Little lost dragon and I

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and sighed and after a moment of hesitation shook the fox lady's hand. She gently lead Alina back to where Pedals and Gentle where and gave them a nod "Mommy will remain here Alina if you want to continue playing." she said gently before looking at Gentle Breeze "Alina and I accept your offer, we'll do our best to learn your peoples ways of life and methods." she said with a nod. Her people had always taught to learn the others ways of life and culture when staying in other races territory's. As was expected if another race entered Shatong territory. The only exception to this rule was if they where at war. And her people where not at war with these people.

 

Vita came up to Avira "With Fren in a weakened state and Alina of no use to the team, our chances are higher by a little now. We won't need to worry about there safety now allowing us to focus on the mission. Such things may come across as cold, however from a military stand point, Alina and Fren are survivors, and survivors are burdens due to stresses they must deal with with being such. Its best for survivors to rest recover and maybe later rejoin the mission. Allowing those of us to not worry about a liability to the our efforts." he explained attempting to not sound cold but his robotic voice not helping.

[Ryujin13]

"Yeah I know Vita, it's just a little hard to accept it when Varren told me to keep the group together. Sort of feels like I failed." Avira said, looking up at the robot from her position on the ground.

"We'll need to get moving soon though, from what Varren and Fren said we're on a time limit and that means every minute we spend not searching is a minute the enemy has to open the cage." Avira looked off to where Fren and Alina now were, her eyes tracing the hatchlings movements on the ground.

"Let me eat and read up on this stone thing then we'll get moving." She said finally, nodding up at the robot even as she pulled off her pack and withdrew the book cube and some of the food Bor had provided.

 

Gentle Breeze looked up at Fren as the Shatong walked up, her eyes kind as Fren explained her decision to stay.

"If that is what you choose, then we welcome you to this place a second time." Gentle said with a smile. "I think your daughter will be better off here then anywhere else right now, and hopefully we can help her recover from the trauma she has suffered."

Gentle smiled as Petals ran over to Alina and hugged the hatchling again before running off a little bit to play a new game. Petals always seemed to want to use her powers to try and grow things, but it was obvious that her powers were fledgling at best and she had to strain to even get a few flowers to bloom.

"Tell me about Alina." Gentle said suddenly. "How did you find her, what is she like, and what powers does she possess that you keep mentioning? I ask only because knowing will help us train her in their uses. All of our people possess powers to one degree or another. All can force growth in plants like you've seen, but others can walk between trees, merge with the forest, even communicate with the plants. What is it that your daughter can do?"

[little lost dragon]

Fren watched Alina take off with Pedals and listened as Gentle asked her to talk about Alina. She nodded to the questions "I first found Alina in the egg, moments before she hatched. I was the first female she saw and by nature assumed I was her mother. And with no one else around and no sign of her real mother I allowed it. A hatchling needs to be cared for right away not hours after hatching." she explained "She was very naive but happy, eager to trust and make new friends. It did not matter what anyone else though if she though someone was trust worthy then she trusted them." she said with a sigh "At least..... till almost everyone she did give such trust to was nearly all ripped away in almost quick succession. Never to see most of them again. I'm.... the last of the ones she first knew." she explained "Jak is... still alive, but last we saw him he was placed under some kind of spell and he became one of the 4 beings pawn." she said with a shake of the head "Alina possess powers that from what I understand, could alter history at her will. She's a being that can go from universe to universe and time periods and such. She just does not have a grasp on them yet, and... I do not wish her to grow up troubled. Her well being could affect far more then just how she views you or I, but everyone she has met to a level not known before." she said then sighed "Once she's in a ok state to find the truth of her parents with out causing too much trama, I'll make use of this book to find out in more detail." she explained

 

Vita looked at her "Failer maybe, complete failer you are not. The group maybe in half but we can still complete the second objective." he said before he waited for her to be ready.

[Ryujin13]

Gentle watched Alina play from her seat, thinking about the power the hatchling possessed and wondering how and when it would truly manifest.

"Bor said that she has already shown signs of her power coming forward in times of turmoil, especially when she is afraid. He says that she even visited another realm when the cursed place forced her power to manifest. If that's the case then teaching needs to begin now before to much time has passed." Gentle looked at Fren sternly now, her luminescent green eyes unreadable as she stared into Fren's.

"This is the first and foremost of our laws in this place. Responsibility. We expect all to be responsible for their actions, for their repurcussions, and for anything else their presence might bring on. Every action has a reaction, and we expect all to own up to those reactions. That especially includes parenting. As I said, all of us have power, and teaching our children how to use their power is only part of it. Teaching them 'when' to use the power is the hard part. If a child burns down a forest because they weren't taught properly then it is the parents fault, not the child's. The child didn't know better because the parent didn't live up to their responsibility. I tell you this not as a threat, nor even as a warning. This is a statement of fact, and the start of learning our laws. More importantly though it is telling you how seriously we take our children here. Tomorrow there is a time of teaching that we have weekly, a time when all can come together and learn from each other. Children are placed in groups and given instruction in how their actions can affect the world around them. Thy are shown techniques to help focus their minds and calm their senses. I think it could be good for Alina, and I think it could be good for you as well. Parents are generally the ones to teach their children how to control their powers, and the conclave is a way for them to share their experiences and techniques. Maybe you can learn something there. That being said, I also understand that your species doesn't have powers like the ones Alina will exhibit. I also understand that you have never been a mother before. That being the case, everyone here will help you in any way they can so that Alina is raised properly. She is a special case, and one which others will gladly assist you with."

 

"I know the odds are better Vita." Avira said, chewing her food even if she hated the taste. "It's got more to do with emotion at this point. Anyway, let me finish eating this and we can get going ok?"

Without waiting for an answer she flipped on the book and began paying through, looking for some sort of data on the stone they had retrieved.

[little lost dragon]

Fren watched Alina play with Pedals as Gentle spoke and nodded "I have no idea how to help her learn her powers, I don't have any of my own nor have I trained many in the skills they learn." she said in reguards to Alina learning her powers "Once she's calmed enough and can deal with the news of her parents with out getting more trama the book I'm hoping will explain in further detail how to help her develop her ability's." she explained before smiling a little "and I agree, my people teach similar things as well. A childs actions reflect on the parents, there for the parents must do there best as what the child does, the consequence's will happen to the parents as well." she explained before looking at Gentle her bright yellow eye's meeting Gentle's glowing green "There is one..... factor that is lacking that I can not provide. A child is best brought up with a complete family, that means one that has both a mother and a father, those that had both..... tended to fare better then those who did not. But as a result...... I must ask, how do your people see inter-species family's?" she asked carefully. Some where very strict on such things, while others not so much.

 

 

Edited July 15, 2014 by little lost dragon

[Ryujin13]

"We have never really had to deal with inter-species issues before." Gentle said with a smile. "Technically our race is made up of two different species, but our genetic structure is so similar that we just consider ourselves one people. That being said our laws don't have anything even approaching restrictions on marriage or families. I prefer to think of our people as open-minded when it comes to such things, and I don't see why it would change now. I think we have had three recorded cases of another species joining with one of our own, and there has never been a problem. While rare there are even cases of same sex marriages. It just isn't something we have a problem with. If something makes someone happy and it doesn't harm anyone else then who are we to decide whether or not they can do that thing?" Gentle smiled again as Petals laughed and hugged Alina again, who still seemed a bit taken aback whenever the girl did this.

"Fren, don't feel as though you have to make a perfect family for Alina, it isn't needed." She said suddenly. "Alina's family was destroyed by the cursed place, and you're all that's left of it. Varren was her father as much as Jak was her brother. She is still in shock from their loss and you trying to replace Varren for her sake would do more harm then good. If you choose to find a partner here, then that should be because of your feelings. If Alina thinks for even a moment that you are just trying to replace Varren, then her shock will turn to anger, and that anger will result in a lack of control of her powers in the future." Gentle advised quietly. "If you want to truly help her then let things lie and help her move through her current issues. You and her can come to any of the conclaves you wish, and eventually, when she's more comfortable, she can start going to school with the other children."

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded as Gentle spoke though as soon as same sex was mentioned she instantly looked repelled. "Same sex relations are a forbidden with my people. Mainly because it has high risk of killing us. Our body's are too adaptive when it come to reproducing to the point of if if same sex got into contact with each others fluids, it would kill because our body's then try to change to become compatible. However such ends up killing us." she explained "As such, same sex anything remotely beyond friendship is outlawed." she pointed out explaining why she might be repelled of such things.

She looked at the ground thinking on the rest of what Gentle Breeze had said. Find one for her own sake? "Its my kinds nature to find a partner to be with..... we tend to have many children if one is not struck down with a condition. But I've had to suppress that for my self for so long.... I suppose I'll know it when I see him. And now that you mention it, Alina did take to Varren..... who was fatherly towards the kids of the group, Jak, Kara, Alina, when Jak would argue with me he would coil up and place Alina in among his coils to block the sight and such. And with him being the only grown male, it would be natural for her to view him as father." she admitted then sighed looking a bit over whelmed. She had to keep it together though, be strong for Alina, the hatchling needed someone to be a rock for her.

[Ryujin13]

"I understand that your natural urges want you to find a mate, but like I said do it for love, not because you feel that you have to." Gentle said with a smile. "Anyway, I would recommend that you just be close for Alina, listen if she wants to talk, and allow her to grieve in her own way. I would like you to consider bringing Alina to at least some of the upcoming meetings. The next one is tomorrow and will be a lesson on the history to our race. Both of you might benefit from it if you plan on staying."

 

Avira ate quickly and skimmed the book even quicker until she finally located the stone that the group had recovered.

"The bloodstone, an extremely powerful artifact of the old ones." She read aloud, excitement in her voice. "Constructed over the course of their entire civilization, legends say that bloodstone was finally completed by the last surviving member of their race, and that it was completed by cooling it in a pool of the constructors own blood. The device holds the powers of the old ones, in specific the power to defend life. Activation can only be achieved by the one who possesses the bloodstone and possession only passes when sealed in blood. There are other uses which have been attached to it in every re-telling especially in records to the legend of the red cage." Avira read, already standing and running over to Vita to show him. "I found it Vita!" She called happily, holding the holobook towards him so that he could read.

[little lost dragon]

Fren still looked puzzled at being told to find a mate for love and not her natural instinks. She did not understand what Gentle was trying to say. The idea of love, while she had heard of it, was kind of lost to her currently.

She nodded though when it was mentioned to let Alina grieve and remain close. "That I can do, Alina won't be allowed out of my sight as she won't let me out of hers." she said glancing at Alina with Pedals. "And we'll attend tomorrows meeting for sure. Part of learning ones ways is to learn how the ones came about and developed there ways." she said with a nod. "Do you have any questions for me? Anything you'd like to know?" she asked

 

Vita turned around to read. In a instant he had the pages scanned and recorded "We now have what maybe the key. Expect foes resistance such as this Jak we where told about." he said looking in the direction of the castle entrance "When it is open we should proceed." he advised

[Ryujin13]

"I'm sorry Fren, but I don't actually have any questions right now." Gentle Breeze said with a smile. "Still, feel free to ask what you wish, we don't have many secrets here."

 

"Agreed." Avira said, already trotting off towards Gentle and Fren. "I'll be right back and then we can head off." She called back to Vita.

"Fren! Fren we found it in the book." She said as she came up to the two sitting women. "The stone has something to do with the red cage." She read the passage to Fren, then started as Gentle Breeze surged up and came over.

"Let me see the stone." She commanded, her glowing green eyes blazing intensely.

"I- why?" Avira asked, taken aback by the sudden change.

"Because what you hold could be important to my people. Let me see it." Gentle commanded.

"But we need it for the castle."

"You can have it back then, but let me see it." Gentle said, her voice becoming dangerous.

Avira looked at Fren in a questioning way before finally withdrawing the jade box from her pack and passing it to Gentle Breeze.

 

The plant woman took the box carefully, almost reverently and carefully felt around its form, her eyes closed. Finally she opened the lid and looked in, carefully hooking a finger through the leather loop and withdrawing the stone. Her fingers traced the script covering the stone and her eyes seemed entranced as she looked it over inch by inch.

Finally Gentle went to hand the stone back to Avira, but the moment the chimera's hand reach out Gentle made a slashing motion. At the same instant a thorn extended from one of her fingers and sliced open Avira's palm, allowing blood to flow easily.

Just as quickly the stone was forced against the bloody palm as Gentle began to speak in another tounge, her eyes glowing bright white now. The stone glowed the same white color and Avira cried out in pain as her palm suddenly felt like it was on fire.

Just as quickly the stone went dark, the pain went away, and Gentle's eyes returned to normal.

When Avira opened her hand again the slash was gone from her palm, healed like nothing had happened, and the stone was clean, not a drop of blood to be seen.

"Why did you do that?!" Avira asked angrily, ready to start throwing punches.

"You needed to be bonded with the stone since Fren is staying." Gentle said simply.

"Well why didn't you ask and maybe give a little warning?" Avira retorted, her voice full of anger and resentment.

"That isn't the way the old ones worked, power brought sacrifice. Power isn't given it's earned through pain. Be glad it was that simple." Gentle said, not unkindly now. "I am sorry it had to be done that way, but it's just the way it had to be."

"Well do you know what else this thing does?" Avira asked, massaging her palm.

"Alas I do not, I think the book is your best clue however." Gentle said, gesturing at the cube. "Still, I do apologize for the methods. It's just how it works."

Avira was still angry, but she at least gave a small nod before turning and walking back towards Vita.

"Avira!" Gentle called to the retreating form. "Your pack has been resupied with water and the way is open, I wish you luck in your venture!"

Avira sighed but gave a small wave back before turning and walking out the tunnel with Vita, already trying to figure out what to do next.

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and then looked up as Avira came over. The next set of events where strange to say the least. Avira told they had found something to do with the red stone and the red cage. But shortly after she read it Gentle came over no longer her friendly understanding self. She looked back at Avira in the same questioning manner confused as well.

Then the plant being was about to hand the stuff back then suddenly slashed Avira's hand open, Fren stood up at this ready to tell Gentle that was uncalled for but before she could say much it was all over, Avira was healed. She blinked and tilted her head a little as Gentle explained what happened.

Shortly afterwards Avira left with a wave and Fren waved back though looked puzzled. She watched Vita make way towards the tunnel with the fox lady.

 

As the 2 left she felt a pain in her chest. She felt like she was abandoning her allies. Something she was taught to never do. "We'll be back Avira. Just for I it will be quite some time." she said to her self. Once Alina had control over her powers, they could return, after Alina was old enough. All Alina had to do was phase and think of what she wanted to do and she'd end up there. With training, some how, she'd learn how to take some one with her..... if that was even possible.

 

She looked at Gentle "So..... what exactly does binding her to the stone do? Binding one to a key may not work very well. Since from what I've learned of magic, if one loses something, which some locks eat the key, and its binded to them, bad things seem to happen." she said not entirely liking how she knew so little of magic yet it seemed to be all around her since coming to the castle and here.

 

Vita nodded and began to make way. "Locals would not last much longer with me here as well. Aggression levels where slowly raising." he pointed out

[Ryujin13]

Gentle sat back on her living chair for a moment, considering what had happene.

"That stone isn't just magic." She explained when Fren asked her what had happened. "It's a relic left by my races creators." She smiled at the look that she received from Fren in response. "I guess we can skip to the lesson without waiting until tomorrow." Without a word she stood and gestured for Fren to join her then turned towards the children.

"Petals, could you and your friend please come with us?" She called, waiting until Alina and the little girl arrived. "Petals, we're going to do tomorrow's lesson today and I would like you to come along."

"Aww, can't Alina and me just play?"

"Alina and I." Gentle corrected. "And if you do this then you can be excused from tomorrow's lesson."

Petals obviously didn't think much of the trade overall but still mumbled a yes as she scuffed a foot against the ground.

Gentle gestured for the small group to follow and led them off into the woods. The group walked for awhile and Gentle chatted about inconsequential things, but didn't elaborate further on what was going to happen until they rounded a particularly dense group of trees and were met with a smooth stone surface.

It was a temple of sorts, obviously very old but in good condition. It seemed to have been built around a spring that bubbled up from below ground and formed a stream. Though plants of all sorts had naturally congregated around the spring the temple itself was untouched which was an oddity to say the least. Normally stone would have been broken apart by questing roots, but here it was like everything but the temple had changed. That being said the temple was extremely odd. It had benches set at intervals around the outside of the pit while there were a couple of side rooms that were open to each other even though thin pillars went from floor to ceiling.

"Ok Petals, neither Alina or Fren know anything about our people or this place so we're here to teach them. So, what exactly is this place?" Gentle asked, her voice kind as she looked down at the little girl.

"This is one of the places where the old ones lifted our people up from the ground and gave us voices." She said after a brief pause.

"Very good, but let's go back a bit. Who were they and what did they do for us ?" Gentle quizzed, smiling at Petals encouragingly.

"When our world was black and full of ice, when the monsters stalked the cold places and no green existed the old ones walked like us and held court in their homes." Petals said, obviously reciting from memory. It was obvious she had heard this story many times, but she still seemed quite pleased that she was doing well. "They were kind to everyone and very smart, and they ruled everything in the sky that is and ever was." As Petals was talking she wandered over to one of the temple walls where pictures were carved and pointed to one where a group of gods stood over a small sphere that obviously represented the planet. "One day a group of the old ones were exploring the night sky, looking at all the things that they ruled and found our planet. It was cold and dark and you couldn't even see the sun, but still they saw the planet and knew that it was a good place. So they used their magic and moved the planet closer to the sun. Slowly the ice melted and the monsters disappeared, and living things started to grow. After a long time the old ones came down to our planet and looked at what was growing, they decided that we deserved life like them. So they built temples like these all over the world and let the water flow. Slowly we developed minds until finally we could walk and talk like them. They taught us how to use power like the ones they themselves wielded, and taught us their laws. Then they left this planet and went back to the stars because we were perfect." Petals said, pointing to a last portion where the gods entered a door and disappeared again. "So now we wait for them to come back while we maintain their laws and the ones they obviously wanted us to learn." Petals finished happily, looking up at Gentle who smiled approvingly.

"And what are our sacred laws?" Gentle asked kindly.

"All things should be protected and nurtured. The worth if an individual is based on their deeds and not their differences. Equality is a right not a privilege." Petals recited with a smile.

"And what is the prime axiom?"

"The subversion of our mother world in order to ease living is the worst offense."

"Why is that the case?" Gentle probed further.

"Because when the gods returned to their home in the sky they left us with tools brought forth from the earth. We used them as they had directed us, but as the tools broke and disappeared wars began over what was left. It was only after our planet was on the verge of loosing every trace of green that the first triarch was called and the laws formalized. When the humans came they only reaffirmed our belief in this when they attempted to take the ground from beneath our feet with huge machines. We killed them all and destroyed their tools as well." Petals finished, her grin wide as she looked up at Gentle's approving face.

"Very good Petals." Gentle said, patting the girls arm. "Why don't you go and show Alina the history, me and Fren just need to talk a little more."

Gentle watched as Alina and Petals wandered off a little ways before turning back to Fren. "That thing that Avira had was one of the old ones tools that they left for their creations. Even though we would destroy it had we found it here we still retain the information on how to activate devices like those. All of their devices required blood to activate although we don't know why for sure." Gentle explained. "These temples are the only things that still remain of the old ones because. These are the places where they first taught us to walk, talk and think. These are the places where our race first came to be."

 

(Basically they're standing inside a stone laboratory, not a temple and the race was a race of genetically created beings. The 'temples' each has a spring which is where they mixed the genes used to create the plant people. The old ones are just a really advanced alien race that raised the plants up before disappearing all while leaving extremely advanced technology, that the plant people barely understood, lying around. The plant people thing the old ones are gods who left them the tools to teach them a lesson though so they have become very anti-technology.)

 

[little lost dragon]

Fren blinked when she learned that the blood stone was a tool from this planet and these people. She knew back in her peoples civil war they too had tech that activated via ones blood, but those that where not true Shatong where the ones who used such. The side that won did not and rightly so.

When they reached the temple she tilted her head to the side. A temple normally included religuse things, sometimes a statue, or gargoyles. Its normally very hard to miss that its a temple. This however seemed..... different. And her chemical radar was going beserk about something inside it. Another point of oddity was the plants, the tree's, vines and such.... had all avoided it. Not one was growing into it.

She listened as Pedals told them of the story with some prompting from Gentle and Fren seemed to get particularly interested when she got to the part of the old ones moving the planet. Her bright yellow eye's very thoughtful. She nodded afterwards as Gentle spoke and went up to the spring. "Gentle Breeze...... my own people had things we called spawning pools. In these pools we created our own tools and devices. Things that many called, living simply because they seemed to breath and had a pulse. Now while severely lacking maintenance. I believe your 'Old ones' used a similar method to create your own people. I would like to request permission to study these ruins, restore the spawning pool, and if I can do such, I can use it to create just about anything, all I need to do is learn this place. Perhaps even read up. Labs tend to...... ruins sometimes have books documenting things, explaining why for this and that." she explained "With your permission, I'd like to restore this pool." she said with a nod. She looked like she had found something close to home, and now wanted to turn it into a project to clean the place up and restore the spawning pool. As well as learn to make full use of it. "My people can use spawning pools with nothing but our hands, the protiens and DNA fragments react to the slime layer on our hands allowing us to manipulate it to create anything we desire. Its like writing in another language. One needs to make certain motions, with certain timing to create tools, or more complicated, life."

 

((that will make Fren go beserk over this lol, it would be the closest thing she would have to home.))

 

Vita looked around as he and Avira left the tunnel now back in the castle. "Bio hazard detected." he said as Avira opened a door to find a room full of body's, all dead, and all hanging from the ceiling with hoses in there necks and head coming from the floor. "There being pumped with a liquid after being drained, it speeds up the decay process."

[Ryujin13]

Gentle got an extremely odd look on her face, like she was angry at herself for considering it but also interested as well.

"I don't suppose it could hurt, allowing you to look it over at least." She said slowly. "But changing it..." She walked over to the pool and looked into it, concern etched onto her face. "I don't know Fren, these are where the old ones lifted our race above our old form and allowed us to think, to feel. It was their gift to us because we were found worthy. The gods themselves came down and built these because we were worthy." Gentle walked off for a second then turned and shook her head. "I can let you look it over, but I cannot allow you to try and change what the gods themselves did. Bring me your findings and maybe we can discuss this again, but for now you can only study, not change."

 

Avira had to suppress the urge to throw up when they entered the new room, her senses overloading from the amount of rot in the room. It was disgusting smelling and her body was telling her to throw up it was such a terrible smell. Still she managed to swallow down her gag reflex and carry on, making it across the room and into the new hallway before finally losing it and throwing up in a corner.

After making sure it was all gone Avira stood and wiped her mouth before taking a swig of water and swishing it around, spitting into the corner that already contained her stomach.

"C'mon, let's go." She said, already heading off down the hall and off towards whatever the castle tried to kill them with next.

 

(If you had a plan with that room then just have the hallway lead to the next part, it's perfectly ok if you control the castle as well.)

[little lost dragon]

Fren watched Gentle carefully. She nodded smiling as she said she could read up on the place and study it. once she had enough info to prove what there 'gods' did and that she could repair and possibly resume its use rather then have it sit and slowly decay, she'd have a something that was close to something that was to her home. "Thank you, due to how travel is around the territory would it be alright if Alina and I remain here? Think of it as us being keepers of the place, ones who learn and tend to it. I'm not a doctor from my people so progress will be slower but would help me keep a stead course as I study this place." she asked and explained.

 

As Avira and Vita continued and got to the next door it lead into a similar room. However in this room there was one of the janitor flesh creatures. It held a mangled body that was hard to tell what it was from the current view but when it turned around it was easy to tell then. It held remains of Varrens body, and the one he killed in his death, both where burn seared and many areas turned to ashes in the explosion. And both clearly dead, but they also had new holes in there necks and back of the head. Making it clear what the flesh creature planned to do with them. "Desecration of the dead." Vita stated flatly even with his robotic voice. The Flesh being rumbled like it was almost confused before it dropped the body's and began to advance on them.

 

((Most of the time, this one gets all the dead body's, its not used to seeing live ones.))

[Ryujin13]

Gentle frowned and looked around at the temple, obviously thinking things over, then back at Fren.

"I suppose we could work something out..." She said slowly, obviously thinking. "But staying here tonight isn't an option." She said flatly, obviously unwilling to negotiate on that fact. "The forests are dangerous and the things in them will kill you in seconds no matter how fearsome you might be. The temples are still warded much like our clearings, but even we don't visit often except on holy days, and then it's in force. I will have to have someone come and check the wards, and then we would have to look at resources because I can't be here all the time. Even if we did this I would have to leave a guard here at all times, and that is not up for negotiation. You probably wouldn't see him or her often, but they would be here constantly, both for your security and the temples." She explained, wandering over to the spring and dipping her hand in, swirling it a little before withdrawing it. "Fren, I'm placing a lot of trust in you." She said, turning and facing the Shatong. "I think you can be trusted, but even after 10,000 years of living I still make mistakes. If I'm mistaken then the others of the triarch will replace me, and I will wither and die. They will kill Alina first, then you, both in terrible ways for harming this place. So I warn you now, do nothing to disturb this place without express permission. Learning, studying, exploring is permitted, but do not attempt to change what is here, not without asking me. That is the stipulation and it is not up for negotiation. You will bring any questions of concerns to me, and if you even think that we might not like whatever it is you're doing, ask first." Gentle said, her eyes and voice hard. She wasn't threatening, there wasn't a need to, but she was trying to impress upon Fren how important this was, what there was to lose if Fren messed up. "If you can accept this then we can move forward. If not then we can discuss other things for you to do."

 

Avira was still fighting her gag reflex when they came across the janitor creature, but the sick feeling was replaced with rage as Varren's gun leapt to her hand and powered on, aiming at the janitor creature which was already advancing.

Avira didn't say anything, didn't give it a chance to surrender or even threaten them, she just opened fire, the weapons bolts all aimed at the things center mass.

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and smiled in understanding "Understood." she said before looking at the spring then back to Gentle "For now I will only study and explore, once I have learned enough, and can compile enough information to explain to you and the triad how and why I can restore the spring, I'll present the information then it will be up to who ever makes the final decision." she said with a nod as she glanced at what might of been a lab table and she went over to it. There seemed to be some stone tablets with writing on it and they where stacked like someone wanted to keep them in order like notes. "There is one other thing, Is there any of your people who know how to read this launguage?" she asked gently brushing some dust off the top tablet.

 

The flesh being paused as if pondering the new feeling it got as Avira shot it, though clearly the weapon hardly fazed it. It rumbled in a questioning manner. Vita charged his D-gun then fired. The shot went through the air and struck the being. It growled at this as it was knocked off its feet before it got back up. "Foe seems in a confused state, weapons have little effect, recommend cease fire before it gets angry." Vita said

[Ryujin13]

Gentle wandered over to the table as well, looking at the stone tablets as well.

"There are a few who can read the gods language, we think the old ones might have made it so that our spiritual leaders could always read what was left behind. I might be able to get one of our younger priests to help you, they're always curious about the secrets of the temples when they're young. I'm sure one would be willing to help you." She said, touching the tablets with a fingertip before quickly removing it and looking around.

"I'll have one of my guards stay here with you while I go and find one. I'll be back in awhile." Gentle said before exiting the building and disappearing.

The moment she was gone though a tall humanoid male stepped from the woods. He had the same general look as Gentle, with green skin, leaves and vines covering him like clothes, and the same build that reminded others of a human, except for his features, which were closer to that of an elf from human folklore then anything else. He carried a bow like the other guards that Fren had seen, as well as a blade made from what looked like wood. It was a shining grey wood though and even with the odd material it was obviously as dangerous as any steel sword.

The guard didn't say or do anything beyond find a corner and relax there, leaning against the wall while lazily keeping an eye on Fren, Alina, and especially Petals who was playing in a corner with the hatchling.

 

Avira stopped shooting reluctantly, and only because it was just Easton ammo. Even then though she was looking for a way to kill the creature so that it couldn't do anything else to Varren's body. She wasn't going to let her friend be turned into one of the castles guards.

"Give him back!" She said, her voice barely containing her rage. "He's not your toy and I'm not going to let him be turned into some sort of puppet for this castle to use!"

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and watched Gentle leave then she looked at the new comer, a guard. She nodded to him and came over. "Greetings." she said stopping a respectful distance from him. He had said nothing when he arrived, maybe he was just shy? Or 'on duty' mode. Which she could understand completely. The more she looked him over the more puzzled though she got. Some of this species looked like more plant, yet others like Gentle and this guard clearly had more of a humanoid defined shape. Which was strange. MAde her wonder if humans had reproduced with this species, perhaps a few couples got together despite everything. Though this one looked more like an elf as the humans said, more of a lean and narrow face and the pointy ears.

 

The creature rumbled some more before picking up Varrens body as Avira demanded that the creature give her a 'him' back. The creature looked at Varren then at Avira before rumbling in a question tone. Then it motioned to Vita then to the other beings that hung from the ceiling with the tubes. Then it dropped Varren's body and rumbled some more. The runes starting to seemingly move about its body.

[Ryujin13]

The plant person only gave a slight nod when Fren said hello, but beyond that stayed silent, carefully watching what was done around the temple.

The temple itself was a large, open affair with counters running around the outside edge of it and a few tables here and there. There were other adjoining rooms as well, usually open to the main room like glass should have been present, but always with a place for a door. The exact center of the temple was home to the spring which measured about ten feet across. The center was constantly bubbling up, giving a steady supply of the water which poured down into a channel which eventually formed a stream that led outside. The table which cantained the stone tablets held 12 in all, each one covered in minuscule writing.

When Gentle reappeared she walked in and looked around before approaching Fren. As she did so the guard disappeared without a sound or a trace.

"I have spoken with one of the shamans and he has agreed to help, but I have to warn you Fren, his appearance might be a bit... Shocking. When the gods created us they did not put see fit to make our forms all the same. He is one of the more interesting shapes, but he was born with the knowledge of the gods so he is shaman." She explained, already gesturing for another to join them.

From outside the room slithered a long being. It was six feet long or so but didn't exude the aura that a predator did. Instead it seemed to just make everything calm around it.

"This is Staunch Oak. He is the youngest shaman to ever grace the temples." She explained. "I'm needed elsewhere, the guard will remain nearby in case there are problems, and I will be back at sunset. Good day." Gentle explained, giving Fren a smile before turning and leaving to disappear amongst the leaves again.

Staunch stayed where he was after introductions, seemingly content to look Fren and Alina over. He didn't seem to be doing it to be rude, only out of extreme curiosity.

"I'm Staunch Oak." He said after a few moments, seeming to be almost at a loss for what to say. "But I don't care if you know my real name. It's Guthrie." He said with shrug. "I uh... Well the triarch, that is to say Gentle Breeze, said you wanted to study the temple, and that you needed a translator. What is it you want to know?"

 

Avira immediately had Varren's weapon pointed back at the thing when the runes started to glow and move about. She didn't get how magic worked but she knew that when things started to move around it meant something was going to happen. And when that something was being done by a custodian who was trying to turn her friend into a zombie thing, that meant a threat in her book.

"Stop it now!" She ordered, her tone angry with a hint of nervousness to it. "We're going to take Varren's body and burn it. You leave us alone or else." She said. "Vita, grab Varren."

[little lost dragon]

Fren watched the guard as he just gave a nod before resuming watching them. She shrugged and went to dusting off the surfaces and tablets. Carefully arranging a few stacks to make for easier reading once she or another could translate them.

When Gentle returned she looked around and turned around once she had visual contact. The guards signature seemed to meld with the rest of the plant life again and only slight disturbances where picked up around as he went. She nodded as Gentle explained the being that was going to help her was a different one. When she got a look she nodded to him. When Gentle said who he was she gave him a nod before saying a fare well to Gentle as she left.

She looked him over as he looked her over. Though she did not mind not detecting any focus on certain area's. When he spoke up she looked at his eye's. Him being 6 feet made her a little taller them him. But not by much. "Greetings Guthrie, and yes you'd be correct. Knowing what little I know of DNA and genetic crafting and learning this is where one of possibly many locations your people spawned from, its eerily similar to something my people call, a spawning pool. I'll explain it as we go, for now though, I've arranged the stone tablets to make it easier..... at least I'm hoping easier for us to read them. However I'll need your help in such endeavors till I have the language down my self." she explained motioning to the stone surfaces with the tablets. "In the future, once I can explain things in detail, I'll..... or if you continue with me, we'll, present the information and if they allow it, I'll be able to restore this spring, this spawning pool to function." she explained for her goals. Before she heard Pedals laugh before she smiled a little and motioned to the kids "You might already know Pedals, the dragon though is Alina, don't worry too much about her if she does not speak, she's...... been through far more then one her age should ever know." she admitted.

 

The beast paused as Avira made her demands. Vita began to move towards Varren's body before the beast shifted to block his way to the body. It leaned into Vita's face and growled the runes remaining active. Then it got out of the way and seemed to allowed Vita past. He grabbed Varren the best he could with no hands and began to make his way back to Avira before the beast growled again. It seemed to grab a rune on its hide and with a electric shock it seemed to remove something. It allowed Vita to pass by again with Varren's body before it suddenly threw something at Avira, weather she jumped or moved it seemed to home on and struck her in the shoulder strap to her back pack. A black blur vanished into it before it growled in a threatening manner its aggression levels visibly raising.

 

((Vita's a robot so it would not work to well, you open for a bit of a curse on Avira? Don't worry she's not yet but will be soon if you allow it.))

[Ryujin13]

(Sure go for it.)

 

Guthrie looked at the spring when Fren mentioned it, then at the tablets and finally at Alina. After a few seconds he literally floated off of the ground and drifted over to the tablets to look. It turned out he was actually built like a Chinese dragon with a long sinuous body and four legs. Now that he floated he seemed content to merely coil his form so that he didn't take up a huge amount of space while he spoke.

"I um..." He stopped considering what Fren had said, then shook his head. "It's true the gods came down and gave us life in the temples, but I don't know about your DNA or those other things you mentioned." He said cautiously. "The stories say that they came down after warming the mother with the sun and looked upon their creation. When they did the old ones saw the forests and knew that the things were good, so they have the plants life but allowed the plants to decide on their form. That is why noboy is exactly the same." Guthrie explained. "This spring is one of many, a place where life was born and where the gods could dip a seed in and bring forth one of our people. They taught us to walk and talk in the temples then let us go and live amongst the forests."

He pointed to a single tablet which was of a different style then the others, seemingly made of a different material with less precise writing. "That's part of what this one says, it's the history of our planet and the gods impact. The other tablets are..." He paused, considering his words carefully as he thought. "There is a lot of debate about them." He said finally. "This one spells out the gods laws that we follow to this day." He explained, pointing to a tablet where a long line of words obviously spelt out rules. A few of them were scratched out but still legible, which was odd but he didn't mention them.

"These are commands left for our the first of our kind, orders on how to organize themselves, how to prepare for the second coming of the gods. The old ones said that they would be back and that they would rule us well but that we had to prepare for them." He explained, pointing out three of the tablets. "These are the texts that led to the first wars after the gods left. They tell how to use the tools and build them. The things necessary to follow the instructions broke though, making the instructions impossible to follow though, which led to war. The others are strange, like they're instructions, but they make no sense. Not even our ancestors understood them. We, the shamans that is, think they may have been used by the gods themselves and so are made to be read by them only." Guthrie explained. "I can read them, the words they say aren't words though."

 

Avira attempted to dodge the rune but it but her like a freight train, knowing her off her feet and throwing her to the floor. She could smell burning fur and felt pain on her shoulder but Avira was back on her feet within seconds of hitting the floor, Varren's weapon aimed at the janitor thing and her teeth gritted. "Stay the hell away from us." She said, already backing towards the door which was luckily still open. "Stay away or I swear I'll find a way to kill you."

She covered Vita as the robot exited, then followed, slamming the door shut as she did.

Avira didn't pay any mind to the searing pain on her shoulder, but if she had she would have noticed that the rune had been burnt onto her flesh, leaving a shiny patch of skin in its shape where it had hit.

"C'mon Vita, I've got some flares in my pack. We'll find an open room with one of those dressers and use that as wood for the fire. Varren doesn't deserve to be this places puppet." She said, already heading off down the new hall they found themselves in, trying doors as she went.

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded "I don't have the tool to show you right now Guthrie but everything that's of plant, flesh, and a few other things, we are all made up of DNA that's formed in a certain way. How this DNA has formed can very very much, one life form maybe different from another severely. My people we've learned to us DNA to make our tools and creations. My weapon is not too unlike your peoples bow's and arrows. The building blocks are different, but the fact remains. You and I are very different from each other physically. But we both have DNA in our cells." she explained before she went over to the other tablets he said where instructions and did not understand. "I'd like to hear what these ones have to say then. Laws and rules are good and all, but I'll be learning those in the....." she paused "Mind if I call the area's villages?" she asked

 

Vita nodded and dragged Varren's body with him as he went having to kind of pinch the coils between the ends of his arms to keep a grasp on the body. "Avira, whats your status, I'm detecting the scent of burning flesh, but I know this body is not on fire." he said.

As they went the rune on Avira's shoulder continued to burn and burn. After some time as they walked the hallway it suddenly had a spike up and every one of Avira's nerves light up like a christmas tree of pain in her shoulder area. Then a moment later it was gone, leaving the rune's imprint on her shoulder on like a tattoo. In her head some new information was reaching her brain. forcing doubts of ever leaving the place, and for now, a slight urge to bring Varren's body back to the that room of horrors.

 

((Basicely the thing forced a trade, Avira has been cursed to become one her self if she spends too much time in the castle. Some urges will become quite strong but as long as she does not give in, or dies she's safe.

 

The urges include

 

To kill anything they meet in the halls

Bring dead body's to the room which will be 'following' them around now persay

roam the halls in her sleep at times.

However a bonus, the janitors will no longer touch her in the clean up fazes.))

[Ryujin13]

"That doesn't sound right." Guthrie said slowly, obviously trying to understand what Fren was explaining but failing. "I'm made up of bones, flesh and blood like you, but a plant is made of water and bark. It's skin but it isn't the same thing." He seemed pleased with his conclusion and obviously thought that his reasoning was sound. "A bow doesn't have bones or blood or anything, so it can't be made of the same thing as me." He listened some more but only got more confused as Fren spoke until finally he turned his attention back to the tablets specifically the ones Fren was interested in.

"I don't know what it means." He said again, his response almost a question. "I can try and sound it out, but nothing on it makes sense for more then a sentence or two at a time." He turned back to the tablet and started at the top, his long claw tracing the words up and down the length of the tablets instead of side to side.

Though Guthrie's reading was slow going due to his not understanding what the words meant the tablets soon began to make a degree of sense to Fren. Thy were indeed instructions, specifically instructions on how to advance a society up to the point of faster then light travel. The science was a there including formulas for different things that would make a society self-fulfilling. The tablet he started with seemed to be more towards an early stage of development when farming and domestication of animals was important but the more tablets he read the more advanced the teachings became. Everything was extremely technical after the first tablet and even this was relatively advanced compared to the hunter-gatherer society that Fren had witnessed so far.

In all it was obvious that the tools that the old ones had left would have made the instructions possible, but after things went wrong the whole experiment went to hell, leaving the people alone, patiently waiting for their gods to return.

"We have found one of these tablets every five hundred years or so, they just appear in the temples from nowhere, but we can't ever figure out what they're for. So we just collect them for when the gods return for us." Guthrie explained.

 

"Just a bit of pain." Avira said, already checking doors. "I think whatever it tried to do just grazed me inst-" Suddenly she cried out in pain and fell to her knees, clutching her shoulder, her eyes squeezed right as her entire arm screamed in pain. When the pain vanished as suddenly as it had come Avira was left gasping on the ground, her hand still holding her shoulder where the rune was now tattooed onto her flesh, the hair there permanently burnt away.

"What the hell?" She gasped, looking at the new addition, her eyes wide with actual fear now. She had seen what this place did and now that she knew things like magic were possible she was terrified of what the rune could do to her. Just as quickly though her training kicked in and she quickly rolled the sleeve of her shirt down over the tattoo, standing as she did so.

"C'mon Vita, we need to take care of Varren." She said, heading off down the hall, her mind still panicking on the inside over the possible ramifications of what had just happened. Deep down though her psyche was telling her that she should be taking Varren back to the dead room to be processed. Her waking mind didn't register this yet, but the suggestion was still there, ingraved into her thoughts like the rune was marked into her flesh.

Edited July 22, 2014 by Ryujin13

[little lost dragon]

Fren looked like she was not entirely convinced "Plants and such like a flower all the way up to a tree are made of cells, like flash and blood is. These cells reproduce at a constant rate to replace the dead ones that always die pretty rapidly." she raised her hand and ran her hand along her other arm "Touch, contact, use make these cells die faster, it is why if you where to scratch at your skin, for too long that it will start to bleed. Its because you've killed and removed too many cells for it heal right away." she explained. she came over when he started to read the tablets. She got more interested as he went.

When he finished she looked at him "Guthrie, you know those tools your people tried to use in the past?" she asked "Well, your gods seemed to have greater plans for your people other then waiting." she said before she started to explain the steps, and what kind of tools would be needed for this and that. "A tool is useless if you do not know how to use it. A entire society can who has such tools but no information on the tools true use won't be able to make full use of it." she explained as she explained more of the steps as well as how and why those tablets where steps "The reason they only make sense in a line or two is because that's how a list is." She was getting really animated using her arms hands and tail to try and help Guthrie understand what she was saying. "You see, your gods want your people, you, to find them. Not them to come back to you, you to come to them. Right now that will be hard as your people will have to make the tools now your selfs. Blood tech is a forbidden to my people, but I can make other things to assist....." she paused and looked at him wondering if she should pause to give him a few moments to process everything she explained to him. A large amount of the day had already passed in the time it took for her to explain everything, the day was nearing the evening.

 

Vita stopped as Avira went into extreme pain suddenly. Then she was getting up looking determined despite what just happened. He nodded though and continued though his sensors continuously scanning her now. Though not much was there to notice any change. "Runes on that beast seemed to indicate its mood. Unsure if the same for you." he commented. As they went the door they had first gone through that had the body's, was now locked, and a sound coming from behind the door. But a new hallway led off to the right. Though as they went, it was more of a prison area. some doors where bars, and inside where mangled body's, both dead and alive. One held a almost healthy being till it turned around showing some how it was living with its entire front half stripped clean of its skin.