Reincarnated (REMAKE)

[shadow_claw]

So much for holding back vomit. The very stress of Larrsin's actions was enough to send him over the edge. He immediately turned away from the fresh body, hunching over as he retched once again. His mouth and throat burned with acid. This was getting to be too much for him to deal with. A single gold eye stared hollowly up at Larrsin. He couldn't say anything. He wouldn't give hi the satisfaction of a response. Instead, he shakily rose to his feet. His eyes lingered on James, and guilt surged forth again.

 

Just looking at Larrsin sent a barrage of memories through his mind. He almost fell over from the sheer intensity of them.

 

Being locked in a cell, Larrsin's eyes glittering with hate as he was shoved in. Viziel visiting him in his cell, but Suulis himself was too angry to acknowledge him.

Extra rations used for anything but eating. Any sign of special treatment among the others spitefully discarded.

He didn't want to be Viziel's pet. He already had the scars from that.

Larrsin's stout figure always lingered around when Viziel visited. That man hated him. Suulis always figured it was due to how defiant he was.

 

When Clarence was brought back into reality, he looked significantly different. Still ill, but the way he looked at Larrsin was no longer as fearful. It tinged with anger. His eye glowed with the faint ember of deep-seeded hatred of a past life. But he didn't hate Larrsin. He just wanted Larrsin out of his life.

[pudding]

"What's wrong with you?" Larrsin asked, looking down at Clarence, taking a small step back to avoid the throw up striking his black boots. Weird. Was he sick or something? "Let's get you back to that lizard person. I'm sure they can help you out if you're getting sick." Patting Clarence on the shoulder, he bent down and grabbed Ranaghar by the bear fur cloak he was wearing. Hauling him upwards with a slight grunt, he held the limp body over his shoulder before walking around Clarence to look at James. Rather unsurprisingly, he was still asleep on the ground, having not stirred at all. Of course he wouldn't. Viziel always had been an unnaturally sound sleeper. Maybe it had something to do with species. If there had been any more of them he would have loved to study that but, sadly, Viziel was the only one left. What a shame.

 

Especially given that Viziel never let him get any DNA samples. It was almost like he didn't want clones being made.

 

Oh well. This time around, he just wouldn't listen. Kneeling down, he nudged the sleeping figure with a frown, watching as he didn't move. Rolling his eyes, he holstered his gun and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, slinging him over his other shoulder. Thank god Viziel had always just been skin and bones. He wouldn't be able to climb out of the den if he was carrying who heavy people. Looking at Clarence again, he nodded firmly. "Alright, let's go. He didn't drag you off that far so its not that far back to the group." Walking over to the front of the den, he scrambled upwards on his hands and elbows, dragging Ranaghar's body and James' sleeping form along with him.

[shadow_claw]

By the time the group returned to camp, Lucida was saddling up the dragon. Saddles there generally difficult and awkwardly placed on dragons due to their wings, so it rested around the base of their neck. It was when she was strapping on the saddle that she realized something.

Their dragon was carrying.

 

The pouch that rested between the beast's front two legs was stretchced more than usual. Having been raised riding beasts, she had a few dragons who had been mothers. They all had specific pouches to hold their eggs. Gently did she pull back the pouch with her hand. The dragon hissed softly, but otherwise didn't move.

 

A beautiful, opalescent egg rested in the soft feathers of the pouch. Indeed, she was carrying an egg. That would make this dangerous, and would certainly displease Larrsin. Broody dragons were generally very temperamental and quick to resort to violence. Not only this, but they had generally less stamina. Everything they did was for the care of the egg, nothing more. They honestly shouldn't leave their enclosures in fear of damaging the egg while moving.

 

[pudding]

Trudging along toting James and the bear, it only took a few minutes to arrive back at the camp. It was by some luck that the spirit's den had not been that far off and he had not been smart enough to move them to a safer location. With very little ceremony or regard for the dead, he tossed the limp body into the clearing they had made camp out, wanting nothing more than to get the bleeding figure off his back. His jumpsuit was already stained violet from his own blood, he didn't need or want any strange, glowing red blood short-circuiting this systems.

 

The body slid across the dirt slightly before coming to a rest on his side. Aside from the general stillness of the body, the general amounts of blood dripping down from his face made it clear that he was absolutely and unmistakably dead.

"Are you all backed up?" Larrsin asked, looking at Lucida as he shifted James to be more comfortably draped over his back with his head resting on his shoulder. Turning to look at the mage, he frowned and gestured with his head, no longer moving his arms as that would risk jostling James. "The other one doesn't look so good. You should take a look at him to make sure he doesn't die." Scratching a bit of dried blood away from his eye, he looked down at Ranaghar with a frown. He really didn't want to carry him any more but Clarence should get first dibs on the dragon. Maybe they should get a wagon or something. "Does anyone have some rope?"

[shadow_claw]

Lucida stared blankly at the body, her brown eyes betraying no emotion. She'd been educated well enough to know what was going to happen. That glowing blood proved it; he was a spirit. An alien might not know much about spirits, but she sure did. But she'd leave that little surprise to the others to discover on their own.

 

"There's a bit of a problem." Lucida stated plainly. Phineas rushed over to Clarence and felt his forehead. Yes, he was fevered. But something else was wrong. Magic was leaking from his body in slow, almost painful waves. Something was wrong. Very wrong. But Phineas did what they could.

They replaced Clarence's bandage with a clean one, and soaked the remaining rags in water. Carefully, they placed it around the man's neck and chilled it. The poor man. He was terribly ill.

 

"He should not be traveling." Phineas declared. Their ear find angled backwards as the spoke, knowing these words would upset Larrsin. "Something is wrong beyond just illness. His magic is damaged. Perhaps his very soul."

 

"Okay, my bad news isn't that bad in comparison." Ludica admitted with a shrug. "The dragon's carrying an egg. She won't be traveling long distances any time soon. The day will have to be spent with frequent rests."

[pudding]

Larrsin frowned at this, looking down at the spirit's body before looking in turn at Clarence and the dragon. Great, that was two problems. Closing his eyes, he shifted James' weight to one arm so he could gently rub his temples with his other hand, trying to think. No long distances from the temperamental beast and something wrong with Clarence that would prevent travel. If they wanted to move him it would have to be something other than dragon riding. Or at least, something more flat and level that didn't require that much movement. Now there was also the issue of the spirit. Dealings in the past with this particular one knew that he wouldn't be down for the count for long. They'd have to restrain him somehow. But they were severely lacking in supplies.

 

"Fine," He groaned, flipping open his data pad. Flicking open the settings, he cranked the volume up with a casual turn of his finger, causing a loud crackling noise to emit through the speaker. He hadn't wanted to resort to this since the two were honestly so useless they'd probably cause even more trouble, but he didn't really have a choice. He had no idea why these two were assigned to him in the first place but he had to take what he got. Switching the channels over, the static suddenly faded as he spoke loudly into his wrist. "Communications line is now open, this is Larrsin checking in." There was a short bit of silence on the other end before a somewhat out of breath voice suddenly crackled through.

"Larrsin! You're alive!"

Rolling his eyes at the voice, he gently maneuvered James to the ground before turning away from the group, keeping his back to them to address whoever was speaking through the communications line.

"Yes, Xeix. I'm patching through my coordinates to you now. Three targets are secured, along with three more green-label guests. Try to get here quickly and don't crash the ship this time. Please." The last word was grated out and the entire conversation seemed to clearly be giving Larrsin a massive headache. Whoever it was on the other line was clearly someone who just speaking to for a few short moments managed to piss him off immensely.

"Yes sir! We'll be there within half a cycle! Keep the communications line open, okay boss? We get worried when you disappear like that. We thought you died."

"Right, right. Just...bring some rope with you."

[shadow_claw]

Lucida cocked an eyebrow at Larrsin as he shut off communications. He was a character, that was for sure. As the dragon settled down once more, so did she. She sat next to the beast, striking her long neck gently.

"Do you want to see?" She asked Larrsin, her voice softening. Larrsin knew nothing about Tiadora, and yet he hated it so much. The least she could do is educate him. "This one's a royal breed. They're really only bred to look nice. But...I dunno. They always seem to have more personality than the work breeds." She admitted. Once again did she peer inside the pouch, smiling faintly. "It's beautiful." As she looked up again, she stopped short.

"You boots. They don't fit you right. How long have you been walking in improper shoes?"

[pudding]

Alright, good. As long as they didn't crash the ship into the forest and kill them all, this would work out for the best. Of course, it did mean he was going to have to spend an unnecessary amount of time in the presence of those two. No doubt Xeix was going to throw an absolute fit when she saw the state of him. While it wasn't anything major, she tended to get really upset about even the slightest bit of blood. Hopefully he could sneak past them in time to change jumpsuits. His eye was going to be a bit more of an issue but he could work on growing a new one. That was the great thing about clones.

 

Heaving out an exhausted sigh, he closed the communications device on his wrist, still keeping the line open for when they landed but no longer keeping the microphone on his end activated. Looking over at Lucida as she spoke to him, he looked confused for a second before his eyes drifted to the dragon laying down near her. "I really don't care that much," He replied with a shrug. "I've seen plenty of eggs before. While legacy troops were grown in tubes, customized units are grown in eggs. They're much easier to manage and take up much less space." He paused for a moment to scratch at the skin around his injured eye again, dried violet blood flaking off in small pieces. "You can ask my subordinates when they get here. They're both newer models."

 

At the comment about his boots he stopped and looked down at the black shoes he wore. Looking perplexed, he looked back up at her again with a frown. "What do you mean?" He asked, looking more curious than anything else. "They're shoes. How would they be improper?"

[shadow_claw]

Lucida was quiet as Larrsin spoke. She didn't understand what he was saying and decided it was a bad idea to ask. Nodding somewhat vacantly, she pursed her lips. He didn't even try to explain. Did he think this was common knowledge or something?

 

Now shoes, she should talk shows forever. Being raised by a shoemaker meant she knew everything about shoes.

"The way they're worn in all wrong. Look." she stood, crouching down to examine his shoes closer. She frowned.

"It's worn on the heel and side of your foot prominently. Are your toes cramped? It looks like you've been avoiding putting pressure around your toes."

 

What could she say, she knew shoes! She primarily cobbled shoes for her adopted father, so she had to keep her eyes out for defects in shoes. Ones that didn't fit right had different telltale signs.

"They look too small. Who made these? They look standard issue, as in not tailored. You need tailored shoes."

[pudding]

Larrsin looked surprisingly exasperated by this, though not immediately hostile as Lucida approached and inspected his shoes. It wasn't even as if he was upset at her, as his eyes were closed and his brow creased in thought. "They aren't mine," he responded with a frown, rubbing his forehead as a frustrating memory rose to the surface of his mind. "They belong to by subordinate, the one I was speaking to moments ago. She forced me to wear them when she found out I was being sent out here." He shrugged, shaking his head and setting his hands on his hips. Opening his eyes, he looked down at Lucida as she pointed out areas around his shoes where they had started to wear out.

 

"They are standard issue. All uniforms are when it is possible. Xeix is a newer model so it makes sense for her uniforms to all be mass produced." He himself had been subjected to the same treatment at one point. Having the same face, being assigned a number. But that had ended delightfully quickly when he destroyed the other models and prevented further ones from being produced. Larrsin was the last legacy model ever produced for that reason. Their leader had given him a name and allowed him to rise in ranks after that. He had earned his name and his face.

Xeix, on the other hand, had been selected by Viziel. Pulling her at random out of a crowd of units, he had decided the numbers were too hard to memorize and given her a name instead. He didn't know the significance of the names he selected as the Veh'ishue culture had died out when the planet was destroyed, but he had done the same with Aeqae as well. The names had stuck and over time, even Larrsin had started referring to them by the names instead of numbers.

 

"Of course my toes are cramped," He said, snapping out of his thought train with a frown. "I'm wearing shoes, what did you expect? My foot is cramped into a box that is heavy and stiff. I don't know how Viziel fights in these stupid things. I can't even get them off without a ten minute ordeal."

[shadow_claw]

"Well, that just means I'll have to fix it." Lucida decided. Before he could protest, she yanked both shoes off and walked a short distance away to her bag. She pulled tools and supplies out, and immediately set to work. A long pause of silence, and she glanced up again.

 

"It...sounds awful. To be nothing but a soldier." Her expression was surprisingly empathetic. She detested Larrsin, but couldn't help connecting to his life. "To be born for the explicit purpose to serve and die." She worked slowly, fumbling about with her non dominan hand. Soft noises of frustration were sounded every once in a while. This was difficult work, especially without her left hand.

 

"Haven't you ever wanted something other than life as a weapon?" Lucida paused once more, tilting her head to the side.

She had been born into a life similar to his. Created for a specific job and nothing more. The very thought filled her with rage. In that track of thought, she was no better than one of Larrsin's "clones". She was conceived to take the throne. It was all planned from the very start.

[pudding]

Larrsin almost fell over as his shoes were forcefully stolen and Lucida walked away to start....fixing them. Or whatever she was planning on doing with them. Either way, he was fairly surprised that she had managed to get the boots off so quickly. Sitting down on a rock nearby, he tried to stretch out his feet, working the tight muscles that had been cramped into the boots for a fairly long time without any kind of reprieve. As Lucida continued to talk, he glanced up, listening with a tight-lipped frown as she went on about being just a soldier.

 

"I wasn't raised to be a soldier or a weapon," Larrsin replied rather stiffly. "I was born to be a scientist." Catching himself, he snapped his teeth together with a clack and returned to examining his feet. Now that the boots were off, they felt so much worse. It was amazing what five days wearing a pair of boots could do. This was why he didn't bother with them, honestly. Of course Tiadorians wouldn't know his story. While they knew his face and name as the figurehead of the troops, his actual history was reserved to the troops themselves. And since when did troops speak freely with Tiadorians? Glancing at James, he scowled then looked up at Lucida once more. "That didn't last very long, however. After my birth I killed every other individual and destroyed the tanks and machinery used to create us. I made myself unique by eliminating the others." He paused, remembering as he was forcefully restrained and dragged before the leader for the first time, forced to kneel and head shoved painfully into the cold, unfeeling floor. "By some mercy I was permitted to live. I joined the general ranks and and used my own wit and abilities to rise to where I am now. I fought every second of the way for my own survival."

[shadow_claw]

She was silent for a while, taking in this information. Born to be exactly like tens, maybe hundreds of others. She understood the reason he chose to kill his clones. By the time Lucida got done cutting the boots, she pulled out leather and began to measure proper sizes. At least it was a way to pass the time.

 

"I'm sorry." She admitted after a while. She couldn't help but feel for him. It was truly a miserable existence to be an exact copy of your coworkers. "And I do not find crime in your actions. I certainly would find an existence similar a miserable one." She cut leather with her knife, forming shapes to expand the shoe's size.

"In truth, I find your actions distinctly similar to one I would take. I would rather be a killer than another expendable being. You made yourself valuable to them. It makes sense."

[pudding]

Larrsin blinked at that then, hardly of his own will, burst out laughing. "Valuable?" He asked with a smile. "Oh, hardly. The only valuable one there is the leader. Regardless of ranking, ability or genetics, the rest of us are expendable." He gestured a hand to James, turning the attention to the sleeping man lying on the ground, curled up in a ball around himself. His tail had somehow gotten loose despite his attempts to keep it hidden and was coiled loosely around one of his legs, the tufted end occasionally swaying back and forth. "Take Viziel, for example," He added, leaning forward slightly. "How much do you really know about your hero? Because I can tell you more than anyone else here, even his supposed lover, Suulis." A small smile formed on his face before a figure on the ground began to stir. Looking away from Lucida, his frown quickly reappeared as the person moved. "Oh. You're awake."

 

Ranaghar only grunted in response, holding a hand against his head. Despite the fact there was still glowing, red blood dripping down his face, the wound in his forehead was gone. The hood had slipped off his head, revealing messy, brown hair. Working himself slowly onto his elbows, the spirit snarled, his eyes immediately snapping towards Larrsin. Every movement he mad was slow and clearly put some kind of strain on him. Clearly, getting shot was something not so easily recovered from. Still, despite the fact his entire body was shaking, he managed to slowly climb to his feet, breathing heavily. His teeth bared as he rounded on Larrsin, looking absolutely furious.

 

"Calm down," Larrsin said with a scowl, not moving from where he was seated even as Ranaghar stood and rounded on him. "Sit and stay or I'll shoot you again."

[shadow_claw]

Lucida listened, nodding as Larrsin spoke. She was sure there were things of the heroes of old that made them...unheroic. Suulis had always been imagined as wise and gentle, though his actions clearly proved otherwise. As the sport awoke, however, she was snapped out of her thought. Immediately did she spring to her feet, drawing the small, leather-cutting knife she had been using. Phineas, however, stepped in front of the princess. It was their job, after all. They had to keep her safe

 

"Now, let us all calm ourselves.." They began uneasily. The last thing they wanted was another fight. But, with that being said, it wouldn't be hard to drag the spirit into the water. Water was their element. Just being near it made their magic stronger. "Dear spirit, I must know...what had you done to young master Suulis? His soul...I...I have never seen one in such drastic disrepair."

[pudding]

Ranaghar snarled, hot air flowing forcefully past his teeth. His hands curled into tight, shaking fists. However, his rage seemed stifled for a moment as another spoke to him, speaking somewhat uneasily but nothing dangerous at this point. From the mess of his brown hair, two small brown ears jumped to attention as he turned his head to look at the person who had spoken to him, managing to tear his attention away from Larrsin. The ears twitched before vanishing back down into his hair as his eyes narrowed at the accusation. Him? He had done nothing to harm either of them!

 

"Nothing," He snapped back, his anger bubbling back up as his attention turned to Lucida. His gaze flickered to the small knife she was holding before rising back up to her eyes with a snarl. However, no sooner than he had made that action did a crack ripple through the air and the spirit collapsed again onto the ground, holding his leg with a whine. Larrsin lowered his gun, having not moved from the rock he was sitting on but having silently drawn his gun and fired on the spirit yet again, aiming for a nonlethal shot to the knee.

"I said down, boy," Larrsin snapped, rising slowly to his feet and walking over to the spirit. Planing a foot on his head and driving him lower by force into the dirt, he flicked the settings up again and aimed his gun at the base of the spirit's neck. "I'll just kill him again, it's fine. You can ask him questions on the ship when he's secured."

[shadow_claw]

Gasping with alarm, Phineas immediately moved to push Lucida from harm's way. While initially intent on remaining simply on defense mode, the sudden violence spurred the usually peaceful Mage into action.

 

Water sprang violently from the stream, circling the group in a large dome. In an instant, it hardened into ice. Alarmed, Clarence shuffled dazedly towards the barrier. Was this real? He couldn't tell.

"That is enough!" Find flared out, the remaining water unused floated in blobs around their hands. It was noted that in contact with water, the Nicor looked much more feral. Their round pupils became slits, and their teeth were bared in a snarl. Breathing heavily, gills on either side of their neck heaved.

"All of you are naught but barbaric! You call one another what you will, but this violence is intolerable!"

[pudding]

Larrsin lifted his foot with a scowl, taking a step away from the spirit as the dome of water rose up. Damn, really? The stream wasn't even that big but of course it would be his luck to end up with a magic user who could manipulate water. What a dangerous individual. His eyes shifted to the lizard mage as the dome hardened into ice, trapping them cleverly inside. Clearly he could turn the water back into ice at any point in time. What a dangerous little critter. He scowled before drawing in a breath and reluctantly holstering his gun again, flicking it off with his thumb and letting the violet light fade from it. "Alright," He said, rather surprisingly yielding. The spirit, however, remained snarling on the ground.

 

Ranaghar pulled his injured knee close to his chest, stubbornly planting his hands against the dirt and forcing himself up onto his elbows and one of his knees, keeping other tucked safely under him. "You are all...vile," He snarled, looking breathlessly up at the group around him. "You come into Ranaghar's home, destroy the plants and attack him when he is just trying to HELP YOU." Taking a few frustrated breaths, he turned to glare at the make this time, his eyes narrowing into suspicious, angry squints. "Put. The. Water. Back."

[shadow_claw]

Phineas's eyes remained sternly on Larrsin. They were breathing heavily, as if struggling to keep their composure. Eventually, however, they regained their composure. Fluid movements of their arms, and the water floated gracefully back where it belonged. Soon, the stream flowed just as it had been before. Gills that had once flared out obviously settled down, invisible to the rest of their neck. They settled down beside Ranaghar as they tried to calm down.

"My sincerest apologies. I am..."

"I can...I can fix...the rock..." Poor Clarence. Exhausted and feverish, fresh memories of petrifying the land remained burned into his skull. "I did it. I-I'm...I'm sorry..." He panted as he spoke, his single golden eye desperate. He felt so bad. So many things he had done wrong. He needed to fix it.

[pudding]

Ranaghar watched the entire process carefully before finally heaving a sigh of relief when the stream flowed like normal again. Everyone forgot the small guys. The small minnows that rested in the stream often went ignored. Until other things fed on them that led to the eventual growth and health of the overall forest. Everything was important, even the smallest organisms that lived in the streams. Hopefully, the fish would be alright that were caught up in the water. He didn't know the effects that freezing had on them, especially if it was so sudden and for such a short amount of time. Staring silently at the lizard creature that sat down near him, he frowned. However, when Clarence spoke, he quickly turned his focus on him instead and growled softly.

 

"No," He snapped, sounding a lot more angry than he actually was as he tried to stand again, forcing himself past what was clearly his current limitations. "Sit down and rest," He added, looking pointedly at the winged man. "You are ill. You need to get better first." Although he was technically immortal, Ranaghar himself was surprisingly capable of becoming ill. It mostly reflected the forest such as in dry seasons or after issues affected it, but even with his own knowledge and having to look after ill creatures that lived in the forest, he knew the best thing for the man right now was to sit down and rest. "Ranaghar can fix that later. You sleep now."

[shadow_claw]

Alarmed by the harshness of the bear man, Clarence took a step backwards. His years angled backwards, his flushed face contorted into confusion. Why not? He could fix it! "I...am fine." He heaved. Though, he most certainly wasn't fine.

"Oh no sir! I forbid you of such an action!" The once fearsome Nicor had become the worrying, fussy Mage they had been moments before. They hurried over to Clarence, fussing until the Spira settled down. "Your soul is...it is not well, sir hero. No magic, no strain what-so-ever until...Until you do not hemorrhage magic is such a way. Do you not feel it?" The mage shook their head sadly, reaching forward and placing a hand on his man's chest. "There is a deep wound within you. You may be unable to sense it, but I...I am afraid it is the fault of I. Of the kingdom's mages. The abyss...it must have shattered your soul. I am so, so deeply sorry." They sucked in a heavy breath, guilt clear on their face.

"What has happened to you, dear, shattered one?"

[pudding]

Larrsin watched this all play out from where he was sitting, looking between Ranaghar and Clarence. He didn't actually know what was wrong with him, something about souls or whatever. The concept of souls was fairly new to him overall but undeniable considering reincarnation had already been proven to him. Moreover, a soul resided in his body as well. Tom's presence had been a bit of a surprising hiccup overall but not exactly an unwelcome one. It made things interesting, at least. It was something he'd like to study at this point, although he would need to focus more on the task at hand. Where were Xeix and Aeqae?

 

As if on cue, a strange, foreign ship zoomed silently across the forest sky. Looking up as the sun was temporarily, he smiled as the alien object slowed down and began to descend just outside the forest, only barely not touching any of the trees. The ship was sleek and black and had a sharp, pointed nose that widened into an oval hull. Several guns were mounted all over the ship but, based on its size, it was clear it was not a part of the pain fleet. Climbing to his feet, Larrsin crossed over to where James was still, miraculously sleeping and gently lifted him up, onto his back. "Let's go," he said, crossing over to Ranaghar as well. As he drew closer, the spirit snarled loudly but Larrsin easily batted his hands away to pick him up by his hood. "All of you, come on. We can get proper medical attention on board on the way back to the fleet." Wrapping one arm around the spirit's torso, he started to drag him off towards the edge of the forest towards where the black ship had landed.

[shadow_claw]

Lucida gasped softly, her only hand covering her mouth. She had never seen anything like this vessel. Ancient testimonies of the war depicted things in much more romantic ways. She knew the stories well.

"Black, pieces of the night sky descended upon the land. Their maws open to let forth a hellish torrent of warriors."

It was a smooth, beautiful thing, and she could compare it to nothing. How could she? This was the first she had ever seen. The princess glanced around the group, shrugged, and strolled into the open shop. Things with Larrsin couldn't get much worse, so she might as well be bold.

 

Clarence squinted at the ship, staggering somewhat unsteadily in its direction. With one hand on the winged man and another on the beast's reins, Phineas led both into the black vehicle.

[pudding]

As they cleared the forest and the landed ship came into view again, one of the occupants was waiting for them. The side of the ship had opened into a wide door and a ramp descended down onto the grass that allowed easy access back into the large, black ship. Standing by the base of the ramp was a small figure dressed in a fancy, dark blue coat. Light blue highlights accented the outside of the coat and the buttons that held it in place were the same, glowing color. The figure standing there was small, though still a good head taller than Larrsin himself, and seemed almost shockingly human. Of course, inside of their usual uniforms, it was hard to tell what the aliens actually looked like. But while the black boots and dark blue coat she wore were clearly futuristic, the smiling girl hardly looked like a dangerous invader. Instead, she was actually quite cute.

 

Her face was a bit rounded about the cheeks with dark brown irises. Her short, curly hair was shaved around the sides, giving her an undercut reminiscent of modern human styles. The noticeable difference was, of course, the coat. While generally reminiscent of a trench coat, the style was far too sharp and sleek for any modern styles and the glowing accents were more reminiscent of Larrsin's jumpsuit than anything else. Noticing the group emerging from the forest, the girl tipped her head to the side, smile never fading from her face.

"Oh good, you still aren't dead!" Xeix declared, beaming brightly as she clasped her arms behind her back and moved forward to approach Larrsin. Her eyes flickered briefly to the person he was holding-Ranaghar-before moving to the person he was carrying on his back. She blinked a few times before patting Larrsin on the head before stepping aside and letting them all board the ship. The inside was complete with blue circuits that lined the wall and illuminated the entire ship and black furniture. The doors had no handles to speak off and the main area looked more like a longue than anything else. As soon as he was on the ship, Larrsin immediately made his way over to one of these doors and pressed his hand against it, prompting it to quickly open.

"Stay here," He ordered before the door closed behind him and he disappeared into wherever the other side led. Meanwhile, Xeix had retracted the ramp and taken to closing the outside paneling.

"Hello," She finally said, turning around to address Lucida, Clarence and Phineas. "My name is Xeix and I'm one of Larrsin's private guard. The trip back to the fleet will take a few days so make yourselves comfortable. The prisons on this ship were converted into a medical bay so whoever needs medical attention can come with me." She paused, looking the group over before pointing at Clarence and Lucida. "You and you. You both look terrible. Come with me, we're going to the medical bay."

[shadow_claw]

Poor Phineas was left to deal with the dragon. It was no surprise that she did not want to go inside the black ship. Tugging on the reins gently, the Mage grimaced as they worked. It was a hard slap on the hindquarters that sent the beast sprinting inside. Casting a scathing look at Lucida, Phineas paused only a moment. They could reprimand the girl later.

 

Lucida grinned at Phineas as the Nicor sprinted after the dragon, her expression deceivingly innocent. Her gaze, however, hardened at the sight of the stranger. She was the enemy; she was helping destroy her home. She gripped her small knife harder, reluctant to put away her weapon. Lucida was willing to have Clarence help her, but some alien? Never.

A gentle, albeit shaky, hand swayed her thoughts. Clarence needed the medical help. The last thing she wanted was for him to be attacked because she let him go alone.

 

Gritting her teeth, she sheathed the small knife and slipped it back into her bag.

 

"Fine."