Little lost dragon and I

[Ryujin13]

Alina wasn't convinced, that much was obvious, especially about Varren wanting her to accept Guthrie. That being said she could also sense that she had gone a bit to far, so managed to push her anger down a little bit, at least for the moment.

Alina cared to much about Fren to snap to much, but she still disliked Guthrie.

Logically she knew that he had nothing to do with her families deaths, that he had in fact been helping her and Fren, and that he had been very nice for the both if then , even giving them both a real home. Her emotions were the problem though, because they had locked onto him the moment he tried to get to close. Alina's emotions were pushing all of her helplessness, her loneliness, her feelings of loss and sadness, into a furnace of anger which she was turning on Guthrie.

Alina finally looked down and away, her body relaxing again. She didn't want to fight Fren, not when Fren was the only family she had left.

What really ate at her most however was the guilt. Alina felt guilty because deep down she actually liked Guthrie, and that was the worst betrayal in her mind. That she could like this person who was so like Varren was unforgivable.

Still, she managed to at least stow her feelings away and stay quiet as they met up with Guthrie and went back to the temple.

At the temple they were met by one of the more human looking beings as well as Petals who immediately ran over and hugged Alina.

The woman came over to Fren and nodded respectfully, casting a curious glance at Guthrie but not saying anything about Fren's choice of company.

"Good morning." The woman said as Petals giggled with Alina nearby. "I am Petals mother Shirain. Petals has told me a lot about your daughter, and I thought maybe they would like to have a play date. I can take them both for the day if you wish, but Petals said that Alina is having some troubles right now? If that's true then they can stay here if that works better."

[little lost dragon]

Fren waited for a couple of moments as Alina pondered what she had said. After Alina seemed to defuse some of her anger she picked that hatchling up and started to leave the house. They ran into Guthrie who had been waiting at the forests edge for them and she gave him a nod with a smile for them to make there way to the temple.

It was a quiet trip and at one point one spirit creature thought Fren was not protected and tried to go for her long tail found her warded with the bracelet there.

When they finally reached the temple she gently placed Alina down on her paws again and Pedals came over running and hugged Alina. Fren smiled a bit at this before looking up at a more humanoid being of the race. She caught the glance at Guthrie but decided for now to not pay it any attention.

"Good morning, nice to meet you." Fren started with a nod "Though...... whats a play date?" she asked genuinely puzzled at the term. When it was explained she nodded and thoughton it for a few moments then "Alina? Would you like to go on a play date with Pedals?" she asked "Shirain here will be in charge of you until you come home or here." she said before waiting on Alina's responce. A play date sounded fun for a child, she just was unsure if Alina was ok with letting Fren out of her sight still. If not then that would be alright and they could play here in the temple.

[Ryujin13]

Shirain frowned, trying to decide if Fren was joking or not, before finally answerig.

"It's just letting the children play together." She said, still frowning.

Alina meanwhile was already saying no to leaving Fren's side, shaking her head to any cajoling that might be aimed at her.

"That's ok Alina." Shirain said with another smile. "We can try again later. Petals, be good for Fren until I get back alright?" Shirain turned back to Fren and shrugged. "Like I said, maybe next time. Anyway, if you need me before late this afternoon to pick up Petals Guthrie can contact me." Shirain explained before turning and disappearing into the forest once more.

Once more Petals and Alina went to a small area where they began to play another game.

Guthrie waited a respectful amount of time before wandering over to the tablets with Fren and began to translate the rest of the first one, until they finally finished around noon.

The list was very thorough on how to start a civilization, and was extremely easy to translate. The beginnings were easy things, pottery, the creation of a basic paper, and a few few more difficult things, like the ability to smelt bronze.

Guthrie however was already shaking his head a the methods described for bronze.

"We can't do this, it will only lead to rebellion if we try." He said. "Humans came here to look for rocks and we killed them all before they had even found one. Unless we can find a way to get the Cop-per for this bron-zee I don't think we're going much further. We could discuss it with the shamans specifically devoted to the earth we walk on, but Gentle would have to do that." He explained.

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded as Shirain gave her the look to her question "I.... missed out on a few things at that age." she admitted. She did not argue with Alina as the hatchling right away made it clear that she did not want to leave sight of Fren. Fren nodded and smiled "Alright, and thanks by the way, Pedals has helped Alina more then she knows. I'm grateful your good with your daughter being friends with her." she said before waving goodbye and started her work with Guthrie.

 

She frowned a bit as they deciphered the instructions. She looked up at Guthrie as he shook his head and nodded "Bronze is a low grade mineral that when heated and extracted from the rock can be made into more tools and devices. The more we go over these instructions the more I am convinced this species took a path many others have. Seeing the factory's, but if your people allow me to practice my own knowledge on my peoples tech I can help your people learn my peoples ways as well. And then your people can freely decide which ways they want to go about things, or mix the ways and such." she explained a thoughtful look on her face "Bronze is largely a low form of currency in pre-historic times. Later the humans used it in there circite boards in there tech before they found better alloys. However with most metals that requiers mining and with mining comes damage to a planets surface....." she paused then looked at him again "Guthrie, tell me about your peoples socioty as it stands, do you have currency? Does everyone have there place?" she asked looking thoughtful, she was clearly thinking on what his people would most likely adapt and thrive with better.

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie frowned as he considered Fren's questions, trying to come up with the best description he could.

"Well you know that the triad is the overall governing body." He began, glancing her at Alina and petals when the two began to giggle loudly. "They are each given an equal amount of time each year to govern, with each peice of time relating to the seasons. Gentle Breeze is in ascendancy because it is in spring, while Deep Root is next because it will be summer in a month or two. During their off season the two form a council of sorts and can, if need be, override the triad in ascendancy. That's rare however and only happens when it's a truly disaster ours course chosen. The override hasn't happened in over 800 years and that had to do with the humans when they came here." Guthrie explained. "Below them is the high shaman, in this case p-priestess." He faltered a little at the mention of his mother and looked down a little as though expecting to be in trouble. "In the event of the death of one of the triad she-she would be the proxy until a replacement is found. She also... She's also the head of the judicial systems." He said, his voice going quiet at the last bit. "The shamans are below her and act as a sort of local governing body. We're pretty well spaced around the globe so we act as mediators between different parties when there's a problem. Usually the problems are small, local fights over things that are said of done that are brought before a shaman for resolution. Bigger problems though, they're usually because of tradition. There are these two big families in the eastern hemisphere who hate each other, they have for centuries. It was a combination of the way the land was split up between them, a botched relationship between their son and daughter, as well as a number of fights that have started over insults thrown over the border. Anyway, they're basically in a constant state of near-war. The shamans had to set up a neutral zone between the territories so neither would get to close to the other. There's always at least to shamans staying nearby so they can defuse the situation when it happens. I actually was apprenticed under one of the shamans on watch when a fight broke out. Fifteen wounded before they got the whole thing under control. I've never seen anyone fight like that. They really hate each other." Guthrie continued, getting sidetracked by his story a bit. "Anyway, the rest of our society is pretty much self governing. You've seen and heard how the children are taught, you know about the... About the g-gods and their place in our culture. We don't have money because we don't need to buy things. We eat and drink what the earth provides. Different things grow different places so we might trade for ease, but there isn't any value attached to the goods because everyone could go get it, it's just easier to trade. The only things of any real value in our culture is land, like the parcel that I gave to y-you, and the bows of the guard which are considered extremely sacred. Land isn't extremely valuable, at least not when it comes money or such. Everyone who needs it can petition for a parcel to be marked out for them, but location does matter. For instance, having a stream run through your land is considered extremely fortunate because it provides you with water, a place to cleanse yourself, and a direct line to the gods. The bows on the other hand are sacred, and therefore valued for a couple different reasons. The first and foremost is that these and the stonewood swords we make are the only tools our people use. They are the weapons that survived the great wars when tools were eradicated, so were deemed holy. Their creation takes a lot of time and energy, and that's assuming you can get the resources. The only place to get the wood is on the mountains, and they are full of dangerous animals that will rip through the magic that protects us from normal animals. The only way to get it is to be faster and smarter then the monsters that live there, and even then not all make it back." He explained, lifting an arm and moving a few leaves to show a three pronged scar that was obviously a claw mark. "I w-was trying to find m-my place in the world again, and my f-friend convinced me to try for the guard. I d-didn't get anywhere close to the trees." He explained, lowering his arm and his gaze again in shame. After a few seconds he sighed and shrugged before turning back to Fren.

"That's really all there is to say. It's a simple life, but it's a peaceful one. The only thing we have to worry about is the portal to the cursed place, or, even worse, having the cursed place return. I doubt it will happen but who knows."

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and listened as Guthrie spoke. For the most part the system they where using, which seemed similar to the one her people used in terms of currency. Leadership differed though a bit. She looked at the tablets her thoughtful look on before after a few moments "Guthrie, it may not be exactly what the tablets say, but to help keep your people together, what do you think if" she started to explain her peoples life system, how everyone had a place and had there job to do. No currency was used and trade happened if one area lacked a particular thing. she explained how if the pools are maintained her people could make anything from them. And she could teach his people such as well. "It may not be metals and plastics, but it allows your people to advance with out needing to start mining your planet that will only prove to harm it." she explained "And ideally..... maybe your peoples leadership system, will help prevent a civil war my own people had though with such tech, I will warn you..... some will want to do what every they want, the humans call it, 'the persue of happiness' my people also went for something similar, But it ended in disaster. That is one thing though of a socioty..... advancing like this with any base line tech, every world has its infighting from time to time." she explained looking a little distant

[Ryujin13]

"I think that if we do it carefully and can avoid hiring the forest the population can be made to see that change is a good thing." Guthrie mused. "As for infighting there's always a bit of conflict but no wars. That's one of the things I'm- that I'm worried about." Guthrie said, looking down again. "If we move to fast then wars could erupt. As it is there will be f-fights over religion, and what's worse if we advance to far there could be another war over tools." He said, starting to stress out as he spoke. This had been eating at him even before he met Fren, since he knew that any changes would bring the possibility or war closer. "Fren I've made a big mistake!" He said suddenly, closing his eyes and holding his head as he shook it back and forth. "I've set our people on the path to d-destruction! They're to set in their ways to want to change. We had a p-perfect society and I had to try and reveal the truth! Now everyone's going to die because there will be a civili war, I know it! And I'm to blame! I have k-killed those people!" He wailed, shaking his antlered head as though hoping to make the thoughts disappear.

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and agreed but blinked when he started to go off the deep end thinking he just sent his people to death. She waited for him to go silent before she spoke again "Guthrie, nothing lasts forever. Things change, planets age, stars age, resources are finite, here's the possible results Guthrie if your people do not advance and work there way up, enslavement, another race may come across your planet and enslave your people, you'd be defenseless against any kind of orbital strikes. Extinction, the planet may have a event occur, radiation makes it way into your atmosphere. Currently you'd be doomed because you have nothing to fix such things. I have no idea how old your solar systems sun is, that could super nova as well in the future, and your people would be all killed. While if you advanced you might have colonies on other words to continue to let your speices survive." she said firmly "By helping your people advance Guthrie your lowering the chances of those few things happening. And should any of them happen, and if you did not help them, there blood would be on your hands because you with held the information to help them avoid such things." she said not being soft or gentle, harsh reality was, every sentient speices goes through its chapters, including civil wars for most. "There will be reistence, there will be death Guthrie. But as long as the entire planet is not destroyed, those that survive can learn from the mistakes from before. That is all part of a socioty making its way to the stars, The road was never smooth to begin with, we can try to make it easier, but fact of the matter is, its life for a race, just your race has not progressed to such points of civil war and learned to not hide from the results." she explained

"If such things happen again Guthrie someone needs to take the event not like its a sign to stop, but a sign to push forward, if you do not push forward trouble will always push you back and you and your people will never make progress." she said before her eye's softened and she gently took hold of his head so she was looking directly into his eye's "Your not alone though Guthrie, you got the backing of the triad, I'm just as responsible of what happens as you are, don't feel this is all on you, alright?" she asked "We'll need to learn as we go together, your used to your peoples old ways, I'm more trained in how to kill then uplifting a speices, but here we are." she said before giving a sigh and continued to look into his eye's though now expectantly. Trying to help him by showing she had faith in him.

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie seemed to calm at Fren's touch, and even leaned into her hand a little as she calmed him down. Finally he nodded and took a breath.

"You're right Fren." He said quietly, taking another breath to calm himself. "You're right. We have to move forward."

Guthrie paused as though unsure of what to do next before turning to the tablet.

"We need this copp-er stuff to make bronze." He said, his body still shaking a little from the panic attack. "We need to get it from the ground without doing harm, and that means we need the earth monks. In order to get the monks on board we need to get the triad to first approve bringing them in on the secret, and then go and talk to the monks all while avoiding getting them angry enough to try and kill us." Guthrie said, walking himself and Fren through the steps.

"Then we need to make these fur-naces to make copp-er into bronze. Then we shape it into the tools that it says here on this tablet." He explained, looking back at Fren.

Guthrie was still very nervous and his demeanor said as much, but around Fren he seemed to calm slightly even if he did get extremely self-conscious. He liked her, and because he like her he got nervous in other ways. He had never had the chance to act on a crush before because of his anxiety issues, and now that he did he was even more nervous about messing it up. With her getting so close to him like she had to calm him, it brought a lot of distracting thoughts to mind.

"Um-Fren?" He asked nervously. "If-if you don't mind m-me asking, um-were y-you and Varren ever um... Close?" He cringed backwards as he finished as though ready to get hit. "I-I mean if you don't want to talk about it that's fine, I was just wondering because Alina mentioned it and I thought maybe you two were close or something."

[little lost dragon]

Fren noted him gently leaning into her hand when she made contact physically. She let him lean into her hand a little longer before removing it as they got back to work. Seemed he wanted to try to go the path the tablets said, she sighed and nodded "I think it maybe best if I hang back on that meeting. After all the last race to show up, the humans, where killed for such a thing, I am a alien as well, and such might bring up some..... disdain that might be floating around in there heads towards such idea's." she admitted not feeling like having to fight the people she's helping uplift, not so soon. "But if it helps you, I'll attend." she said with a nod.

 

When he asked if her and Varren was close she paused and then shook her head "No, he and I... did not really get the chance, to Alina though, he was her father figure, he protected her, spoke to her, guided her like a father might and she took to that." She explained "But Varren and I...... we where squad mates. We had each others back, but that's as far as it got for he and I." she said "Like I explained earlier, Love is something I have never done before. Besides loving Alina like a mother, your the first I've... let my self get feelings for." she admitted though not sure how to word it.

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie leaned against the table as Fren was discussing staying behind during talks with the monks. When she mentioned having feelings for him though his hands slipped out and he smashed his chin against the table edge.

"I uh..." He said, massaging his jaw as he straightened. Guthrie had no idea what to do, he had never even been close to having a girls say she liked him, and now that one had his mind had shut down. "I-I... Maybe I should go." He said suddenly, backing away slowly as though afraid Fren was going jump and attack him. "A-Alina probably wouldn't be happy, and uh-I just..." He shook his head which was sending conflicting signals every which way.

Inside he was cheering because Fren shared feelings towards him, another part was scared because he feared it might be a cruel joke. Still another was so nervous of messing up that he couldn't even think straight, all of which was going on with a hundred other emotions going on behind that.

"I-I-I..." He stuttered, freezing suddenly, his body just shutting down from all the conflicting signals.

[little lost dragon]

Fren blinked and looked at him as his head hit the table edge. Then after that Guthrie seemed to lose cohesive thought logic and soon his body followed. "Guthrie?" she asked concerned. Why did his head hit the table? And did that do brain damage? He was now completely still. She got up and can over to him "Guthrie? Your alright?" she asked placing a hand on his chest to feel for a heart beat, though for all she knew there body's ran on something else entirely, plant based and plants don't have hearts. "If your worried about Alina.... she's just going through a grieving period. One she should have had for a while." she said not sure still why Guthrie had gone still. She paused for a few moments "If your.... able, signal Gentle to come please.... we got info for her and... I'm worried about you." she admitted as she looked him over, her body behaver not having the fact hidden she was worried she might of caused something.

Worst she thought that for what ever reason.... her saying she liked him caused him to smash his head on the stone table and as a result did more damage to his head then what was visible.

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie continued to stay still, but within 30 seconds or so Gentle walked in and looked around before coming over.

"The guard said you needed to see me." She said in explanation as she prodded Guthrie in the stomach. "Let's see, just a bump on the chin. His skull is actually most protected on top by his antlers, but the whole thing is very thick and well built. It's very hard to give them head trauma." Gentle explained as she looked Guthrie over. "Looks like he took a hit from below. Interesting thing about his...Species for lack of a better word, is that when they are hurt or extremely confused they have a tendency to freeze like this. Nobody really knows why although most agree that talk a trait inherited from something a long time ago." She shrugged a little a pushed to fingers against Guthrie's forehead. They glowed momentarily before she pulled back, watching as Guthrie relaxed and slumped a little although he stayed in the air.

"What happened?" Guthrie asked, looking at Gentle as though she had appeared from nowhere.

"You froze." Gentle explained. "I relaxed your muscles so you would regain control." She explained. "Why did you freeze though? You were barely hurt from that bump on the chin."

Guthrie's eyes got wide like they did when he was nervous, and he almost had a panic attack before finally managing to shake his head. "I um- I'm sorry G-Gentle it's just, it's private..." He explained, looking down and away from Gentle like he did when ashamed of something.

Gentle considered this for a second before shrugging and patting Guthrie on the shoulder.

"That's your business then." She said cheerfully. "Just let me know if you need help ok? Now then, what was there anything else you needed to talk to me about?"

"Oh um, yes." Guthrie managed, looking back at Gentle. "Um, well we uh- we looked at the tablet and we learned that there's a c-couple of things we can do to start. The-the easiest is to make bronze. B-but in order to do that we need copp-er. In order to get copp-er we need to dig." He explained.

"And in order to keep the peace and not lead us to civili war we have to bring the monks in on it, otherwise we'd be destroying the forest." Gentle said, nodding quietly to herself. "Good job you two. Take a break and start working on the next if you could. We need to have at least a couple of things prepared in advance so we can make this whole thing move forward. If we are going to get everyone behind us we need to show them the advantages of moving forward." She said, already standing and heading towards the exit. "Thanks again for helping Fren." Gentle said, turning and looking back. "We wouldn't have been able to do it without you, and we wouldn't have gotten anywhere without you Guthrie. Thank you both, you've done a great service." Gentle finished before turning and disappearing into the woods.

Guthrie watched her leave then turned to face the table so he wouldn't have to look at Fren.

"I'm-I'm sorry." He said, his voice barely a whisper. "I-I just, I've never had a girl say that to me. I guess I sort of just, I don't know overloaded I guess." He was sounding more and more confused, and still hadn't actually admitted his own feelings to Fren. He did like her, he was just scared of opening up and then losing her.

[little lost dragon]

Fren relaxed as Gentle explained that the hit was nothing for Guthrie's variant of the plant people species. This puzzled her though, being one who knew nothing of love she did not know to expect similar behavers from males like this. "Odd." she said half to her self when Gentle relaxed Guthrie's body and then he came to again and Fren was wondering what happened as well when the plant being asked him. But he first nearly had a panic attack then avoided it while looking away like he was ashamed.

Gentle though seemed to just brush it off, then asked if there was anything else, Fren nodded as Guthrie explained the digging. And Gentle knew right away about needing to bring in the monks. She nodded and smiled as Gentle thanked them before the female left and Fren looked at Guthrie as he spoke very very quietly. She was confused about his line, not the first time part, but the overloaded part. "I'm.... confused... I don't see how saying such things would overload someone..." she said with a confused look. Plain as day of how little experience she had in these matters "I'll avoid saying such things though if you'd like, I don't want to harm you." she said "Sorry about.... overloading you... are such lines some how.... " she paused not knowing how it would be overloading in the slightest. "How do such lines overload someone?" she asked

[Ryujin13]

"What? No I don't want you to stop." Guthrie said quickly. "I mean, you can still uh, say things like that if you want to. I just um, I got really..." He stopped, his voice faltering as he tried to calm himself enough to talk normally. "I hadn't expected you to um... To actually have feelings for me. And when you said you did... I don't know, my mind just went blank I guess and I froze." Guthrie explained nervously. "But Alina won't w-want us together and I t-think that's more important." He said slowly, stuttering a few times, knowing that he was giving up his chance with Fren.

 

(Sorry for short post, sorta stuck in dialogue so there's only so much that can be said. Plus I'm tired.)

[little lost dragon]

(Np man)

 

Fren shook her head "As I've said before Guthrie, Alina is just going through a period of grieving. When Varren died she shut down almost completely, she did not allow her self any feeling, not till we got here where she's now slowly starting to open up again. I've already spoken to her about it and you may of noticed, she did not glare at you when we got here." she pointed out "She's lost a lot of loved ones, its going to take time for her to warm up to others now, that includes you. She's thinking your replacing Varren right now, she wants her old family back. Which I can understand. But some point she'll need to understand life moves on." she explained "She needs role models..... I did not have any as a child and in some ways... I too am just coming out of my shell, I'm her mother figure, I need to move forward and show her my self moving forward to encourage her as well. As such I'm.... letting these feeling that I suppressed for so long to slowly come out.... and seems your the one they seem attracted to." she said with a smile.

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie was conflicted to say the least when Fren finished talking.

On one had was Fren, a very intelligent, very attractive female who had believed what he had said and helped prove it, who also saw him in a more romantic light. On the other though was the welfare of Alina, a child who was grieving for her surrogate father as well as the rest of her 'family'. Alina had also made it clear that she didn't appreciate his feeble attempts to court Fren.

Still, Fren's points had merit, and Fren's happiness had to be insiders too. Making Fren happy would make Alina happy, as long as it was done carefully.

"I um... Thanks for saying that Fren." Guthrie finally said. "I-I'm glad you said that, and I admit I d-do think you are extremely attractive in a number of ways, but I would like t-to take it a little... A little slow." He said, sad that he had to say it. "I w-would still like to see you, but maybe we start slow because of Alina." He said, glancing at the hatchling who was currently counting, her paws and wings over her eyes as Petals ran to hide. "M-maybe at some point I can try and talk to her, but until then it will only m-make things worse between you two."

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded "Alright, and..... thank you." she said with a smile. Him saying she was very attractive in a number of ways gave her a a warm sensation in her chest, along with making her feel a little shy even. Like she was still growing up again, though in a manner of speaking, she was growing up some more now, just in another aspect.

"You'll.... need to let me know if I rush things then.... I got no idea if I am or not in these matters. As for Alina, yeah I would not recommend talking to her right now, she needs more time to recover. We'll see how she's doing when she starts talking to others again. Then maybe you could try to talk with her." she said with a nod before looking around then at him "Shall we return to work or was there anything you like to do on work breaks?" she asked cuiruse.

[Ryujin13]

"I've never been in a relationship either." Guthrie admitted. "We're just going to have to make things up as we go along." He explained. "Anyway, I always liked to play g-games whenever I was on break. I don't have any of my things though, so maybe we should just finish the tablet and call it a day. We're almost done with the first one anyway." He said, drifting over and starting to read.

The end of the tablet was getting more and more advanced, now giving different ways to farm food as well as instructions for irrigation as well as a number of ways to create forges so that bronze could be made into tools and even weapons. After that the tablet seemed to go into a sort of dictionary which explained what different words meant in simplistic terms.

In all the tablet had been extremely well thought out with clear, concise instructions that were easily followed and well explained.

It was obvious that the makers had put a great deal of thought into it, and had probably given these same instructions to dozens of different planets before this one, each time homing the wording and delivery to make things as easy as possible.

"It says that our civilization is on the way to more advancement, and that in the future more gifts will be given." Guthrie finished, leaning back and stretching. It was getting towards lunch time and both Petals and Alina had announced they were hungry.

"Maybe we should go back to the house." Guthrie suggested. "I don't think we should go beyond this for now. The tablet seems to think that this is a good place to end help until the next tablet appears."

 

(Go ahead and lead them to the house.)

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded "Alright, we already have a touph task ahead from the sounds of it and that's convincing the monks to A, not kill us, and B let us develop a method of extracting copper from the ground with out wrecking the area." she said as she leaned back after she helped explain what little she could of farming. Her people did not farm largely because they had no need to, medical plants they could sample the DNA and make the fluids needed them selfs in there own places.

She smiled as the kids announced they where hungry and got up and nodded as Guthrie said it was a good time to stop. "Plus, we need some food, I hear 2 other belly's growling." she said motioning to the kids to come over as she lead the way to the exit.

When they reached the new home Guthrie and his friend made for Fren and Alina they one again found the table ready with food for them. She paused and looked at Guthrie "Do all tables seem to produce food on there own?" she asked puzzled. Or did they just have some kind of service in action for her and Alina and who ever else is with her for now?

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie was busy chewing on a purple fruit of some kind when Fren asked her question, and he had to quickly swallow, which got purple juice all over his chin.

"Um, no." He said, trying to wipe off the juice. "We very rarely have outsider guests, like from the cursed place, but envoys from across the planet visit often enough that we have a very strict code of honoring visitors." He explained, managing to get most of the juice off, but leaving his lips stained purple. "It's a extremely clear on how guests are to be treated. Food should always be given to the guest, they have travelled a long way and should not have to seek it. Protection should be provided, they have travelled through many hazards and should not have to worry about ones health. Respect is a right, they have come to our home it is our duty to bear their behavior." Guthrie recited, smiling a little at Fren. "Usually it works out fine, you were sort of an exception though. The cursed place usually sends monsters and nightmares to seek us, the rules are difficult to apply to people who come through there. They might be a shape-changer again, or even worse a demon. Either way, that's how it works. As to your table, while you are now living with us the council has decided that since you led us back to the correct path the least they could do was fill your table with food. Mine would probably do the same if I had a table, but I like fruit and that's easy to find." He said, taking another bite of the purple ball in his hand.

 

Lunch was finished quickly enough, and soon Petals and Alina had gone to take a nap on the bed in Alina's bedroom, leaving Guthrie and Fren alone.

Guthrie seemed embarrassed again and was looking around at the ceiling and basically avoiding looking at Fren. His long fingers were drumming on the table as he tried to come up with something to say.

"Um, f-Fren?" He asked nervously. "Would y-you like to go sit on the balcony?" He asked, gesturing to the stairs that led up to the roof.

Once up there he sat himself down beside Fren, coiling himself lightly and sitting back. He stared out at the meadow and it's stream, quietly trying to think of something to say.

"I-um." He tried before falling silent again. "D-do you want to talk about any-anything?" He asked finally. "B-because Alina is sad about Varren and Kara's death, plus Jak's capture, do you need to talk about it?"

[little lost dragon]

Fren nodded and began to eat some of her plates meats as the kids settled as well. She smiled watching them interact, Alina hardly spoke at all but her expressions and behaver where responce enough for Pedals to explain things and talk about things as they ate.

When they all finished Fren sat back and closed her eye's tracking Alina and Pedals with her chemical radar and after the 2 signatures gave off sleeping readings she relaxed. Then Guthrie asked if she wanted to jpin him up on the balcony, she nodded and headed up with him before she settled down and relaxed.

When Guthrie asked if she wanted to talk about something like her old group she sighed and shook her head "Part of moving on Guthrie is not dwelling on things that hold you back." she said gently "Though...... I find it coriuse, tell me about your kind? I see those of you that look human, but others that look nothing like a creature I've ever seen, then others like you that look similar to other creatures." she said looking at him now

[Ryujin13]

Guthrie frowned a little at the question, surprised that it had come up and now trying to figure out the best way to describe.

"No ones really sure." He said slowly. "The official story is that when the gods created us they took a single grain of sand and dipped it into the pools. Then they threw the grain into the forests. Slowly the grain began to grow into a shapeless mass. When it reached a certain size it began to think. It realized that it needed a true form, and so chose something to resemble. Hence the gods let us choose our shapes. That's what our myths state, but that's a recent addition to the gods myth. The tale that holds the most believers, including me, says that we all started as looking like Gentle Breeze and Petals, but spirits took the form of us and tricked people into mating. The offspring were the beginnings of what you see now. I think that's most likely. The spirits of the forest are strange, and no one really knows what all they are capable of." Guthrie explained. "Like I said though, those are just stories. Nobody really knows." He shrugged and considered the manner for a moment then went to staring out at the meadow.

"It's kind of hard to believe." Guthrie said quietly. "I've spent eight years trying to get people to believe me about the gods. Now that I have, it's just..." He shrugged again and smiled. "I dunno, it's strange to not be worried anymore."

[little lost dragon]

Fren looked at Guthrie as he explained. She got a bit thoughtful though as he mentioned the spirits tricking others by changing forms. She leaned back in thought as he finished up. Though had to smile a bit when he admitted it felt odd not needing to be worried anymore. "I knew cross breeding was a factor, no race differes from there forms so dramatically with out strong genes and out side breeding." she said "My people can breed with just about any speices, however our young are heavily influenced by our genes even if the mother was another race." she explained "As for the not needing to worry part, I know that one well..... I spent most of my life tense, always on the mission.... a single mistake could lead to death..... coming here and starting a life here to help both Alina's and my issues...... I don't need to be so tense.... its a strange feeling being.... relaxed." she said leaning back "Like I feel..... young again.... some how." she concluded before she looked at Guthrie again "Maybe once the kids wake up, lets wash up in the stream and have some fun with the kids, Alina needs to see even mommy can have fun with those she knows..... though between you and I, you'll.... need to help me there, having fun is.... a bit forin to my mind." she admitted.

 

((Say, whats the verdict on the plant peoples makers showing up?))

Edited August 11, 2014 by little lost dragon

[Ryujin13]

(I don't think it's a good idea, and here's why. The whole thing is an expiriment to shin with, so meddling would askew results. If the plant people had evolved as planned the stories of the gods would be turned to superstitious myth and eventually regarded as an ancient religion. The hologram is meant to illuminate an industrialized society to the big questions, are they alone, who created them, that sort of thing. It was then supposed to help them take their first steps into space, and finally to the creators. So no I don't think they will unless you think they should.)

 

"Ok." Guthrie said quietly, staring off at the blue sky, wondering what was out there. He was happy for the first time in awhile, and he could talk without suffering for the most part. He didn't feel like he had an arrow aimed at him all the time. He didn't need to do anything beyond help with the future and assist Fren in rediscovering life.

 

Alina and Petals woke up after about an hour or so and immediately ran outside into the meadow when the idea of a swim was proposed. They were already halfway to the creek by the time Fren and Guthrie had left the house, and small splashes could be seen as they jumped in.

When Guthrie and Fren had arrived they found Alina and Petals happily swimming in a natural pond that was created as the creek was damned by a formation of rocks, then falling down a small waterfall before carrying on it's way.

Alina was swimming as well as ever, more like a small alligator or crocodile then a dragon, while Petals had obviously been taught to swim as well.

"Come on mommy!" Alina called happily, neither acknowledging of inviting Guthrie. She seemed to have taken a more passive view of ignoring him in the hope that he would go away.

Guthrie didn't comment on this and instead twisted up into the air before plunging into the water, his splash barely even registering because of his long thin body.

When he came up he was using his body like a snake would when swimming. He made his way to the edge of the pond and found a nice spot to float, his long body floating off down the current until his tail almost touched the dam.

"This is nice." He said when Fren joined him. "If you haven't picked up on it my people love water. Not just the ones who look like me, but everyone on this planet loves water. That's what makes this meadow so valuable. Having water like this whenever you want, this place is a dream for anyone here." He commented as Alina and Petals began to play a game of chase on the other end of the pond.

It turned out that Alina, while being a good swimmer, could also hold her breath for an extremely long period of time. She was under for a long time, and only came up when Fren went to rescue her. Petals was crying as well, scared that her friend was dead, but quickly stopped crying when Alina asked what was going on.

When things returned to normal Alina began to experiment with this ability, and soon found that she could stay under for up to three minutes. Petals on the other hand could hold her breath for 30 seconds at best and even then she was practically blue in the face.

"She's very good." Guthrie commented. "And she's only going to get better with age. I wonder what she'll be like fully grown. If she'll ever find her parents, or others like her."