Whatever you three decide," she added.

Cinder paused for a moment. "Well.... I shall meet... you there... Cedric you seem like you would have good memory. right, to the end, left, right, on the left side."

Cedric looked at Cinder the tiniest bit more quizzically. "Why are you unable to guide us?"

Cinder's backside responded as he walked away "Kynareth got severely injured. I wont be long." The pouch of money laid on the floor where he previously was residing.

Dragonhorny stopped leaning on the ATV behind him, body, face and voice all becoming clearly concerned. "Kynareth? What happened? Is she ok?"

He stopped rounding a corner, turned around and mouthed clearly 'SHE GOT LOST AND COULD NOT SEE. I'll FIX HER IN A JIFFY'

A second later, a staticy voice came from Dan's radio. "Delta-two, I have a green dragon fleeing from your position, do I need to pursue?"

"Negative, he is unrelated. Contact dispatch and request another Sanddune, I need to go on a special investigation."

"Right-o, Alpha-fifteen out."

Cedric watched Dan for a moment after Cinder left, Dan meeting his eyes and waiting for some sort of question. Once he realised none was coming, he got back on the quad, turning to the three. "Well, you guys better get going, I still need to make sure everyone clears out of here for the day. I'll be over right away."

Cedric turned and walked away, the instructions clear in his mind. Cinon followed close behind, and Dan continued on down the canals.

- - -

Following the instructions lead to a larger tavern clearly marked as the Serpent's edge. A sign hung over the street with a snake above Lowlands writing. The ground floor was shaped like an L with a section of the end set aside for an office. A bar ran along the longer wall with a kitchen beside it. A second story had rooms and a balcony overlooking the street.

Cedric went in first, quickly making his way to a private table away from the center of the room. There was space enough for ten humans at the table, though that only meant four of some dragons. Luckily, the twins were both small.

It was only a short while before a friendly-looking petit dragon with numerous small blue scales and green eyes came over to them, writing pad in hand. "Welcome to the Serpents edge, what would you like to drink this fine morning?"

"Do you have Tergermerg juice?" Cinon asked.

Gabby looked to the waitress with a shy but friendly smile. "May I have some of that juice as well?" Cedric translated again without being asked.

"Nothing for me." Cedric stated.

The waitress left, moving between the tables quickly.

Gabby looked around the place from their corner. It wasn't very busy, thankfully, but there were a few dragons peppered throughout the room. Two sat by the window drinking something out of bowls and having what looked like a deep conversation. Seeing them talk made her mind turn to talks she used to have with her father over games of for'sk and pastries stolen from the top cabinet of the kitchen. They had spoken mostly of flying, how people weren't meant to fly...and yet they found a way. She thought of Dan, the eager Terran. His people had found a way to travel the stars somehow.

Her thoughts were interrupted when one of the dragons eyes fell on her and she realized she had been staring at them by accident.

A few moments later the waitress reappeared with the two drinks. "Have you decided what you would like for breakfast?"

Cinon looked over the menu greedily, his stomach pondering each option. There was one food he had not had in a while, and it sounded really good. "Freshkill rabbit please."

"Would you like anything on the side, or just the rabbit?"

"Mmm. Roasted Ghergrit root."

"Alright, and you two?"

Gabby heard Cinon's order and looked at the menu... nothing looked familiar... but the smell of food wafting through the kitchen made her stomach growl. Leaning over to Cedric a bit she pointed at the foreign letters. "Is there anything you'd suggest..?"

"It's the time of the year that the serpent special is available." she said, helpfully.

"Oh... that's an animal as well? I haven't eaten meat often.." she mused as she tapped her chin, "What goes into the dish?"

She nodded at cedric "Snake, some spices, secret meats shoved into it, bread, and some assorted decorative fruits and vegetables. It's our second highest rated dish."

Gabby looked a little unsure but the shrugged off the uncertainty and nodded, "Well, you only live once. I'll give it a try."

"And I'm fine." Cedric added to the end of Gabby's response.

She headed off to tell the chef right as cinder came in, looking out of breath. He intercepted her on the way to the kitchen. "I'll have a special and some jamman juice please, for table #7." He then joined them. "Greetings. How are you all?"

Gabby saw Cinder and gave him a small wave "Fine, you''re just in time, Cinder. How is Kynareth feeling? And.... you look like you ran here?"

"Indeed I have gabby. Kynareth is going to be at the smiths for a bit. Last I checked she was saying ow every time he touched her."

"How'd she get hurt?" Cinon asked.

"Blind in an alleyway. Bumped on some walls, the roof of a shop, cracked in a few places."

"Hopefully they can fix her," Gabby said as she took a sip of the juice the waitress had brought, "Dan isn't here yet, so sit and breathe for a minute. Why were you running?"

"Catch up to you guys."

A few moments passed before Cedric spoke up."Cinder, what do you know about the Terran? How can you be sure we can trust him?"

"I do not know much, just that he is a supporter of dragons, a friend of Kynareth, and a kind and pure soul."

"That is not much to make a decision on." Cedric waited for a minute, the silence brewing. "Gergh. I don't like waiting here, this feels like a trap."

"A 4-star, soon to be crowded, within alert of the guards trap that gives you food? I question your logic on this matter."

"Have you forgotten we are criminals to the Terrans? The guards are all working for them. You have been here for twenty years that we were not, you should know this better than I do."

"Which is why having a Terran guard like Daniel here as an ally and needing someone say, off duty, that might decide to be here for his meal take his place is a good thing."

"You really trust him to show up alone, not just tell you to come here with us so they can arrest you?"

"Kynareth does so I do. She has never been wrong about people, and considering the amount she has seen, that is saying something."

Cedric was silent, no more questions coming. A few moments later, Dan walked in just as expected. He was unarmed now, his heavy kevlar vest, rifle, radio, and utility vests all having been left behind somewhere. He spotted the four of them almost instantly, Gabby sticking out like a sore thumb in the groups of dragons. He made his way over and pulled a chair up next to Gabby.

Gabby was relieved to see the Terran had left behind his soldiers gear and weapon somewhere. It made appear less like someone who was there to cause them trouble. Perhaps he did genuinely want to talk. She was surprised that he sat next to her.

Cinder finally took his seat when dragonhorny did, sitting next to him at the edge. His drink and a large bowl cheese arrived at the table. "Thank you."

Dan's eyes grew wider at the sight of something he hadn't seen in five years of space travel. Cheese. "How did you manage to afford this?! I haven't even had it on Mars, let alone here."

"Import. It is for a job. Dragons do not... have a taste for it, but a good sum was offered for me to transport it, and it was not a shady cause, so this cheese wheel lies before you. Customer was oddly specific about the size though, so I decided against carrying it in a crate."

"Well... Thank you. I'm honoured." Dan took a small portion of the cheese, putting it next to his nose and savoring the smell. "Gabby, are you fine with milk? Natives are intolerant for the most part."

Cinon looked at the cheese funnily, not quite sure what he was actually looking at, or why Dan was asking about milk. Egh.

Cinder took the wheel and formed the bowl around it so it closed off, putting it beside him on the remaining bit of seat.

"Where I come from...things like this, most animals and their products are delicacies," she replied, "I tried this once though. At a banquet. Quite good if I remember...but that was a long time ago."

The waiter came back and asked daniel what he wanted to drink. "Just water is good, thanks."

Dan looked back over to Gabby, taking a tiny bite of the cheese. "If you didn't have any stomach issues after you'll be good to go for this. I think. Mhm, that was the the thing I wanted to ask you, you said you weren't Native or Terran, what did you mean?"

Gabby put down her cup and looked into it with a raised brow. "I haven't had any yet," she replied, "As for where I'm from... its a long story... I do wonder if our worlds are similar though?"

"Well, I can bet that we would have some of the same animals based on here. So much so that it would be hard to tell the difference at first. Do you have any sort of magic or powers, anything like that back home?"

Tucking her hair behind her ear, she looked at Dan. "No, nothing like the things I've seen here, my people had to adapt to avoid the Wilds. We rely on flying machines. Your people seem to have fully mastered flying, even into the stars. Did you have to do this to move from one floating continent to the other as we did? Or is your world like this one and made of one piece?"

"Well, no. No floating continents, that is for sure, but that does sound like evidence of magic to me. I wouldn't be able to explain it with the physics that we thought we knew before this world. Here, I bet you'll like this." Dan pulled a small rectangle from his pocket, touching a tiny button causing the front to light up like a picture. A few taps on the glowing rectangle inset in the metal and he had a spinning planet pulled up, seven large landmasses separated by water on it.

"Now, I don't know what sort of technology era you are from, or what understanding of space you have -or if it is even the same for that matter- but this is my planet."

The waitress came over floating multiple plates above her. One she laid down in front of Cinon was that of picked and skinned rabbit, the roots sitting to the side of it. She then floated two snakes pierced on multiple spears of bread all within a cut jungle of greens. sticks of russag, mini trees of plaas, bushes of nrinleaf, all in a bowl shaped cuettl area. A singular rengro sat in the serpent's mouth, meats stuffed down past it. Refills arrived of their drinks and a bowl of quaps was laid out in the empty middle. "And would you like anything sir?"

"I'll just have a grilled deer shank with a salad, thanks. Rare please."

Gabby stared at the floating picture before her in fascination. Massive lands of varying colors and terrains all separated by a deep blue color. Her grey eyes scanned over the picture as she held up her fingers, itching to touch it. They could project pictures like this...and...this was their planet? "Is all of the blue? Is that water? Like the oceans here?" She asked excitedly, as their food was sat before them.

"Seventy-one percent of our surface is covered in water, most of it salt-water." Dan tapped a few floating buttons on the screen and a new picture came up of another green and blue ball, this one a very different pattern of landmass, slightly blurry even on the small square. "We are still working on imaging this planet, so this is the best we have so far. Here, you can move the planets with your finger." Dan passed the phone to Gabby and leaned over to Cinder.

"Hey, I didn't catch your name yet. You're Kynareth's owner?"

"My name is Cinder. Nice to meet you." he shook hands with his paw. "Yes, my family has had her for a few centuries now."

"Likewise, Cinder. Where is she now? Is she going to be well enough to see us today?"

"She is being repaired at this moment, but he might work fast enough for us to see her this evening."

"Good. Good." Dan moved turned back towards the center of the table, facing the two dark dragons across from him. "And you two?"

Cinon looked up from the rabbit he was happily shredding with his teeth. "I'm Cinon."

"Cedric."

"That's a lot of 'C' names." Dan looked at each of the dragons, naming them for his own sake. "Cinder, Cedric, Cinon. Ok."

Gabby played with the strange device, flipping back and forth between the images as Dan had shown her. "I couldnt imagine so much water..." she marveled to herself, "You're planet is beautiful too Cedric." When her stomach gave and angry growl, she finally gave into hunger and handed the tool back to Dan. "Thank you for showing me."

Then she turned toward the massive and slightly imposing plate of food before her. How did one start eating this? She looked around for eating utensils and saw none. Dragons had claws after all. The best course of action would just be to use her fingers . Plucking the fruit from the serpent's mouth, she popped it into her mouth and chuckled. "Not bad!"

Cinon looked up at Gabby, grinning at her with blood-stained white teeth.

"So you're from offworld then, how did you get here? Have you had any problems eating or drinking, with the water, stomach issues, anything like that?"
 
Last edited:
Gabby considered the question as she pulled a bit of the snake piece from its skewer and chewed. The flaky meat was spicey and savory with another flavor she couldn't place, but all together a good choice. She vaguely wondered what the "mystery meat" inside was before deciding it might be best she didn't know.

"No, issues eating or drinking," she said after she swallowed, and paused, trying to decide how to answer without involving the twins as much, "My situation was different....I was once...not alive. I was a pilot on my homeworld for Skycorp, an intercontinental company sanctioned by all 90 representatives of our government, and I had an accident. I wandered around my own world for 70 years until I was given the chance to earn a new life. Rather than go home where I have nothing...I was invited to come here and start again. These dragons we're dining with today...i consider them my family and will protect them as such."

Gabby glanced over at Cedric with a bit of a smile while speaking to Dan and added, "Even if I do look like prey sometimes."

"So... You are here from some sort of magic portal that you two went to?"

"Yea, the World Engine. We had to go and fight a bunch of trees and stuff and there was a metal guy who was always running around- well he wasn't really a metal guy, there were three metal guys and one metal girl but they were all the same person but different and then they also could make another metal guy and there was another metal guy who was them but not really who they were saving too but he had to talk to us through Gabby and they all were different when-"

Cedric looked at Cinon, words silently passing between their mind. "Yea."

"Ok... Well whatever that place was it definitely saved you from a lot of pain. Terrans, at least, can't eat or drink anything here without getting serious stomach issues. Are you familiar with the idea of microbes? Bacteria? any of that?"

"A warden and a sentient robot. One of the few things I've ever heard Kynareth share about others that was not need-to-know."

Gabby was unfamiliar with the terms but from what she gathered they had something to do with illness and disease. "When I was alive, we were making some decent medical advances," she replied, "Im not as familiar with those terms, but when I left our scientsists were aware that the world and its matter were made of unseen particles and that is the foundation of all things. Because of that, there were things we couldnt see that made us ill and caused disease. The religious factions did not appreciate the view, but I watched...everything for so long...I can see the beauty in the idea. Even if it couldn't explain my existence."

"That's a really good way of looking at it," Dan said, " You must have been just on the cusp of the modern age then, internal combustion engines, flight, early research into physics and... Well hopefully you never deployed atomic bombs, but that kind of energy would be around the corner. -If your world is similar to our own, that is. We still don't know if science or research would work the same way elsewhere. We are trying to set up an education system here for the dragons and natives, bring them up to speed on the couple millennia of research they have yet to do. I bet you would be a lot easier to teach though. If you want you can stay with me at the Terran camp and I can hook you up, you would have a private quarters, access to the women's facilities, electricity, hot water and laundry machines."

Gabby looked at him in surprise, she had many questions and the sudden invitation caught her off guard. What was an atomic bomb? An internal combustion engine? He was inviting her to live as a Terran?

Before she could reply, Cinder spoke up."You say that as though your technology is an advantage we can not substitute for, one that makes you better then us in some way. Why do you value flimsy machinery and complicated resource exhausting ways to do simple things?" Cinder said semi-defensively, as he picked up one of the bread spears and ate the chunk of snake from it....And why did your species take so long to achieve it?"

"Ah... Er, well that is one perspective a few dragons around here have, yes. Terrans and Natives do not have the same sort of magic adeptness that the dragons have, however, and we turn to technology to help us. Now, I know that this may seem like I am unfairly favoring my own people here, but Terran technology is just better than all the magic that dragons can muster. We were an interplanetary species before we found the portal and our science has given us a lot of advantages that magic just won't. As for how long it took, for a couple hundred thousands years we were dealing with a mortality rate so high it was notable if you survived past fifty. After medicine we exploded up to a population of eleven billion and made just as much progress technology wise."

"Like what?" Cinder replied in an emotionless voice.

"Look, there is so much we have done that I wouldn't even be able to start. We have gotten to the point where we can create life out of a sterile environment and make.... you don't even have a word for the machines... minds that are faster than our own."

Cinder twisted his open hand and a image of kynareth appeared. "Like her?"

"Smarter than she could ever be."

Kynareth projected herself to the party, voice soft and weak. "I take off-ow-ense to that.

The amulet wavered up and down as it unevenly glided towards them.

It crashed upon the table loudly and slid over to gabby in the middle. "Hi."

"Kynareth? No, that's not how I meant that. It's different, ok?" Dan put his hands up to his chest defensively. "Look, I never came here to talk about how Terran technology is better or whatever, I came to talk about you four and Gabby and how I can help you all. Gabby, what do you think of housing at the camp, even for just a day. We can get you into the... Ah, we need a word in Lowlands for them, the <<computers>>.

"Thinking machines. Is a good enough translation."

You okay? Smith fix you up well? Or do we need to go back?"

Gabby picked up th woosy Kynareth with gentle fingers and studied her for a moment before looking up at all of them, her grey eyes flickering between the faces. "I don't think the point is who is better or who is not. Dragons and Natives have developed abilities that I...or apparently any of the Terrans could dream possible...for the sake of making their world easier and better in some instances. Humans are no different from that. Terrans and Kaereleans too, adapted to make our world better for us as well, we simply did it differently," she said evenly, " I think in all our differences, also lies our commonalities."

Then she turned to Dan with a kind but also confident gaze. "I am glad I had the chance to talk with you and I would love to learn more. A visit would be fascinating, But as I said, these dragons are as dear to me as family. So, a permanent place among you, I must decline."

Cedric was silent this time, as Kynareth translates Gabby's words for everyone. "Uh... Thank you. And you are, of course, free to leave whenever you want as long as you tell someone. I can see you two aren't tagged yet, and we can solve that at the same time, make sure everything is on the books with us."

At the Terrans words Cinder concealed his bracelet and ate in one-handed silence.

Gabby looked at Dan with a raised brow. "Would it be possible just to let us go? You would have that ability, would you not?"

Cedric glared at Dan at the mention of tags, his face twisting slightly into a snarl.

"Uh... well I can see you would rather not be tagged right now, so that can wait, but I can't let you onto the base without them, just for our own safety. Gabby, you're fine to come on without any ID, but getting some would be better than not having it. It's used for getting drinks, money, healthcare... Nothing wrong with it inherently. You don't need to decide right now, you can set it up anytime you are here."

"We don't have time to visit your people." Cedric said angrily. "We are leaving for home now."

Cinder looked over at Cedric, giving him a disapproving look before saying. "If she is going to camp today I shall wait before heading off to my next city on my route, Goulver."

Gabby looked to Cedric, understanding his anger. "Perhaps sometime in the future, but Cedric is correct. We are on our way home."

Well, I suppose you could always come back to the city after you make it to your home. Where are you headed?"

"Goulver" Cinon said quickly.

"Goulver? That's a few days flight from here by dragon wing... Gabby how far do you ride them?"

"Cedric is strong enough to carry me for a long time," she replied, "But I dont know how to measure the distance for you."

"Well, I guess you guys have it all figured out then. The gates might pose a small problem but I guess you slipped in easy enough, you can probably get out. Are you sure you don't even have the day to come to the base, there is a lot I would really like to ask you about and show you."

Gabby bit her bottom lip. She was extremely curious of the base and learning as much as could would be helpful. Then she looked to Cinon. He hadnt seen his family in 20 years....and then her eyes shifted to Cedric. He hadnt met his family at all. "No, Im sorry Dan. I hope to come back and visit, but there are things we need to do first. Thank you, for the kind offer today though. Maybe another time?"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you want. Just don't go dropping off the... map, on me. How long do you have today?"

She glanced to Cedric, unsure of how to reply. She had known they were here to find an answer to the translation issue, and to rest but had no idea of any of the details.


While they conversed Kynareth slipped off and headed outside, sliding on the floor instead of flying, coming back in and heading to the bar, dropping coins held in her chain on the counter and connecting with the bartender. "Something strong please."

The bartender looked around the counter before spotting Kynareth. He looked at her funny and checking for someone else. "Excuse me?"

Kynareth floated up slightly and shined semi-dimly. "Yes hello. Just me. talking amulet.Strongest I can get for this please"

"Uh... I'm sorry, I can't serve you unless you have a band for me to scan."

Kynareth turned into a band with the proper information.

he bartender shrugged and pulled a small device out from under the counter, putting it over Kynareth. Nearly ten seconds passed of the dragon staring at the screen until they head it make a long two-tone beep at them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ "One Titan Killer coming right up."

Kynareth dunked herself into the bottle as soon as the bartender popped the cork, slowly sinking to the bottom as it sighed to nobody. She then re-connected with the dragon. "Re-cork please."

*corked*

***

Cedric suddenly perked up slightly, his snarl getting more intense a second later. "Gabby, we need to leave. Now."

Gabby whipped around at Cedrics words, "What's wrong?"

"I felt someone probing... It has to be Grekan. Let's go."

"Grekan? I know that name, he's one of our most wanted around here. Why would he be after you?"

She paled a little at the mention of the name as she looked at Cedric, "Are you sure?"

Cinder looked between the empty seats and gabby, then resumed eating. "I hope you are the one that picked up my pouch."

Kynareth slid over to them, floating up to the table and rolling over to the middle. "Darn. The. Other. Giraffes. Left. I. Was. Going. To. Give. Dan-the-man. The rest.

Dan slipped under the table, avoiding Cinder's larger body and reappearing on the other side. "Just hold on here for a second. I'll be right back."

Cinder perked his ears up and flagged the waitress. "Could you help me move this to the attic please? I will to speak to your sister about getting it." He set the pouch down on the table, taking some of the gold so it paid for the meal and a tip, and took kynareth to the office saying "You really got drunk?" His sigh could be heard as he closed the door behind him.

Gabby looked to Cinder with an apologetic crease on her brow and handed over the coin pouch as Dan exited and so did he. "I'm sorry, Cedric can be...to the point sometimes. Here is your money. I didnt want you to lose it," she said sheepishly as he left, "Oh and..I almost forgot!" She pulled the bunch of flowers she had bought yesterday for him out of her pocket. The beautiful white petals were slightly squished now but they still looked pretty nice. She held them out to Cinder with a smile. "I think you like these kind? Im not as familiar with lowlands speak yet...and sorry they were a little squashed..."

Before Cinder could respond, a muffled sound of rapid popping in the distance, followed by Dan bursting in through the door, a pistol in one hand and radio in the other. He was listening to rapid shouting in Terran from the other side, including a lot of a semi-familiar voice. "Everyone, you're coming with me to the base."


When Dan burst through the door and made his demand, Gabby jumped a bit, dropping the flower she'd brought for Cinder on the large table. With his weapon out and his radio blaring with his sudden order, he made her scowl. She slid down from her seat and stepped over to the twins, putting herself between them and Dan "You said we are free to leave, now you come back with a weapon and demand we come with you?"

His weapon was out and his radio blaring with his sudden demand made her scowl. She slid down from her seat and stepped over to the twins, putting herself between them and Dan "You said we are free to leave, now you come back with a weapon and demand we come with you?"

Cedric growled at Dan, weary of the weapon in his hand. "Huh? No. No no no, not like that. You Grekan was after you, right? Because we think he just showed up at our front door. I want to take you back to the base for your own saf-" Suddenly, he pulled his pistol up, aiming past Gabby at the wall and firing. The weapon was deafening in the closed off space, and the flash mixed with the noise left everyone confused. Cedric took it as the last straw, ramming head first into Dan's gun, knocking him clean on the floor. Behind them a smaller dragon roughly the size of Cedric slumped down on the table, every shot from the gun having met its mark.

Aurlea burst forth from her office, Cinder closely behind. She was a fair blue dragon, tallest of the 3 at 4'8. She was also the scariest. She picked up the dropped gun and chucked it out the door, before separating the two and picking up daniel with one paw, her claws digging into his shirt slightly. She glared at him with a fire in her eyes. "No. Guns. Do you understand me?" Cinder meanwhile snaked his way over to gabby "Sorry about that." He took the flowers and with a quick glow of his horns they appeared not-smushed. "Thank you very much, these mean a lot to me."

Dan didn't struggle against the much larger dragon much, but he was not close to cooperating. "Put me down or you are under arrest, the city is in a state of emergency."

At the same time, the dragon on the table faded away, vanishing into thin air. He started to rise just before disappearing completely.

She whipped her tail around and it's sharp tip pointed at a sign hanging on the window. She spoke through grit teeth. "I do not care if the apocalypse has started. No guns in my diner." Her tail then whipped around where the dead one would have been, at the same time dropping him. "Your assailant has left." And with that she left back to her office, tossed the key to the attic room at cinder, and slammed the door shut.

Cinder stared at the action once more before setting down kynareth and resuming his meal. "Well......that happened."

Kynareth projected herself to gabby and cinder. "Blue nymph is angry at pew-pew. Not first time."

Dan grabbed his radio, speaking Terran into it in a very shaky voice. He ran out to his gun, running back a second later. <<Fucking bitch.>> "Ok, let's go! Now!"

Outside, the rapid popping noises kept coming in small batches, each offset by about two minutes and moving between areas, sometimes occurring at the same time.

Gabby stood there in shock, body shaking and eyes wide, heart pounding. For a second she thought Dan was going to shoot her and she hadn't even reacted like she was supposed to. She had the ability to disarm him hand-to-hand, but it hand all happened so fast....Dan's radio blared over the ringing in her ears, and more popping sounds pulling her back to reality.

Cinder held his paws to his ears as more gunfire was heard outside. He curled up in a surprisingly small ball for his size next to gabby and attempted to continue eating stabbing fruit with his tail. Kynareth tried to comfort him with emotions but they came out blurry. "It is okay fire boy. it is okay."

Cedric looked between Gabby, Dan, the office, Cedric, and Cinder several times. His brother was invisible, but he could sense where he was just like his own tail, cowering under the table. "Fine, we are coming."

Gabby shored herself up, swallowing down her nerves...and her doubt. There was no time for that. She nodded to Cedric and began gathering up the group. "Cinon, its okay...just come out and follow Cedric." The she stepped over to Cinder and placed a hand up on his shoulder, "C'mon Cinder its not safe here. We're not leaving you behind either."

Cinder uncurled from his spot and followed behind her, keeping a paw on his ear closest to the action. Kynareth lightly rolled through the air to the ground, following them zig-zag style.

Dan spoke another urgent sentence into his radio before clipping it to his pants, grabbing Kynareth's bottle with his free hand. "You three, run along with us. Gabby, you're on the Quad with me." Dan jogged out the door, getting on the electric vehicle and pressing his wrist against the center to start it. An open sidesaddle pocket containing ammunition revealed where the gun had come from.

A drone passed overhead, a siren loud between calls of "Stay in your homes. Emergency."
 
Last edited:
Cinder got a few steps out the door before the drone came and played its klaxon, his second paw rising to the other ear and his wings folding over them, sprinting away from the noise.

Kynareth connected with daniel as he picked her up. "Hey handsome. After we get out of this celebrate?"

Gabby followed Dan outside to his vehicle and boarded it behind him as more sounds of panic start to rise from the city. Cinder scurried away from the group with his paws held over his ears against the cacophony. Wait! Cinder!"

Dan looked over his shoulder at the running Cinder. <<Ah, fuck!>> "GO! He will catch up!" Cedric shouted, running after an equally panicked Cinon.

Dan hit the throttle, opening up down the street faster than Cedric's sprinting. They managed to make it almost all the way to the base without being stopped. They turned the second last corner just before a flaming drake landed in their path. It roared at them, flames bursting from his wings and body as large spikes raised up on his body. Dan violently twisted the handlebars to avoid running into him, nearly flipping the quad in the process. The drake kept being aggressive, stepping closer and charging a bout of flaming breath. "The girl must die! The girl must die! The girl must-" His words were interrupted as three robots behind the quad opened fire, rifles meeting marks with high power, dropping the dragons near instantly. Several more shots went into him before they disengaged, keeping their weapons pointed past the two humans. Dan hit the throttle again, taking them around the flaming corpse and a final corner to reach the gate of the city, the large human army camp being right outside it.

The camp was made up mostly of temporary looking buildings, quick modular construction or mobile pre-fab units making up the lion's share of the camp. A massive fence was erected around the camp with a wire mesh behind it reaching up fifteen meters to stop low-flying dragons.

Dan got off of the Quad, helping Gabby off and grabbing Kynareth's bottle and his weapon from the sidesaddle of the ATV right after.

Gabby stepped off the quad pushing her hair back from her face. Apparently Grekan carried a grudge against her. Not that she was surprised...he had wanted to simply eat her when they first met anyways....but now he was attacking because of her and that didn't set well with her at all. Even if she was afraid, her anger at the demented dragon few stronger. "Dan," she said quickly as she followed him, "Will you loan me a weapon. Please."

":emoji_musical_score:The jingle of mingle and sally was too, all of zem alupin a zaboo.:emoji_musical_score: Are we safri yet?"

Dan looked at the bottle, ready to smash it onto the ground to get Kynareth to stop breaking the little focus he had.

Cedric reappeared next to them, forming out of Cinon's body. "We are here. Where is Cinder?"

":emoji_musical_score: Thomas wab keepnah and wussazar was mayo, added to the zaboo tat wuz super crayyooooo:emoji_musical_score:"

"Ah!" Dan threw the bottle at the soft grass out of frustration, it landing with a dull thud against the dirt. The radio added to the amount of noise around him, it becoming his top concern then. He walked off down the dirt path linking most of the prefabs, practically shouting Terran into the radio.

Cinder finally makes it to the gate, out of breath.

Another Terran, this one fully decked out in gear, appeared from around the corner on another Quad. As soon as he spotted them, he got off of his vehicle and pointed his rifle at them, shouting something in Terran.

<<Stay still! Human, approach me!>>

The human barked orders at them in Terran as he brandished his weapon at them. Gabby looked at him and shook her head and showed her hands in frustrated confusion.

Dan reappeared a second later, still looking strung out as hell. He just about exploded as he saw the other soldier shouting more in Terran mixed with Lowlands curses. The other soldier shouted back as Dan closed on him, finally dropping his rifle and putting his hands up just slightly too slow to block a suckerpunch from Dan.

Cedric stood next to Gabby, breathing heavily and trying to keep tabs on everything going on around him.

"Gabby, Cinder, Cedric, Cinon, everyone with me. Where's Kynareth? Oh, shit." Dan jogged over to Kynareth's bottle, picking it up gently and tucking it under his arm.

Cinder nodded and followed dan as a light pop sounded and Kynareth shifted to Dan's pocket.

"I need sober this." The amulet said.

Gabby watched the hostile Terran hit the dirt, out cold from the punch delivered by Dan. She had a little trouble feeling bad for soldier after he had pointed his weapon at them. "Nice hit," she commented as she followed Dan,"Thank you." The sounds of more gunfire echoed through the air and people yelling in Terran could be heard over radios as they trekked further into the base. Gabby made sure to stay close to the twins, Cedric strode beside her breathing hard, and Cinon followed, invisible but there nonetheless.

Dan lead them to a larger building, one made mostly out of an artificial white material with steel supports. Tables were laid out in orderly rows and a longer bench made of stainless steel with a glass hood was on the far wall, a stainless steel kitchen behind it. Dan sat down at one of the sterile looking white tables closest to the door and put the bottle down on the table, turning the radio down before resting his head on his hands.

Cedric stood at the end of the table, looking at the Terran. "We need to-"

"Shh... Just give me a minute."

Cedric obliged him, waiting while everyone calmed down slightly.

"Why are Grekan and his crew after you?"

Gabby sat down at the smooth table and watched Dan for a moment. "We ran into him on our first day back from the World Engine," she said quietly, "He...told us about the Terrans...said you were violent invaders..you technically are invaders, mind you, but not...always as you seem. He asked us to join the rebellion and we were meant to meet with him to learn more, but we decided we wanted to see things for ourselves."

"That's it?"

"The dragon is insane, it takes less than that for him to try to kill you." Cedric was slowly returning to his normal voice, but tension was still clearly present.

"Do you know anything about why he would attack here like this? Why Shadow appeared there to kill you?"

"No, we do not."

"What about these marine-like dragons, why did a force of purebreds suddenly appear like this? Do you know where they came from?"

"..." Cedric looked over at Gabby, not sure about what to say.

Cinder shook his head, saying nothing.

"Secret if I am right, otherwise no ssssir." Dan put his hand over his left pocket, feeling the lump where Kynareth was resting. Her being close comforted him, even when she seemed to have absorbed a good amount of alcohol from the bottle of Titan Killer before them.

A shot of that sounded really good right now.

"This doesn't make any sense... Whatever. It isn't my job to figure out why, I just need to keep you all safe. You aren't leaving for Goulver today, you will stay here in my room and I can take a bunk in the common dorm. Tomorrow morning we will leave and I can drive you there in a four by four."

"While there is a battle going on outside?" Gabby said, feeling a little sickened, "Grekan came here....he came here because of me...how I can I sit here and let him rip apart a city?"

"We don't know that yet, we don't know why he is here. We haven't even seen him yet, just his... effects. You don't want to go out there." Dan's voice trailed off, the distant sound of popping punctuating his point.

"No tags?" Cinon asked, invisible on the other side of Dan.

"No tags. Not right now. Hang on." Dan got up, walking over to the kitchen area and returning with a clear cup. It looked like glass but he held it like it was much, much lighter. Dan placed it infront of himself and poured out some of the amber liquid from the bottle into it, barely more than two tablespoons. He grabbed his and slammed it back, gripping the table as it burned its way down his throat.

"Ah, god. I can take you back to my room now, you're not leaving. Not yet."


Cinder shrugged and said "Alright, lead the way. And I second gabby having a gun."

Gabby stared at the clear bottle, as her heart pounded. It was like before...she was trapped. Useless. Only this time she was keenly aware of how she felt. Not bothering to ask, she grabbed the bottle and tipped it to her lips. Several long gulps went down before she gave up and put it down wincing from the burn. "Damn it," she breathed, "I' suppose we don't have a choice do we?"

Kynareth spoke to dan only this time. "Possibly do like last time? You could use the de-stressing." she said, flowing calm properly to him.

Pleasure flowed through her onto him as she was caressed, warm emotions flowing with them. (People who she has imprinted with get a stronger emotional flux)

"I'm sorry that it has come to this. I swear he is not going to get away this time. We scrambled drones over here, they can't get away without being hit with a missile. The radio said the soldiers started pulling back as soon as we opened fire, it's just a few... Just a few citizens now."

Gabby started feeling the strong drink tingle into her fingers and tickle the tip of her nose as she looked up at Dan after he finished talking. "A few citizens?"

Dan looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath. "You don't want to know. Forget I said it."

Her brow furrowed into a stubborn crease, "What is it?"

Gabby's eyes grew wide as she processed what Dan was saying. "You mean...he makes them fight...and you have to..." she whispered as her hand crept to her mouth, "...Excuse ...me..."

She got up and walked to the back of the room and into the kitchens, not wanting anyone to see her throw up "Serpent Special".

Dan waited motionless in the bench of the mess hall, not looking at the dragons around him. Cinon looked at Cedric with a confused face, Cedric not returning any explanation for what he meant. The black dragon turned visible again, sitting down on the bench next to Dan and bumping his head into the human's arm. He smiled slightly, putting his arm around his bigger shoulders and holding him slightly closer.

Cinder spoke once more. "When do your men usually all converge upon the base, Daniel? Kynareth can protect us from the Psychic Guild's influence if we feed her enough. That way at least we know we won't turn on each other."

Kynareth attempted to quell a thought before it arose. "Do not worry, it is harmless. It's a passive feeding."

"There are only seventy of us for the region, thirty are supposed to be on base right now, but they are asleep. They should be asleep. They probably got woken up by alarms and put on high alert in the city, trying to protect people. We will have a debrief soon, get together and make sure everyone knows what happened for sure. I don't think they will want to do anything like that though, not right away atleast. They did a training session on resisting mental influence here anyway, they don't even try."

Kynareth continued to emanate growing amounts of pleasure as she was caressed more.

Gabby emerged from the kitchens looking pale with her jumpsuit sleeved tied around her waist again. Her bandage was gone from her arm, revealing the irritated, but sealed wound on her tan skin. "Sorry..." she mumbled as more shouts could be heard from outside, "I'm not usually like this.."

"It's fine. I still can't handle it myself. They send ha-... I'm sorry. I shouldn't have told you."

She swallowed and sat down across from Dan, bracing her arms on the table with a tired look. "I would rather know what's happening... so I can face it." she replied, her voice hoarse, "Everything changing at once has been... a bit overwhelming... I think. Four days ago I didn't even have a heartbeat..."

"What was it like? Being dead that is. We have stories about heavens and hells and the dragons have theirs... Some say that the Nexus has something to do with it. Others say it just ends... Did you see any others?"

Gabby's grey eyes focused on Dan, but were not seeing the soldier at all. Instead she was looking past him, remembering. " You want to know what death is like?" she whispered, "Dying is the easy part. A brilliant moment of pain and a flash to nothing. I know it took a day or two for me to wake up again...as a ghost...when I did awoke next to my body in a flight pod, ready to be shot from my continent and into the Wilds. I watched my own funeral while my parents cried and my sister screamed at my last viewing. They couldn't hear me or see me. I watched them for a few decades as they grew older, my sister got married.....my friends grew up...had families too. In all that time I was alone. I never saw a single other soul like me. I hoped maybe, when I watched my father die that maybe something would happen, but he passed on. Just like the rest. Eventually, I couldn't watch anymore and wandered my own planet for a few more decades. It made me forget things...mad e me numb.. Kaerealans believe in the afterlife as well, and when I think about it I wonder if I wasn't in what you call hell. That's what being dead was like."

Dan was quiet, absorbing the raw burst of emotion he felt from Gabby. "I don't think everyone experiences that. I hope not."

He took the bottle from the center of the table, pouring himself another shot and drinking it quickly. "I can show you to my room whenever you are comfortable to go there. Cinder... I don't know if you'll fit in the doorway actually."

Gabby nodded, "I think I'm ready, Dan. thank you...for protecting us today."

Cinder smiled slightly and let out an amused puff. "I can fit. Though if you could get a rug or something for me to sleep on near the door that would be nice." He stood up on two legs, as tall as dan, and sucked in his torso, squeezing in sideways. "Ow, My tail." As it hit the door and got squished. He curled up at the base of the bed to be out of the way of the others, becoming much smaller as he did.

Dan went in after Cinder, sitting down in the plastic chair at his desk. Cedric and Cinon sat down near the doorway, keeping out of the way as best as they could in the small space. The bed was neatly made and open as the last seat. The far wall held a set of filing cabinets and the desk had the tablet on it still. Thankfully for the dragons, the floor was covered in a softer carpet that was meant for officers' cabins. "Cinder, can you hit that switch on the wall there?" Dan asked, pointing to the small white lightswitch behind Cinder.

With a small nudge from Cinder's horn, the light in the center of the trailer came on, the warm yellow light making the dark trailer just a little more cozy.

Seeing the only unoccupied space was the bed, Gabby tip-toed her way over, hopping over a tail and avoiding a paw until she managed to make it to the end and sit down. She braced her boots on the bed frame below and tucked her knees up to her chest, resting her chin on them. The bed was soft at least, not as soft as the one in Cedric's mind, but still a welcome feeling.

Dan put his hand in his pocket, pulling Kynareth out and placing her in his hands. "Well you all can stay here tonight. I hope you are fine sleeping together, I can probably get a bunk in the common dorms. We aren't having some people come back today."

Her eyes shifted to Dan as she tried not to think about why those people weren't coming back. "I think this will be alright. Maybe better, given the danger outside. Right now the only people we can trust are us."

"And... that includes me?" Dan looked up to Gabby and the dragons around him. Cedric and Cinon both nodded back at him.

Cinder looked around the room, looking to each face and standing up. He pulled out his orange C blanket and put it on dan in a symbolic manner, before turning and going back to his curled up spot in front of the door.

She nodded and gave Dan a smile. "Yes Dan," she chuckled, "You too."

"Thank you."

After a moment she turned to face him and set het hands on her knees. "You know why I came here now... but Dan... why did you come to this World?"

"I studied absolutely everything I could about this world ever since we discovered it. I was already getting into a solid dragon phase around then, about three years old, and the first images that came back... I couldn't not come. I went and got a degree in Xenobiology and Metaphysical Abilities- Basically dragons and magic if you will. After that I signed up for a colony position out here, got transferred onto a security team at my brother's request and put out here."

Gabby considered the soldier for a moment before replying. He had been preparing himself for this place his entire life. "So you have been wanting to come here ever since you were a child," she replied, "Is it everything you hoped it would be?"

"There is no way I could have ever dreamed half the things I have seen here. It's been incredible." Dan smiled and looked down at Kynareth in his hands, caressing the gemstone again.

<<Delta-two.>> Dan's radio crackled on the table, a calm voice replacing the urgency of before.

<<Yea, Abe?>>

<<We are debriefing in the Mess hall. Your attendance is optional, I'll send notes when we are done. Over.>>

"I'll stay here. Thanks Abe." Dan placed the radio back down on the table, turning down the volume slightly.

"Here, you seemed pretty interested in my phone at the Serpent's Edge, this is similar." Dan grabbed the tablet from the table, opening up a local internet browser and navigating to an encyclopedia. "Can you read?"

She listened to the Terran talk into the radio. The voice on the other end seemed stiff and formal while Dan had responded informally, but she couldn't understand the Terran language to know what they were conversing about. She shook her head in response to his question as he pulled out a larger version of the device from the diner. "No, I cant read any of the languages here yet. Only Kaerelean. The World Engine some how let me understand Lowlands."

"But not speak it... Curious. Well, you'll like the pictures anyway. What interests you?"

Gabby looked to Dan, her smile returning to her lips again. "I would love to see your history. Particularly where you flying machines came from and how they developed. Also, I enjoy reading about scientific discoveries and nature. "

"Sure." Dan flipped typed in a word, and within seconds an article was before him. Long lines of Terran stretched down the screen, but several picture accompanied the words. The first was of an F22 fighter jet, followed by a black-and-white picture of the Wright brothers' first plane. "The first one is an older attack jet, we don't use them that much any more, fuel costs too much. This other one is actually our first plane ever, a couple of bike repairmen invented it."

Kynareth rose up and moved to the tablet. "I got this.... Go back up to the top."

Dan obliged, scrolling back up to the F22.

Kynareth quickly navigated the ui of the tablet, going into the settings and enabling the text-to-speech features.

"Oh... Well that works, but..." Dan changed the language to Lowlands and hit the now visible accessibility button to begin reading the page. "The History of Aviation. The history of aviation has extended over more than two thousand years, from the earliest forms of aviation, kites and..." Dan turned the feature off temporarily. "Well I can get you some headphones for this I guess, then you can have it read itself to you whenever you want. I didn't even think to try that."

"I shall forgive you, Daniel, for your stupidity on a simple task, and ignorance of your own memory within you...... On one condition."

She said the next two rounds slowly, deliberately, saving a rush of emotion for the end. "Round.... Two."

Dan's face immediately filled with blush, a coy smile breaking on his lips.

"Deal."

Cedric looked at Dan, puzzled slightly as to what was actually happening between the two to cause such a strange response in the human.

Cinder looked up. "Yeah? What? You look like you just got proposed to by the crush of your dreams. What happened?"

Gabby watched the...eager...look spread across Dan's face and her eyes shifted from around the room before coming back to his as Cinder noted his grin too. "Uh...Dan...yeah...what is it?"

Cinder looked over to Kynareth "Whats with tomato face?"

"Huh?" Dan looked up at Cinder, realising he was blushing and making his situation even worse. He quickly tried to change topic to something else.

"Uh... Here, Gabby, I have a timeline here of inventions. Most of them have pictures, just tell me about where you think your people are."

Kynareth said something that got cinder to immediately try to help. "Urg, where are the headphones?"

Gabby stared at everyone, keenly aware she had missed something and now Cinder was up trying to find the aforementioned headphones. She looked at the pictures on the screen and nodded to Dan anyways, giving him an odd look. "I...will let you know if anything looks familiar."

"They're in a metal box under the head of the bed." Dain said, pointing out the empty ammo crate.

Gabby ducked below the bed and rummaged through the box until she found what looked like a head set of some kind. "These?" She asked offering them to the soldier

"Yea. Here, you just plug this into the hole there..." Dan put the 3.5 mm jack in the port on the side of the device. "And just put the earbuds in your ears and you're good to go."

Gabby slipped the strange pod into her ears and pressed the button she had seen Kynareth press. The device began reading to her in a clear but feminine voice as she looked over the pictures. Before she knew it, she was engrossed in the history and had stretched out belly first on the bed, feet crossed in the air and chin propped on her hands. She was grateful not only to learn, but for the distraction it offered.

Cedric, tired of the cramped space, deformed into a cloud and merged with Cinon. Dan looked over at the fact that there were now only two dragons in the room, slightly confused. "Uh... I'm not familiar with that ability..."

Gabby saw Cedric return to Cinon out of the corner of her eye and vaguely heard Dan's comment over the hypnotic speaking of the device. "Its a a long story, but let's just say Cedric is unique."

"Hmm. What does he do when he is like that?"

"He's in our dreamland palace thing." Cinon said, still pawing at the artificial carpeting. "And he goes and does stuff or whatever and we meet when I sleep."

"Oh... I think I know what you're talking about there. Is it possible to join him?"

"Uh... He says he'll think about it."

Kynareth re-established the conversation with everyone. "I could link you all up to one of us, It would be useful to strategize and form tighter bonds while sleeping."

She tugged the pods from her ears and sat up, looking at Kynareth. The idea of it wasn't strange to her. After all, Ethan had let them experience his own world through that strange program Father moon. But she did have another concern. "Do you think that's safe? Given the conditions outside and Grekan?"

"We're in the safest place for hundreds of kilometers from here, we will be fine. Abe already knows we are here and is keeping a full time watch on."

Gabby still worried slightly at the idea, but between all of them and the man named Abe, perhaps they would be alright. "Alright. You still need Cedric's permission first. He doesn't give it out lightly," she replied sounding a little protective, "And don't... pry too much."

"Sure. Everyone has secrets." Dan looked over to Cinon, waiting for a reply.

"Actually I was going to offer up my world. It's very developed and a neutral field."

Cinon's face changed multiple times, frustration and then anger followed by a bit of a happier face. "Cedric says we can go to our mansion."

"So either works then." Dan said, looking at Cinder and Gabby. "Thoughts?"

Remembering how Cedric valued his privacy, and noting Cinon's constantly changing expressions, Gabby nodded to Kynareth. "If you can make a world neutral for everybody it might be best."

"Sounds good to me." Dan said.

Cinon's face got mad again, still looking down at the carpet. A moment later he was fine again. "Cedric says he will let you take us in."

Kynareth Spoke to everyone. "Okay. Get comfortable. I also require a catalyst... Gabby?" She flew over to her and rested on her neck. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded. "Yes, I trust you."

Kynareth Spoke to everyone. "Okay. Get comfortable. I also require a catalyst... Gabby?" She flew over to her and rested on her neck. "Do you trust me?"

She nodded. "Yes, I trust you."

"Do you trust me with everything? Your entire life, no secrets kept from me."

She shifted, thinking of the idea of no secrets from someone. It made her nervous...particularly where Cedric and Cinon were concerned. Kynareth would know what she knew about the brothers. "Everything?"

"Everything. I promise not to tell anyone unless you wish it."

She thought of what she knew of the brothers. There were no deeper secrets that she knew of and Kynareth would only knew what she knew up to that point in time. Cedric was strong willed as well, so he could protect himself and Cinon from anything too prying. "O-okay," she replied, "It's okay."

"Touch my center gemstone."

She moved aside the tablet and looked down at the amulet's teal gemstone and touched it lightly. "No secrets..."

Kynareth moved up and down gently to rub herself against gabby's fingers, emanating growing amounts of pleasure. "Everyone comfortable?"

A strange and unfamiliar sort of soft pleasure washed over her and her eyes began to droop lower. "Mhm...comfortable..." Her hand grew slack and as her head lolled to the side, sending her short brown hair into her face.

Kynareth slowly lowered herself to gabby's chest, taking the hand with her as it continued to caress the gemstone. The pleasure feeling grew with flashes of brighter and brighter light until the room flooded with white, and they were all at the base of a large temple.

Dan felt his body grow tired as Kynareth worked her magic, closing his eyes and easing up in the chair. Cinon put his head down, doing the same and soon falling asleep as they were all pulled into Kynareth's space.

Cinder shook his head like a wet dog. "Blaurulululul. Form please."

Kynareth the white and purple dragon appeared before them. "Welcome." She headed up steps of purplish-black, the touch of her paws changing the area to a soft light grey. The pillar nearest turned from black with green inscriptions to white with golden symbols, moving and forming into many different scenes.

Moving and forming into many different fragments, as she reached the center and the rest of the pillars were awakened the fragments aligned to form 64 different scenes, all including Kynareth and a wearer performing epic tasks, one including Cinder with a healing staff and open kit tending to someone in a battlefield. She opened deep grey doors with a brief flash of a human form before walking through as a dragon, heading up to a luxurious circular bed in the place were an alter would be and stepping on it. A headrest formed for her to look from as 4 of the 8 curved window sections merged with the others, extending into large enough wings for them to make their own rooms.

In the center of each of the wings was a well that sprouted wisps of respective lights, drawing slowly towards their owners and feeding them energy to make and change. In the center of the cathedral lie a large rug and a set of comfortable seating apparatus (plural) were placed facing a large blank rotating semi-transparent block of blue. "Make yourselves at home. We shall regroup in one hour.” She said, forming a solar/lunar clock complete with sky as the roof. A motion of her paw indicated that Dan was to join her.

Dan grinned goofily at Kynareth, following after on his two feet after the dragon, mentally preparing himself to change forms again. After last night he was sure it would come easily.

Cedric was not appreciative of joining everyone else in such an intimate way, but he obliged Cinon's requests. Cedric lifted off from the ground, flying out to the void of the world where the created stopped and the empty canvas began. He sat down, staring out into the white and thinking.

Cinon quickly paired up at Gabby's side before being distracted by the numerous things around the scenes. "Woah..." Cinon trotted over to Cinder, watching the scenes he was looking at. "What are all these?"

Cinder watched in awe as a scene of his father switched to that of his great-grandmother. "These are memories of scenes where those she bonded with are most pure. I never knew I had one already..."

"That's neat." Cinon wandered over to another scene, watching it for a moment before wandering back to Gabby.

Gabby watched Kynareth's palace unfold before her as the bright lights faded. Her cheeks felt warm as she brushed her fingers across them, unsure as to why she was blushing. The temple was beautiful with its pillars that changed images...different dragons...different adventures..before following Kynareth into the wide hall, her mouth slightly open as she took in the view. She had never seen such an opulent building before, except for the palace in Undur, perhaps. Realising her mouth was slightly open, she shut it quickly as Cinon shuffled over to her side and Cedric glided off somewhere. "Its beautiful Kynareth! And so are you. The purple is a lovely color on you."

"Thank you, child." She stopped projecting her voice and turned to face her lover in the large bed, the fuzzy walls rising around them. She pulled the cyan pips to her through the top and fed them to him, undressing his form while it slowly changed.

Cinder turned to enter and headed over to his alcove, absorbing a few orange pips and making a large multiple shade tent spanning his entire area. He then headed inside and some noises of pages flapping about and things falling echoed from it.

Gabby scratched Cinon's head and looked to her own "bunk" for a moment. A soft round bed with a light blanket and a mound of pillows, little orb lamps floated about, just like they did on Kaereal. Smiling she noticed a familiar object on the bed, neatly fold. "I'll be right back Cinon." She wandered over and closed a dark purple curtain over the opening of her spot. After a few minutes, she pulled back the curtain revealing something no one had seen. The old flight suit was gone and in its place she wore an off the shoulder teal tunic, wide black belt, black leggings and knee high boots. A traditional Kaerelean outfit...at least in her time. She walked over to Cinon and smiled. "Want to go exploring?"

"Oh... you look pretty." Cinon said, looking over Gabby's new outfit. "Cedric said there wasn't much to explore in a mind world though, just the white."

Dan felt his body break apart gently again, his form changing to that of Novahorn. A familiar scent came to him, his mind filling with memories of the last night.
 
Last edited:
The dark spiral is where this starts.

Gabby crept down the staircase step by step, her curiosity outweighing the growing darkness until she heard rattling chains. Through the darkness, she spied a heavy door latched with a thick chain bouncing violently against the hinges. Something was trying desperately to get loose and bellowed loudly as she approached. With one hard slam, Gabby jumped back with a yelp and ran back up the stairs to Cinon. "Uh...how about we don't go into Kynareth's basement."

The rattling stopped and was replaced by the peaceful and warm sounds of chirping birds and a rushing waterfall. Kynareths voice sounded from within the depths. "I fixed it, It is nice now."

Cinon backed off from the stairs as Gabby did, his tail bumping into the steps behind him. His fear shifted to pure curiosity as the noise changed, his heart becoming set on discovering what was behind the chain.

"What was that?" Gabby asked curiously Kynareth as she dared to take a step toward down again.

"Um... Never you mind, child. It was....nothing. Come on in."

Her eyes narrowed at the chain fell away and door handle began to glow. The growing light broke through the darkness, casting their shadows against the stairs. What was in here that could be so violent one moment and so beautiful the next? Fingers slipping down the door, she grasped the handle and turned to Cinon, "Ready?" She asked with a raised brow.

Cinon bounded down the stairs, full of curiosity at the noises beyond. He pawed up at the latch on the door, a much simpler mechanism than the confounding slippery doorknobs, and opened it inwards to reveal what was hidden.

Light burst forth from the room, temporarily blinding them as they were pulled in by shadows. While their eyes adjusted the door behind them slammed and changed material, turning from wood to hardened metal. Around them was 3 different exits from their closed off room, each leading down a hall of various mirrors, one of which seeming to fork off into other paths, the other two having the light of this room fade before it reached its end. Two darker wisps formed from the light and bobbed down to head level for each of them, the original extinguishing. A step forward in any direction would reveal glowing footprints of red and blue were left in their wake.

the wisps were lost to Cinon as he was immediately distracted by the funny shapes his body was making in the mirrors. He quickly ran up to one, making a face into it, before dashing along to another, repeating this as he went deeper and deeper down the left-most path.

Cinon bounded away playing with the mirrors as she inspected her glowing footprints and then turned her attention to the wisps. This place was strange ...beautiful...but strange... where were they? Following the floating wisps, she wandered down the middle path toward the second door.

The door opened and seemed to walk through her, the atmosphere changing. The wisp dimmed and the mirrors tilted. The door vanished and the way behind her became two split dead ends. On a path left of her, a screaming sounded and a shadow of a woman rushed past, leaving behind swirls of dark smoke. One of the mirrors in front of gabby reflected the door she had walked through and a little black creature on her left shoulder. She felt a chill down her spine as it walked on it and crawled up to her head.

The scream of the ghost woman left her ears ringing as the fuzzy black creature crawled up her shoulder to her head, its little legs tugging lightly at her hair. She stood stock still and watched creature with nervous eyes. "Uh..hello...," she whispered, "What exactly are you?"

"YEEEEEEEEEW! YEE! YEE! YEE!" It dived off her head and ran off to the right.

She followed the scurrying creature through the mirrors, "I didn't mean to scare you," she called out to it, "Wait!"

the creature bounded down the halls, taking seemingly random lefts and rights until it disappeared before a large hall of fancy and ornate mirrors. A dragon figure could be visible at the other end with its own light.
--- Cinon paragraph ---
Cinon headed down the path until it showed fewer and fewer options leading into a grand hall with a lit chandelier and large decorations like marble sculptures in front of huge mirrors. At the end of the hall lie a large golden bowl of treats, looking very enticing under the bright light.

The little puffball creature seemed to vanish to the shadows of the mirror and she looked up to find herself in another room full of ornately framed mirrors of all sorts. Some faced each other, giving a refractory effect, making them look like the images multiplied into infinity. Gabby's looked over the mirrors before seeing the pleasantly glowing dragon figure at the end. Was the figure a real dragon or simply a statute or carving of one? She couldn't tell from her distance. Caution told her not to approach, but curiosity got the better of her and she walked down the hall, stopping before the dragon as she inspected it, looking for signs of movement.

The dragon at the end turned out to be a one-way mirror of Cinon in the other hall, looking around a room with statues of shadow that turned to face him, weapons in hand, and many more of the little balls of shadow above on an old and used chandelier. Closest to the mirror was a bowl of assorted rotted fruits, all dripping with red juice.

Gabby looked at Cinon in horror at the scene and ran up to the mirror, sending the back of her fist into it has hard as she could in an attempt to break it. "CINON!" she yelled, "RUN!"

Cinon trotted up to the bowl of candy, slowing down as he noticed a strange noise around him. He tilted his head, realizing it was coming from the mirror in front of him. He looked down to the candy, back up to the mirror, and down to the candy again multiple times. He eventually decided to start nibbling at the candy, his tail wagging slightly behind him and a grin spreading across his lips at the sweet treats.

Gabby saw one of the shadows glide over to behind cinon and raise its sword, just about to swing down and kill him when her fist cracked the mirror and it looked up at her. It's glowing purple eyes seemed to stare into her very soul... before rushing off out of the room with one other, leaving 4 dormant having not moved.

Cinon looked up at the cracked mirror, a little confused as to what was happening to it. He stepped up to it, standing and placing his paw on it. He crooked his head again, whining at the strange pounding.

Cinon was at the mirror and away from the disgusting bowl at least. Red juice dripped down his chin as he cocked his head to the side. He seemed to be gazing at himself rather than her. She suddenly realized he couldn't see her at all. Only she could see him. "Cinon! Get out of there!" she screamed at the mirror, hitting it once again, "Can you hear me?! Run!"

Cinon tried to use what Cedric had shown him to remove the mirror.

The mirror faded, allowing the light to flood into the second room before they both went dark and the illusion faded, the wisps becoming bright enough to project into both rooms, turning from their blue to red and growing to a larger size. Red acid dripped from the ceiling to the floor making cracks that formed into words. "Not everything is as it seems. Trust not your senses, Trust your heart." The words turned a bright gold and restored the room to a banquet hall, the mirrors replaced by trophies and torches, semi-transparent phantoms of dragons and food forming, a table going through the two adventurers. One stood up with kynareth around his neck and mutely toasted to the others, saying words that neither could hear.

Cinon wandered through several of the dragons, forming invisible steps like he knew how to in the White, making it appear like he was standing on the lead dragon's head. "Hey, gabby. What's wrong?"

She stood there, hands shaking and heart pounding as dragon images wandered around her. "Y-you didn't see any of that?" she stuttered, her eyes wide.

"Any of what? The words?"

She bit her bottom lip and walked over to him, ignoring the fact that she was striding through the middle of a ghostly dinner table. When she reach him she put a hand on his shoulder mostly to make sure she was actually seeing the real Cinon but also partly to comfort herself. "Those words are right. Not everything in this place is as it seems. But you're real and that's enough for me."

"It's just fake stuff. Cedric used to make fake bunnies and dragons and stuff, it's all just fake. All the walls and stuff are fake too, just fun to pretend it's real." As an example, the room started to fill with Tergermerg melons, many of them bumping into the figures in the room already, doing nothing to them but react to their bodies nonetheless. "Too bad they can't talk."

The melons all got sliced in half by a tall shadowy skeleton in dark robes and a greatsword. The memory phantoms looked directly at it before fading leaving only the torches and the two giants. The door behind them faded into a wall as one slowly glided towards gabby and re-spawned the rotten candy, cinon going back to seeing the illusion room again with the statues, and gabby starting to fade before him. In the mirror gabby could see the little fluffs running from the old chandelier away and out of the room.

Gabby became visible again for a moment as Cinon tried to fly away unsuccessfully, bouncing off the ceiling and tumbling to the floor. "Cinon!" She wanted to get to him but the second of the large skeletal beings stood in her way and she felt herself begin to fade again. No. She had been invisible...dead...for too long. Useless and afraid too often. Even if this world wasn't real, she would make her stand anyways. Enough was enough. She walked up to the skeleton creature, her heart pounding but determined. "Move, or I will make you disappear like you are trying to do to me."

Its eyes widened and its color changed from a dark purple to a soft blue. It took up its staff and cracked it against the other, absorbing it into itself. "Ker'Morin." The robes of the mental one turned dark gray and it shrunk to only 7ft. "Fuk Shaniir."

Cinon stood up, looking strangely at the roof, the shadow thing, and Gabby. "That's funny. They aren't supposed to talk." Cinon waved his paw at the objects around him, trying to clear everything out back to the White, at least just for a bit.

She stepped up, feeling bold though the skeletons dwarfed her by comparison. The one who transformed pointed at her and said something in a language she didn't know. "I think that means it's with us now," she said firmly.

The room cleared into a blank silver sheet, but the entrance still opened into the maze of mirrors. The skeleton turned his head to Cinon. "ar' mankoi il-?"

Cinon tilted his head at the being, not quite sure how it was talking. "They aren't supposed to talk..." He turned looked up at the roof, trying his best to break through and get to the surface, not remembering that he would be causing discomfort to Kynareth.

It pulled him back and made a mental barrier between Cinon and the roof. "n'uma crona Kynareth."

Cinon was shocked that the being actually pulled him. They weren't supposed to do anything, they were like puppets. He tried to reach Cedric, calling him through his thoughts. Cedric, can you come here, please. We found some strange stuff.

"Not talk outside. re lola lle" He said, as cinon received a major headache. He turned to gabby and pointed to himself. "Ker'Morin." He then pointed to her blankly.

Cinon felt a headache approaching, just like with the other time's someone tried to do something to him. "Hey, stop it."

The skeleton lifted his hands in surrender. "Warned lle."
--
Cedric was still stewing in the fog thinking quietly when he felt a headache approach. It was wrong, someone was doing something to them. He took off, flying to the palace extremely quickly to see Kynareth.

A small gemstone met Cedric mid-air. "What is it?"

Cedric continued his accelerated path to the palace, not even looking at the gemstone.
--
The skeleton pointed at her blankly and then raised his hands to Cinon. It had not tried to attack him, merely warn him from what she saw. They were trapped down here and even her dragon friend couldn't seem to escape. The only other alternative was to ask the one who would know how to get out. "Skeleton...er...sir, if you aren't going to fight us? Do you mind showing us the way out?"

He lifted his staff and pointed a light at one of the mirrors, it reflected across the way and soon a small horde of black fluffs was gathered in the white. He pointed from her to cinon to the creatures. "Soora"

--- Meanwhile above--
Cedric found himself back outside in the fog, having rushed so quickly past the mini-amulet and the doors that when he reached her she pushed him back away. The Cathedral wall that was previously smashed in repaired itself and the amulet re-appeared. "Gee, thanks for waiting. Let me just sit here patiently while you Rip Through Every Courtesy At The SPeed OF SOUnd, IN THE ONLY PLACE I TRUELY EXIST!!!..... I will get to your complaint... if you care to listen, and sit. still. I have no idea what you are talking about, possibly it is something to do with your link to your twin, of which I would have no indication towards... BECAUSE YOU ARE SO CLOSED OFF. Thank you and have a nice day. I will return to the task I was PREVIOUSLY DOING." The gemstone started to float downwards to the floor of the fog.
--

Gabby motioned for Cinon to follow her, "Let's try to walk through that mirror, we'll follow those fluffs. " She sounded more confident than she felt as she marched toward the mirror and attempted to step through.

The mirror was solid, but as she bumped into the object, it fell off the wall and down into her, smashing on the floor as the floor turned sideways and shadowy mist trails were visible along with the fluffs, but the footsteps and cinon had vanished. The mirror then repaired itself, reversing along its previous path and the walls and floors re-centered themselves, the balls of shadow only visible within the mirrors. The footsteps also re-appeared.

Gabby frowned having lost Cinon again. This was becoming a problem...how could they get out? Even Cinon couldn't manage to fly out using tricks his brother taught him, but when she has faced the skeleton, he had changed. Maybe she could change this world too. Her determination returned and she did not follow the footsteps or try to return the mirror. These things, despite how real they felt, were not real at all and it was she who was making them real to herself. "This nightmare will end right now!" she demanded.

The skeleton frowned at her words, eating a few of the shadows and gaining an icy white skin around him. "Not Bad Dream." He reached out his hand and gave her a headache, one she could feel in the real world. "Anwa, hin, Real." He motioned to the fluffs again, this time more firmly. "SOORA."


The skeleton spoke to her again, and this time she felt pain. A dull ache formed in her temple and she slid her fingers up, to her head instinctively. "I don't understand," she whispered to her ally, " Cinon says this world is fake, but my head is hurting...What does SOONA mean?"

Cinon looked at the strange skeleton, it stopped trying to attack him, not that it would have mattered, he was fake anyway and had his arms in a shrug. "How come you can talk? You're not supposed to talk."

The skeleton sighed and turned to cinon. "mankoi il-?" He pointed to himself. "Awna, real. Soul." He pointed to the dragon. "Awna. Soul." He rose up from his sitting position and looked down at him in an annoyed manner. "Mankoi. Il-?"

"You have a soul?" Cinon stepped forwards, his wide murky eyes staring up at the being. "Are you trapped here like Cedric?"

His staff hit the solid ground and it turned back from white to the wooden floor of the banquet hall.

"... I don't get it."

His staff hit the roof and the strong metal shimmered.

"Ohhhh. You can't get past the roof. Why not?"

He pulled back his sleeve from one of his arms and lightly tapped his bone elbow. It fell off.

"You're broken?"

He tilted his head and then nodded. "not whole."

"Oh. Can we fix you?"

He pointed to one of the wisps, then to himself.

"Uhhh. Can they fix you? Oh! We have to go where they are coming from?"

He lifted one skeletal finger. After cinon looked at him funny he said. "Tanka."

The tall one closed his hands into fists and shook them. 'Tanka!" He grabbed his face loosely and pulled his fingers together unto his nose, closing it into a loose fist and turning it so he exiled on the knuckles. "Tanka....sa....fix."

"Uhhh... We gotta find a horn to fix you?"

"WISP!!!"

Cinon recoiled slightly at the shout but quickly grinned, returning back to his four feet and making a growly chuckle. "Oh, the wisps. I can fix you then?"

He sighed exasperatedly and turned to gabby. He pointed to himself slowly. "Soul." He took off his arm with his other. "Pieces." He pointed to the wisps. "Soul." He pointed to himself again. "Fix." he pointed over to the dragon. "Explain."

Cinon reached above his head, trying to bat the wisp over to the skeleton's noggin.

The wisp simply flew above his paw and bobbed back down when it had gone.

Cinon tried to smack it many times, getting higher each time.

The wisp simply followed his height, staying ever out of reach.

The skeleton sat there, laughing at cinon playing with the wisp. "fro-fro-fro-fro. You not grab it."

Gabby watched Cinon try to capture the wisp and then considered the skeleton. It had eaten some of the shadows and gained a pale, icy.skin. Maybe that's how...as Cinon out it, 'fix him' though she still didn't understand the words. She listened to the skeleton speak again to her, speaking about pieces of his soul. "Cinon, wait just a moment," she said to the playful dragon, "These wisps...are...part of his soul. I think. Don't try to catch them." She turned to the skeleton and smiled. "How do we help you? How can we get you soul together again? :"l

Cinon growled grumpily at the evasive wisp, getting down on his feet and taking another leap at the wisp, colliding with the roof again.

The wisp floated away from him to the side, returning when he had fallen.
He pointed his staff to the fluffs, then below him.

--- Above ---
Kynareth gently returned the kiss and different clothes formed around her. She pulled away and started to leave the bed. "Hold on... Cedric needs something.."

On que, Cedric's body flung into the chamber, stopping instantly over Kynareth and Dan.

"Cedric!?"

"..."

Dan embarrassedly turned away slightly.

"I-"

"Quiet. There is something wrong with Cinon. Kynareth, where is he? I can't sense him."

"As my amulet version tried oh so hard to tell you, I. Do not. Know. Now can I please return to chatting with dan?"

Cedric looked down at Dan's embarrassed draconic face, scanning his body and then Kynareth's human form. "I will find him alone then."

His gray body reversed, slipping through the walls again heading to the central area of the cathedral.

Dan looked over to Kynareth, worry in his face. "Are you fine? He wouldn't..."

"That idiot is going to rip apart this place looking for him. And kill me in the process. " She left to follow him. "Look, He is either below us in a maze he should not have entered, and nobody can help him, or he is in your palace. So don't go ripping apart mine looking for he who is not there."

"I know where he is at all times. I can not sense him now. This is your doing." Cedric dived down the stairs, stopping in front of the door to the maze.

"What is this? Why can I not sense him?"

Dan shifted on the bed, stepping up and walking to the door, peeking his scaly head out of the door.

"No you silly creature, it is not. That door stays under chain at all times, and considering that the door is now metal instead of wood, your brother decided to dive where he was not wanted. Hammer at it all you want, even I cannot open it."

"Then I will tear you apart until it weakens. Release him now."

"LISTEN TO MY WORDS, CHILD. I CANNOT SAVE HIM. YOU CANNOT SAVE HIM. THE COMBINED FORCE OF EVERYONE IN THIS CATHEDRAL CANNOT SAVE HIM."

Cedric was silent, his breathing stopping. His lip twitched, his eyes still locked on the door. "You must promise me that he will be safe."

"I am sorry, but I cannot do that. It is up to him and gabby to survive my gauntlet."

Cedric was silent, staring at the door.

Dan walked down the spiraling staircase, meeting Kynareth's form at the bottom. He nudged her with his snout, motioning to head back up the staircase.

She kissed him and they teleported back to the bed. "I need some stress relieved."

"Hmm. Don't worry about them." Dan put his head next to hers, nipping at her shoulder gently just before she suddenly vanished.

-----


Cinon rubbed his snout again, not happy to have bumped his nose again. "Do we go down?" Cinon asked, but didn't wait for a response, his body sinking through the floor.

The skeleton picked him out of the ground and pulled him back up. "Parts first."

Cinon looked up to the skeleton again, his feet and tail dangling below him. "Oh, yea, the parts. What parts?"

Skeleton sighed and pointed for a 7th time at the shadow fluffs. "SOR.RA."

Gabby looked at the fluffy creatures in the mirror again. Maybe she wasn't meant to go through the mirror, but follow their reflection like before. Taking a deep breath she walked along the hallway following them mirror after mirror to see where they lead.

The skeleton dropped him and stuck his hands out exasperatedly to point at gabby walking away. He then followed.


Cinon trotted up after Gabby and the being, getting ahead of them and having to turn around when he took a wrong turn, still not sure what they were following.

He halted them both as the shadow fluffs disappeared before leading them into a dead end and expanding his cloak out, covering the way out. The banshee's screams could be heard on the other end and the area got noticeably colder.

Cinon looked back at the skeleton, fearing the dark ahead of them before realizing it was all fake. "Oh well. Come on Gabby." Cinon trotted ahead, watching for the glows of warmth that should be there.

She shivered against the cold and the violent screams, goosebumps running up her bare shoulders, before swallowing hard and following Cinon into the darkness.

The specter turned around and picked cinon up, freezing his chest where she did and screamed at him. It pulled back its arm to punch his face but was interrupted by a large white staff hitting it in the back. It released him as it turned to face the skeleton. He took a fluff that had re-appeared and grabbed the banshee, shoving it into the shadow ball which was now visible outside the reflections. Once he had finished he threw the ball into a mirror and smashed it, turning to them and picking up his fallen staff. "Real."

Cinon collapsed to the ground, feeling pain and Cedric leaching strength from him. "Mm... I cnnt..." He closed his eyes, all of his energy flowing out of him.


-----
Cedric felt the pain coming from Cinon, dull and in the same spot as him. He slammed the door, concentrating the entirety of his power into the attack. He repeatedly did this until the door was dented, but not moved. Still, he would not give up, not even if it killed Kynareth. Cinon was in danger, and it was all her fault.

Kynareth teleported back to Cedric and tried to stop him, purple blood leaking from her arm. "Stop! Please! You will kill him before you break that door."

"You will die before he does." Cedric slammed the door again. "And when you do he will be free."

She headed back up the stairs slowly, taking all the pips from Cedric and cinon and placing them on her wound, healing it most of the way before another slam sounded below and it returned to its large size.

----

Gabby rushed over to Cinon and shook him. "Cinon! What's wrong?" Turning to the skeleton who was trying to feed him one of the strange wisps to him. Had it been the screaming woman? This world? Or was something happening to him through his connection to Cedric?

The tall wanderer (running low on names here) looked up worriedly. "This is not of the dungeon, I can't help him."

He then backed away slightly and placed his cloak on either end of one of the pathways, guarding over the other with his staff.

----
Cedric kept slamming into the door until he felt something else. It was wrong... Very, very wrong. In a split second, he had made a decision, returning a portion of Cinon's energy and disappearing from the world.
----

Cinon opened his eyes, yawning at Gabby. "I'm tired. "

"Can we just nap here for a bit?"

She couldn't carry him, he was far too heavy for her, but she was angry. Kynareth had said they were safe to enter but nothing about this was safe...Cinon's eyes opened just a little and he yawned. "Cinon!" She wrapped her arms around his neck in a tight hug. "No, we can't sleep here. We are in a dungeon, it's not safe. Can you get up?"

"Nah... It's aaall fake. Just make a bed 'n nap..." Cinon rolled over onto his side, closing his eyes again and stretching out on the wood.

The skeleton picked up cinon gently and held him in his arms. He looked to gabby and then to the fluffs, his cloak returning to his shoulders.

Gabby watched as the skeleton picked up the snoozing Cinon. She was going to get them out of this hellish place. If Cinon could make melons, she could make a weapon. She focused hard, visualizing the same sort of rifle Blue had lent her in the World Engine.

The skeleton was impressed. "Smart. Ammo." He watched a clip form for the gun. "Soora." He quickly followed the fluffs again, keeping Cinon in his arms and attaching his staff to his back.

With the rifle clutched firmly in her hands, she continued after the skeleton with her eyes and ears open for anything that felt like it wanted to mess with her.
 
Last edited:
Cedric reappeared in the small room, his body forming like a cloud. The terran light was still on above him, but no new dragon was illuminated.

"Hello, Cedric."

Cedric glared at the bed, finding a bloody spot in the sheets next to Gabby. He growled at it, getting low and ready to fight.

"I am here, yes, but not to kill you. I could have done that ten minutes ago when I first arrived. I am simply waiting for you all to wake."

"Who are you?"

The black dragon obliged, fading in to reality next to Gabby's unconscious body. Four bullet wounds across his chest. It was the same dragon as from the Serpent's Edge, barely healed from the last time they met. He also sported a long gash from claws on the side of his neck, still bleeding.

"You work with Grekan. Why are you here?"

"Because I no longer work with Grekan. He has driven the Guild mad, exiled me for failing to kill you or the human. You don't even mean anything, he just wants you dead for his ego."

"He drove the Guild mad?"

"He's deluded our leader, Trilduvir, into thinking he can really beat the Terrans and take over both of our worlds. Obviously insane, but we both already knew that about Grekan. Daleir follows him as well, our leader's mate. She refused to heal me for my failure."

"The Lost Äncient is the head of the Guild? He is supposed to be dead."

"Yes, and he is being controlled by Grekan. I warned him of his powers, he did not listen. It is not of concern to me anymore though, the Terrans have already collapsed our entire information and trade network. There is little left to salvage."

"So why are you here now?"

"I figured I might as well make new allies, find some protection before they try to kill me again."

"And you expect us to help you after you try to kill us?"

"I expect the human's reputation to be a good negotiator to help me. Your participation in the process is unnecessary."

"... What is your name?"

"I had a name at one point, now I go by just Shadow."

"Shadow... I need your help."

"Oh? Well, allow me to be of service, Cedric. Anything for an ally."

-- -- --

Cedric was not comfortable letting in such an unknown to Kynareth's mind, but he had no choice. If she refused to assist him in rescuing Cinon, she was no friend of his anyway.

Shadow seemed familiar with the realm, quickly sensing out and orienting to all of the surroundings. He worked faster than Cedric even, gifted beyond anything that he could ever achieve due to his link to Trilduvir. Only Kynareth in her extreme experience would even be able to stop him if he was truly prepared.

"There is an area under the cathedral there with mental barriers, strong ones. They seem to be tied to the one you call Kynareth as well as another..."

"I have figured out the first part already. Help me destroy it, my brother is trapped."

"Destroying is rather hasty... Where is the being you call Kynareth."
 
Last edited:
They followed the shadowy fluffs into another large room, this one holding a single large mirror. The door closed behind them and the mirror crashed down, phasing them through it onto a new plane of existence. This place was an endless tower leading down of navy blue stairs, but instead of the stairs going with the tower they went up, sideways, upside down, left, right, diagonally, all different directions.
Optimized-labyrinth-min.jpg
At the bottom of the maze of stairs were a singular orange orb and a guardian of stone. The stone was cracked and mossy, looking old and worn, but its eyes had a light glow not yet visible to them.
8365543.jpg

Gabby stepped into the new room and her gray eyes roamed over the nonsensical staircases, full of dead ends and sudden drops until her eyes spied the stone guardian at the bottom. Important things...like exits..always had guards. Looking up to Skeletor who still held the snoozing Cinon she tucked her hair behind her ear and asked, "I don't suppose you know how to make it through this, do you?"

The skeleton shrugged and jumped down to a nearby staircase, following it, it led several flights down. He went back up and signaled her.

She gripped her rifle, keeping an eye on the stone guardian and jumped down next to the skeleton, matching his pattern.

He took a sideways stair and found himself above gabby walking on the roof. He headed back and tried another. The tall one shouted to gabby from across the room at the same height, walking along the wall. "Ker'Morin!"

Cinon stirred in his sleep, slipping out of the beings grasp and colliding with the floor. "Ow." He didn't bother getting back to his feet, instead, curling up and beginning to float lazily away from the ground.

Gabby gave him a strange look and followed his direction stepping to the side and walking parallel to the floor along the wall. Her hair hung messily off her head at the odd angle. She walked until she found another staircase

The skeleton took out his staff and hooked him with him as he jumped down, taking one of the staircases and going down a few steps. "Me, Ker'Morin.".

(Nazren: At this point, Ker'Morin is holding cinon like a balloon )
(marsbat: I'm just imagining him dragging Cinon along like a balloon.)
(marsbat: For ### sake, Naz get out of my head)
(Nazren: Lol you are in mine.)

"Oh...is that your name?" Gabby asked the creature retrieved Cinon.

Ker'Morin nodded as he found himself next to her a few flights down. "You?"

---
She walked over to them in dragon form, Her wound fully healed. "Glad someone has sense. This one refuses to listen to anything I say unless I shout it at him. There are souls powering those barriers, and one of the stronger ones has lured his brother and a woman into it. He wants to kill me, thinking that would help in any way shape or form."

"Souls trapped within a mind? Rather risky, low payout. That is unless you plan on resurrecting them. We shall simply kill the souls then, and free your brother. Kynareth may live."

She led him to the staircase leading down. "Few of those are neutral parties and will help out if you don't attack. Get the ones with red or black as their marking. I think.... They are on the second part of the first level. This way." She passed through the one-way door, starting to head off in the maze of mirrors.

Cedric stopped at the front door, Shadow with him. "We are not here to save your victims, Kynareth. You allowed my brother to get down there, you will pay the price."

She turned around. "Allowed? Honey, I am not your or your brother's babysitters. This door had defenses, and this hallway was much eerier. They came of their own will, so stop complaining about how this is my fault, stop injuring your ally, and get to helping." She paved a way through walls, fading some to white. "The banshees will be upon us soon. Ready yourselves."

"Shadow, kill them." A moment passed, and Shadow walked ahead, joining Kynareth's side. "Shadow? Are you turning on me already?"

"I can't turn on someone I was never with. Kynareth has a use for the beings, correct?" Shadow shot a look over to the pink dragon.

"Correct. They defend the place against the secrets below. Quite effective guardians."

"Secrets? Well... In that case." Shadow raised a paw in the air before being interrupted by the low growl of a very large dragon behind them. His green scales shone dimly from the light above the staircase. "Shadow. Back away from them."

It is okay dan. He is so far, an ally. Everyone come through. The sooner we find cinon the sooner Cedric can stop debating on WHEN he is going to kill me."

"Dan..? As in Daniel? Daniel Edwards?"
----

She gave Ker'Morin a smile as she stepped down onto another platform and headed down a staircase. "My name is Gabby. If you're a soul...how did you end up here?"

"Kynareth." He jumped down another flight, this led him up. A few steps back and he was down a few more feet.

She followed Ker'Morin step for step as the inched further down the room, closer to the guardian. "Kynareth trapped you here? Why?

He shrugged his large shoulders. "New. First." A few more flights down he stopped and turned to her. "Guardian." He resumed slowly going down the tower.

Gabby didn't fully understand what he meant by "new and first" but she understood he was warning her about the guardian below. They must be getting close to his attack proximity. Gripping her rifle tightly she took another step to the side hoping it would lead down.

He noticed her grip her rifle, and stopped, being at an archway that was the roof of the abyss. "Kynareth new. Me first. Me guardian." He looked below him to the tower they had just traversed and jumped, landing on another upside down staircase a few meters from the stone guardian.

----
"Greetings. I see you survived my gun." Daniel said.

Shadow replied, looking him up and down. "And I see that your reputation of your feelings towards us was understated."

"I like the color, goes well with my uniform."

"It takes someone powerful for such a change..." He looked back at Kynareth, identifying unspoken signs in their body language. "I have not been given all the information here. Kynareth and you-"

"We're friends," Dan said defensively.

"Good friends..?"

She winked at shadow so only he could see. "Moving on."

"Well, I suppose I cannot tear down the guardians of Daniel Edwards' friend's secrets. Onwards, Kynareth."

Cedric spoke up. "You can not be serious. You are risking my brother because of a Terran?"

"I see no Terrans here." Shadow grinned mischievously, moving ahead with Kynareth as Dan bumped past Cedric's shoulder.

She went back to fading pieces of the maze before 3 banshees blocked their path. "Company." She took one them and stuffed them in a fluffy shadow that appeared from nowhere, holding it with her while she sidestepped to let the others attack.


Bright beams of light shot forth from Shadow's body, instantly vaporizing the foes.

She stood there for a short moment and admired the ashes. "That works." she moved on through the maze.

------

Cinon yawned, stretching out his entire body mid-air and lazily floating down to Gabby, not noticing his tail was still in the hands of the being. "Hey, where are we now?" and attempting to float down to Gabby before he noticed his tail was still in the being's hand

She backtracked realizing she had gotten separated from Cinon and Ker'Morin, she bounced back the way she came and followed his path instead.

"Oh hi. Where are we?"

Ker'morin responded. "Staircase maze. Bottom."

"Oh, I don't like mazes. I always get lost. You should get Cedric to do the maze instead."

He gripped the wall and climbed down it, landing right-side up on a staircase that led down to the main area. He then helped gabby do the same. "Zealot harmless if kind. Do not the weapon."

Cinon floated down with them, not sure why they were climbing on the walls, but it looked fun.

She noted the skeletons words and put the weapon across her chest, pointed away from towering stone statute, he had called the Zealot.

He walked up to it and pressed in a few of its loose stones, scraping off the moss with his staff. "GUARDIAN! HELLO!" he turned to gabby "Orb."

She walked over to the nearby pedestal where the orb sat, assuming she was meant to retrieve it.

Cinon flew past them "everything is faaaaakkkeeeeee"

Ker'morin hit cinon in the stomach with his staff. "Real."

Slipping her hands around the orange orb she picked it up and brought it back to the guardian

The zealot awoke, shaking and rumbling as pebbles dusted off him. It looked down at the skeleton and offered out its hand. He took it and the statue melted into him, his pale skin forming more layers and his dark clothes appearing. He then took the orb and crushed it, orange energy shooting out from it and changing the color of the wisps. "Two. Two."

"Tu tatu Tu to you too." Cinon sang, bouncing off of the wall to the opposite and back again.

----- The last being above. Poor cinder.
Cinder walked outside the tent and looked around. Nobody was there. He looked in Kynareths bed. Nobody there. He went outside and looked around the building. Nobody there. He headed into his tent and curled up in the corner, shivering. He closed his eyes and mumbled to himself. "Nightmare. Nightmare. Nightmare." over and over again.
-----

She watched as Ker' seemed to look more...human after his absorption of the Zealot. She wasn't entirely sure, but she knew that they had somehow gotten closer to completing him. "C'mon, let's keep going then," she smiled, "Halfway there...I understand you correctly." "Cinon! C'mon! this way!" Cinon bounced off the wall again, slowly floating past Gabby and doing a front flip.

Ker'morin headed back to the archway they dropped down to and found himself just above the exit. he saw multiple hordes of large spiders rush in from lower levels just as the door flung open and the others arrived. "Kynareth! Spiders."

Shadow floated to the center of the room, generating and firing a wall of burning white light that purged the shaft of the puppets. "They are harmless anyway, simply annoyances."

Gabby saw the familiar dragon coming at her and immediately raised her rifle. Another nightmare. "Keep away or I'll add some more bullets to Dan's," she ordered the floating dragon.

Shadow raised a paw at Gabby, dematerialising the rifle and doing his best not to hurt Gabby in the process, at least not too much. "I already-" "Cinon!" Cedric jumped up, floating to Cinon's own floaty body and tackling him to the wall. Hushed words were exchanged in an angry tone as Cinon looked down at his feet, tail drooping. "I already explained to Cedric why I am here. He is the least vulnerable of all of you, save Kynareth, so you can trust I did not tamper with his mind."

Kynareth sighed of relief. " Gabby. Good. Please stop Cedric from strangling me in my sleep."

Ker'morin spoke up, "We move."

Kynareth nodded to him. "He is right, we need to get going."

Gabby clutched at the sudden pain her arm as the rifle disintegrated. "Well, I'm not Cedric," she snapped at Shadow, "You keep away from me. I know what you and Grekan did."

"Grekan acts alone, he has taken over my entire organization with his slick words. He can eat all the hatchlings he wants in hell."

"You still tried to kill me," she grumbled, "To kill us. And as far as I'm concerned I'll trust you only as far as I can toss you." Then she turned to Kynareth and Cedric both "We heard Kynareth's voice say it was safe to come here. We would never have down here had we known. It's not Cinon's fault. It's mine."

Kynareth looked worried. "........ That.....was not....me..." A short pause later. "Oh, I am going to FLAY Vestra!"

"Who is Vestra? And how do we get out of here?" Gabby asked firmly.

Kynareth sighed. "One of the more powerful criminals I absorbed."

"Vestra? That name rings a bell... Vanished a good hundred and twenty-eight years ago. Did a great deal of harm for us, we were happy to have her gone." Had there been time, Shadow would have quipped out at Gabby "You can actual throw me quite far in this world."

"Yeah well, you can thank me for that... and her for this mess."

"Then we kill her," Cedric said, floating slowly to Gabby's side.

"I vote yes," Kynareth said, raising a paw.

"Kill her? Why?" Cinon sounded concerned, still meek from his scolding.

"Cedric is right. We cannot allow such a dangerous dragon to live any longer. We have her trapped here already, the next floor I will obliterate, killing her in the process." Shadow agreed. Cinon looked nervous, not wanting to kill anyone.

"Please don't. I spent work on these floors."

"Clearing the floor will release the energy back to you, you may rebuild with a new figurehead in place."

"Okay," she said, slightly crestfallen. "But do it slowly. I promised her pain if she mistreated guests, and I have a reputation to uphold." Ker'Morin shivered in the background.

Kynareth bumped her head with her paw. "We left cinder! He probably got some help for you just now. Oh, now I feel bad. He shares my fear of isolation."

Ker'morin coughed loudly. "Ahehehehmmm"

"We need to hurry up and leave." Cedric looked over to Skeleton man and then Kynareth. "Someone lead."

Gabby stayed close to Cedric and away from Shadow as Kynareth and Ker' decided who would lead

Kynareth led them off to the next challenge, encountering nothing along the way. When they entered the next important room it was a short corridor with a fine red rug and rich wood with portraits and windows along the wall. There was a sound of loud but distant snoring. She dived under a giant hand that came out of the first window and opened the second, throwing out the fluff and saying. "Come on, Drunken King." A bloated green dragon stopped snoring and ate the fluff, turning into a light gray. "zzzzzahh what lass? Aye lass." he said, climbing up through the window.

The giant...and booze-laden dragon joined them at kynareth's command and Gabby continued to stay beside Cedric, looking over the newcomer. "Kynareth exactly how many people have you absorbed like this?".

Kynareth looked over at gabby, a scanning stare that seemed to know everything. "You do not want to know that number."

"What a waste of power," Shadow commented, floating along above the others like Cinon.

"In case you have not noticed, the only other things I can do are fly, and exist here."

"Hmm. Something tells me you are lying." Shadow grinned down at them, grabbing Cinon's outstretched paw and spinning around as they floated along together.

Kynareth floated up to them, switching to her awake self and shining at him. Ker'morin whacked the hand with his staff and started to head down the hall, carefully dodging other limbs that popped out of the windows. He waved his hand above the obstructions and the drunk king spawned a keg, rolling it down and killing the shadows or forcing them to retreat. "The way is clear."

"Hmm. An amulet. Interesting form." Shadow flipped on his back, batting at Cinon with his tail while the hatchling fought back with his own tail.

Kynareth stopped and turned to the others. "There is a creature of my own imagination here... Watch for dark corners and open ceiling."

Gabby nodded and walked up to the door, hesitating just before it. "Shall I?" Ker'Morin nodded. She bit her lip a little and turned the handle of the beautiful but heavy wooden door, pushing it open. As soon as the door opened a scuttling sounded resounded from the right of it, echoing within the large cavern before them. The cave was large, lightly illuminated by writing and symbols of blue on a large tan box on a platform. Dripping could be heard from a pool of water on the far left corner. She shivered at the sound but did not back away from the dark room.

Kynareth/Ker'morin both entered the room, looking around cautiously and forming a semi-circle around the door.

Cinon smacked Shadow in the face with his tail before quickly floating away, running mid-air on nothing in particular while giggling to himself. "Hey! Get back here! I'll get you!" Shadow gave chase, his tail swishing behind him as Cinon tried to fly behind the box.

2 dozen Red spines shot out of the darkness and propelled forward towards cinon and shadow. If one of these two were hit, their vision would blur and splashes of color would appear. A white barrier appeared between Cinon, shadow, and the spikes, disintegrating them into nothing. "Ooh, nasty nasty." "What's nasty?" Cinon asked, looking out into the darkness. "Someone is trying to hurt us..." A beam of light shot forth from Shadow's paw, brightly lighting the room around them as it burnt everything it touched. More spines, this time from different directions, and two rumbling movements near them. These spines were harder and took longer to vaporize.

The ceiling was covered with a thin layer of a bright light material, illuminating everything around them. Kynareth shot out an arc of ice spikes into one of the more stalactite infested areas, then dimmed the light slightly. "I quite enjoy it here. One of my top 3 rooms." Ker'morin Rushed out into in front of the box and stood ready with his staff as dark spots started generating everywhere. spines shooting from one of them. The drunken king threw a keg at the spot and it exploded with light, revealing nothing to be there.

"Hmm. Whoever is making these is persistent." Shadow fired an experimental bolt through the box, boring a hole right through the center.

Kynareth repaired the whole and glared at Shadow. "HEY! That's our prize!"
Gabby muttered under breath and stepped into the room, peppering the shadows with rounds from her rifle.
Shadow grabbed Cinon by the tail, swinging him around and flinging his floaty body at one of the dark spots.

"Can you please stop throwing my brother around," Cedric growled at Shadow.

Kynareth smiled at the interaction. "Let them have their fun." She dodged another spike that erupted from the ground. "The guardian is."

Cinon bounced off the wall, going to tackle Shadow before the dragon quickly dodged away, Cinon cracking skulls with Dan instead. "Ow! Cinon, get back here!" Dan opened the large wings on his back, chasing after Cinon as he bolted behind Shadow.

Ker'morin blocked a flurry of quills with his staff and they stuck into the white bone. "Huh. Thanks, Kha!"

The drunken king switched from watching the play-fight to looking at his staff. "Aye. Looks nice on it. Though I would remove all but the top few laddie."

Focus, please. I want to leave here as soon as possible."

"Stop spoiling the fun, Cedric. You are in no danger while I am here." Shadow replied.

Kynareth shushed them "Guys shh. You hear that?" Dan froze, his giant maw open inches away from Cinon's head.

When we walked in here...." She turned to face the pool of water. "There Was Dripping!" A singular shard shot out and hit an invisible target, Keresteer (Keyr-Eh-Steer) screeched and lunged Forward at the nearest target, which happened to be Ker'morin. He quickly dashed backward and swung his staff at it, hitting it and revealing it to the others.
images
"You have an interesting imagination Kynareth." Shadow grabbed Cinon's tail as he started to flee, yanking him back to Dan as Dan turned to face the beast.

Gabby reacted as if she had been trained this time and turned, aiming for the creature then pressing her finger to the trigger. The rifle fired off several quick rounds, sending the powerful kick back down her arms. "Ker'morin, look out!"

Ker'morin dived out of the way as a spray of bullet fire almost hit him. Keresteer dived under the earth and popped up in front of gabby, one claw piercing her gun, the other ready to hit her chest. "NO! BAD ASTEER!" It turned to face kynareth. "No Killing!" It drooped its head and turned away, retracting its sharp claw.

The beast stopped on Kynareth's command and Gabby breath a deep sigh of relief. If the claw had hit her, rather than her weapon she would have definitely been in pain, whether or not it was real. Looking down at her ruined rifle, she reformed it with her mind and brandished it at the creature. "You heard her. Go on. Shoo!"

With the threat subdued, Dan went back to his business. He quickly floated over to Cinon, closing his jaws around Cinon's neck, disappearing his head. "Mmfmhh!" Cinon struggled, pushing on Dan's large face before the dragon finally released him, slobber coating his scales. "Ewww."
 
Last edited:
Cinder awoke from the dreamworld, being alone was not a favorable action. He looked around the room and noticed a bleeding dragon sleeping next to gabby, and went off to go find a medic in the camps. He walked to the medlab, finding the building by the large red cross on the side. Cinder entered and approached a human, one not wearing clothes that looked like what the Terran security wore. "There is a wounded dragon in my friend's bedroom. Can you help please?"

Garzon doesn't even look up. "Why would I help you?"

Cinder looked over at the native, confused. "Because it is a healers duty to save the lives of others."

"How did this particular dragon get injured?"

"Four bullets to the chest."

"Sounds like he had a fight with a Terran. I am going to notify security." Garzon said and walked over to a button on the wall.

Cinder had to think fast. He blocked the way to the button. "He was in a crossfire during the recent siege."

"I will help him." Garzon said reluctantly. "But I want a security officer with me first."

Cinder stepped to the side and allowed him to press the button. He pointed the way and gave directions to the shaman before calmly heading out of the camp. He did not want to be there if security was. Questions might be asked.

"Um... dragon. I think security might want to talk to you." Garzon called.

"No, I really do not think so, sir." He trotted away faster.

"Well, it would be a shame if someone thought you were involved with the injuries. I suggest staying here." Garzon said, his dislike of Cinder now apparent.

"And... he's gone." Garzon muttered and waited for the guard to come.

Two guards were quickly summoned to the medical area, one of them being a trained combat medic. Rifles were slung across their shoulders and trigger fingers ready, their adrenaline still amped up from the attack. Perhaps it was not as over as they thought. They quickly spotted Cinder's large green body, rifles immediately rising up and Terran shouts sounding off. <<STOP!>> "STOP!"

Cinder backed away more quickly, turning and shouting to them. "I HAVE NO ILL INTENT! I SIMPLY WISH TO RETURN TO THE CITY! BYE!" He tried to take a corner around a room module, but was caught as the Terran guards opened fire. Several bullets cracked by him, one catching him in the hip. He struggled, digging into the dirt, covering his tracks and burrowing to the city slowly but quietly. It took him several minutes and he was tired, but he had to get to safety. He surfaced when nobody was looking and headed to a dark and empty alley to fix his wound.

The guards ran up to the edge of the habitat module, looking around for any sign of Cinder. Red blood stained the gravel, but the dragon appeared to be gone. The medic grabbed his radio, calling into base what had happened as the other walked over to Garzon, his rifle resting on his chest now. <<You alright bud?>>

<<Here, let's go check out where the green dragon said his friend was.>> Garzon said, and began to walk towards the location.

The guard gave a look to the combat medic, him following quickly after the first guard and Garzon closer to the main hall. Dan's private trailer was set up within eighty meters of the large building, much closer than most.

The guards stopped at the door, looking at the mess before them. Three unconscious dragons, what appeared to be a very unwashed Native, and the Sergeant's brother, both of which were unconscious as well. <<Dan?>> The medic stepped over to the human, poking him before checking for a pulse. <<They're alive...>>

<<Yeah, but this black dragon is not tagged. Some of the other dragons might not a well.>> Garzon said, put some herbs over Gabby's arm.

<<He looks shot to me.>> The second guard stepped over to the bleeding black dragon, poking him with his rifle before checking for a pulse on his scales, not an easy feat. <<This one is alive still.>>

<<This one too. Call Abe, he will know what to do with them.>>

The soldier grabbed his radio, informing Abe of the situation and keeping one eye on the dragons. Abe was there within a minute, walking over to Dan first. <<He's out cold... So are the dragons?>>

<<Yes sir.>>

<<Strange... Garzon, can you see if you can wake him up with a potion or burning herbs or something?>>

Garzon walks over to him. <<I don't see anything immediately wrong with him, but I have some soup I can mix with herbs to try to wake him up.>> Garzon says and begins to prepare. After making the potion Garzon shakes it for a bit then pours it slowly down Dan's throat, elevating his head so he isn't injured.

Little sign of anything came from Dan's still body. Abe waited a minute before realizing that nothing was happening. He sighed, turning to the two dragons in the room with him and the unconscious women. <<Dan... what did you do? Put a temporary tag on them two.>>

The medic nodded, opening a velcro pocket and pulling out two long bands striped in fluorescent yellow and black. He fixed them to the two dragons, avoiding the blood on the one on the bed.

<<Garzon, keep your hands to yourself here. We need to sterilise the wounds and put some bandages on. No magic.>>

<<Yes sir. Sure you don't want any help?>> Garzon asked.

<<We're fine.>> Abe nudged the dragon on the floor with his boot, shifting his tail over, before grabbing his radio. He issued an All Points Bulletin to be on the lookout for a large green male dragon with a gun wound, his voice steady and orderly as he did so.

<<Hopefully we get word back from someone in the city and we can figure out what is going on here.>>
 
Last edited:
"Oh, he likes you!" Shadow teased, poking Cinon in the side with his tail. "Why does it taste like blueberry?"

"Well, at least you smell better now."

Dan sniffed the air, the soft scent of blueberry hitting him along with everyone else's personal scents. Despite being entirely new, small instincts turned in his head, telling him of the two males and a female near him. Hr looked at the two dragons close enough to smell, slightly confused at the mismatch between senses.

Cinon summoned a blue towel and rubbed down his face, destroying it right after.

Shadow flopped onto Cinon's floating body, bumping him down slightly. "Nope, still smell like blueberry."

Kynareth turned her head in on herself and replied a moment later. "Strawberries." Ker'morin sniffed his shoulder. "Pumpkin." The Drunken King did not need to sniff. "I always smell like Alcohol." Keresteer wrote on the stone floor with his claw 'Iron and meat' The amulet dragon turned to the box and opened it from the back, saying. "Now that that is over...." She opened two of the walls to reveal a singular blue chair with a circular base and NUMEROUS amounts of restraints aligned for human use. There was a 'human' in use of these locks, a deformed corpse of muscles and bones. He was altered in many ways, his two fingers elongated and rounded, and his spine was cracked forward so his shoulders hunched. A large light pointed down right to the hair of where the person would have had them, and a string hung from its center. On the string was a cube of blinding white. Kynareth reached in and crushed the cube, its light feeding the two wisps once more. "Next room?"

Shadow pushed Cinon away, covering his eyes as he spotted the body. Cedric shot a glare at Kynareth, his suspicion of her seeming even more justified now. "Kynareth, what is this?"

"Ow! Hey, why'd you do that!" A moment later. "What's what?"

"Oh, that's Keresteer version .4. Do not worry, he cannot feel. Just an experiment in form. No soul."

Shadow formed walls around the box from the White, taking his paws off of Cinon's eyes as soon as the box was covered. "We can continue now." Cedric stepped forwards into the room, pushing Shadow off of Cinon and pulling his brother back to solid ground.

Gabby followed the rest, room to room as they walked through creepy puzzle after puzzle. Dan looked grumpy, Kynareth appeared livid, Cedric had gone utterly silent. At least Cinon and Shadow seemed to be having a good time, strangely enough. She briefly wondered if they had been guzzling the drunken king's kegs. As for herself, she was eager to find the person who trapped them here and help Ker'morin complete his soul, but she felt utterly useless. Again. It irritated her that even in a place like this she couldn't manage to keep up. Was she dead weight? Was she more hindrance than a help? She stuck out like a sore thumb and had caused nothing but trouble for the brothers....did she even belong here at all? She thought over these things as they passed the corpse in the chair and a chill shivered its way down her spine. "The sooner we are out, the better."

Ker'morin looked over at gabby and noticed she was out of it lately. He walked over to her and said. "Wrong?" He conjured two chairs and looked over to kynareth, who snapped and his eyes turned orange. He sat down in one of the chairs and pulled off his hood, revealing his icy skin, soft pumpkin eyes with navy blue sclera(non-pupil), a short and subtle nose, white lips and large slightly pointed ears, covered by wavy brown hair in a general mess. He looked young but not childlike, possibly mid-thirties. He spoke with concern and care in his voice. "What is wrong?"

Kynareth said "Wait here for a while." before departing from the room, giving Dan a short kiss as she left. "Make sure they behave." When she left the room returned to its lightly lit state and Keresteer started playing with cinon and shadow, poking cinon and rushing away behind Shadow.

Ker'morin's coherent question surprised her as two chairs appeared side by side. She looked around the room...Kynareth had gone ahead, while Cinon and Shadow seemed to be having fun and Cedric sat in stony silence. Dan looked a little dazed, but that was probably from the kiss he had received from the pretty Kyn. She was happy that they had made a connection like that. All there was to do really was sit with Ker'morin. When he pulled down his hood, she had expected a more...grim image...but instead, she was met by a much more human looking man. Managing a half-baked smile she nodded to Ker'morin and sat beside him. "It's nothing really, just thoughts."

Ker'morin looked at gabby with the same soul piercing stare kynareth did earlier, but this time more warmly. He watched as she lingered on certain things, and attempted to pick up on it. "Thoughts like how you fit?"

Her cheeks turned pink at his stare and her eyes dropped away from his. Instead, she looked at the rest of them and sighed, "Yes...something like that...I'm not a native...nor am I a Terran...I am not a dragon either. I have no powers...or gifts....I am simply Gabriella Asualtak... I don't really fit in anywhere with them."

He smiled warmly and placed a pale hand on her shoulder, the area turning slightly cold. "Your quite the pilot, and not too shabby with a gun. You're unique, not the regular old people here. You are not limited by the views of others. Even the Terrans have a bias now, you see people as they are. You can bring a team together, machine or man. Seeing yourself as lesser then what you are is a self-dug grave. You are Gabriella Asaltak. Not human, not dragon, not a bad thing."

Gabby smiled, this time a much more genuine curve on her lips. "I've been invisible for so long...knowing that I had no place...it's hard to not see myself as still that same person sometimes," she replied, "Thank you for reminding me, Ker'morin." he paused for a moment and touched the cool hand on her shoulder. "I'm not sure how you were shattered, hope we can get the pieces of your soul back together."


Ker'morin nodded and stood up, offering his hands outstretched as his chair disappeared. Gabby smiled and hugged him, though he was much taller than she and his arms were cold. "On my planet, we have a saying, cold hands mean a warm heart. I think that is most definitely true in your case," she chuckled before letting go.

Dan doubled over like someone kicked him in the stomach, his scaly face twisting in pain. "Ah! What is that?"

Shadow looked over at him. "Somone is affecting your body."

"...Garzon! His nutty potions." Dan hobbled along slowly, gripping his stomach with one of his forepaws. "He's going to end up killing me if he keeps this up... Not literally." Dan took another step before floating over to the door, landing on the ground and grabbing his stomach again. "Eugh... I'm going to be sick....."

Kynareth returned in her human form, out of breath and trembling. "The fourth room.... This way." She motioned for them to follow and then shuffled against the wall, falling to a sitting position. "I can't follow..... Remember you are togethehter."

"I'll wait here with you."

Gabby frowned at the idea that Kynareth could not come with them. "What is on the other side of that door that you can't face? This is your mind Kynareth..."

Kynareth turned to face her. "Exactly Gabby, My world, My nightmares."

Kynareth laughed for a while, a laugh born of nervousness and fear. "Oh, child. Nobody can lead in that place. You go through that door, you stand alone. That's. What's terrifying." She turned to listen to shadow and Cinon, pointing to the room around them. "I live here. Everything manifests into its own form. Including the bad ones." Her eyes darted over to Cedric. "I am sure he has fears."

Cedric was silent for a second. "You seem to lack restraint, it is no wonder that your fears manifest here."

"Here? That may be true. Out there it is much easier."

"Everyone has fears. And if we must face them on our own, well I've had 70 years of practice," Gabby replied firmly, "We cannot sit here forever."

"I am immortal. Forever is relative."

"Well, it isn't for the rest of us," she replied, "You are Kynareth, immortal yes. Magnificently powered, yes. You've seen great and terrible things and survived. And now you must conquer your own mind. You won't be doing it alone."

"You forget my recent injury? I am afraid for a reason." a pause. "But....I see your point... Someone has to stay with dan though."

Gabby looked at Kynareth with her gray eyes piercing into to her human green ones. "Tell me what I have to do and I will go then."

"Shatter the lights casing."
 
Last edited:
"Well, Gabby, you seem up to a challenge... Even if it an imagined one. You go first and I will watch over you." Shadow floated closer to the door, dragging Cinon along with his thumbed hindpaw as he did.

Gabby nodded then turned to the shadowed door, trying to ignore the heavy feeling of what lay ahead...and the distrustful feeling that lay behind her. Grabbing the handle, she turned it and pushed forward opening it to reveal the next room.

There was a singular light far off to the left and shadowy spikes and figures and both on the way to it. The image disappeared as the door slammed shut and the darkness flooded in on her. A darkness so absolute it seemed to be alive and moving, swallowing everything in its hunger.

Gabby had faced darkness like this before. It was the same pitch blackness of death before she had woken next to her body. She could no longer feel shadow and cinon at her back, however. It seemed the darkness was like death in more ways than just its deepness. It was a curtain of solitude as well. Sighing she called out to the others to test if they could hear her at all. "Cinon...shadow...can you hear me?"

Shadow pulled Cinon in just after Gabby. A force tried to separate him from the young dragon, but he held on, breaking it with his own power.

"What was that? Where's Gabby?! Gabby?!" Cinon shouted out at the darkness.

Shadow felt more force try to separate them, and something bounced off of his personal shield.

Gabby heard no reply from the dragons. They were truly separated after all. There was nothing to do about it but move forward and hope they were okay. She started walking in the direction she saw the light in, though it would be impossible to tell its location in the dark. If she could form a rifle... why not a light? Focusing as she had done before she though about a lantern forming in her free hand.

The lantern appeared in her hand. She could feel it, but not see it. In fact, she could not even see her hand.

Shadow concentrated, forming a tight bubble around himself and Cinon that blazed the shadows away. Bright streaks appeared on the fringes as they attempted to push back in at them. "They're strong, I'll give them that. Someone is trying very hard to keep us away."

"Who?"

"I dunno. Maybe they'll come talk to us nicely instead of throwing their darkness at us."

Cedric growled as he was plunged into the darkness, his eyes failing him as he tried to search out with his other sense to find Cinon. Luckily, his younger brother seemed to be no more than a tail length's away. He moved towards him, sticking out his arm to feel for him before he felt someone bite him.

"OW!"

He put his paw back, slowly and with the palm facing up. Cinon took the paw, establishing a strong link between them.

"Sorry about that. I couldn't see you, haha..."

"Hmm. Keep close to me, I will keep you safe."

"Uhh..."

"Your brother is safe with me, Cedric," Shadow said, joining their mental conversation. "if you would rather find Gabby to help."

"... I will protect my brother."

"Well... Gabby doesn't trust me still, so you might as well go find her. Don't worry about Cinon."

"... Fine. If he gets hurt, I kill you."

"Sure thing bud."

Cedric broke off, sensing around in the darkness mentally for Gabby. Nothing.

"Gher."

Gabby frowned, realizing that the lantern wasn't going to work. Dematerializing the lantern, she did the only thing she could do.....she stepped forward into the darkness toward to box. She hoped. She felt a light prick near her foot and a groan from her right.

Gabby felt the prick and paused at the sound of the groan. "Hello? Cinon? Shadow?"

The groan turned and red eyes came closer and closer, until they vanished.

Gabby feels goosebumps shiver down her spine as the red eyes vanish. Whatever they were, they didn't seem to be able to touch her terribly much. She forged ahead into the darkness, hoping her luck would hold out.

More light pricks hit gabby in various places. Suddenly, she walked into a wall. It shined for a split second, revealing its large size.

Cedric formed a long pole extending from his palm, running it along slowly until he hit something solid. He started feeling around, finding the edges of the shapes of the room. After poking around for a second, he had a general sense of the shape of the walls around him.

Gabby rubbed her nose, having hit the wall face first. "Ow.." It took her a moment to realize the wall had given off a little light at the bump. Curling her fist up, she bumped it again, hoping to see more of the room.

The entire room shimmered and spikes and ghouls made of shadows roamed a large obstacle course. There was another wall directly to her left.

Gabby kept her hand on the wall, following it to the left most connected wall. There had to be a way out...where was the box? She dodged a few of the barely visible spiked, but stepped on one.

Gabby bounced off the next wall and it illuminated enough for her to see a passage just to her right with no creepy ghouls or spikes... as of yet. Veering off in that direction she walked holding her hands out until she hit another wall.

--

Cedric began moving forwards slowly, using his pole to tap on the walls as he went. A moment later he smacked something soft and fleshy with his pole.

The pole was pushed back and almost knocked out of his paws by the fleshy object.

Cedric poked it again, gently, and started moving towards it.

The ghoul of shadow looked over at him, his red eyes looking directly into Cedrics. "Rashahark"

"Speak lowlands or I will destroy you."

"Harsh, but acceptable terms. What spoiled your mood?"

"Clear the darkness."

"Now those terms, I cannot agree to." He vanished, leaving a puppet in its wake.

Cedric growled, waving his paw at the puppet and obliterating it before probing around again. Soon his stick hit another puppet which he moved towards.

It leapt at him and bounced off his shield. He ignored it, moving on and finding another with his long pole. He decided to approach it as well.

It's skin was harder then the others. "You know how this works now, so how may I help you?"

"You may help me by ending your games."

"Games? My whole life Is a game. If you are stuck for 300 years with nothing but shadows to make, would you not toy with the guests?" The creature paused, its red eyes tilting sideways. "But if you are in a hurry, I can show you the way."

His arm started to glow with red light, pointing to the left. A smile of similar color formed against the black. "Good luck." It disappeared and was replaced by a ghoul.

Cedric did the same to this ghoul, dissipating it out into nothing. He continued on the direction pointed out, still exploring with his pole.

--

Shadow grew bored of waiting, as did Cinon. "Well... want to see more than just each other?"

"Sure. What'cha wanna do?"

Shadow expanded the bubble around them, illuminating a nearby wall and a set of spikes.

"Interesting choice of decor here. What else can we see?"

Shadow formed a light with his paw, burning out the dark and illuminating whatever was in its path. He scanned the beam around, accidentally lighting up Cedric's path. "Whoops, don't want to ruin your fun!"

Cedric turned to face him just before the light left. "What? No I-"

Shadow moved the beam away, stopping his words in the darkness.

Cedric growled, moving ahead to the beacon. Taking a left turn, he probed for more of the light sources. He found the one infront first and began heading to it.

Shadow lead Cinon through the gap the nearest ghoul had escaped through, scanning the room again and lighting up Cedric again.

"Would you please-"

Cedric growled as the light moved off again, focusing and pushing himself to make his own beam of light in the darkness. The light wavered in the darkness, but stayed. It stretched a few feet out and touched a ghoul, but this ghoul seemed different. The light was extinguished.

Cedric growled at the darkness, focusing again and pushing harder to create a light. A weak light shone through before once again it was snuffed out by an odd ghoul.

Cedric growled at the ghoul again, focusing the light down to a narrow beam and trying to burn away the puppet.

The ghoul ran in circles away from Cedric until it ran ahead and behind a corner to the left.

With the ghoul puppet gone, Cedric made a light again and started working his way down the path.

A group of ghouls came and rushed towards Cedric from the left, attempting to snuff the light.

A jet of bright flame shot forth from Cedric's paw as he sapped energy from Cinon, trying to eliminate all of the nuisances being thrown at him. The puppets quickly burnt out, leaving him to explore again. He relit his light, making fast progress along the same path as Gabby, noting the destroyed traps before floating over the first lava pit.

The stronger ghoul reappeared. "Behind you."

Cedric shone his light at the ghoul, watching as he flickered it out. "What?"

As soon as Cedrics light moved from the spot the ghoul returned. "Behind you."

"What is it you want from us? Your games are pointless."

"Oh quite the contrary, they have reason and rhyme. You just are not looking in the riiiight place." The creature pointed its claw to behind him where a slightly brighter dark shape was visible.

Cedric shone his light on the room behind him, inspecting the doorway. "Where is Gabby?"

"Past that door and right a bit." It faded into the stone floor.

Cedric approached the door, inspecting it a final time before passing through it to the inside of the room, not opening it.

Cedric was greeted by a black room and a force trying to move him. He resisted at first, but finally allowed the force to transport him to the destination.

--

"This place seems rather empty." Shadow commented, still pulling Cinon along through the air with his thumbed hindpaw.

"There's this green box thing." Cinon said, pointing to the object next to him with his free paw.

"It has a door. Wanna go in?"

"Sure!"

The two masses almost filled half the room as the door slammed behind them.

"Spooky." Shadow teased, flipping over and grabbing Cinon's paw with his hindpaw again. He pulled the dragon closer, going belly to belly with him.

"Oh? Someone is trying to move us..." Shadow floated away from Cinon slightly and sensing out for whomever was trying to move them through the mental world.

Shadow sensed a figure behind the building frowning and crying from its tilted head, watching him and something else at the same time. It seemed to finally not be a puppet linked to the "guardian", but rather the guardian themselves.

Shadow slid through the wall of the room, dragging Cinon after him and stopping over the the figure. His bubble of light lit it quite well, giving him a better look of the creature. The creature was a wyvern of shadow and fire, crying silent tears of ice. "No one will let me do my thing."

The creatures tears dissapeared as it bounced with happiness.

"What thing?" Cinon asked, still holding paws with Shadow.

"The teleport thing! Let me show you."

"Aww, teleporting is boring." Cinon whined slightly. "Cedric always used to do it because it was faster, but flying super fast is soooo much fun."

"My teleporting is a fun little journey. No instant one place to the next."

--

Gabby bounced off another light wall to see the walls narrow and the shadow of something attached to the wall. Another trap probably. Hoping whatever had been protecting her so far in here continued to do so, she headed in that direction

The room echoed a large pit of flowing liquid beside her, bubbling and popping out embers. When she activated the echo the darkness in the room faded and a creature stood growling across it, its eyes looking into hers. "Like the decor?"

"It'd be nice to see more of it rather than the dark," she replied evenly as she looked over the creature, "what are you?"

The creature laughed and disappeared.

Gabby rolled her eyes as she was plunged by into the low lighting, lit only by the lava pit. She continued down the path avoiding the pit and hoping to find another wall. She chose the path with the dip for no particular reason other than the traps were annoying and it seemed different than what she had come across so far. Maybe she was finally making progress.

She felt the heat of another lava pit to her left and the soft orange glow appeared at the bottom of the dip. There was barely any light, but it was enough for her to spy a ledge that would let her by pass. Barely. She steeled herself against the heat and started out onto the thin path, sliding along the wall.

Gabby slips past the lava pit and hits the light wall directly in front of her. It lit up the area enough for her to see that there was a corner and another corridor on the other side. She followed the wall hoping she was near the end soon... and that the lava creature didn't return.

Another arrow lit the way around a corner and illuminating via echo a large building with a door.

Gabby walked through the trap and up to the door. What was behind this? Was this the end of this pit? She tried to open it, read to face what was inside.

The door led to an empty but lit room, orange in color. As soon as she entered it slammed behind her, closing her in.

Gabby jumped a bit as the door slammed behind her. Guess there's no going back? She let her eyes adjust the light and then looked around the room. "Hello?"

She was walking through a small box of orange, lit from no source, and completely empty. The door started to glow and the room dim.

Gabby turned back to the glowing door with a raised brow. This place grew stranger by the minute, but was not as Kynareth had lead her to believe. She went back through the door.

The room was lit by a weak torch and the glow of two lava pits. A pressure plate stood out from the rest of the tiled floor leading up to them.

Gabby scanned the room, noticing the plate created a heavy weighted ball and tossed it to the spot.

The ball activated the trap and a barrage of arrows came from all directions, including behind gabby. The arrows shattered as they bounced off her shield and the others fed the pits, creating embers that also seemed to vanish in proximity to her.

Gabby saw a narrow path leading to the other side of the room with the arrow trap in her way. She would simply have to jump over. With a running start, she took off toward the path and then leapt over the tile. Except she did not come down. Instead she floated over the ground and lava pits as if she were a weightless doll again. "What..? how..? Oh never mind..." Maybe she could just steer herself in the right direction.

The arrow that usually lead gabby the right way was being activated constantly by a ghoul swinging on it. There lay 3 pathways before her. Left lead into a blue room, middle led to a corner, and right led to 3 more options.

Gabby gave the ghoul a hard look and then went to the right where the 3 paths. Which one should she take? Drifting forward between two wavy walls she came to the end of another wall and the paths split again.

A ghoul looked like it was depressed as it leaned against the wall between the second left and second middle. It lifted its head up and looked at her, looking different from the others in an odd indescribable way. "Its lonely down here, lady." The figure turned into an 80's trench coat wearing man. He puffed a cigar and tilted his head up so dark gray eyes looked into her own. "No visitors for decades."

Gabby looked at the strangely dressed, grey eyed man with curiosity. He was a ghoul? "Who...are you?" she asked as she floated over to him.

He reached up and pulled her shoulder down so she was level with the ground once more. "Nick. Guardian."

She shied away from 'Nick' a little as he leveled her by the shoulder. "You're the guardian...you don't seem like the other guardians."

The man changed to an older aristocrat looking human with a tailcoat, a top hat, and a cane. "Better? Do I at least have the right history this time?"

"I think so," she replied hesitantly as his form shifted again, "I was under the impression the creature in the lava pit was the guardian...but since you seem..different...I'm Gabby...and I'm just trying to get to the end of this room. I don't suppose you know the way?"

Gabby could notice a large gash in the mans leg as he walked down the right most path, creating a path of white stones.

Something didn't feel right to her. He helped build he way, but couldn't dissolve it. She looked at him with her own grey eyes. "You helped build it? Why? Why would you build this? Couldn't you simply take it down?

"If you have precious jewels, would you not place security measures to protect them? I am one of many wardens, and this room is a giant trap. No, Kynareth would not like that, and you do not want to upset the boss."

Gabby raised a brow at the guardian, "I'm not so sure Kynareth is the one in charge here right now."

"Then it is one of the two below on the lowest floor. Either way our job is the same, keep those without permission out to the best of our ability."

"We're trying to help," Gabby replied. She pointed toward the path he described. "That will lead to the light at the end of this room then?"

"Yes, It will."

"Thank you...Nick," Gabby said, "I'm...sorry...you have been here alone. Perhaps we will meet again sometime?"

Nick stopped walking next to her and smiled an evil smile. "Oh, I'm not alone." Before vanishing into an extending smokescreen of living darkness.

She felt a chill go down her spine at the look Nick gave her before vanishing. Not good. She was in it now though and there was no place to go but forward. She followed the path, keeping her guard up, bouncing off another light wall. Ahead of her another spike trap next to a strange looking red wall. That had to be it. With a deep breath, she walked toward the wall, hoping it was the end

--

Cedric exited the dark room from the door's wall and looked around. He found himself in a larger room facing a wall corner. The shadows here did not press against the soul like a moving force, but instead seemed to be the mere absence of light. He scanned around with his light, looking for another beacon to follow.

As the arrows suddenly changed, a bright light broke through the darkness sending pain radiating into Gabby's eyes and temples. "Hello?!"

The light dimmed slightly, but the figure emitting it was still too bright to make out. "Gabby. You should have waited for us to find a way to stay together."

The voice was familiar but she still couldn't see. "Cedric?"

"Yes. Have you found any hints to the objective yet?"

"Can you come where I can see you?" Gabby asked, blocking the light with her hands, "And I think so..there's a wall here that's different from the rest."

Cedric moved the light, scanning along the wall and noting the different strengths. He moved the light back onto Gabby soon after. "You are correct. A section of this wall has been strengthened."

Gabby frowned, still unable to actually see Cedric with the light in her eyes. "There are also arrows on the floor leading away, though they lead me this spot purposely before changing direction."

"Come here. The wall is weaker at this point, we can pass through."

"A guardian told me that the arrows would lead me to the room with the light," she added, not moving, "But, he seemed...off."

The wall hardened and also turned a deep crimson. A voice emanated from the pure darkness. "Wrong Way-ey."

"It is the correct way, someone is trying to keep us out."

"Honest. Swear on me mother. That is not the way to the light."

Gabby looked at the arrows and then toward the light. She didn't trust Nick, or his taunting and arrows... she trusted Cedric but he hadn't been thinking when he brought Shadow here either. "I know," she replied, "Let me take that white arrow path and you keep trying the wall. Double our chance at getting out of this crazy place."

Cedric moved his paw to the wall, burning at it as he focused his energy in on it.

The part of the wall heated up and burned before melting back into place, unimpressed.

She sighed, knowing the dragon wasn't happy with her...but she wasn't exactly thrilled with him either at the moment. Turning from the light she followed the white arrows around the corner.

The entire floor melted into lava as the room returned to encroaching darkness, the bubbling being the only warning of what lie below.

Gabby backed away from the heat of the floor and peered into the room trying her best to see anything beyond the darkness. "Right, so a room filled with lava...that makes perfect sense."

Cedric backed off from the wall slightly, pushing into it again with his entire body and more energy.

The wall turned to jello to absorb his hit and simply bounce him back, but it was definitely scratched this time. Part of it went a lighter shade.

Gabby was curious and nudged the lava pit with the very tip of her boot toe just to see what happened.

As gabby's toes touched the lava it turned to a small pool of obsidian.

Gabby watched as the lava turned to obsidian at her touch. Strange. Was she still meant to go this way? She took a tentative step out on the slick rock.

As she stepped upon it more lava turned to obsidian. There was a problem, the obsidian she made was so smooth it became difficult to keep ones balance while traversing it.

Gabby wobbled as her boots slid from underneath her. In a last ditch effort not to fall she jumped into the air and made herself float again, turning a few awkward somersaults. "Okay...Nick you said this was the way, but all I see is a lava trap. ..what am I supposed to do?"

A voice shouted from where she knew Cedric was. "OTHER END OF THE HALL! AND BE CAREFUL ABOUT THE OTHER ONE! YANA!"

She floated over the obsidian and remaining lava bumping into the far wall of the hall way. The dim light made by the molten rock below until she spied what looked like might be a passage to her right. It couldnt hurt to try? Using the wall, she walked her hands down to the opening but is stopped when a giant beast emerges from the lava.

The beast dug one of its tusks into the lava, splashing a bit of it forward playfully. It did not seem to have noticed gabby yet.

Gabby walked her hands along the wall as quietly as she could, making her way toward the opening.

The passage was small, almost invisible when looked at from a certain direction, but still someone skinny could pass through. She turned her shoulders to the side and slipped between the walls, still floating. Would this lead to the room with the light? She hoped it would.

There it was. A bulb of orange. It shined brightly, almost blindingly, illuminating the room.

She floated over to the light, squinting at its brightness. Especially from being in the dark for so long. It was warm, but in a pleasant way. Reaching out she pressed her palm against it. "Please end the darkness here."

There was a single pedestal next to the wall of the room, a label under it reading "SAVE."

It responded to her touch, dimming slightly and the warmth growing in strength.

She wrapped her other hand around the light and picked it up, cradling it in her arms and floated over to the pedestal. "Maybe this will work," she whispered as she placed it into the bowl.

The pedestal started to shake as it accepted the orb, shrinking into the ground and closing the floor after it. The room was plunged into darkness.

There was a rattling of machinery and she could hear a ball rolling around before the light popped back into its mount in the wall and the pedestal was back as well.

--

Cedric wound up again, sapping increasing amounts of energy away from Cinon as he tried to pass through the wall.

"The grand hall is not the way, Mr. Ram. Bashing it until you fade will not get you closer to removing yourself from this room."

Cedric attacked the wall again, still working at harming and weakening the creator.

"Its two verses two here. Major stalemate. If you love your brother so much, why do you keep trying to kill him with useless wastes of energy?"

Cedric attacked again, unfazed by the lie.

"It will not get you anywhere if you break the wall down. The light is the other way."

Cedric sensed around himself, finding a weakness to the left where the walls joined in a corner. The entirety of the room was not secured. Like a flash, he zipped around, passing through the weaker walls to try to gain entry.

A ghoul Stared at Cedric as the side wall of the room hardened into the solid red.

Cedric began floating along the edges of the room, using his paw to burn fires into the wall. Not effective in gaining access, but considerably more painful for the defender.

The shadows pricked and prodded at Cedric, the attacks being blocked by Shadow's shield. Feeling no reaction, Cedric pressed his attack, waiting for the defender to break.

--

Cinon yawned. "Ok then, let's go Shadow."

The creature frowned again. "No teleport?"

Cinon was happy to silently rest, holding Shadow's hindpaw to stay with him. "I think he means let's go with you. What is your name?"

"Temmer. That is my name."

"I am Shadow, this is Cinon. So, Temmer, where is the exit?"

"Greetings Shadow. There is a difference between the exit and the way out, which do you wish to be informed about?"

"The way out is through to the light. It is to the far right of here and backwards a bit."

"How about you just lead us to it, Temmer?"

"Woah I feel something. The woman has it. I must go."

"The woman? Oh, the human woman." Shadow paused as he felt his shield come under a harsher attack, the strongest yet. "Well, I'll let you go then. There is something more important I must attend to."

"Okay. Remember, right and backwards."

--

Shadow flew off through the walls quickly, stopping as he entered above over a lava pit before moving along to the red walls and then through another grey one to Cedric. "Well, who have you stirred up?"

"I am not sure. They are behind these walls.

"Well, they better stop attacking my shield or I will be unhappy."

The barrage stopped at his words, and the wall grew a deeper shade of red.

"That's better. Now, who is behind the wall?" Shadow moved closer to the barrier, knocking in it with his forepaw. Cedric stopped his attack as Shadow moved to the wall.

The wall knocked back three times before going quiet.

"Well that is just impolite. You should open the door when someone knocks."

Cinon giggled slightly, listening in to the conversation even though he was sleepy.

Cedric looked up to Shadow, noticing Cinon and him holding paws. "Why are you touching my brother?"

"Is there a problem with that?" Shadow asked defensively.

Cinon turned with a yawn, facing Cedric. "I dunno. We were just having fun."

Cedric stared at his brother. "No. No. You can't make me. Lalalala, I can't hear you!... I'm not coming down, we are having fun and you never wanna play anyway."

Shadow switched paws, holding Cinon's with his left forepaw. "You should play with us, Cedric. How old are you two?"

"We're sixteen years except we went to a place and then when we came back it was now and we left, like, twenty years before now so we hatched thirty six years ago but-... Yes I do think he can hear it all, he is my friend."

"He's a bloody murderer! He tried to kill us!"

Hey, that is unfair. I am a changed dragon now, I-"

"Shut up. You are as deserving of trust as Grekan is."

"Really? He told me you were quite trusting of his plan when you met on the beach yesterday..."

"That was a mistake."

"Ah, but I, the only member of the Guild's inner circle who has never taken a life, is more untrustworthy than the cannibal. I see."

"..."

"Anyyyy way. So we are sixteen years. Unless Cedric is different, but I think we are clutchlings. You always act older though, you're so grumpy all the time."

"Someone needs to protect us."

"Well, I'm only twenty nine... If what you said is right you actually hatched seven years before I did."

"I'm older than you? That's pretty cool."

"You went somewhere that changed time?"

"Yea, the Otherwold myth thing. We went to this secret base in fire island and we-"

The door knocked again, this time 9 times

Cinon's words were cut off by more banging on the wall. Shadow looked at it, just a little irritated at the game of "knock knock" they seemed to be playing. He raised a paw, boring a hole clean through the wall and lighting the inside.

A grey scaled head looked through the hole before closing it and knocking on the wall once more.

BANG-BANG BANG-BANG-

Shadow opened an even larger hole, keeping it open and poking his own head inside. "Who is it?"

A large humanoid lizard was bathing in a pool of lava nearby. "PRIVACY!" It threw a chunk of crimson wall at Shadow and went back to bathing. At the other side of the room across a wall divider was a severely wounded dragon being healed by another less wounded one. It looked at Shadow with grey eyes (The others are red) before conjuring a curtain and hiding them from view.

"Hmm. First of all..." Shadow waived his paw at the humanoid, unmasking him to his true form.

"Second..." Shadow waived his paw at the curtain, dissolving it any any subsequent barriers.

A tall native with various beads and tattoos hissed at him. The healer looked at him one more before returning to healing his patient.

"A native? Well this is truly strange. I thought Kynareth was keeping you as guards... Whatever. I am not here to critique her pet choices. Come in, guys, I found more of Kynareth's pets."

Cinon slid in, still looking cheery as Cedric sulked in behind him.

The dragon with grey eyes stopped healing his friend and turned to the others. He spoke in a smooth and light voice, but his eyes told a story of annoyance. "Captive, more like. Pet makes it sound like we lick her feet and fetch her bones."

"Well, there is a reason she expends so much energy on you all. Where a rock gets it all, I don't know. Now, where is the little goal she has set up for us? Has Gabby found it?"

"Yes. No thanks to this idiot distrusting me and thinking our little abode was the objective."

"Well, no need to insult my party members."

Cedric's face remained unchanged, one that a Terran would describe as a "bitch face".

"Well she is over here. This way." He hobbled over to the wall next to him and melted it, revealing gabby and the light.

Gabby turned as the wall melted away behind her to see the three dragons. A look of relief washed over her face. "Cinon! Cedric!"

"Oh hi Gabby. Whatcha doin?"

Gabby smiled at the playful dragon. "Just what seems to be the normal now," she laughed. Her eyes fell upon the others in the room. More guardians? She wasnt sure where they had come from, but at least they didn't seem to want to attack them. "I thought if I found the light we'd end the dark maze.... but... I'm not sure it works."

Shadow looked over to the guardians, obviously looking for an answer.

"Did you try smashing it yet?"
 
Last edited:
She blinked at the guardian speaking. "Er...no?" Then she walked over to the orb and picked it up, the warmth sinking into her hands as she lifted it high. "Here goes nothing then." Then she slammed the orb down on the floor.

The bulb smashed on the ground and the light flew to two previously hidden wisps. the balls of light flew out of their cages and went back to bobbing above Cinon and Gabby, their colors changing to the orange of the orb. Both changed and started to give off emotion, The one above cinon cracking and turning more golden, flowing with the feeling of safety, while gabby's wisp turned more red, courage and calm flowing from hers. The guardians left and the maze faded, revealing the door of pure void once more.

The group appeared before Dan and Kynareth, seeing the human resting against Dan's large head, both of them resting.

"Well, that was easy." Shadow landed on the ground, stepping away from Cinon slightly. "Now, your last game Kynareth?"

Cedric blocked the influence of the strange orb, keeping himself and Cinon safe from the danger.

Kynareth opened her eyes all too quickly. She looked around the room and winked at Ker'morin before getting up and pointing her thumb to a staircase down. "Not a game. Viestra."

"Ah. Simple then. One second please." Shadow sunk through the floor, and a feeling like a stab shot through Kynareth before he returned. "All done."

Kynareth stood there for a few seconds, processing. The door opened ahead of them, a portal out of the dungeon.

The group passed through, Cedric quickly pulling himself out of the mind palace along with Cinon as soon as he could. Before anyone could even react, he returned, slightly exasperated. "Everyone up. Now!" A second later, he vanished again.

Gabby's eyes fluttered up as a headache began to emerge, radiating from her temples. The sharp order from Cedric snapped her awake enough to realize that there was something in the bed with her. Shadow. "Get away!" she yelped immediately as she shoved him off the bed.

Shadow splayed out as Gabby pushed his relatively small body off of the edge of the bed.

<<Freeze!>> Abe shouted at her, stepping back as the two guards raised their rifles at Shadow and Gabby.

Her grey eyes flashed with fierce look to Abe and his weapon as she realized they had been discovered. "I'm not armed," she said to the man

Dan shifted in his chair as consciousness returned to his body.

<<Dan?! Thank fuck you're ok. What is happening here?>> Abe put his hand on Dan's shoulder, jostling him slightly.

<<Uh... Hi. What's wrong?>>

<<You were passed out, and Shadow here was too. The Native and the dragon I knew about him I did not. The larger one you brought fled from us and one of these two hit him as he went.>>

<<You shot him!? Why!? He wasn't doing anything!>>

<<I didn't make the call. You can investigate that later.>>

Dan looked down at Cinon, noticing his body was gone but a band was floating at his wrist level. <<You tagged them?! I promised they could wait to get them!>>

<<Dan, you need to calm down. We tag dragons on base, those are the rules.>>

<<You're not helping anything acting just like they expect.>>

<<I am keeping everyone safe.>>

<<No, you're keeping yourself safe. Just... We'll talk about it.>>

<<We will.>>

<<Can you leave us be for a minute?>>

<<I'll be outside.>> Abe turned, leaving from the room after the two soldiers.

Dan sighed, looking at Garzon, Shadow, Gabby, Kynareth, and Cinon in turn. "Gergh. I'm sorry about Abe..."

Kynareth setup a link with everyone except Cedric. "I have to go find Cinder" She closed to all but Dan. "See you later, Honey." She slipped out as Abe shut the door, escaping without being spotted.

--

Cinder looked up from his writing, still in his own dreamworld. "Come on in Kynareth."

Kynareth the human appeared before him. "The others are awake."

Cinder thought for a bit while she scratched his head with her soft fingers. "So the plan is to get gabby some clothes, kindly learn more about Cinon and Cedric, and get a job for the next town. That sound breakable?"

--

Dan sighed, looking at Garzon, Shadow, Gabby, Kynareth, and Cinon in turn. "Gergh. I'm sorry about Abe... And good to see you, Garzon. Gabby, Cinon, Cedric, Shadow, this is our resident Native, Garzon."

"Who are you?" Garzon asks the newly awakened group from his spot on the bed. Garzon acted calm, but was inwardly very distrusting and hateful to Shadow.

"Friends. Mostly." Dan said, looking at Shadow. "Right?"

"Of course." Shadow said in a half-sincere way.

She turned her head to Dan, and the recovered Shadows with her eyes wide. "Friends?" she said incredulously.

"You Terrans have a saying about friends and enemies... What was it..?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Yes. Friends then."

"How did you get here?" Garzon asked Gabby.

"Oh...I uh...it's a long story," Gabby said, struggling to find a way to explain what she was. "I'm not from around here."

"Well..." Dan clapped his hands together, still slightly on edge about everything. Cinon stopped pawing at the bracelet on his wrist and made his head visible, looking up at the human. "I think we can all sort out questions with Abe after we clean up. He can wait till dinner anyway." Dan looked at the door, mumbling under his breath. "Maybe some food will bring him to his senses..."

Gabby perked up at Dan's words. "Cleaning up sounds great."

"Great. Hold on for a second." Dan opened the door slightly, slipping out of the crack before closing it again.

"Washing wouldn't be a bad idea for you either, Cinon." Shadow said, keeping himself at a respectable distance from Gabby, but still too close for her comfort.

"What're you talking about? I smell fine..."

"Maybe for you. Humans have lots of neat things to wash with, you'll like it."

"...With water?"

"Hot water, sprayed out of a tap."

"Oh... no pool..?"

"No pool."

"Okay. I can wash then."

Dan stepped back inside, closing the door gently again. "Great. As long as we don't have Cinder showing up without stopping at the gates we should be fine... I'll take everyone down to the common dorms and we'll have it mostly to ourselves. Night shift isn't going to be using them for another forty minutes at least."

Gabby rose from her spot on the bed feeling a bit stiff from laying in the same spot for so long while inside Kynareth's head. She stretched each arm across her chest, enjoying the feeling of movement again, and then looked to Dan with an excited smile. The idea of getting to shower and the possibility of clean clothes was breaking through the stress of their entire situation. "I'm following you," she said brightly.

Dan opened the door again, all the way now, revealing the sun's dipping position in the sky. The afternoon's heat was still strong as he walked them along past the handful of small trailers like his to a larger building the opposite side of the "street".

"Are you fine alone, Gabby? I'm not supposed to go in there. You know how it is."

"Yes, though I suspect what you'd find in there wouldn't quite be what you'd like," she replied with a chuckle, as she thought back to the relationship between he and Kynareth. "I don't suppose I could trouble you for some clothes though?"

"Uh... Yea, I can run over to the laundry and grab you a shirt and pocket pants. I'll just have one of the women make sure you get them."

"Thank you," she nodded before turning to walk into the building. She wondered why he was so shy about Kynareth. It was nice to see them together. Shrugging to herself, she headed into the building entirely ready to be clean.

The door swung open easily, the bio-polymer construction was lighter than it looked despite its strength. Inside was a narrow hallway with several signs in Terran hanging from the roof, luckily accompanied by simple depictions or blocks of numbers and letters. A picture of a shower was shown with an arrow pointing straight. The walls were white and textured, them too being made from the smooth looking polymers that the door was. LED light bars lit the hallway with a cool white light. At the end of the hallway was a similar looking door to the front, this one with an opaque glass insert that showed little more than the fact that the next room was dark.

She followed the arrows and signs, thankful that the lexicon for many of the Terran utilities were recognizable. The smooth, plastic type walls were white and clean. Everything was so clean and clinical it made her feel particularly grimey. Then again it had been 70 years since she'd showered. She found the opaque glass divider with a darkened room on the other side. Perhaps this was it? She stepped inside tentatively.

The lights turned on automatically as she stepped in, a bank of showers with chest-high dividers were on either side of the room, small shelves there for the Terrans' possessions. A set of cubbies were at the door, along with two bins for clean and dirty towels. A few stray bottles of cleaning product were in the cubby shelving.

Gabby jumped a little at the automatic lights flipping on to reveal the shower stalls and cubbies. The set up reminded her a little of Skycorp training where she had spent a year in barrack type living with other cadets. Looking over the bottles, she picked one up and opened the cap sniffing it to see what it was. The scent was light and fresh which would do nicely. She grabbed a towel and took the bottle with her, chosing the last stall in the row. She quickly draped the towel over the dividing wall and picked the knob that she guessed would produce hot water. Water started to stream down and she started peeling off layers of clothes.

First the muddy boots and socks, then she stepped out of her jumpsuit and slide out of the old undershirt and shorts till she was bare. It was strange to feel like that again, having worn that suit for so long. It almost felt like a part of her was missing in a strange way. Turning to the water she checked the temperature with her tan hand. Gabby found the water to be nearly too hot for her skin to take. Good. It would scald away the grime. She ducked under the water fully and stood there for a good five minutes just letting it wash over her. Heaven. The room had started to fill with steam by the time she had decided to grab the soap bottle and pour the thick liquid into her hands and on her hair. The feeling of running her hands through her hair. Her clean, dark hair felt nice.

As Gabby was washing her hair, a woman dressed in a camo shirt with <<MCI>> written in white on the front and a pair of khaki cargo pants stepped in. She was holding a similar pair of clothes, along with a fresh pair of socks and underwear. She put them down on the cubby, not making eye contact but speaking something in Terran. <<These clothes are for you. Do you want yours washed?>>

She had been so lost in her own head the sound of the Terran woman's voice surprised her a little. She turned her head to see the soldier standing there with fresh clothes and looking to her old ones. "Oh...um thank you...even if you cant understand me either..."

The Terran muttered something under her breath, looking up to Gabby and speaking slower at her. <<Your clothes. Clothes. You want them washed? Clean?>>

Gabby shook her head, picking up on the woman's irritation. "I don't understand, but whatever it is. It's fine. I'm just happy for the clothes."

The woman shook her head, muttering again as she left the room.

Gabby spent as long as she could under the hot water after the Terran woman left. Long after the soap was gone and her skin was more pink than tan, she stepped out and toweled off. The process was relaxing...normal even...it made her feel like a person again. When she was dry, she donned the fresh clothes gratefully. The cargo pants fit well and she tucked them into her old boots, but the top was a little long and snug across the chest. Still, it was far better than her old clothes. The old jumpsuit lay in the floor, ragged and stained. It had been what she died in and what she had been reborn in, but she was neither of those people anymore. Picking it up, she ripped off the patched on the sleeves. One for Skycorp and the other of her home continent. These she would keep as a reminder of where she had come from. She would always be Kaerelean, but she could be more than that now. She replaced the soap where she had found it, put the dirty towel away and put the old flight suit gently in the bathroom by the exit. As she did, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her dark brown hair was still damp and hung limply at her ears and neck, but her grey eyes were bright. Smiling at her reflection, she left the building in search of Dan or the others.

- - -

Cinon followed Shadow along to the male dorms, not realising how suspiciously quiet Cedric was being. He was instead happily following the gently bobbing black tail in front of him two building over, making his way to a mirror of the room Gabby had found.

Dan opened the door to the shower, finding his bottles of soap and reading the ingredient list before deciding that the bodyscrub was fine to give to the dragons. He turned the knob, watching as Cinon shied away from the water. Shadow stepped forwards, testing the hot water and nodding to Dan. "We've got this. Thank you, Dan."

Dan left the dragons be, heading through another door to a more traditional bathroom and turning on the sink to wash his face. The cool water felt nice, washing away the thin layer of sweat and grime he had acquired from the excitement and quad ride.

Shadow turned, nudging Cinon closer to the hot water. "Come on, it'll feel nice. Just try iiit."

Cinon tentatively stepped into the stream of water, feeling a little odd at the feeling of hot water against his scales for the first time. Shadow used his dexterous paws to open up the scrub, squeezing a bit of the faintly honey scented soap out onto Cinon's back and starting to rub it in. Shadow's paws felt strong against his tense back muscles, and just like a massage the pain of hard presses into him quickly turned to relaxation. It was the best touch he had ever experienced, even better than Gabby's soft paws. The smell of the soap was strong enough for him to pick up, and the soft sweet scent enhanced his comfort with Shadow. His paws worked their way to his wings, scrubbing out little bits of dirt and grime that had been stuck in the folds of his membrane for far too long.

He was not sure why Cedric was so afraid of him, he was nice and seemed to be really wanting to be friends now. He never really attacked them like Grekan, and he seemed much nicer. Shadow's paws worked their way all down each wing, then onto his neck and horns.

Dan walked out of the bathroom feeling refreshed, only to stop abruptly as the two bathing dragons came into view. Shadow shot him a look as he rubbed off one of Cinon's horns, sending Dan on his way quickly while he tried to keep his mind off of what might have been going on.

Shadow moved down Cinon's head, rubbing the softer scales of his face and snout gently with the honey soap before moving down to his chest. "Don't open your eyes, it will sting."

"Mhm."

Shadow worked at the shoulders, releasing the tension of the hard-working muscles Cinon used to pump his wings. Soon, the upper body was scrubbed clean and he moved down to the base of the tail, massaging each muscle as he worked down slowly to the tip, making sure to avoid touching under the base too much.

Cinon shuddered as the last few inches of his tail were pulled clean, his entire body felt relaxed from Shadow's paws.

"That's better, isn't it?"

"Yeaaa."

"Good. And you smell very nice now, I'll tell you." Shadow nuzzled Cinon a little in the side, beginning to wash his own scales in a much less thorough way.

Cinon happily rinsed off in the warm water, a layer of grey water coming off with the soap.

"That was nice. Your paws feel great."

"You learn some things growing up where I did."

"Where's that?"

"Too many places. Come, I'm sure they'll be waiting for us."

- - -

Kynareth tilted her head to look at his. "And the flowers you forgot to get from Gabby. That was nice of her to remember." Cinder was silent for a moment, lightly growling in content. "How did she figure that out, Kynareth?" She changed scratching spots. "You mumbled it in your sleep." "Oh." "You should probably clean up before going to them. I will warn dan so he can greet you." "Okay. Thank you." Kynareth walked out of the tent and the mind palace, lingering to leave a happy feeling before going off to the terran camp.

Kynareth slipped through the echo of the bathroom window that was ajar, heading right over to the sink where dan was and linking up with him. "Hey. Cinder will be at the door soon. What's new with you honey boo?"

"Just trying to keep everyone sane. Normal for me, honey. Is Cinder fine? Abe told me that we shot him."

"Wound to the rear. The exact rear. But that is giving me images so lets change the subject... How is gabby?"

"Happy to bathe alone, I think. Shadow was putting her on edge, and with good reason."

"And how are you, darling?"

Dan finished washing his face, taking a cloth from the counter and drying himself off. "Stressed. Abe doesn't know what he is doing, he keeps trying to help but he doesn't know how. Nobody does."

She flowed peace and calm into him next to the previous influence of love. "I will be with you to keep you happy and calm. Cinder is probably at the entrance by now."

"Alright... I need to go start dealing with that and Abe then. You need to warn Cinder that they will shoot him again if he tries to get in unguarded."

- - -

Gabby wanders through the Terran camp looking at the buildings and decides to go back to the mess hall in search of food now that her stomach was giving her angry growls again.

The mess hall looked similar to how it was before, save that the cup Dan had left on the table was now cleaned up. Inside, Abe was standing with the two soldiers from before talking with them in Terran. A staff of six cooks were busy in the kitchen frying lab-grown meats, hydroponic vegetables, and preparing dried drink mixes.

The smell of food hit her nose an her stomach groaned again. It smelled so good... Would they let her have some. She wandered over to the door of the kitchen, skirting around Abe as he spoke with the other two Terrans. She was tempted to say something but at this point she had spoken to him only twice and he hadn't been particularly up for conversation, apart from her name....which she just remembered she had given as a decoy.

The kitchen staff seemed to be preoccupied with cooking, all except for one who was working alone, fiddling with what looked to be fresh deer shank versus the ground, lab-grown meat that was being cooked en mass. He was busy chatting to another cook in a complaining voice in Terran, a few words of Lowlands slipping in. "...freshkill... Native... animals...Dan... soft-egg..."

"Would it be possible to get some of the food...the cooked food?" She asked the cook who was butchering the deer, staying far enough away not to get any of the juices on her.

"Hm? Oh, the food. You must be the special guest then." The cook took a knife to the deer, slicing it into thinner ribbons before pulling another from a grey bin next to him. "Who did you think these were for? Losing a whole weeks worth of meat on you and the reptiles."

She blinked in surprise at the cook. " I didn't know... we were guests. Sorry, about the meat... thank you.." she trailed off as she retreated from the kitchen and back to the dining area where the rest were still talking. Maybe Dan or his brother had said something and now they were being fed and clothed... She felt a little guilty for having to give Abe a false name. It seemed...rude. Mustering a bit of courage she walked over to the Terrans.

Abe looked over his shoulder as Gabby approached, waving the two soldiers with him off. They said something short and bark-like in Terran, then left. "Calista, right? Or do you prefer Gabby?"

Gabby bit her bottom lip and gave the man a slightly apologetic but also firm look. "About that... I'm sorry. The name was only a precaution. You were the first Terran I had met."

"Hm... Fine. Dan told me we are keeping you and the dragons for dinner, why don't you take a seat here and we can have a chat."

"I think that would be good," she replied, as her stomach gave another growl. Ignoring the sound she sat down and then offered her hand to Abe out of habit. "I am Gabby.. by the way."

"Well, Gabby," Abe sat down across from her, shaking her hand briefly. "You already know my name, Sergeant Edwards. I guess we can start with where you are from. I want a direct answer."

She raised a brow at 'Sergeant Edwards' brisk attitude. "I thought this would be more of a talk rather than an interrogation," she replied evenly, "But I'll answer. I'm from an entirely different planet called Kaereal. I'm not a Terran or a Native."

"...You're right, I shouldn't be asking questions I don't want the answer to anyway. We still need you on file though for citizenship registration though, slave-born native will be the easiest to handle. Are you fine filling out some forms for me while we have a real discussion?"

"Hold on..." Abe pulled a 6" device out from his pocket, navigating through a few things until he came to the page he wanted. "Registering you tells my government to send me another supplement of four hundred dollars every month that goes to you, this supplement is to pay for essential services as they become available. You will also be assigned government issued account numbers for banking and licensing, a tag for our machines, and will be given voting rights for a local representative. Furthermore, you will be assigned a tax bracket, have your income tracked, be assigned an employment and life insurance plan, health care, education supplement, housing numbers, land allotments, and any other rights as they are negotiated with your representative parties. Legally you will receive the rights described in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Humanity and the Declaration of the sovereignty of Alien-born Humans. By registering you agree to obey the laws, regulations, and codes of the Manifold Colonization Agency. Failure to comply may result in judicial punishment or reform as decided by an international court of law. As a Citizen you agree to maintain the rights and responsibilities described in the Nexus Charter of Extra-Solar Humans. How much more do you want me to read?"

Gabby listened to him explain in his somewhat sardonic tone. "Right. I'm not sure what alot of that means to be honest, Mr. Edwards. I do know that it sounds like I would be 'assigned' somewhere with some task if I do this. I promised to get my friends home and that comes first. They are my family now, and I would want to go with them. Surely, you can understand that?"

"Not assigned anywhere. We have a <<social welfare>> state, not a <<communist>> one. That probably translates poorly. You won't be forced to work. The state pays for some of the necessities of life and you are expected to hunt, work, farm, whatever you need to do for the rest. You will also be a real person."

His words struck her. You will also be a real person. Her brow creased and she folded her hands over each other on the table, hoping she didn't look upset. "As opposed to what I am now," she mumbled.

Dan walked in, instantly spotting the two at the far table and walking over. "Gabby, you got here faster than I thought. I stopped and grabbed this for you."

Dan set down the tablet and headphones, smiling at them both. "Gabby, you've met Abe before. I'm sure he asked you to call him Sergeant though."

Abe was fairly stone-faced, looking at Gabby. "We were just getting her registered with MCI. Right now she is a ghost."

Abe was staring at her. He could see her and yet he couldnt. "I am Gabriella Asualtak of Kaereal, Sergeant Edwards," she said trying to disguise the waiver in her voice, "With or without your paperwork. I am very much alive. Perhaps if you could look past your protocols for a single moment, rather than just assuming there is no more to a person than a slip of paper you could see me too." She rose, no longer hungry, and looked at Abe "If you will excuse me." Then she turned to his brother, "Thank you Dan." Then she turned on her heels and walked away before her expressions betrayed any further.

- - -

<< Can I please enter? I have a friend in there that is expecting me.>> Cinder said to the guard at the entrance to the Terran camp.

The gates were guarded by four men and ten robots. Two sat in a short tower next to the path in, their optical lenses scanning the area. A sliding chain-link gate was in the open position like it normally was. Fences and gates were quite poor at keeping dragons from sneaking in, so they were left open most of the time.

The first guard looked at the second, making a motion with his thumb and pinky and looking back to Cinder. <<We are checking on that. Your tag please.>>

<< You know what, I'll just wait for him out here.>>

The guard looked at the other again, suspicion raising. <<Q-4, do a scan please.>>

The closest robot beeped as it looked at Cinder, waited a second, then beeped again.

<< Why is it beeping at me? Trying to scan me or something?>>

<<Your tag isn't reading... Q-4 protocol two.>>

A second passed and the robot made a louder, aggressive triple-beep at them. The humans all clutched their rifles slightly tighter, raising them somewhat. <<Stay where you are. You are being detained.>>

Cinder clutched his ears <<WHy? and why does that have to be so loud!?!? Heavens. Friendly.>>

<<Stay down, using any abilities will make us open fire. You have the right to remain silent. Q-3, Q-6, move to flanks.>> Two of the robots at the gate started walking forwards, keeping eyes and weapons pointed in Cinder's general direction as they went behind him.

<<And what obscure EARTH rule am I breaking now?>> Cinder said, slowly stepping backwards and looking behind him for a clear path, at the same time not taking his eyes off the action.

<<STOP MOVING!>> The Terran shouted, lifting his rifle at the dragon.

<<WHYYYYYY?!?>> Cinder replied, shaking his forepaws dramatically. Nevertheless, he did follow the mean twolegs' orders.

<<You have been ID'd as a fugitive using powers to escape a stop. Hold on...>> The Terran lifted a hand to his head, covering one of the ears on his helmet and looking over Cinder.

<<Tag, now. Present your documents for scan.>>

< That's because your stupid drone was blocking my path and I was in a hurry. I have jobs to do and not all of them have time for a two hour inspection on a tag-less dragon. You guys keep enforcing the safety of You Invaders and consider nothing of the paws you trod on. I may not be a 'terrorist', but their views are not rare, twolegs.>> Cinder tilted his head catching on to what was said during his rant. <<Documents?>> "Slaves" << I know don't usually carry documents...>> He slowly moved his paw to the bracelet and transmuted it into a bar of metal, with the same speed putting it in his pouch.

<<Your tag, dragon.>>

Cinder looked at the guard, genuine curiosity in his voice. << How bad Is your hearing. human? I just said I never had one.>>

<<We just saw you take it off, you aren't fooling anyone.>>

<<Clearly I was,>> Cinder pulled out the bar and slid it across the floor to the guard, revealing that it was a bar of metal and not a bracelet. <<I will say again so your senses can pick up. I.... Never... Had... One...>>

<<ID yourself then. Name, date of birth, social security number.>>

Cinder puffed out a bit of smoke and calmed his voice where it had raised slightly. "Cinder. 12/4/-6? Not assigned, I can show you my powers if you call off the machines."

"Decoy tags are a two thousand dollar fine, Cinder. Did you know that? That is ten months' government subsidy."

<<Getting that job late would have cost two and a half thousand. Speaking of, contacted my friend yet or are we going to go through the aforementioned two hours?>>

- - -

Dan's Terran voice was slightly irritated at Abe, his voice defencive under his brother's barrage. As Gabby left the building she collided groin-first with Shadow's nose, the force of the impact enough to make her stumble if not fall right over him.

As soon as she left the mess hall she tripped and stumbled over something and went crashing to the ground in a table of limbs and brown hair. Struggling to disentangle herself from whatever she had tripped over, she looked up to see none other than Shadow. "You" she grumbled.

"Hi Gabby." Cinon said innocently.

"Sorry!" Shadow got back to his feet, stepping away from Gabby. "May we talk, please? I feel that I have another apology to make."

She sighed as she pulled herself to her feet and dusted the back of her pants off. "Hello Cinon," she said trying to hide her voice again, "You look nice. Your scales are shining." She thought of ignoring the assassin's comment at first, but with Cinon there she gathered enough patience to address the dragon. "We can talk."

"I... I don't even know where to start here. I made a mistake coming for you, I should have seen how Grekan was pulling the strings all along. No matter how that attack turned out, he won. I hope you can work with me to find some sort of justice against him. Cinon made me realise what I really want with my life, not to follow in my father's footsteps like a... A shadow. Not anymore."

A hot breeze rolled through, ruffling her short hair as she listened to his words carefully. When he was done, Gabby looked him over with a hard stare. "Apology accepted. I don't know what happened in your past or how you were... involved... with Grekan, but everyone should have a second chance. Trust is earned though, Shadow."

"I can live with that. Thank you." Shadow thought of asking her about Cedric, his attitude towards him and his aggressiveness at Cinon and him touching, but he would not press his luck, not today.

Gabby leaned low to the side of Shadow's head, her hair brushing his muzzle for just a moment. "Remember this, please Shadow," she whispered, "If you hurt any of my family I will be the one behind you. And I have faced much larger beasts on my own world. Do not betray this chance." Then she stood and looked to Cinon trying to work up a smile. "You know I think they had some fresh deer in the mess hall, Cinon."

Shadow hid his reaction, more out of instinct than will. Cinon's eyes widened at the mention of food. "Really?" He trotted ahead, leaning up against the door to open it and wandering in. The faint sound of the Terran brothers' argument carried out as he went in.

Shadow was alone with Gabby in the hallway, her words still on his mind. "Acceptable. I don't deserve to be treated otherwise."

He waited a moment, looking at the door infront of them. "You love Cinon?"

She could here the sound of the brothers arguing. That was her fault. She had acted rashly, but she felt like her words had been no less true. Shadow's voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she glanced at him with a curious look. "I do. Like the little brother I never had. I love Cedric like my family too. Why do you ask?"

"You seem close and..." Shadow stopped, not bringing himself to say the rest of his thought.

"Go on," she said, with a nod, "You've got something on your mind."

"I... I haven't ever trusted somebody and I just... I can't. I want to, I want to tell you and win you over to my side so I have another card to play, a string to pull when I need it I just... I can't, Gabby. Another day." Shadow started walking forwards towards the cafeteria doors.

Gabby was a little stunned to see Shadow so worked up. Not to mention what he'd said. He wanted to use her like a betting chip but couldnt? Was this the sign of a new direction for the dragon or was it a ploy to gain trust? Sighing, she tucked her hair behind her ear and left to go in search of a place to think or some sort of distraction from her own mind. It was too full of things like grekan, the depths of Kynareth's mind, Shadow, Abe's words and her own doubts regarding herself. The sun was bright and warm as she passed the female living space and poked her head into the building next to it. Maybe some exploring would clear her head.

The entry of the building was not as narrow as the other buildings, instead there was a narrow, wide open space only a few meters long with benches and cubbies along the walls. Past a second set of doors lay a hardwood-floored gymnasium with equipment and free weights to the far right and a basketball court complete with a full shelf of balls to the left. A large net split the room in two.

Gabby wandered into the vacant gym and gazed over all the strange equipment. What are these nets for? Is this some sort of training room? She walked across the wood floor court and ducked under the net to approach the rack where bright orange balls sat ready for use. What did they use these for? Maybe it was training or some sort of game. Picking up one of the balls, she gave it a bounce between her feet and the impact left an echo as she caught it easily in her hands again. The ball seemed to bounce pretty well, though there was no one to pass it to. With the ball in hand she found a bare spot on the wall and began bouncing the orange orb off of it and back to herself over and over while she thought. I thought coming here would be a new start for me. But I'm apparently as much of a ghost now as I ever was. I love Cinon and Cedric...but I'm not a dragon,...not a native..not a Terran...but I would have the same problems on Kaereal too. Where do I fit? She sighed. These thoughts were getting her nowhere and only made her melancholy. She caught the ball in her hands and wiped the sweat from her brow before tossing hard at the wall again.

Two Terrans men, chatting to eachother in their language, entered the Gym. They looked over at Gabby, not used to seeing an unfamiliar face around the base and stopped talking. The closer man called out to Gabby in their language. He did not look like Dan, but rather had more tawny skin, almond shaped eyes, and a distinct accent.

She hadn't heard anyone enter the gym with her between being lost in her own thoughts and the echo of the ball slamming against the wall at a constant pace. When she heard the voice, one with a unfamiliar accent, she turned to see two Terran men, The one addressing her looked different than the others she had seen, with a different tone to his skin and unique eyes. Maybe the Terran world was more like Kaereal in its diversity than she thought. "Do you speak lowlands? I dont know Terran languages," she said, hoping her newly acquired skill for the language was decent.

"Lowlands? Yes, I do. Not very much though, still learning." The man laughed, smiling at Gabby. He pointed to the basketball in her hands. "Do you know how to play?"

A tentative smile formed on her lips as she held the ball steady between her small hands ."I have no idea," she replied with a chuckle, "I thought it was for some sort of training, actually."

"Haha, not training. It is a game. You throw it through the hoop." The Terran pointed at the hoop on either end of the court, spaced directly between the central net and the wall.

Gabby looked at both of the nets. Both were mounted far above her head but she liked a challenge. "Oh, I see now. Scoring is kept by the ball going into the net then," she replied, "What's this game called? Could you teach me?"

"It is basket ball. Need more people for a real game though, ten people. We can try shooting baskets until meal time." The Terran walked over to Gabby, picking up another orange ball from the rack as the other Terran stood with his hands on his hips. The men had a short exchange in Terran across the room before he threw his hands up, walking over to a multi-purpose resistance machine on the other side of the net. "Here, stand on this line and try to get it in the basket." The Terran did a standing jump, releasing the ball as he neared the top and putting a spin on it that sent it through the net as the ball hit the backboard.

She walked over to the line the man had pointed to and stood next to him as he made the shot. The ball dropped into the net fairly easy for him, but she suspected he'd had a lot of practice. "I think I can do that," she said with a little laugh. Gripping the ball as she had seen him hold it, she jumped and released the orange orb, letting it sail in an arch toward the net.

The ball sailed over to the net but bounced twice off the rim before it fell away from the net, without going through. "I was close!" she said with excitement as she jogged over to retrieve the ball.

"Good for a first shot." The Terran picked up his own ball, returning to the line again. He put out his hand to shake Gabby's. "My name is Ryo, what is yours?"

Tucking the ball under her arm she walked back over to the line and shook his hand. "I'm Gabby, it's nice to meet you Ryo," she said with a smile.

"You too, Gabby." Ryo took another shot, the ball rebounding too hard off of the basket and coming right back to him. "You are new here, yes?"
 
Last edited:
Safyia landed on the riverbank near the trail she had been following from high above for hours. The landing was more jarring than she has meant it to be, but she rarely landed at all, so the whole experience was awkward anyways. The late afternoon sun glittered on her pearlescent scales a she folded up her wings and dipped her muzzle to the cool water at the edge of the river. It was hotter here than in the skies and insects buzzed in the afternoon heat from the scrubby bushes. Several greedy gulps of water went down before she heard a sound from the trail. A footstep? Immediately she popped her head up from the water to investigate. In the distance there was a figure coming down the path. A two-legs to be exact. Caution told her to fly away, but curiosity kept her rooted to the spot....she had not yet met one of these creatures.

Elizabeth grabbed her head, doubling over. She fell to her knees, a wave of nausea and dizziness coming over her from the sudden presence of a foreign mind. A voice thundered in her head, invading her privacy. She couldn't tell what was up or down, left or right. Tony stood off to the side hiding behind a copse of trees. Elizabeth's face twisted into a snarl, glaring at the dragon.

<<Get out of my head you bloody reptile!>> She yelled, getting to her feet. She slowly stumbled towards the dragon, but promptly fell to her knees. She continued to glare at the pearl dragon.

Safyia turned her head to the side a bit. These two legs must be weaker than she thought if they reacted so violently to a simple touch by a mind. Still she had no wish to cause it pain. Withdrawing from its mind, she folded her wings and tried the less direct approach. [I said keep your distance human. But it appears I have nothing to from you. I will talk to you verbally now. Are you those they call Terrans?]

Sighing as the Dragon removed itself from her mind, Elizabeth got back to her feet. The dragon rumbled something in this world's native language. Tony, his protocols stepping in, immediately translated for Elizabeth. Sighing again, Elizabeth answered, <<Yes I am a Terran. What was that thing you just did? It was uncomfortable as hell and scared the living shit out of me!>>

Elizabeth was still clearly angry at the dragon's invasion of her privacy.

The two legs walked away as if the conversation were over. The humans were as strange as she had heard. She hated walking, but her want to know more overrode the dislike as she followed after the human. [Why are you leaving, Terran? A pilgrimage? Do you humans do that?]

Elizabeth turned back towards the dragon, who had begun to awkwardly traverse the river. After Tony was finished translating for her, she replied, <<No, it's not a pilgrimage. It's more or less a self-imposed exile.>> Sighing, Elizabeth continued, <<I don't like them, and they don't like me. Had to leave in order to get some fresh air.>> Looking towards the sky Elizabeth shoved her hands into her pockets and turned back to the direction she had been walking, north. Pausing, she stretched her voice again, <<Though a bit of non-human company would be enjoyed, if you're up to it that is.>>

These humans were strange. Self-imposed exiles and dislike of your own kind? Then again were the Su Aura Song any different in the respect? They carried a deep disgust for mutts, their own kind. She decided to keep following the female human, wanting to know more despite the walking. [Do you dislike them for their breed? And what is your name, human?]

Tony followed the pair as Elizabeth responded to the dragon's questions. Slightly confused at her question, she finally responded, <<No, it has nothing to do with race or breed. The majority of them are just idiots, and we do not see eye to eye. As to what my name is, well, It's Elizabeth. What is your's, dragon?>>

"Elizabeth" she repeated, the word was harsh and awkward coming off her tongue, [Your language is not very smooth, or lyrical at all. Such harshness. My name is Safyia.]

"Safa, Safi," Elizabeth tried to say Safyia's name correctly, but could not make the sounds in her short mouth. The lyrical hissing of the dragon's voice was indeed beautiful, but Elizabeth knew that she would never be able to recreate it. <<Well, Safa, I am sorry that my language is more guttural than you are used to. However, your's isn't all that much better for me, now is it>>

[Ssssa-feeee-yaaa] She pronounced her name slowly [I suppose you're right, however.] She turned to the machine following behind them with all its clicking and whirring. [Your pet does a good job of making the sounds though it speaks my language without much soul.]

<<Haha,>> Elizabeth laughed at the dragon's remark, <<Tony is a machine, but believe me, he has a soul all his own.>> Sighing, she continued, <<My mother made his personality chip, and my father used Tony for his business. When my dad passed away, I was left with Tony. Like souls, his data got a bit corrupted over time and that is why he is afraid of almost everything nowadays.>>

Elizabeth looked back at Tony, smiling as she did so. The robot nodded in acceptance of her comments, making sure that she knew he understood her. Then, Elizabeth turned back over to Safyia, and gave her a sad smirk.

[Travelers amongst the stars, yet you have not conquered death] Safiya mused, [ I am sorry for your loss however.]

There was a small rustling from a scrubby bush near the edge of the trail and she whipped her head around to gaze at the source. [Hmmm]

Safiya opened her wings and leapt over Elizabeth pouncing on the bush. A terrified squeak came from the bush as her talons sank into a small rabbit before it could dive back into its burrow. The animal's shrieks were ended by her strong jaws snapping its neck before downing the animal whole. [I've been meaning to try more ground fare.]

Elizabeth froze, along with Tony, as the Dragon jumped over her, but as she saw Safyia's curious expression after eating the rabbit, Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh. <<The ground fare is rather delicious, if done correctly.>> Then, she turned more somber and cynical as she remembered the dragon's first comments. <<We have conquered a great deal of death, but my parents were too poor to afford medicine for pneumonia. HA! Pneumonia, a sickness that we have had a cure for it for centuries!>> A small tear rolled down Elizabeth's right cheek as she continued, <<And we did not travel the stars, haha, is that what they tell the natives nowadays? Ha! No, we found a 'magical' rock on Mars and found ourselves over here. No travelling stars required.>> Elizabeth's slightly cynical humor quickly made itself present in her emotional upheaval. <<Anyways, let's change the subject. I am not in the mood for talking about my past. How about your's, Safa?>>

Safyia licked her teeth, making sure there were no remnants of her meal left behind and glided back over to the human. Her landing was better that time as she came to the humans side. [I am on a pilgrimage...of sorts. I spend most of my time in the sky. I can fly for days without stopping. My kind don't pay much attention to what goes on below. We are a Purebreed and have not much care for the politics and strife here. My parents would be disgusted that I am even talking to you and your pet.]

<<Hmmm>> Elizabeth sounded, then continued, <<I guess you should leave soon, so that you won't get caught.>> A strange thought popped into Elizabeth's mind. Why had the dragon referred to her parents? <<Wait, how old are you compared to your race?>> Elizabeth got the strange feeling that Safyia was young for a dragon, and thus had the curiosity of a child.

[I talk with whom I please] Safyia said the a grin filled with sharp teeth, [My parents have no idea where I am. I went off on my own. They weren't happy but couldn't stop me either. By your Terran time, I don't know my age. Here, I am seventeen years.]

Elizabeth stopped in her tracks. 17, the dragon was 17! Elizabeth was stunned. The giant flying lizard was nothing more than a kid! With her jaw hanging ever so slightly open, she finally spoke, <<You're a kid!>> Ok, she yelled instead of spoke. Tony whirled as his processors put the information he was picking up together. According to what he knew, a 17-year old was nothing more than a child. Though, maybe dragons considered adults differently among their kind. Tony didn't know though, thus he just relayed his master's astonished response.

Safyia stopped walking as she puffed out her chest and her tail flicked like a fussy cat. [Maybe I am...young...but I'm still bigger than you.

With an incredulous look, Elizabeth merely sighed and continued on her way down the river. <<Well, whatever. Follow, don't follow, I don't really care.>> Tony jogged up to Elizabeth, staying in step with her pace.

The human didn't fear her or seem to fear what could be out there lurking. Maybe she had some sort of wish to die. A human tradition to follow ones family into death perhap? There were worse ways of dying than simply being eaten of course. Safyia grumbled, but began walking again, wanting to learn as much as she could. [You left the city...do you know where you are going now?]

<<No, I do not,>> then she stopped and clapped Tony on the shoulder, who visibly shivered at the touch, <<Tony here has a map of the world on his hard drive and he has been directing our travels.>> Elizabeth sighed inwardly as she thought about the day she left the city. <<Yes, we did leave the city, and we have no intention of returning.>>

[So, you left the city and have no planned destination then] Safiya grinned again as her pink eyes studied Elizabeth. [Its a very dragon -like thing to do, or at least something the Su Aura Song would do. We are nomads. Maybe you and I are not so different in spirit, even if you do smell edible.]

<<HA!>> Not very different from a dragon, huh? Elizabeth liked the sound of that. <<Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to be a dragon. At least then I would be able to see the world from the clouds.>> Elizabeth smiled, even though she was crying inwardly. The thought of seeing the world from the clouds had reminded her of the times when she tried to imagine how it would be to see the world from her deceased parent's view. Turning back to the dragon, she continued, <<Well then, O' Soul Sister of mine. Where shall we go?>> Elizabeth stopped walking and turned to face her body towards Safiya. She immediately planted her right foot into the ground after she rotated to the left.
 
Last edited:
Shadow walked into the cafeteria to find Dan and Abe making a scene. They were in each other's faces now on the verge of screaming. Abe jabbed Dan hard in the chest, Dan retaliating with a short shove. Abe shoved back harder, almost knocking Dan over.

"Men, please." Shadow walked over to the two, keeping his body in a submissive pose. "We don't need to fight each-"

"Fuck off Shadow." Abe turned on Shadow, walking at him aggressively. "You're lucky that I haven't shot you. You're a fucking monster, death is too good for you."

Shadow started backing off as Dan grabbed at Abe's shoulder.

"You fucking cowards send hatchlings to die as you fucking sit back and jerk off to the blood." Abe sent a swift kick at Shadow's chest, knocking the air out of the dragon as he wound up a punch to his head.

"Abe!" Dan grabbed Abe's arm, pulling him back as Shadow recovered. He did not retaliate, but instead stood his ground, ready to take another hit.

"Abe, you don't need to do this. He's changed."

"It doesn't fucking matter if he says he changed, he deserves to die." Abe walked up to Shadow, grabbing his head and pulling him up until their faces were an inch apart. "Fucking do it. Attack me. You want to, don't you. Do it. DO IT."

Shadow held himself still, not making any move against the Terran. Abe pushed Shadow's head back forcibly as Dan pulled him back again.

"I might deserve to die, but that is not your decision to make. I am ready to stand trial before one of your courts, tell you everything I can to catch the others. I am not going to fight you, Sergeant Edwards."

"Abe, take a walk." Dan stepped between Shadow and his brother, gently holding his shoulder until Abe shook it off.

"When I am back I want them out of sight. All of them." He left the cafeteria, headed for the front gate at a quick pace. The kitchen staff who had stopped working to gawk went back to work as Dan looked over to them.

Dan waited until Abe was well out of earshot before shouting out after him. <<Fucking asshole.>> "You ok, Shadow?"

Kynareth resumed flowing peace and calm to dan, projecting it to Shadow as well. "Quite the soldier, that one. Orders and nothing else."

"I'm fine. It takes more than a hit like that to put me down. Thank you for the care, Kynareth."

"Support is support no matter how small." She said, linking Shadow to the conversation.

- - -

The two humans not looking purely at Cinder saluted as a fifth approached. He looked as angry as a bear and just about as strong as one. He had no rifle or vest, but a pistol sat on his hip.

<<Sergeant.>>

<<At ease. Why is there a dragon at the gate?>>

<<I have a friend in there. And you guys are gun happy.>>

<<You're the one we shot. Don't fucking run from us next time. Dan is screwing around with the others in the Cafeteria, go in and hope he hides you all before I get back. And put a fucking tag on.>> Abe continued past, heading into town.

Cinder talked to abes back in a cold voice. << You shot a dragon for leaving a land that was not even of this system a few years ago, and you think you get to complain?>> Cinder huffed and started to head off before Abe spun on his heel.

<<You are fucking lucky we didn't slaughter you all like we did when we found people on our own planet. If you don't stop arguing with my men, your luck is going to run out real fast, lizard.>>

"Slaughter versus luck. Kind species." Cinder mumbled to himself, passing by the mess hall and looking in the unlocked dorm's entrance, then the rec room to find Gabby.

- - -

"You too, Gabby." Ryo took another shot, the ball rebounding too hard off of the basket and coming right back to him. "You are new here, yes?"

Gabby took another shot and this time the ball circled the hoop before falling away. "Definitely new," she said with a smile, "How long have you been here?"

"I am new too. Only been here for four months. Trained on mars for four too. Still bad at Lowlands, haha."

Just then, a large red dragon poked it's head into the Gym, his body occupying much of the doorway. "Hello! Oh, you are playing the hoop ball thing. Mind if I join?"

"No no no! Stay off the floor! Wood too soft for claws!" Ryo rushed over, making sure that the large dragon did not enter the room.

"Cinder?" Gabby said in surprise, "Where have you been?"

"Hiding from the war outside, milady. I owe you an apology for leaving you hanging earlier." Cinder stepped backwards, turning to the terran. <<And why would you put wood as a floor? Delicate materials should be in prized rooms.>>

<<Oh, you speak English. You are the first dragon I have met that does. It's just a thing for Terran gyms, better to exercise on. You know Gabby? I had thought the Natives did not associate with the dragons.>>

<< She is not a native, shes an off-worlder from a different galaxy. And Hey, If you guys have to learn mine why would I be exempt from learning yours?>>

<<Oh no, it's good that we can share culture, it is just that we have not built any schools out here yet. Very slow when we have to fly most of our materials in from Earth. What do you mean a different galaxy and time?>> "Gabby, are you really from a different sun and time?"

Gabby's blush deepened and she played awkwardly with the ball in her hands. "Yes, I'm not a native or a terran...I'm from a world called Kaereal. I used to be a pilot."

"A pilot? Really? Of what?" before Gabby could answer, the other man stopped at the net and called out to him.

<<Ryo, you're not getting into her pants today. I want to get a meal before all the fresh stuff is gone, let's go.>>

She saw the Ryo's friend come over and talk to each other before she could answer. Looking to Cinder she tilted her head to the side. "Apology for what?"

"For leaving you hanging during the siege. I sensed danger and immediately went to get us safety so we could continue and forgot to mention why before my absence. Thank you for the flowers, by the way." Cinder spoke in Kerealean suddenly, a gift from Kynareth. He took one out of his pouch and put a small bunch neatly in her hair, messing with it so it was perfect and then stepping outside to look around for some sand. He melted it into glass secretly under the cover of his wings and then cleaned it so she could see through it, holding it up for her to use.

Gabby was a little surprised at the sudden show of attention from Cinder. He'd disappeared and spent most of the time gone from the group, even in Kynareth's mind. Now, he was back and putting forgotten flowers she had bought him in her hair. Strange. Still it was a kindness and it made her smile seeing the flowers in her freshly washed dark hair as he held up the mirror. "Thank you, Cinder. Though these were for you."

Her stomach gave a growl again. Ignoring it from earlier and then playing with Ryo had made her appetite return with a vengeance. "Um, have you eaten yet?"

Ryo looked at Gabby. "We are having food time next, actually..." The terran looked up to the wall at a clock marked with 24 different positions, "It is in five <<minutes.>> Would you like to come with us?"

Gabby turned to Ryo and nodded, "That would be nice, I'm really hungry. May Cinder come with us?"

"Yes, of course. We eat in the first building."

<<Ryo, who is the scaly-butt here?>>

<<Uh, Mike, this is Cinder. He speaks Terran.>>

<<Hello, Mike.>> he offered out a paw. <<Nice to meet you.>> Cinder licked his lips and thought for a bit before commenting. He needed to patch up the wound more.... But being more full would mean more energy and more productivity... And a chat would be nice. <<Whats on the menu?>>

Mike shook the dragon's paw, a slight look of nervousness as the dragon licked his lips while still looking at him.

<<For us? Last I knew it was shepards pie. You'll probably get Native food, real meat or something like that.>>

<< Is it okay if I have a rabbit?>> Cinder analyzed mikes look and smiled, taking a good long moment of creepy staring before saying. <<I would only ever eat a human if I was starving, you have nothing to worry about.>>

<<I donno. I'm not on cooking duty for this meal, that is day shift's job.>>

Mike managed a small, slightly nervous smile at Cinder.

Gabby stood by as the two seemed to be having a tense conversation. She noticed Mike looking nervous and Cinder licking his chops in obvious amusement. She rolled her eyes wondering if they were done having their dominance moment as her stomach currently felt like it was gnawing its way to her back bone.

Hearing her stomach growl, Cinder turned to Gabby and bowed slightly. "Ladies first."

"Thanks Cinder,"she replied as she squeezed by him through the doorway. She waited for the others to join her outside, hoping Abe and Dan were no longer arguing in the mess hall when they returned. She wasn't sure what she would say to Abe if she ran into him again, but she owed Dan an apology.

- - -

"He was being serious, we need to get our food and go back to my trailer. We'll have everyone off base by sunrise."

Gabby assumed the guys were following behind her and made her way to the mess hall where she found Dan, Shadow, Cinon, the smell of food, and to her relief no Abe in sight.

"There they are. Where are the brothers?" Dan looked over to the kitchen, seeing the little dragon sitting patiently at the serving counter.

Gabby saw Dan still looking red-faced from his argument and standing near the table she and Abe had been sitting at. "Excuse me for just a moment guys," she said to the 3 of them behind her before walking over to Dan. "Dan?"

Shadow bowed his head as he noticed Gabby approaching, walking away to Cinon.

"Gabby? I'm sorry about Abe, he was being an ass and wouldn't apologise."

Her hands folded in front of her out instinct as she gave Dan an apologetic look. "No, its alright. I owe you an apology. It's my fault you were arguing with your brother. I shouldn't have let him bother me so much... it's just... well you know."

"Yea. He told me he wanted us all out of sight before he came back, he wasn't joking. We can grab food and head back to my trailer, then we can talk about what to do next."

Gabby crossed her arms, ready to tell him that Abe really was an ass and that she'd tell him so herself, again, if he bothered any of them. He didn't scare her. However, this day had been hard enough on Dan as it was, and she knew it would only make things worse. Sighing, she looked to the Terran with with her unspoken anger and nodded, "Alright..."

Dan walked over to the counter, quickly speaking to the chef at the counter and taking a large pan covered in tin-foil. He carried it with both arms, a set of plates and sealed drinks being offered to Gabby as he started to walk off with the food.

She took the plates and drinks carefully. "Cinon... Shadow... let's go eat somewhere quieter?" she said as she started to follow Dan They walked past Cinder and the other two Terrans. "I'm sorry Ryo...I can't stay. It was nice meeting you and thank you for the lesson basketsball. It was fun." Then she nodded to Cinder motioning him to follow her.

Dan put the pan down on the top of the three steps to his trailer, tapping his wrist against the door before opening it and leading them in. The pan took up a large amount of space on the desk, but they all still fit inside.

Gabby entered and put the plates and drinks down where there was space left on the desk. "Let's get everyone fed and then talk?"

"Mhm!" Cinon mumbled quickly, still carefully watching the pan. Dan peeled back the layer of tin-foil to reveal a massive portion of stir-fried noodles, meat, and local vegetables. Warm steam filled the air with the aroma of the food and light seasoning.

Gabby doled out a plate for the dragons and then made one for the Terran before putting together her own.Gabby doled out a plate for the dragons and then made one for the Terran before putting together her own.

Cinder pierced a chunk of meat with his claws and nibbled on it.

"So what happened when you guys left me in dreamland?"

"Oh... I'm so sorry, I never even realised that we left you alone." Dan said, taking a plate from Gabby thankfully.

Gabby sat down cross-legged on the end of the bed with her own plate and looked to Cinder. "Well we ended up trapped and held hostage inside Kynareth's subconscious and had to face her nightmares in a maze-like dungeon which housed what seemed to be souls she has drained. So it was a bit of a long night."

"Sounds like fun." Cinder replied casually. "I was trapped inside a void dream where I was a ghost in a land of the ones I care about moving on without me and then woke up and switched to getting shot in the bottom and running for my life, only to end in a nightmare about Grekan raping me."

A noodle slid from her fork and flopped back to her plate, safe from her mouth which was hanging slightly open. Voids...being alone...grekan..The vision of Grekan from the beach flashed in her head. Blood stained teeth, scars, and a violent look in his eyes as she towered over her. She shuddered visibly at the idea of having any sort of dream involving rape with him. "I'm sorry Cinder."

"We'll all be out of here soon enough. We can leave before sunrise in a jeep and get out to Goulver by next morning if we don't stop."

Cinder shivered, the movement twitching his entire body. "I am also fairly certain he was mentally there for that... considering the headache... when I woke. That Papreni is going to die. slowly." He ate in silence. "What was being a pilot like?"

She turned back to Cinder unsure of how to reply. Grekan mentally raping someone was a horrid thought to begin with and suddenly he was asking her about being a pilot. Maybe he just wanted to change the subject altogether. She couldn't blame him for that. "I loved flying, it was one of the things I remembered most even in death. My standard craft was a Gylcryn. A solo scout craft."

"Are all humans fixated with flight as the Terrans and you are?" Shadow asked.

"When you don't have wings, what do you do?" Gabby replied as she recaptured the run away noodle, "Dream of what its like to have them and then make it possible."

"There is the speed too. Terrans, at least, naturally gravitate to seeking the rush of going so fast you break the sound barrier."

he grinned thinking of the rush she got when pushing the engine of the Gylcryn to its limits. "Its an amazing feeling to push the limits of what you think is possible. My people had to rely on flight to travel between the floating continents. To some it was a necessity of life. .but for me...as Dan says, it was the rush of it all."

"We should see about getting you flying lessons sometime, it would be a welcome distraction from... everything." Dan sighed, turning back to his plate of food.

"That would be amazing," she replied sincerely. Seeing Dan downcast bothered her though, particularly knowing it was her fault. "I dont suppose they'd let us fly one of those F15 things, eh?" She joked trying to cheer him up.

Dan grinned. "Probably not, no. We decommissioned those many many years ago. The only planes of that type on this planet are F23's and we only have six of them in total. We can probably find a little two seater closer to the capital . Something zippy still, just not that fast."

Gabby chuckled and slurped up the last of her noodles. "The faster the better."

Garzon walked up to the dorm door and knocked on it, wanting answers. He was confused about all of the events that had happened in a short amount of time. He was happy the dragon got injured but didn't show it on the outside.

Cinder opened the door and immediately wished to close it again. << Dan do we HAVE to let him in?>>

"Uh..." <<You speak English now?>>

<<Have for quite a while.>>

<<I haven't heard it before...>> "Is this a Kynareth thing?"

"Yes."

"Just how you can speak all forms of draconic." Kynareth spoke up.

<<Alright, what's going on?>> Garzon asked, annoyed

Cinder looked at Dan pleadingly.

<<What is it, Garzon?>>

<<Who are these dragons? Why were you stuck asleep?">> Garzon demanded

<<It's... a long story. We were fine, Shadow came to talk, so far everything has been ok. >>

Cinder moved to the bed and continued to munch on his deer. "Sooooooo..................You and kynareth. Cute."

Dan shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Honest. Willing to go into detail?"

Kynareth moved from his front to his back.

Cinder jiggled in his section. "Forget I asked then."

"Sorry, it's just not a good time for questions like that right now."

Gabby finished her food as she saw dan tense at Cinder's question. Quickly, she tried to think of something to change the subject. "Cinder, can I ask why you like these flowers?"

"It is actually not me who likes them... I owe my moderate liking to my mother. She loved them." His attitude changed from amusement to sadness. Another shiver. He missed her... She was the only one that could stop him and his sisters rows.... The only one that could calm father... "She... She is dead now."

"Oh no. I'm sorry, Cinder." Cinon walked over to him, pressing his head against the red dragon's chest.

Gabby put a warm hand on his shoulder. She knew all too well what it was like to endure the loss.

"How long ago?" Dan asked quietly.

"Sixteen years ago. I was 18 years old when my mother died of a rare illness. What hurts most was there is a cure, but it is in the Graasin hills. That, for the non-dragons here, is about a three months flight."

"That far? We have barely even begun to build security outposts there it is so far. "

Gabby had taken to plucking some of the flowers from her hair as she listened. Her mother had taught her and Calista to weave little crowns from Asytr flowers when they were children. She was surprised the skill came back to her as she weaved a few of the bunches together neatly and reached up to Cinder's horns. With quick work, her nimble fingers wreathed one of his horns and she sat back down. "That's a good thing, Cinder, to take care of the ones you love, " she said, noting the tinge of anger, "I wish I'd had the chance to do more for mine. Don't think of your father's faults. You can't change them. Just remember your mother."

"What was she like?" Cinon asked curiously.

"Kind, like Kynareth... calm, like the sea. Possible of great storms. Peacekeeper. Lover. Hard working, but always had time for us." He turned to gabby. "Thank you.... Can you.. teach me to braid like that?"

"My mom taught my sister and I. It takes some practice," Gabby said with a smile, "but I think I could teach you. We can get some flowers when we leave tomorrow."

Shadow slipped slightly closer to Garzon, talking in a more hushed tone as to not interrupt Cinder and Gabby's conversation. "Garzon, right? Rech's pet?"

Garzon turned towards Shadow. "What do you know about Rech?" He demanded, instantly in a bad mood.

"He was a subordinate of my old organization, an informant of sorts. Word of his favorite pet going missing at the same time as him was quite interesting."

"So you told him to capture Natives!" Garzon said, outraged.

"Not I, no... but I can tell who did..."

"And who is that?"

Dan shot Shadow a knowing look, a frown on his face. "A monster. Grekan. He's Ponteratin incarnate, Reigning Death."

Gabby listened in silence from her spot on the end of the bed. She had never heard a title like that for Grekan. Reigning Death. She had looked that rancid dragon in the face and she had no desire to do it again, but she had the distinct feeling things were far from over where that monster was concerned. She shivered a little and looked to Shadow as she kept listening.

"Where is this grekan?" Garzon was angry, desperate for a chance for revenge

"That is a good question. Undoubtedly corrupting the minds of my old allies, turning them against me. We are not so different Garzon, you know. There is an old Terran saying..."

A mind entered his as an amulet flew across the room. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"We are nothing alike." Garzon snarled, now even more angry.

"Shadow has a point." Dan added, still giving the black dragon a look. "If we run into Grekan, we need to have every asset we can muster."

"Aww, but what would a native do. Isn't that what the dragons have been saying the whole time? Natives are inferior and useless?" Garzon asked, suddenly cynical.

"Grekan is sly, smart... but emotional. If he sees a Native of all things standing up to him, it would infuriate him. Anger is not helpful in a mental war."

"My job would be much easier." Kynareth added.

"And another gun is always helpful. You know how to shoot, fairly well for the little ammunition we could spare for you."

"Well, do you at least have a plan for finding Grekan?" Garzon asked, still skeptical.

Shadow lifted a paw, pointing at Gabby.

"Well, considering he wants to kill me, I don't think finding him will be problem," Gabby said quietly.

"I would prefer a plan that doesn't involve bait that will likely die." Garzon said hesitantly.

Her arms crossed as she looked over the grisly native with a raised brow. "One: I am not bait. Two: you don't know me well enough to say whether I would live or die. Three: I've already looked that monster in the teeth once and didn't turn into some cowed down ...prey."

I'm so sorry I insulted you." Garzon said, pretending to be polite but still obviously thinking she was bait.

"Well, that's the least sincere apology out of three I've had all day," Gabby quipped icily.

Garzon just shrugged in response.

"Gabby, Garzon, you are both valuable, and not as bait. Besides, Gabby is staying with us regardless. Garzon, do you want to come? We are heading out to Goulver tomorrow before dawn, maybe some time off-base would be good for both of us."

"Well, it's not like i have anywhere else to go. Especially if I can find Grekan."

"Good. It will be nice to have you with us, Garzon. Right now I think we could all get some sleep before we have to leave."

Gabby didn't reply to Dan. The truth was she knew Grekan would not stop until he found her. She really was as good as bait, but this Garzon fellow irked her. She supposed he had demons of his own, considering the position of Natives before the Terran arrival. Being more patient with him would help, maybe, but that would have to wait for another time. The day had been too long.

Kynareth established a link with the whole group and stated. "I suggest mine again. Just this time, no dungeons" She jested. "Though I am out of catalysts so it might take a minute in stead of seconds."

"Your what?" Cinon asked, still cuddling Cinder slightly.

"My palace. For group sleep."

"Oh. Nah, I wanna go to mine tonight... Yes with everyone... No, everyone. Shadow is coming. Kynareth too. You can't just say no, it's my head too."

Gabby's eyes were already beginning to droop a bit as she unlaced her boots and curled up on the corner of the bed. It had been a long, and tumultuous day. "We havent seen you in awhile Cedric, please?" she said sleepily.

"...he says... He says ok. Just give him a minute. I dunno why he is being so rude."

Gabby nodded as she laid her her arms for a pillow. "Okay."

"Garzon, this was why we were all asleep when you arrived. Kynareth, and I guess Cinon too, have worlds in their minds that they can bring us to. Would you like to join us?"

"Well, I don't have anything else to do." he responded

"Cedric says no Garzon."

"Well, I think he should come. It will be good for us all to be able to communicate plans."

"... He says 'fine'. And don't swear at me, you're being so grumpy."

Cinon moved back over to Shadow's side, pressing his body up against him before lying down, Shadow's head on his flank. Cedric and Shadow began to work together to draw everyone into a deep sleep.

Her eyes fluttered before her head dropped and she gave over to sleep. The last thing she saw of the room was the fading image of Shadow and Cinon cuddled together on the floor nearby.

"I will join you in a bit... Daniel and I have to have a private conversation." She said, flying over to him as he fell asleep.

Dan's slip into the night ceased at Kynareth's words, her mind taking him instead.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top