On one of the many worlds of creation there lies a boy of no great age.

His body was slim, he wasn't tall,

but he wasn't short; his hair was short and a dark brown; he wore a simple thin brown tunic and tan
slops.
In the World he harbors over it is but a simple black void with two, perfectly square, dark rooms. He
could make anything he could imagine with a simple thought and a little effort, but he liked to keep
things simple.
The boy sits at a plain desk with a piece of paper and pencil. He thinks to himself, I need a new way to
pass the time… I think I need to start writing.
He begins writing…
But what to write about?
Hmm…

Chapter 1

The Wyvern complained.

"Be quiet you, ever since I've started giving you cooked meat you've done nothing but gone spoiled!
Now quit complaining and let me file your nails, they're getting too long and you're going to split them if
you're not careful, which you never are! Now shh!!" The boy's complaints could be heard all over the
ruined temple, the few children not out riding and caring for their Wyverns were quietly snickering to
themselves as their older captain tended to his Wyvern, which was known for being a complainer. The
captain turned over to the snickering children, "Stop your laughing! Or I'll…I'll…. Well… I'll….Ah-hah! I
won't share anymore stories with you! How about that huh?" The snickering soon ceased, and the
captain chuckled to himself and continued tending to his companion.

The Emperor's Land was a constant war-struck country for some time, finally peace had fallen upon
them once again. A savage Emperor by the name of Kargal the 2nd took the seat of the Land for 14
years, in that time all hell had broken loose. The Emperor before him, Kargal the 1st, had raised his son
as any normal father would raise a son. He was a loving father and great ruler, the country prospered for
the 36 years he was Ruler but everything ended one cold night when Kargal the 2nd killed his entire
family in cold blood. The act was not secret or disguised, but sudden, he had used a knife and cut his
father down and killed his 2 sisters as they sat shocked in the throne room. Before anyone could stop
him he had his entire family killed.
In the beginning the action of breaking the law, or defying the Emperor's word, resulted in death, but It
rarely came to that anymore. After nearly 1000 years of established unity the Emperor's bloodline had
become entirely different from their barbaric great fathers. The Emperor's were not a bad people, they
ruled their country through love, as such the Ruler would often be seen roaming the streets of the main
city known as "Kingdom" and often chatter and buy goods from people are the market. They were kind
but kept their enemies at bay by fear, fear of fighting to such a united and rich nation, this resulted in
long ages of peace and prosperity for all.
As Kargal the 2nd took his family's last life, he became Emperor. He became the law as he ended his last
sister's life, and none were able to defy it.
Kargal the 2nd turned the country into a war tyrant, striking every border nation and crushing them
under his iron fist within months. Once again like in times of old people began being executed in the
streets for saying their mind against the Emperor, once again people began being hung for something as
simple as being out past a curfew.
After 14 slow, war torn years a brave child finally cut his father's throat. His only child, Karth, only at the
age of 14, had realized what his father really was.
His son had taken a liking to a girl named Abigail, the maiden to his sister Alicia. One day Abigail and
Karth got into a fight, a normal lover's quarrel, it had ended with Abigail slapping Karth and running off
to her room. Karth realized it was his fault, he had taken it too far, and never thought anything of the
slap, he deserved it. Within moments he was at her door, apologizing as he heard her weep through the
door. He said his apology as well as he could and made his way to the throne room for his daily work. As
the normal routines of being an Emperor's son dragged on, suddenly a guard escorted Abigail into the
throne room.
A less likeable servant overheard the fight reported it to the Emperor, he had ordered Abigail be
escorted to his throne room. As she entered the room Karth had taken a face of sadness and slight
shame, he saw her eyes were still red from crying and a larger wave of shame overcame him. As he
realized the girl was not here to serve Alicia, as she wasn't even in the room at the moment, he began to
put on a face of worry. To his right his father said, "Ah yes, the girl. Nourn- " the servant who had
reported Abigail to the Emperor, "What was it you heard this morning?"
A sleek, rat faced man appeared from the behind the Ruler's chair with an evil crooked smile, "Well, I'm
pretty sure I heard that this girl here had struck His Highness!"
Abigail had spoken just a word before the Emperor shouted, "You have no right to speak before me!"
and silenced her.
Karth had begun to take a dislike to the situation, "Father, it wasn't anything serious…" his Father had
held up a hand and Karth stopped talking.
The Ruler returned to the case before him "Where were we…? Ah yes. You assaulted my only son!" he
added over dramatically and sarcastically, "You could have killed him! I can almost see the red on his
cheek!" he began laughing and suddenly turned a serious face and said, "Beat her, then drag her corpse
down the street to the south gate and hang her body for all to see."
At the sudden, insane sentence Karth jumped from his throne chair, "Father! You can't possibly be
serious!"
The Emperor snapped his head toward his son at the sudden outburst, he nearly screamed "You dare
defy my word?!" Karth had turned silent for just a moment, as he was about to protest his father turned
to the guard that escorted her in, he was just as astonished at the sentence as Karth, "You! Soldier! Why
haven't you begun beating this girl to the brink of death? I ordered so!"
The soldier sat dumbfounded, "Highness… I'm not-"
The Ruler interrupted and screamed at the man, "You too defy me!? Guards! Take this man away!" he
turned to Karl with a grin and playfully said, "Karl? Will you be the only person to actually do their job
today and kill this girl for me?"
Karl slowly began walking towards the girl with a menacing face, "Gladly, Your Highness."
The girl stood in fear as the man began beating her with his fists, she screamed out for help but none
was found. Karth watched in pure awe as he tried to find out if this was really happening, he glanced
over to his father who was amused watching his love being beaten to death. He knew he loved her, he
knew it was nothing more than a simple fight, he knew it all and he was enjoying this insane display.
Without thought Karth moved over to Karl and drew his sword, without him even being aware of it
Karth impaled him and he was soon gurgling on his own blood next to the quivering figure of Abigail.
The royal guard outside the door and in the nearby hallways began pouring into the room as the
Emperor began screaming at the betrayal made by his son. Karth made his way up the steps to his
throne with a face full of hate. The Emperor's screams became silent as Karth wordlessly skewered his
father in his chair.
His anger was banished from him the moment he saw his dead father, No…, he told himself, This man
was not a father. He kicked the Emperor's corpse off his blade and sheathed it. Smiling he turned around
and expected all the guard in the keep to be coming towards him to kill him, but only found them all
silently kneeling. The brilliance of it all struck him at that moment, and he made his way to the bruised,
bleeding, kneeling girl he loved so much. He looked down to the girl, lifted her up and kissed her.
Since then all have known the great kingdom of The Land had fallen under a peaceful banner once again,
and entire nations were crying in joy as Karth declared peace.
The distant northern Kingdom Fralia was nearly on the other side of the world, through the 14 years of
war and research with naval combat they were now able to make big enough boats to travel to Fralia
without having to traverse along the far more complicated road ways. Instead of using their war boats
for fighting, they started modifying them for trading. With the new peace they all rushed to get trading
routes out, but it was still restricted to some of the biggest boats… Until they found a huge island, nearly
a new continent seemingly un touched by civilization. The island was nearly half way to the Fralia
Kingdom, it would be close enough for a wide variety of ships to make a trip to. The Emperor sent a
"World Boat", a ship large enough to carry entire cities worth of supplies and materials, to create a sea
port on this newly discovered continent to settle the shipping colony.

The colony that landed was a success… but not without a few failures. Many of the people that landed
with the World Boat were killed learning the harsh lessons of this jungle continent. No one had spent
enough time on the continent to catch the insane web of viruses and diseases that plagued this place, so
the people who came here on the vessel were soon stricken ill and passed away. For some reason,
however, a good amount of soldiers and children were completely unharmed from the diseases. The
soldiers soon sent for reinforcements, but told them to find a way to fight the diseases. The solution
they came up with was sending in reinforcements, stay for a day or two, then leave the island for a few
days, then return for a few days, slowly increasing the time between each visit, thus slowly increasing
your immunity to the diseases. The idea worked, and quickly a small port town was established on the
island, It was a bustling sea port, hundreds of people going in and out every day between the other
countries back in civilization. With people now able to live on the island they were able to send out
vaccines of the most common illnesses, and people were eventually able to freely walk the island within
the first day if they had taken their medicine, which was cheap.
They built an orphanage for the kids left parentless after the initial wave of viruses quite quickly, found
people to watch over the children but couldn't find anyone to adopt them, no one wanted children in
this sort of hectic living style.
An 8 year old boy named Rufus was one of the unlucky children to be sent to the island with their
parents, only to have them pass away. He was the first to venture down the small coast, as he went
down it he saw that down here the water was cluttered with all sorts of rock formations. Ranging from
jagged to completely flat, some were even big enough for houses to be built on! Or at least, that's what
Rufus thought. The rocks weren't the only thing Rufus saw, though.
He walked down the coast for a good bit until a giant shadow cast itself upon the area around him.
Rufus looked up to the sky trying to find what was causing such a huge shadow… only to find what was
causing such a huge shadow. He ducked down with his arms over his head in fear of the giant thing he
saw attacking him only to hear a loud Clack noise as its talons scraped on a rock. Still shaking from fear
he looked up after a moment to see a great reptile settling down on one of the flatter rocks. Its scales
were a dark grey, it had talons big enough to rip Rufus in two with minimum effort, and it was looking
directly at him.
When he had first realized it was looking directly at him he felt scared, but it was quickly replaced with a
sense of joy. Through some form of sheer stupidity he got up and swam over to the giant reptile on the
rock. It made no movement even when Rufus was climbing out of the water and coming in dangerously
close. Finally, Rufus made it within an arm's range. He wasn't exactly fearless of this thing, he had seen
the other things that lived on this island, he'd seen the wounds some soldiers had from keeping the
things out of their town… so he easily knew what this thing was capable of and what it was from. But
still, some force told him it was okay to be around this one.
So slowly, ever so slowly, he reached out a hand and began petting its scaly brow. Rufus spent awhile
there, just sitting with the winged reptile until more started to show up. Again, he feared that they
would attack him, but they acted the same way. He counted 8 of them, including the one he was petting.
A few of them had carried carcasses of animals with them and they ate them, but another strange thing
was that Rufus didn't find the high amounts of gore disturbing at all.
Eventually Rufus left the lizards to run back to the Colony to tell the other orphans.. Sadly, and strangely,
only 7 other children were brave enough to join Rufus to go back to the lizards. Months passed and even
as the great sea port began expanding into the vast jungle the 7 children who had taken a liking to what
they now called "Wyverns" began spending less and less time there each day. The children escaped
civilization for a few hours every day to venture out in the rocks with the Wyverns. It didn't take long for
the children to find that the Wyverns were just as smart as they were. Some of them could have even
swore that their Wyverns understood what they said. Of course, Rufus and the others were still wary of
the Wyverns. They were still giant flesh eating reptiles, after all. But somewhere between finding out
that if they were asleep you could jump on them without them caring and playing games of hide-and-go-
seek with them they stopped worrying about them being dangerous.
It was months later when one day as Rufus sat enjoying the day out on the rocks with the children and
other Wyverns, he thought, Why not try riding one?
He went and found the Wyvern he was fond of the most, the one he seemed to really connect with, the
one that he met first. He had even named the him Gram, after a powerful sword of legend. Rufus had
somehow just known that Gram was the leader of the pack of Wyverns, and somehow… that just felt
right for Rufus. He found Gram bathing in the sun, away from the other Wyverns. As Gram looked up he
instantly began fighting his approach, with a sharp whistle the Wyvern's lungs were filled with air,
growing the beast to almost twice the normal size. He hung his huge reptile head high, doing nothing
but staring down at Rufus.
Why is he doing this? Rufus thought, He's never done this when I've tried to approach him… it's as if he
knows… Rufus took caution, the Wyvern could easily chomp Rufus to bits with his strong jaw, filled with
hundreds of razor sharp, huge teeth. The Wyvern stood on his two strong hind legs as he spread his long
wings in the air, ready to lunge through the air and kill Rufus before he could even dive into the nearby
water. The sight was stunning, Wyverns were big, he knew, but in that stance the Wyvern was shown in
its full glory, it's great blue eyes felt as if they were staring into his very soul.
But something inside of Rufus told him that the Wyvern wasn't going to attack, but was testing him. He
wants me to ride, he was meant for me, he's making sure I'm not a coward… this is a test. He lurked
forward, the Wyverns great eyes still staring him down, Rufus stared right back into them. Some sort of
feeling was whelming up in his body. His mind, he felt, was being made into something it wasn't before,
feeling as if a string that had been cut long, long ago was finally being mended back together. Before he
even knew it he was close enough to feel the breath of the Wyvern go across his cheeks, Gram leaned
down his long neck and showed his massive teeth, but Rufus was un-phased. He never really did tell how
much time passed, even the kids watching the spectacle couldn't remember how long it took, but finally
the Wyvern leaned his giant neck down and submitted. Rufus climbed upon the Wyvern's back and the
string inside him felt fully attached. Rufus truly felt happy. Or… at least until…
Gram launched himself from the rocks and soared through the air. Rufus, sadly, hadn't forgotten a single
detail of that first ride. Terrifying as it may have been at first, the feeling of flying over the trees, seeing
the herds of massive animals running at the sight of the massive shadow on the ground, fleeing into the
trees and hiding behind their parents was a feeling that Rufus wouldn't give up for the world. All
cowered before the united couple.
The trip went on for some hours, and when he finally returned the kids were still on the coast looking in
sheer amazement.
Soon after he started to feel things, not feelings, not speech, but something else… something that told
him what Gram was thinking, something that lets him see things that he can't see, that only that Gram
could. Small details of flight, how to think when Wyverns are out hunting… things that alone Rufus never
would have been able to understand.
Over eight years the other orphans were drawn to mount their Wyverns as well, but something was
special about Gram. None others went into the stance he did when Rufus tried to mount him, and no
others spent an unknown amount of time taking dominance over their own Wyverns. As he found out
what his own bond with Gram was he began noticing the other's bond, as well. The whispers and
feelings weren't as strong feeling from the other Wyverns and children, but he could still feel that they
were there. As the years passed by so quickly he began feeling that the string inside of him was not only
tied to Gram, but tied to the other children as well.

After all of the children had mounted their wyverns and began exploring the vast island, they found a
ruined temple. The temple belonged to an unknown civilization that had long ago died out, they figured.
It was a perfect spot, it was located on top of a small mountain- more of a very large hill - directly in the
middle of a large lake, only accessible by Wyverns. It had a huge landing area, and an inner temple that
they could tell was used to hold Wyverns. It was meant for Wyverns, these people who built this place
must have mastered the Wyverns too, and used this place as a safe haven from the creatures of the
ground, was the conclusion Rufus finally came to.
Soon enough, the orphans that had changed their lives by going out to the coast with Rufus found that
they didn't need other humans anymore. They all moved out to the temple and never went back to the
colony.
They didn't need to worry about food, they hunted with their Wyverns. They didn't need to worry about
water, there was a river close by. The orphans pretty much had everything they needed.
The children hadn't really become feral over the 7 or so years they had lived in the temple, out in the
wild. But they had changed. Things they shouldn't see or know how to do all began to cloud their minds.
Rufus knew what they were coming from, they were from their Wyverns. Their own Wyverns were
teaching them through the bond to survive out in the wild with them. Gram could speak to Rufus, and
sometimes Rufus could even speak back. They taught the children how to fly them, how to lean your
body when a Wyvern was changing direction or how to train your eyes to find tracks of animals in the
jungle floor. All these things just came naturally for them now, all thanks to the bond.
There was an unspoken agreement that Rufus was to lead the children, being the oldest by two years
and taming the leader of the Wyverns, it was just meant to be. Rufus had lead the children well for the
past 7 or so years years, even though through his guidance no child had lost his life, he never felt cocky
or safe about the jungle. He knew that a simple mistake could end your life in a heartbeat, even with the
power of a Wyvern at your side. He kept a tight routine, and punished those who didn't listen, but
luckily no one was stupid enough to disobey; because they knew it was for the good of them all. He
always sent two out to hunt, two out to fetch water, two out to do anything that was needed. Never be
alone. Never get separated.
Eight children, the youngest being the last one to tame his Wyvern, was only 12 years old. Rufus is at the
age of 16, almost 17, and the next oldest was just turning 15. Rufus found that none of their Wyverns
were full grown, which always left a question that was never answered by Gram, How did you get here?
Gram and the others had grown matching their companion, Gram was a good twenty feet long from
base of tail to tip of the head when they had met, but was now at least twenty-five feet long, and had
gained longer legs. He often wondered if they even ever stop growing, Maybe the dragons from legend
that were said to be hundreds of feet long were actually just Wyverns that had somehow lived
throughout the ages? However much they grew, their nails grew too. A Wyvern would spend hours a
day filing their nails on the hard rock of the coast, but they had completely abandoned the idea after
they joined with their companions, so the children had to learn how to tend to them. A nail that got too
long was prone to splinter, which would be infected by the hundreds of viruses from the jungle and
most likely eventually rot and kill or maim the Wyvern for the rest of its life. Or, at least, that's what
Rufus figured. He was never stupid enough to find out for sure.
Every day they would file nails, every day they would check for splinters, every day they were ordered
to check for cuts, scrapes, anything. The children hated the work, but he knew they would do it even if
he stopped telling them to. It was just a simple thing to keep your companion in good shape.

Soon Twitch and Fidget returned from the hunt, Fidget's Wyvern carrying a "Scavenger" in both foot
claws, Twitch's Wyvern carrying a Queen Lizard in his claws. Rufus kept things simple with names,
Scavengers were the ones that came to pick a body clean after whatever killed it had its fill. They were
about as big as a human adult and stood on two legs, with long dangling arms with razor sharp claws
meant entirely for shredding open carcasses. King Lizards were the biggest reptile like thing out there,
growing to 30 feet long and 20 feet high, with massive jaws bigger than a Wyvern, these things were
slow, stupid, but dangerous. Queen Lizards were almost as big as King Lizards, but were smarter, and
faster, and they always made some sort of moaning noise when they were being attacked, so Rufus
found it right to call them "Queen" Lizards. Shriekers were these things that came out at night, small
little lizard like things that crawled on all fours and shrieked all through the night or when they were
hunting. Blunt-tails were these massive beasts, the only good thing they were useful for was luring
Scavengers or King Lizards around, being too big to carry away and too big to eat fully, they were great
for luring in others, they were vulnerable from the sky, an easy snap for a Wyvern's jaw, their necks
would break like kindling. Killing a single old male easily brought in a large supply of things to kill, waiting
for them to come pick out the body, you simply pick them out. There was absolutely no shortage of
things to kill, no matter how many they killed five popped up in their place, seeming to come out of
oblivion fully grown ready to be hunted.
The only danger were the Wyvern's brethren, the Wyrm. But they nested only in the grand mountains
that lined the entire island, so they weren't much trouble. They were smaller than Wyverns, but had
arms as well as wings, and like most things on this island, they seemed to never end. They always
attacked in packs, the only close call with one was when Rufus was trying to scout out the island, and
found out about them. Gram had almost been killed, and Rufus had almost been a head short. They
were smaller than Wyverns, sure, but not small enough. They were still bigger than a human adult.
Rufus walked out of his pen and waved to the returning children, "Twitch, Fidget, good job, go take a
rest and take care of your Wyverns, we'll start cooking them." he pointed to the corpses of the
Scavengers, Twitch and Fidget's Wyverns had dropped their catches in the open, and were already
following their companions to their bed area. They knew the way things worked, when they hunted,
they brought it back, put it near the cook area, then headed off for rest. Simple. Effective.
Pit was the cook, coming from a family that owned an inn she knew the most about cooking and was
given the job without a word. Rufus and Wrench started cutting up the Scavengers, leaving the Queen
Lizard to be freshly devoured by the Wyverns. Wyverns surprisingly didn't eat much, since their bodies
were almost strained just from having to carry children on their back, a large meal was never wanted,
or needed. They could survive weeks without eating, but started complaining if they didn't after a few
days. The Queen would last them two days, being eaten slowly throughout the days. The children
learned to keep chopped meat somewhat fresher for a little while longer by wrapping them in these
leaves from a certain tree and then leaving them out in the sun. They figured that the leaves had a
special acid or something in it to keep the dried meat fresher and made it take longer to go bad, so they
were always able to have a snack or two on hand. It wasn't too long in the temple before Wrench had
fully earned her name. One day, watching Pit slowly cook the meals for everyone she said, "You know,
instead of making a fire every day and cooking it on a slow spit, why not just heat up an entire rock and
cook on top of that? It's the same result, right?"
Pit had stopped cooking and dumbly nodded, soon after Rufus sent out Gram to go and find a decently
sized rock and grind it against some other rocks to smooth it down to a nice cooking tablet. The idea had
worked out perfectly and Pit was able to cook much faster, and there was less to clean up.
The eating area for the children was in one of the corners of the temple, and the Wyvern's just ate out
in the middle area of the temple. After cutting the Scavengers into good sized bits Rufus and Wrench
carried the parts over to the cooking area, where Pit was already starting the fire, she said "Just throw
them on there, should be done in 20 minutes, go and ask Fidget if he got any more seasoning, ok?"
Rufus nodded. Although the captain, he wasn't stupid enough to let pride get in the way, Pit knew how
to cook, so he listened to her. Fidget knew how to gather, so he listened to him. And, even if you were
on bad terms with another child -because it wasn't always fun and games- Rufus always listened to what
people had to say. He had taught the other kids the same thing, he would tell them story where he
remembers sailors talking when he was a young boy, one sailor had been having an argument with
another and eventually ended the fight with an agreement. The sailor growled and he walked away
saying, "I hate the bastard, but he's right." Rufus had taken that and really thought about it, and it rang
true. They had become family when they moved here, and the last thing they would do is stop listening
to each other.
Rufus went over to Fidget's pen and nodded to his Wyvern, Fiddle, as he approached. He went over to
Fidget who was grabbing a small stick out from his boot, "Fidget, Pit wants to know if you got any more
seasoning for tonight?"
Fidget nodded and got up, only wearing one boot he hobbled over to Fiddle's saddle and pulled out a
small red pouch "Here, give this to Pit, she'll know what to do with it and all."
Fidget threw the pouch to Rufus and he caught it, and starts walking back towards the cooking area.
Soon he arrived and handed the pouch to Pit who takes it up, opens it, and smiles. "All good then, Pit?"
Rufus asked her.
She nods, "Yes, it'll be done soon, thanks for fetching this for me." Rufus nods, and goes to check on
Gram.

Chapter 2

The boy stretches in his wooden chair. He finishes his stretch with a sigh and rests his chin on his hand.
He thinks to himself, "Doing all of this work alone is quite a hassle… I need someone to help me."
For the first time in his time, the God of the World makes another being. A being to harbor over a genre
of his story. What he forms is a simple blob, because he's too lazy to think of anything else. At first it just
starts out as a small blip in the air above his hands, but it expands and begins to wobble as it becomes
solid enough for him to hold in his cupped hands. It was just a physical mass, so he gives it a source of
power and it begins to tingle just a little. But still, it was just a mindless blob. He gives it self-awareness,
instantly it begins looking around with its small white ball eyes that float around in its gel. It looks up to
the God and stares.
He looks back down at it and starts petting it, "You're going to be called Action."
And thus the first deity was born.
The night was silent.
Rufus and Rain, one of the other orphans, were using the "Elvanadair" which was elfish for "The path
through the trees", so said Rain, anyways.
Throughout the years they had been here they had been carving a tunnel pathway through the jungle,
they had been cutting it almost every week for six years, little by little. The Wyvern's were able to snap
almost any branch off, and were able to quickly make a small shortcut around the island, safe from stray
Wyrms while they were closing inland. The reason for coming inland was a secret only Rain and Rufus
shared, and their Wyverns, of course. It wasn't much of a deal, but for some reason he only wanted to
keep it between him and Rain. Ever since he had made the bond with Gram Rufus had been having a
terrible feeling about the other side of the great mountain chain; which is guarded by the main nest of
Wyrms which happens to hold thousands of them. He needed to see what was over it, since no one
knew. Maybe it was important?
Through the years Rain had been helping Rufus. She had been teaching Rufus how to use a blade, for
some reason he had just always wanted to learn how. Probably because he looked up to his father, who
was a guard before he died. Rain had been a daughter of a more royal family than most, and she had
learned swordsmanship as a young kid. It took awhile to get into the rhythm, but eventually she was a
pretty decent teacher and Rufus considered himself a decent swordsman. Combined with the toughness
of living out here in the jungle he was quite a tough opponent.
Her Wyvern, Reign, was the matriarch of the group of Wyverns. As such she was just as big as Gram. It
was always curious, Rufus thought, that each person matched their Wyvern almost exactly. Gram was
lean, fast, smart, and strong, just like Rufus. Fidget and Fiddle were always prying, always curious.
Twitch and Spaz were always energetic, Twitch had a twitch on his left arm and Spaz had a twitch on his
left wing. Pit and Bottomless were always hungry, always finding new ways to cook and finding new
things to cook. They had taught all of the children how to read and write, as well.
Wrench and Tool were always making fancy equipment, they had figured out the things about how to
dry meat with the special leaves, and they made hunting knives from bones and for fun makes other
sorts of weapons. She also made their saddles out of cured leather from the hunts.
Water and Flow were never away from the ocean long, they were the only two that Rufus let spend
nights away from the temple. The only safer place for a Wyvern than the temple was out at the ocean
rocks, where they came from, so Rufus had no reason to refuse her when she asked to stay there. Water
had been granted her nickname, of course, because she was always wanting to be near the ocean. But
she was also expert in hand to hand combat, always fighting with the certain swiftness and flow. She had
also been teaching Rufus for the 7 years he'd known her, but he hasn't seen her for the past few
months. But Rufus didn't worry, no doubt she's taken a spot in the ocean which he knew would happen
eventually.
Brass and Brawn were the ones who took down the King Lizards for fun, Brawn was by far the biggest
Wyvern out of the pack, but was slower and not all too bright about complicated situations. Brass
himself was already showing muscle even though he was only fourteen, having wide shoulders and legs
that were already shaping themselves to be tree trunks. Brawn needed to be as strong as he was to
carry him, he was a big kid.
But Rain… she isn't anything like her Wyvern. Rain is a small child, even though she's the second eldest,
being 15, she's the tiniest of them all. She cares for her Wyvern with a love more than Rufus would care
to show, and is sensitive to the normal banter of the other children. Reign doesn't stand for any of it,
and often has fights with the other Wyverns. Never coming to blood-shed, at least, but often comes with
growling and showing of teeth, which is the Wyverns last step before tearing something apart with
them. Rufus didn't like Reign's attitude, but he knew it would never, ever, become nothing more than a
few fights around the temple.
Rufus was leading the way down through the Elvanadair, they were nearing the mountains now, Rufus
figured that if they were just able to peek over the mountain to see if anything was there. He may be
able to rid this feeling he'd done all of this for. The Wyrms were day hunters, and fell asleep at night in
their nests, so they had a good chance of going by undetected. They were now making their way just to
the end of the Elvanadair, the exit was a clearing in a tree that went down below the tree tops and there
was another opening in the canopy that exited out, just before the mountain. Rufus looked back
towards Rain, who was looking tired. The cover story of why they were able to leave the group for just
over 2 days was to go and check on Water and Flow, although Rufus didn't even know where they were
settled down. But, if they were anywhere, they were back on the huge rock formations located in the
ocean, near the colony.
They finally made it to the exit, and went up through the opening in the trees, and they were out in the
open. Rufus told Gram to tell Reign to be as quiet as possible, and to tell at the first sight of any Wyrms.
Gram makes a row rumble, it was how the Wyvern's communicated with each other, although not
hearable by anything but other Wyverns, Rufus could still feel Grams body rumbling at the production of
it. Rufus had painfully marked the nests on the side of the mountain, and chose the path with the least
amount on them. It was just a straight climb up, a short peek over the mountain, and then they were
home free. Simple. Or at least hopefully. They start to make an ascent up the mountain, passing a few
sleeping Wyrms, the only thing heard in the night was the faint flapping of wings. It took a slow hour to
climb up the mountain with only a few close encounters.
Reign latched onto the side of the mountain, just before crossing over it, the hooks on the Wyvern's
wing hand was used for just this reason. Reign waited while Gram and Rufus went just over the
mountain to see. Rufus's heart races as he peeks over the mountain…
The sight astonished Rufus, his jaw dropped and instantly he beckoned for Gram and Rain to come and
see as well. Reign had quietly flown in just next to Gram and they both looked out onto the sight in pure
awe. Rufus rightfully heard Rain whisper, "It's beautiful…"
Everything beyond the point of these mountains was a giant waterfall, leading into a giant open ocean
with a single large island in the middle of it all. The great chain of mountains ended abruptly into huge
waterfalls that lined every inch of the entire ring, or, as far as Rufus could tell. He could barely see past
the island in the middle with it being so dark, and the moon was shy tonight. At the base of all the
waterfalls lay a calm but rocky and dangerous looking ocean. Shivers went up Rufus's spine as he
thought of the dark possibilities of monsters that lurked in that water, the entire ring of mountains
suddenly felt as if it was just a prison for something of Rufus's imagination. Taking his eyes off the dark,
and now scary, ocean he looked more on the single island in the giant ring. Its jungle was incredibly thick
and the trees were large, even from here.
Suddenly Rufus caught himself in the moment and remembered where he was, there were thousands of
hungry Wyrms just a few dozen feet below them and it was getting late. He pats Rufus on his soft,
underbelly skin on his neck to let him know he's ready.
The feeling of free falling at hundreds of miles an hour on the back of a giant lizard had taken awhile to
get used to, but he eventually did. They dived down the mountain in just a minute and were already re
entering the Elvanadair when Rufus realized the dreadful gut feeling had vanished. Satisfied he couldn't
help but smile as they dived down into the trees and made their way back home.

6 hours into the journey back and Rufus's happy mood finally died away. In the tree tops above them he
saw Wyrm's clawing their way down into the Elvanadair. Instantly the roaring alarm of the Wyverns
were heard as Reign and Gram spotted them as well, "Gram, tell them to keep going! We can out run
them!" A low rumble from Gram and he knew the message was sent.
More and more Wyrms began falling from the tunnel, Gram breathed hard as he said, They were
waiting for us! Fear struck Rufus even more as he realized he was right, and that they were all heading
directly for him and Gram. A cursing intake of breath came just before a loud warning from Gram, Hold
on tight! Rufus had no time to respond as Gram turned over completely upside down in the air, tucked
his wings into his side and grabbed a Wyrm in his jaws that tried to attack Rufus. The maneuver
impressed Rufus as much as it scared him, not for the maneuver itself, but the need of such a thing.
More Wyrms were diving down, even ones that fell through the trees in front of Rain and Reign
completely ran past them and attacked for Rufus. They're completely berserk, they're only going after
us! he said to himself.
Rufus felt a rumble shake through Gram and after a near blow with a Wyrm going for Rufus's head Gram
said, Rain needs to know what to do. She's panicking.
Rufus cursed and said, "Tell them to just keep going!" another rumble was sent as Rufus noticed the
desperate clawing and raking of the Wyrms as they tried to chop their way through the tree tops. More
of them died by falling to ground from shredded wings than by Reign and Gram. Another upside move
and Gram and crushed another Wyrm in his mouth, Wyverns were made for fighting large things, not
small things. His legs were useless and he could barely manage to hit a Wyrm for a killing blow with his
mouth.
The assault began to overwhelm them, he cried inside as he noticed they were beginning to fall through
the tree tops and to just drop on top Rufus, entirely ignoring their own lives. Soon the worst happened…
One fell and hit Gram's wing and ripped right through the fiber of it. Blood had begun streaking down
Gram's large mouth from crushed Wyrms as they began slowly losing air and falling to the right. Terror
and panic gripped Rufus as he knew there was no way to make it back. As a last desperate move Gram
yelled out for Reign to keep going and get help. They smashed into the trees and all went black as they
fell.

Blood stained the jungle floor.

Absolute carnage broke out when Rufus and Gram hit the ground, Gram had broken his left wing as they
fell through the bottom of the Elvanadair, completely snapping the bone in two. They landed rough on
the vegetation covered ground. The Wyrms still came after them even after seemingly vanishing through
the trees, Gram had shrugged off the pain of his mangled wings and defended Rufus with his life. After
fending off just a few of the Wyrms diving for Rufus Gram knew that they didn't even care for him, and
started using that to his advantage. The fight led on as Wyrm after Wyrm dove for Rufus, each meeting
the jaw of the Wyvern or bashed down to the ground as Gram used his now mace like wings as a
weapon. Eventually they stopped coming, and Rufus instantly started treating Gram's wounds as much
as he could. He was barely harmed other than the wings and a few cuts on some less protected areas of
his body that he acquired as the Wyrms clawed their way past Gram to try to kill him. He told Gram to
fill himself as much as possible before they had to depart from where they slaughtered the Wyrms as
they most likely wouldn't be eating well for a long time. Rufus had also strapped a carcass on Gram's
saddle to bring along for him, quickly after tending to Gram a little bit more he wondered off and swiftly
found the plants to preserve the meat, but had feared that the lack of sun under the huge tree canopy
wouldn't do much good for it at all…
As fast as they possibly could the two of them ran as far away from the slaughter grounds as they could
before collapsing. Rufus knew that the dozens of bodies of Wyrms would attract hundreds of creatures
from all around, they always knew where there was blood-shed, and always came hungry. Within a
short amount of time Rufus had found a fallen hollowed out tree that they rested in for the night,
although there was no rest to be had. He had spent the entire night with his few supplies trying to patch
Gram's broken wing, the most he could do was sew the fibers together on the torn parts as much as he
could for proper healing. Gram had refused to growl in pain as Rufus aligned his broken wing hand
where it had snapped, but Rufus knew that he was in pain… he could feel it in his own limbs. Rufus
explained to Gram that he wouldn't be able to move if he wanted it to heal correctly, not to risk
abnormalities.
After patching up Gram and settling his own bruises he sat down next to his companion and began
thinking out what he was going to have to do. The Elvanadair was a straight cut north east from the
temple to the mountains, it was about a day and a half ride for a Wyvern. They were about 6 hours into
the journey back when they had crashed, taking that away from the journey back and rallying the other
orphans to come and help it would take at least a day. If he was right about where he should be they
were just east of the river that lead into the lake that the temple sat on. A few miles west and he should
find it. Gram needed water, and a lot of it, so Rufus was planning on locating the river, finding a suitable
spot and then slowly moving Gram to the area. Moving him would be painful, but before the bone starts
healing he might as well get them some place where they can have full access to water.
After not being able to sleep he told Gram that he was going out to look for the river and set out to the
what he hoped was west. Rufus located it sooner than he thought, just above a mile from the fallen tree
they were housed in at the moment. The massive trees hulked over the small river, vines falling down
from branches, birds and all sorts of small beasts skittering around in what seemed to be an entirely
different world. Rufus never knew where this river had come from, even now. What he saw over the
mountain was amazing, but didn't answer any question of where the water came from. The only answer
he could muster was, There must be some sort of underground cavern that's overflowing with water and
leaks into that great bowl. Some must escape and flow into these rivers.
After dawdling on the thought of the origin of the water he surveyed the river before him. The water
was fresh, clean, or at least, to the naked eye, and it was quite shallow. On the other side of the river
Rufus spotted a giant tree that had recently fallen over, on its trip down it knocked down another tree
and now formed a perfect see-saw like shape, big enough to house him and Gram. Perfect!
He began making his way back, but soon was found by a lone Shrieker. He had heard the thing
approaching but in the thick vegetation Shriekers were hard to spot as they laid low to the ground as
they walked. The thing had been right next to him when he had spotted it and being nearly as big as him
the fight was bloody. Hopping backwards as it popped out of the bush for a killing bite Rufus ran to its
side and cut it open before it knew where he was. The thing growled in pain and refused to die at first,
but it was too injured to do anymore real damage. A quick hard thrust down through the skull and the
creature was silenced. He was hopeful of bringing some meat back, but the blood from the meat and
the blood already on his hands would attract too much attention, with a frown he set off and left the
body be. The fear of the blood was soon heard as a small pack of Shriekers could be heard behind him,
he only hoped that they didn’t catch his scent until he returned to Gram, once he made it to him they
wouldn't dare attack. Lady luck was on his side for once today and he made it safely back to return to a
waiting Gram, who looked sorrowful at the sight of the blood until he realized it wasn't Rufus's. Rufus
sat down and caught his breath as he explained the shelter that he had found not far off. A long sigh was
let out as he said, How do you plan to move me exactly?
Rufus shrugged and thought for a moment, suddenly coming to an idea he said, "You can move
sideways, it'll keep your arm aligned and should be pretty painless to move. I don't see any other way
without causing more pain." A low growl was the response, and he stood up.
He asked another question, What shall we do if we're to be attacked? Rufus didn't think of an easy way
to handle it.
Sighing, Rufus said, "We'll simply have to fight, the only things I have come across in these parts are
Shriekers, which won't bother you. If anything bigger attacks we can try to outrun them, how to do so
will have to be made up as we go, but let's just pray we don't get attacked be it big or small." Gram
nodded, and began to make his way out of the hallow tree, turned sideways and leaned his wing
downward. Rufus grabbed Gram's wing arm and nodded to Gram as he slowly started sidestepping his
way in the direction of the river. Shriekers could be heard nearby, but Rufus still knew they wouldn't
approach.
Few times Gram growled in pain, Rufus tried as hard as he could to spot out large bumps or hidden
pitfalls in the floor, but he wasn't perfect. A passing by a pack of Shriekers, most likely the same ones
who had been lured by Rufus's actions, popped out from behind a tree and roared their challenge. Gram
winced in pain at the sudden stop and roared an angry growl that even Rufus wanted to run from, the
Shriekers ran for the hills at the display and they continued on. What seemed like an eternity passed
before they got to the river, which they swiftly passed and set down below the fallen trees. Gram made
a good fit under the fallen trees, since both sides were exposed Rufus figured it would be easy to hang
some sort of leaf wall on the sides of the tree to make a make-shift hut of some sort, to not lure
attention to themselves with a fire...
Rufus went and fetched water, the only container he had was a small canister he had kept all the way
back when they left the orphanage. It would take a dozen or two trips back and forth, but at least Gram
would be well cared for. Once Gram had a decent amount of water he began to pick up the twigs and
leaves on the floor of the tree and began piling them up for a fire. He dug a small hole in the dirt, lined it
with a few rocks from the river and tried to start a fire. He had gotten the technique of starting a fire
down over the last eight years, and had one running in moments. Boiling water for himself Rufus began
to think of ways to acquire food, he knew it would be weeks before Gram would be healed enough to
hunt, and knew that the children would have problems with all the new information that had been
received when Rain had arrived at the temple. Unable to be spotted from above Rufus's best option
would be to just last out and ride out by himself, if they found him, great, but he shouldn't expect it.
Rufus made a quick spit and started cooking the Wyrm he had strapped to Gram, after just a few
minutes the first pieces were ready, and Rufus dug in. They tasted awful. Rufus almost gagged as soon
as it registered the flavor, it was bitter, tough, and some sort of fluid was dripping from it after a few
moments of biting in.
He spit out some little bits in his teeth and said, "Gram, did you feel anything weird about this meat? It's
awful!" Rufus fought another urge to throw up.
Gram looked curious, No, in fact, I enjoyed it quite a bit, is it not to your liking?
"It's not just 'not to my liking', it's horrid, no human could eat this!" Rufus threw the meat upon the
ground and began sighing and rubbing his temples in impatience and anger, "I guess you can have it if
you like it so much, I'll have to find another way to find food, I think I saw a few fish in the river." He
handed the bits of Wyrm to Gram and he chewed on them, paying no heed to the almost painful look on
Rufus's face as he happily enjoyed the meat.
Hours dragged by and Rufus was beginning to be effected by hunger, he went forward with his idea for
fishing and soon had a makeshift fishing pole ready, using a plank of wood and some vines he had the
pole. Rufus had to give up his small utensil knife he had with him to Gram so he could bend it into a
hook for the fishing pole, it was an easy task for his massive jaws to bend them into a decent shape. He
tied the now bent knife to the end of the pole, and headed off to try his luck with fishing, for laughs he
attached some of the Wyrm meat he had left on the hook, if Gram liked it maybe fish will?
He was right about the fish being there, at least, and the meat worked like any normal lure, within a few
hours he had a few fish of small sizes. Rufus sighed at the sight of the small fish that took hours to catch.
He growled as he walked under the logs and said, "Gram, you better heal quickly, I'm going to have to be
fishing all day to keep us fed…" with what felt like a mix of humor and depression from Gram Rufus
began to boil the fish, to kill the dozens of parasites they somehow live with, then began to fry them on
the spit. Rufus was smart enough to always carry two knives, his main hunting knife and the one that is
now his hook, he cleaned the fish then bit down and enjoyed a small meal.
After eating he began clearing off the floor under the logs, getting rid of the dozen of places for all sorts
of nasty beetles and bugs to hide. Finally, night fell and Rufus felt like he could relax. He leaned against
the log wall and asked Gram, "Hey Gram, did you ever eat fish when you lived out in the ocean?"
The Gram spoke without even opening his eyes, Yes, we did. Although only on random occurrences. We
swam in the ocean and hunted for them for fun.
Rufus looked sideways to Gram's head, "Swam? You can swim?"
Gram opened his eyes and nodded, Quite well. Some of us believe we lived under water before growing
our wings and taking to the air.
Rufus shrugged at the thought, "Huh, that's interesting. Can you hold your breath for a long time?"
Hours. We can see perfectly even in salt water, too. Gram paused and then added, We're the best
hunters of land, sea, and air it seems. Good thing I'm on your side.

The deity Action slept on the Gods lap as he made the second deity. The same process happened, a
simple blob and then the personalities and instructions of their existence. Story was born with ease, and
already the God felt his job was easier. The deity Story took full awareness quite quickly compared to
Action and climbed up his arm to rest on his shoulder, waiting for him to write more.
And so he did, thinking if he needed anymore help.
The following 6 days were slow, but not uneventful. Dozens of times Shriekers and the less common
Gorger, a huge warthog like thing Gorgers had massive jaws, with even more massive horns for ripping
open their prey, would visit at night. They wouldn't get too once they spotted Gram but their annoying
shrieks and threats would attract bigger things in the woods. One night a King Lizard got too close and it
had almost come down to a fight when it finally ran from a challenging roar from Gram. Rufus was
thankful to lady luck for that. King Lizards were usually too stupid to run from a fight.
Rufus had swiftly gotten a routine down, in the early morning he would fish in the mornings, then work
on their shelter for the rest of the day. With spending so much time on the shelter he had both sides of
the fallen trees covered by giant leaves from many of the wild plants in the jungle within a few days. It's
most likely what saved them from having to fight more roaming King Lizards. He was able to make a
bigger fire as well once he had cleared more of the shelter's floor.
One of Wrench's inventions was the ability to find leaves and fold them so tightly over each other to
make a giant basket out of them, Rufus thought of using this to carry large amounts of water back and
forth for Gram, it worked well. It took longer to boil but Rufus found that if you hold it high above the
fire the leaves wouldn't burn but would slowly boil the water inside the leaves, but wasn't put to too
much use as Rufus just drank from his canister. Gram didn't need purified water.

After a surprisingly peaceful night sleep under Gram's wing Rufus got up and started a fire for morning
food and water. After starting the fire he enjoyed some left over fish from the day before. Then after the
meal Rufus headed out to fish for the day while Gram still slept, he slept most of the day just because of
pure boredom, but he needed it anyways. His wing had started healing and was very sensitive at this
point, another week or two and Rufus wagered that it'd be good enough to move around with. Rufus
grabbed his fishing pole and pulled back the leaf curtain guarding the entrance and set out to the nearby
river. The morning was quiet, the hundreds of birds hadn't awakened yet, still half asleep Rufus set
down on the bank and cast his line, baiting it with giant earth worms that rummaged around in the
morning. Almost falling to sleep Rufus slapped himself on the cheeks, the burst of pain instantly woke
him up by a good degree, but as he was fishing he noticed something drifting down the river, Hmm, just
some more driftwood I guess. but as it got closer he was able to make out arms and legs, a body, a
head… Huh… I haven't seen driftwood shaped like a human before… Rufus sighed and returned his
attention to fishing…
In a burst of brilliance Rufus registered what he had just seen and sprang from his fishing spot. Looking
down the river he found the body once again and dived in the water after it. The water was fast and
rushed the body away quickly, but he used that same force to catch up to it. He grabbed the body in his
arms and carried it on shore, panting from the sudden burst of energy in the otherwise quiet and slow
day he laid the body down and kneeled before it. The pain in his knee from a sharp rock he kneeled on
completely vanished from his thoughts as he noticed the figure before him had a tail.

The fishing pole was left by river… alone…

Rufus had brought the body to Gram, fighting off the insane urge to ask Gram if he had known anything
about someone with a perfect tail growing out of them, he found she had a serious stab wound on her
belly. It hadn't been tended for at all, it went all the way through out the back of her body. How in God's
name she had lived was beyond him, whatever did this was lucky enough to not hit her intestines. Rufus
found another miracle, there was no infection, no parasites, nothing but a clean cut through her gut, he
thought to himself, If anything she's out cold purely out of blood loss! There's nothing else wrong with
her! After finding no need to cleanse it, he painfully sewed the wound shut, finding that her skin was as
tough as thick leather. After finishing the work he was able to get a calm moment to ask Gram a few
questions, "Alright Gram, this girl is beyond anything, she lived through the water filled with thousands
of devouring parasites, she has not a single infection, she's breathing, and she has a tail, do you have
any clue how this is to be?"
Rufus sat quietly as Gram answered, I haven't a clue about how she has survived the tragic waters.
Rufus pondered for a moment, "I can't think of anything at all… For now I'm going to go and catch some
more fish, I'll have to force feed her, she's as pale as a ghost and I bet she's been drifting in the river for
days." he got up from the girl's side and slowly made his way back to the river.
The fishing was good, but Rufus couldn't help but have a terrible feeling of a crazed race of tailed
humans hunting him down looking for their lost comrade. He returned hours after dawn and started
cooking most of the fish he had caught, Gram hadn't eaten much in the past few days, and now with the
girl here he would have to fish and cook more. He put a few in Gram's mouth and he began eating them,
he went over to the girl who he laid down on his bed of fur from a Fetcher that he had moved from
under Gram's wing from this morning. Fetcher's were big, almost human sized chicken like creatures
with great fluffy fur, he gave them the name after he constantly saw them picking up twigs and plants
that they instantly returned to their nests, only to come out and collect more and more. Their nests
grew to extreme sizes after a few years. They were stupidly simple, but dangerous, their beak and claws
on their legs could gut a Scavenger and Shrieker like their flesh was paper. The fur this one belonged to
was one Rufus had snuck up on it after spotting it drinking from the other side of the river, he cut its
throat before it heard him approach and skinned it for a comfortable bed. If he ever got back to the
temple he'd have to tell the children how good of a mat their fur made.
He crouched next to the girl and noticed a light blue dagger gripped in her hands, he took her hand and
noted how painfully cold she was. He removed the dagger and inspected it, the light blue blade was a
wide, flat blade, perfectly sharpened and glistened in the fire light. The hilt was light and comfortable,
wrapped in a bound leather. All together the thing felt as light as air. It might have just been Rufus, but
he could have sworn it felt like the hilt was a little soggy, even after being next to the fire for a few good
minutes.
He decided that it was a decent enough weapon to use, while she wasn't using it, of course. Rufus put
the dagger in his dagger holster after removing his big hunting knife from it.
He looked back at the girl before him and as gently as he could he lifted the girl's body in an upright
position, and slowly poured water from his canister down her throat. He mashed up some of the fish
meat and dropped a few bits down her mouth, at first she didn't swallow but the gag reflex forced her
to swallow it after a moment.
Shrugging and figuring that his job here was down he laid the girl back down on the mat. He couldn't
help but note her body, it was lean and muscled, her body covered only by a leather loincloth like pants,
and her chest was covered by some sort of top made out of skin from an unknown animal. It only went
down a few inches below her breasts and sealed with a tight band of leather, on the bulk it had carvings,
sketchings of what looked like to resemble King and Queen Lizards, marks next to them, possibly
indicating something, Rufus figured. Her hair was neat, growing down just a little bit past her shoulders
it was a nice dark black color. Everything on the outside seemed normal… the only difference was the
tail long enough to be running barely past her legs. The tail was plated like a Wyvern's scales, after
inspecting it more he noticed that it came straight out of her lower back, and that it had an amazingly
soft feeling to the bottom of it, what Rufus figured a baby's skin would feel like. On the note of skin he
felt he needed to find out why it was so hard to pierce with the needle earlier. He rubbed his hand along
her arm and found that It felt and was just as soft as normal skin, but he knew the pain he had to go
through was real. Shrugging it off he looked at her as a whole and fully took in how beautiful she was.
He had always treated the other children like family, having only slight feelings towards Rain that were
barely noticeable by himself, but he had never been drawn to a body so badly before…
His thoughts were interrupted by Gram, Seems the boy has finally met maturity, you should see the look
on your face.
Rufus turned and blushed, "I wasn't thinking anything, you big lizard! It's just that… I've never… I…" He
quickly darts around for a distraction, "I need to go catch some more fish, I'll be back later!" He dashes
out of the shelter, but not before more teasing could be heard from Gram.
Rufus came back a few hours later, a questioning feeling from Gram came, Where are the fish? he asked.
An annoyed look came across Rufus's face, "I didn't actually go fishing… I went and scouted around the
general area, then went upriver. I wanted to see if there were any traces of other people like her, I
found absolutely nothing at all, I have no clue where she's from."
Gram brought up an obvious question, What will we do with her?
Rufus sat down next to the low fire and started throwing in some more firewood as he thought, after a
moment he said, "You're still a few weeks from recovery, if the children come and find us by then we
can take her with us and tend to her there, but otherwise we'll just tend to her here. If she wakes up
before you recover we'll see what she does, she may be able to speak the Emperor's language, but it's
doubtful. She may be hostile, if she is we'll just let her go, I have no reason to keep her held up with us,
but after you're healed I'm going to search for more people like her."
Gram hummed a sigh, I too think that this need investigating… only time will have answers now, it
seems.
It was a few hours from night now, and Rufus was growing hungry again. He had extra fish from earlier,
since he caught more considering the girl was now here, but figured she wouldn't need that much since
she was completely out of it. Rufus cooked them on the now good sized fire, and soon the food was
ready. He gave Gram 3 whole fishes and then cleaned one for his own, and one for the girl. He ate his
share of the fish, then had half of the girl's fish and mashed up the rest of it to feed to her, again he
moved her in an upright position and fed it to her little chunks at a time, making sure that she fully ate it,
then gave her water.

The next day Rufus had decided to make his way back to where they had crashed, hoping for signs of a
search party. When he returned there was nothing left of the Wyrms, not even any bones, but there
were some fresh looking large talon grooves in the floor, knowing that they weren't Grams he hoped
that the children were nearby. The marks in the ground didn't last long, they most likely saw that neither
his body nor Grams were there so they went searching elsewhere. Since there were no tracks, Rufus
gathered a pile of rocks and put them on the floor, making out "W River", hoping that if they returned
they'd see the message. Rufus began to make his way back, it was almost night time the Shriekers would
no doubt be out stalking about soon enough. He began making his way back and entered the large field
of thick high grass. It was a dangerously safe way to get to the river from where he was, nothing could
see you when you were inside, but you couldn't see anything that was inside, either. Cautiously he
waded through the grass, and it paid off. A small clearing opened up to expose 2 large Fetcher just feet
away. Ducking down he instantly began working out a plan in the fortress of grass. For the sake of being
a proper person he gave up his mat of Fetcher fur for the wounded girl, and now slept on a pile of leaves
he had used before using the Fetcher Fur. He hated that pile of leaves… it was always so cold, so
uneven… He decided, I'll wait until one of them leaves back to its nest and kill the one left behind. From
what he observed Fetcher's didn't stay in packs for long, they would go out of their large nest all at once
and head to the same area, but as soon as they found something they wanted they would leave the
group and head to their nest to place it wherever they wanted.
After a boring few minutes one of the Fetchers found a stick and began scampering off to his nest,
leaving the other behind. Impatience almost got the better of him as he tried to make his way toward
the Fetcher when it turned. Ducking back into the grass he told himself to patiently wait and not get
himself killed. A slow minute passed and the Fetcher began pecking at the floor near a large branch that
had fallen from the trees above. Seizing the moment Rufus quietly crept out of his hiding are and
charged the Fetcher. It turned and screeched and tried to defend itself but before it could raise its leg to
slash Rufus had cut its small thin neck open.
His heart began slowing, he screwed up and the Fetcher had noticed him too early and had almost gut
him with its long talons. Sighing he kneeled down and began skinning the dead Fetcher. He began
skinning it with a slow, precision way to skin something, but realized that the blood would attract many
things very quickly. Picking up speed just enough not to ruin the fur too much he was almost done by
the time he heard Scavengers approaching. He kept himself calm even in the dire situation and was
finishing the last bit when a large shock went through the ground. The rumble veered his sharp hunting
knife off course and it dived into the Fetcher's flesh, hitting a nerve cluster and causing its leg to flick
outward, striking his own leg. He yelped in pain as he gripped his leg trying to stop the bleeding, he tried
to ignore the pain as he growled. Cursing the Goddess of Luck, Raiy, he finished skinning the Fetcher.
Still cursing and in pain Rufus grabbed the fur and made his way to the nearby grass and cut a strip of it,
then tied it around the cut. It wasn't deep but it was bleeding fiercely, the grass would help drastically.
He secured the strip of grass and got his bearings as the Scavengers popped out of the opposite side of
the grass opening. He dived down in the grass before they noticed him, saying a polite apology to the
Raiy as they began eating the Fetcher. He made his way around the opening and ducked down to the
ground at the faint rumble of the ground, the approaching of a King Lizard. It came into sight and looked
dead set for the direction the Fetcher, he was going to apologize more to Raiy until a gust of wind
brushed past Rufus and towards the King Lizard. He felt as if he had gotten Raiy's attention and she was
now toying with him, the King Lizard flicked its long lizard like head into the air and began sniffing. He
was getting ready to run for a most likely pointless escape until another gust came in from the direction
of the Fetcher, causing the King Lizard to resume its course. After a sigh of relief he slowly began making
his way back to his shelter, swearing he heard a childish laugh moments ago.

Another week slowly passed. Fishing no longer became a chore as he had recently found that the larger
fish would literally kill for chunks of Spinner meat; a small lizard that roamed around at night. They were
hard to find but easy to catch once you had, and they were big enough for a single one to supply bait for
a full day. He had crafted another larger bowl like the one he used to transport water to Gram for the
use of storing fish, Rufus would just go fishing for a few hours every few days and catch a large bundle of
fish, supplying them for days.
Gram's wing was almost fully healed, Rufus wagered another day or two and it'd be good enough for
him to move around, but nothing else. The girl had shown improvement as well, few times she would
change sleeping positions, and the color in her skin was now coming back, noting that it was a pale
white; he knew she'd come to by the time Gram would be able to fly. It was soon after sundown, Rufus
had just finished cooking fish for Gram, who complained enough to make Rufus start cooking the fish for
him instead of serving it raw, when the girl finally awoke. He was busy taking a fish out of the bowl when
Gram had shifted his head from the ground and looked past Rufus, She's finally awake, Rufus. he said.
Rufus had taken a second to register it, but quickly looked over his shoulder to the girl, who was rubbing
her temple, not yet noticing them. He just simply sat there, staring at her, waiting for things to unfold
themselves…because he had no idea what to do, Rufus finally said, "Ah… hello…"
The girl snapped her head towards Rufus, who sat there dumbfounded. She began crawling backwards
and soon got up and took a defensive stance, she reached for her belt and found that nothing was there
and began backing up more. She began talking, to Rufus or just to herself he couldn't tell, then she
spotted Gram behind Rufus. Jumping backwards a few feet she ran against the tree and found that there
was no exit and she began shaking. Rufus got up and tried to communicate, "We're not going to hurt
you..you're hurt, you need to lay back down…" she just began talking again and soon her legs buckled
underneath her and she fell forward. Catching her as she fell Rufus sighed to himself, "Well, Gram, at
least she didn't try killing us."

It was the next morning, Rufus had told Gram that morning; "Don’t fall asleep you lazy lizard, if she
wakes up while you're asleep that'd be pretty bad, she could try running away. She won't make it very
far in her condition, don't let her leave."
The "lazy lizard" had told him he'd stay awake, but that "You'd be paying for that comment later". The
banter between them wasn't uncommon, and was just the way they talked to each other. The fact that
they did talk like that and never actually got their feelings hurt was a sure sign that they were very close,
Water had always told him that, anyways.
Rufus had set out that morning to go back to the landing site, to see if there was any sign of return, and
if his stack of rocks had been messed up at all. Worry began to come to Rufus as he realized it had
already been past 2 weeks since they had crashed, not a single wing beat had been heard and not a
single roar from a Wyvern had been heard; something was wrong. Picking up pace as he realized the
possibility of the children being in trouble.
Rufus avoided any contact with Fetchers, he saw a few more when going through the dense field of
grass but swore to himself to never ever try to attack one again without Gram. His leg wound had just
healed, and the pain he went through cutting out the infection wasn't worth another mat of fur.
He made it to the site, and what he saw disturbed him; not only were the rocks he had piled completely
gone, but there were also fresh Wyrm carcasses. They had been picked clean, but the stench of death
was still in the air. Then it all hit Rufus. They were guarding the children from finding him. It's not
natural, Rufus told himself, Wyrms aren't this smart, they're waiting for Gram to heal, for us to fly out of
here…they must not know where we are… Rufus slowly moved back towards the field of long grass, We
can't fly out of here… Hitting the field of long grass Rufus burst into a sprint, praying he wasn't being
followed.

Rufus had returned, panting and sweating he told Gram what he had learned, Gram had taken it just as
seriously as he had, This definitely isn't normal, we've fought them before, they were smart, worked as a
pack, but never anything like this.
Rufus nodded while peaking outside the shelter for any signs of Wyrms in the trees, closing the curtain
he said, "So, my idea is to get out of here as soon as possible, but we're going to have to walk, and I
don’t want to go anywhere near that place. We'll head west, past this stretch of river and to the next
one about days west. Then we'll still head west to the next part of the river, the one that's surrounded
by rocks, you know? At that river we'll turn south and once if we don't make it to the temple by the time
your wing heals we can go ahead and fly out of here." He sat down next to the fire, warming his hands
and sighed, "I just hope no one is hurt."
Gram again asked the question, What do we do with the girl?
Rufus didn’t have to think long, "A few days and you'll be able to walk, by then she should be fully
awake…" changing subjects he continued, "I don't feel safe fishing, we'll have to make do with the few
fish I have left for the next couple of days. I have a feeling she'll be very hungry when she awakes, if she
takes it I'll let her have most of the fish, we'll live for a few days with barely any food. At least we'll be
able to hunt for meat once you are able to walk around, and to be honest I don't think I'll ever want to
eat fish again after this."
Gram let out a big whiff of air from his nose, a Wyvern's laugh. I didn't even like it in the first place, but
we owe it to the fish for keeping us alive at least.

It was long past sun-down, paranoia had taken its ghostly grasp on Rufus that night, he was restless.
Paranoia of being watched, worrying if any of the children had been harmed, wondering what in the
world was causing the Wyrms to do this… contemplating different occurrences in his head, he tried to
think of a solution to every situation, he asked himself each question, each scenario that he thought
could happen.
What if they find us, even if we go west?
We can still try to fly away… But what if they follow us?
What if the children are dead?
They wouldn't die, they couldn't….
What If the girl tries killing you? Will you kill her?
I…don't think I could.
What if she kills you in your sleep? She's dangerous.
No answer was produced, only more questions being asked, Taking a beast's life is easy, but you can't
take a human's life. Gram would have to kill her, the blood of killing a human would be on his hands. It's
all your fault.
He argued, I-it would never come to that, we could just run!
A grumble, What if you die because of your stupidity and leave Gram alone? There's nothing else for
him. His mind would be crushed. Your naivety will be the end of both of you.
Somehow, he found himself running through the woods. Running and running, Rufus tried to escape his
thoughts.
Soon he found himself at a small stream, barely big enough to notice; its water sparkling from the
reflection of a bright new moon, exposed by an opening in the tree tops. He lay on his knees before the
stream, dipping a hand in the crystal clear water he wondered why it was so enticing. He dipped his
other hand in the water, making a bowl with his hands he scooped some of it up… He stared into the
water, somehow he felt a thirst he had never felt before, something that had never been fully met, or
realized. Something. Rufus sat staring, confused, cold, and alone. Again a voice in his mind told him,
You're not fit to live. With me you can. Accept my help and you will not have to fear anything else.
Rufus felt it coming from the water, No. he said to himself, I don't need your help, I have Gram… I have
myself. I can do whatever comes to me.
The voice asked, You'll kill the girl in cold blood?
No.
Then you'll die.
No… I won't. I can do this on my own.
He let the water fall through his fingers, back into the stream. A vengeful voice echoed in his mind,
You'll regret this, Rufus.
Then the stream was gone. Nothing was left... except for the wind.
The rustle of the leaves and the cool kiss of the wind upon his cheeks was the only thing left in his mind.
He welcomed the air, he loved it, it's what he loved so much. Nothing felt better than flying into the air
with Gram, it always lifted his spirits and always kept him…alive. Only now after losing the ability to fly
with Gram did he realize how much he missed it. Rufus tried as hard as he could to somehow embrace
the wind, trying to thank it for all that it had done for it. He grabbed out blindly and hit something.
Opening his eyes he looked into the bosom of a woman, who was smiling back down at him. The wind
increased and Rufus felt scared, but then realized there was a soothing feeling in the warmth of the
women he clung to. Still holding onto her he moved backwards to get a wider view of her, still she
smiled as he realized she wasn't human… The bottom half of her body was entirely see through, the
wind gushed around her ethereal body, again the feeling of fright came to him but was interrupted by
the women pulling him closer to him. He didn't fight it, he welcomed it, whoever this women was he
wanted her, he had wanted her for such a long time, but she was just beyond his grasp.
A rushing, powerful voice filled with wind whispered into him, I've always been there… with this we'll
never be more than a thought away.
He closed his eyes and allowed the girl to consume him into her body.

Rufus sprang up from his mat of Fetcher fur, looking around he tried to find where he was, It was just a
dream, but-
That's when he noticed the girl had also woken up, she too was laying up, staring directly at Rufus. He
kept her gaze, she hadn't gotten up, she hadn't started talking, Rufus felt something pass between them,
but he couldn't comprehend what it was. They still gazed at each other, but Rufus had noticed the sun
was coming up, How long was I asleep? was a question that passed through his mind, but it was soon
replaced with I'm really hungry. He slowly stood; taking off his gaze from the girl he began making the
morning fire for food and water. He had the fire up in moments, the embers from the night were still
there and kick started it, throwing a few more pieces of wood upon the fire he cast a glance at the girl.
She was now leaning back against the tree trunk, watching Rufus work, he faintly smiled and got up. He
went to go awake Gram, shaking his big head Gram opened his eyes, he told him of the girl's condition,
and to not look too frightening. Gram raised his head, Rufus had noticed the girl had moved back, and
had a frightened look on her face. Rufus patted Gram on his brow, more to show that he was friendly,
and moved over to his left wing, gently feeling the bone, he asked "It's fully healed, is it sore at all?"
Gram started to slowly move his wing, Nothing yet, he said. He began flapping it a little faster, Still
nothing, a little stiff but no pain.
Rufus nodded, "Good, good. Now, stop moving before she freaks out and runs away."
The girl seemed to have calmed down by just a little, but she still seemed alert. Rufus made his way over
to the fish bowl, swiftly dunking his hand in the water he grabbed the last large fish and started cleaning
it with his knife. She spotted the knife and some sort of curious look came over the girl, he looked at his
dagger and realized that it wasn't really his. He had been using hers. Rufus stopped cleaning the fish and
wiped the blood off on his shorts, cleaning the blade as much as he could before he sat it down on the
ground in front of the girl and nodded to try to tell her it was okay to pick up.
He switched to his normal hunting knife which was in his boot and soon enough he had the fish ready to
cook. He put them on the spit over his fire and gathered the water canteen and went to the river.
Almost forgetting about the possibility of being watched he quickly gathered the water and came back
in, hanging the canteen above the fire by a vine he had attached to the spit. By the time the large fish
slabs had finished cooking the girl had fallen back to slumber, Maybe for the better. Rufus thought, But
she needs to eat while it's available.
Rufus gathered one of the slabs, put it on a leaf and walked over to her, sitting down and crossing his
legs he asked himself, Well, how should I go about waking her? A shake on the shoulder? A nudge? Poke
her with a stick? he was too busy in thought to realize that she had awoken by his approach. His
attention went back to her when he saw that her tail had begun to move slowly. Rufus looked up to her
and gulped, for some reason he felt really embarrassed being this close. But he shrugged it off after
finding this the best of moments to give her the food, he made a offering motion to her and said,
"Food?"
She nodded, grabbing the food she said, "Sihi"
Rufus smiled and moved back to eat his own fish…hopefully for the last time.
Chapter 3

The God sat at his desk playing with his newest deity, Romance. He had tried a little diversity with this
one, making the blob slightly purple. It wasn't much, but at least he could tell it apart from the rest.
He figured he might as well do it with the other deities as well. So he grabbed Story from the top of his
head and cupped it in his hands. He darkened the blob and it hopped away happily, starting a blob
conversation with Action. Or, at least, he tried. The God snatched up Action and made it a shade of red.
He had given the blobs emotions, so he figured that the rapid jiggling that Action was doing was either
being happy or laughing. Either one was good.
He placed Action back down next to Story and turned back to his desk.

The morning was frantic.

After breakfast Rufus had begun to pack things up, he felt they should leave as soon as possible, as Gram
was finally able to move. He put out the fire and as he was setting the rest of the fish free in the river he
thought of something, I could leave a message in the shelter if the children ever get past the Wyrms. It
was a long-shot, but if they managed to find his shelter and looked around inside he could tell them he
was venturing west. He gathered dozens of small rocks in his now dirty and crusted shirt, and brought
them back to the shelter. The girl looked on in curiosity as he lay the rocks besides the fire and then
began making out the words "Went W too dangerous will meet at temple" by the time he had the
message complete he had to go back and get a few more dozen rocks, but soon it was done. He
gathered the now empty first-aid kit and his hunting knife, slipping it into his holster on his belt.
He got the few things that he had made while out here that he wanted to keep and strapped them onto
Gram's saddle, which was now back on him and ready to go. He made sure to pack as much water as he
could, the river they were going to was still about a full day away.
Gram had finally once again been able to get up and walk without pain, Rufus told him to go and wait
outside the shelter but to stay under the nearby trees, just in case. Gram had managed to get up with a
"hoof" sort of noise, he had ripped down the back leaf curtain but Rufus was expecting it, there was no
need for it anymore anyways. As Gram made his way to the nearby trees he stood with a difficult
situation before him; he wanted the girl to come with him, but that was a problem for three reasons.
One, he didn't know how to ask her to come with him. Two, he knew she wouldn't be able to walk just
yet. Three, all the of the rum was gone, Why is the rum gone? he questioned, but luckily he had
gathered a jar of dirt the other day," I've gone a jar of dirt, I've got a jar of dirt, I've got a jar of dirt and
guess what's inside it!" he asked Gram as he walked away.
Gram shrugged, I don't know. It looks empty to me.
Rufus put on a questioning face, looking inside the jar he noticed Gram was right, "Gram? Where's the
thump-thump? Where's the film-film?"
Rufus sighed and paced around just outside the shelter, he wondered how to even bring up the
problem, what gestures to make… eventually he thought of something. The girl would just have to ride
Gram, it would be easy to just ride as he walked around, so there was no need for skill or practice
involved and she would easily be able to dismount if the need of fighting arose for Gram. He entered the
shelter, she sat looking at the dagger she held in her hands. He made his way over to her, sitting down
close by as she noticed him. No better way to do this… he pointed to her legs, "Legs" he said, he then
shook his head, "No", that was about as far as he thought… "We" he said as he pointed to himself and
Gram sitting below some trees that were still in view, "Are leaving" he pointed west.
She looked on with question, I don't think she understands. came from Gram, who was watching the
exchange.
Rufus sighed and thought again for a moment…
He took in a deep breath and said, "We" pointing to himself and Gram once again. He made a walking
motion with his index and middle finger while saying, "Walk" he pointed west again, "Home"
After a minute of hard thinking the girl finally nodded, and Rufus smiled, hoping she got somewhere
close to the right answer. She began to stand up, but struggled with the task. Rufus gently grabbed her
arm and began to help her up, she almost fell over when she was fully on her feet, so Rufus offered her
his shoulder for support. Being nearly as tall as Rufus, maybe a few inches shorter, she was able to reach
her arm to his opposite shoulder easily, he reached his arm around to her opposite side and grabbed. He
had only noticed how close they were at this moment when he had seen her face as he glanced past it
after he had grabbed her, she was blushing and he too began to blush.
Soon he felt humorous thoughts from Gram again, It's that look again, Gram said, you really should see
it sometime.
He embarrassingly made his way to Gram, having to further explain to the girl what to do, she had
become a little edgy near Gram… he figured it would be hard to get her to mount Gram. But after a few
gestures, a few pats on Gram's head and she allowed Rufus to help her up. He strapped her in and went
back to the shelter to grab the Fetcher fur and after making sure the rock message was still intact he
went back out and offered the fur to the girl, she shook her head and Rufus thought of something else
to do with it. He had the other mat of fur under the saddle for placement, but Rufus figured he could put
it under a pressure point on Gram's belly, it would look funky and most likely get torn a little but at least
it would be put to use. Rufus nodded to Gram and they were finally on their way back to their home, or,
at least, he hoped they had a home to go back to.

The first day went without event, they walked west into the jungle until they hit the next part of the
river which lead south, only stopping for a minute to fill their drinks up with new water. Rufus noticed
that after a few hours the girl had seemed like a natural on top of Gram, of course that was only on land.
Rufus had also found that Gram had taken a liking to her company, and that instead of just using his
strong longs to walk, he was using both his legs and his wing hands. Usually a Wyvern just walked on
their legs with their wings tucked on their sides, but in rocky areas like the rocks off the coast they used
their hook like fingers on their wing hands to maneuver around, grabbing holds in the rocks and keeping
better balance. But Gram had started using his wing hands, which made sense after Rufus thought about
it, the jungle floor wasn't exactly the smoothest floor out there.
The trio moved late through the night but eventually came across a huge tree with its roots showing just
enough for Gram to fit, and made camp. Rufus had made a tiny fire for warmth and for warding off
roaming bugs that stalked in the night. Dinner consisted of the nuts and berries that Rufus found while
on the day, after all of the travelling it actually summed up to a good bit. But Rufus knew that Gram was
going to be hungry for meat again soon, they needed to find something tomorrow. Gram had curled up
and left his left wing outstretched, after pushing aside selfish thoughts he allowed the girl to sleep under
his wing.
There's plenty of room under my wing for for two, Rufus. Gram said.
Rufus blushed, "I know that you big lizard, but… it's a thing of personal space… I don't… I'll just sleep out
here." he had grabbed one of the Fetcher's fur from Gram's saddle and placed it on the floor.
Again he felt humor from Gram, You know it's cold, you'll be miserable. he pushed the point for his own
amusement.
Rufus quieted, I know, Gram. I'm just afraid of the effect she has on me. he used the bond to talk, a thing
at first only thought to be a power held by Gram, but he had soon found the ability to use it in dire or
serious moments, even to send feelings or images.
Gram suddenly quieted, I'm sorry I pushed it, Rufus. I didn't know-
He interrupted, It's fine, Gram. I don't mind the normal banter but something like sleeping that close
would be more miserable for me than being out here. and that was the end of it, Rufus spent the cold
night trying to find what these feelings were, eventually drifting to sleep.

The next morning was as cold as the night was. He awoke to the thoughts of Gram, Finally the boy
awakens, I've been waiting for hours.
Rufus rubbed his eyes as he got off the mat of fur, "You could have woken me, what's the rush?” he had
already begun refreshing the fire.
Gram sent surprising news, enough for Rufus to pause his work, I dreamt of a pool of water.
Rufus looked at Gram, "Dreamt?” was all he asked.
Gram nodded, Dreamt.
Rufus quickly asked, "Of…a pool of water? What are the details? Was anyone in it? What happened?" a
Wyvern dreaming wasn't so much of a dream as a vision. The only other time Gram had dreamt was
when he dreamed of fire, children burning in their sleep, suffocating and dying as they tried to escape. It
had been the fire that spread throughout the town, finally reaching the orphanage where every family
member he has now was sleeping at the time. Gram had awoken from the nightmare, calling to Rufus
and sending the images and thoughts of what had happened, because of that he was able to save half
the town, including the children. The mysterious part was that the fire had started moments after Gram
had the dream.
Instead of sending images and thoughts, Gram simply explained, It wasn't like the other. I had awoken in
this very spot and walked out into the forest for an unknown amount of time. Eventually I came to a
great pool of water, but it just wasn't… water…
Rufus absorbed the information and sat silently for Gram to continue. I can't explain it, so if this next
part sounds stupid, it most likely is. A voice spoke to me, but I couldn't understand any of it.
Days, weeks, months, I don't know how long it lasted, but eventually I began to understand piece by
piece. The most I was able to understand was that it spoke of the girl.
Rufus raised his head from thought, "The girl?"
Gram nodded, Her name is Naki. The voice spoke in her language, so as I sat there listening to it talking
and talking I eventually caught on enough, I can speak it fluently now.
Rufus cocked his head sideways, "Really?"
Again Gram nodded, That was all there was to the dream, really. When I got to the point where I could
understand what the voice was saying it just cut away. It didn't say anything, it just kept saying
incoherent words over and over. I think it was trying to teach me the girl's language, and only that.
Rufus sat in awe, then something in the back of his head lit up, Wait, Gram. I had a dream just a few
days ago, I don't know when the dream began though. I was worried about the possibility of the children
being dead, and I was thinking of every situation and an answer for everything one. I sat there for hours
thinking and was coming up with solutions but then something started asking me questions, something
that wasn't me. I didn't have the answers, and soon I found myself running through the jungle… I didn't
know where I was at all, I was lost, and scared.
Rufus paused and took a deep breath, I found a small stream of the clearest water I've ever seen. I lifted
some in my hands was about to drink from it when I felt something wrong, the voice started asking me
questions again and I rejected what it was saying, then the water was gone.
But that wasn't the end… I suddenly felt alone, the only thing left in that world was the wind, and me. I
began thinking of how much we owe the wind, how it's always been there, you know? It lets you fly…
you know we both like flying… well, I wanted to thank the wind… I know… stupid right? He excepted a
laugh from Gram but nothing was heard, he continued, Ah… I reached out, trying to somehow thank the
wind. I closed my eyes and reached out and grabbed something.
Rufus paused and Gram said, And?
I… don't know how to say it… I grabbed a women. It felt… odd… warm, soothing… I don't know to say it…
Rufus blushed and worried Gram would make fun of him, but again nothing. Ah…anyways, she smiled at
me, and I realized her lower body was, well, see through. I could…see her body, I guess, but it was clear,
and wind was rushing around her body, visibly, and then suddenly a voice told me "I'll never be more
than a thought away" and then she hugged me closer and something washed over me, warmth,
happiness, sadness, I couldn't tell. And then that was it, I woke up. I haven't felt anything weird like
hearing the wind, but I have felt a little…cheery…?
Gram let out a big lung full of air, making a big Whoosh noise, Are you sure it just wasn't a dream?
Rufus shook his head, I rarely remember dreams, and when I do they're all choppy and blurry, this one
was crystal clear in my mind, it felt as if it happened… I remember every breath of air, I remember every
feeling… it wasn't a dream… it couldn't have been.
Gram sighed, What does it all mean?
"I don't know…"
Minutes of silenced passed then Rufus brightened up and said, "Hey, you said you learned their
language right?"
Gram nodded, Yes, I did. It's just as big as ours.
Rufus brightened even more, "That means she really does have a family, right? An entire civilization?"
Gram nodded again, Yes.
He smiled, "Do you know where they are?"
Gram searched his memories, Why yes, I do. I don't know how, but I do.Remember that giant island over
the mountains? They're there.
Rufus chuckled, "Huh… that's a big coincidence."
Gram said, There's a safer way to get there than over the mountains, too. They both remembered the
fortress of Wyrms guarding the mountains, There's an opening in the mountains east of the colony. It's a
huge opening, guarded by rocks and insane tides, it's a perfect defense against boats and things..but we
can fly over it.
Rufus smiled again, "Well, I guess if we ever need to take her back we can, then." he then frowned, "But
I've been thinking Gram, and now that you say how protected they are, it makes it even bigger of a
question…how did she get here?"
Gram laughed, I have no clue. I'll just have to ask her. he paused and then in a brighter voice he said,
Whatever all of this means it just makes me want to get home even sooner.
For the first time today they were both sure of that.

The lizard's neck snapped like a twig.

Near sun down the same day the party stumbled upon a roaming Queen Lizard. Quickly Gram launched
upon it, killing it almost instantly. The spectacle was normal for Rufus, it was life for him and Gram, but
Naki had responded negatively to the vast gore. She gagged at the sight of Gram ripping open the
lizard's neck, breaking bone and causing a stream of blood to start flowing from the openings. Rufus
understood, the difference between a clean kill with a hunting knife or bow and arrow was far less
bloody than a Wyvern ripping its prey apart, but that's how it was done. He pat the girl on the back,
making sure she knew it was alright. Rufus made his way over to Gram, telling him "Just go ahead and
eat all you want, thinking about it now carrying the meat around would be more work than just killing
something small and eating it on the spot."
Gram agreed, That's true, is Naki ok?
Rufus frowned, "Yes, she just… isn't use to the way we hunt."
Gram nodded and began eating as Rufus went back to the girl and took her around a tree, not to see or
hear Gram eating.

The following week passed faster than Rufus expected, within the end of the first they camped late in
the night and woke early in the morning, spending the entire day walking south. Throughout the entire
week Rufus had been teaching the girl the Emperor's language, and she had been teaching him her
language. Gram had of course been helping out Rufus with the language too, somehow through the
bond he remembered it much easier. Usually it was just them pointing to things and saying what it was,
and other times it was them actually saying a few phrases. By the end of the week he had been able to
speak enough to tell her simple commands.
After setting out the group came across more and more to hunt, so they were never hungry. Rufus had a
few ideas as to why it was like that, maybe they were close enough to the mountains where the Wyrms
hunted, so there wasn't much to eat. Whatever it was, Rufus didn't care enough to think much of it.
Water was decently easy to come by, as well. There wasn't a very large river, but small streams ran
through this area like crazy. He would fill up his supply every time they came to one, always making a
fast fire to boil it first was annoying though.
Sleeping at night became a job for Gram and Rufus, if they weren't lucky enough to find a good shelter
for the night they would have to keep walking until they did. Some days they found a shelter just after
sun down, but chose to use it for the night, and some days they would be out far after sundown, and not
find a suitable place until sunrise. However it went, they would always sleep until they felt ready to
leave, there was no schedule to stay on.
After just a few days Naki had brightened up a lot, her energy had finally returned she was able to walk
with ease again. He found her to be a great huntsman, sometimes throughout the day when a pack of
Scavengers or Shriekers were around she would wave off Gram and go and solve the problem herself.
She could sneak through the bush like nothing he'd ever seen before, and always scored a swift and
clean kill. Alas, time and time again Rufus would find himself looking at her in ways he normally wouldn't
see someone. He'd see how she walked, how pretty her hair was or how her smile was something that
brought a warmth in his heart. He would ask Gram for help but the lizard would only laugh and say
cryptic things to him, only making it worse. He had to deal with the problems of wanting to be close to
her, wanting to see her smile or always act his best around her, but Gram would only laugh at this
behavior more.
It was at the week's end, night had fallen hours before and the group had still not found any shelter for
the cold night. The party had reached the western river, however, and Rufus planned to follow it south
which lead directly to the temple, the only problem now was getting down from the cliff. The river the
group had hit now was a long rock valley, but the river was down in the valley, not up here where they
were. A separate line of the bigger river to the north cut down into the valley, causing a huge waterfall
to land directly in the water down below. They could go north to where the slope of the valley is not
steep enough to hurt falling off of. Or they could go south, it eventually leveled out as well but consisted
of small paths and rocky terrain that would be impossible for Gram to move in. So, he just had to decide
to jump down right now on Gram or walk the north path, which would be a little bit safer. But then,
Rufus figured in this open terrain he was safe from spying Wyrms; if there were any, and there wasn't
any harm done in gliding down atop Gram. It would save them a full day of travel to the north and back.
He finally agreed upon the plan because he saw a decent shelter, it was a rock formation at the base of
the waterfall with a small opening and large clearing in the middle. Big enough for Gram to slip into and
sleep in, but small enough for passing creatures of the night to let them go unnoticed. Surprisingly
enough the animals were no less populated here than in the jungle areas than in this rocky area. He
figured that it was mostly because of this was the only river for awhile if you were to get stuck in the
ravine.
Rufus had told Gram of the idea of gliding down the waterfall, and he agreed that it would be worth the
risk, especially since it was night at the moment. They approached the edge of the cliff, looking down he
pointed out a good landing spot, and began mounting Gram. Naki had been looking on in question,
Rufus strapped himself in Gram's saddle and simply said "Fly" as he pointed down to the clearing. She
hesitated but soon nodded, Rufus offered her his hand and as she grabbed it he felt the warmth in him
again couldn't help but smile. He pulled her up to sit behind him on the small space left on the saddle,
and then he told her to hold on tight. She grabbed just above his waist and held close, Rufus's cheeks
flared red as he explored the feeling. But he ignored it, Rufus leaned forward, tipping Gram's balance off
the cliff, and causing a small shriek from Naki.
Gram spread his wings and glided down making Rufus smile as he got the rush of flight, something he
had almost forgotten in the past weeks. Rufus felt the grip around his waist tighten as Gram tilted left to
avoid the waterfall, his great wings clipping a stream of water, causing it to run down and strike the pair
on top. They circled around in the big valley and Rufus couldn't help but love the wind on his cheeks, the
noise of it all, the sheer feeling of being in the air… all of it was so missed.
Short minutes passed and they eventually landed in the small clearing, causing a pack of Geysers to run
in fear. Geysers were these big turtle like creatures that had no shell, they were about half a human's
height but five times wider, they were big, slow, juicy, and annoying. Their defense was to shoot out
water at high speeds to knock you down or distract you long enough for them to run, they were quite
fast for something so big. Rufus quickly hopped down and hugged Gram's huge head as he said, "I really
have missed that, I had almost forgotten."
Gram agreed, I have too.
Rufus moved back over to the saddle and helped Naki down, who had calmed down quite quickly,
although she had a peculiar face on her. He smiled and lead them to the rock group, Gram had to
squeeze in hard enough to cause a few scrapes, but he did get in eventually. Rufus and Naki stayed back
as he turned around in the opening to find a comfortable spot, and soon he found one and laid down in
his normal sleeping position. Rufus hopped in the clearing and removed the Fetcher's fur from his saddle
and set everything up for sleep, they were all eager to sleep.
Sleep for Rufus didn't come, however. He prayed that that the storm clouds that were overhead would
hold out, but as Raiy would have it it would start raining now. Rufus wasn't able to sleep, the mist from
the waterfall was cold and the rain was even colder. He had of course allowed Naki to sleep under
Gram's wing, he was forced to take hold outside in the open. Rufus had taken his mat of Fetcher fur and
turned it upside down and used it as a makeshift umbrella, but that's all it would be. Few minutes into
shivering and Gram had had enough, Rufus, this Is stupid. You're not going to be able to sleep, just come
under my wing and be done with it.
He shook his shivering head under his Fetcher Fur, "You know I can't, she's… she's in there, I'm fine out
here, just leave me be."
Gram grunted, You're being childish again. Gram let out a quick whiff of air, It's not that big of a deal
anyways. If the urge is so huge and bothers you so much why don't you just take her? Show your
dominance and force yourself against her! She wouldn't refuse you.
Rufus's cheeks flared red at the thought, "Th…That's not how it works with humans, you big stupid
lizard. You… you have to know them and… and… I.. I don't know! "
Gram growled, Stop being so stupid. You're going to make me stay up all night trying to convince you to
come in here. You know we share feelings and you know I won't be able to sleep either.
Rufus's teeth began to chatter as he said, "You won't have to worry about that because I'll be asleep
soon enough, as long as you stop bothering me. Now be quiet! I’m fine!"
Gram had taken in a puff of air, growing to a bigger size then exhaling it in an angry huff, You're not fine,
you're shivering like a baby and you know you'll be miserable all night!
Rufus raised his voice, "I'm fine! Leave me be!"
Gram too raised his voice, You know I can make you come in here if I wanted to! And I do want you to!
Stop acting like a child and just ignore your emotions for one day! If you continue like this you'll be
miserable all day tomorrow and I will be too, you'll slow us all down!
Rufus was talking as he turned around to look at Gram, "And what are you going to do about it?! Are
you going to-" he was interrupted by the feeling of Naki's hand upon his, she had come out from under
Gram's wing and grabbed his hand. Rufus sat stunned, "Ah…what… I…" was all he managed before Naki
lead him under Gram's wing. Rufus was silent and blushing as she removed the mat of fur lain on his
head and placed it next to hers. Naki smiled and patted the mat of fur for him to lay down on, as he
obeyed she laid on hers and gave Rufus one last smile before turning over. There was no more talking
that night.
The God grabbed Romance off of his head and put it back down on his desk, it was so excited for some
reason.

Rufus woke to the sound of Gram awakening. Being this close to his chest was a sure way to get woken
up. Rufus came out from under Gram's wing to find that it was still raining, and it didn't look like it
would stop for awhile. Gram had opened his eyes and laughed a Wyvern's laugh before asking, So, how
did you sleep?
Rufus smiled, "Well, my only complaint was a certain lizard's loud snoring." Gram growled at that.
Changing subjects Rufus said, "It's still raining and there's no firewood anywhere near here, I didn't think
about that."
Gram thought for a moment, Hm, we can probably live for one day without food. If we head south
there's plenty of forest about a day's walk.
Rufus sighed, "Guess that'll have to do… What are the words for "No food today" so Naki won't have to
wonder?"
Ki Sihi Rihin.
Rufus nodded and waved Gram's wing up, exposing the still sleeping girl. He kneeled down and shook
her awake, instantly her tail started flickering around and she was awake, their eyes met for just a
moment and both couldn't help but smile at each other. Sadly Rufus's smile turned into a frown as he
told her of the news of no food. She nodded and got up, and Rufus decided to go ahead and get this day
over with.

The trio had made their way along the cliff until it finally leveled out about mid day, then they were truly
out in the open. Paranoia gripped Rufus once again but he eventually shrugged it aside, figuring that if
they were being spied on in the open with no spots out of easy eyesight he would know. Since there
were no signs of anything he began to relax and once again began speaking with Naki, who was having a
terrible sunburn right now. She was pale enough to look like a ghost, but now she was taking on a
painful looking shade of red. She sat on top of Gram, a little too miserable to walk. She had to use a
Fetcher Fur to keep the sunburn from getting any worse. But, that meant she didn't have anything else
to do but to talk!
Rufus was a slow learner with her language, but with the help of Gram knowing the entire language and
the bond they shared he somehow remembered and caught onto the concepts of their speech quite
easily. Still he would mess up and Naki would laugh at the mispronunciations. He noted how her sweet
laugh and smile pierced even the dark and gloomy weather they had to endure on the trip. Rufus soon
found Naki liked talking to him as much as he liked talking to her. She went on and on about stories of
her village or her families, the differences in how he walks than how they walk, Rufus caught most off
but still lost quite a bit of it - but he didn't interrupt. She would lose herself in a story and realize Rufus
had not a clue of what she was talking about and start feeling embarrassed, but it would always end
with them both laughing. He really enjoyed it because when she was talking about her home she was
happy looking. Usually she was just plain silent or speaking just a few words, always looking sad and off
in her own world.
As the sun set on the horizon Rufus could make out the edge of the jungle over a slight hill. With a mixed
feeling of joy and fear, joy of finally being able to get some food, and fear of not being able to see their
possible stalkers. Within the hour they were back in the jungle, almost instantly they heard some
Shriekers nearby and hunted them down. The party found that the Shriekers had been killed by the time
they found them but Rufus knew that Scavengers wouldn't be far away, so it was fine either way. Some
of the Shriekers bodies were completely pulverized, smashed against the ground or bodies broken in all
sorts of bad ways. Rufus laughed at results of a pack of Shriekers trying to take on a Blunt-Tail.
Rufus sat down in some thick plants and told Gram to try to hide himself, silently he told Gram they
would wait for Scavengers, and told Naki simply to "Wait for food" in her language. She nodded and sat
down near Rufus, they shared a quick smile and Rufus began massaging his legs. He soon found that
walking on hard rock for an entire day was very damaging to his legs, he had always been in good shape,
rarely being sore, never having to deal with muscle pains, but all this walking was beginning to take its
toll. Once or twice during the day his calves had cramped up painfully, causing him to fall or run around
in a circle to rid the pain. Gram had of course laughed, but Naki showed support which Rufus greatly
appreciated.
He was barely able to feel any feeling of respite before the Scavengers showed up. There were 4 of
them, they wouldn't fight if they were ambushed, they would run. That's why they scavenged, they
weren't good fighters. He told Gram to wait here but be ready, he thought of the quick plan to scare the
Scavengers into running straight into Gram. One or two of them would be plenty, but if they didn't get
any at all they might not find any more for the rest of the night. He figured Naki would sit this one out
due to her sunburn, but she was eager and hopped into the bushes, already knowing what to do. He got
into position, made sure Naki looked ready, and then burst from the plants. Instantly the Scavengers
yelped in fear and began running straight for the hiding Gram. They hit the plant line and immediately
one was snatched into Gram's jaws, Rufus could hear the snapping noises and shrieks of surprise and
death as Naki jumped from behind another plant, flashing her light blue dagger across another beast's
long neck. The thing collapsed as the other 2 Scavengers weaved their way past Gram and Naki,
vanishing into the great jungle. Rufus made his way back to the other 2 ones they had successfully killed
and glanced over at Gram's kill, its spine was ripped in shreds, its guts spread across the floor, it was just
a big mess. Naki had gotten used to seeing large amounts of blood but even this made her flinch at the
sight, sighing Rufus said, "Gram, it's completely mangled. You can have that one I guess."
Gram shied away a little, Sorry, I got a little carried away and bit down a little too hard.
Rufus chuckled, "A little?"

Chapter 4

Rufus sighed in defeat.

The rain had started up once again with full fury, soaking the jungle floor and Rufus, but mostly Rufus.
The party had searched for more than an hour for a suitable shelter until Rufus finally decided on staying
in a field of thick grass that collided against a large tree that had its roots exposed. The trio had taken
refuge under the roots, and not long after they had eaten Gram had laid down and let Naki under his
wing. Again Rufus set up outside of the safety of Gram's wing, and again Gram bothered at him, but this
time Rufus was quick to come around.
He made his way under Gram's wing to find that Naki was waiting for him with a smile that was soon
replaced with chuckling as she noticed the face of defeat he wore. Rufus didn't hesitate to collapse on
the mat of fur and go to sleep, Naki's chuckling came to an end quickly and all was quiet. Rufus's mind
went into a blur as he drifted into sleep.

Rufus slowly awoke the next morning, the haze of the rain had made the air damp and Rufus felt very
relaxed by that somehow. The quiet bips of the rain lightly dropping on leaves circled through the air, he
thought of getting up and starting the day but pushed aside the thought. He smiled to himself and soon
closed his eyes and said, It's quiet today. before falling back into slumber.
He awoke brighter than before, oon he was making his way out from under Gram's wing. He yawned as
he came out from his living shelter and noticed that Gram and Naki were both awake and staring at each
other, "What's all this then?" he asked curiously.
Gram slowly took his eyes off of Naki and looked at Rufus, She's been talking to me all morning.
Rufus sat stunned, he rubbed his eyes and asked, "What was that? I think I'm still half asleep."
Gram didn't advert his gaze, She's been talking to me all morning.
Rufus looked at Naki, stammering he said, "B…but she's not talking."
Gram silently said, Just listen. I know you can hear her too.
Curious if Gram wasn't just playing around with him he calmed his mind and tried to listen to… anything
he could. Slowly he felt the rising voice of Gram saying something he didn't understand, slowly it
became louder and louder and eventually Rufus could make out what he was saying. He still couldn't
understand what he was saying because he was saying it in Naki's language, but he could hear his
voice… and something else. For the second time in Rufus's life he heard someone else's voice in his mind
other than Gram's or his own. The first time being the voice of an unknown being in the dream of the
puddle of water, and now it was Naki's voice. She was speaking quietly and in her own language, but she
was definitely talking inside… someone's mind. Rufus blindly asked, But how?
Naki's voice ceased talking and soon Gram replied, She somehow shares our bond, the only way she can
explain it is because she says that her ancestors use to share the same bond with their Wyverns. Maybe
they still hold the power to do so?
Rufus sat on the ground, perplexed, Can she hear me, too?
Gram asked a question that rang through his head, soon Gram replied, Yes. She can hear you.
Rufus simply asked a final question as he stood up to start the day, What are you guys talking about
exactly?
She's been telling me about her village, nothing specific but it seems like a nice enough place…
although…
What?
She doesn't want to go back.
Why not?
She just doesn't. She stopped talking about it after that. Rufus frowned and Gram could tell what he was
thinking, She was most likely attacked by someone from her own village. It's the only plausible reason
there was a stab wound in her stomach when you found her.
Rufus nodded, So what does she want to do?
She wants to go back with us.
Rufus's face brightened, but then turned into a frown once again, "Have you told her of the children?"
Gram shook the gathering water off of his scales, Yes, I've told her of everything. She's fine with it all.
Surprisingly so, even. She says she just really wants to find a place to stay. The children are a perfect
place. He paused for a moment and gloomily said, That is… if they aren't-
Rufus interrupted, Don't say it, they're fine.
Gram nodded and changed subjects, , You know… she talked about you. Gram looked around as if
talking about something casual.
Rufus however plainly showed discomfort, "What do you mean, exactly?"
Gram still played it off, Well, you know, about last night and… things.
He blushed at the thought, then became distressed, Did I do something wrong? Did I insult her or
anything? were questions that came to his head, "W..what do you mean… things?
Gram laughed, I was going to tell you but your face is too priceless, I think I'll keep it to myself now and
watch you squirm.
Rufus's jaw dropped, springing up to his feet he half screamed, "Don't torture me for your amusement!"
and stormed out of the want-to-be good shelter. He returned soon after with useless, damp firewood.

The group roamed through the jungle in a rainy, quiet day. Two days had passed and still the rain came,
Rufus was in a pouty mood as Gram had been taking Naki's attention away from him for the past few
days, Rufus walked alone with his thoughts as they travelled. Rufus found that if he didn't concentrate
on it he couldn't hear Gram and Naki talking to each other telepathically, Maybe you have to completely
focus on them to 'enter their mind', or something… was one of the theories Rufus had thought of. Near
the end of the night Rufus began looking for a shelter and soon found one in an enclave formed by a
formation of rocks. He thought of the great idea of Gram knocking down a tree to cover the top of the
tree for shelter from the rain, and soon Gram did so.
Still silent for Rufus the party started setting up for the night, he made the fire and simply started
cooking some left-over food they had from yesterday. "It's far too quiet." he grumbled.
He started becoming unnerved by the silent day, the only company he had for the day was the wind. He
at least wanted to hear Gram and Naki's voices. He concentrated and entered the conversation, still…
they were talking.
Rufus put his arms over his knees and rested his head as the food cooked, still he could hear the
conversation but barely paid any attention to it, soon he half heard Gram say in Naki's language, …Then
there's the girl named Water, and her drake Flow. We barely ever see them anymore, they're always out
at the ocean. She had taught Rufus hand-to-hand combat, we would fly out to the rocks and they would
learn there. But eventually he lost interest like in most things.
Rufus wanted to punch Gram for that, but really thought nothing of it, soon Naki was asking, How did it
start?
Gram simply responded, It was by a random chance that Rufus began training with her. He was worried
after their first few nights away from the temple and went to go check on them. He found them just
sleeping on one of the rocks and woke up Water to make sure she was fine. She awoke with a jerk and
tossed Rufus over on his back, the display was quite humorous. Naki laughed, Rufus was so surprised by
the quickness of the action that he wanted to learn It how to do it too, something passed between them
and they just started training together. I didn't mind it bringing him to practice at the rocks in the ocean.
Gram paused and added on, I know they're not bad people…but I always felt un-easy around them,
something about them is…different.
Rufus thought the same thing, But not in the bad way. he told himself.
With a questioning look Naki asked, Weren't they only around 7 and 8 years old? How did she learn all of
it? Did she have a teacher or something?
Gram looked dumbfounded, You can probably have a better guess than me, like I said, they never talked.

Rufus searched his memory, They talked all the time, he told himself, half heartedly Rufus said to them,
Flow taught Water in her dreams, didn't she tell you?
Gram almost jumped at Rufus talking, and at what he said, Rufus? You're speaking…Naki's language…?
Rufus looked up, I am?
Gram nodded, Yes…you are… What did you do?
Rufus found himself being stared at by Gram and Naki, suddenly he forgot how to talk Naki's language
and no longer felt the power to mind talk, "I…I don't know… I was just sitting here and since it's been so
quiet and I decided to just listen to what you were talking about. I barely noticed what you were saying
until you began talking about Water… and now I can't remember how I was talking and understanding
you at all…" he shrugged in defeat.
Gram gazed on in confusion and like a jolt went through him he quickly asked, Wait, you said that Flow
taught Water in her dreams? And they never talked, ever.
Rufus had almost forgotten he said that, "I… don't remember them talking either…?"
Gram pushed the problem, But you just said you…
"I… remember Water talking all the time, but… it's fuzzy for some reason. She would always tell me
about herself and Flow and what to do in training… They never did physically talk did they? No…they
didn't… Why didn't I notice it at all?"
Gram thought for a moment and then gave up, Just another mystery in the pool.
The rest of the night was silent as Rufus dug his memories and found that Water had never actually
talked him physically, They must have a more powerful bond than even me and Gram. Is the only thing
that Rufus could guess at.

The god looked down and counted his deities. With the recently new addition of the green blob Drama
and the white blob Supernatural he figured he had a pretty good army going on here.
But… there was a little problem. Blobs couldn't hold too much power to influence him, so he needed to
change some of their bodies around to be able to hold more, to influence him to change the story
around… that was the whole point to these guys!
So he took the newest blob Supernatural in his hand and took him to the middle of the room, telling him
"Wait there…"
The God closed his eyes and began thinking of a body for Supernatural. A normal humanoid body was
boring, he needed something fancy… something that fit his genre. Supernatural's body began to jiggle
and grow, slowly it began to rise up into the form the God wanted.
It was a tall hunched over body with long, skinny dangling arms with razor sharp claws on his hands. His
face was a flat rough white wall that still moved around and formed different images and things as he
thought.
"Good enough", the God said.
Supernatural's hollow voice coming from no mouth of any kind said, "Hello, Master."
His master smiled, he already figured out how to speak! "Hello, Supernatural! How does it feel to be the
first thing in my realm with a body other than me?"
"Good. What do you need of me my Master?"
The god shrugged, "You'll know what to do soon enough."
He made his way back over to his desk and conjured a chair for Supernatural, but he waved it off and
said, "I'd rather stand."
He nodded and went back to writing… writing… He was a Writer…
The God did need a name… he already had one… but maybe for now he could just be called Writer.

Dinner was long over and Gram and Naki had already gone to sleep, Rufus laid restlessly under Gram's
wing. Again the rain had forced him to find shelter under Gram's wing, the tree only made the water fall
down the trunk in bigger droplets than shield them from it all. Naki lay close but there was no contact,
they had both faced away from each other and made no movement or sound.
Rufus thought to himself and eventually began experimenting and trying to get into the state he was in
earlier. He focused on the sounds of the jungle, Shriekers yelping in the distance, the rain falling on the
leaves around them, Gram's heavy breathing, anything that he heard. Soon he lost interest and opened
his eyes, looking up through Gram's wing, without the tree above them the moon was shining bright in
the sky and Rufus could see it through his thin layer of fibers on his wings. He gazed at the moon
thinking of almost nothing and finally rolled over and looked at the sleeping figure of Naki. He stared at
her for moments and found that the only thing he could think about was the sound of her breathing and
the way her chest inflated and deflated in each breath. He closed his eyes and somehow felt a huge
presence and a small one in his mind. Something told him that the big one was Gram's mind, and the
small one was Naki's. He didn't really think of how he was able to feel Gram's mind, but figured that he
didn't need to. He felt the presence, so he started focusing on that. He reached out with his mind like he
tried to do when he was using the bond to speak, only with a little more precision.
He touched Gram's mind and suddenly everything went black for a moment. It was really dark, but he
could make out faint blocks of thoughts and memories, but they were too small to really see. He grew
bored with the darkness of Gram's mind and tried escaping his mind. He had to sort of claw his way out
and found himself floating around above his body. When or how this happened he didn't know, but he
found it pretty awesome!
A lot of other blue orbs were floating around, but he was really only interested in the one coming from
Naki. Rufus hesitated before entering her mind… maybe she didn't want him to?
But, curiosity won the battle and he dove in.

He entered her mind and felt a rush of images depicting Naki talking with family and enjoying the life
she had from her own eyes. It must be Naki dreaming of home. How cute. he told himself. Suddenly he
found himself flying through moments of Naki's life, seemingly skipping forward in time. It slowed at a
moment after she had been hunting, a ritual hunt of some sort where she had to kill a Queen Lizard on
her own, an impressive act that Rufus wished he could have seen in more detail, but it was far too fast!
It slowed down a little when she took the lizard's talon and marked her top for another kill. An older
looking hunter that was with her patted her on the shoulder and said in Naki's language, "Good job,
Naki. Just a few more and you'll get your rights!" Rufus questioned why he could understand what he
was saying.
Naki smiled and nodded, "Couldn't have done it without you, though."
The man laughed, "I just track the things, you do all the killing!" It began speeding up again, and Rufus
found himself at a village. The place was dimly lit by lanterns that didn't seem to have any flame in
them, but they still glowed. The houses seemed to actually be built around trees, the bigger the tree the
bigger the house. It was honestly quite nice looking, though. He could tell it was late in the day, but the
huge canopy blocked out so much sun that it looked almost midnight.
Naki waved good bye to the gruffly looking hunter and entered a small looking tree-house thing. The
first thing she did was go over to the first room to her right and crouched down at the center of the
house. He could tell it was the center since the tree trunk was what she was crouching near. But what
she was looking at was a big smooth wooden container looking thing with a nozzle on it, below it looked
like there was a hole in the floor that just opened up to the natural forest floor. She twisted the nozzle
and water poured out, she held her hands under it and began cleaning off the dirt and the little bits of
blood that got on her. After she was done she shook the water off her hands and stood up then began
making her way to a bedroom. Rufus figured it was her bedroom since she threw down her belt on the
bed and kneeled down next to a chest, then opened it.
Nothing really exciting was in it, just a few strips of leather that Rufus presumed was used for clothing or
repairs to said clothing, since there was also some string and needles in there. Naki rummaged around
the chest and finally reached the bottom, she pushed aside the last strip of leather and revealed the
light blue dagger. She grabbed the dagger and held it close, smiling with some sort of glee Rufus couldn't
understand… but what he did understand is that he could feel the dagger in his own hands as if he
himself was holding it. Stranger yet, it felt like the dagger's hilt was moving.
The near insane feeling was interrupted when Naki threw the dagger back into the chest and closed it as
fast as she could at the sound of someone entering the house. She leapt up and began walking towards
the entrance, saying, "Ah, hello?"
A formal sounding man said into the house, "Naki, your mother is calling you for dinner tonight. You're
expected."
Naki stopped and said, "Alright. I'll be there shortly." and walked back into her room. She sighed as she
reached up towards a wooden closet and opened it up, revealing a very nice looking dress. It was a light
green and had a decoration of jewelry like leaves on key points. Overall, it was a dress for royalty. Naki
sighed again and reached her thumb under the leather band on her top and pushed it out, popping the
band and loosening it. Almost before Rufus could close his eyes she pulled her top off and then began
taking off her leggings. She slipped on the dress in front of her with haste and straightened it up a little
before grabbing a thick hairbrush from the same closet to brush her hair.
Within a few minutes she was fast walking her way out of her house. She held her decently long dress
above the jungle floor as she walked, trying not to get too much dirt on it. Naki walked down a sort of
path, not so much as completely clear of bushes and things, but it was clear of most bigger bushes and
plants for easier walking. She passed by a whole bunch of other people, but didn't really pay any mind to
them… but for some reason most of them bowed their heads slightly or just gave a quick nod.
Looking at the other people Rufus did see that they were quite… poor looking compared to Naki's attire.
But before he could really muse on the subject he started noticing that as Naki walked along in her
hurried pace that the trees around him were getting bigger as they went along. Not only bigger, but less
and less people were showing kindness to Naki, and they were starting to look more well off, too. It
didn't take long for Rufus to figure that where Naki was going was where the richer people lived.
She still went on for a good bit and stopped at the front entrance to basically a mansion. The guards at
the door wore light looking steel armor and had spears planted in the ground, but nodded as Naki
approached. She walked in and Rufus couldn't help but gawk at the size of the main room. A shrimpy
looking older man came up to Naki and bowed, "Good evening, milady."
Naki shoved the upcoming greetings and introductions aside, "Save it, Gerard. Just show me to my mom
so I can get this thing over with."
The old man bowed again and turned to walk down a doorway. A few turns past a few doors and a few
servants and Rufus found himself in a huge high ceiling room with dozens of fancy lanterns and a huge
chandelier in the middle of it all. Naki went up to and bowed before an older looking woman, saying,
"Hello, mother."
Her mom moved away and started making her way to the long table in the room, "Hello, Naki."
Naki smiled followed her mom as she made her way to a chair, "It is good to see you."
Her mother pointed to a spot next to the front of the table and told Naki to sit, after she did so she sat
next to her at the head of the table. They sat there silently for awhile until Naki finally tried to break the
silence, "Mother, I passed the trials-"
Her mother got up with no concern of Naki and greeted an elder looking man that entered the room.
And thus began the silence for Naki.
Ever so slowly more and more people came into the dining room. All of them were dressed in even
fancier outfits than Naki, and seemed not to even think that she existed. Naki just sat in silence as the
dinner began and food was passed out, completely being excluded from all their conversations of
politics and just family talk. Rufus didn't care much at all for these people, honestly. He actually became
disgusted how they treated her as if she was a burden.
He decided this boring, painful dinner dream should be ended. Rufus cleared his mind a little from Naki's
and tried to reach out of the bubble that he had felt before with Gram, but to his dismay couldn't find it.
He tried reaching out again to find it, but he couldn't reach out! He was being dragged by some force
back to Naki's body. One final push barely got him out of her body.
Before Rufus could calm himself from his panic he found himself flying through time again. But this
time…
It was a rush of memories. It felt as if the images of Naki's life were drilling a hole into Rufus's mind. He
wanted to scream, escape this insanity. He felt every detail of what had happened, but it quickly faded,
leaving only trace things of a voice inside his head and sadness of a family not caring.
Finally time slowed once again bit by bit and he found his own mind returning to a coherent state, only
to have it blend into Naki's. With time back to its normal speed he looked around, trying to find where
he was.
What he saw… what he felt was himself crying… Naki crying… He rocked himself back and forth, holding
the light blue dagger close to Naki's chest. Rufus cried so softly on the hard wood floor, trying to get the
voices out of his mind.
The sweet sounding voice told Naki to run, but Rufus was too afraid to. Run before they kill you, Naki! it
said.
Rufus shook his head, "I can't leave… I don't know anything else…" Why was Rufus talking? This isn't
me…
Again, the voice came to Naki's head, They're coming. You have to leave now before they-
An ear piercing shriek in his head made Rufus cry out in pain, begging for it to stop after just a moment
of its torture. The noise left with a final burst and that caused him to drop the dagger in his hands. Naki
felt like he would collapse right there on the floor. But something kept him awake.
Shouts came from outside Naki's room, instantly Rufus stopped his crying and clumsily scampered to his
feet. A burly guard burst into the house and charged Naki, but he dodged aside shoving the man as he
past. He slammed into the wall and didn't get up. The voice from before seemed in pain as it came to
him again, The dagger… don't forget the dagger…
Naki nodded and grabbed the dagger from the floor, Jab it into your stomach like I taught you. Naki
nodded again and did so, Rufus feared she was killing herself but the dagger seemed to vanish into her
body.
Flee.
Rufus ran out of the house and dodged past a few more charging guards and shouting people and fled to
the woods. Before he could make it more than a few feet a sharp pain arose in his head once again,
causing him to fall to the floor and black out.
Rufus found himself opening his, Naki's… He couldn't tell the difference anymore. He opened his eyes
look into a dark room. He was tied to a chair and his head pulsated with pain as if his brain had been
stabbed with an invisible dagger. He even heard water splashing outside… Was he on a boat?
A door in front of him opened up and caused him to shield his eyes from the light, a familiar voice said,
"Bring her outside."
With a grunt a pair of rough hands grabbed Rufus by the shoulders and brought him outside. He would
have fought, but his mind was barely working enough to keep himself from passing out, let alone fight.
Naki's weak voice asked, "Why, mother?"
Rufus focused enough to make out her mother standing in front of him, What's going on? His mother
said, "You know what it would mean if Nasta found out about you. Even… even if you're my own
daughter I cannot let you risk that outcome."
He found himself crying, "I didn't choose this…"
His mother shook her head, "I know. But that doesn't change what you are now." she turned away, "Kill
her."
Naki grew angry as the man holding her drew his sword. This isn't my fault. This is the damn voice's
fault. Why did she have to choose me? She's turned my family against me and now I'm getting killed, like
a useless tool. Rufus stopped his crying and elbowed the guard behind him, then charged towards his
mom. His mother turned surprised and he wrapped his tied hands around her neck, pushing her against
the wall of the cabin. She gasped for breath and clawed at Naki's hands. Her face began to lose color and
her struggling nearly came to end before Rufus felt a sharp pain rip through his stomach. He looked
down as things got dizzy to see a sharp sword going through his belly. His grip loosened around his
mother's neck and she slid away, gasping for breath. He felt his leg becoming wobbly as the sword
retracted itself from his stomach. His mother turned still short on breath and backhanded Rufus across
the cheek, causing him to fall down.
"Throw her into the water, let her bleed to death."
Again, the rough hands grabbed Naki by the shoulders and lifted him up, throwing him over the railing
and into ocean.

It was dark when he came to. If a few days had passed, he didn't know. He only knew that he was
floating in the ocean, and he was trapped inside Naki's horrible memories and there was seemingly no
way to get out. It wasn't so much that he was trapped, but he would miss his family if he was stuck here.

But what if he stayed in Naki's memories long enough to see his own self? How would that work out?
What if he reached the night where Naki fell asleep, would the memories stop? Would he still persist
inside her mind? Would he see himself not awaking from Naki's mind in the morning or would
something else happen?!
Rufus mentally sighed, all of this was starting to hurt his head. He tried to rub it with Naki's arm as he
floated in the ocean water but it barely nudged. He groaned and heard the mysterious voice in his head
again, Don't try to move. It's hard enough keeping you alive let alone conscious.
Was this voice talking to him? Not… Naki? Who? What? Naki's low voice came from his mouth, "How…?"
The voice sighed, I'm not just going to let you die. Did you think I would abandon you after all of this time
and trouble?
"I just didn't know you could do stuff like this…"
Give me more credit. You're floating in the ocean, I have a lot of power here. I can keep you alive from
this wound, but not permanently. My healing is very limited; I can seal the wound in your organs but not
your skin and I can keep the infection out, but you're going to need physical help to fully recover.
Naki tried to look around as much as possible, only getting a quick glimpse of a very distant outline of a
mountain wall through the tons of fog before the pain kicked in, she whimpered and said, "Who can
help me out here? I don’t even know where we are…"
The voice sighed, Give me more credit! It's going to take awhile but I'm directing you to a place away
from here where you can find help… but…
Naki groaned again, "What…?"
Well… It's going to take a few months to float you there.
"What?"
I can't control the ocean water all the way from over here very well. I can point you in the general
direction but you're at the mercy of the weather and tides. Now, as soon as they're over I can point you
back… still, it's going to take awhile.
Naki sighed, "I'm going to be floating for months?"
Yes.
Naki surprised herself by thinking of how boring it's going to be rather than anything else. The voice
caught that and said, Oh, gods no. You're going to be asleep for most of this. It's going to be hard for me.
Well, that's not so bad. So… should I just go to sleep?
If you can. I can't make you go to sleep but I can help keep you asleep, at least. But I barely have to. Your
body is practically dead, it's going to want to do the whole 'natural' thing and sleep the final sleep, but
I'll keep it from going over the border of life. the voice sighed again, Just know how much trouble this is
for me.
Naki smiled as much as she could as she closed her eyes, for whatever reason talking to this voice always
made her feel better. Assured. Whatever it was.
Rufus would have smiled too, if he could. He was actually able to tell his own mind from Naki's. It was a
reassuring thing knowing that maybe he could make it out of here.
Time began to fly forward again, but it was less dizzying and actually crystal clear. Naki was asleep, but
Rufus's mind was able to wander as she floated around in the ocean, hours of time just being a few
seconds for him. He actually counted the days, 16 passed before Naki awoke and time slowed back to its
normal pace. A giant storm had just ended maybe just an hour ago when she bumped into a giant pillar
of stone rising from the ocean.
She shook her head a little and said, "Huh? Where am I now?"
Huh? What? You're awake?
Naki tried to nod, but her neck was a little stiff, "Yes, I'm awake. What's happening?"
Energetic, aren't we? the voice yawned, A storm just ended and you got pushed up against this pillar.
That's about it.
Naki rubbed her head, surprisingly her arm actually reached her head with nothing but a little stiffness.
The voice laughed slightly, I fixed you up a good bit.
"How long have I been asleep?"
Almost three weeks. The storm put me behind schedule, but that was expected. We should be about half
way there.
Naki felt a small fish nibbling her fingers and poked it away, "I don't feel tired at all. Is that a bad thing?"
Not really. You might not be able to sleep for a little while but eventually you will, so just float there for a
bit and enjoy the nice day.
She looked around to make sure she was in the right place, "All I can see is fog."
Yes, well, it's a nice day outside of the fog. You know, if I didn't keep this fog up people would notice a
floating body and investigate.
"What people?"
You may not know but Nasta's people have been exploring a lot lately. That with the few miners who go
to the caves for metal there was a chance, a really low chance, but a chance that one could see you
floating out here. I figured I might as well put up a fog screen.
Naki shrugged, "Whatever you must do."
Just relax and try to sleep.
A few minutes passed of doing so before Naki was poked in her mind, Naki?
"… Yes?"
Can you push yourself away from this rock? It would help me a lot if you did.
Naki sighed and looked at the big rock. It went on for hundreds of feet. Why were there rocks like this
just jutting out of the ground like this? She felt her feet against the stone and said, "What do you need
me to do?"
Point yourself a little to your left… right there. Now, as hard as you can, push against it. Naki bent her
legs and shoved herself away, gliding over the water far faster than she expected. Thanks. the voice said,
Now go back to what you were doing.
Time started accelerating again. Around the 6th day another storm hit, but this one only lasted a single
day. On the 14th time slowed for just a moment as an enormous sea monster glided underneath Naki.
She awoke for just a second and looked at the still passing creature. The thing was a long serpent shape,
almost exactly like a Wyvern except much, much larger and had large arms instead of wings. The sight
made Rufus almost jump out of his body.
Maybe he should have thanked it?
Laughter came to the still drowsy Naki, I didn't know he was still alive. was all it said before Naki slipped
back into slumber.
On the 17th day even through the fog he could clearly make out the huge mountain chain that made
this ocean bowl.
Naki's body kept on floating at high speeds towards the huge waterfalls until it was within a few dozen
yards of hitting the wall of water. She came awoke with a jerk, she had to scream over the waterfall,
"What's going on?"
The voice had to yell equally loud, You're about to go under the waterfalls. Don't worry, I put a ward
above you so you won't get crushed! Just relax and watch the view! But try to stay awake, I'll need your
help!
Naki nodded, and sure enough when she hit the gigantic fall of water it just careened off the natural
course of gravity as if it hit an invisible barrier. Honestly, it was a pretty awesome view. And it lasted
quite a long time.
On the other side of the waterfall it was suddenly dark and more like a cavern. The roof of the cavern
was all water and slightly dripping, the water she floated in kept on into the darkness. But, she could see
some sort of white light in the distance. It was approaching pretty quickly. Naki was suddenly gliding
along the water, a thing that even Naki was wondering about.
I have a node of power here, I'm pushing you along. It'll take just a minute to get there. the voice asked a
rhetorical question, Ever wonder where all this water comes from?
Soon enough they did arrive at the light, and both Rufus and Naki looked up at the most awe striking
thing they had ever seen. The cavern opened up into a tall ceiling, which wasn't very special. What was
special was the giant bed of water seemingly floating in midair. It was as if a huge sheet of glass was
there and they just couldn't see it. Gallons of water leaked down from the floating lake and fell on top of
Naki, it wasn't much of a surprise that the water was warm. The most spectacular thing about it all,
though, was the giant white orb hovering near the ceiling. It was a perfect sphere, spinning and letting
out a bright light that was somehow dim.
The voice felt proud, That white thing is the node. The water around it is what it's making. I have dozens
of these things placed around the mountain, they generate water. You never wondered where all the
water came from?
Naki slowly shook her head, "I was just a simple hunter, I had only heard that there were waterfalls
surrounding us."
So you're saying I'm stuck with a dumb hunter? Ch. And you don't even appreciate my power. Naki could
tell that the voice was joking, so she didn't get angry. Even if she wanted to, the calming effect of the
light coming from the orb was too powerful. The voice laughed, Alright, maybe you do appreciate it. it
paused, Enjoy it while you can.
"Huh?"
You can't stay here.
"Wait… Why did you even bring me here in the first place?"
I was wondering when you'd get around to ask that. the voice sighed, I need you Naki. You're my only
physical tool right now and I can't make another. I need you to just go and live your life as long as you
can.
"If I'm so important to you then why can't I stay with you where it's safe?"
I can't just make you not live your life, Naki. It could be months or even years before I need you again.
She was going to argue her point, but something confused her, "Again?" The voice didn't respond and
the water around Naki began to bubble up, "What are you doing?" it felt as if a firm grip pushed her out
of the water, "I don’t want to leave you, I have nothing else now!"
I know, Naki. That's why I'm sending you away. I don’t want to be like the Gods, just using a tool and
after it's done just cast it away like I don't care. the water below Naki began boiling upwards and
pushing her towards the white orb. She struggled but arms made of water reached up and restricted
her, Don't fight it Naki.
She still tried to break free, "I don't want to go!" Naki closed her eyes and held her breath as she
approached the floating pool of water. It felt as if she was just suddenly pushed into a lake, but then she
came out on the other side dripping wet.
When you go into the orb you're going to fall asleep for a long time. When you wake up you'll be tired,
weak, dizzy, the whole sha-bang. I'll contact you when the time has-
" You're no different than the Gods! You used me, forced everything in my life to hate me and now
you're casting me away!""
Naki stopped inches away from colliding with the orb. There was a long silence.
She began to sink down into the water, she stopped on the floating layer and felt suddenly alone. She
risked leaning upward, as she wasn't floating on the surface of the water anymore. She tried to keep
herself afloat, but her body soon rejected swimming and she began to grow tired. Her wound started to
burn painfully and truly, she started to panic.
Naki spotted something moving towards her in the water, but in the pale light of the orb she could
barely make it out. It arrived at her flapping feet and touched them, suddenly Naki felt herself floating to
the surface.
She panted as the creature rose from the water and looked her dead in the eyes. The thing looked
female, as it had that kind of figure. Its skin was a light blue, its short hair was a light blue, it even
glowed a little light blue. It was entirely featureless except for the face and a huge scar on its chest.
The voice came from it, "You win, Naki."
Naki just looked on in confusion, "Are… you…?"
It went underwater and resurfaced inches to Naki's right side, it put a hand on her wound and said, "Yes,
it's me. And because I had to come here your wound almost opened up." Naki began to feel a warm
power rush through her stomach as it began healing her. It sighed and said, "If I wasn't so nice you'd be
unconscious hundreds of miles away right now. But, you were right. I was forcing you to do what I
wanted."
Naki dumbly nodded, "Yes, you were."
"So, I'm giving you the choice. Stay here in this dark cave with me for an unknown amount of time or go
and try to live your life. Choose."
Naki smiled, but it quickly faded as her friend stared at her with a dead seriousness, "You really want me
to go, don't you?"
It took its hand off of her wound and glided to the nearby wall, dragging Naki with her, "Yes, I really do.
You don't want to stay with me in this dark place, do you?"
Naki didn't really need to think about it, she shook her head, "I guess I'm just afraid to lose you."
She smiled, "Well, it's nice to know someone cares about me. But that's besides the point, it's not like
I'm never going to speak to you again, it's just that I want to give you the chance to live before I have to
use you again."
Naki sighed, "You're just looking out for me."
It nodded, "That's right. You don't give me enough credit!" she sighed and paused for a moment, looking
for something to say, "I ruined your life already Naki, so I want to make up for it by giving you a new
one. Please, take it."
Naki frowned, "How long will I be gone?"
"I don't know. I suspect a few months, but it could be years. Which will be good, because you wouldn't
have to be involved with me for a long time. By then I may have been able to find another to replace
you."
"But I don't want that."
"Why not?"
Naki shrugged and blushed in the dark cavern, "I don't mind being used by you."
It laughed, "A female Mi'Tal falling in love with a being like me? Awfully weird choice there, Naki."
She shook her head and blushed more, "Not like that! I just mean you're the closest thing I've ever had
to a friend."
"Yeah, uh huh. Sure."
Naki blushed more, but didn't say anything.
"Not that I mind, Naki. It's just that me sending you away only hurts more if you don't want to leave me
for a reason like that."
Naki shook her head again, "I really don't mean it like that!"
It laughed again, "I know, but the whole situation is still funny. 'Get a servant and let it do it for you,
Isaria." she laughed again, "Didn't go nearly as well as I had hoped."
"Isaria?"
She nodded, "My name. I never did tell you, did I?"
"No, you never did."
Isaria sighed, "Enough, Naki. You have to go before I start regretting this." Naki nodded sadly and Isaria
said, "When you enter the orb you'll go to sleep. When you wake up you'll be in the human colony that
landed here years ago. They'll help you, even if you're a Mi'tal."
"Humans?"
"Yes, humans. They're a violent race in some places but they have their special qualities. You'll like them,
especially after the problems with your race. Now, it'll be rough at first but eventually you'll find
something to do with them." Naki nodded again and Isaria closed her eyes, the water started a small
current and began pushing Naki towards the orb once again.
"When it's your time I'll call to you. Please, enjoy your life as much as you can."
Naki nodded a final time and looked back at Isaria. The only person she could trust in her life right now
was sending her away.
But in some way, she was okay with that. She could trust her.

Rufus felt himself detaching from Naki's body as she entered the orb. He jumped with glee as he saw the
blue bubble around Naki's mind once again. With his ethereal body he flew to the edge but was
suddenly struck by a bouncy wall.
He flew backwards, praying he wasn't actually trapped in here.
But Isaria's voice came to him, laughing. Don't think you can just ran away like that, Rufus.
Rufus turned to the direction of the voice, to see only darkness, "Isaria?"
Yes?
"W-… What do you want?"
He heard her laugh, Nothing much, really.
Rufus sighed, "Then why are you keeping me inside of here? I've had enough of these crazy mind games
for today."
Alright, fair enough. I'll let you go if you promise me one thing.
"What?"
Just promise me you'll keep Naki company. Don't think that I haven't been watching you with her.
Rufus would have blushed if his ethereal body allowed it, "What's that supposed to mean?"
She laughed again, I just mean that Naki's time could be soon. You know the reason why I sent her away,
and you're doing exactly what I hoped she would find. You're making her happy, something she hasn't
been in a very long time.
Rufus turned his head slightly sideways at the remark, "How am I making her happy?"
You know how. she paused and suppressed a laugh, Actually, you don't. But you're still doing it. Just…
give her a home as long as you can.
Rufus nodded, "I'll try my best, I guess?"
The shield making him unable to fly out disappeared and he started drifting towards it until he stopped
and said, "Isaria, did you set all of this up? Me seeing these memories and being trapped inside of
them?"
Maybe.
"Why?"
Because it was fate that you found Naki in the river. She was supposed to float to the colony and live
there, but she found you instead. A boy that was stranded in the jungle with his Wyvern by a horde of
berserk Wyrms. You already have exposure to the mystical side of life because of your bond with Gram
and not only that, now you're marked by a God. You're absolutely the perfect person for Naki. You
needed to see this, you needed to know about me.
Rufus shook his head, "What do you mean marked by a God?"
Oh Rufus, I could tell you but that wouldn't be fun at all, now would it?
"Don't do this to me… The only reason I'm not screaming bloody murder in this situation is that I
suspected something crazy going on in the background of my life recently. You're not making it any
easier by toying with me and complicating everything by speaking in riddles!"
It's not as complicated as you think, so don't worry.
"But…"
This is another reason why you're perfect, Rufus. You accept things. You've gone through so much today
and yet you're still calm and calculating.
Rufus sighed, "Not exactly true…"
But it'll be in handy later on in your life, especially if you want to be with Naki.
"That doesn’t make it much better…"
But it does make it better. Rufus felt a force push him outwards, Take her to your family. Keep her safe.

As he climbed out of Naki's mind everything went blank. Only for a moment, but it was still heart
stopping. When everything came back to him he actually felt pretty fine. He opened his eyes and he
looked right up to the sight that he last saw before he went through his little adventure. Gram's wing.
He rubbed his head and leaned upward to see Naki doing the same. Rufus just sat there looking at Naki's
back trying to figure out something to say. He figured she knew about everything that had just
happened, and even figured that Isaria had a conversation with her, too.
He finally sighed and said, "Hello, uh… Naki."
She turned around slowly and looked at him, a moment with a confused look on her face and she asked,
"Rufus?"
"Yeah?"
"Wha-… Are…?" she slumped her head and sighed, then she leaned back down on her back and said,
"Do you understand anything that just happened?"
Rufus shook his head, "No, not really. Do you?"
She rolled over and faced away from Rufus, "I didn't want to drag you into this."
The question took him a little off guard, "What do you mean?"
"All of this stuff with Isaria. I just didn't mean to drag you into this."
Rufus shrugged, "We were in it far before I found you, apparently."
She rolled back over and looked at Rufus, "What do you mean?"
He shrugged again, "Isaria told me that it was 'fate' that I found you. If you think about it, it makes
sense. Gram and I were grounded by a pack of completely berserk Wyrms that killed themselves to get
to us. Then, one morning, I just happen to wake up early and decide to go straight to fishing instead of
making breakfast like I usually did, and then I just happen to find you floating in the river." he sighed, "I
don't think I had control over any of this at all."
He had hoped saying that would cheer up Naki, but she still looked glum, "As soon as Isaria tells me it's
my time to leave I'll leave. I won't burden you with this."
"It's fine Naki, like I said it-"
She got on her feet and walked out from under Gram's wing, "I'll be back by morning… I just need some
air."
He sighed and laid down without trying to stop her. Knowing what she had been through Rufus figured
he could either try to comfort her, which wasn't working, or let her figure it out on her own.
It was going to be a quiet few days.
And so they were. Rufus woke in the morning to find that Naki was on her mat of fur still asleep, so he
went ahead and tried to tell Gram everything that had happened last night. But apparently Isaria had
already told him in his sleep.
Even then there were no conversations to be had. Everything worth talking about was explained by
Isaria, so there was nothing left to say. He didn't even have to force small talk with Naki to learn her
language, when he awoke the night before he had it entirely mastered. He didn't really question what it
was exactly, between linking his mind with Naki's for a night and the bond between Gram and him being
so unstable, he guessed it was learned through one of those ways.
So, the only thing keeping him company was the wind.

After a few hours of boring, silent walking Rufus finally threw his hands into the air in defeat while even
growling in aggravation. The action brought the attention of Naki and Gram, but Rufus didn't care about
their stares as he hopped onto Gram's back.
Gram did a sort of a snort and said, If you don't want to walk you could have just asked.
He strapped himself in with a grunt and said, "I can't stand this place anymore. We're going to fly out."
he reached his arm down to Naki, "Come on, we'll be there within a few hours."
Naki looked a little confused as she took Rufus's hand, Rufus pulled her up onto the saddle and adjusted
his spot a tad for more comfort. After strapping Naki in with a few spare bands he looked down to Gram
and said, "You don't have any problems, do you?"
Gram stretched out his wings as far as he could in the jungle and took a deep breath, I was honestly
about to force you to let me fly us out of here. All this walking is just plain wrong for a Wyvern.
Rufus laughed, "Then let us get out of here!"
Gram cackled, a thing a Wyvern rarely did, honestly it was quite horrifying. It was a clacking noise that
shook everything around the Wyvern and made you run out of primal fear. Gram charged forward and
waited for an opening in the tree trunks and spread his wings. He leapt into the air causing a huge gust
of wind to bend the foliage around them.
Naki's grip tightened tenfold as Gram began gaining speed, dodging and weaving between hanging
branches and huge trees blocking their way. After just a moment Naki felt as if she was going to vomit.
But the rushed feeling was short lived, Rufus said something that she didn't hear over the loud beating
of wings and yelps of a pack of Shriekers beneath them. He pointed upwards at a small opening in the
tree canopy and Gram rushed for it. Within seconds they burst out of the jungle area and made it to the
open sky.
Oh how Rufus missed the feeling of fresh, cool air rushing past his face. The sight of the tree tops, the
sight of things running away from the giant beast he rode. Seeing and feeling all of this again was as if he
woke up from a bad nightmare.
And then going straight back into it.
All the joy of the moment was crushed by the insane memory that reminded Rufus that they weren't
already flying out here because they could possibly be hunted down by murderous Wyrms.
He looked around the trees, trying to spot anything that was bigger than a normal bird moving about.
But to his delight from dismay he found that there was nothing at all that looked wrong. And after a
moment of really thinking about it, it made perfect sense. They were more than a hundred miles away
from where their river side camp, where the Wyrms first attacked them.
So, slowly, Rufus forced himself to calm and go back to enjoying this time. And enjoying the thought of
going home. It was just a few hours away now.
If… it was still there.

Chapter 5

The stone, wood, steel, demonic dragonoid known as Story huddled in the corner. His long, tall, hunched
over body took a good portion of that corner up.
Writer had given Story a body, but he didn't seem to use it very much. At first, he roamed around the
room aimlessly, then he just took residents in the dark corner, standing there silently. His normal 'blob'
conversations with Action that he seemed to enjoy so much stopped. It made Writer worry.
Creating something else in this lonely world didn't really make Writer change personally, but he felt that
he cared more about their happiness or life more than he did the other beings of the Worlds.
Sure, he liked the demon Teana, she was so attractive with her bloodlust and giant pendulum shaped
spear, trying to always destroy him and devour his soul. But he didn't really care for her. He didn't want
her to die or anything like that, she was the only one that didn't want to kill him enough to actually hunt
him down. But if she was sad he wouldn't go and make her happy.
Actually, he probably would. He liked Teana. She would try to kill him, but that would cheer her day up.
But that's besides the point. Writer didn't want Story to be so glum, so he wanted to help him.
He got up from his chair and walked over to where Story was hiding, ”What's wrong, Story?" he asked as
the blob Action dodged in between his feet and ran into Story's foot.
The monstrosity slowly turned and his metal jaw clacked open, "I have no problems, Master Writer."
He turned just as slowly back to the corner and Writer sighed as Action kept bumping into Story's leg.
Writer walked over and picked up Action, "What are you doing little blob?"
It jiggled as usual and made a moving motion towards Story. Writer gave it a moment trying to figure
out what it wanted and gave up, "What do you want?"
Again, it just made a motion towards Story, "You want Story?"
The blob jiggled in a more happy sort of way, as if nodding, Writer shrugged, "Story, Action wants you."
He slowly turned again and looked at the red blob. If a metal face that leaked steam from the eye
sockets could look happy, Story pulled it off. He reached out his wooden arms and grabbed the blob,
"Action… there you are…"
The blob circled around in his hands and seemed to be talking to him. Story nodded and said, "I was
looking for you, I thought that you had… been taken away." Writer perked an eye up at that, "I looked
everywhere for you, when I couldn't find you I felt saddened."
What's this now?
Action moved around for a few more seconds and Story lifted it up and placed it on the small castle that
rested on his mountain like back. The blob settled in and they began having a conversation.
Apparently, Writer forgot to give Story the ability to move his head up and down.
He couldn't see Action on the floor.
He couldn't feel her bumping into him because his legs were made of stone.
Writer had to make sure not to make mistakes like this again.
He closed his eyes and added a quick joint to Story's neck, allowing him to look up and down. Story
didn't even seem to notice the change.
Writer shrugged and turned back to his desk. He couldn't help but smile at the thought that he helped
Story, even if he had caused him to be so sad.
Still, it was nice.
Actually having someone else to care for.
Maybe Writer could get use to having others around.
Thinking about it now, he really needed to visit Teana. He was getting out of shape sitting around all day
and writing. Maybe she was lonely inside, just like him?
But, he could find all of that out later. Right now, he was fine with writing some more.

Gram sunk his teeth into the dead body.

The party had stopped in the late of the night to eat. With Gram having clearance to fly he soon found
plenty of food and brought back a giant chunk of meat from a young King Lizard he had killed. With his
hunting knife Rufus had carved out their share of the food and left Gram to his.
Before the group knew it they were flying once again.
Naki had fallen asleep against Rufus's back a few moments before when Rufus spotted the old temple in
the middle of the lake that he loved so much. Excitement filled him and Gram as they beheld the sight,
Finally. Gram laughed, I might actually be happy to see Reign's grumpy attitude when we get there.
Rufus laughed, That's saying a lot, Gram.
About an hour passed before Rufus woke Naki, "We're just a few minutes away, if you wanted to wake
up." Naki nodded but still leaned forward against Rufus's back, half asleep. Rufus savored the feeling of
Naki being so close all of the sudden.
They closed in on the temple and Gram prepared for the landing. Joy was having a great party inside
their chest as they slowly made out sleeping forms of quite a few Wyverns in the temple.
A small girl sat quietly eating in her favorite chair she had taken from the orphanage, on the verge of
tears of the recent terrible news. The group had been searching for Rufus for almost a month now, they
found a message made of stone weeks before that said of a camp by the river, but every time they tried
to get near the river the Wyrms would attack with full force. Just last night they finally found a way to
sneak up river under the Wyrm's sight and found the camp he spoke of.
They found only dried blood and the smell of death. Rufus had been killed and there was nothing they
could do about it. Rain had been crying all day and night, most of the children had, but Rain took it the
hardest. Reign had finally forced her to eat something so she didn't starve, but it didn't help cheer her
up… Everyone had gone to bed for the night and Rain found herself alone.
Tears once again started flowing from her red eyes as she mourned for the passing of her best friend.
Rain soon began eating her tear stained food and was getting ready for the coming days of life as she
heard the faint flapping of wings. Anger was the first emotion to rise in her fragile state, I told no one to
leave. If they are already disobeying me… She looked over the sleeping Wyverns and children, she
counted 6 others, Wait…that's right? She looked out to the forest, It couldn't be the Wyrms could it?!
No… too loud for Wyrms.
She squinted her eyes to see into the dark night, in the distance she could make out a quite large black
dot in the air. Her heart began to race as she leapt from her chair at the sight of Gram flying down to the
temple. Rain stood in awe, You bastard. she once again began crying, You had us all worried for nothing.
With a quiet thud the black Wyvern landed and a rough looking young man leapt from him. Without
hesitation she charged towards the boy and embraced him, "You're an idiot, Rufus. We thought you
were dead…why…why did you leave us?"
The boy patted her on the back, "I'm sorry Rain, I didn't exactly want to."
The small girl dug her head deeper into his chest, "We thought you were dead…"
Rufus frowned and put her at arms length, "I don’t look weak enough to die by something like this, do
I?"
She shook her head, "It's just that…"
"What?"
"We saw your message in the ground where you crashed, about your camp." Rufus nodded, "We had
fights with the Wyrms and we couldn't get to the river. But we finally found a long side way to get to
your camp. When we got to it there was dried blood everywhere, looked as if something had been
ripped to bits inside of it."
Rufus was taken aback, he knew that they were strange, but not smart, "Are you serious?" She nodded
and Rufus couldn't really find out the right way to respond to this news, "I never ran into them again,
but I did go back to check on the message I left and it was destroyed. As soon as that happened we ran
away. I knew that they were still after me… but not to this extent…"
The small girl shook her head, "Rufus, you have no idea. They're not normal, they thought of everything,
it took us weeks to find a path to even get to your shelter, they're insane." the tears refreshed
themselves, "That’s why… we thought you died…"
Smiling and hugging the girl again he said, "Is everyone ok? No… deaths right?"
Rain smiled, "Of course not, you taught us after all." she noticed how close she was to Rufus and
blushing she backed off a few steps, "Us! That's right! We have to tell everybody else! They all went to
sleep but I didn't because… I… well," she blushed more, "I… was very sad."
Rufus smiled but left it at that, "Rain, don't wake the others. Gram and I have been flying for awhile to
get here and even though we don't want anything more than to jump in a giant party with everyone else
I don't think we could right now. Besides, Naki is tired too."
The small girl turned her head sideways, "Naki?" she looked over at Gram and looked up on the saddle
to see a girl sitting on top, "Augh! Rufus! There's a girl on Gram! Who is she!?"
Rufus chuckled, "That's Naki, It's…a long story."
Rain inspected the confused looking girl and spotted something darting through the air, leaping back
behind Rufus she said, "GACK! Rufus!! She has a TAIL! What is she!??!"
Rufus laughed even louder, "That's an even longer story…" he turned towards Naki and helped her
down and spoke a few words Rain couldn't understand.
Now confused Rain said, "Alright… tomorrow then… I guess we'll all have to be awake enough for this
long story…" quietly and quickly the girl gave the boy a huge hug and said, "Please, don't be gone when I
wake up…" and darted off to her own Wyvern.

Rufus watched the small girl skitter over to her sleeping Wyvern. Naki had been stricken with a feeling
of jealousy and quietly said, "She's… a close friend?"
Rufus was caught off guard by the question as he knew what she meant by 'close friend', "Ah, no, she's
just… family." Naki felt embarrassed asking the question and simply nodded. Rufus completely forgot
about Gram in all of this, Gram, you ok? You've been quiet.
I think I fell asleep at some point after we landed…
Rufus laughed loudly then cut himself off as to not wake anyone, "Well, let's head to bed. We can party
all day tomorrow and introduce Naki to them all and everything… going to be fun, eh?"
Gram laughed quietly and said, I'm still just happy they're fine.
Rufus nodded and they followed after Gram and eventually made it to their nice comfortable mats.
Gram grumbled as he laid down, Aughh, it's been so long since I've slept comfortably. he said.
Rufus laughed a hushed laugh, "For once, you're too right." and began un strapping Gram's saddle. After
removing his saddle he quickly fetched the Fetcher's fur and laid it down on top of his mat. Naki looked
on to the other Wyvern's sleeping with their children and suddenly felt awkward and unwelcomed, as
she did Rufus laid down on his mat and thought out loud in Emperor's language, "You know Gram, I
think Naki is the first new person we've seen in over 6 years, did you think about that?"
Sleepily the drake replied, Hmm, no, I didn't.
Rufus leaned upward from his mat and told Naki, "You can sleep under Gram's wing for now, we'll have
you your own mat in no time." Naki nodded and drowsily made her way to the comfort of Gram's own
portable shelter. Again Rufus laid down and thought to himself out loud, "The other kids will like Naki…
right? They won't… think she's not welcome or anything, right?" he rolled over to look at Gram.
You should know more than me, you practically raised them. Gram slowly added, Go to bed already. It'll
be fine.
Rufus frowned, "Yeah… I guess you're right."

Rufus opened his eyes to find he was in the temple. Rubbing his eyes he leaned upward and found that
the sun was rising and everyone was still asleep. Stretching and yawning at the comfort of finally being
home he got up to get something to eat. After getting up and slapping his cheeks he thought that he
might as well wake Naki since she had slept so much yesterday. He tried to sneak under Gram's big wing
without waking him up but wasn't quite sneaky enough and a grumble was heard, Ergh… It's too early.
Gram mumbled.
Rufus patted his neck, "Just waking Naki up for breakfast, sleep all you want." another grumble was his
response as Gram lifted his wing. A smile greeted him as he entered, Naki had already been awake for
the day, "G'd mornin' Naki, want to get some breakfast with me?" she yawned, nodded, took Rufus's
hand to help her up and they made their way to the dining area.
The pair rounded the corner of Rufus's sleeping area and looked to see the large stone table occupied by
Rain. Rufus smiled and greeted the small girl, "Good morning, Rain." he said.
The small girl jumped a little and turned around in her chair, "Ah, hello Rufus… you scared me. I was
falling asleep I think."
Rufus frowned, "Then why are you up? If you're tired you should go to bed." he made his way to sit
across from Rain, sitting down he pointed out a chair next to him for Naki.
The entire time Rain had been watching Naki's tail follow close behind her with a queasy face, "So…
Rufus… Who was she again?" she expected the reply to come from Naki and after a moment of looking
at her confused stare she said, "She doesn't speak our language, does she?"
Rufus frowned, "No, she doesn't. Her name is Naki, long story short we found her drifting down a river
more than half dead. We kept her with us in our shelter until she awoke and we took her back here."
Rufus shrugged as if he barely knew the details either. He noticed the still queasy face on Rain and
added, "She's not human, either, in case you're wondering ."
Rain gave a very confused look at she moved her head a little to the side, "She's not human? What is
she?"
"She's from a race of people on the other side of the mountains. Something…happened and she ended
up on the our side. And in case you're wondering they're just as smart as we are, so no need to think she
doesn’t know what you mean. Oh, and she's a hunter, a good one too."
Rain's face started to turn normal, slowly she said, "Full story later, then?"
Rufus nodded and they went quiet for awhile except for a few explanations to Naki as they waited.
Within minutes Pit roamed out of her sleeping area and had almost the same reaction Rain did. After
obvious questions and few "I'll explain it all later" responses Pit began cooking for the group. One by one
the other children came out and the same things happened over and over, eventually everyone was
settled in and still fighting back tears of joy. The meal was handed out quite quickly as Rufus promised to
explain everything after they had eaten their breakfast.
The meals were eaten very quickly and Naki was the last to finish. Rufus asked her how it was and the
words "Much better than yours" was the basic concept of the response.
Everyone was waiting impatiently as Rufus began to get ready to explain it all. "Alright, I'm sure Rain has
told you of the Elvanadair and how I ended up crashed, right?" Rain nodded and few others did as well,
"Alright, so, it all started when Gram had his wing broken when we crashed…"
It took over an hour for Rufus to explain as the questions and answers took most of the time. The
Wyverns too had made their way out of their areas by the time Rufus had been done explaining all of his
story. The story had consisted of how he found Naki, how they made their way out and of the danger of
the Wyrms; the details of dreams, Isaria, more advancing on his abilities of mind speech were all left out.
Thinking of the subject mind speech Rufus noted that Water and Flow were absent, It's a shame. I
needed to ask them a lot of questions. he thought to himself, and with mind speech he added to Gram,
We'll have to make a stop to find Water and Flow soon. Gram nodded and soon the story was absolutely
finished.
The children were absorbing most of the information with mixed feelings, Rufus could easily see
happiness, dumbfoundedness (if that's a word) and anger. Brass brought up the crucial thing Rufus was
about to explain, "So uh… what now, boss?"
Rufus shrugged, "Well, Naki here has told me that she has no yearning to go back to who own village, so
she's going to stay with us for awhile."
Rufus prayed their reaction to that wasn't too bad. And… Well, it wasn't. Honestly, most of them looked
happy at the new company. And a little confused. A tail really was an odd thing.

There was a long conversation, but eventually they dispersed and went on to their normal duties of the
day. Rufus felt as if everything was back to normal and everyone was their happy selves. But deep down
Rufus knew it would all break soon. He knew that this business with Isaria and Naki would drag him
away from them again. Not knowing when or why was more tormenting than actually having to leave.
Still, Rufus and the others enjoyed the day of being united. He spent most of the day introducing Naki to
everyone more personally. Naki fit right in with a little help from Rufus to translate, and Rufus soon felt
stupid for ever thinking there was a problem otherwise.
Twitch and Fidget were both goofing off playing their games they make up with nice curved stones,
using chores as the . Naki had found them both funny and enjoyed them quite a bit. After leaving the
pair he introduced her to the rest, one by one, Pit, Wrench; who had just gotten done telling Brass to go
hunt some Fetcher's for the idea of the fur as a support for the saddles, and finally Rain.
The reason he introduced her to Rain last was because he knew the two of them would get along quite
well and would want to spend some extended time together, Or something like that, Rufus told himself.
He was right, as Naki had taken an instant liking to Rain and they had both talked for a long time. It took
awhile but Rain eventually got use to Naki's tail flickering behind her and eventually asked to see it
closely.
Just like Rufus she instantly thought of the same thing he did, "It's just like a Wyvern's tail, Rufus!" she
moved her hand across the plating with a childish smile on her face, soon she found the soft undercover.
She started poking and rubbing her fingers across the bottom until she noticed Naki flinching, "It doesn't
hurt does it?" she asked.
Rufus asked the question to Naki and she responded, "No, but it's really sensitive and I'm kind of
ticklish." He laughed and translated it to Rain.
She boggled at the answer and after another moment asked, "What's it so soft for?"
Again Rufus translated, after getting the answer from Naki he said, "Huh, it seems it's for wrapping
around herself in case it's in an uncomfortable spot, or something. Makes sense, I guess."
They talked and talked for hours, Rufus either being involved in the conversation or bored to tears of
their girlish conversations. But really, he didn't mind. He had nothing else to do, and having full-fledged
conversations with Naki was a thing he found to enjoy far too much.
After getting done with the subject of 'How did you learn to hunt, Naki?' the trio heard a slamming
carcass land on the floor. Dinner was ready to cook.
Although Pit was the only one to actually cook the food, there was plenty of stuff for the other children
to do, which Naki found quite amusing to watch. There was the body to clean; the blood to be cleaned
off the stone floor, the bones to dispose of, the Wyverns to be fed; the large fire under the stone table
to be heated. All of it was done in moments as each person did their job with no arguments, fights or
bickering of any sort.
Which wasn't really strange for Rufus. This is how it usually was, and with the relief of him being back
alive the attitude of the children was very bright. It still impressed Naki, "Even professional hunters fight
every day, always disagreeing with each other" she explained.
Once all the things were cleaned and prepared, Pit began cooking. It usually took awhile since it was a
lot of food, so Rufus thought of something to do while they wait. It had been nearly a month since the
last time Rufus had trimmed Gram's nails or made sure there were no cuts that bothered him.
He went to his room where Gram was gnawing on a thigh bone of a large Scavenger and got his tools
together. He growled as he noticed what Rufus was going to do and Rufus couldn't help but smirk.
Rufus closed in and said, "Come on Gram, move your wing so I can trim them nails." he made an upward
motion with his hands. Gram growled again and kept his attention on the thigh bone, as if he wasn't
there.
This was normal for Gram. He would refuse to let Rufus trim his nails for a few minutes, and if Rufus
kept on pushing it eventually he would give up. That didn't mean that his growling or complaining would
be over anytime soon, though.
But even with this annoying routine of Gram being stubborn for him, it only made Rufus happy because
seeing this really made Rufus think things were back to normal.

The lives of the children, their Wyverns, and Naki went by quite well. For the most part things were the
same.
Naki fit right in with the children, her being a hunter from her own village was a great use for them. In
her short time here she had learned enough of their language to have small conversations, as well.
Down inside the only difference between her and the children now was the fact that she didn't have a
Wyvern of her own.
Usually when one of the children went out to hunt or gather she would go with them to help, and her
help was very cherished. She was a great gatherer, and an even better tracker. Although, her tracking
was never really needed. From the sky you didn't really need any skills that like.
Even so, every now and then Rufus would take Naki out to hunt, but would land and go on foot. Naki
would teach him how to hunt on foot when they did so, which Rufus figured would help him at some
point in his life. Naki said that it wasn't necessary but after getting down in the jungle and hunting
something on foot, finding them, and then setting a trap was truly a rush. It was dangerous, yes, but fun.

It went on for two months before Naki came down with a sickness.
After the initial wave of viruses that you came down with upon coming to the island, there really wasn't
much else to get sick with. That's why it was a surprise.
They thought it was just her being tired. She had been up and about quite often lately, so that's all they
thought it was.
Then she came down with a fever and was bedridden. After that she started complaining about a severe
ache in her stomach. No one really had any medical knowledge, so they had no clue what was
happening. As the days drug on Naki's condition only became worse and worse.
Everyone went into a small depression. This illness could either pass over or kill Naki. Considering the
only other virus they had encountered on this island rid them of their parents and most of the people
that came here, their hopes weren't high.
It didn't seem to be contagious, so she had been able to keep her spot in Rain's room, that's where she
had been staying. She would slip in and out of sleep constantly throughout the day and would rarely eat
anything. All them prepared for the worst. They thought of taking her to the Colony, but none of them
believed that that would help.
It was a week and a half before her condition proceeded to the next stage. In the middle of the night she
burst out in a cold sweat one night and started breathing heavily. Rain called Rufus to her room and they
tried to comfort Naki as much as they could.
Rain, of course, was crying softly and praying for Naki's good health. Rufus… was the same. Except he
tried not to show it. He knew that if any of the other children were in Naki's place he'd still be in this
depression, but the thought of losing Naki was something he couldn't stand.
He was on the verge of tears as Naki slowly opened her eyes and looked at the two hovering over her.
She moved a pale hand over to Rain and patted her leg, the most she could do. Naki looked away from
the crying Rain and just looked Rufus in the eyes. He lost it when she managed to give him a weak smile.
He shook his head and stood up, he couldn't bare it anymore. As he walked out Rain's astonished voice
came after him, "Rufus! You can't just leave!"
He stopped and clenched his fists, "I can't… I can't see her like this."
In a quiet voice she said, "This could be her last day here and you're going to just leave because it's
painful for you?" Rufus turned to see her shaking her head, "I didn't know you were so selfish."
He dumbly stood there, looking back and forth between Naki and Rain. He knew she was right, her acid
words brought him to his senses. Sitting there next to Naki was painful, but it was the only thing he
could really do to help. So he went back over with an embarrassed face and sat down with Rain.

He awoke with a jerk. He had fallen asleep laying back against Reign's neck with Rain next to him. She
was still there, laying down on her mat next to Reign, her eyes still a little red from the crying. He hadn't
been asleep for long.
He quietly got up from his spot, trying not to wake Rain. He stood up and looked down at Naki. She was
still breathing hard, was still sweating, and still looked pale. He wondered if he should stay up with her
all night, praying to whatever was out there.
Rufus sat down next to her, trying to think if there was anything else that he could do.
He had nodded off a little and came to when Naki's weak voice said, "Rufus."
Opening his eyes with a slight snort he looked down at her, "Naki?"
She nodded, "Hey…"
Smiling he said, "Hey, are you feeling ok?"
Naki shook her head, "No… no I'm not." she took an especially deep breath and said, "I know when my
body has reached its limits, Rufus. That's why-"
He pushed back the urge of breaking down and shook his head, "Don't say things like that."
She just smiled and finished her sentence, "Just pick me up…"
"Err… What?"
Naki let out a weak laugh and said, "Carry me to your room... I want to be with you and Gram."
Rufus questioned it just for a second. If Naki wanted it then he'd do it for her. He nodded and her up in
his arms. Rufus wasn't exactly a strong boy, but he had no problems with her weight.
Her skin was cold against his, the normal warmness in her presence was completely gone. He could feel
her weak, heavy breathing and saw in her eyes that there was no strength left.
She wasn't going to make it through another night.
He wanted to cry, he really did. If it wasn't for what Rain had said earlier he'd be sulking in a dark corner
somewhere. But that wouldn't be fair for Naki. Rufus wanted to do everything in the world to help her,
but the only thing he could truly do right now was be next to her. And so he would be.
Gram looked over to them as they walked in the pen and looked at Naki's poor condition. Her voice was
barely more than a whisper as she smiled and said, "Hello… Gram…"
It was the first time in his life that he saw Gram look sad, Hello, Naki. He lifted up his wing and allowed
them in. Rufus managed a weak smile to Gram as he went under his wing and set Naki down on his mat.
He leaned back against Gram's stomach and just smiled down at Naki as well as he could. And she
smiled back.
His smiling façade didn't last long at all, though, "Naki… I… wanted to tell you-"
Naki tried to lean herself upwards, to which Rufus tried to tell her not to get up. But she wanted to, so
she made her way up and leaned back against Gram's stomach with Rufus.
Then she leaned against Rufus and wrapped her arm around his, saying, "Don't say anything… I don't
want to start crying."
He quieted down.
He wanted to say it.
But then again, he didn’t really know how.
So, he did the only thing he could do for Naki right now. He held her close.

It was as if the light shined through the creeping, approaching darkness of death when the vision of an
ocean came to him in his thoughts. He began to fall through the air, he braced for impact but he just
kept falling through, even as he hit the ocean.
It seemed he would fall forever until he froze and the world shimmered, transporting him to a dark cave.

This wasn't the same cave that he first saw Isaria in, but it did have an identical floating water and bright
orb.
Isaria's voice echoed through his mind, Rufus. she was panting and having trouble talking, Rufus, I'm
sorry.
His mind was hazy and the world around him was no better, Isaria… What-… No, Naki… Naki is sick,
she's going to die. You have to help her!
I know, I haven't exactly been able to do anything recently. I can't even manifest myself to talk to you in
person. she sighed quickly, Look, Rufus, this is what was supposed to happen, but I was supposed to be
able to help Naki continue her job before it got this bad. Things went terribly wrong and I was found
before I was supposed to be.
Found by who?
Another being like me. I can't go into details, I need to save my energy to help Naki. You have to bring
her to me.
What? Where are you?
Naki will know. You will know. You have time, I can keep Naki fine for about a month until she'll start
slipping back into sickness. Bring her to me by then. Oh, and Rufus?
What?
Be careful. Don't trust the water.
Er… he grew incredibly light headed all of the sudden, What was that?
He wanted to ask more questions, but he grew tired. The world faded to black. He awoke.
Naki was sound asleep in his arm still, looking almost like an entirely different person. Her skin was back
to her just normal pale glow instead of deathly pale color. Which was a good thing, Rufus guessed.
He also wondered why she didn't get much tanner over her stay here. She had almost constant sun burn
at first, but never really became any tanner. But he didn't really think about that for too long, his train of
thought caught up with him and he almost leapt for joy at the realization that Naki seemed fine. For
some reason, though, he really wasn't too happy. It just felt to him like he suddenly realized that he
never thought Naki would die, it was just the thought of Naki dying that saddened him. A little nudge in
the back of his brain kept telling him 'Everything is going to be okay' over and over. Maybe just now he
was realizing he had heard it.
Whatever it may be, Rufus just smiled and got up gently - to not disturb Naki. He scooted out from
under Gram's wing without waking him and scurried out over to Rain's den. He was still smiling at the
fact that Naki would be fine, but inside he wanted to frown still. Isaria had told him he needed to leave
and find her by the month's end, and he planned to get onto that task right now. No matter how much
it hurt to leave again.
The smile on his face only lasted until he had to wake up Reign - who doesn’t like getting woken up,
"Good morning, Reign." he said quite loudly, "I need to talk to Rain!"
The drake grumbled, shifted a little, and opened a big eye to look angrily at Rufus, It's too early. she said,
growling.
Rufus crossed his arms and said, "I know, but I need to talk to Rain, it's important, so open up!" Reign
growled again and opened her wing. It wasn't that Rufus was being mean to Reign or anything, that was
just how you talked to Reign. Otherwise she'd be the leader.
Rain shivered on her mat next to Reign's neck as a gust of cold wind rushed past. She opened her eyes
and groggily looked up at Rufus, "Hm…" she mumbled, "What is it?"
Rufus's smile came back, Rain always cheered him up for some reason, "Naki is-"
She suddenly burst upwards, "Naki!" she yelled out, "Is she ok?"
He nodded happily, "Yes, she's perfectly fine."
The answer made Rain more confused than happy, "How?"
"It's a long story, but she will be ok for now. Which…" he took a deep breath, "means Naki and I are
going to have to leave for awhile."
"What?"
"To keep Naki healthy we have to go… take her back to her town and cure her there. I'm going to have
to take her alone." it hurt Rufus to lie to her, but he didn't want her tied up in this anymore than he
wanted to be.
"Why alone?" she asked as she got up.
He made something up off the top of his head, "Well, it'd be pretty crazy if like eight flying creatures
suddenly landed in their village, right? We could scare them or something, send off the wrong signal."
Rufus wasn't a very good liar, but Rain seemed to trust him enough to not think otherwise. She thought
about it for a moment and nodded slowly, "I guess that makes sense…"
He nodded, "Yes, so it's just going to be us."
"How long will you be gone?"
Rufus shrugged, "Maybe a month, I don’t know. It depends on how much time is required for Isaria to
heal her." he cringed as he said her name on accident.
"Isaria?"
"Naki's… grandmother… Yeah, her grandmother, she's a healer for her village."
"Ah… I see…" she said as she curiously eyed Rufus. She then turned away, seemingly looking at nothing.
After a few seconds of Rufus trying to figure out what Rain was doing Reign lifted her big head off the
ground and moved in next to Rufus to look at Rain, Rufus. she said.
He turned to his left to look at Reign's big reptile eye, "What?"
You've made Rain cry. As she said it he heard Rain sit down on her knees, hugging herself and crying.
Rufus sighed as he made his way over to her and pattered her shoulder, "Rain, it's not like it's going to
be dangerous or anything. I'll just be gone for awhile-"
She shook her head, "You have no clue how to lie..." she sniffled, the crying seemed to slow, "You could
just say that you have to take Naki somewhere and leave it at that, you don't have to lie."
Rufus frowned, he really was a terrible liar. He sat down Indian style next to her and said, "Well… I'm
sorry for lying. It's just that…" he sighed again, "I didn't want to make you worry or anything."
She smiled and nodded, "Always looking out for us, it seems."
He nodded as well, "I guess so."
Rain shrugged and no more tears flowed, "Just come back in one piece, alright?"
"I'll try my best." He patted her on the shoulder once again and got up, not saying anything as he left
Rain's room.
He made it to his room and Gram was up and ready to go, Naki must have already readied his saddle
and even packed supplies. He wanted to maybe hang around for a little bit longer, say good bye to
people, but that would really only make it harder. Maybe Naki was doing the best thing for him. She
walked out from behind Gram with his Fetcher fur and smiled at him. He managed a weak smile and
with a sadder voice than he expected he asked, "Is everything ready?"
She hopped up on Gram's saddle after tying the fur to it and nodded. Rufus got a little running start and
leapt onto the saddle as well, sitting cozily in front of Naki. Gram stretched his wings as he began
walking out of their room. He paused in the middle of the temple, Are you sure? he asked Rufus.
He knew what he meant. 'Are you sure you want to leave without saying good bye? It could your last
time seeing them.'
But Rufus would do this for Naki. He would do it for her. Yes. he said.
Chapter 6

The day was quiet.

They had flown for about four hours before they decided to make camp for lunch. It was decided that
since it was on the way that they would go ahead and find Water to talk to her. Over the two months
they had been back at the Temple Water or Flow had not shown up. Rufus kept on telling himself, "I'll go
see her tomorrow." then the next day, "I'll go see her tomorrow!" over and over. It had nearly been half
a year since the last time someone saw Water or Flow, the longest they had been out of contact with
the others.
Rufus didn't worry about her, there wasn't really anything in the world that could take down a Wyvern,
let alone anything that would try. The only reason he wanted to go and see Water now was because he
was curious about the whole 'Flow teaching her through her dreams' and her constantly using mind
speech with him when they were training. They were a few hours from the ocean, and maybe another
hour or so after that and they'd be at where Water generally stayed.
But for now, it was a quiet lunch of the food they had packed with them. Within an hour they were back
in the air.
They hit the shoreline in two hours. The jagged rock formations jutting from the ground came into sight
and they began searching around them for any sign of Water. A little amusement was had when Naki
started getting a little scared of flying over water, but soon it changed to excitement. It wouldn't be fun
to be down in the rough ocean water, being slammed against even rougher rocks, but from above it was
a very spectacular sight. The water was a very clear light blue, you were able to see the coral and even
some of the bigger fishes from the height that they were flying at.
Naki spent her time looking down, enjoying the view. Rufus just looked for any sign of Water or Flow. It
was just past an hour when Rufus was thinking of just giving up the search when Naki yelled out in fear.
He looked over his shoulder to see Naki pointing down frantically saying , "Something huge just passed
under us!"
He looked down to the water looking for a sign of the 'huge thing' without any hope, "I don't see
anything." he calmly said.
She pointed a hand past him to a decently sized, half flat half jagged looking rock mass, "It swam over to
that rock and disappeared!"
Rufus shook his head, "Are you sure you didn't just see our shadow or a shadow of a cloud?"
Gram began to slow I saw it too, Rufus. It was no shadow.
He grumbled, "Well, what was it? Was it a giant fish or something?" he turned back over to Naki and she
shook her head, "I have no clue." she said.
"Gram, do you know what it was?" there was no response from him for nearly a minute as they closed in
on the rock formation that the Naki pointed out earlier, "Gram?"
Gram finally seemed to snap awake and said, Water and Flow are on that rock.
"What? How do you know?" Gram didn’t answer as he flew down and landed on the huge flat part of
the rock formation, they landed with a loud Thunk.
Rufus tried to ask him again, "Gram, how do you know that Water is here?"
Gram looked up to the higher part of the rock, it was flat here for nearly a hundred or so feet before it
spiraled upwards to a rocky, spiky plateau, She's up there.
He rolled his eyes and threw his hands into the air in defeat, "Fine, don't tell me." he jumped off the
saddle and helped Naki down, "We'll just go look for her, stay here and just wait or whatever you want
to do." As soon as Rufus and Naki were just a few feet away from Gram he burst into the air, flying full
speed away, "Or you can fly off…" muttered Rufus, yelling after Gram he said, "Be back within the hour
you dumb lizard!" he sighed and turned to Naki, shrugging he said, "I guess he was hungry, or
something." he slouched over, confused, "I don't really know what's up with him all of the sudden, but
let's find Water quickly, alright?" Naki nodded, just as confused about Gram's attitude than he was.
They began walking up to the spiral that lead upwards when Naki yelled in pain. Rufus turned to see
Naki keel over onto her knees, wrapping her arms around her stomach, screaming. He was barely able to
do react before she began vomited up a watery substance. He yelled out her name as he ran up and
grabbed her shoulders, "What's wrong?!"
She looked up in pure pain and said, "My stomach… something's moving inside of me-" she began
throwing up more of the liquid, it splashed over Rufus's knees and he looked down, What is this stuff?
It wasn't vomit, it wasn't water, it wasn't anything that should be coming from a body. Just a pure blue
liquid.
The world around him began to grow grey. His mind dumbed down, he lost focus. Naki began throwing
up again as he lost his hearing. He had no idea what to do, why did everything seem so wrong all of the
sudden? Where was Gram? Why had he acted so weird…? Why was Naki vomiting this stuff? What could
he do to help Naki right now? Why… Why was his name being called?
He couldn't locate the source of the voice. It called his name so clearly, but he couldn't pin point it. Naki
just groaned and leaned against his stomach, still holding her own. The voice in his head faded away as
his mind became to clear out, even Naki seemed to feel better.
Then something behind Naki began to rise from the water. Rufus sat watching this thing come out of the
water while Naki just looked up at him, not knowing what was happening behind her. The beast's head
resembled a Wyvern's, the first thought that came to him other than pure panic was the sight of the
large air sacks besides the thing's mouth filling with air and then shrinking. A small tube at the end of the
lungs went inside the thing's mouth, which was riddled with crystal clear teeth. Its body was just like a
Wyvern's as well, but it was lower to the ground and looked to be made of some sort of soft blue and
white substance. The wings looked like a giant fin with a crystal looking spike jutting from each edge and
pointed upwards more than what a Wyvern's wing did.
Rufus inched backwards after he snapped out of his awestruck state. Naki finally looked behind her to
see what it was, and her reaction was the same. He didn't give her time to inspect it, however. The
thing's wings began to fold and collapse, when it collided with the main bone of the wing it made a loud
popping noise and the bones inside of it shifted and made a huge arm. When it completed the
transformation it began moving towards the two of them, that was when Rufus darted upwards and
started sprinting away from it, Naki following close behind.
The first plan of action was to run up this spiral and into the more rough area of the rock to get away
from the thing. This plan was quickly ruined by another, smaller figure landed in front of them with a
splash. The water that splashed into his eyes caused his vision to be blurry for just a moment. He wiped
it away to reveal what had landed in front of him.
It was Water. Except… it was no longer Water. She was taller, the size of a woman, and was made of the
same substance that whatever was behind them was made of it; a white and blue substance. On her
elbows were the same crystal clear spikes coming out of her skin, and the side of her neck was covered
with gills. Her entire featureless body moved around, as if her skin was alive, it looked as if it was
producing water from the very skin itself; a large puddle was already being made where she stood.
As Rufus looked upward to look the staring humanoid in the eye, he had no doubt it was Water. You
remember the face of someone you've trained with for six years.
The slightly gurgling, warped voice of Water said in the Emperor's language, "Rufus."
His body tensed up and flinched at the sound her voice, "Water… What are you?"
She took a step forward, spreading her arms out as if to say 'I don't know.', she then put her arms down
at her hips and sighed, "Rufus, I'm sorry, but you're going to have to give Naki to me."
Rufus pushed Naki back behind him more and stepped away from both the Wyvern liked creature he
guessed was Flow, and Water. He didn't know where he could possibly go, but being far away was
something he wanted to be right now. "Why do you need Naki?" he asked her, trying to delay whatever
was going to happen.
She took another step towards him, "Someone has planted something inside of her, and it shouldn't be
allowed to exist. I have been sent to remove it." Water took another step.
Rufus took one backwards, "What's inside of her?"
"An egg, of sorts."
"An egg for what?"
"For a Deity." she took another step closer, "I could stand here all day explaining the complexity of
Deities and the Gods and Elementals, but I can't. So I'll give you the short version: a Deity is an
immensely powerful being that rivals the power of Gods; only powerful Gods and Deities can create
them. But somehow a hidden Elemental hiding on this island has made one. That makes the Gods afraid.
Something that could actually kill them. That is why I am here." she pointed a long dripping arm at Naki
and said, "I have to kill her, Rufus."
"That's absurd!"
She took a fighting stance, "I know you won't just let me kill her. You're going to force my hand." she
bitterly laughed, "I can't stop myself from doing this Rufus, so please don't stand in my way… I could
hurt you."
Rufus just shook his head. He didn't fully understand what was happening, but the little voice in his mind
was telling him to defend Naki. And, well, he wanted to.
He took his stance, the same one Water was using. His combat knife was left on Gram's saddle, he was
unarmed. This would be a melee fight with fists. Water frowned and charged forward, closing the
distance between them in a matter of milliseconds, but Rufus saw her first move. A high arcing blow to
the left, he blocked it with his arm. He countered with a gut punch, but she dodged aside. It was a pretty
even fight for a minute or so, but Rufus suspected she was holding back.
She was.
Slowly as the fight wore on she grew only stronger while he grew tired. Her blows became harder to
block, he became sluggish and started to make mistakes.
When Flow began to walk forward, he knew it was a hopeless battle.
Rufus made a desperate distracting maneuver to get Water off of him for just a second, and he took his
chance to bolt.
Naki had slowly crept over to the spiral that lead upward as if knowing this would happen eventually, as
soon as he made a run for it so did she. Naki was making it up the spiral when Water charged forward,
forcing Rufus to engage once again. Flow also charged forward, growling as she slowly approached.
Water didn't joke around at all in this engagement, however. Her blows knocked him off balance, when
he blocked it only made him want to scream out in pain. He feared for his arms, they felt as if they were
about to snap.
Then something did. Water landed a hard blow that dislocated his left shoulder. He yelped in pain and
fell forward on the ground, clenching his shoulder. He could only see Water's feet as she walked past
him. Rufus reached out with his right arm and grabbed her foot, tripping her. She growled and said,
"Rufus, just stop! You can't win this!"
He held on tightly to her leg, yanking on it every time she tried to get back up on her feet. This rewarded
him with a kick to the face which made him nearly black out, and then another one that made him lose
his grip. He fought the impending blackness as his body wanted to slip into unconsciousness, but it was
futile.
He burst awake, only to find himself unable to move. Flow was on top of him, her new wing like arm was
pinning him down against the wet stones. He tried to pick up Flow's arm off of him, but with only one
arm still working he barely believed it would work, and it didn't. Rufus gave up… he couldn't physically
beat Water, let alone Flow.
He closed his eyes and calmed himself. Maybe he couldn't do anything physically, but maybe there was
a way to help himself mentally. It took a long while to finally enter the state where he could roam his
mind around, but it had been awhile since he last tried. Flow took notice of his actions, but he doubted
she thought he was a threat. Rufus didn't even think that, he didn't even know what he was trying to do.
His mind flew a few feet above Flow, who just looked at back at him. To him, Flow was now a bright blue
shape, instead of flesh. That's how everything organic was to him now, just a blue outline. He turned
about, looking for anything that could possibly help him.
He spotted a bright blue outline falling from the sky towards him. Rufus instantly knew who it was, and
thanked whatever was out there for it. Gram free fell from the sky like an arrow, seconds before
colliding with Flow he outstretched his huge wings and slowed down enough to deliver a heavy kicking
blow to Flow, sending her flying off of Rufus and into the water. Instantly his concentration broke from
the moment, and he returned to his body. Gram yelled out, Run, Rufus!
He didn't need to be told. He cringed at the pain from the suddenly awakening pain from his wounds,
but ignored them. Rufus ran as fast as he could towards the spiral as Flow crept out from the ocean and
roared a challenge at Gram. He wished Gram luck and proceeded up the spiral.
He spent an unnerving amount of time in what was possibly a mile wide stone maze. There was
absolutely no sign of either Water or Naki. No sign of struggle - although there wasn't much to be had in
a jungle of stone - or any sign of blood.
So he thought. Naki was clearly smart enough to not try to fight Water, so she would be running. She
wouldn't hide, she would run. She would be in the farthest back part of this place. He ran straight
forward, instead of checking every nook and cranny of this place.
It was still awhile before he found any sign, but he did find one. A trail of water on the ground, right next
to a small dripping trail of blood. He followed it quietly, not knowing which person he'd run into first. As
luck had it though, the blood trail eventually stopped; the trail of water, however, did not. It split off into
a different direction than what the blood was running, maybe Water was searching the entire area? If
that may be, she may be close. So where would Naki go? Forward.
His efforts paid off only a minute or so later when he found another trail of blood, this one much larger
and spread out than the last. The trail of water was nowhere to be found, so he moved with haste. It
paid off.
He ran into a limping, bleeding Naki. He quietly called her name as soon as he saw her, and she turned
with the light blue dagger in her weak grip. Her limbs slouched at the sight of Rufus and she tried to
force a smile, but she flinched instead. Rufus ran over to her and looked at her wounds, she had a large
gash on her shoulder and was dripping blood from her mouth. "Naki, what happened?"
She grabbed his hand and led him on, "Can't stay here, we have to keep moving."
He took the lead and led her on, "Naki, I'm sorry for bringing you here, I had no idea Water would attack
us." he looked around a few jagged spikes for any sign of Water and moved on, "Gram is fighting Flow
back at the entrance, if we can somehow get back to him we can escape."
"No," she said behind him in a weak voice, "Water is trying to speak to me in my mind, she tells me
Gram is… she says there's no hope to get away."
More anger rose, "She's just trying to demoralize us, there's no way Gram would die. He could just fly
away…" he slowed his walking and slammed his curled up fist against the wall, "Damn it! What can we
do?!"
Naki tugged on his arm, "Come on, we can't stay here." she tugged again and Rufus followed, "Rufus,
Water is growing weak as time goes on. I don't understand why, but the last time I saw her she was
nowhere near the power she was when she gave me this gash on my shoulder; she was barely able to
land the blow on my jaw." she looked around another corner, "And she seems to be losing it in the head,
constantly she was freezing up and yelling at herself."
"Why?"
"I don't know! Whatever she is she's not stable, maybe we can kill her if we ambush her?" she turned to
look back at Rufus, who she knew would still not like the idea of killing her.
He too knew why she looked at him, "Maybe… But that still leaves the problem of Flow." he sighed and
said, "Either way, you leaving a trail of blood isn't going to… wait… maybe that's how we can ambush
her?"
Naki looked questioningly at Rufus, then she looked down at the trail of blood she was leaving, "I… I
didn’t know I was bleeding that much…" her mistake hit her and she smacked her head with her hand,
"Gah! No wonder she was able to keep finding me…"
Rufus nodded, "Yes, that would be the reason. But it gives me a good idea! We can lead her into a spot
that's good for us, and ambush her there."
Naki smiled and nodded, "With the two of us fighting her we can take her o-" Rufus leapt backwards as
Water came out of nowhere at a speed that was pure insanity and bashed Naki unconscious. She fell to
the floor as Water turned and attacked Rufus, who blocked her first punch. Again, the fight began, but
Rufus could already tell that Water wasn't acting normally. Her first attack on Naki may have been
unbelievable, but she was slow and her blows were weak against him.
Then Rufus remembered how tired he was already, as well. This fight was now just a test of endurance,
and he prayed that he could out last her. But Water pushed on, striking a powerful blow against his gut,
making him spit up blood. The moment of weakness allowed her to push him against a wall and punch
him repeatedly in the same spot. He coughed and fought, her repeated blows were weak, but still
caused him pain. His eyes began to grow hazy and he couldn't manage to move his arms to strike back.
With all his strength left he headbutt her. It caused her to reel backwards, yelling, "Just give up Rufus!
You can't stop this!"
He charged forward on his limp legs, shouting back, "You can!" and rammed her against the opposite
side wall. The fighting became a desperate struggle, a brawl to the death. His arms barely had any
feeling in them, he pinned her against the wall with the only goal of trying to crush her. She fought back,
scratching at him and barraging his body with blows that he could barely even feel anymore.
She slid down off the wall, causing streaks of blood to mark the wall as the rough stone ripped open her
bare back. She yelled out and kicked Rufus hard in the chest, sending him flying backwards to fall hard
against the ground.
Water leapt on top of him and again the struggle started. They tossed and turned, kicking and doing
whatever they possibly could.
Finally Water seemed to be nearly blacking out, Rufus pushed the advantage and pinned her down to
the ground. He pushed his hands against her throat, trying to strangle her. He clenched his teeth as she
kicked at him and tried to pull his hands off of her, but he held strong.
The kicks became slower, and then they stopped. Her throat convulsed under his hands as her body
tried to gasp for breath.
Her eyelids began to close…
She gave one last weak pull on his hands…
Tears came out of her eyes as they lulled back into her head.
Then… Rufus realized what he was doing. He was choking one of his closest friends to death.
His mind went blank, he simply couldn't do it. He couldn't kill Water. His grip around her fell away; he
had no more will left.
As he fell off of Water's limp body he became aware of the crack on the back of his skulls. He closed his
eyes against the cold stone floor, a small puddle of blood already filling his ear.
He knew that when he closed his eyes he would never open them again.
He just hoped Naki could get away from the same fate.

Writer jumped up from his chair which caused Action to fly off his lap. The blob growled and zoomed
around the room and jumped at Story. Supernatural slunk back into another corner and Drama hid under
the desk. Everyone knew what Writer was about to do. Except Romance, it was still on his desk, eyeing
him curiously.
He patted it and said, "I'll be back soon, just want to take a break is all." the blob shook a little, as if it
was crying. "Now now, Romance." he patted it again, "You're not Drama are you?" it started crying
more, "Oh c'mon. If you like Drama so much why don't you go and spend some time with Drama?" it
stopped crying and slowly nodded, then leapt out of his hands.
He smiled as the blob ran over to the other and started talking. Writer walked to the middle of the room
and closed his eyes. He vanished.

It had taken nearly half an hour of wandering around in the void searching for Teana's realm. For
whatever reason, it was hidden a lot better than usual and there wasn't anything going on inside. Either
way, he shrugged it off and sniffled at the cold air. He always forgot how insanely cold it was here in
Teanas' realm. He didn't hold much power at all in a world other than his own, but he still had plenty to
conjure a nice coat to wear. He even had enough power to teleport himself straight to where Teana
stayed, but that would use enough power to where she'd be aware of it. No, he wanted to surprise her.
Sit at a table for a few hours and wait till she noticed.
She never said anything when she first found him, it was all in the looks. He knew what she was wanting
to say. "Oh," he'd say, "I'm hungry, are you?"
Oh and then she'd summon her weapon and break everything in her castle trying to kill him, but that
was the fun part!
So on he walked at a normal pace. Again, he could go faster if he wanted, and walking faster wouldn’t
bring him any attention, but he was enjoying the scenery. Teanas' world was always a more dazzling one
than most. Although, she wanted it to be to intimidate people into not bothering her. Teana was a busy
gal, almost every time he came to bother her she was already being bothered by someone else. Once he
actually went through all the trouble of taking the time to go bother Teana he didn't want to just go
away because she was already being bothered, no, he waited. Patiently.
Preferably at a table.
Writer kicked a snow covered rock on the ground and thought of all those annoying, weak minions that
bothered Teana and made him wait.
See, a God of a World like Writer would never personally go to fight other Gods, they would always send
a minion. A minion you could make and send safely in your own World. You gained absolutely nothing
from killing another God, though, so most just tried to take over a worthy God. Force them to do what
you tell them to, so you had more power under your control. It was an absurdly hard thing to do,
however; it was hard to kill a God, let alone break one.
But still, they tried. They would create their minions and send them after others, but they never
succeeded. You just can't put enough power into a minion and send them after a God in its own realm. It
just didn't work. So they got the bright idea of banding together, sending multiple, powerful minions at
once. Therefore, a powerful God like Teana is always bothered, always being attacked by dozens of
them at a time.
Writer was far powerful enough to attract some attention, but he always kept his profile low. His small,
two room world helped with the problem of being located, and his low power usage kept himself from
being detected. He was never bothered. So much so that Writer was barely known to exist to most
power hungry Gods. Not existing in the eyes of most people didn't hurt him though, attention, and even
friends, wasn't a thing he wanted. Not anymore.
Teana, however, just loved the attention. She had a huge ice covered mountain world, so much power
was in the air itself that she could easily materialize it and use it as a weapon. Her world was like a
lighthouse in a foggy ocean.
It seemed to be calm right now, though. He couldn't sense any minions entering or already in the
world… and he couldn't even sense Teana. That's weird… Why wasn't she on his radar?
He scanned around the world again and still couldn't find her. Oh well. Maybe she was just off on
another world for once, causing havoc wherever she pleased. He could wait for her.

It took him awhile but he finally crested the mountain that allowed him to see Teana's castle. As always,
it was quite impressive. A massive castle that covered the rest of the mountain. It was low to the ground
with no walls or defenses, it was just a single huge almost entirely different world inside a world. That
was Teana's style. 'Fear me, for I have power.' was basically what this castle said.
But that never bothered Writer, in fact that was why he always came back. She hated him, despised him
even, because he was the only one that didn't fear her. He was the only God in existence that was
courageous enough - or stupid enough - to face her in person, and no matter how hard she tried he
would always escape, cackling.
Writer continued his walk for a moment… only to think that it was pointless now. If Teana wasn't here
he could safely teleport himself, he had enough with the scenery for now. Looking at huge mountains
through a blizzard only stayed enjoyable for as long as it took for your face to go numb from the cold.
But then again, maybe Teana was still here. Maybe she was just taking a break from fighting for awhile?
Maybe even the war goddess Teana had to take a break from war every now and then? It did take a lot
more effort to locate and enter her world this time… maybe she was trying to seal herself off?
Oh, what a perfect moment to barge in. He had to be quiet about it.
On he snuck through the blizzard and wind, taking nearly an hour to reach the castle door; which, by the
way, was giant. He always had to open it through un physical means, because it wasn't meant to be
opened normally. Writer placed his hand upon the door and closed his eyes, focused and watched a
section of the wall sag and turn into a passable ooze. He slipped through it and instantly the hole in the
wall turned back into a solid, and officially he was in 'Serious' mode.
It crossed his mind that Teana could be either gone, suppressing herself and hiding in some crazy small
off world of her own, or waiting in a crazy small off world of her own for someone to come by. No
matter what, he didn't want to risk it. If he got himself killed Teana would be happy, which was just plain
wrong.
The castle was a very dark, gloomy style castle. The ceiling was hundreds, maybe even thousands of feet
high and huge chandeliers hung from the top. Candles spread far and wide through the stone walls,
which was the only source of light here besides the chandeliers. For whatever reason, everything was
just a large scale of what it should normally be. It actually made a cool effect when Teana was flying
after you, you felt like you were a little bug duking it out in a house.
Actually, the only thing that wasn't scaled upwards was the side rooms.
The side rooms… maybe Teana was in one of them? He opened the first one to his left, a normal sized
antique wooden door. It slid open quite easily to reveal just a normal dusty bedroom. After a quick look
over from the doorway he found no one inside, but there were plenty more to search.
Most of them were old dusty rooms just like the first one, but one of them held a more… interesting
thing. A thing he didn't expect of Teana at all. It was behind a heavily guarded door - Writer even had a
little trouble getting past its morphing barrier - that opened up to be an art room. Not just conjured art
that could be made with a simple thought, but actual painted art, it even smelled fresh.
He passed on beyond the art room, reconsidering his thoughts of Teana. Well… Nah. He knew too well
that Teana may be capable of trying art, but she wasn't ever going to change her ways. She may like art,
but that doesn't mean she had changed.
Writer opened a few more doors, revealing nothing special at all. But then as he walked down one of the
few small hallways Teanas' presence hit him like a brick wall. It wasn't that she suddenly appeared, he
just got close enough to her that he could feel her presence… and oh how he had forgotten how strong
she was.
It didn't waver him though, he still snuck forward, completely suppressing his own presence. He had
mastered the power enough to where he'd be entirely invisible to her until she saw him with her own
two pretty blue eyes. He came close enough to literally feel her presence through his skin, she was just
beyond this two door entrance he stood outside of. Steam seeped out through the bottom of the door,
confusing Writer as to what was in there. A furnace, maybe? Burning her enemies, torturing them to
death? Maybe ripping them in half with her pendulum spear was getting boring.
Either way, he pushed aside the two doors while yelling, "Hello Tean…" the sight made him stammer,
"Nn… Na…"
She stood sideways, completely naked, pouring a bucket of hot water over herself. Her body literally
steamed as the water washed off of her pale skin, dripping into the bath she stood in. The room was
foggy, but he could still clearly see her well endowed features. He had never noticed it before, due to
the fact that she always wore heavy body armor or he was always running from her, but she had a
magnificent body. Enough to where Writer suddenly forgot what he was doing and even lost it as far as
to do… well do something else. But his mind snapped back too as her godly voice quietly said, "Alastor?"
he focused on her face that looked more confused than angry or 'ready to rip your face apart' - which
was strange -, "Alastor… Where have you been…? How did you-" she dropped the bucket and it clanked
on the floor, "Alastor! What are you doing here?!"
"A… what? I just came here to bother you and…" he took another look over her body, taking a deep
breath he tried finishing, "I… just… Ah…" he sighed, "I'll be wandering around… finish up and come after
me whenever you want…" he started walking backwards and closed the door as he left the room.
As soon as the door closed he burst into a sprint, feeling the energy inside the room swelling up and
materializing itself into a center point-- she was summoning her weapon and armor. The wall burst
outward in an explosion, out came Teana in her normal battle gear. Her armor was smooth orange
plating clinging tightly to most of her body, her arms were exposed except for her large bracers and
spiked gloves. She floated above the ground as she always did when she was fighting - her weapon was
too big to carry on foot - and she flew through the air after him.
She gained on him within seconds and launched her first attack, but he nimbly dodged it causing a huge
gash in the ground. Her weapon literally melted anything it contacted, even as she raised it into the air
the low ceiling in the hallway bent away, causing an absurd amount of damage very quickly as she
lashed out. Teana yelled out in rage as he kept on laughing as she missed her attacks. This was how it
always went.
Writer burst out into the main corridor, and that's when Teana became very angry… but then again she
was always angry. She flew up into the air and the power in the air gathered to her. She swung her
weapon in a low swing and the stones in the floor erupted to launch out in wavy spikes. Hundreds of
them shot out at Writer, who just kept on running and running until finally the spikes came too close. He
turned and with power punched at the air, the waves flying out at him seemed to hit a bubble shaped
wall as they closed in on him, crushing against it and stopping. All of this was so old though, she knew
that it wouldn't work… that’s why he knows he'd be seeing her…
Flying over the barrier, slicing a wave of air down at him, but again he dodged aside, causing the ground
to be ripped apart. He laughed at her, a new tactic so easily defeated! He stuck his tongue out at her as
he hopped backwards, but she seemed to only want to fly high in the air looking down at him, eyeing
him angrily.
Maybe she's finally caught on that he only comes here to annoy her? That wouldn't be fun…
He smiled as Teana made a movement of gathering power, and prepared to block. But instead of
throwing a sphere of power or moving the world around her, she just threw her weapon down at him,
like a spear. It was so… not flashy, which made it entirely unexpected. Her weapon dug into the ground
nearly slicing him in half, landing between his legs. He recovered and back stepped, sensing something
flying downwards towards him.
Teana threw a fast hook at his neck, but he ducked underneath and leapt backwards again. Teana being
this close was dangerous, even for him. As he flew backwards she ripped her weapon from the ground
and charged forward once again. She seemed to rear back her weapon to slice another wave through
the air, but instead she threw it once again. It careened past his face as he sidestepped, much faster
than the last time. Writer knew there was no way to block the weapon, he couldn't make a barrier
strong enough or couldn't control the air around him enough to deflect it. It was just too powerful.
This was getting very dangerous very quickly.
She engaged him against in hand to hand combat, pushing him back… towards her spear, that was
lodged in a wall hundreds of feet backwards. They would run past it in a few moments if she kept this
pressure on him. He could dodge and block her punches, but he wasn't very good at offense. He'd be
pushed back through the maneuvers and eventually find Teana dashing for her weapon, and before he
could get away she'd be throwing it again. He couldn't teleport out fast enough with Teana throwing her
unblockable weapon. There was no easy way out of this, and they both knew it.
The only thing Writer could think of doing was to try to be offensive in this hand to hand fighting. If he
was pushed back he would be forced to try to evade another weapon throw, which he knew wouldn't
work well; the second throw was even faster than the first. But if he managed to push her back and
separate her from her weapon long enough to teleport out, there was some sort of hope.
He progressed well in his offense, now fighting for his life instead of just trying to annoy Teana. There
was no doubt this fight would have to end violently for one of them, he would have to disable Teana or
she would just kill him. So he tried to go for the one that ended without him dying.
He pushed her back near the hallway that he went into early, and with a heavy blow to the side and a
swift kick to the chest he pushed her back into it. She flew back nearly a hundred feet at the assault and
crashed into the wall. It collapses on top of her, giving Writer seconds to try to escape.
He focused his mind, closed his eyes, and pictured the outside of her castle. She would be out of the
rubble in a few seconds, not enough time to warp back to his own World but enough for him to teleport
to some place where he did have enough time.
Writer felt the chilling wind of the mountains as he opened his eyes, her castle miles away, but still
visible. Without waiting to make sure it was safe, he began teleporting out. He closed his eyes, reached
for his own world or anything that was even closer and transferred himself.
He hit a barrier.
Damn it, Teana predicted this!
Writer reached out again, only to reverberate off the barrier that trapped him inside once again. Things
only became worse as he felt a shift in the air around him. Turning he saw Teana charging towards him
once again.
The only thing he could manage to do was to get out of line of sight. He burst into a sprint and leapt off
the nearest edge of the mountain and free fell into the abyss. Teana jumped down after him, but at least
it would be hard for her to throw her weapon in mid air. He curved himself in the air with as much
power as he could, nimbly avoiding rising pillars that Teana summoned forth to stop him. He pushed
himself farther and farther away from the mountain and was able to lose Teana in the clouds.
This was his last chance. With just enough force not to rip apart the clouds he threw himself sideways,
further into the white mist. Within seconds of not finding him Teana would be banishing the clouds, so
he had no time to hesitate.
After a reasonable distance he froze himself in mid air and closed his eyes once again. He could break
the barrier caging him, but he would have to use blind force. Blind force was… well… it was blind. He
would land in the first world he hit.
Any place was better than this right now, though. Pure power gathered around in a swirling spiral
around him as he charged up power. The plan was to just ram the border of the world and crash
through. That required power. Power required time. Time meant more time for Teana to find him,
especially when he was glowing like a beacon. Just in time, the ability was ready. Teana came out of the
mist with her weapon raised, but he blasted out.
The clouds flew away, even Teana was pushed backwards and slammed into the side of the mountain
from the blast. The barrier shattered away and caused a shocking sensation to recoil through his body.
But it worked. He found himself floating through a pure black abyss with only his mind and body in sight.
That was all he needed. Writer focused his mind and saw no world on his path to collide with.
It wasn't too unexpected. With his luck today he was expecting to fly forward at the direct angle that
made him fly past dozens of world, only to hit one thousands of worlds away. Already he was losing
contact with Teana's world… now his own world…
Uncharted territory.
Even though worlds were wide spread, the speed he was flying at caused him to past by them every few
seconds. Which then caused him to collide with his world within a few minutes. Still… he was so far
away.
He crashed into the ground of this unknown world, causing a giant crater and explosion. It didn't
damage him at all really, just the whole "Hello! I just crashed into your world!" thing was annoying. He
lifted himself from the wreckage and looked around. The ground was dry with little grass, a bright sun
glowed in the sky and animals ran about in the bush. As expected, he instantly felt the pressure of a
nearby God.
The ground ripped upward and roots of all sorts of things tangled around him, completely restraining
him. He didn't fight, no, that'd just lead to more trouble. He needed help out of here, and since the God
here seemed to just want to restrain him and not kill him, he figured if he asked nicely he would give it.
Writer calmed down, relaxed, and let the roots hold him. Up from a burrow under the only tree in sight
came a small mammal. It was an unnatural looking thing, hunched over and twisted looking, probably
the God itself.
Sure enough, the thing said in an easily understandable voice, "Who are you?"
Writer politely said, "I am sorry to disturb you." he couldn't bow, so he gave the best nod he could, "I
crashed here on accident, running from another God you see. I simply ask that you let me go so I can
leave."
The God hopped closer and inspected him, "What says the God chasing you won't come here and kill
me, looking for you?"
There was no easy way out of it, "I can't guarantee that won't happen, but the faster I get out of here
the less obvious it will be. I just want to leave, quickly."
The mammal hopped away nodding, "Be gone, then."
The roots loosened around him and he already began transporting himself, "If the God comes here tell
her 'Writer already left' and she should leave you alone. Teana isn't the kind to kill others."
He vanished to the farthest world in the direction he came. He materialized in mid air, and suspended
himself there. No God was in sight, nor did he feel one. The world was just a flat white surface, nothing
special at all. The God in control must spend most of his time with another.
It didn't matter. He travelled once again. He appeared right before some sort of lesser creature, a small
girl humanoid carrying a box of fruit in a terribly hot and lush jungle, and she yelped out in fear. He
chuckled and apologized, and was off to another world before she could even respond.
Again, another world. Another. Another.
And then another. The world was a small presence one, but had plenty of stuff going on inside of it. He
appeared in the middle of a town. It was under attack by some sort of giant serpent - which seemed to
be the God of the world - and was in complete chaos.
He waited around until after the God dispatched a fortified castle on a hill until he yelled out, "Hello!
Can you help me?!"
It paused in its rampage and silently looked around, "Hello?" it asked, in a perfectly normal, female
voice.
He waved at it, "Down here!"
It looked over the destroyed village and finally found him, "Who are you?" it asked.
"I'm a lost God, is all. I just need some directions!"
"To where?"
Writer shrugged, "Do you know any names of the nearby Gods?"
A building collapsed as the God curled up its tail to think, "Hmm…" it said, "I know Thoren is very close
by, ring any bells?" Writer shook his head, "Norak?" she listed off more names, but none of them
sounded familiar.
"What's the name of the name of the God farthest you can tell in…" he looked around and finally
pointed in a direction, "that way?"
"That would be Lore." she said in a gloomy voice.
Writer thought a moment, and remembered faintly hearing about a God named Lore, "It sounds
familiar, I'll keep going that way. Thanks, and sorry to bother you." he closed his eyes and began
teleporting himself out at the God here yelled, "Wait, you don't-"
It was too late to stop. Instantly he found out why he shouldn’t have come here. The border of the
world he came to instantly snapped shut.
"Ah yes..." Writer said, sighing as he looked around the dark hallway he stood in, "I remember who Lore
was now. 'The great Witch, one of the few Gods to have broken another God." he smacked his forehead,
"Great, just great."
He walked down the hall, knowing nothing else to do. Either it was try to convince Lore to let him go, or
force her to until she lets him go, either one was unlikely to work, but there was no alternative.
Echoing voices rang through the dark stone hallway, No doubt Lore trying to intimidate him, but frankly
he wasn't afraid, more of just annoyed at this circumstance. He was sure enough he could fend off Lore -
or if it called for it make her submit - the only worry he had was the alleged 'Broken' God that she was
rumored to have under her control. One God is easy enough, but two?
Then again, how well could a second God be used in the midst of a battle? How did that work? Did you
just command the God, force it to do what you want? That would require time, concentration, more
trouble than it's really worth. So, no worries. Whatever Lore could throw at him he could fight off,
because no matter what he's really only going to be fighting one God at a time.
The whispering continued, but he tuned it out quickly. A cold wind flew through the hall, kissing his
cheeks with freezing lips. These mixed with the mossy, half destroyed stone hallway was the kind of
things that made small Gods shiver and cry over. Which was probably how she captured this God she
supposedly had.
Whatever the case may be, Writer could feel the presence of two Gods ahead of him now. One was in
shambles, felt unstable even; most likely the captured one. The other didn't feel too powerful, but gave
off a… controlling sort of aura. He was never one to fall for anyone though, so he only worried about the
power of her aura, and sadly to say, it was miniscule compared to Teana's.
Well, maybe it wasn’t so sad. For a split second he thought he wanted a good fight, but he had plenty of
that with Teana already, and that fight wasn't even over. He knew she'd find him if he didn't get out
soon.
The whispering voices stopped, rather, they became just voices. Talking. Audible. Close.
He turned the seemingly only corner in this world and looked upon an… exotic dressed woman. Her robe
was open in front of the legs and had sharp looking openings around the chest and stomach area, just to
look intimidating most likely. Overall, it was just open enough to be decent but exposed enough skin to
make your mind wonder. Or maybe that was just her doing. Writer didn't wonder.
It probably was.
Her skin wasn't tan nor pale, it was in-between. Her hair was a smooth, shoulder length black. Her
power was young, maybe in her 50th year of being a God, and so was her body. She was a few inches
shorter than him, he guessed maybe five and a half feet tall. She was slender, had a small but decent
chest, and was staring him down.
"Hello." she said calmly.
"Greetings."
She leaned against the wall which lead to a much larger square room, with all sorts of different vines and
plants hanging down from the ceiling. In the back he could make out the other Godly presence he felt.
She was tied up by straps, but they had been completely taken over by the vines. There use to be a wall
behind where she was, but it seemed that the source of all these vines and plants were coming from
behind her. The top half of her head was tied back by some sort of growth coming out of the vines which
shriveled at his sight. Her mouth was left agape and was covered in dried blood. Her lips were cracked,
her mouth looked like a desert. How she was even alive he didn't know.
Lore walked in front of his wondering sight and stood with one hand at her waist with a smile on her
face, "I know you, don't I?"
He tried putting on a face that didn't say 'I'm trying to escape I'm trying to escape' and said, "Sorry, I
don't think I've had the pleasure to meet you before."
She giggled in a way that made his heart want to skip a beat, "You're too flattering, Ali… Ale… Ala…
Alastor! That's your name!" she sarcastically clapped her hands together, "The famous God that no one
can find!"
Err?
She smiled even brighter and giggled more, "I can't believe I found him! He fell right into my hands!" she
smiled and leaned back up against the wall, "So, what brings Alastor to my domain?"
He gave a polite bow, "Do I need a reason other than to meet the fabled beauty, Lore?"
Lore gave a quick flash of red cheeks and shied away, "Oh my, I heard that this famed Alastor character
was such a bothersome, annoying, mischievous… some even say perverted God; yet you seem so
polite!"
He grinned, "I get around, indeed, but perverted?"
She nodded, "That's what they all say."
He began leaning against the opposite wall, "Who's 'they' exactly?"
She looked away back to her tied up God and said, "You probably haven't heard, of course… but some of
the less powerful Gods have been gathering up you see… starting to form some sort of combined world,
all nice and fancy if they don't up killing each other, but now they're fighting Gods who don't wish to join
them." she put her gaze back on his eyes, "I, of course, wasn't even invited to the group since I have…
different ways, but I have my ways of spying on them; finding out what they're doing. They number
nearly a dozen now, and they're always meeting and talking and talking and talking about how great
their combined World will be and how the others don't even deserve to be a part of it." she rolled her
eyes, "They keep harassing us more powerful Gods. I never thought that Gods would band together, let
alone agree with each other."
Writer nodded, "We can agree to disagree, at least."
She smiled at the joke, "So, when I caught wind of all of these shenanigans I went into hiding and us
more notable Gods had a silent agreement to lay low and not bother each other."
He folded his arms, "Oh? Then why was it so easy to find yours?"
She gave a gloomy look back over to the slave God, "I can't control her anymore, her power leaks out
like a beacon in the night. I don't know how to mask my World from others very well, so I just use it all
to keep out others through a barrier… I relieved my barrier for 2 seconds and you slip in… "she looked
back over to him and gave him sad eyes, "I'm defenseless…" her shoulders slumped, and she quietly
said, "What do you want of me?"
Writer snorted and said, "Nothing at all, really."
She pouted and said, "Ah, you're no fun. Usually my sad and defenseless look makes any normal God
cave in within seconds, yet you just shut me down without a second glance." she faked crying, "You're a
horrible person, the rumors are true."
Writer frowned, "I'm not any of those things you said they said!" he shook his head, "That's not the
point, why don't you set that God free if it's causing you so much trouble?"
She rolled her eyes and started walking over to the other God, "I'm afraid of her and what she's become,
that's why."
"Oh?" he said as he followed Lore over and inspected the God more closely. The first thing he wanted to
do was try to help her, she seemed so miserable and… something else.
Lore nodded and pet the growth feeding on the God's head, "Everything in my World right now is made
by her. She's completely taken over my own World and I'm too afraid to pull the plug." she pulled a
loose vine out and threw it to the ground, for whatever reason it leaked out blood.
Writer ripped some more vines out and found the girl's chest under nearly a foot layer of vines. He
pressed his hands against it and sighed after Lore gave him a curious look, "She's breathing faintly."
She nodded, "Yes, I know."
"Have you ever seen a God die before?"
"No, have you?"
He shook his head this time, "Only a very powerful minion, and that was horrific, I was young and no one
else was strong enough to stop the recoil. If this… thing she's attached to is keeping her alive and we
remove it… it'll be bad. But then again, maybe she'll be fine without it… it's a gamble."
"And I'm too afraid to take the risk." she tossed her hands in the air, "I didn't even want her to begin
with, and now she's forcing all this trouble onto me."
"You never wanted her?"
Lore rubbed her temples, "She burst into my World one day while I was enjoying tormenting some
stupid God, and she just… well, she did this. She was banged up and looked horrible, worse than what
she looks like right now, and set up this small temple and attached herself to the wall. The stupid God
that was with me must've taken that as me breaking her, so that's how the rumor got spread. I'm not
even that powerful, yet I get this huge reputation that I'm some insane God breaking God. Honestly, I
can't deal with it. I have to shut myself in here, even before this stuff with this group of other Gods
because of the people that wanted to fight me to prove that they're stronger."
"Hm, does anyone even know the Gods' name?"
"Well, I haven't exactly been able to ask around at all, but I know no one will know her. She's probably
from some far off World, chased here by another."
Writer nodded, "That seems logical, but that still raises the-" his eyes widened and he gasped as the
World around him rumbled, the barrier around them was being attacked, "I forgot! Teana! She's still
after me!"
Lore leapt back, "Teana!? What're you serious?!"
"Yes! She was chasing after me because I pissed her off, and I was jumping across worlds to get away
from her! I came here for that very reason!"
"Well then leave!"
"I can't with your barrier up! It's keeping me insi-" another hit struck the barrier and Lore held her head
in pain.
Lore fell to her knees as the world rumbled for the third time, "She's too strong… I can't keep the barrier
up…"
It dissipated and there was a loud crash that echoed through the halls, Writer knelt down next to Lore
and helped her up, "She shouldn't attack you, I'll just leave."
"Wait! I'll help you!"
Writer was already on his feet before he looked down, shocked, "What?"
She got up to her own feet, "I can help you with Teana, she won't kill me but I can slow her down
enough for you to escape." she dusted off her dress.
"You can't be serious, this isn't your problem." he closed his eyes, his mind made.
She grabbed his arm and broke his concentration with a quick jolt of power, "You know you can't run
from her, I'll help you if you help me with my own problem." she gave a quick glance to the God tied on
the wall, "Neither of us can solve our problems alone."
He sighed, "Fine, whatever, but we have to leave!" again he closed his eyes, Teana's weapon scraping
against the wall became audible.
Lore stepped away and said, "I'll follow you, go."
Everything went black and he began sprinting even before he could tell where he landed. Writer
appeared in a long, flat plain with brown grass. The sky was blue, but showed a universe above. He
didn't have enough time to scan deeply for a God's presence, but didn't feel any immediate one.
Lore appeared out of the air in front of him, breathing quickly. She grinned and said, "I haven't used
normal powers in awhile." she ran alongside him, "Teana is right behind us, she's pretty pissed! What
did you do?"
He stopped and closed his eyes, already looking for a new world, "I'll let you know when we have time,
we're leaving again. I can recognize this next place, just a few more jumps."
Materializing in a familiar world was a relief. It was more notable because of its vast black sky, swirling
with chaos. The God was always up in the sky, off in his own world within his world.
He waited a few moments for Lore, who popped up beside him panting, "You're really good at this sort
of thing, aren't you?" she asked through pants.
Writer nodded, "I have learned over time, I guess." he targeted another World, but the tremor of a God
like Teana - who had no idea of how to mask her power - entering the World interrupted him. She
appeared out of the shifting air and looked at them. Both Lore and Writer felt a constant annoying jolt
go through their body, Teana had learned.
After trying anyways to escape Lore readied herself and said, "We'll have to break her concentration, or
kill her… figure out which one fast."
He shook his head, "I don't want to kill her, even if she's trying to kill us. She isn't good at controlling her
powers, the range of this annoyance is most likely extremely limited." he put his right leg backwards and
took a calm, but ready stature.
Lore raised her hands in the air as Teana too took a ready stance, "We can't run, can we?"
"No, I've never been able to out run her, only trick her long enough for me to vanish."
A black warp gathered in the sky above Lore as she raised her hands even higher, "I don't know if this'll
be able to fend off the great Teana, but it'll at least cause a nuisance…"
Teana flew forward and Lore smashed the black orb into the ground. Black tendrils erupted across the
ground and rose up to form a chaotic mass of black dozens of feet away. Even Writer backed away from
Lore, who was being consumed by her own creation, the black stripes wrapping around her body.
The stripes thickened and began taking the form of black worms, the main mass that had gathered up
exploded, sending the wiggling things flying. They started racing after Teana and she leapt backwards,
cleaving a great mass of them in the process.
Although the annoyance was against them they had a moment. Lore stood up only to lose her balance
and fall backwards, landing on a somehow shrieking worm. Writer watched the things chasing Teana,
almost feeling bad for her. The worms sprouted a circle of teeth and still seemed to be forming from the
what Writer was figuring the nest of them that Lore created.
He took his eyes off of them and looked down at Lore, "What are…" he cringed as one slid underneath
his legs towards Teana, "Things?"
She reached up her arm for help, in a tired voice she said, "My specialty." she laughed softly as Writer
lifted her upright, "They were supposed to be one solid mass, but I couldn’t combine them fast enough,
so I made them something smaller…"
Writer smiled, "All fine, Teana is busy with them." he looked back over and noticed the army of worms
had gotten no smaller, "We have this moment, we should distance ourselves. Can you move?"
She shook her head, "No, I can't; I used too much power."
Writer sighed, "Ah… this is bad. How long will those things last?"
"Not for long." she fell back on her back again, "Just leave me, by the time the worms go away you'd
have been able to run away. Maybe she won't kill me and just go after you, I can return to my own
world." she slapped her hand onto her head, "Why did you have to pick a fight with Teana of all
people?"
Writer smiled but didn't answer. He held his palms together and closed his eyes for a short while before
smashing his hands against the ground. The ground around them began to rumble and crack, splinters of
stone being thrown away by an invisible pressure underground began to pelt the two Gods. Finally,
massive gaps ripped open and spewed out a heavy fog, blanketing the entire landscape. The shrieking
and crashes of Teana battling the monsters Lore created could still be heard as the grounds settled, yet
only faintly. Writer dug his hands deeper into the soil, and a long, massive wall protruded from the
ground seconds later, surprisingly causing no more noise than the sounds of battle.
Lore looked down from her position and could barely make out the foggy silhouette of Writer standing
up. She saw him turn and reach down to her to pick her up, but she couldn’t even see his mouth moving
through the fog as he said, "The fog will throw her off, and the wall will only make it worse." he started
sprinting as lightly as he could with her in his arms and she couldn’t help but object to this idea, saying,
"I'll only slow you down, just go." to which he laughed off.
They ran for a few minutes, out of the sound range of the fighting. Still, the shocking sensation running
through their bodies could still be felt, so still Writer moved on. After nearly ten minutes the fog began
to clear enough to where they could see more than twelve inches in front of their face, and Writer
noticed that Lore looked depressed in his arms. "What's wrong?" he asked.
She stayed quiet.
"What? Are you hurt?"
Lore shook her head.
"Then what?"
She took a small sigh, "I just feel useless all of the sudden."
Writer rolled his eyes, "Oh don't get depressed on me now." he shifted her in his arms, "Why would you
think that? You saved me with the worms back there, I literally have nothing to distract Teana with right
now."
"Lies."
"What?"
"You're just as strong as she is, if not more powerful. You're lying to make me feel better."
Writer laughed louder than he wished to, "Says who?"
"Says I!" she said, raising her voice, "You don't get the reputation you have by not being strong,
especially when half that reputation is of you torturing and enslaving Teana in her own world."
After snorting he said, "Wait, what? Who came up with that?"
She smacked her forehead, "Do you ever talk to any other Gods? Do you have any friends?"
Writer stopped laughing, and even stopped running. He slowed, a haze coming over his eyes as he
thought. Lore's face calmed, "Sorry," she said, "I didn't mean to… you know…"
He snapped out of his thoughts, "No, it's fine. I use to… but not anymore, so forgive me if I don't
understand any of the gossip."
It was silent for a few awkward moments until finally Writer broke it by saying, "I may be around Teana's
strength-" the disappearance of Teana's distracting aura cut him off. He smiled and closed his eyes,
picking a nearby World to vanish to.
He teleported with Lore, which only took a few extra seconds of concentration to pull off. They
appeared in a bright forest with tall trees. God rays were spread out everywhere, and the singing of
birds was coming from the great canopy. Writer looked down to Lore to make sure she was still there,
and confirmed that she was. All in one piece -- Not like he had ever teleported with someone ending up
not in one piece before… just other Gods that teleported and ended up not in one piece. Other Gods.
He flashed her a quick smile and walked through the dead leaf ridden forest floor. "Anyways," he said,
starting over on what he said earlier, "I may be as strong as Teana, but she holds much more raw power
than me. Like-" he nudged her with one of his fingers, "You, I'm guessing you use a lot of influencing
powers or strong minions like those worms, right?"
She nodded, "Yeah, I guess so."
"So, you require prep time or a weak enemy to influence. See, I'm sort of like that. Teana is straight
forward, no down time, because all of her power lies in her weapons and armor. I can't deal with that
easily, neither can you. I may be just as strong as she is, physically and mentally, but her style makes her
have much more power over me." he nodded to himself, feeling the explanation was the best he could
give, "But say… me fighting you would be an easy for both of us because we're both the same time, in
that situation we'd be evenly matched." he chuckled, "Also, when I broke out of her world I lost most of
my power, I had no idea how much power breaking through a barrier by someone like Teana would
take, that's why I can't even attempt to fight her head on right now."
She nodded, "Yes, yes that would require quite a bit. I'm surprised you can walk at all if you managed to
do that, let alone teleport between all these other worlds."
He nodded, "About that…"
Writer fell down face first, landing on Lore.

His mind became clear slowly at first, but his thoughts became audible and crept forward. He couldn't
remember much… only running and some images of a younger God in a very skimpy robe…
Wait, he said in his dull mind, That's Lore. I was with Lore.
What else happened?
He remembered more running, a strange God and a few interesting Worlds. As he became more and
more aware of what he had done so did he become aware of the area around him. He was laying on
something decently comfortable, like a mat on some rough surface. Maybe the forest floor? I remember
being in a forest last.
Whatever it was, he wondered off of it as nothing changed. He didn't want to open his eyes, nor did he
want to wake up. Being asleep felt very good right now. Too tired to do anything else.
What else happened before? Running…
Running… more running…
An annoying crawling of his skin kept him from doing something, but it eventually broke and he was able
to run away. That was what happened before. Then before that was even more running…
What was with all the running?
Back track… back track… Ah hah!
Writer nearly woke himself up with his mindful yelp. A flash of a naked woman in a bath, something
extremely unusual for his thoughts and insanely familiar.
He tried sparking the thought again, and succeeded. He remembered now. I was in my World, then I
went to Teana's… then she chased me!
All so simple now. That's why he was running! Ch, I'm so smart.
Now the memories of his actions flowed in as the nodes of thought exploded out and connected. He
only stopped to consider about what to do with Lore and her… friend.
Yes… the bruised and nearly dead God that tied herself to a conjured wall in a random God's world, then
created a strong minion to… keep her alive maybe?
That was probably it, it left questions still, but it at helped. Though…. the most confusing of it all for him
was the fact that she seemed so… familiar…
From what he could tell - just by her presence and her (Although shredded) appearance - she was a
young God. No older than Lore. But what held her in place in that stone was something far more
powerful and dangerous than someone like the God could have summoned. Yes, she could have
summoned it to keep her safe while she… did something or she could have made it to just keep her
alive, as Lore did say she was hurt when she came in.
But that didn't make any sense either, she couldn't have conjured it unless she had direct help or was
strong enough to summon it herself… which wouldn't work, because if she was injured she couldn't have
given enough power to make it keep her alive, which wouldn't even make sense if she had enough
power left to summon it!
It had to of been something else…
Whatever it could possibly be, it intrigued Writer. Everything about it made absolutely no sense at all, so
he decided to roam his thoughts on another subject.
Writer's physical body stirred, not enough to wake him but enough to make him want to. He
concentrated and let out a groan, then fell back to a deeper sleep. He smiled in his mind.
Now the Teana problem. He really pissed her off.
There was, without a doubt, no way for him to escape without her finding him and killing him. There
just… wasn't any power left to fight her. It was all gone from jumping between Worlds and shattering
her barrier. Only hope now was to hide here in this forest world and gain back enough energy to
teleport away once again. His own World was close, but power was regained extremely slowly if not
within the God's own world.

Gack. Writer finally said after contemplating actions for awhile, Nothing I can do until I have some
damned sleep.
He rolled over his body and his thoughts began to roam on their own. Still, his nervous jittering and
thoughts appeared, but he tried not to pay attention to them.

But something finally did peak his interest. How, in the name of creation, did Teana hide herself so well
when he was looking for her in her World? Sure, a God like Writer could hide his power very easily, but
one like Teana - Especially Teana - screamed out her name in great bold letters. It was only when he was
within ten feet of her in her house that he felt her presence.
How does one go from beacon of light in the night to a ghost on a foggy coast?
She wanted to be alone, that was obvious from her reaction and her… well… bare body. So she found a
new way to mask herself? Maybe a deal she made with a God that attempted to attack her that she
struck down?
No… no, Teana doesn't have that kind of concentration. So it has to be something simple.
Later on in the fight, however, she was back to normal… what did she do in that time?
He rolled over again, becoming irritated. She was in the bath… yes… in the bath…
Writer shook his head. She was in the bath, then he closed the door… then she burst out in her armor,
and was fully noticeable on the spectrum of presence.
Wait…
That was it…
Her armor!
Most of her power was gained when she put on her armor, so when she has it off she's just a plain,
normal young God.
So… a way he could beat her was…
Simple!
Writer burst out from his dazed sleep and saw Lore leapt back in surprise at his sudden revival, "Lore!"
he yelled out in a happy tone, "I know how to beat Teana!" he calmed himself a tad, for she looked lost
in his sudden burst.
She didn't say anything, so he continued, "It's simple! We just…" he trailed off as he noticed Lore's face
wasn't of shock, confusion, or anything like that, it was a face of pain. Then he noticed she was holding
her side, "What's wrong?" he asked, "Are you hurt?"
She smiled faintly with her pained face, "She promised not to kill me if I didn't help you… Ah…" she held
her side closer, "I was too stupid and fought back…" Lore cringed and pulled her arm from her side,
revealing a bloody side, "Even though I tried killing her she didn't kill me, she's not as bad as I thought…
but she said she wouldn't help me either."
He moved his way over to her, off of his mat that was on top of a dead leaves, and inspected her wound.
"I'm guessing you're talking about Teana, right?" she nodded and he reached for her robe, "I can help
you a little but uhh… you're gonna have to… give me access?"
She smiled, "It's fine, really. I'd rather not die."
He took the bottom of the part of her robe where it split off to cover her legs and lifted from there. It
didn't really expose anything, she wore undergarments and the slice was on her side. It was deep, but
not deep enough to do more than bleed and hurt a lot. It went from her stomach all the way to her left
side. There wasn't anything to really bandage her wound with, so he had to make it up. There was
nowhere near enough power left to manifest a bandage or anything, nor was there clothing bits long
enough to wrap around it. So, he had to resort to using his shirt.
His short was a nice thick cloth, so it would work perfectly. He took it off and lifted Lore's robe as much
as he could before his decency kicked in. Using the sleeves he tied it around her and used a part he
ripped off to tie a few loose ends, making it much more effective.
She needed outer help, though. A wound from Teana's weapon would fester and not close if not
attended to with other methods than physical - Writer knew this first hand.
She moved her hand back to her wound and said, "I have to ask why you didn't use all the bandages you
have on your body?"
The bandages of which she spoke were nearly forgotten in his mind. He looked down at himself to see if
they were even there still. They were, all of them. His entire body was wrapped in perfectly white
bandages going around his body. "Yes," he said, "I could use them, but I don't want to."
"Oh? Why not? They don't even seem to be in use, they aren't stained with blood at all." she crossed her
arms and waited for his answer.
He shrugged, "They're in use, trust me. But it's much more mental than physical, so you'll have to let me
keep using them, okay?"
She relaxed her arms, "Oh... I didn't think it'd be something like that, sorry."
A smile dawned on his face, "It's not you who should be apologizing, I could take them off and use them
but I am too selfish in this matter, so I am sorry."
Lore gave a faint nod and they became quiet. Writer took the time to look around him in the moment of
silence, he saw that they were in some sort of small opening in a side of a mountain, and outside he
could still see the forest past a few dozen feet of rocky terrain. The source of light for this World was
directly above them from what he could tell, and it was horribly quiet. There weren't any sounds of
animals, or any wind. He looked back to Lore and found she was leaning up against a rock that was
inside their little cave, and seemed to be on the verge of passing out. For whatever reason, there was an
animal hide mat piled on top of some leaves - the one he awoke on - in the back of their little hole; it
was just a foot away from him now.
Writer got up and took Lore's arm, she mumbled he nudged her onto the mat. She fell over and rolled
on her back. She stared up at him for a second while he looked around outside and finally said, "You
know Alastor, I thought you weren't too bad but now you go and pull this…" she held her side again, "I
get why and I don't mind, just…" she broke her stare and shyly said, "Be careful."
Writer turned back at her and said, "What are you talking about?"
She blushed, "You don't have to be subtle or anything… I mean… I have never really…"
He turned his head sideways, "What are you talking about? I was just going to go look around for the
God of this World, I was going to let you use the mat while I was gone."
Lore smiled at first, then a few awkward seconds of silence passed and it slowly turned into a red face
that wanted to run from this conversation. "Ah…" she said, stammering, "I thought… you… Oh my…" her
face grew more and more bright.
Writer still looked on confusion, "Now what are you talking about? Did you catch a fever or something?"
he kneeled down and put his hand to her forehead and he concluded that she did in fact not have a
fever. "Did she hit your head?"
She shook her head slowly, and to Writer's surprise she began to turn a little angry, "I…" she paused,
looking as if she was about to burst. She finally did, "I thought you were going to force yourself onto
me!"
He leapt back, astonished, "What?!" he nearly yelled.
She leaned up and screamed back at him, "Well! You threw me down on the mat! That's enough to
assume!"
He raised his voice more, not out of anger but more of just the situation, "The hell it is! What made you
think that I was going to do that!?"
She too raised her voice to the moment, "You would understand if you were in my position!"
"How?!?!"
"The rumors around you are too numerous and serious! The fact that Teana is after us for a reason you
have yet to explain to me only makes me assume more!" she cringed and held her side closer, after a
moment her now calmed voice said, "I'm the victim here, not you. So why are you getting so angry?"
He too calmed and rubbed his eyes, "It's just that I knew you thought that because of the rumors you
heard. I just don't like that, so forgive me. I'm really not anything like what they say and I don't know
why they do say that, because I'm honestly-- Wait, were you going to give yourself to me if I wanted?!"
Her eyes went wide and instantly she flared, "Of course not!" she shook her head, "Maybe! I… don't
think of me in that way!"
Writer snorted, and their bickering came to a pause.
A few moments passed, "Alastor," Lore said quietly with just a fragment of red on her cheeks, "On to
what you said earlier, about looking for the God, there's no point to. Teana left us here because she
knew we wouldn't be able to escape."
Expected, but still a bad hit. Writer sighed, "Where did she go? Did she say when she'd be back?"
Lore shrugged and laid back down on the mat, "I don't know where she went, but she said she'd be back
soon." she heaved a heavy sigh, "I don't know why she left. I was dragging you through the forest when
she came, I was barely able to even react before she was upon me. Ah…" her arm went to her wound
again, "Just thinking about it makes me hurt."
Writer laid back against the stonewall and closed his eyes, for they were suddenly a tad heavy. "So what
did she do to you?"
"As I said, she was upon me before I could drop your heavy arse and protect myself." she chuckled, "I
was expecting her to kill me right off the bat, but when I opened my eyes she was just holding me
against a tree. Her right arm was holding her giant - emphasis on the giant - weapon and her left was
holding my hands above my head." she chuckled again, "It was funny and awkward, actually. She
levitates you know? I was being held against a big rough tree, dangling in the air. She didn't say
anything, just looked me over and looked over at you. Stared at you for a few good long moments."
Writer felt his thoughts drifting, but he tried paying attention, "Why was that funny?"
"Well, it was awkward because it was so quiet, but then it was funny for two reasons. One was the fact
that she had little worm shaped bite dents on her armor, and the other one was that looking death
straight in the face made me not care about how serious the situation was, and made me giggle at it."
"Ah," Writer softly laughed, "Then we share something. For whatever reason I find bothering Teana,
basically death itself, quite hilarious. That's why she's pissed at me; in case you're still wondering."
"Hm, so the rumors about… more suggestive things aren't true? You just do it for laughs?" she laughed,
"You bother Teana, one of the most powerful Gods within thousands of Worlds, just because you find it
funny?" she began laughing again.
Writer laughed along with her, "Pretty much."
"You find humor in horrible places."
Again, he laughed, "I've visited Teana maybe five dozen times now, and only twice have we truly talked.
The first time, of course, was when I first visited her. It was a few trips before she talked to me the
second and final time. I had gotten her to the point where I was actually able to have killed her, but-"
Lore cut in, "You could have killed her?"
Writer nodded his head, as if it was nothing to scoff at, "Yes, I could have. It was one of the longer fights
and I was having too much fun to try running away. This was back in the early days of my life, when I
was younger and stupider, and Teana was too. Neither of us knew the limits of our powers, and she hit
hers first. She broke down mid fight, and she was mine to do what I willed to her."
"Oh my…" Lore blushed, "You didn't… take advantage of her did you?" she eyed him curiously.
He rolled his eyes, "Why do you always assume that first? Of course I didn't." he sighed, "Anyways, she
was sprawled out before me on the verge of consciousness. I knew I wasn't going to kill her, but I could
have. I had the ability in my hands to end another God's life, I didn’t want to, but I could have. I dunno,
something changed after that moment of me looking down at her."
Lore was staring at the ceiling now, she asked in a quiet voice, "Then what did you do?"
"Meh, I actually watched over her for a few weeks after I realized she was defenseless. Like us, she was
completely exhausted, once you go past that point of no return it takes awhile to come back, that's
probably why she has no worries leaving us here." he chuckled to himself, "She resented every moment
of me taking care of her, but I expected her to. Once or twice a God's minion would roam in and try
attacker her - this was back when she was getting really popular - so I had to protect her, which made
me all fuzzy inside." Lore laughed at that which made him laugh, "It's true. I was actually kind of sad to
leave her. But I guess I sort of developed that parent like feeling of knowing when to let your children go
and be on their own, " he laughed, "She tried killing me in my sleep." Lore chuckled and he sarcastically
sighed, "Ah well. That was the last time we ever truly talked. I kept bothering her of course, but it was
usually quiet. Actually, the longest conversation I've had since then was the question she asked me
today."
"Hmm," her half asleep voice said, "What was that question?"
"'Alastor, what are you doing here?!'"
"That's it?"
"Yup."
"An exciting life you have there."
"Yes, I know."
Lore mumbled something inaudible, and closed her eyes. Writer smiled and did the same.

Something poked at Writer's ribs and caused him to grumble. It came again, and grumbled and swatted
at the air in front of him, shooing whatever was poking him away.
A sigh came, and then another poke, this time to the chest. Writer didn't respond to it.
Another one on the chest, ignored.
Another. Ignored.
Sigh. Poke. Ignore.
An angry sigh. Harder poke. Complete ignore-age. Whatever was poking him, however, did annoy him
enough to fully wake him up. It was just the whole premise of the thing that kept Writer from opening
his eyes and giving in to the Poking-To-Awake method.
Lore's complaining voice said, "Alastor, c'mon! I don't know how to build a fire and it's freezing!"
A fire? I'm too tired to make a fire!
He ignored her, "C'mon!" she said, "The sun suddenly went away and it became completely horrid! I
know you're awake! Stop ignoring me! I'm cold!"
Sighing, Writer opened his eyes, giving in to his good heart. Lore was crouching in front of him with the
animal hide wrapped around her, shivering. "Please make a fire." she asked again.
Writer stood up and did feel a horribly cold wind hit him. Which was weird, because there was no wind
earlier. His bandages were bad enough as clothing, but this wind would be bad even if he wore a giant
thick, multilayer robe.
He grumbled and walked outside of the small cave, hugging himself to try to warm up. The sun had truly
vanished, but there was still a faint shine on the world; wherever from, he didn't know.
He grumbled again.
Writer stepped into the tall treed forest and looked around on the floor. There weren't any twigs at all
on the floor, only dead leaves.
The branches of the trees were too far up to reach, and he had no power to reach them.
He gritted his teeth and looked up at them.
Look at them. he said to himself.
Just innocently swaying in the wind… TAUNTING ME!
Writer growled and closed his eyes. Maybe a simple blast to a small part of the branch could snap off
enough to make it fall…
The power didn't come.
He sighed in defeat. There was literally nothing he could do.
The powerless God hugged himself again and started walking back towards the cave, kicking the dead
leaves on the floor as he went. The leaves could burn, but there'd be too much smoke and it wouldn't
last long enough to enjoy.
As he came into sight of the cave he tried to think of another way to keep warm.
Actually…
He went back to the forest and gathered as many leaves as he could, stuffing them under loose
bandages and filling his cupped arms as much as possible.
Writer trotted back into the cave to meet a disappointed looking Lore, "Really, though?" she said as he
came in, "Leaves? I wanted a fire!" he said nothing and put the leaves down, she snorted short after,
"You look like a nymph with all those leaves in your bandages." she laughed, "Have you gone insane? Do
you think you're a woodland creature now?"
Writer laughed as well, "Maybe I have gone insane… maybe…" he grinned wickedly and her smile faded,
"Maybe I have gone insane!" he crept in closer to her, "The voices in my head are telling me what to do
now, Lore, and what they're telling me to do is enslave you. 'You need a servant' they say 'To keep your
dead heart alive in this dead world."
She backed up as far as she could in the cave and shook her head, "Don't listen to the voices! We can get
through this!"
Eyes went bloody, his gaze became hungry, the God's fingers fidgeted and gripped at the air.
Writer threw a leaf at Lore's horrified face; it flew a few inches before catching in the wind and floating
safely to the ground.
He shrugged and started walking out the cave, "I'm going to go and get more, by the time I'm done we'll
be buried in leaves, it's the only thing we can do."
She smiled and grunted, "Buried?"
Writer turned around, his wicked grin suddenly returning, "Yes…" he whispered, "Buried."

It took a dozen or so trips, but eventually there was a giant pile of leaves taking up most of the cave. By
the end of it all Lore had decided to help out; more so for the fact that every time Writer came back with
another shipment of dead leaves he gave her his wicked grin and crept away.
Writer gave a heavy sigh as he walked in, and thought how pitiful it was to be this tired just from walking
back and forth. Thinking about it now, this is probably what Teana felt like when he had pushed her to
her limit as well.
In front of him, Lore dived into the pile of leaves and dug underneath. The mound of leaves above
moved around and he was able to track her, she moved straight to the back.
Writer slowly entered and dug around, trying to find a comfortable spot. The leaves were cold
themselves, but this was to act like an igloo. Eventually it would warm up, and the thickness of it let him
know that the cold wind wouldn't be able to penetrate very well. He got nearly to the back of the cave
and stopped, trying not to hit Lore. The source of light - whatever it may be now - had become even
darker; it was nearly pitch black now.
He didn't hit anything, and didn't feel the cold wind anymore. It was good enough. Writer set his head
down, thinking what it was like for Teana.
It did feel bad.
Not even being able to break a tree branch was a massive change from being able to bend a world to his
own will.
Maybe this is what it felt like to be a broken God.
Yes. This is what it felt like to be broken. This is what you did to force a God to do whatever you willed.
You didn't beat a God into submission, bring him to the point where he dangled off the cliff of life.
No, you wore him down. Made them fight, use all their powers, then once he passed that point you
could do anything. You could bend their weak physical bodies, you could probably even put seals on
their power that could last even after they had regained it. You could do anything you wanted.
He breathed deeply and suddenly everything became quiet.
Something crept through his chest. A feeling that had been long gone in the days of his youth.
An aching, sinking feeling. It made it hard to breath.
It was fear.
Fear that for once, he actually felt like he was in danger. Not danger for his life, death was something
that Writer had accepted long ago.
Living in enslavement was not. Although, he reassured himself with this thought, Teana was most likely
going to kill him.
Quickly. That was how she did it. A quick cleave and everything in front of her would be cut in half.
Others would find it weird that he calmed himself with the thought of his inevitable death. But as Writer
took a deep breath and slipped out of his depression, going back to normal thoughts.

Sleep, however, never came. The leaves took much longer than he expected to warm up, in fact, they
hadn't started yet. It was still cold, his weak body was for whatever reason restless. Eventually, at least,
sleep would come - be it through freezing to death, Teana coming and kill him, or actual sleep. Hopefully
it was actual sleep.
Lore was having no better luck either. Leaves would ruffle every now and then followed by an exhale of
breath or a grumble.

He laid there for another (He guessed) hour before Lore's grumbles became angry, "To hell with this!"
she finally yelled out. Writer chuckled in comedy and then stopped as Lore rummaged through the
leaves.
She popped up in front of Writer's face and looked quite angry. Before he could even say anything she
started yelling again, "Shut up! You knew from the start that this was going to happen and I say Bull crap
to anything else you say."
"What do you mean?" he asked calmly.
She shook her head, "I'll have none of it! You knew these leaves wouldn't work, you knew that we'd
have to cuddle up for warmth. This was all a horrible trap to defile my innocence, but I'll be damned if I
care at this point." she grabbed his arm and threw it over her as she put her back to his chest, "Death
herself is coming for us, she could pop up any second now, so I'll be damned if I can't at least enjoy a
nice, warm, cozy nap before that."
She grunted one last time and it became quiet.
As they laid there with no conversation he thought, In any other situation I would have done things to
her. You just can't do something like this to a man, let alone me. Not that he would truly do anything, he
would just tease.
Lots of teasing.
Innocent teasing.
But right now, in these moments, he didn't want to.
Now that he was in this depression, he thought of why he didn't want to. He figured it was because she
was going to die or be enslaved soon because of him. Maybe in the back reaches of his mind he knew he
owed it to this God to not bother her.
After all, if he did start bothering her maybe she would leave. Her warmth was nice, it already seeped in
through his thin bandages. The feeling of holding someone else was a thing he hadn't felt in far too long.

But as he laid there with her he knew that it would end the same way as the last.
They were going to die, or worse, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Just lay here and accept fate.

But that, of course, was boring as hell.

"Lore?"
Her reaction was slow, but eventually she said, "Yes?"
"I interrupted you before you told me how you got the wound from Teana."
"I guess I didn't. What part was I on?"
"Hm. You were on the part where she was holding you against the tree and looking back and forth
between us."
She nodded her head, "That's right. I was pinned against the tree, she looked back and forth between
us… then she dropped me, walked-- er, floated - and raised her weapon to kill you." Lore turned quiet
for a moment, "I…" she paused again, "A lot of things went through my head. And apparently, a lot of
things went through hers. She raised her weapon as I said, but she never swung down. She just froze
there, above your body."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes. So, as she stood there, I thought, 'I could run using the last bit of my power.' and then 'I could run
really fast using the last bit of my power.' and then regrettably I thought, 'Or I could save this sorry ass of
this stupid ass God I've known for less than an hour with the last bit of my power.'"
Writer scoffed the insult off, "I can guess which one you chose."
"I didn't at first. I was going to die a little inside, yes, but I barely had enough power to run away, so I
chose to run… but when she looked like she would finally strike, my mind snapped and I attacked her."
she sighed, and Writer couldn’t help but think that she regretted doing what she did in a way. "I shot the
rest of my power at her and it caught her off guard, and, for a split second, I thought somehow that I
could pick you up and run… but then she threw me aside, I landed on my back, she went for a killing
blow but she veered her weapon off at the last second and gave me this wound. After that she threw me
over at you, dragged us both to this mountain, put a hole in it, then left without a word."
"Are you sure she didn't say anything? Maybe she just left thinking we were strong enough to leave on
our own… maybe she was sparing us."
"Well," she said, "other than saying I'll be back soon she didn't say anything. I just thought that was
implied."
Writer sighed, "Oh. Heh, thought we were lucky for a second."
She curled up more, "No… no I don't think we'll make it out of this."
Lowering his sideways face he said, "I'm sorry, Lore."
"No," she shook her head, "I decided to follow you, I condemned myself. I don't blame you. W-well,
maybe I do. A little."
Writer wanted to say something, but there was nothing. They sat there quietly, and finally he felt Lore
slip to slumber.
Teana arrived before sleep came for him.
He felt her presence warp into the World, then heard someone walking about nearby. He slowly and
calmly got up, trying not to disturb Lore. He shuffled his way through the leaves and met Teanas' face.
She leaned against the cave wall with her arms crossed. Her armor was gone, as was her normal
levitating. She wore a thin grey tunic and slops; nothing was special about them.
Her weapon, however, was sheathed on her back. She wasn't entirely defenseless. "Alastor," she started
in the most non-aggressive tone he had ever heard, "We need to talk."
Writer crossed his arms, "About what?" this whole situation seemed a bit odd.
"As you might have noticed, you're entirely defenseless right now."
"Yes, I noticed." he said sarcastically.
"Years ago I was in the same position as you, remember?" he nodded, "I laid before you as pathetic and
weak as a worm, and - even though hundreds of Gods would have loved to take me over and use me as
their tool- you protected me." she heavily sighed, "I just want to know why you didn't do a single thing
to harm me, were you too scared to take over another God? Were you feeling pity for me? What?"
Writer shrugged, "My intention of fighting you was never to harm you beyond a few bruises, Teana." he
chuckled, "I know Lore thinks I'm insane for doing what I do, and I'm sure you'll think it as well: I bother
you because you're the closest thing to death that I can find. The thrill of running for my life is a thing
that I find too entertaining." he smiled, "I'm selfish enough to make you suffer vicariously for me." he
waved his hands in the air, "To the point, I protected you because I didn't want some pathetic power
hungry God to come by and use you, that'd just be plain wrong; I would have taken you over before
someone else did. Now, the reason I didn't take over you was because of the simple fact that I decided
not to be that kind of God."
She nodded her head as she thought of his answer, "Fine," she said, "I'll accept that."
"Unless you have any other questions, I'd like to say that we should get straight to the point. But, before
you exact your punishment onto me, I want Lore to be free from it. She was just caught up in this before
she knew what she got into, and the only reason she fought you was out of fear."
"I know, she'll be spared."
Writer smiled, "Thank you."
She waved it off, "Her life I don't care about, I care about yours. And now that your life is in my hands it
seems I've reached an impasse with myself." she closed the distance between them by a few feet and
continued, "I have no doubt that if you slipped up in our fight that I would have killed you. But, when I
found you in this World completely drained of power like I was I realized something."
"And what is that?"
"I don't hate you nearly as much as I think. I can't say if I enjoy our little fights, but I don't really mind
them anymore, they've just sort of become… a small game or something. A break from the real fighting."
she sighed, "But I don't think I can do them anymore. You saw yourself when you came into my World-"
she paused and her face went red, an astonishing thing, "You saw my World, it's empty. You saw - or at
least noticed - that my world has a smaller presence now. You saw… me." even Writer blushed at the
thought of her, "That was the first time I had removed my armor in such a long time that I care not to try
to count." she laughed, "Of course you walked in on me, it just somehow felt natural to see you standing
at the door. Would you find it hard to believe that you're the first one to ever see me like that?"
Writer saw it as a question that she didn't really need the answer to, so he kept quiet, "Anyways," she
said, "I don't fear what the Gods banding together means, nor do I fear if they can harm me. But I'm
taking this opportunity to seal myself off and try what I've been what I've wanted to do for a long time; I
just want to live without fighting for awhile."
She shrugged, "That's why this is hard. I know that you like bothering me for fun, I figured it out awhile
ago. I went along with it to try to have fun as well, to try to ignite that spark that allowed me to have fun
while fighting. But it has died, for now, at least. So-"
"You're going to kill me so I stop bothering you?"
"I'm trying not to say it that straight forwardly, but yes. Although, I am willing to let you live if you
promis-" she cut herself off, "Really, I don't want to kill you. I owe it to you enough to spare your life, so
what I'm asking is this: I will put a seal on your power if you say that you cannot go on without pestering
me. If you say you can, then I will just trust you."
Writer sighed, "I can easily go on without pestering you, but I fear I may have to find another way to
pass the time when I grow bored."
She smiled, "Good." she held out her arm, "Promise me."
He grabbed her arm with his and shook it, "I promise I'll stop pestering you."
They released their clasp on each other and Teana said, "I hope I'm not the only one that finds this
situation suddenly awkward."
Writer shook his head, "No, you're not alone in that feeling." they both suddenly found themselves
eyeing each other, "Now that I'm not allowed to pester you it seems as if I already think of you as
someone else…" he shrugged, "It's an odd feeling…" he couldn't take his eyes off of her sudden stare,
"Stop… staring at me like that…"
They charged each other, pressing lips to lips in a fast but heavy kiss.
Teana broke off, brightly red and looking away from him. Writer broke off, completely confused.
"What…" his eyes went wide, "What was that about?"
She twirled a piece of her hair, "I have no clue." she looked back at him, "I couldn't control myself, the
urge suddenly felt so giant and-" they both kissed again, this one being deeper.
Writer moved back, "I'm not meaning to do this, I swear."
She moved back as well, "I'm not either! It was absolute impulse."
"What's? Ah… Teana, the impulse is rising again…"
She nodded ,"I know… I don't think… I can stop myself…"
Writer moved towards her again, arms outstretched. She managed to hold her ground until Writer
embraced her and pushed her to the floor.
Things became heated, but Writer stopped himself before things went past the point of no return, he
looked down at Teana below him and jumped away from her, "Okay…" he took a deep breath, "I think
it's gone."
She nodded and got up, wiping off her clothes, "I think so, as well." she cleared her throat, "Old rivals
finally making a truce must be messing with our heads, right? It's all simple if you think about it."
Writer nodded, scratching his head, "Yes, I guess so. We'll just look past this as just a freak accident or
something." she agreed, but things became silent. He feared for another outbreak so he forced a
conversation, "Ah.. err… so, what are you going to do with me? I still don't have any power or anything
and I'm quite sure Lore is completely burnt up as well."
She thought for a moment, "I can take you back to my World and look after you as you did for me. I can
watch over Lore as well."
He smiled, "That would be nice, and it'd mean we were even."
She laughed, "No, no we wouldn't be even. You pestered me for years, you still have to make up for that
as well."
"Oh… Heh, I guess you're right." he thought for a moment, "Do you think you could watch over me in my
own World? I've been having fun with my minions there and I'm sure they'd be confused and worried if I
didn’t come back…"
"You have minions?"
"Ah…" he felt embarrassed saying it, "I've been writing lately, and they help me… Ah…" he sighed,
"They're nothing strong or anything. But I like them."
Teana nodded her head after a moment of thought, "Alright, I'll be back within the hour. I'm going to
shrink and seal my World, I'll be back to pick you up."
"Okay. I'll see you then, then. Oh, and one more thing, could you make it a little bit warmer here? A
simple immolation spell or something would-"
She pointed her hand into the air and out shot a fire ball. It stopped about a hundred feet in the air and
continued burning, "That should do."
"Thanks." he smiled, "I'll see you later, then."
It took her a moment, but she warped away. Writer dropped his smile.
"Lore." he said angrily, turning around and walking towards the pile of leaves where he left her, "Lore!"
he dug through the leaves and found her, 'sleeping'. "I know you're awake, Lore."
One of her eyes popped open, "What? I was just listening…"
"The hell you were! What do you think you were doing back there?"
She looked innocent, "I don't know what you mean."
"Liar! You used your 'powers' and made me and Teana go at it! Teana didn't notice it because she
doesn't deal with this sort of things, but I did!"
Her innocent look broke and she said, "I barely had to do anything! The sexual tension between you two
was unbearable, I couldn't help but give you guys a nudge!"
"Sexual tension? Wha… a nudge?! You made us throw ourselves at each other!"
"You know you liked it!" she crossed her arms and grunted, "You should be thanking me, Teana is a
beautiful God."
His mouth opened, prepared to say something… but it just hung there for a few seconds, "That's…" he
growled, "That's besides the point!" he sat down on top of the leaves and grumbled to himself.
She laughed and found her way behind him, "You're the only God I've cared to meet that doesn't fall to
their knees and beg for me." she patted his shoulders, "But now that we're going to be spending a few
weeks with Teana I can do anything I want to you."
Writer turned around and flicked her hands off his shoulders, "You wouldn't dare!"
She giggled, "Oh I will." she smiled, "What are you going to do to stop me? Kill me?"
He shook his head, "Of course not. Teana will, though."
Lore stood up and walked a circle around him, "Oh no," she said, "Teana was just as willing as you were.
That's why it worked." Lore cackled, "Don't you see? I have control over you two." she crouched down in
front of him, "And there's nothing you can do about-"
He shoved her forward, making her fall onto her back. He pinned her down by sitting on top of her legs
and held her arms. She growled, but Writer laughed, "You can't do anything when she's not here,
though."
She struggled to get up, only to stop and look up at him, "Alastor, this is the second time today I've
registered the thought that you were going to have your way with me."
He rolled his eyes, "This is a simple way to keep your enemy down, nothing else."
"So the thought hasn't even come across your mind?"
"Of course not. I'm a respectable man!"
"Oh?" she laughed, "So I've just happened to end up on my back, sprawled before you twice today?"
"Well… yes…"
"Then I find this unfair."
He laughed, "Why?"
"Because!" she sighed, "Can you let me up?"
Writer shrugged and rolled off of her, "Because why?"
She sat Indian style, "See, when you say that you don't want me I find it offensive. Am I not pretty or
something?"
Writer snorted, "What? Really? You… Lore, do you honestly believe that?"
"Ah… Well… No, I don't. But it's still painful when you reject me."
He sighed angrily and fell onto his back, arms spread wide, "Then what do you want me to do, Lore? It's
not that I find you annoying or stupid or anything like that, you're nice… you're pretty, it's just that we
haven't even known each other for more than a day."
She sighed, "I guess it's just because I've never been rejected before. So I'm obsessing over it."
He nodded, "Yes, most likely. You'll get over it."
She rolled over and closed her eyes, "Has anyone ever told you that you're very straight forward,
Alastor?"
He put his hands behind his head and took in a deep breath, "Yes, plenty of people."
There was a moment of silence before Lore asked, "So we're going to your World when Teana gets
back?"
"Yea, why?"
"Just wondering. What's your World like?"
"Boring. I would say I could spice it up for you guys but… well… you know."
"Teana could if you allowed her to."
He shrugged his shoulders as much as he could, "I guess so. It doesn't even have any chairs, 'cept for
mine."
"I'm guessing it's small?"
"Mmhm, very."
The small talk went on for a few more minutes. Every now and then another conversation would start,
but mainly they just laid there; asleep or quietly relaxing.

Teana was right about how long it would take her, almost exactly an hour later she appeared. She was in
her normal battle armor now, as well.
Writer stood up when she appeared, "Hello, Teana." he shivered, "Gack, it's still unnatural to be on
speaking terms with you."
She chuckled softly, "It is weird, yes."
There came an awkward silence.
Lore grinned wickedly.
Writer noticed this and gave her the evilest eye he had ever given anyone.
Her grin faded.
Writer smiled, "So," he said, turning to Teana, "Shall we go?"
Teana shrugged, "Might as well. You're going to have to help me find your World, though."
He stood up and, with hesitation, grabbed onto Teana's shoulder, "I'll guide you there." he looked over
his shoulder, "You coming Lore?"
She hopped up and grabbed onto Teana's other shoulder, "Ready whenever you are."

Teana's mind went out of the World, Writer followed it as well as he could. He gave her directions, and
eventually they found his miniscule World.
They shifted, and landed before a screaming blob.
Lore leapt up as she noticed more colored blobs in the room, "What are these things?!"
Writer called to the red one, the only one that wasn't running. It calmed and hopped up into his open
palms. "These are my minions, Lore. Be nice."
Teana walked over to a cowering green blob and picked it up, "They aren't much…" she patted it and
made an adorable smile, "They are cute, though."
Writer smiled, "Well, I'm glad you like them. They aren't very powerful because I haven't given them a
new body, those are just placeholders." he pointed to Story in the dark corner of the room, "He's much
stronger, but you know, not crazy strong."
Lore eyed Story curiously, "I thought that was a statue…"
Writer laughed, "He doesn't like to move around much, even when he's playing with Action."
"Action?" Lore asked.
"This red blob." he put it on the floor and it ran over to Story, "The one Teana is holding is Drama, and
the purple one is Romance."
"Who's the other one?" Teana asked.
"Hm?"
"There's something else in the other room."
"Ah," Writer exclaimed, "That's Supernatural. He's… not a people person."
"This place is already boring me." Lore said, looking around, "You weren't joking about it being small,
were you?"
Writer shook his head, "I wasn't. It's why it's so hard to find."
"Let Teana make it bigger already."
The God of the World was the only one that was able to expand or create new things inside of his own.
An outsider God could only morph or manipulate the World. To allow a God to change your own World
you had to basically allow them to become bound to it. That required the power of the owner.
Writer shrugged, "Fine. Teana, will you?"
"Sure… I have to admit that this place is quite… dull…"
He walked up to Teana, "Apparently I'm the only one that doesn't think that." he placed his hand on her
shoulder and then closed his eyes, "There." he said after a moment, "Do with my World what you will.
Just don't make it too big, I don't want any unwanted attention."
Teana nodded and sat down, "Anything special you want?"
"Nah, surprise me."
Lore went over and sat next to Teana, "Make an open one."
Writer smiled and sat at his desk, "You two have fun, I'll just be over here."
He grabbed his pencil and paper.
Romance dropped down on the desk, happy to see him back.
Writer patted it on the head, "Do you remember where I was? It's been a long day."

He found himself asking his mind, "Am I dead?"

There was no response, only the dulled sound of being underwater.
His mind faded back to blackness.

Rufus briefly awoke once again to find the power to open his eyes. The only thing he could see was blue
skies.
He felt cold and wet. Drenched in water. His mind began to fade again.
He heard footsteps splashing in a puddle.

His eyes jerked open as he came awake. He looked around as best as he could, his body was
unresponsive. He found himself in a dome shaped rock. The ground and walls were smooth. The ceiling
was nearly ten feet tall and had a small opening in the top. There were supplies spread around the area,
including a few animal hide mats and a small fire pit in the middle of the room that still had faint
embers.
He tried to move his arms, but they refused to. He closed his eyes, finding nothing else to do.

His hazy mind came to once again. He felt little strength in his limbs, so he made his way to his feet. He
propped an arm against the wall to help support him; the sudden rush made him light headed. He
looked around once again, finding nothing had changed in the room other than the embers in the fire
being gone.
Rufus took his first wobbly steps only to fall face first, blacking out on the landing.

This time the smell of sweet smelling food cooking woke him. He beheld the sight of Water crouched
over a fire cooking quite large fish. He smiled, realizing that everything that had happened must've been
a terrible nightmare.
Water took notice of his awakened state and awkwardly waved at him, "How do you feel, Rufus?"
He rubbed the back of his head, feeling a dull lump, "Weird. What's this lump on the back of my head?
Did I fall down or something?"
She frowned, "You… don't remember? It was when… I kicked you against the wall, you split open your
skull. You almost died."
Rufus tilted his head, "What are you talking about?"
"When we fought… do you not remember?"
"I must've hit my head pretty hard, I don't remember… Any…" the images flashed in his mind. Slowly at
first, then the rush caused him to let out a creeping yell.
Water stood up, "Rufus, calm down!"
He flung himself to his weak feet, "Get away!" he screamed.
She backed up, "I'm not going to hurt you, just calm down."
He pressed himself flat against the wall, "You… you weren't human! You…" more images of what
happened appeared, "What happened? Where's Naki? Why…" he gasped for air that he suddenly
couldn't find.
Water ran over to him and sat him down, "Breath, Rufus. Breath."
He shoved her away, "Stop, go away!" he scampered to the other side of the room and held his hand to
his heart, clenching it in pain, "I… I spared your life! Tell me where Naki is and leave me alone! I never
want to see you again!"
She choked up, "I'll leave you alone after this if you want, Rufus, but you're going to die of shock if you
don't calm down and breath."
He shook his head back and forth, "You tried to kill me, you tried to kill Naki, you… I can't trust you!" he
distanced himself more from the approaching girl, "What happened to Naki? Did you kill her?"
"No, I didn't. Gram is fine as well, they're just resting like you need to be."
"Show her to me, I can't believe your word anymore!" he growled and clenched his heart tighter.
"She's resting somewhere else! Rufus, listen, you can despise me for what I did all you want but I will
not allow you to kill yourself like this! Calm down!"
She backed him into a corner, "Please, stay away Water." his voice became faltering, "I… I don't know
how to deal with this situation… my… chest hurts so much…"
Water came close, "I know I can never truly earn your trust again, but I need you to trust me right now. I
worked out everything while you were healing, I don't have to hurt you anymore." she opened her arms,
"Please trust me."
Rufus had no choice in the matter, Water embraced him.
Almost instantly he felt a warm wave of ecstasy wash over him. His chaotic mind calmed and his lungs
filled with air.
His knees buckled under him, but Water still held onto him, "There, there," she said, "Go to sleep if you
want."
The thought had never sounded so good before. He clung to the small girl until he finally fell to sleep.

A poke to the chest made him wake up. Water stood crouched in front of him with a fish on a leaf,
"Sorry to wake you, but I figured you needed to eat more than sleep right now."
He slowly took the fish and she hopped away to her own, "Thanks… Water…"
She smiled, "I hope you don't mind for a serious conversation during dinner, but I figured we should talk,
right?"
Rufus's face couldn't decide what face it should make, he finally decided on a smile, "I… guess so."
"Well… Ah… What you saw a few weeks ago was-"
"A few weeks ago?"
She nodded, "Our… fight… was a few weeks ago."
He looked confused, "I've been asleep for that long?"
"Both you and Naki should be dead right now, but I was able to heal you before it took your life. You
may not remember, but I was healing you underwater with the powers I've been granted. Ah… about
that." she took a deep breath, "I'm sure you've figured out by now that what is going on with Naki is far
above us humans."
He sighed, "Yeah."
"Well, first I'll explain how things work. The old scrolls of the Gods were true, there really are three
Gods, Water, Life, and Wind, and with those three Gods come the hundreds of Elementals or Demigods
that harbor over the smaller things."
"Right. So, what about them?"
"The Water God, Hydros, picked me because something that he has been curious over for awhile now
finally appeared. There's an unnamed Elemental roaming around on this island, and that Elemental
wants to make a Deity… A Deity is a thing that the three main Gods used for most major things that
Elementals and Demigods couldn't control, like other small elements. There's a few things wrong with
that… for one, only the three main Gods have ever made a Deity because an Elemental or Demigod is
unable to make one… but somehow the one here has planted an elemental egg - the thing that will
hatch into a Deity - inside of Naki…" Rufus surprisingly didn't react as much as Water thought he was, so
she continued, "He sent me to kill Naki before the Deity could hatch. He gave me the powers of an
Elemental - the body that you saw - and I was forced to try to kill you. But what you don't know is that
after I woke up and found you dying in a puddle of your own blood I begged Hydros for another way."
she smiled, "As you can guess he found another way."
"What's the other way?"
"The elemental egg was far less along in its life than what Hydros thought it was, so now we have time
to do it the only other way; to make the Elemental that planted it take it out."
Rufus smiled, "I'm guessing an… elemental egg, was it? leeches the life of its host, right?"
She nodded, "Yeah…?"
"I think Isaria planned to take it out of Naki anyways, then. That's where we were headed before we
stopped to check on you."
She shifted her sitting stance to Indian style, "Who's Isaria?"
"I'm guessing she's the Elemental that planted the egg inside of Naki. Ah… uhh… it's a long story, but she
talked to me and told me to bring Naki to her. She almost died because the thing inside of her was
taking her life, but Isaria calmed it and Naki lived through the night."
Her face looked confused, "Rufus… the way an egg hatches is by taking the live of the host. If she
extended Naki's life to allow her to come remove it, then what was the point of it all?"
Rufus shrugged, "I don't know, but I do know that Isaria doesn't want Naki to die, everything that
happened between them would make no sense otherwise."
"At least she's willing to remove it, that makes things a lot easier. It still raises questions, though."
She got up after taking the last bite of her fish, "Did you have any other questions?"
Rufus sat there, eating his fish, thinking, "Maybe… Hmm…" he exclaimed, "Ah! Since we're on the
subject of strange things I have a question. One night Gram had a strange dream of a voice that taught
him Naki's language, he said it was a puddle of water."
She shrugged, "I would guess that was Isaria."
He nodded, "I figured that, but what is weird is I had a dream of a puddle of water, but it didn't teach me
anything… I…" he took in a deep breath, trying to find the words to describe what happened, "It was
telling me that I wasn't going to be able to help Naki or save the children - I was worrying that they were
all dead - without its power. It told me to drink it, to accept its help or else I'd fail."
She gasped, "You didn't drink it, did you?!"
He shook his head, "I rejected it, then it vanished. Then I was alone, terribly alone. The only thing with
me was the wind, then I felt that the air has always been there for me. Like, it's always carried Gram and
allowed him to fly, it's always cooled me and relaxed me on a hot day, it's always let that big lizard of
mine to breath and keep the silence of the night at bay… I don't know… I just felt like I needed to thank
it…" Water looked on with awe, after she said nothing he continued, "As I said, I wanted to thank it, so I
reached out… I reached out to try tell it how much I cared, and when I did I closed my eyes and hoped…
then I grabbed something."
Water eagerly asked, "What? What did you grab?"
Rufus shrugged, "I don't know how to say it any better… I grabbed a woman."
She looked stumped at the answer, "A woman?"
He dumbly nodded, "She was beautiful, and… well…" he blushed, "… Like I said she was quite beautiful,
but then… I felt scared, so I backed away and looked at her and she just stood there with a smile… her
lower body was entirely see through, the wind flew around her like a tornado. Then I suddenly felt like I
wanted her… like I needed to be with her…" he paused and analyzed what he said as he saw Water
blushing, then he too blushed, "Ah, nothing like that… I… it felt as if I never wanted to be away from her
ever again. Then a powerful voice rang in my head as clear as day… the words still echo in my head…"
Water held her breath, "What'd she say?"
"She said 'I've always been there… and with this I'll never be more than a thought away.' then she…
consumed me somehow."
She quickly asked, "Have you felt anything at all since then, Rufus? Anything at all?"
He once again shook his head, "That's the thing, I thought about the fact that maybe another God or
whatever was trying to talk to me, but I haven't heard anything or felt anything since."
Water sat back, "Rufus, that was the Goddess of Air… it has to be, but the Air God has been dormant for
a long time, even the Gods don’t know what happened to her. If she came to you in your dream and
chose you… there may be a lot more going on here than even I know of."

They had complete their lunch in silence and the day slowly moved on. Rufus had been forced back to
sleep by Water and she woke him near sundown. He awoke with a groan and slowly got up to find
Water sitting down nearby, completely naked. Rufus shielded his eyes and looked away, "Ah, I'm so
sorry Water, I didn't know!"
A laugh came from Water, "Rufus, it's fine to look, I don't technically have anything to hide right now"
Still shielding his eyes he said, "Wh-what do you mean?" Another laugh was followed by the shuffling of
feet, then Rufus's arm was pulled away from his eyes to reveal Water completely exposed in front of
him… but there really was nothing there.
She smiled as Rufus relaxed, "See? I'm transforming again, I lose my core body and it spreads from
there…" she held her arm up to his head, "See? You can tell what's already transformed!"
He looked at her arm and sure enough, he saw part of it was the smooth, soft blue substance and it
abruptly stopped and went on to look like normal skin, "That's amazing," he said, "does it hurt at all?"
She shook her head, "No, not at all, it feels… interesting, like someone's massaging you, or something…
it's quite ticklish in some sorts." she nudged her arm towards him, "You can feel it moving, it feels quite
funny, actually."
Hesitating, Rufus slowly put his hand on her arm. He smiled at the feeling, it was a slow but strong
feeling as if someone was pushing up from the other side of the skin, "That is funny."
Water smiled at the stress free moment, then withdrew herself, "Sorry, Rufus, I have to go and get Naki,
she should wake up any second now and I need to ask her a few questions, she'd also be pretty weirded
out what happened.
Rufus nodded, "I know I was. But, do I need to go or anything? Like me she might take it a bit wrongly if
the person that tried killing her woke her up…"
Water sighed, "You have a good point, but I can't take you. I'll be back in a few hours, Flow is just
outside if you need her. Go talk to her or something, she really likes Gram and feels just as bad as I do
about what we had to do." she smiled and got up, seemingly taller than before, "She'll get you food if
you want it, too. Sleep if you can, you still need it."
Rufus chuckled, "Yes, mom."
Chapter 8

Water scampered out of the rock shelter and turned a few corners to find herself standing on a high
rock overlooking the ocean. Taking a deep breath of salty air into her lungs she felt her neck cut open to
form gills-- she was transformed enough to swim now. She dived into the water and felt the amazing
rush of water slide across her body, she lingered a moment to just soak in the feeling and then began
swimming east. More and more her body began transforming as she swam, first the slight webbing in
her hands and feet, then the painful spines and fins ripping out of her skin. She winced at the pain as the
salt water poured into her wounds, but it quickly healed. The short respite in pain was short lived,
however, the disturbing pain of muscles shifting and cramping as they shifted around and changed was,
in her opinion, the worst part of it.
She stopped herself in the water for it was too awkward to swim as her muscles shifted. Water couldn't
help but take notice of the world of life that swam around below her as she waited. The colorful fish
roamed around the coral and inspected every nook and cranny for whatever fish looked for. She
nudged herself downward to get a closer look and frowned as the fish fled from her approach.
She beckoned outward the same way she did with Flow and told the fish there was no harm to be had
from her. They slowly inched out at the odd incursion and began floating in front of Water, she smiled
and lightly pet a parrot fish that had taken to staring at her. As she moved her arm to pet it she noticed
no pain in her muscles and sighed, Another time, then.
Slowly backing herself away from the fishes to not startle them, then Water blasted herself towards
where she had put Naki. Her physical form didn't have enough power to send her through the water like
she was now, but she had found a way to make herself even faster. In her different form she found that
she could feel the water on a level that she had never felt it before, she could literally bend the water
around her to propel herself faster. The same technique was used for the water blast that she had used
to sever Rufus's leg.
Within moments she found herself at the small rock she had left Naki at. She had chosen the rock for its
special property. When the ocean had first contacted her she found herself on that rock, when the
ocean had granted her the same power she used right now, it was on that rock; the power of it all still
lingered there. There was enough for Naki to fully heal on her own, since she was having to use
extensive techniques to heal Rufus. She slowed as she approached the rock, she didn't want to surprise
Naki too much.
Water rose from the depths of the ocean to see Naki's feet dangling in the water, off the side of the
rock. She popped her head out of the water to face a crying girl. A mix of surprise and dread appeared
on her face as Water said, "What's wrong?"
She held back a whimper and a calmness ran over her, "You killed Rufus, didn’t you?" a tear ran down
her face, "You've come to finish me off, right?"
Water felt no humor in doing so, but she took advantage of the situation to find the answer that she
sought, with a face of no regret she said, "Yes, I did kill Rufus." she rose more out of the water to put her
hands on the rock inches away from Naki and lifted herself up to her eye level, "And yes, I've come here
to kill you, too."
Nothing changed in Naki's calm stare, "Then be done with it."
Water asked, "Are you not scared of death?"
Naki moved her eyes to look into Water's, "I've seen enough death in my life with these eyes to be use
to it…"
Water knew there was more, "And?"
"Without Rufus, I don't think there's anything left for me here. So no, I'm not afraid of death."
The transformed girl pushed herself against Naki and made her fall on her back against the rock, she
moved in close to Naki's body and looked into her eyes… no, she looked into her mind, "You have no
regrets at all? Nothing you can think of?"
A quiet shake of the head and she said, "Nothing at all."
"Your family?"
"They tried to kill me."
The water falling from Water's body began to soak Naki, "Then what about revenge, do you not want to
try to kill your family for what they did?"
A tear that fell from her eye could have been mistaken for a drop of water, "I do seek revenge… but I
cannot obtain it… I can't even get off of this rock."
"You could easily get off this rock. You underestimate yourself."
"How do you suppose me to get off? Swim? It's a miles to the shore."
A slight smile hit Water for a reason she couldn't explain, "There are hundreds of rock formations lining
the swim there. A hunter like yourself could easily catch some birds that nest there, you would make it,
but you don't even need to do that."
Naki laughed a humorless laugh, "What do you mean?"
Water sighed, "You could sprout fins and swim there within moments like I do, like I am right now. If you
embraced that power… maybe Rufus wouldn't be dead, and you wouldn't be soon-to-be, either. But
you're too stupid and blind."
She only flinched at the mention of Rufus's name, but paid no heed to any other words, "You just simply
torture me for your amusement." a hint of anger flickered as she said, "Gram and Rufus talked of you
being a sweet girl that he liked, and had always been care full of for. Yet you killed him, for no reason. I
just don't get it. Why?"
Water died inside as she said, "He was a fool and deserved to die. Rufus was always such a poor student,
always stumbling and always trying not to harm me. I knew it would be the death of him, and it was,
quite literally. Guess some people are just worthless."
Naki shifted her upper body upward and caused Water to retreat upward as well, Water awkwardly sat
on her lap and looked her dead in the eye as Naki said in astonishment, "You're AWFUL! You… you just
simply… "
"I know of the blade in your stomach, you could pull that out and kill me right here and now, why don't
you? If you have the power in you to do it, I won't resist."
Naki looked down to her stomach as Water poked it with her finger. She patiently waited as Naki
awkwardly eyed and rubbed it, then suddenly her hand dissolved into her stomach and pulled out the
dark blue dagger. She stared at it and ran her hand across the hilt as Water silently watched the slow
exchange. Finally she raised the dagger and poised to strike Water, but the blow never came and Water
sighed as she lowered the dagger to her side, "How do you expect to even begin thinking of revenge
when your enemy stands before you, begging to be struck down, yet you still don't strike?"
Naki looked down at her dagger and spoke silently, "There's no point. You were eyeing my hand and if I
even dared to strike you would have broken my wrist before the blade could reach you, you were just
testing me."
Water smiled, "So you aren't entirely dumb, are you?" she chuckled, "But still," she grabbed Naki's hand
and without resistance put it directly in front of her of own stomach, "I don't think you have it in you to
do it." she took her hands off of Naki's and let the blade hover inched from her gut.
Naki contemplated doing it, but once again found nowhere near enough motivation and sighed, "You
know I won't, I know I won't, why push it so much?" she put the blade on the ground next to her, "Just
get it over with and kill this worthless nothing."
Water had to make sure what Rufus told her about Naki wasn't a lie, or that Naki herself was a lie,
"What do you mean, nothing? You have a Deity being born inside of you, if you simply took power from
it you could do almost anything!" she flicked her arm towards a far off rock formation, sending a blade
of water that cut it clean in half moments later, "You could have more than that power there! Use it to
take revenge!"
Naki put on a face of anger, "I don't have anything like that!" suddenly she began openly weeping and
forced the words, "Stop taunting me with these false hopes of salvations and just kill me!"
Water knew it, but the words stung her, giving up on her plan she suddenly dropping the rouse and she
plainly said, "So you don't even know what Isaria planted inside of you?"
Naki quickly changed her facial expression to one of confusion at the change of tone. She was going to
ask a question, but Water interrupted her by pushing her on her back once again. A surprised "Ah" came
from Naki as Water dove her hand under Naki's top and held her, she blushed and averted her stare
from Water, "Do what you will, I won't fight it."
Water was knocked back by Naki and blushed as she said, "It's nothing like that, I need your heart. You
may be able to freely explore your body but I can't." she closed her eyes for a moment and
concentrated, then said "This will hurt for just a moment."
Water began pressing down on Naki's chest, seemingly trying to crush her ribcage. Naki tried to fight the
feeling to no avail, Water's hand could not be lifted. Closing her eyes she began screaming out for the
pain to stop… then suddenly it did. Naki slowly lifted her eyelids to look down her chest to find Water's
hand freely moving along in her body just as when she did to retrieve the dagger. She winced at the
feeling, not so much of pain but more of the shock and alien feeling that it came with, it felt much less
physical than when she used the technique on herself.
Water sifted around Naki's insides trying to find what she looked for. Then, all of the sudden, she hit a
block near the center of her body. It felt like a whirling sphere underneath Naki's skin, but she knew it
was the elemental egg that dwelled within her. She grasped it with all her might and tried ripping it from
her body, Naki screamed in pain as she felt as if Water was ripping her very soul out of her.
She couldn't breathe and no shouts of pain were produced as Water finished tearing the sphere out of
her chest, then, as fast as the pain had come, it once again vanished. A large gasp was let out and Naki
felt a sudden loneliness wash over her.
Water gazed into the sphere with horror, she quietly whispered to herself, "Gods… why is it red?"
The swirling chaotic sphere she had pulled from Naki was not the way it was supposed to be, it was
angry and red, it was… blood.
The great booming voice of the water God echoed through her mind, Water! Let go of the sphere! It's
been tainted!
The sphere grew in Water's hand and she suddenly felt a power brewing inside that could strike her
down in a moment's notice. With a slight hesitation she let go of the sphere and dived into the ocean.
She desperately shouted her thoughts out to whatever she could for help, What does it mean if it's
tainted?
Again the God's voice rumbled through the water, "It's a water spirit that was corrupted by blood and
death when it was being hatched into its vassal! It must've been completely dormant, you ripping it out
awakened it! You must put it back to sleep!"
A suddenly large explosion above the surface caused fractures rocks to fall in the ocean as Water
screamed out in her mind, "How do I do that!?"
A moment of pause, then the God answered back, "You have to force it back into its vessel! Only then
will it once again go dormant!"
Water surfaced to see the sphere grown giant, streaks of red lightning shot out of it and crashed into the
rocks and water, causing explosions from the discharge. A tendril struck the now limp body of Naki and
lifted her into the air, dragging her harmlessly to the core of the sphere. The God's voice said, "Don't let
her be consumed! Take my power, I cannot act on the human world without it cascading in on itself, you
have to stop that orb."
"How?!
"Simply wake the girl up!"
With a dumb nod Water dived deeper into the ocean and rushed upward, flying into the air and getting
a good view of the orb. A stray bolt seemingly aimed for her hit Water dead in the chest and it melted
her flesh, but before she could even register the pain the wound had healed. She flicked her arm
towards the tendril that pulled Naki in and severed it with a blast of water, cutting the hold on Naki and
dropping her to the red ocean.
Water had hoped that the impact would wake Naki, but still the sphere lingered in the air, angered.
Gravity had forced Water to dive back into the water and she swam straight for the floating figure of
Naki. Bolts of energy seemed to be homing in on Water instead of blindly firing and she began to fear its
power. The explosions caused a pop in her ears and a sizzling noise to be heard by all, then she came
upon Naki. She grabbed her in her arms as well as she could in the now rough water and began shouting
at her and slapping her on the cheeks to wake her up, nothing worked. A stray bolt struck Water in the
shoulder, causing it to disintegrate and spray blood all into the water, this time the pain registered and
she screamed as it reformed before her eyes. The vicious sounds and heat of the bolts came to an
abrupt stop as the orb simply began closing in on her, if it touched her she would be evaporated like she
was nothing. Panic struck Water as she redoubled her efforts of trying to awake Naki, but only a red
glowing ocean answered back.
All hoped seemed lost as the corrupted elemental came close enough for the heat to evaporate the
ocean near Water. But then Water knew what would wake her… the only reason Naki had to live, she
looked Naki in the eyes and said, "Naki, Rufus is still alive, he's waiting for you! If you don't wake up
you'll never see him!"
With a gasp Naki sprang to life and the chaotic red sphere came to a stand-still, then began shrinking. A
calm ran over the ocean as the orb descended and hovered above Naki's faintly breathing chest. For just
a second it hovered, then it began falling into her body and all seemed back to normal.
Water felt the over-whelming power subside as it once again became dormant. A sigh of relief was short
lived, suddenly all the energy she had left in her body vanished and saw nothing but black.

Water came awake to find herself inside a long, black hallway. The wall was lined with runes and bones
of hundreds of thousands of different animals. A cold shiver rippled through her spine as a freezing wind
seemed to embrace every inch of her body and haunt her presence. Water found her now human body
in a loose bright red see-through gown that didn't shield her at all against the haunting wind and hugged
herself to fend it off. Seeing no other way to go other than down the hallway, she began moving
forward. The dark hallway went on for just minutes and opened up into a large room with the same
design, it was a plain square room with no doors and a ten foot tall wall on the far end that went
backwards just a few dozen feet to begin going upwards once again. The room was entirely empty, no
presence was felt, nothing at all. Water thought to herself, Am I in hell? Doomed to be in this dreadful
place for the rest of eternity?
She had tried to stay calm through the experience, she was almost use to strange things, but being in
hell fit all too well. Water turned around to find that the hallway had vanished and only a wall stood,
and all hope was suddenly ripped from her. On the verge of collapsing she started walking towards the
corner of the room. She huddled in the corner and found a good position against the bones that lined
the wall and brought her legs close enough to put her arms around her knees and gave in, she began
crying.

She awoke to a loud rumbling noise, then she realized where she was. This wasn't hell, nor was she
dead, Hydros had teleported her to the domain of a Deity.
She got up and made her way to the opposite end and inspected the odd ten foot wall. She ran her hand
across the wall, it was real bone, and the stuff in-between the bones felt like compacted dirt; it fell off at
her touch. Water got to the center of the half-wall and found an open foot by foot patch of just dirt, no
bones occupied that space.
Hope and curiosity took an odd place in her gut as she began wiping away the dirt on the wall to find a
locking mechanism that held a large chain in place. Taking a quick look around to make sure nothing was
out of place, she looked back at the lock and removed the mechanism. The chain flew away into the wall
and vanished. Another large rumbling noise echoed through the room, shaking loose dirt off the high
ceiling and walls. Water backed up from the wall she was near and looked upward past the short-wall, a
presence was suddenly rising from it.
The room grew warm, a deeper, more beast like growling now accompanied the rumbling. Water looked
back up at the wall and saw bright red see through ribbons rising up from it. Suddenly a dark stone
gauntleted hand burst forth from behind the wall and grabbed the edge of the ten foot wall.
Another hand appeared arose from behind the wall and more and more of the red streaks appeared to
begin flying around the room. They lashed around and through Water, bringing a sudden heat wherever
they travelled.
Large plated wings suddenly appeared, sending a black mist to follow, then a giant robed figure sprang
forward. The robe hid everything, Water stared into the blankness behind the open areas of it and
suddenly bright red orbs appeared in the blackness.
A deep, horrifyingly loud outtake of hot breath was followed by a Deities powerful voice ringing in
Water's mind, "Who awakens me?" the red orbs in the robe began to grow larger and larger as Water
stood paralyzed at the presence of the God, "I asked who awakens me!" the red orbs sprang from the
cover of the robe to behold a plated serpent's head, it was like a Wyvern's, but thicker, and entirely
made of steel. A long neck followed the head, it took was mostly covered by the same black steel as the
head, and the skin seemed to be a dark obsidian stone. The God's eye sockets were entirely empty
except for the black hole that the red orbs occupied, its shoulders were broad and she could only
physically see the arms, for the robe covered most of the God's body. It leaned itself down without
letting go of the wall and moved its head within feet of Water and asked once again, "Who awakens
me?"
Water suddenly came aware once the breath of the Deity hit her, it felt as if life but cold death itself was
brushed against her, she stuttered out, "I-I'm Water, I awoke you!"
The giant skull moved backwards and laughed a laugh that retched foul breath onto Water and almost
made her black out, "A mere human couldn't have woken me up! Where is Life? Why has he awoken
me?"
Water felt angry at being called a mere human, "Life isn't here! I awoke you! And I'm not a human!"
The God stopped his cackling and once again crept in closer, the red orbs seemed to move past every
inch of her body as it inspected her, suddenly she felt embarrassed for being so exposed, "No, you aren't
a human, are you? Why is there an Elemental in my presence?"
She ignore the elemental question and said, "My name is Water."
The Deity moved back to being on the wall, "Water, what an odd name. I have many names,
Trickendario, the Deity of Fire, some even call me the Deity of Death, most know me as Trik, the Deity of
Blood, why have you awaken me?"
Water took a step back, "You're the Deity of Blood, of Fire? The God of Water told me that Life held
power over Blood and Fire!"
The plated head didn't move, but she could somehow tell by the red orbs that it was frowning, "The
others are still calling me dead? I guess you haven't heard of Eden, either?"
"No… Who's Eden?"
The Deity of Blood sighed, the breath that rushed past Water wasn't nearly as foul this time, "Eden was
my… Goddess, I should say. She's the Deity of Light, and… and she's my wife, or, at least, was… I don't
even know what happened to her." the Deity shrugged.
Water had never been told or even heard of anything other than the three main elemental Gods, and
the hundreds of Elementals, and the handful of Deities, "How does a Deity not know what happened?
Aren't you… Deities? Things that rival the power of Hydros and the others?"
The Deity sighed once again, "You don't know much do you? It's nothing big really, so I can imagine why.
Back when the Gods were made the first to be was Life, then Life made the world you know, with it
Water and Air." The God leaned backwards and rest comfortably on the wall, "I’m going to have to
explain everything, aren't I? What do they teach you in religion these days? Or did they really erase my
name from existence?"
Water shrugged, "I don't know about what they teach in religion, I only know what the God of Water has
told me. He told me about Life, then the two other elements, then all the Elementals, such as Luck, he
told me of all them, but never did he even mention Blood, Fire, or Light, I figured they were under their
own power."
"Well, we use to be considered Gods, but now I guess they call us Deities."
Water felt the Deity wasn't in any way harmful and let down her guard, sat down and asked, "Ok… so… I
mean, there have only ever been three or so Deities in existence, all them long dead. But none of those
three were Light or Fire. You said they erased your name? What for?
"Well, Light and I were very close related Deities. We had peace for hundreds years, the humans had
begun to take notice of their own life and began evolving, causing Life to make more and more
Elementals for his expanding world. You humans are like pets to them, you see. Elementals began
popping up left and right as Life had more and more ideas for his little utopia, and eventually…
eventually I became jealous of humans."
Water cocked her head sideways, "What do you mean, jealous?"
The Deity's red eyes began to fade and shine a slight blue, "Light and I would bathe the humans in light,
we would watch the humans hold each other for warmth in the cold nights, we would watch quietly as
they loved each other… A silly thing love is, isn't it? The other Gods and Elementals were oblivious to it,
but Light and I… we came to want it… we came to feel it."
His eyes were now entirely a dim blue, Water knew that this plated, demonic looking Deity was on the
verge of crying, just by the eyes. He continued, "Eden and I finally came to our feelings, around the time
humans became like they are today, united, war-torn, smart… whatever you want to call it. We finally
manifested ourselves into human bodies and lived as you humans for as long as we could… before Life
found us."
Water frowned, "What do you mean, found?"
"Well, we didn't exactly get Life's permission for our insane idea. We knew they wouldn't understand, so
we did it with our own power. One day we were there… the next we weren't. We still kept our powers,
of course, I wasn't stupid enough to throw the balance of the world off just for my selfishness, so I still
watched over Fire and she still watched over Light. That's why it took a long time for Life to even notice
we were 'gone'
So, when he found we had become humans he was mad. Make a long… hard to tell story short, he
sealed both our powers and imprisoned us. Life created the Elemental Vault and sealed the other Deity's
powers so none may do what I did behind Life's back. I lay here last I remember, I don't even know what
they did to Light. Life took over our duties as Fire and Light and now has hold over them, I guess that's
why Hydros told you that."
"Oh…that's… I'm sorry." the Deity shrugged off her pity, "Wait," she said, "so you were a human once?"
His blue eyes suddenly phased back to the giant bright red eyes, "Yes, that's why I talk a little bit more
human like than Gods, if you were wondering." Water nodded, she had noticed, "This is my normal
form, a stone, plated dragon of Fire. My human form was more normal, of course. So was Eden's."
"So God's actually have forms? Why is that?"
He shrugged, "We didn't at first. When humans found out about the presence of God's he made us all a
physical form to be physically worshipped. Life is odd, he acts like a God but behind closed doors he's
just like a child. H has a sense of humor and gave us all very… powerful forms." he waved off the
question she was about to ask and said, "Enough questions. It's my turn. Why are you here, why have I
been awakened and who told you to do so?"
Water shrugged this time, "I have a theory, but I'm not sure if it's right. On the world there's an
elemental egg inside a girl named Naki."
The God cut off her next words with a question, "And?"
"Hydros made me an Elemental - because I was close to her - and I found out the egg inside of her was
made of blood."
The God laughed, "Impossible, I've been imprisoned, if I made a Deity I would absolutely know about it.
The only other way that could have happened if Hydros - A god of war - made one and it was bathed in
blood while it was forming inside of her."
Water frowned, "That's the thing… A Water Elemental made the egg inside of her."
"Impossible."
"Exactly." she said, "So now we have an Elemental making a Deity, and it was tainted with blood
somehow, so we don't even know if the Elemental - Isaria - will be able to reverse it, because for some
reason she's willing to do so.
The Deity rubbed his steel jaw, "None of that makes any sense at all." he chuckled and said, "The good
news is that if this Elemental you speak of is willing to remove the egg she can, blood and water are two
very similar elements." she laughed, "Or at least that's my theory. None of this should be happening
either way."
Water frowned, "So there's nothing you can do to help us? I'm sure that's why Hydros sent me here."
He shook his massive head, "Not a single thing." he sighed, "I'm sorry Water, it seems the only way to fix
this is to get this Elemental to remove it. If that doesn't work… you'll have to kill her."
She looked around, "I guess I'm done here, then. How do I leave?"
He put his palm above her, "I move your mind back to your body."
She looked up to his massive hand, "What will happen to you?"
"Don't know. Will probably be put back to sleep."
"I'm sorry."
He shrugged, "Not that big of a deal. Are you ready to leave?"
She nodded and the world around her began to shimmer and warp, "I wish you luck." she said.
Chapter 9

Water instantly came awake to face a faintly lighted jungle. A gasp was heard from her left and a shift
underneath her left arm. She looked over to see a startled Naki staring back at her, "Naki? Wh-What
were you doing?"
Naki blushed, "W-well, there's… there's no good fire wood here… it's all damp. So I was snuggling
against you… since you were out cold I didn't think you'd mind..." she scooted away from Water,
"Sorry."
"It's fine, really." she looked around her surroundings, she sat propped up against a small tree that had
fallen over. The moon shone high in the sky but was completely blocked out by the high trees, but the
light of the moon reflected off the ocean and shown into the jungle. Still, even being so close to the
coast Water could only just barely make out anything past the nearby area. The giant leaves bent at the
wind that blew through the air, causing a shiver to escalade up her spine. Water looked down to her
body and sighed, the transformation was reversing, Would have just swam back to Gram and had him
take us back… but I can't now.
Water sighed again and looked to her left to see a shivering Naki, "How long have I been out?"
Naki struggled to open her eyes, "All day… You… passed out after I woke up… I had to…"
Water interrupted the slow Naki, "What's wrong? You sound in pain…"
Naki turned to face Water, her face showed complete exhaustion, "I had to drag you to… land, long
swim. Very tired… Can't sleep… too cold…"
Water frowned and scooted closer, "If it's that bad you should have said something." she grabbed Naki's
right arm and tucked it behind her back, and did the same with her own left arm, giving her a half-hug.
Water smiled, "There, now go to sleep, in the morning I'll get us out of here, probably before you even
wake up."
Naki nodded and rested on her head on Water's shoulder, as she closed her eyes she said, "Thanks."
She too began to go to sleep when Naki asked through closed eyes, "Is Rufus really still alive?"
"Yes, he really is." Water thought back to how Rufus reacted to it all and said, "I'm sorry for the pain I've
caused you… it'll all make sense tomorrow."
Naki said nothing and the rest of the night was silent as Water forced herself to sleep.

Water opened her eyes to see the back of Naki's head. She leaned upward and thought she woke up in
the middle of the night, but found the sun dawning beyond the ocean. Water came to the conclusion
that she fell over to her left in the night and slipped behind Naki, causing her to wake how she did. Then
she noticed she had completely de-transformed back into her normal human body.
Water knew how to transform back, but it always took nearly an hour to fully form it. As she learned
how to do by Hydros she closed her eyes and concentrated on her chest, found the sphere inside her
body and activated it. Almost instantly the whitish-blue skin substance formed on her chest, then began
spreading. She laid back down to pass the time.

Water snapped awake to a vast pain on her arms and legs; her transformation was completing. Spines
and fins were emerging from her skin as usual and only hurt for a moment or two before the pain died
down. With good grace she stood up and went around the fallen tree they laid near in the night.
She looked out to the ocean, the sun was just above the horizon and a cool breeze came from the sea.
Water took in a deep breath, savoring the smell, savoring the feeling of it all. Ah, how she loved the sea!
Slowly she walked into the water, closing her eyes and holding her arms out as she felt the surface of
the water as her muscles began shifting and mutating. She ignored the pain, she was all too busy
absorbing the calm morning. When the ocean water had gotten up to her chest she snapped open her
eyes and dived into the underwater world.

Naki woke to with a groan, not for any reason other than the fact that she knew, even with her well
toned body, her muscles were going to be sore and cramping all day.

So she laid on her side, thinking of her situation.

She knew… she knew whatever was inside of her was the thing that caused her the illness that almost
ended her life. Isaria told her that she needed to find her way to her so she could solve the problem. The
only problem she had with that was over the question "Why plant it in the first place?"
It wasn't inside of her when Isaria teleported her and put her to sleep, so she must have planted it then.
Most confusing of it all, was that Isaria never told her that she planted it, Naki had to find that out for
herself.
She shook her head, getting herself depressed over it wasn't going to help. Rufus was still alive, that
meant that she could still make it to Isaria. That meant she could find the answers she wanted.
Although nobility in her past life, she was still just a plain hunter.
She shook her head again complained. The topic of Rufus was just another way to get depressed fast.
She chose to separate from the rest of her family due to the fact that she just didn't like being noble. It
was boring. Besides that, her mother never cared for her, she cared for her elder sister. So she became
independent. Her family tried to keep her in the loop of things that concerned them, but they forgot
about her. They didn't even acknowledge her near the end of her stay there.
She had never been exposed to men before, the only others in her hunting group was an old man and
the other was a young man that was already married. At her age, if she was the first daughter, she
would already have been married, but because of her duties she was never so much as talked to by men
other than the few she hunted with. It's not that she wasn't attractive or anything, wagons of men
would have crawled over her; if she gave them the chance.
Naki literally had no contact with people other than her hunting party and her mother, whom she still
talked to every now and then. She of course hunted for her own share of food, so she never needed to
buy any from the small markets they had or have to do a job for a clan. She had blocked most people
out for so long that she scarcely even noticed them as she passed them by in their villages.
She didn’t think anyone else noticed her, either. She rarely cleaned herself, she barely ever changed out
of her hunting ritual top and hunting gear, she may have had a beautiful body, but she never allowed
anyone to truly see it.
Ahh… but with Rufus she wanted him to see her, she wanted him to notice her. Once she met him that
barrier she had built up against people was washed away.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of wings beating in the distance. Her heart leapt.

The newly retrieved Naki sat with Rufus and Water around a fire back at Water's rock-camp. Water had
explained everything to them at that point, Rufus still didn't know about what had delayed Water at that
point.
After explaining a moment of silence followed, finally Rufus broke it with the question, "So, what are we
to do?"
Water shrugged, "I don't know, honestly."
"A best bet?"
"Go to Isaria and get the thing removed, get her cleansed, that's the only thing I can think of." Water
said.
Rufus said, "So, do we just fly there and be done with it?"
Water nodded, "You could easily do that."
Rufus got up, "Alright, then. When shall we go?"
Water felt a prick of sadness, "It's a three day ride even on Gram, you'll have to go around the
mountains. The day is already half over, so we might as well get going while we can. There's a nice big
rock just under half a day ride from here, we can camp there for tonight."
Rufus cocked his head sideways, "We?"
Water chuckled, "Well, duh. I'm coming too." she paused and looked concerned, "I'm coming because
Isaria could truly be hostile, in that case I'll be there. Hydros is allowing me to keep my powers until this
is all finally resolved, so I might as well put them to use."
Naki was going to say something, but Rufus interrupted, "I doubt Isaria will be aggressive, Naki. But it's
just in case."
She nodded, "Makes sense…"

They were about to head out to travel when Water pulled Rufus to the side as Naki was busy talking
with Gram.
Water looked dead serious as she said, "We need to talk, Rufus."
Rufus nodded his head, "About what?"
"About the- wait, one second."
Water began taking off her small brown tunic that she wore, Rufus blushed and turned around, Water
laughed at the reaction, "Always shy, Rufus. I began transforming about twenty minutes ago, I'm starting
to get taller."
Rufus heard a flop of clothes hitting the ground, "My mom gave me that tunic, don't want to break it
with all the transforming, right?"
Water grabbed the still turned around Rufus and turned him back towards her, with a smile she patted
Rufus on the shoulder, "If you're that shy you won't ever get anywhere with Naki, God knows she's the
same way."
Rufus was about to say something when Water interrupted, "Eh, I don't care about your excuses! But
I'm getting off track."
Water leaned back against the stone wall and closed her eyes as another big transformation come, her
arm bones started extending a little, while her eyes were still closed she said, "We need to talk about
you and Naki. Another reason I'm coming is because if Naki breaks loose again she'll most likely kill you if
I'm not there. It's as simple as that."
Again Rufus began to try to say something, but Water interrupted with a raise of her hand, "It's not Naki,
Rufus. It's the thing inside of her. It will kill you if you're with her. If not through blind rage it will be
through blind power. When I fought her the only real attack she used against me was just discharges
that leaked off of the Deity… and it hadn't even taken form yet. Even my powerful body, blessed by
Hydros at the time, was destroyed time and time again by the power; if Hydros hadn't lent me the
power I would have been dead before I even knew what was going on."
Rufus didn't try to fight for Naki's defense, so Water didn't interrupt. He was taking this seriously.
"What can we do?"
Water frowned, "I don't know… if she gets loose it may be the end of us… it may be the end of Naki."
Rufus choked up, "I truly wish it won't come to that." he paused for a moment then asked, "She.. needs
to know the dangers."
Water said, "I've already talked to her about it, earlier to-" she cringed as her neck split open, "Sorry. I
talked to her earlier today…" Water moved in close to Rufus and spoke softly, "She said… she said that if
it comes down to that she… doesn't want you to be sad."
Rufus quietly nodded and Water said, "But that's enough about Naki." she smiled and backed a little
away from Rufus, "We need to talk about you, a little less serious."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. Why would I say 'you' and not mean 'you'? That's a retarded question."
"W-well, I just… I"
Water waved his answer away, "I'm just joking around! Trying to take your mind off of more dark
thoughts… or, maybe, if it's about Naki… naughty thoughts?"
Rufus opened his mouth wide and blushed furiously, "Wha--"
"Just joking again! Jeesh! You're too funny easy, Rufus. But seriously, I thought of something important
earlier. I believe there's a possibility that there is some sort of mark upon you, by the Air God, I just
wanted to figure it out; it would only take a second of reaching inside of you to know."
"Reach inside? How?"
"I can sort of reach inside you and feel your spirit, that's how I found out about Naki's problem. So, take
off your shirt. It'll only take a minute." Rufus hesitated, "C'mon now! Take it off! I have to be in close
contact with your heart, it's sort of like the central hub of the body's power."
Rufus grumbled and took off his ragged simple tunic and stiffened up as Water's cold watery hands
pressed against him.
Water began putting pressure on his chest, "It's going to hurt."
Before Rufus could respond Water was forcing him back against the wall and seemingly crushing his
chest. With a small yelp from Rufus Water burst through his body and her hand moved freely inside of
him. Water was silent as she moved her hand around inside him; Rufus didn't mind the feeling, it was
quite… soothing, maybe?
After a few minutes Water finally smiled and more said to herself than to Rufus, "Here's something…"
He felt a sudden tug on his chest, as if someone pulled a strong rope inside of him.
Water asked, "You felt that, didn't you?"
Rufus nodded.
"That means it's there! Alright… I'm going to take a closer look."
Now it felt like Water was pushing her hand into a box of clay… and the box of clay was him. Her
spiritual hand moved and gushed around inside of him, then finally a strong feeling started to grow up.
Worried it could be bad Rufus said, "Water… there's something happening."
She nodded, "I'm trying to get it to wake up a little, it's completely dormant. Usually a mark or
something will give you a power, or give the God a sort of a bond with you."
"Won't something bad happen?"
"No, though you'll probably feel… better after this."
Water was still doing what she was doing when suddenly she went completely stiff for just a second.
Rufus felt something was wrong, Water was completely frozen, "Water…?"
A moment later and she leapt backwards with a yelp and ripped her hand out of Rufus, fast enough to
where he couldn't register the feeling.
Rufus said, "What happened? Are you ok?"
Water gripped her right arm with her left and held it steady, "I… I felt it…"
"What?"
"It… it burst out, and for a second I think I saw the Air God herself…" she shook her head, "Anyways, you
should be feeling better soon, tell me if you feel any different, alright?"
Rufus nodded, "Alright."

The conversation ended with that, and soon enough Rufus rejoined with Gram and Naki.
Rufus thought of something as they were about to mount Gram, "Water, can Flow fly?"
Water looked over to Flow, who was half in the water and half out, waiting for orders, "No, she can't
anymore. Unlike me Flow can't return to normal."
Rufus sighed, "That's a shame."
Water laughed, "She wouldn't say so."
"Why's that?"
"You'll find out why soon enough."
Concern popped up, "You'll be able to keep up in the water, right?"
Water laughed even louder, "Will you be able to keep up in the air?"
Rufus smiled, "So, what's the travel plan?"
Flow's voice rang in his head instead, Fly along the coast to the opening in the mountains.
Gram roared, Come on, then! I'm restless! I want to get off of this uncomfortable rock. Er, no offense
Water.
Water smiled as she hopped over to Flow, "None taken."
As they mounted up Rufus grumbled as he said, Why doesn't Gram ever apologize to me?
Chapter 10
"Random quote in italics to add a dramatic effect to the story. Doesn't really have a real impact on
anything, though."

Teana looked over Writer's shoulder, "What're you doing over here?"
Writer spun his head around and met her face, "Er… Was just doing what I do to pass time."
She looked down at the piece of paper, "What is that, exactly?"
Lore slipped behind Writer and lifted the piece of paper, "He's writing." she said.
Writer growled, "Give it back!" he snatched at the air for it and missed.
She slipped away and cackled, "Who's Rufus?" she said, after scanning the paper.
"None of your business." he said, getting up to chase after her.
Teana laughed, "Now, now, settle down. Lore." she said sternly, "Give him back the paper."
She looked at Teana and gave her the look of a guilty dog, "Fine…" she handed Writer the paper.
Writer snatched it up, "Thank you, Teana."
She laughed and looked over the two of them, "It's like you're children."
Lore looked over at Writer and sneered, "Him, maybe. I'm perfectly dignified."
He gave her the evil eye, "You're the one acting like a child!"
Teana crossed her arms, "No yelling indoors, children. Now, Lore, come over here and help me finish
this."
She grumbled, "I'm not your child!"
Teana pointed to the spot next to her, "No talking back, come over here."
Lore shook her head, "Nope."
"One…"
She laughed, "Really?"
"Two…"
Writer faked being scared, "I'd… I'd do what she says, Lore."
"Shut up, Alastor!"
"Ah, Lore… Inside voices. Two and a half…"
Lore didn't respond.
She reached her right arm back and grabbed hold of her weapon, "Don't make me say three…"
Lore tossed her hands in the air, "Fine! Fine!"
Teana smiled, "Good girl."
Writer snickered and sat back down on his chair.
"Ah, don't make fun of her Alastor."
He frowned and looked back at his desk, "Fine…"

Gram flew close to the ocean to be able to easily communicate with Water and Flow, they had found
that it was limited to about a hundred yards. Rufus had barely gotten over the way that Flow cut
through the ocean so easily. It looked like a giant sword cutting through the water.
It was already past dark when they finally got to the rock Water spoke of. It was a ragged, spiked
construction at least a dozen miles around.
Water called to all of them, We'll sleep in the ocean. Go and find a place to rest and come to the water's
edge when you awake, Flow and I will be there.
Rufus nodded and beckoned Gram closer to the rock to find a place to sleep.
Eventually they found a large enough place for Gram to lay down on that was decently smooth. The
normal routine of putting down mats and furs was interrupted by Water suddenly appearing out of
nowhere nearby.
Rufus wasn't surprised, really, "Something wrong, Water?"
Water shrugged, "Nothing really, but I recommend going and getting some wood for a fire, it's going to
be storming soon; and you need food."
He was just thinking about that problem, actually, "Should we hunt on land and bring it back… or?"
"Flow is catching us some fish right now, she'll be back in just a few minutes after she's eaten for herself.
Enough time for you to go and get some wood… I would but-" she waved her hand around in the air,
causing droplets of water to fly around, "As you can see, the wood wouldn’t be of much use."
Rufus chuckled at Water and said, "Alright, then. Gram, let's go, shore isn't too far away." he glanced
down to Naki who was sitting on her mat, "Want to come, Naki?"
She shook her head, "I'll just stay here, talk to Water or something while we wait."
Naki smiled and Rufus shrugged and said, "Alright, if you want. Be back soon then." then hopped on
Gram's back and set off.

Rufus returned around half an hour later, both of them were covered in blood.
Gram landed with a thud and Rufus hopped off a second later, sensing the question would be asked he
said, "It isn't mine. Stupid King Lizard charged as we were collecting wood. Good news is that Gram isn't
hungry anymore."
Water laughed and he began taking out small planks of wood in a big sack that was on Gram's saddle.
The fish that Flow had collected had already been laid down on the rock floor and been cleaned, by Naki
Rufus guessed.
Soon enough the fire was up and ready, and dinner began cooking. Even sooner the fish were devoured
and Water said her good nights.
It was a good thing she did, too. Right before they were about to go to sleep it suddenly began heavily
raining; causing them to retreat under Gram's wing.

Romance jumped onto Writer's head. "Calm down." he said, "Don’t embarrass me…"

As they lay there under Gram's wing the feeling of finally being back with Naki really sunk into Rufus.
Even though it was just "a few days" for him without Naki around, it felt like he hadn't been with her in a
month, which was technically true.
Things were said over those "few days" however; things that made Rufus really think about his feelings
towards Naki. Wanting to be with someone wasn't an alien thing for Rufus, he almost never wanted to
be away from his family, he never ever wanted to be away from Gram… but not wanting to be away
from Naki was an entirely different thing altogether.
He sighed as he shifted positions on his mat, all sorts of hypotheses as to why the feeling was different
popped up, all kinds of confliction emotions sprang forward, he sighed again. Rufus was too confused by
it all.
He heard Gram's drowsy voice come to him, Stop worrying so much about Naki. You'll understand it all
eventually. And don't worry about messing anything up, you practically couldn't at this point.
Rufus pushed aside what he said and asked, How did you know what I was thinking about?
Gram quietly laughed, You complain so loudly it's hard not to. You could hear what I thought or even
Naki's… maybe even Water's thoughts, if you just listened.
Rufus frowned, What's that supposed to mean?
You've done it before. Don't just listen with your ears, listen with your mind. It's just one step above
mind-speech. Rufus felt the connection of Gram fading, Now go to bed.
The connection dropped and Rufus sighed, he wasn't going to sleep, so why not try to listen? He made
note of the "One step above mind-speech" remark and tried to concentrate the way he had to when he
wanted to use it.
Within a minute or two he felt his mind drifting like it had the day he entered Naki's mind, but this time
he tried not to enter their minds, but more of just walk on the rim of it. Again, he tried Gram first, and
once again he heard nothing at all. So, he tried reaching out a little bit farther to the nearby water and
found a small fish inside a pool. He moved his mind on the brink of the fish's glowing blue mind and
slowly he began to hear whispers… whispers of no language, whispers of straight emotions that he
somehow understood and could decipher. The fish's thoughts were all of danger, food, worry of another
predator finding its stock of eggs, all at once.
The rush was overwhelming at first, but Rufus quickly found he could sift through the Fish's mind and
block out most thought lines at once and concentrate on one at a time.
Rufus smiled at the progress and tried reaching out even farther. His mind's eye flew around in the air,
he could see the minds of others, they were blue orbs that flickered non-stop. Some were huge, like
Gram's, but most were small.
Rufus inspected the mass amount of creatures in the water, small fish that passed around in the stormy
water, bigger predators that stalked around the coral, which even the coral had little minds.
He poked out further and further until he finally felt the limits of his mind near, a sort of leash that kept
his mind tied to his body that didn't allow him to travel any farther. Still, though, he moved around from
way to way until he finally stumbled across a giant presence in the water. He could see farther with his
mind than he could his eyes, so he saw the giant blue orbs before he saw what it was. He worried that
something so big could be dangerous, but it was just Flow and Water.
Rufus drifted in close, they laid on the bottom of the ocean floor, sleeping as if they'd sleep on land. Fish
loomed around them for shelter and curiosity, but he could barely see their minds for Water and Flow's
were far too huge.
Water laid on her back with her hands folded on her stomach, she looked peacefully asleep. But as
Rufus loomed in closer he heard her voice in his mind, Trying to read my thoughts, eh Rufus?
Rufus was shocked enough that he almost lost concentration and returned to his body, but he bashfully
replied, Err, sorry, I just… Gram told me how to do this and I was looking around and saw you and-
Water's laugh rung through him, It's fine, Rufus. she leaned up and looked at Rufus's mind eye, Yours is
pretty big, holding secret powers are we?
Water poked at the water that Rufus occupied and he was surprised to actually feel it, he felt ripples
echo through his mind, as if the mind was a giant blubbery bubble, he said, You can see me?
Water nodded, I can see you as clearly as if you were standing right here, but of course you're just a blue
orb right now. she reached out and grabbed Rufus, I can even move you around.
She held Rufus's mind with her extended arms and she leaned back down while still holding him, Rufus
asked, That's weird. I can actually feel you holding me… it's like I'm a giant bubble.
Water nodded again, That's how it works, it seems. she smiled, Gram taught you, eh? He's pretty good
at this stuff, isn't he?
Rufus laughed and joked, For a big lizard, yes. He's taught me basically everything I know.
Water laughed too, Flow is the same way. she lowered her voice, but not in a serious way, I think there's
a lot more to the Wyverns then they're letting us onto, you know?
Rufus nodded and laughed, Gram has always been mysterious.
An awkward silence followed until Water finally said, So, I guess I should reward you for figuring out how
to do this.
She still held Rufus as she went into heavy thought, a moment later she said, I would let you into my
mind, teach you a few things about how the world works, but that's breaking the rules. I can't think of
anything, what do you want?
Rufus looked confused, I don’t need anything, really.
Everyone wants something, Rufus. C'mon, think of something!
Rufus sighed, he wasn't going to get out of this, Alright, how about the answer to life?
Pfft, be serious!
Rufus frowned, Alright, alright… he thought hard for a moment then finally said, I can't think of
anything, either!
Water puffed up, Fine, I'll think of something!
A minute or two passed before Water began blushing and asked while Rufus looked on in confusion at
the display, How about some advice?
If Rufus could look confused as a giant floating blue orb he would be right now, Advice?
Yeah… about Naki.
What do you mean?
You know… she blushed even more, How to woo her.
Woo?
She suddenly laughed, You're insanely innocent, Rufus. Yes, I mean woo.
Rufus's orb turned a lighter blue as he blushed angrily, Well, what's woo mean?!
It's what you do to girls you want to be with. Rufus's silly anger disappeared but the blush only
intensified, causing his orb to be a very light blue, Naki likes you a lot more than you think, and you like
her a lot more than you think.
Rufus was about to say something before she interrupted him, again, Just listen. You have to make the
first move. She may love you with a fury that even the Gods would be afraid of, but if you don't make the
move it won't be more than a passionate stare. I'm sure she gets close to you at night, snuggles, maybe?
Holds onto you more tightly than she really needs to when you're riding Gram?
Rufus searched his thoughts and quietly nodded after a moment.
She may not even realize she's doing it, but she's basically placing herself in your care. She's close
enough and cares enough about you to feel safe doing so. Basically, she wants you. So, your reward is
this: When she is yours ,when you're in a good place, when the moment is perfect… make the move.
Rufus looked even more confused, What's "The move"?
It was Water's turn to blush brightly, You'll know what "the move" is. Don't feel like an idiot when you
feel it, don't be afraid she'll reject you, don’t feel afraid of anything at all, just make the move. It may
sound silly right now, but when you've made the move you'll thank me.
Rufus was again about to ask something but Water interrupted once again, she really didn't like Rufus
talking, Nothing more. You've gotten your reward. Go to sleep!
She playfully threw Rufus's mind back and he blinked to find himself back in his body.
He sighed.
Why was everything a labyrinth?
He sighed again.
I'm too tired to think about it now.
He closed his eyes and within seconds his mind drifted off to sleep.

Writer smiled, "Good job, Romance."

Lore cast a glance at him, "Are you talking to that blob?"
He was going to answer, but Teana interrupted him, "Let him do his thing, Lore. Just pay attention."
She sighed, "You're lucky Teana is holding me back!"

The next day was miserable. The entire time they travelled it was pouring with rain. Gram didn't mind at
all, it didn't bother him. Rufus really didn't mind the rain either, in fact he very much enjoyed the sound
of it falling on the leaves, the cool, calm air that comes about when the fall is light. This time, though, he
wasn't in a large jungle where the tree tops took off most of it, where in the temple he could huddle
next to a fire… and he didn't have to worry about drenched clothes.
The entire day Rufus and Naki were drenched, it was torture. The mats and Fetcher Furs they had did
not do the job of keeping them dry, Gram flew too fast and the wind caused them to flap around; being
more an annoyance than help.
Since there were no more big rock formations for quite awhile, they ended up camping at the shore
throughout the day for food. But at the end of the day they found a big enough rock to settle on.
Of course, since there was too much rain, there was no fire, which meant no food. Instead of hanging
around the campfire and having dinner and talking before going to bed, they went straight to bed.
Rufus knew what was coming when he heard Naki shivering that she'd eventually make her way to him.
He had to admit to himself that he wouldn't mind the warmth, the ocean rain was freezing cold, the
ghostly wind snipped at their bodies; only furthering the already cold, soggy annoyance of wet clothes.
Rufus sighed as he remembered what Water had told him, Make the move! she said. You'll know when
you need to. she said, still, he didn't have any clue what she meant.
Whatever she meant, Rufus was cold, he had to admit he liked Naki, and she was cold too. It was more
for her, right? It's not anything else… but for warmth… Yeah… I'm gonna stick with that.
He quietly got up from his now damp mat and scooted his way over to Naki. He hesitated only slightly
when he saw her notice him, but to his delight she didn’t say anything and let him awkwardly cozy in
next to her. Rufus waited for something to go wrong, and thought it did when she reached for his hand…
but she just held it.
With a sigh of relief he calmed himself and thought, Maybe Water was right.
Chapter 11

Teana got up, "Your world is done, Writer."

He looked around and noticed nothing different, "It is?"
Lore got up as well and rolled her eyes, "Outside, dummy."
"Oh…" he went back to his paper, "Thanks, I'll check it out later."
She growled, "The least you could do was to-"
Teana grabbed her arm and dragged her to the other room, "Go look around and tell me if anything
needs to be improved upon."
"But…" Lore started, until she saw the look in Teana's eyes, "Fine… I'll be back in a few hours…"
Teana smiled as she left, then turned to Writer. "So," Teana said, "What are you doing over there?"
He looked over to her, "I'm writing."
"Really? About what?"
He shrugged and felt his cheeks warming, "Just a story…"
Teana conjured a chair with wheels next to him and sat down on it, "About what?"
Writer sighed, "Here…" he handed her the pieces of paper he had, "Just read it… Don't make fun of
me…"
It took her just a few minutes to read it, her mind worked quickly, "I like it." she said as she handed it
back, "Can… I watch you write more?"
He awkwardly nodded, "Al-alright… I guess…" he sighed, "Just know that I don't like being interrupted,
and I might yell at you for doing so!"
She simply smiled and raised her voice, "Then I'll yell back!"

Rufus woke instantly to the loud cracking noise of thunder. He sighed as he heard the noise of even
heavier rain than yesterday, but cheered up as he noticed he was still sleeping next to Naki.
The courage from last night was nowhere to be found, however, and he got up quite quickly. He made
his way out from the shelter of Gram's wing to find Water laid out on the now puddle ridden rock floor.
Her body was missing the fins, the gills, everything except for her skin had turned back to normal, even
her height.
The sight looked entirely wrong, why was even Water here? Why was she laying on the floor?
He rushed over to her and knelt down, "Water?"
There was no response.
Rufus shook her shoulder and asked again, "Water?"
Still no response.
His heart pounded. He lightly smacked her on the cheek and asked a last time, "Water?!"
The cold rain drenched Rufus as Water finally opened her eyes.
Rufus let out a sigh of relief, "Water, are you ok?"
She weakly smiled and replied, "I came to wake you up, but found you asleep with Naki…"
Rufus blushed at the thought of people seeing him with Naki, Water said, "Don't be embarrassed, it's a
good thing." she grabbed Rufus's hand that was still on her cheek, "Lay down with me, the water may be
cold but it's quite peaceful. It's why I fell asleep."
Rufus found no harm in it, he was already drenched after all. He laid down on his back next to Water and
looked up to the sky.
He blinked as rain droplets hit his face and around his eyes, but did find it quite calming. The black/grey
clouds coated the sky like water coated him right now. He barely noticed as Water came in closer and
snuck under his arm and latched onto the side of his chest.
Rufus knew the movement should of embarrassed him, but for some reason he felt otherwise, the sad
look in her eyes, maybe?
Rain rolled off his eye lashes and blurred his vision as Water closed her eyes and looked away from
Rufus. The water that came out of her body was warm, as it began to wash over him he felt as if his left
side was in a hot tub, and the right was exposed to the cold air.
No need to say anything came to Rufus. He thought of what Water herself had told him, "She's placing
herself in your care. She's close enough and trusts you enough to feel safe doing so"
Was that what Water is doing, right now? But… it doesn't feel the same as when it was with Naki. Why is
it so different?
Something inside told him to not feel weird, to not feel embarrassed.
She needs you. it told him, Comfort her.
He wrapped his arm around Water's waist as much as he could and held her closer to him. He felt this
was the only thing he could truly do.
Rufus looked back up to the stormy clouds.
Why did the rain always make everything so sad?

He woke from his snooze at the feeling of Water shifting around. Before he could even open his eyes he
felt something warm against his cheek. He opened his eyes after the warm feeling had vanished to find a
fully exposed figure of Water hovering close by.
For a reason Rufus couldn't explain he didn't close his eyes or look away, he simply stared… and Water
allowed him to.
He absorbed the sight with no controllable thought running through his head. This was, truly, the first
time he had ever seen a girls' naked body. He slowly moved his eyes upward through her body... Her
hips curved into the rest of her body made Rufus skip a breath; only to be halted by the sight of her
small but plump breasts.
Rufus still moved his eyes upward and met the smiling face of Water, who flushed with the color red.
She stared straight back at him with that small smile. His heart stopped as she leaned in closer and
pressed her lips against his forehead, it was the same warm feeling he felt on his cheek just a moment
ago. She backed away while Rufus just sat blankly staring. Water moved her hand into his vision and
began making a spinning motion with her index finger.
The movement took just a moment to register inside of Rufus's confused mind and he jolted upward
then spun around on his rump. He wrapped his arms around his knees as the feeling of what had
happened sunk into him, causing his cheeks to flare bright red.
The feeling only worsened as he felt Water's back against his.
Her quiet voice pierced his busy mind, "Thank you."
Rufus felt the back of Water's head rest on the back of his shoulder, he asked, "W-…Why thank me?"
In a drowsy voice she softly said, "For being there, idiot."
Teana hovered over his shoulder, "That was nice."
Writer smiled, "Thanks."
"But why was Water so close to Rufus?"
He shrugged, "Well I was thinking-"
"No! Don't tell me!"
"But you just-"
"Sh! Keep writing!"

Rufus woke up with a grunt, he had fallen asleep once again.

He lay on the cold rock floor, in a small puddle. He figured water had left while he was asleep, causing
him to fall backwards.
For the best, perhaps.
He made his way out of the puddle only to slip on the wet rock and fall face first into another one. He
sighed as he got up and heard laughter from nearby. Rufus turned to find Naki emerging from under
Gram's wing.
She laughed again when Rufus almost slipped on another wet rock, "Good morning, Rufus! Having fun
today, are we?"
Rufus held back a painful laugh at the thought of having fun today, but couldn't help but smile at Naki's
good mood, "A lot, actually. Don't underestimate how slippery this stuff is, I guess." he carefully made
his way over to Naki's side, "How long have you been up? You seem pretty…awake."
Naki smiled and said, "Been going in and out of sleep for a few hours I think." she went over to Gram's
head and shook him awake while she told Rufus, "Can't help but feel drowsy when it's raining, and it's
only getting worse."
Gram opened his big eyes and they said 'good morning' and things, then Rufus said, "I think there's a big
storm coming in. The wind is getting bad and the rain is only getting heavier."
Naki nodded, "I can tell. Riding in the wind was bad enough, but it's far worse than yesterday." Naki
sighed after a silent moment, "I really don't want to ride in this for another day…"
Rufus laughed, "You have nothing to complain about! I was sitting in the front, I took most of the rain
and wind!"
Naki frowned, "It was still bad!"
Rufus chuckled and waved his hands in front of him; as to say 'Calm down.' "It was just a joke, Naki."
Her tail flickered in the air as she pouted "Maybe I'll ride in front, to prove to you that it's still bad in the
back!"
He took the bet, "Well, if you want to so badly, go ahead."
"Fine! I will! What are the stakes?"
"The stakes?"
"For the bet!"
Rufus shrugged, "How about if I win I get to use your Fetcher Fur for one day?"
Gram whistled, a very high pitched noise coming from a Wyvern, Rufus, that's too far.
Rufus thought about it for a moment and said, "Yeah, I guess you're right-"
"No! I take that bet!"
Rufus looked over to find Naki fuming, she was really quite energetic today.
"If I win I get to use your Fetcher Fur for a day! And… and you have to sleep outside of Gram's wing!"
"Wha-"
Gram laughed, Haha! You can't back out now, Rufus. The bets are in.
"But that's much more-"
Too late! Haha!

Soon after the exchange Water emerged from out of nowhere and said she was ready to leave. Rufus
was going to ask Water about this morning, but she left too quickly for him to have a moment with her.
He sighed and told himself again, For the best, perhaps.
Rufus made his way over to mount on Gram, but before he could the agile Naki leapt onto the saddle
and made it clear she was serious about the bet. He shrugged, at least he'd have some entertainment
today.

Few freezing cold hours passed. The wind higher in the air was horrid; on the rock formations they slept
on the jagged rocks blocked out most of it, but in the air it was far worse than he thought. Even Gram
had some problems flying, huge gusts of wind would push against his large wings and cause him to be
pushed back into the air; that, of course, made the ride horrible for the two on his back.
Rufus sighed as he saw the opening in the mountains. He sent his thoughts to Water, It's already been
three days and we just now came into view of the opening.
A moment later she responded, The weather is severely slowing us down.
He sighed and nodded to himself, We could camp on land tonight. We'll lose a few hours of travel, but if
we camp at the opening we could make it to Isaria's cave in a full day.
That's a good idea, but that's going to be a long day.
Rufus sighed again, I know. But I've seen the area around Isaria's cave, there are very few large rock
formations to sleep on… I don't want to risk spending six or so hours flying over that and not find a place
to rest for the night.
It's your choice, Rufus. Water said.
It was silent for a few minutes, then Water said, Lets delay lunch for a few hours.
Rufus asked, Why?
If we have a late lunch we could sleep at that point. Then, we could have an all-nighter and get to Naki's
Isaria's by the morning, or at least close. And if we do come across a place to sleep we can camp there.
He contemplated the idea, Sounds good, really. We'll do that.
It was quiet for just a few seconds until Water softly said, Something is agitating the Elemental inside of
Naki. Is something wrong up there?
Rufus hadn't mentioned his bet to Water, She made a bet with me that it's just as uncomfortable to ride
behind me than to sit in front of me.
Water sounded slightly angry, That's stupid, Rufus. Why'd you make her do that?
Me? She made the bet. I was joking around but she took it seriously.
Well, switch places with her!
Rufus didn't reply, but simply looked down at Naki-- she was just a few inches shorter than Rufus. He
hadn't really paid too much attention to her during the ride, since she was so quiet… but now he realized
why. She looked absolutely miserable. Her face was drained of color and her normal, warm look had
faded away to paleness. Naki had her eyes closed and was most likely trying to sleep, but Rufus knew
she wasn't going to be able to.
He sighed, "Naki, switch places with me, you look terrible."
Her weak voice said, "No. I'm fine."
"No, you aren't. You look terrible!"
"I'm fine! I'm not going to lose our bet because you want to sit in front, where it's better off."
Rufus rolled his eyes, "This is serious, Naki. Water says your egg is getting ticked off, probably because
you're so cold."
"I'm fine, the egg is fine, let me try to sleep."
Sigh. Why is she so serious about this?
Rufus grunted, then reached back and grabbed the Fetcher Fur taking residence behind him. He ripped it
out with ease, it wasn't the one they used under Gram's saddle for comfort; but the spare one that
Rufus just tied down under a few straps.
He stuffed it under his leg for temporary holding and reached down to the straps on the saddle that kept
his feet in place. Normally, on a casual ride, he would just use the foot straps so he didn't fly off when
Gram dived down to attack something. He reached back and grabbed the flapping straps that he tied
around his upper leg and calves for more… extreme maneuvers while flying. Rufus grabbed Naki's leg,
who wasn't strapped in at all, since he could just hold her down if something happened.
With a "Huh?" from Naki he tied her legs to his with the upper straps and then yanked the Fetcher Fur
free from under his leg and wrapped it around Naki's chest. With the long reigns he used to hold onto
Gram - because he could fly by himself without Rufus directing him - he twisted them around to make a
large oval shape. He put Naki inside the oval and that held the Fetcher's Fur in place enough to where
they wouldn't have to hold it down.
Rufus's Hmph of triumph was interrupted by the angry voice of Naki, "Why'd you tie me up?"
He chuckled, "This way you can keep your stupid bet and not die of cold. You should thank me."
She said something, but Rufus was too busy noticing a perfect hole for some arms to slip in around
Naki's side to catch what she said. With slight hesitation he wrapped his arms around Naki's cold belly,
which quieted her complaints.
He smiled, "See, that's better now isn't it?"

Another few hours passed until finally he decided it was late enough to go and have lunch. It took just a
few minutes to reach land and find something to eat, the hunt past the colony was far better than
around their temple.
The group found a big enough hole in the roots of a giant tree to camp there, Gram, however, couldn't
fit; so he just stayed outside. Rufus managed to find some dried plants around in the roots, enough for a
fire to cook dinner with. It was simple Shrieker meat, but it was quite welcoming after days of cold food
and fish. Water stayed to eat dinner but was quickly off to sleep underwater like she normally did.
It was just Rufus and Naki left.
Naki was sitting with her arms around her knees, staring into the fire.
Trying to strike up some sort of conversation he tried to act cheerful as he asked, "So, uh… I guess we
won't call in the results of the bet until tonight?"
She half-heartedly nodded and said, "I still haven't given up yet… I haven't lost."
Rufus honestly tried to make some sort of joke, some sort of remark or anything to keep the
conversation going or try to lift her spirit; but nothing came. He sighed as he gave up on trying to cure
the awkward silence and laid down on his side, facing away from the fire.

Great Gods, it's cold.

Rufus's body felt as if it was still asleep when he stumbled his way upward. He had hoped the rain would
of stopped by the time he woke up… but it was only raining harder.
At least it's dark… we can get this torment over with.
He crawled on his knees over to Naki and shook her awake, "It's time to get up, Naki."
She sighed and closely opened her eyes, "I don't want to…"
Rufus smiled, "You can sleep on the saddle, or something. I just want to get this trip over with. Think
about it, nice, warm, cozy beds? Hot meals?"
Naki groaned at the thought, "But it's just so miserable…"
He lightly laughed, "So it is worse in the front, isn't it?"
Her eyes jolted open and she said, "No! It's just… it's bad enough riding on Gram…" she grumbled and
trailed off.
"What's that? You don't like Gram? That'd break his small black heart, you know."
Naki grumbled again, "It's just so bumpy… my legs always ache so much and it's so cold… the only
reason I can stand it is because…" she stopped herself before she could finish.
"Because what?"
Again, with the grumbling, "Nothing, I'm too tired."
"Oh c'mon, you were going to say something! Because of what?"
She ignored the question and with another groan got up from her mat, "Let's be done with it."
He frowned as she walked past him and began waking the sleeping Gram.

Teana put her hands to her chin, "Because of what?"

He grinned, "Shush you."

They flew to the nearby coast and eventually Water appeared and soon after that they set off for
hopefully the last time in this horrid weather. Again, Rufus strapped Naki's legs to his and set up the
Fetcher Fur, but for some reason decided against wrapping his arms around her.
About an hour went on before Rufus finally asked Gram, You don't mind this, do you?
What?
The flying, you aren't tired or anything, are you?
Gram laughed, You're actually worrying about me? Are you sure you're Rufus?
Rufus laughed too, I'm pretty sure, yeah. he went back to a serious tone, It's just that I haven't really
been paying too much attention to you other than things like "Go fly us here" or "Go do that" or "Go get
us some food"… I've been mistreating you.
You can thank me by letting me have a peaceful night sleep without your fidgeting mind crying out.
Rufus frowned, Is it really that bad?
No, not really. It's just that I like to poke at you for it. Boy finally coming to age where he want to sleep
with every girl he sees, quite entertaining.
Rufus flushed red, That's not true! I don't-
Pfft, excuses, excuses. I thought you were devoted to Naki, but this morning you were actually laying
with Water, tsk tsk.
Rufus dropped all silly in his attitude and bitterly said, Gram… that was different.
Ah… I know, Rufus. I was just trying to make a joke.
Was Gram actually apologizing?
Rufus tried to explain, but Gram cut him off, I know, Rufus. I know. Our minds are more connected than
you think.
Nothing else was said and the conversation dropped.
Rufus sighed a few minutes later, he couldn't sleep, there was nothing to talk about with Gram, he
couldn't concentrate enough to open a link with Water and Naki was asleep. Or, at least, she was.
Naki shifted around, causing her plated tail to nick Rufus in a place or two before she sleepily said,
"Sorry, I forgot you were back there…"
The tail finally rested after it wrapped around her leg, "It's fine, Naki."
She yawned and moved back as far back against Rufus's chest as she could, causing his heart to suddenly
feel like it leapt into his throat, "Hold onto me like you did before… it's cold…"
He gulped at the sudden inviting feel of her body. Why was being this close so different than earlier
today?
He couldn't help it, Rufus reached in and wrapped his arms around her like he did before. They were
close enough for Rufus's head to be hovering over Naki's shoulder, he could see her smile as she
grabbed his hands and put hers inside of them.
Something inside of told him told him, That's why it's different.

Rufus sighed… again…

The wind had picked up enough to banish the trio to a painfully rough formation. Being ground-ridden
had only happened once before, during a huge storm that kept all of the children cowering in the temple
for a few days. The reason they cowered was not because they were scared, but because of the large
branches and all sorts of small objects that would fly into the room at over a hundred miles an hour. This
storm had the same signs of getting to that power.
Rufus actually prayed to the Gods for the wind to stop, well, a God.
Raiy, the Goddess of Luck, seemed to be the only one that he didn't really dislike at this point, she was
the only one that hadn't screwed him over too much in his life.
He got an idea after he had prayed, at least. They huddled under Gram's wing as he told the short story
of how he went out and got the second Fetcher Fur, and how Raiy had been a loving, spiteful God that
day.
But, eventually, the story was over and Water retreated back to the ocean for sleep.
"The good thing" Rufus said to Naki and Gram, "Is that the few hours of flight were miserable enough to
make us all want to go to sleep, even on this insanely uncomfortable rock."
They had been riding for about seven hours after they had woken up, it was a few hours past sun down.
Rufus really did feel miserable, the act of sitting on a saddle and flying for four days straight was really
starting to show itself-- even on Rufus.
He rolled over on his mat and pulled the Fetcher Fur close, he wasn't in the mood for talking. Naki
chatted with Gram about the all sorts of ways they cook their food at her home, a few minutes ago it
was about what foods they ate.
He liked something to listen to other than the sound of rain hitting Gram's wing or the whistling wind
rushing past the rocks; but like his story it eventually ended and it became quiet as they too went to
bed.
Rufus drifted in and out of sleep, it was one of those days where he wanted to go to bed, but his body
was too worked up or restless to allow him to do so. He sighed once again, this depressing mood is really
starting to get annoying.
He opened his eyes and looked up at Gram's thin leathery wings, the moon was high enough in the sky
to provide him with the ability to see through them. He didn't see too much other than the small silvery
orb that was the moon, really, only just little droplets of rain falling onto and falling off of his wing.
Rufus just kept staring until he thought he heard the pitter patter of feet walking towards him. He
turned to see only a large black outline flying towards his head, with an Phoof noise it latched onto him.
It slid down off of his face and he caught it in his open arms… it was warm… and… fuzzy? He waited for
just a second or two for his eyes to adjust and he figured out what it was.
"Fetcher Fur?"
Rufus looked up to see the outline of a very angry Naki, "Yes, Rufus. It's your Fetcher Fur, you won the
bet. Shouldn't you be dancing around in joy?"
She stormed off and laid down across the room while Rufus was still confused by this all, "Naki… I wasn't
serious…"
He got up with the Fetcher Fur in his hands and made his way over to where Naki was, but was halted by
her saying, "No, you won it fair and square. It was horrible being in the front."
Rufus rolled his eyes and started walking towards her again, "This is silly, Naki. Just take it back, you're
going to freeze-"
"I'm not going to freeze! I'm perfectly capable of sleeping without it. Why do people always assume that
I need help?"
"I don’t assume you-"
"You had to save me from dying in that river, you had to go and protect me against Water. Then Water
had to protect me against myself, and now she has to babysit me."
He was taken aback by the sudden outburst, "Naki, you don't really think like that, do you?"
"I hate you."
Rufus felt the pit of his stomach ache at the words, as if he was stabbed, "You don't--"
"I hate you, I hate Gram, I hate Water… I hate you all… why can't you just leave me alone?"
He closed in and knelt beside her, then began turning her over, "Why are you so angr-" she turned over
and he saw her softly crying face, "…Why are you so sad?"
She cried for a minute and said, "I'm just so worthless…"
Rufus reached his hand out to comfort her, but she smacked it away saying, "I don't need your comfort.
You've given enough… I just want to go home so you can go back to your life."
"Naki, why are you suddenly like this?"
"I hate you, Rufus, From the day I met you. You just… you helped me with no questions asked. You
hunted for me, you cooked for me, you go so far out of your way to just get me home… You get dragged
up into this business with Gods, I make you nearly kill your best friend, I make you leave your family, I
make you give up everything you have and you still accept me… You…" she started crying once again,
"You put up with me… you keep me warm when I'm cold… You… you even offer back what I lost in an
honest bet… Why…?"
Before Rufus could say anything back she continued, "I'm just using you to go home, but you're making
me feel things that I haven't felt before! I try to understand what they are, but whenever I try to act on
them I get so confused, and scared… then you just do nothing! You're… you're supposed to know!" she
put her hands to her eyes and started heavily crying, "You've always been there to help me for things…
things that I don't want you to help me with… But for the one think that I actually want you to help me
with… you're… you're not there… I-I hate you."
She wiped a tear away with her hand and repeated, "I hate you… I hate you so much…"
Rufus sat there quietly looking at the floor… He felt crushed that he had caused her so much pain, he
just thought he was doing the right thing. If… if Naki wanted to just go home… why couldn't he just take
her home and leave her? What was wrong with that..?
No, he thought to himself, I don't want to leave her.
Then what could he do? What does she want him to do?
He looked upward, "Naki-"
Rufus felt a familiar warmth suddenly pressing hard against his lips, the same feeling he felt on his cheek
and forehead the day before. He barely noticed the feeling of Naki's arms wrapping around his neck, or
how close she held him… the only thing he could think of was how Naki felt; her lips were soft and her
chest pushed up against his in a way he couldn't describe. He couldn't control his arms as he wrapped
them around her back and pushed her even closer than she already was. The delightful feeling went on
for long seconds and he thought the moment was over when the feeling on his lips went away, but it
came back for just a few more seconds with a renewed force.
She drew her lips from his and buried her head in his chest, quiet, peaceful moments passed before she
finally said with a sniffle, "I hate you, Rufus... because I love you so much."
"Sing with me!"

Writer put down his pencil and sighed, "I think I'm going to start a new story…"
Teana looked surprised, "Really? But things were just getting good… I mean Naki just confessed to Rufus,
they were finally going to start falling in love…"
The blobs Romance and Drama ran out of the room, doing what blobs do when they try crying.
Teana frowned, "And now you've made them all sad…"
Writer sighed, "I just need a break from it. I've been writing it for awhile now. I'm not going to stop
writing it or anything."
She sat back in her chair, "Is it a good story, at least?"
He nodded, "Yes. I'm gonna go with a more… brutal, action like setting. Although, it's a slow starter."
"Action, you say?"
Writer harrumphed in agreement ,"And violence."
Teana shrugged, "Well, what is it about?"
"It's going to be a futuristic setting-"
"Fancy."
He smiled, "I know, right? So it's going to be about a soldier-"
"A futuristic soldier?"
He sighed, "Yes, can I keep talking?"
She blushed and nodded, "Sorry… go on…"
"Sorry… didn't mean to be mean… Anyways, it's a soldier who, for some reason I have to make up, has
to go into hiding. She-s"
"She?"
"Yes, she. She's not going to be a normal futuristic soldier though, she's going to be like a 'Judge'. It's
going to be a really high ranking soldier. The reason they're special is not just because they're very good,
they're not technically human. They rip the child that is to become a Judge from the mother's womb
before they're even born and genetically alter them."
"Illegally?" she asked
"Hm?"
She clarified, "Is the army like… stealing children?"
"Oh, no, nothing like that. They take the children from moms who have abortions, and use a few who
pass mental and physical tests before they're even formed. High tech stuff."
She grinned, "Nifty."
"Mhm. So, I'm going to put the story in a setting where there are space ships, shields, high-tech
weaponry and bionic implants and limbs and stuff. So, what makes Judges really special is that they get
all the very powerful, secret hardware that the Army comes out with."
"Cool… but what if they like, get caught? The enemy could steal their stuff."
"The Judge gets killed. Each Judge has their own overseer, a parent of sorts. Judges aren't exactly
accepted in public, so they're raised alone and no one but very high ranking people know about them.
Anyways, so when a Judge is like… captured or something, the 'Parent' is the one that has the button to
kill the Judge. The button releases an acidic nanobot that devours everything it touches. The capsule is
inside the Judge's brain, so it's instantaneous death."
"Well, what happens if the capsule breaks?"
"Well," he said, "That's why it's in their head, because if they get shot there it's pretty much over
anyways."
"Hmm…" she contemplated the idea as a whole, "I like it. So what's the story behind the main
character? Is she pretty?" she gasped sarcastically, "Did you model her after me?"
He held back his blush, "Yes, she's pretty. And no, she's not modeled after you… you're Teana…"
She sighed, "This is true…"
"Judges were mutated before birth, so they age slower than normal humans. She's going to be like thirty
years old, but only have the appearance of like a seventeen year old. Something like that."
She grinned, "You like them young?"
His thoughts were cut off, "Wh-What?!"
"You think your character is pretty, and she's young. So you like young girls?" she looked down over her
body and frowned, "I went for a look that said I wasn't old, but wasn't young. I think I'm around twenty
years old. I guess I'm not attractive to you."
"Wha…" Writer was forced out words, "Ah… Ah… you're very pretty, Teana, it's just that… Ah…" even
Writer's cheeks went red, "I think you're very pretty, it's just that this character is 'younger' but that's
because her character calls for. I prefer… bodies like yours…"
Teana smiled, the trap successful, "But if she's like thirty, then why is she going to act younger?"
Action: But if she's like thirty years old in real time, why would she act younger?"
"Ah… because her body ages slower. She may be super smart, because she's super human and
everything, but nature still kicks her in the shins. She doesn't have anything like periods or uhh,
whatever else woman have - because they removed things like those. But they can't remove human
nature. She's a killer, she's a murderer, but deep down inside she's just a seventeen year old girl with
fears."
She nodded and grinned, "Hmm… So, you like woman my age?"
He sighed, "Yeah…"
"And you think I'm pretty?
"Yes…"
Teana blushed, "Keep writing."
In a back alley of the Moon World Lyn stood a girl named Geb.
The girl heard the sounds of the space transport ship called Voyeur launch into space. She looked down
at the note she carried as the loud cracking noise of the gravity well being ruptured rang through the
Moon World.
The note read '847 - 4', it was the number of the apartment the member of Sanction, The World's
'Civilian Army', waited. Members ranged from cargo loaders to rocket engineers or scientists-- basically
any person that had anything to do with expanding to other worlds, or defending them.
Geb didn't know the member in the house 847 - 4, but she didn't know many people at all. She was a
Judge. An army bred abomination, stripped from their mother's womb and kept inside a testing lab for
mutation, only made for the sole purpose of killing and control.
The reason she was supposed to find the member of room '847 - 4' was because Geb had made the
mistake of being caught on video… on an undeveloped world; an undeveloped world was a planet that
had not been exposed to the existence of the futuristic society on the planet Bol. The video not only
caused the almost non-existent knowledge of Judges to sky-rocket, but also made the undeveloped
planet go into hysteria.
This mistake had almost gotten her executed by her 'Parent'- the one person who overlooked Judge's
life and acted as the middle man for orders.
Geb, though, is one of the oldest Judges, and also one of the most praised. It was her first mistake on a
mission. True, however, was the fact that other Judges have been executed for less, but over thirty-
seven years Geb had proven herself to be worthy enough for the Higharchs - those that controlled what
Judges and Parents do - to spare her life.
However, that did not solve the problem. The reason she had been caught on the video was because she
was chasing after a major war villain that was in hiding for years. She chased him the world, hunted him
down for the three months, and then found him. He tried to hide in public after being chased around the
planet, but that didn't stop her. It should have.
She executed him in a public area, there were a dozen witnesses. She had to dispatch all of them, as
well.
All of it was captured on a security camera. She moved faster than any being could have on that world,
she used an advanced weapon against all of them, then she ran away using a bridging device - a thing
used to open a sort of portal between two spots.
The recording spread faster than a plague. Rumors of the 'Reaper of the Army' and 'Soulless Murdering
Child' spread even faster than the recording.

Geb made her way through the alleys, the steam from the pipes that ran all along this world hissed at
her as she passed. She could easily hear the loud talking of the pack of thugs in a hallowed out building,
"So we're going to hit the place tonight, right?" one said, "Yeah that's right, Jerry's got a gun that he's
gonna bring, he plans on using it too." another rougher sounding one said.
At least this was a logical hide-out, why would they suspect a Judge is hidden in a run-down place like
this?
Still, Geb didn't like it. She despised the company of people, her line of work showed how truly low a
human could fall. An innocent murdered here, an innocent raped there. She held no remorse for killing
these types of people with her own hands.
She had shown a sprite of mercy once, and she had paid for it with a knife in her back. No, when it came
to killing, there were no survivors.
Geb turned a corner to go up a small pack of stairs, then to her right was a wall marked with "847" in
giant grey letters. 847 was actually the name of the block that '4' was residing in. She went past the wall
to reveal a long trash ridden alley way with a number marked next to a door every dozen feet or so.
She entered the long alley way and made her way to the one marked with '4' and lightly knocked on the
door.
There was no answer.
She knocked again, louder this time.
Again, no answer.
A final loud knock provided no answer, so she decided to let herself in. It wasn't locked, which Geb
questioned since this wasn't exactly the best place to just leave your door open.
Through habit she peered inside as she creaked it open, only to see no sign of anyone inside. Geb closed
the door behind her and inspected this… room. There was only one room. A single square room.
A single light bulb was on ceiling, the paint on the wall, well, if it was paint, was peeling off. There was a
single mat in the far corner of the room, a small floor fan was plugged into a single socket in the wall
that blew around the room, there was no ceiling fan. The only other thing in the room was a small, old
T.V. Surprisingly no trash was found on the floor, which was a neat, thin carpet.
Geb went over to one of the four walls and opened up a door to reveal a toilet, she closed the door and
opened another sliding one that revealed itself to be a closet with nothing but a small amount of dry
food, water, and a box. Geb inspected the brown box inside the closet and it turned out to be a box of
bandages, alcohol and other medical supplies. She closed the closet and sat down in the corner next to
the door, Geb wrapped her arms around her knees and curled up.

"We were tired for all."

She woke to the creaking noise of the door opening, the rustle of paper bags followed. Geb lifted her
head up and stared at the person who had entered. He went straight over to the mat on the floor and
laid down the paper bags, he got on his knees and reached behind him into the paper bag and pulled out
a wrench and screw driver.
Without noticing Geb in the corner he pulled the small TV close to him and un screwed some things that
held it in place. He opened the back of it up and began working on it, after a few moments of tinkering
he turned around and reached into the paper bag again until he noticed Geb.
With a yelp of surprise and a small leap backwards he half yelled, "Who are you?!"
Geb calmly answered, "I'm Geb. My Parent told me that they gave you a letter telling you that I was
coming, did you not get it?"
The boy calmed himself, "I… Ah, yeah, I did get a letter, like a week ago. I thought it was a joke or they
gave it to me on accident, though. I didn't actually expect-"
"It was meant for you. Room 847 - 4, boy named Ark Wills, age sixteen, medium height with short black
hair. Abandoned as a child at the age of six, found by engineers on the docks, forgotten by the age of
thirteen. Signed up for the Sanction at the age of thirteen and has small income providing medical help
whenever called for by the workers here. Also known for fixing small mechanical problems in non-
complicated class robots. That's you, correct?"
The boy named Ark sat dumbly for a few moments before saying, "Ah… yeah… that is me… But, as you
said, I don't have much money. I can't just simply take care of you for however long you need to-"
"The letter that was given to you stated that you would be paid," Geb reached under her black, thick,
tight shirt and pulled out an envelope, "This money will easily provide for me and pay you for your
troubles. I require nothing but food and water every day. Are there any other problems?"
Ark rubbed his head, "Ah, how long will you be staying here?"
"However long it takes."
He rolled his eyes, "Alright… uh, why are you hiding here, exactly?"
"The letter said not to ask any questions concerning my identity or why I'm here."
Ark sighed, "Alright, look, I didn't even read the letter other than the first sentence or so. It was all royal
Army and people with fancy titles, I figured it wasn't for me because I'm just a nobody. Is there anything
else I need to know about this letter?"
"The letter says that you will allow me to take residence in this place until not needed, you will be paid
handsomely for your troubles, to keep quiet and to not ask questions about who I am or what it is I do. If
you become a problem all payment will cease and there will be consequences for whatever action you
have taken."
"Fine, whatever. I won't give you any problems, just… just don't cause me any, ok?"
Geb nodded and stood up, she made her way over to Ark and handed him the envelope of money. He
peered inside and gasped, "This… this is how much I'm being paid?"
"For the first week. It will double every week and keep doing so as long as there are no problems."
"Wha… that's more than I've… why am I being paid so much? Who are you?"
Geb shook her head and made her way back to her corner saying, "There are to be no questions."
She sat back down in the corner and kept to herself while the stunned boy stared at the envelope of
money. After a few quiet minutes he finally went back to fixing the TV, which was fixed moments later.
Ark turned the small thing on and messed with the antenna on the top of it, finally getting a decent
signal he turned it onto a Galaxy wide channel that broadcasted the news.
With a Hmph of triumph he stood up and began walking over to the closet, with a sideways glance
looked at what the balled up Geb was doing. She was blankly staring at the small TV across the room.
He shrugged and opened up the closet to grab the brown box and another grey box that Geb did not see
before. Ark stacked the boxes on top of each other and walked back over to his mat and set them down
with an Oomph.
He opened the grey box to reveal tools and light-bulbs, screws and bolts, all sorts of small engineering
equipment. After a moment of rummaging through the box he pulled out an Eater bot, which was used
as an automatic vacuum. It was a small black box with small black wheels on the bottom, it used suction
and a small black brush to tighten up homes.
With no effort he pulled off the black box cover and revealed the inner-workings of the robot. Geb
silently watched the news as he began poking and prodding at the small robot.
An hour or so passed before the news began to talk about the topic of the what they now called 'Reaper'
video. Geb didn't worry about Ark watching the video and finding out it was her, there was no way. She
was wearing her light-weight body armor which came with a mask at the time, there was no facial
recognition.
They knew it was a girl, however, because the light weight armor was a tight light metal and fibers that
curved to her every curve. They called her the 'Reaper' because the armor was all black, and because
she cleaved through the people in the video as if she was an old farmer with a sickle, cutting his plants.
Ark turned and yawned after a moment, "Ah, well, I'm going to eat… did you want anything?"
Geb barely heard him, she looked up from TV and said, "What?"
Ark sighed, and in a slightly louder voice he said, "I said I'm going to get something to eat, did you want
me to make you anything?"
She shook herself out of her thoughts and calmly said, "Yes."
Ark shrugged and opened up the closet to grab a cereal box, Captain Crunchawesome was the brand,
"It's nothing much, but I can't afford… well, I couldn't afford anything better. Before it gets dark I'll go
out and buy some better eats." he sat down Indian style with the box in hand and laughed a bitter laugh,
"I'll get some milk, too. I can't even afford that." he dug his hand into the box and pulled out a hand-full
of bland looking cereal, he threw one little piece in his mouth and offered Geb some, saying, "Can't
afford bowls, either. Gonna have to eat with hands."
He smiled as he held out the box and Geb reached a small hand inside to pull a handful of cereal out.
After a moment of silence Ark turned on his rump and inched over to the small TV by sort of hopping,
causing a bit of cereal to fly out the box and land on the floor, he turned and asked "Want me to change
the channel? I don’t really pay attention to it"
He slowly frowned as Geb just stared at her food and ate, he didn't think she'd mind and just kept it on
the news. Ark inched backwards and sat on his mat and continued eating.
For the next few hours Ark worked on the small Vacuum Bot while Geb continued to sit balled up in the
corner. The silence broke with Ark turning on the vacuum bot and testing it out. The thing wurred and
buzzed as it rolled forward then backwards; a frown showed on Ark's face until the vacuum bots' little
brush began rolling and it started moving around the room picking up the fallen cereal from earlier.
With a "Haha!" of victory Ark watched the small bot patrol the room, it was about to hit Geb on the foot
until it stopped and turned around; the sensors worked. Ark dropped a piece of cereal he saved and the
bot zoomed over to him and swooped it up, everything seemed to work fine. Ark got up and hunted
down the small black box robot and picked it up, flipped a switch and turned it off.
He went back over to the grey box and pulled a small black bag out of it and put the bot inside, Ark tied
the bag around his waist and said to Geb, "I'm going to go ahead and return the bot and get some
things, did you want to come?"
Geb ignored the question and just stared at the TV, "Come on, why don't you get some fresh- well,
outside air for a few minutes?"
Geb shook her head and Ark sighed again, "Alright, I'll be back within the hour, if not, then you're on
your own."

Teana shook her head, "She's so bottled up."

Writer looked over, "A-Wha?"
She said again, "Geb, she's bottled up."
He nodded, "Yes… yes she is."
"All the miles and all the trials of cities made of gold, there was a free way… a free way… a free way to
carry on!"

Ark made his way out of the door and closed it behind him, he turned to his right and went down the
long hallway alley. He had taken this path so many times he could literally do it blind-folded, Right,
right, left down the stairs, right, left, left, left, then left to the market. He followed those directions until
he made his way out of the alleys, left was to the market, but right was to where he needed to go to give
the vacuum bot back.
This city, Leore, was the only city on this Moon World. It was less of a city and more of a checkpoint,
however. It was a port city used for refuel and restock of supplies, for it was the only planet safe
enough to land on for a long time. To get to the other planets far off most of the smaller business ships
would have to stop here, but because of the war the enemy had taken over the nearby territories that
all of those small business owners went to; it left this Moon with practically no use at all.
It was quite prosperous at the start, but now it had dried up a bitand become a back alley world. Before
the war hit people had enough money to start expanding the city, which lead to some very nice homes
on the far end of the city. This moon was located in one of the most beautiful solar systems, it consisted
of only gas giants which showed every color known to man. This lead to many rich people moving in at
its high-point in time. That is where Ark is headed to.
He turned towards the place that hired him and within ten minutes he was there, this city wasn’t large.
Ark approached the large gated house a voice of a robot came from a speaker on the gate, "State
business." it said.
He cleared his voice and said, "I was hired to repair a vacuum bot, I'm here to turn it in."
A slow beeping noise was followed by the gate loudly opening. Ark stepped inside and the gate closed
just as loudly behind him. He walked on the cobblestone pathway and couldn't help but stare at the
grass, he had just recently been introduced to the concept of "Plants".
Ark arrived at the large wooden doors and used the knocker, within moments a servant opened the
door. It was a decently young man, maybe twenty-five years of age, "Yes, sir?" he asked in a respectful
voice.
Ark had been taught to bow for courtesy sake and did so as well as he could, "I was hired to repair a
vacuum-"
"Ah yes, I will get the madam."
The servant moved his head in a motion that indicated that Ark should come in, the servant then
nodded towards a nice chair located next to the door. The servant went off and Ark sat down on the
chair and waited… and waited…
It took nearly fifteen minutes before the lady that hired him arrived downstairs, "Sorry, boy. I wasn't
expecting you for another day or two and decided to take my afternoon bath."
Ark smiled at the apology and in the politest tone he said, "It's no problem at all, mistress. I was enjoying
sitting down in this comfy chair anyways."
Her slightly wrinkled face lit up with a smile and she glanced to her right and said, "Geoffrey, the nice
boy has manners!" she turned back to Ark, "Alright, down to business, then. You have the bot?"
Ark nodded and reached inside the pouch and pulled it out, "I tested it on my room and it picked up
everything I threw at it, and stopped before it hit Geb, so the sensors work."
The ladies smile showed approval, "'m guessing Geb is a friend?"
Ark thought about that for a second, "Well, you could say that."
They talked for a few minutes but finally came down to the lady saying, "Alright, enough of this chitter
chatter," she turned to her servant, "Geoffrey, pay the boy." she turned back to Ark and said, "Get
yourself something nice. If this bot turns out to work as well as I hope I may call for you again, I rather
like your attitude."
Ark smiled, this was truly the first time he had ever been treated nicely. Geoffrey handed Ark a small
blue tie pouch and politely showed him to the door, and with that, Ark was on his way to the market.

Nearly an hour later he was heading back to his room when he saw Geb walking towards him in the
alley. He laughed, because for some reason he knew why.
When he was in talking range he said, "What happened to make you leave my place?"
She looked up and stared at Ark, "You said that if you weren't back within an hour, that I was on my
own. I was heading to the nearest-"
"I wasn't serious, it was just a joke."
He laughed again and Geb said in her normal, affectionate-less tone, "Please be clearer on these things. I
was lenient and gave you an extra fifteen minutes of time to arrive, but you still didn't. I thought you
dead."
Ark laughed again, "Did you say 'Please'?"
Geb nodded and Ark laughed a little bit more, "You're the strangest person, Geb. You act like a robot yet
you go and throw the word 'Please' out there."
"My Parent told me that when communicating with humans it is a tactical advantage to add the word
'Please' when asking for something. It is supposed to persuade you humans into trusting someone you
don't know quicker."
Ark was going to laugh, but there was no humor in her tone… she was serious, "Geb… who are you,
exactly?"
She blankly stared at his face with eyes devoid of life, "You are not allowed to ask such questions."
He sighed, "Can you at least help me with these groceries? I took so long because I splurged on food
with the money you gave me, and I got another job offer."
Geb took one of the two brown paper bags that Ark carried and they walked back to his place.
On the way Geb asked, "If you have plenty of money, why take another task?"
Ark shrugged, "Us 'stupid humans' like to actually help people from time to time. Not all people work for
money, some just work for the sole purpose of helping others."
The joke making fun of Geb's earlier comment didn't faze her and she asked, "Why?"
He shrugged again, "Just because it's nice helping other people. Gives you a nice fuzzy feeling in your
stomach that can get you through a rough day." he looked down to Geb and noticed that she didn't get
it, "When I asked you to help me with the groceries, why'd you help?"
Geb walked in thought and responded with, "If I had let you carry both you would have been slow. It's
only logical if I carry most of the weight so you can move faster, causing less of a chance to be spotted
and save time."
Ark chuckled to himself, "So, it was only a logical move?" Geb nodded, "You felt…" he leapt up the small
stairs leading to his room, "…nothing at all at the act of helping me?"
Geb shook her head, "I felt accomplishment that things are running as well as they could with the
current circumstances."
"Ah, but Geb, that's feeling something. That's what us humans call 'joy' or 'happiness' knowing
something good has been done."
He was enjoying a laugh at Geb's facial expression when she stopped walking and looked at him as he
opened the door to his room, "I felt… happy?"
Ark stopped laughing at the question, "Well, yeah... Is that… surprising?"
Geb nodded.
Ark started laughing again, "Are you sure you're not a robot?"
They both entered the room and Ark set down the bags inside the closet. He grabbed the bag Geb was
holding and did the same with that. Ark reached inside one the bags and pulled out another small
gadget, but it was just a clock of sorts. He went over to his mat and turned on the TV then sat down and
began working on it.
Geb curled back into her ball in the corner of the room and stared blankly at the TV.

"It's your birthday! It's on earth day! Like a child you're born again, little child you're born again."

The first week went by with the same basic schedule. With the new income of money he would go out
and buy things for the room. At first he came home with just some bowls and spoons, but the items
slowly began getting bigger and bigger. Over the week he had gotten a small table so he could work on
his jobs better, and so they didn't always have to hold their bowls in their hands. Ark had also gotten a
small sleeping mat for Geb, since she just slept in the corner, and a better TV; It was still an old one, but
Ark figured Why not?
All day Ark would work on things people asked him to fix, watch TV and go out every once in awhile to
pick up some more jobs. Ark sighed every time he came back into the room to find a curled up Geb just
staring at the TV, he would say, I swear she's a robot to himself every single time.

It marked the seventh day with Geb, when he awoke he found Geb sitting next to his mat, waiting for
him to wake up.
Mostly, it just surprised him, since she literally never moved from her corner, "Ah…" he lifted his head
up from his pillow to droopily look at Geb, "Is something wrong?"
Geb stuck her hand under her shirt and produced another envelope, she handed it to Ark saying, "The
week's payment. Double of what your first was, as agreed on." she got up and began walking over to the
door.
Ark looked inside the envelope and opened his mouth wide with surprise… it really was double.
He broke himself from the awe-struck stare and looked at Geb as she opened the door, he said, "Are you
leaving?"
"I will be back within the hour, don't follow." was all she said.
Geb slammed the door behind her and stepped out into the alley.
She walked silently in the morning fog. Geb made it out the alley areas and headed to her left. A few
minutes passed quietly before she arrived at the docks. She waded herself through the group of people
gathering outside of a transport ship-- a giant space-craft that could hold hundreds of people; it was
most likely restocking.
After passing the people boarding the transport ship she had to then navigate through the markets to
arrive at her destination. The markets were just small tents pitched up with open sides for people to
survey the goods, it was nothing special at all, it was really the only thing they could afford. After passing
the decently large sized market she arrived at the big wooden building that they used as an Inn for
people having to spend more than a night here while travelling.
Geb entered the building through the double-wooden doors in the front and was greeted with a "Hallo!"
from the inn keeper.
She walked up to the long wooden bar that had a few people sitting at it and asked the old inn keeper, "I
am meeting a friend in room nine, can you give me the key?"
The old man nodded and said, "Aye, I can. But she said you needed to say somethin' special."
"Arbiter."
"Aye, that's the one! Alright then," he reached inside his big apron pocket, pulled out a key and tossed it
to Geb, "Up the stairs, fifth door on the right." he pointed to the flight of stairs at the end of the bar.
Without any thanks said Geb made her way up the stairs. She counted the doors on her right to five and
inserted the key. The door opened with a Klick and she entered to face a young woman sitting uneasily
on the only bed in the room.
The woman forced a smile and said, "Hello, Geb."
Geb closed the door behind her and stood cautiously in the doorway, she said, "I was told to meet here
with my Parent every seven days, who are you?"
She swallowed hard and said, "Your superiors came to the decision that not only you, but all of the
Judges and Parents be separated, hidden on all planets suitable for life; even undeveloped ones. I am to
replace your Parent until they sort out what to do with you."
"Do you have proof of this?"
The girl on the bed pulled out a small black rod and pushed a button on it that caused a holographic
display to pop out. She navigated through the thing and finally said, "Here, the letter."
Her hand shook as she handed Geb the rod, it was from her Parent stating that this girl, Hope, would be
overlooking her for her stay here.
Geb closed the program on the rod and handed it back saying, "What do you need of me?"
Hope said, "This is to be just a weekly check up. Is your holder causing any problems?"
Geb shook her head, "No. He keeps to himself and doesn't ask too many questions."
" Have you noticed anyone following you or suspicious people?"
Geb shook her head again, "No."
Hope nodded and said, "That's all for now, really." she reached inside her pocket and pulled out an
envelope and a small circular gadget, "The next weeks' pay for your holder," Hope handed the envelope
to Geb, "and they've deemed a small communicator safe enough to use, we can't talk through it but if
you press the button I'll be waiting in this room within the hour. The communicator works both ways, so
if I need you for something I'll use this, meet me in this room." she gave that to Geb as well, who put it
in her pocket, "If I'm not in the room when you get here in that case, just wait. But if I don't arrive within
the hour think the worst and wait for further instruction."
Geb nodded.
Hope forced another smile and said, "Hopefully the next time I'll see you is in a week."
Geb made her way back to Ark's room and opened the door with a "Huh?" from Ark himself, she silently
sat down in the corner which caused him to sigh and say, "Where'd you go?"
She said, "You aren't allowed to ask questions like that."
Ark laughed, "So you did something secret?"
"You aren't allowed to ask questions like that."
Ark laughed louder, "I guess I don't have to, you just told me that you did."
He thought even Geb would laugh at that, or do something… but she still just simply stared with her
blank face.

Another week passed, Ark had added a bigger and nicer tool chest to his collection, along with fruit and
a fruit basket to hold the fruit. He still had plenty of money, especially since today he got even more, but
there was nothing really left that he could buy.
Once again Geb paid Ark in the morning and left.
She arrived at room number nine in the Inn and opened it to find Hope sitting on the bed, as she
expected.
Hope again forced a smile and said, "Hello, Geb. Things still going smoothly?"
Geb nodded.
"Good, good. Have there been an suspicious people around?"
"Not that I know of. The only time I have been outside of Ark's room is to come here."
Hope crossed her legs and said, "Ark the holder, right?"
Geb nodded again.
"Ark… what an odd name. What was he, sixteen years old?"
Geb nodded once again.
"Hm, still young." Hope sighed, "I guess that's all, then."
Geb asked, "How much longer must I stay here?"
"I don't know, Geb. The Higharchs are still searching for possible spies through-out the upper works and
finishing relocating everyone, it could take months." Hope sighed, "I'm sorry Geb. Anyone that had dealt
with Judges have gone off to be relocated. I haven't been because they promoted me from my previous
job. Before a few weeks ago I had no clue that Judges even existed, nor did I know what they were
capable of."
"Is that why you force yourself to smile with me?"
The sudden question caught Hope off guard, "Ah… Yes, it is. I do it because I don't know how to act
around Judges. That's also why I'm uneasy around you."
"You're afraid of me?"
"Yes… Geb, I am." she changed subjects as she became increasingly nervous, "That's all, I will see you
next week."

Geb entered Ark's room and thus began another quiet week.

"I don't want to alarm you, but I'm thinking we can end this in what seems easy quick and painless man
so I'll get down to business!"
Ark woke up on the seventh day expecting Geb to be waiting for him, but she was still in her corner.
He got up and said, "What's wrong? You're not being creepy and hovering over me like you normally
do." he laughed, "Changing things around, that's something weird for a robot to do!"
As usual, Geb blankly said, "I received a notification last night that my next meeting with my superior
will be tonight, instead of this morning. You will be paid then."
Ark smiled and said, "Ah, okay." he paused and his smile grew, "So you leave every week to have a
meeting with your 'superior', eh? Sounds Army-ish."
Before Geb could say something he said, "You don't talk down to me or talk like you were raised in a
royal family, so you're not a princess gone into hiding." he paused for quick thought and continued, "You
have far too much money at your disposal, so you're not running from a debt to someone who's less
people friendly… The letter I received was from a high-up General of the Army itself, so I'm pretty sure I
know who you are."
Geb's voice became hollow as she said, "And who am I, Ark?"
Ark began to slowly move his mouth, as if looking for the words to say… Geb would rather not kill
another innocent, but if he knew who she was… there was no way around it.
Geb was ready to pounce when he said, "I don't care, honestly. It's not my job to know, right?"
She relaxed, "Yes."
Ark turned to a serious tone and said, "You were going to kill me if I said who you are, weren't you?"
Geb didn't hesitate at all and said, "Yes."
He yawned and said, "Well, it's a good thing I don't know who you are."

Late in the afternoon, around the time Ark usually went out to the markets, he got up and went up to
the still curled up Geb.
"Come on, Geb. You're coming with me today."
Geb still just simply stared at the TV.
He sighed, "I'm not joking. Come on."
She still stared.
Ark opened the door and made a motion for her to get out, "Look, I don't care how robot-like you are, I
don't care that you don't care. You need to move around and we need to take bathes. We're both
starting to stink this room up something fierce, so let's go and be done with it."
Geb didn't take her stare from the TV and said, "There's no need to."
He sighed once again and crossed his arms in thought, what would make her get out of here? What
would move her… then it hit him, "You know, it's awfully weird for a brand new face like yours to arrive
in this town, then pop up only once a week at the Inn. Oh, yes, I know about the Inn, do you know why I
know about the Inn?" he didn't wait for the answer, "I know because people in the market notice you
every single time you go. You're not exactly the most non-obvious person in the world, people started
asking things like 'Why does she always come here every week, then leave?' or 'Who is she? I've never
seen her around before.' So, my result for that is to come out with me to the markets and act like you're
my friend or sister or something, to blend in. It's only logical, right?"
Ark chuckled triumphantly as Geb got up and walked out the door he still held open. They made their
way out of the alley area, passing some rather bruised up thugs that only gave them the evil eye as they
passed.
Ark hummed a nameless tune as they neared the roaring noises of the afternoon market. The giant,
constellation travelling Cargo and Transport Ship Thor had just arrived minutes ago, causing an uproar.
Hundreds, maybe even thousands of people ran around the area, making it hard, or fun for Ark, to get
around.
Ark nimbly moved around the crowd as if he was born to do so, well, maybe he was… but Geb certainly
wasn't. He laughed as he turned around to find Geb being swarmed by a dozen or so people that rushed
to a seller next to her that just announced 'All new low prices!', Ark thought to himself, She may be a
robot, but I can see that hint of aggravation on her face. He laughed some more as Geb finally just cut
through the small road block of people and wordlessly fell in line behind him.
They shopped around for about an hour, first Ark showed Geb how to pick out the right kind of fruit.
Then he stopped by a General Good stand and bought some more cereal, milk, sandwich materials, and
eventually ended up buying a small grill that he could cook small things on. With their hands full Ark
decided they could go ahead and stop their shopping for today.
With Geb carrying the grill Ark carried most of everything else, they made their way back to his room.
He had to eventually ask Geb to put down the grill and open the door when they arrived, however. With
the door open Ark made his way inside and put the paper bags down on the floor, opened up the closet
and instantly began filling it with the newly acquired items.
Geb set down the grill on the table and made her way to her normal corner, but Ark's sharp voice made
her stop, "Ah! No! Bad robot! This place gets a little less human friendly after dark. Now, I know that
doesn't concern you, but I want to get a bath before dark, and not get stabbed when I'm not looking. So,
come on, we're leaving."
Ark opened the door and made his way outside and he waited for Geb… but she just sat down in the
corner.
He sighed, "Alright, Geb. Do I honestly have to explain to you why it's a good reason to bathe?" Ark
knew she wouldn't answer, so he sighed again and went ahead and said, "It's awfully easy to get a rumor
about a very smelly, silent, creepy looking little girl that arrived newly in town going. So, if you bathe up,
look less like a zombie, people will stop caring. So, come on!"
Ark cackled menacingly as Geb got up and headed out the door.

Again, they passed by the bruised looking group of thugs, who still only gave them an evil eye and a few
taunting words before they were out of sight.
With little humor in his voice Ark said, "Good thing they didn't bother us, heh, I'd rather hate to beat up
a group of thugs in front of a nice, smelly girl such as yourself."
Ark and Geb made their way out of the alley to turn right at the opening, towards the most rich side of
the town.
On the walk Ark got bored of the silence and tried to start a conversation… one sided or not, "You know,
some people actually call this a 'different town' than the rest, since it's so different. I do consider it a
different town, it's just too different to be the same one." he smiled and continued, "I mean, on one side
you have a dock town with a few fancy customers and thugs around almost every corner, then on the
other you have rich people with servants and their own little market." his smile faded as he looked down
at Geb and realized she probably wasn't even listening.
Sigh. Robots are no fun.
They arrived at the 'next town' and instantly things suddenly became less industry, steam works, dirty,
and more homey, grassy, and clean. With nearly a skip in his walk Ark made his way through the town,
they passed a few dozen houses down a road and finally made it to a more market-like area.
Past the small market of stores and stands, they made it to the bathhouse.

"To be taken back to the younger days, when there was no giving up. To all the people we held closely to
our hearts."

Ark burst open the doors to the bathhouse dramatically, just for fun. He was like that.
The front girl yelped in surprise, her name was Lana and Ark had come to know her just a little since
living here. The booth she sat in was a circle like wooden kiosk, it was a sort of old fashioned type style.
Behind the booth were three doors, the left one was the 'Man' side, the middle was the 'Woman', and
the last was the 'Mixed' side.
Ark smiled and went up to the now calmed down Lana and said, "Hello, Lana! For the first time in history
I would like to buy two, one hour baths."
Lana sarcastically looked surprised, smiled and said, "Hooked up with a girl, did you? You're still awfully
young-" she peered over at Geb and gasped, "Ark! She's… well… she's…"
"She's what?"
"Well! I was going to say she's too young for you, but you look younger than her. So, then I was going to
say she was too old for you, but then she's still young… so… I don't know."
Lana motioned for Ark to come closer, she leaned in and with her hand over her mouth she said in a
whisper, "So… mixed bath?"
Ark blushed and tried to come up with something funny to say, but only the rush of thoughts of the act
came in his head, he eventually said, "Ah… no, Lana."
She tried to hold back a laugh, but she only succeeded enough to make it a small Fffttp sort of noise,
"I'm sorry, Ark. I couldn't help but laugh at your face. So one man one woman bath?
Ark nodded and a moment later Lana said, "twelve coppers, then."
"twelve? But it's eight per person?"
"Couples discount, only six per."
Ark shrugged, "Huh, well. Thank you, Lana."
He made his way to the 'Man' labeled door and couldn't help but laugh when he heard Geb's footsteps
on the wooden floor behind him, he turned and said, "Geb, you go to that one over there-" he pointed
to the next door over, "you use that one."
Geb as usual blankly looked over at the door, she turned back a moment and said, "What do I do?"
Ark laughed, she had finally made a joke!
Wait… I forget who I'm talking to.
He sighed, then laughed a little bit more, "You've never taken a bath before?"
Geb said, "I know what they are, but have never taken one. It's where a human washes him or her self
under a stream of water to keep clean, correct?"
Ark nodded, "Yes, Robot 44, that's correct."
"Robot 44 is not my name, nor my code name. Why do you address me so?"
"It's just a joke, Geb, you really need to work on getting those. Now, all you had to do to take a bath is
this: you go through that door there, take off your clothes and put them in the lockers, then go outside
and sit in the water. After about an hour when we're about to get out go to the table in the middle of
the bath and scrub yourself down with some of those soaps and things, then rinse it all off and meet me
outside! Easy as that."
Geb didn't say anything, but Ark guessed she got what he said.
Ark shrugged and was going to go through the door when the question struck him, "Geb, how have you
never taken a bath? How do you keep clean?"
"My Parent would take me to a room and hose me down."
He cringed at the answer, "Not much of a parent…"

Ark went Oooo as he lowered himself into the hot water. With a great sigh he leaned back on the
imitation rocks they had placed for a more "natural" feeling.
The place was an outside Hot Spring, and didn't actually have "real" rocks nor was it a natural Hot
Spring, that was just the illusion. It was actually just one big pool of water split into 3 segments by a
bamboo wall. The same wall circled the entire pool for privacy, of course. Although easy to see that it
was fake, it still held a very nice calming effect. The sky was cloudy with rain clouds, but the stars and
planets were truly worthy of being noted.
Ark heard the splashing of water from behind the wall, he smiled and said, "Geb, is that you?"
Lana's voice came back, "No, Ark, it's Lana. Jewels came in and took over for the rest of the night, so I
decided to take a bath."
"Oh… Is Geb there?"
"Yeah, she's right next to me. She's quiet, though."
"That's Geb for you… well, I was just making sure." Ark sighed as he leaned back onto a nice shaped rock
and closed his eyes for some relaxation.
The hour was filled with silence that only broke when Lana would try talking to Geb. A few mumbles of
conversation here, a few mumbles over there, overall it was mostly funny for Ark, at least he wasn't the
only one having problems talking to Geb. Sadly, however, the hour of fun eventually ended and before
Ark wanted to he found himself slipping back into his clothes.

With a short made farewell to Lana, Ark departed with Geb . It was a nice, quiet walk back to the room
and with almost no talk they found themselves at the door. The duo entered and Ark went straight to
the TV, turned it on and with a big Ahh. he sat down on his mat.
He looked over to Geb who was making herself comfortable in her corner and said, "That was better
than being hosed down wasn't it, Robot 54?"
Geb said, "I thought the 'joke' was Robot 44, why have you changed it?"
Ark began stretching and said, "Just a variation, is all."
Her blank stare didn't change, but she said, "I don't understand. If the objective is to make fun of
someone else's faults, why would you do it in a different way, to the same subject of fault?"
He scratched his head at the complex question and slowly said, "Well, uh, it's just to be funny, while not
making the joke get too old, that's all."
"I still do not understand. My Parent once taught me to try to get me to understand this things you
humans call 'jokes', but I never truly understood it all."
Ark smiled and said, "Ah, Robot 44, you're showing some non-robot problems. Confusion? Not
understanding something that's been taught to you? Maybe you actually are a human."
"Do not get me confused with humans, Ark."
He was laughing and barely heard what Geb said, "What's that?" he asked.
Geb clarified, "I am not a human, Ark."
Ark laughed a little bit more, "Of course you are, Geb. That's just silly-"
"The only reason I appear to be human to you is because that is what I have been trained to show, that
is all."
He suddenly turned to a serious tone, "Then what are you, Geb? Or am I not allowed to ask that?"
Geb shook her head, "You already know what I am, and for that I should kill you."
Ark sighed, for some reason he didn't take the threat seriously, "Then why haven't you killed me, Geb?"
"My observations of your personality show me that you are not the kind of human that cares for life;
you simply drift through it. I examined the fact that you know me, I should kill you, but if you were to tell
anyone, they just wouldn't believe you. If I killed you it would just cause problems for the already
shambled organization I work for, they would have to relocate me to another hideout. It was I that
caused these problems to begin with, I wouldn't want to add any more to it by killing someone who's
not worth the effort."
He was taken aback by the answer, Ark tried to find something to say back… but she was completely
right. No one would believe him if he told them, even if it was someone like Lana.
A wave of depression caused by the feeling that no one was close enough to be called a true friend
overran Ark as Geb silently stood up and made her way out of the room.

"Don't die on me… Don't go away when I need you here! Don't… Don't go… the rain will come… the rain
always comes…"

Within twenty minutes Geb arrived at door nine. She entered and as usual Hope was sitting on the bed.
She said, "Hello, Geb. There's been some development." she gave Geb a chance to say something, but
she never did, so Hope continued, "I'll start with the bad news first. It's small, but it's still bad. One of
the planets that we were shipping a few Judges to turned out to be too difficult to… hide out in. It's an
undeveloped planet, but since seeing the video they've worked very hard on not allowing anyone… new
to appear."
She smiled, "But that brings me to the better side of the news. Your reports on Ark have been good, so I
offered to allow another Judge to stay here under his watch. It just so happens to be that the Judge they
chose was your past partner, Claire. She should be here in a day or two. Inform Ark for me."
Geb acknowledge that, but to Hope it still seemed she just didn't care, "Claire will be coming here?"
Hope nodded, "Yup."
Geb nodded, "Is that all?" she asked
She shook her head, "No, I still need to ask some questions. Is Ark causing any problems?"
Geb thought of the idea of telling Hope that he knew what she was, but for some reason decided against
it, "No."
Hope smiled a real smile and asked, "Did he take you to a bath? You look very clean."
Geb looked down at her body and did notice that her skin seemed much brighter in color, she looked
back up to Hope and said, "Yes, he did."
"That's nice. I bet it's a weird feeling for a Judge to be treated like a human for once, isn't it?"
Geb felt a sort of hollow feeling in her chest arise, but ignored it and said, "He misinterprets me for a
human."
Hope couldn't help but smile again at the awkward sounding answer, she innocently asked, "Do you like
it, Geb?"
Confusion didn't show on her face; nothing ever did, but Hope knew she was confused, she said, "I don't
understand the question."
"Do you like being treated like a human?"
Geb withheld her initial answer of 'No' and contemplated the idea, Did she really like being treated like a
human?
She had to admit she liked the bath; it was much more comforting than most likely anything she'd ever
felt before. It was comforting… a thing she wasn't supposed to feel.
Long moments of inner confusion went on until Hope finally said, "It's alright to feel things, Geb, but in
your line of work it can be dangerous. Don't be afraid of them, embrace them. But don't let anyone in
your organization see them, and you may be able to one day fully enjoy them."

Hope had soon afterward said good bye and Geb left room nine with turmoil in her thoughts. She self-
consciously walked her way back to Ark's room, too busy was she with her thoughts to care about
anything else… or at least until something felt wrong.
Geb had just entered the alley ways that lead to Ark's room, and almost instantly afterward she heard
light foot-steps of three people behind her. Without looking back she figured by the way they breathed
and how insanely loud they were they weren't assassins, they were the thugs they passed by earlier that
day. Geb took a turn towards her destination and was greeted with the noise two more people
breathing ahead of her-- hiding behind the next turn that was only a few paces away. When she neared
the next turn the two around the corner popped out and blocked her way.
She stood her ground and examined the thugs as the one to her right said, "'Ello Missy. Where're you
'eaded to?"
She remained silent and tried getting more info on the ones behind her, one of them held a what she
guessed to be a metal pipe that he kept banging his hand against. Geb had drowned out their voices at
that point, but they seemed to be getting irritated by her silence.
The one to her front right moved forward and reached his hand out to touch Geb, but she grabbed the
hand and crushed it. With a yelp of pain from the thug and yelps of surprise from the others the one she
held onto punched at Geb.
She dodged underneath the blow and with a powerful punch to the chest she crushed his ribcage,
almost instantly killing him and causing him to fall to the floor at her feet.
With a "Why you-" a thug behind her charged forward with his fists, she quickly turned around and
dodged sideways out of his forward punch. Before the thug could register that she had dodged aside
Geb grabbed his hand with her left arm and with her right jabbed downward with her elbow; breaking
the man's arm. He yelled in pain and Geb silenced him with a sideways chop to his neck, causing another
body to fall to the floor. She silently walked over the flailing body of the man with the broken arm and
made her way to a less cluttered area.
The remaining thugs were silent, trying to figure out a strategy to take her down. With a Click Klak noise
from behind she turned around to find a thug with an old butterfly knife aimed at her gut running
towards her. She waited for the thug to come within feet of her and dodged aside, swiftly elbowing him
in the face with enough force to break his neck, he fell limply to the floor.
The man with the pipe came into the view as she did this, and he too charged forward with the heavy
pipe hanging high in a downward striking position. Geb put her arms upward in a cross and blocked the
large blow of the pipe, before the thug could retreat back she kneed him in the crotch and took the pipe
from his loose hands.
He had only a moment to lift his hands in mercy before she bashed his head in with the weapon, Geb
watched as his face went blank and his ragged body fell to the floor.
Four people laid out dead or dying around her… there was only one left. She looked up from the last
man she felled and found a petrified man with a gun staring back at her. His hands were shaking and the
gun in his hands was completely unstable.
Geb barely took a step towards the man when he fired. A dull feeling hit her stomach and she slowly
looked down to the bullet wound, she dapped the tip of her finger in the blood and looked at it… this
was the first time she had ever been shot… she always had armor on to block bullets.
She looked upward at the even more terrified man and took another step, which resulted in another
shot. Geb felt another sharp feeling explode in her chest this time.
She took another step which caused the man to scream, "Why won't you die?!"
Explosions of pain erupted inside her as he fired every round of his pistol into her. With a Krrk Krrk noise
the gun finally ran out of ammo. Geb nearly fell to her knees from a sudden weakness, but held strong.
Her blank face turned to a face of malice and anger as she suddenly began running towards the thug.
Within a second she had her hands around his neck and began crushing his throat, he screamed and
screamed and flailed his arms like clubs against Geb, but finally she crushed his windpipe and he died,
gasping for breath.
She looked down at the strangled body and wondered why he was covered in so much blood, he wasn't
bleeding, but why was he covered in it?
Geb coughed, causing blood to splatter on the dead man's face. She wiped her mouth with her hand and
looked at it and realized where the blood was coming from…
She lifted herself off of the dead body and fell against the nearby wall, she was barely strong enough to
stand, let alone walk. But walk she did, leaving a bloody trail behind her.

Ark sat silently watching TV in his room when the silence was rudely interrupted by someone bursting
through his door. He turned to find the figure of Geb laying face first on the floor, completely covered in
blood.
Ark jumped off his mat and ran over to Geb saying, "What happened?!"
He made it Geb and turned her over to find tearful eyes looking back at him, she whispered the word,
"Help…" Without hesitation Ark began to run over to his closet to get the few medical supplies he had,
but was stopped by a bloody arm grabbing his arm.
He turned to see Geb grabbing onto him, again she said, "Help…"
Ark said, "I have to get bandages… or something! Why are you so bloody?!"
With weak gasps for breath between every few words she said, "Shot… no time for bandages… don't
need them… just… remove bullets…"
He sat down next to Geb once again and said, "Bullets… why… where are you shot?"
Her arm fell from his and she said, "Chest… Stomach…"
Ark grabbed the bottom of her damp shirt and with a gulp pulled it away. He could barely believe what
he saw. Thick streaks of blood had been smeared all over her body, almost no skin was visible. In a
desperate attempt to find a bullet hole he wiped his hand across her, throwing blood around in every
direction until finally he found where some was pouring out. She had been shot near the belly button.
That was the first one.
He looked at Geb's pain filled face and asked, "How… how do I get it out?"
Ark couldn't help but notice how her well rounded breasts moved up and down as she took a heavy
breath and said, "Use… your hand…"
He looked back at his hand and figured there was no better course… he didn’t have any tools to do it for
him.
Ark took a deep breath and plunged his fingers into Geb. She didn't cry out in pain, rather, she just
tensed up, causing his hands to be pinched inside by her layer of muscles.
He almost laughed at the predicament, "Geb, don't tense up! I can't move my fingers around!"
A moment passed and the tension only stayed, Ark yelled out, "Geb! Stop tensing up!"
She yelled back, and for just a moment the tension released itself, "I can't!"
He knew instantly what to do, "Then scream! Let it out!"
Ark dug his fingers in as far as he could and Geb screamed out in pain, letting him move freely around.
He dug around gently, trying to cause as little pain as possible, he tried not to think about what he
fingers collided with inside of her, until he collided with something that felt metal.
Ark grabbed the bullet and as gently as he possibly could yanked it free.
He threw the bullet aside and instantly started wiping away more blood that had congealed itself to find
the next bullet hole. He did this six more times, until he reached the last bullet hole.
With a strong blush Ark started pushing blood away from her chest, the last one was around her left
breast. By slowly moving his hand around he finally found it, it was a small hole that was barely far away
enough from her heart to miss it.
Ark tried to put his fingers inside, but a problem quickly arose, "Ah… Geb… I can't fit my fingers inside, I
can't get between your ribs."
Geb had already calmed, the bleeding had lessened somewhat but her problem with breathing only
increased, she said, "Then… reach around…"
Ark though of the possibilities, but found none, "I can't just reach around, it's near your heart, your rib
cage blocks that entire area!"
She reached her bloody hand to a hole that was high on her stomach, "Use that… to reach up…"
Ark laughed a bitter laugh, "Geb, that's not going to work… there's too many organs and way too much
distance for me to reach… I'd have to stick my entire hand in there almost… you'd die if I tried."
Geb shook her head and put her index finger inside the wound and ripped it open wider, with a cringe
from Ark she said, "I'll… live… Just… do it… the bullet… is blocking an artery… I can't… live with it...
there…"
He had thrown away all theories of how Geb had lived this long and was still able to even stay conscious,
let alone speak, and gave into the theory that she was not human.
Ark reached his hand inside the now few inch wide bullet wound and tried as hard as he possibly could
to not think about what insane organ his hand was rubbing against. All of it was warm, fleshy, wet, tight,
and just disgusting; the fact that Geb wasn't even flinching as his hand lurked around inside of her
disturbed him the most.
He stopped moving his hand through her chest after a minute and asked, "Where is my hand? Can you
tell?" Nearly his entire arm was inside her, he was actually have to lean forward into her to get it in far
enough.
She weakly tapped just under her breast, he was close.
He reached just a little bit farther in until he hit something that felt metal, but it wasn't a bullet… it was…
her lung?
"Geb, what… is your lung made out of metal?"
She said, "They coat our lungs… and heart… in a bullet resistant alloy… when we're young… the bullet
would have… bounced off and dug itself… between them…"
Ark didn't even ask any more questions, he just felt around as much as he could, using the metallic lung
as a guide. He felt the back of his hand rub against metallic veins, he figured that was her heart. With
the utmost care he moved his hand around, barely rubbing against the many things that ran around the
heart.
Finally he felt something metal that wasn't her lung or heart. With his index finger he grabbed it and
began the long process of pulling his hand out.
Nearly an hour had passed since Geb burst through the wall, but they were finally done.
A sudden huge wave of exhaustion overran Ark as he threw the last bullet into the corner.
He laughed as he leaned against Geb's corner and said, "Geb, I don't know how you're alive… but I think
you're gonna be ok." To his astonishment Geb leaned up from her laying position and looked at him. He
was instantly reminded that she was half naked, and that it was really the first time he had seen so
much of a girl before.
Even with the array of weird, strong urges and feelings arising inside of him he couldn't help but laugh
and say, "We should probably get ourselves cleaned up."
Geb looked down at her body and she tried wiping away some of the blood, but only replaced it with
more from her hands. Ark couldn't help but burst out laughing, which luckily diminished all arising
feelings inside of him. He stood up and passed by Geb only to laugh as she tried again to wipe the blood
away again.
Ark went to the closet and opened it up, then reached for the medical supplies. He placed the brown
box down in front of Geb and sat down with an Oomph.
Opening the box he instantly frowned, saying, "Ahh man, I forgot to get more bandages…" he burst out
laughing again, "We're going to have to be bloody for awhile, it seems." he reached inside the box and
pulled out a small cotton ball and a vial of alcohol, "I'll clean your wounds, at least."
Ark moved in closer to the staring Geb and dabbed the cotton ball in the alcohol. Now that Geb was
completely leaning upward her shirt had begun to slowly fall down again, and since Ark was the 'leap
before looking' kind of guy he grabbed her shirt and helped Geb remove it. Of course, as soon as he
looked down his job only became harder.
Ark tried as hard as he could to not think about it and began wiping the blood on her away as well as
possible. He started from the bottom, removing as much blood from the bullet wound area as he could
before cleaning the small openings with the cotton ball.
He didn't question why the wounds had stopped bleeding, but couldn't help to notice that her hand
went to her mouth every time he began cleaning the wound. Ark began cleaning the fifth wound when
he finally followed the arising hand to her mouth, she was biting down on her index finger hard enough
for it to start bleeding.
He sighed and said, "Geb, why are you biting your finger?"
Geb answered with a voice that he barely recognized, it was filled with… emotion?
He was too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with her voice to actually hear what she was
saying, "Er… what was that, Geb?"
With an almost unbearably innocent face she said, "Because it hurts…"
At some point between her face actually showing emotion and her voice, he had lost his breath.
He swiftly found it and tried to shrug off the weirdness of this not so weird situation, "Ah… What hurts?"
"You keep putting that cotton ball against my wounds, it burns…"
Ark found himself having to find his breath again, he coughed lightly and said, "Well, don't bite your
finger, that just adds onto the amount of blood…" he sighed, "You know what, just don't hurt yourself,
no amount of blood is going to make a difference at this point."
Ark couldn't help but shudder at the seventh bullet wound on her chest, he figured cleaning it was more
painful for him than it was for her. But, like most things, it was finally over.
He put the things back in the box and then placed it back in the closet.
Ark turned to Geb and examined her, almost every inch of her was covered in blood. Then his eyes
wandered to the area around Geb, and that too was covered in blood. Then… he looked down at himself
and laughed at how much blood was on his hands and shirt. Especially his right arm that he used to
reach inside of Geb, it looked as if he dipped his entire arm into a bucket of red paint.
He shook his head and asked Geb, "Geb, how much blood do you have?"
She missed the joke question and said, "What?"
Ark covered his head with his palm… which caused his head to be completely covered in blood, he
laughed and asked the rephrased question, "Any human would have been dead loooong before you
even started bleeding all over my room. God knows how much blood is outside, but this room is covered
in it. I understand, you're not human, but what are you exactly? How are you not dead from losing so
much blood?"
"My body regenerates hundreds of times faster than a human body."
Ark looked slightly dumbfound and said, "Ah, well, that was a much simpler answer than what I thought
it was going to be." he shrugged and moved over to the TV and with the least amount of blood
splattered on it he turned it on.
He eye balled his clean, almost blood free bed mat and sighed again. Geb had already taken to being
huddled in the corner, but she seemed less… curled up. She loosely held her knees with her arms
instead of holding them tight enough to almost be hitting her chest.
He made his way and sat down next to the still topless Geb, he said, "I don't want to get my bed wet
with blood, so I'm going to sleep over here in the…" he looked around the blood stained ground and
slowly said, "murder scene."
Geb did something else amazing that baffled Ark for a good moment or two, she actually turned away
from the TV and looked him in the eyes. He could have sworn she was blushing, but guessed it could just
be the blood.
Ark swallowed hard and said, "Geb, why are you acting so different tonight?"
Her look was still blank as she said, "I don't understand what you mean."
"You seem… not so robot-y since you came here covered in blood. You actually… seem human."
She looked away from Ark and after just a second of thought said, "Hope told me-"
"Hope?"
"The one I meet with every week. She told me to not be afraid of my emotions. I have been almost my
entire life. When I showed them my Parent would beat me, I learned to keep them inside. When you
helped me passionately it reminded me how powerful they can be… I thought… maybe if I use my
emotions, I can be even better."
"Ahh, so it's just to be a better killer."
Geb nodded, "Yes, but…"
"But what?"
"I think I enjoy them as well."
"Ah, that's where the problem comes in, Geb. If you want to be emotional and be a good killer, you will
be in pain the entire time. So, which is it? Be emotion, but in pain, or be non-emotional and be a cold-
blooded murderer?"
She held herself tighter and said, "I don't know."
After a moment of silence Ark got up and made his way to the closet once again. Reaching inside to the
very back of it he pulled out a ragged black shirt.
Ark tossed the shirt to Geb who caught it, "Put that on, I can't have you half naked, it's quite
distracting." s
He sat down again and asked Geb while he was leaning back against the wall, "Who shot you, anyways?"
She finished putting on the shirt and said, "The thugs that we saw earlier today. They attacked me in the
alley, one of them had a gun."
Ark was actually expecting something more…serious, "What did you do to them?"
She grimly said, "I killed them all."
He honestly wasn't surprised by the answer, but liked it no less, "If you killed them, how did you get
shot?"
"He caught me off guard. He shot me once, then again after I didn't stop walking towards him. He
unloaded the clip after the second failed shot. I kept walking and eventually got to him and-"
Ark raised a hand for her to stop, filling in the rest with his imagination.
He sighed and tried paying attention to the TV. As usual it was on the news, they were talking about the
weather at the moment. Ark smiled when they say that the planet Lyn would be getting heavy rain early
in the morning and throughout the day, it caused an idea to pop up in his mind.
He was ready to pass out when Geb closed in and leaned against him.
Ark retreated a little from the feeling, asking, "What's all this about?"
With blank innocence she said, "I suddenly felt warm when you sat down next to me." she moved in
closer and wrapped her arm around his, "It intensifies when I get closer to you."
Ark rolled his eyes, at this point he was too tired to even care. He just wanted to sleep.
Writer stretched, "How was that?"
Teana thought for a second, "Well, it was good, but a little short lived."
He sighed, "I know… I just couldn't think of anything else to put in there."
She nodded, "Understandable, but I did like the follow-up."
Writer smiled, "Thanks. My only complaint so far is that it seems too fast paced, it's supposed to be like
a month since Ark and Geb met… but it's only been like ten pages. I need to slow down." he sighed.
Lore walked into the other room and called out, "Teana! The World is fine, and I like the breeze."
She came into the room and cast an evil eye at Writer, who said, "I haven't had a breeze in my World in
a dozen years…"
Teana smiled, "I noticed. Did you want to see it?"
He shook his head, "Nah. Maybe later."
She sighed, "Fine… I don't care…" she looked over to Lore, "Would you like to sit down and watch
Alastor write with me?"
Lore rolled her eyes, "Really?"
"Yes, really."
"I don't think she wants to." Writer said.
"I don't." Lore said.
"Give it a try. What else do we have to do?"
She sighed, "You have a point."
Writer grumbled, "Just don't cause too much trouble and I'll let you stay."

Ark found himself in the kind of awake where you don't want to open your eyes, but you know you're
awake. He knew he was laying on his ride side, that it was heavily raining just outside, and that his hand
was rubbing against something rough and soft. The rough thing felt, well, rough, and for some reason, it
felt familiar, as if he'd felt it before or something. But he didn't pay too much attention to the rough side
of whatever he was feeling, he started paying attention to the soft. To be exact it wasn't entirely soft, it
was more like he felt he was rubbing off a thin layer of dried paint that was coated over something soft.
The paint like coating was in such weird designs, it was thick in some areas and almost completely gone
in others. Must be some foreign design.
He ventured through the land of dried paint over something soft and eventually found some sort of…
bump in it. Ark liked this bump, it was softer than the rest of the soft areas, and it even lifted and fell
slightly every few seconds. Like the thing was breathing.
But, eventually, Ark got bored and let his arm relax and fall. He thought of getting up and eating
something, he was quite hungry. He bet Geb was too.
His thoughts were frozen by the feeling of a small hand upon his. The small hand gripped his and took it
back to the soft bump on the dried paint land. The small hand pressed his against the bump, he didn't
mind the feeling of rubbing his hand against it, but who's hand was it? The only person that hand could
belong to was Geb, and she was on the other side of the room.
Wait…
I slept next to Geb...
Suddenly it all hit him and he burst out of his semi-slumber. Ark backed away from the laying down
figure of Geb and leaned against the wall as flat as he could. He found himself dizzy and panting from
the sudden burst of energy, a wave of nausea run over him.
Ark rubbed his temples from the sudden blood rush as he said, "Geb, I'm so sorry! I didn't… I was half
asleep and I didn't realize what was going on!"
Geb wordlessly got up from her bloody mat and started crawling the short distance over to Ark on her
knees. With Ark looking on in confusion and worry Geb lightly grabbed his hand and put it up her shirt,
dragging it across her stomach and then back to her chest. Again, she pressed his hand against it.
Ark withdrew it with a quick snap and said, "Geb, no, you don't understand what that means."
She grabbed Ark's hand again but it was yanked from her grasp, "Why not?" she asked.
He let out a small laugh, "Geb, there's plenty of reasons why not." he was going to say more but a
sudden wave of images assaulted him, depicting what he was just doing a few moments ago.
He had to breath slowly and calm himself before he could weakly say, "Just… don't, ok?"
Thankfully for Ark, Geb seemed to take it as an order, or at least that's what he figured she was doing.
She wordlessly nodded and Ark let out a sigh of relief. Why of all people to be stuck with was it Geb?
Ark sighed once again and began to get up to grab some food when his brooding mood was interrupted
by something far worse than anything he had ever felt in his life.
The smell! Dear god what is that smell?!
As if the world was colorblind to him he looked around the literally blood red room in search for the
cause of the smell. Lightning thundered outside as he still searched, eventually his eyes found their way
to Geb. She was swiping away dried blood from her pale skin, there was just so much blood from last
night Ark almost had to laugh.
For some reason something in the back of his mind was poking at the color red. Hmm, he thought, Why
is this room so red and smelly? Well, it's red because of the blood obviously-
Rolling his eyes he smacked his palm against his forehead. I'm not in the mood for thinking.
Ark almost threw up at the sudden increase of horrid smell. Yup, it was definitely the blood, his right
hand he held up against his head was entirely covered it in. Smelt like a decaying body. Lots of decaying
bodies.
There was absolutely no way to get the blood out of all of this room. It would smell like this forever.
He pushed the smell as far from his thoughts as humanly possible for him and he laid back looking at the
ceiling. Without the TV on the room was insanely quiet since Geb never spoke unless spoken to. It only
made it harder to concentrate on thinking of a way to get the smell out of his room and easier to think
of the smell itself.
A few annoyingly smelly and silent minutes passed before he thought of something that could work.
Without getting up or moving at all he said, "Geb, you have my payment for this week, right?"
Ark heard the faint rustle of movement and felt an envelope land on his stomach, "Double from last
week, as agreed upon."
Still laying on his back he opened it up and counted the money, 40,000 as he thought. He sighed and
smiled at the same time. Time to move out!
Ark hopped upward and grabbed the empty wooden fruit bowl from the small table in his room. The
lightning outside cracked again as he opened the door to reveal that it was absolutely storming outside…
and it was still night time.
That made Ark think for a moment.
He felt fully rested… He turned around back into the room and looked at the clock, which he had
recently bought, it said 12:11 AM.
Ark sighed, he did fall asleep at like 8 or 9, so he guessed it made sense. Body must've thought he
wanted to take a nap.
He looked back outside, huge, heavy droplets of water pounded the concrete floor; the slanted ground
only made it look like a small river replaced the alley. He took one step out the door and watched as the
flow down the alley became a shade of red.
Geb's blood washed away quite quickly from his bloody foot and Ark took a step back into the room,
"Come on out, Geb" he beckoned, "We're going to spend a few minutes outside." she simply stared
forward and didn't respond, Ark had really hoped she would stop making him explain every action.
Sighing he said, "It's simple, blood smells really bad after it's been sitting for a few hours. My entire
room is filled with your blood. It doesn't smell too great! Picture that! We're also covered in your blood,
so we're going to wash it off in this nice, clean…" he shivered, "cold water so I don't look like I just
butchered someone. After that, we're going to go to the markets and stay in the Inn for awhile while I go
and shop for a new room because this one is ruined because of you." he raised his voice, for some
reason he was getting quite angry with Geb, "So the LEAST you could do is come out here and clean
yourself up and do it quickly for my sake. Bring your shirt, too."
After a slight delay she got up and came outside.
Ark smiled happily and all anger suddenly faded, "Good Robot."
If he didn't know that it was simply just the dried blood washing off of her, he would have thought her
entire body was a flow of red. Every inch in a few foot radius around Geb erupted into a bright red color.
Ark laughed just a little at the image, more for just the sheer absurdity of how much blood she had
spilled last night.
He chuckled some more then set the fruit bowl down on the ground and then sat next to it. Already he
was drenched, so sitting in the water didn't really bother him. He shrugged off the fact he was soaked
and began cleaning his hands. Every few moments he would have to dump the bloody water and wait
for it to refill, but soon his arms were clean.
With a shy look towards Geb and a quick snap back to his normal passive self he removed his decently
bloody shirt and dunked it into the river like alley. After a moment he found that rubbing his shirt
against the concrete floor was actually quite effective to getting out blood stains. He didn't really need
the bowl for anything.
Ark looked up towards the still just standing Geb and began to say "Take off your clothes" until he
caught himself and, instead of laughing or just saying it to be funny, actually blushed at the thought and
instead looked before he leapt. A new thing for Ark.
After a moment of thought for a rephrased line he said, "Geb, turn around and take off your clothes,
then wash them against the floor. Get the blood out of your clothes and off your skin, when you're
decently clean put your clothes back on, then tell me when you're done."
She nodded, turned around and began taking off Ark's ragged, slightly bloody shirt. Ark too turned
around and slipped off his pants from his sitting position. He began scrubbing the blood stains off the
leggings from when he splashed blood on them or knelt in it, and soon enough they were gone. The
blood had seeped through his thin, cheap pants and stained his skin too, however, and that required
some light scrubbing as well. At least it came off skin quite well.
When all seemed clean for him he slipped his pants back on and waited with his arms laid across his
knees. A few moments passed and suddenly the stream of blood coming from behind him increased
drastically, his humor slowly returned and he began chuckling. She was probably cleaning it all off her
own shirt and chest.

For some reason he dozed off waiting for Geb to tell him it was safe to turn around. He woke from his
doze to see that he was still sitting on his rear with his arms on his knees, and that blood no longer
flowed in the water… and that Geb was leaning against his back.
Ark knew the answer why, but he still wanted to ask, "Geb, why didn't you wake me?"
"I found no need to. You having your rest in a moment where you have It seemed logical for-"
"Nyah, I don't care. Do you have your clothes on?"
Ark didn't intend to be mean, but only after he interrupted her with a sharp sounding question did he
realize how mean he had been. But Geb didn't seem to care… at all… in fact she stopped talking as soon
as he did and made no sign of being annoyed or angry.
"Yes." she said in the old blank, robotic like tone.
The answer felt… weird. Ark couldn't place his mind on why it felt weird when she said "Yes" her normal
voice, but it was just… weird. Something was different. He shrugged it off and got up, popping his back
and stretching once he did so.
Ark finished his stretch and said, "Alright, let's go to the Inn." he looked up to the sky and the water
pelted his face, he raised a hand to shield his eyes and asked, "Are you going to short-circuit with all this
rain?"
Of course, he said it as a joke. But of course Geb took it seriously. She always did. That's why she was
Geb. Why did he always forget these things?
"I don't understand."
Ark sighed and began walking, "It was a joke, Geb. I'm going to have to stop making them around you
just because you don't understand."
He could faintly hear the splashing of water as Geb walked, she said, "You could teach me. These 'jokes'
are confusing and non-logical. However, if they allow me to get along in conversations easier, it is only
logical to learn how to 'get' them."
Ark chuckled, "They aren't something you can just teach. You have to learn them yourself."
"How so?"
Ark took a turn in the alley, "Alright, here's an example of a joke." he turned around face Geb and
started walking backwards, "You're a robot."
Geb nodded as if she understood… what she understood could be something entirely different than
what Ark was trying to get her to understand, and that was probably the case because it's Geb he's
talking to. "I know that that is a joke, you 'make' it plenty of times every day."
Ark nodded and turned around before he ran into the end of the alley, "Yes, Geb, but do you know why
it's a joke?"
She stopped and looked downward at the question. Ark sighed, he had learned over time the time with
her that when she stopped and looked downward to the floor she was contemplating killing him, or
thinking real hard. Either one. He could never tell for sure. Usually it just lasted a few seconds, but she
was really thinking hard this time. He crossed his arms as it went on for nearly a minute, he couldn't help
but laugh at his own joke, Did I break her robotic little mind?
He honestly began to worry as it neared another minute passed. Ark sighed and couldn't find anything
better to do, so he just stared at her seeing if she would make any movement at all to indicate that she
wasn't dead or stuck in an infinite loop. He honestly couldn't tell if she was breathing or not, so he came
in a little closer and looked.
He moved to her side and saw her breathing, but just barely. It was like she was asleep. Ark noticed that
she had put back on her own tight black wool shirt. He looked up from her chest to her face and her now
long black bangs, overall her hair was a lot longer since she arrived, veered off to the side of her face.
Only then did Ark really notice how insanely small Geb was. She was a full head shorter than him, and
everything about her was slender.
Now that didn't necessarily mean he thought he could take her on in a fight or something. One of the
few things going through his mind the night before was her body. He felt how her stomach and chest
were practically stone from how tough the muscles were. She took seven shots and lived, he dug his
hand through her body and she didn't do so much as flinch. No, no, Ark wasn't nearly stupid enough to
think he could take on Geb, even if she was so small.
That's probably even worse! Who would want to kill a little girl? he thought to himself.
Ark had to admit she was desirously pretty, her shortness and cute face only added on to the problem of
not wanting to kill a little girl.
I mean, what would you do if a pretty, innocent looking girl arrived in your house and asked you for
something? Would you not do it? I sure as hell couldn't refuse her.
He thought of the topic more and more, talking to himself to relieve the boredom. But thoughts of her
body only lead to, well, thoughts of her body. Soon Ark was filled with nothing but how her chest moved
up and down so nicely in the rain, how her pale white skin was so wet and-
Ark shook his head, getting off track.
He went back to what he was doing, he looked at her face again and her eyes were still open, blankly
staring into the water. Ark waved his hand in front of them and even snapped his fingers in front of
them to try to make her blink, but she didn't even do that. He honestly considered if she suddenly
decided to take a nap standing up with her eyes open. People could do that, you know.
Another minute passed, and he got bored enough to resort to playing with her limp body. First course of
action was of course to poke her arm, which didn't cause any reaction.
He pinched her, and nothing happened.
Stepped on her foot, nothing.
Ark really started getting confused after he slapped her cheeks and she still just stared blankly forth. This
is a really bad thing for a person like Geb to pick up, he could probably kill her in this state and she
wouldn't even notice. Not like he would, but he could.
What if the enemy she was fighting asked her a riddle?
He was thinking of the hilarious - if not bad - situation when Geb finally said something.
"It's a joke because I act like a robot, but I'm actually a Judge."
He barely caught the answer but said, "Yes! That's right!" he paused and cocked his head sideways,
"What's a Judge?"
Ark expected her to say the normal "Not allowed to ask questions like that, Ark." line, but he should
really stop trying to predict what Geb is going to do, "It's the rank of soldier I am. It's what I am." she
said.
He smiled at the answer. She wasn't being all protective over who she was. Maybe he could get some
more info out of her before she realized it?
He turned around once again and began walking as he asked, "And what rank is that, exactly? Never
heard of a Judge before."
She said almost instantly, "Rank 128 out of 131."
Ark thought he heard wrong, "128?"
She nodded.
"Wait, aren't there only 127 ranks in the Army? Ending with the Father himself?"
Geb shook her head, "No. The Father is the highest rank people know about, there are 4 more higher
than him, only known to the Father and the people occupying the 4 ranks above him. With a handful of
select few."
Well… that was something you don't learn every day… or ever.
"What are the 4 secret ranks then?"
"Judge, Parent, Higharch, Mother."
That information really sunk into him after he thought about it. This little girl he had spent nearly a
month with in his small room was the 4th highest ranking person in the army. You lead a successful life if
you made it to the 20th or so.
He felt suddenly... weak, lowly… something like that, but just tried to ignore and asked another
question, "I've heard you talk about your 'Parent' before...I thought you meant actual parent, but you
meant the person above you in rank?"
She nodded, "They oversee the Judges."
Ark slowly nodded, "So… Who are the Higharchs?"
"The 5 who command the Parents to tell us what to do."
"Who's-"
"The Mother is the leader of us all. She commands everything from the Higharchs downwards. Her
words are law." she sounded as if she was reading it from a rule book, or something.
Ark tried to smile and turned to keep walking.
He asked over his shoulder, "So what made you go into hiding, exactly?"
"I was caught on film of the successful assassination of a Cargo World leader. The video was wide spread
within hours and my position as a Judge was compromised. The tower we work at on the world of Jarock
is an open military base. Almost no one working there knows that the Judges and Parents work there, so
it's not a place the enemy would suspect as the home base. The video showed me using equipment
restricted only to Judges, they were somehow able to track me back to the world of Jarock. Before the
Higharchs came to a decision of what to do one of the employees at the base was killed. There were
already people inside our base. The Higharchs almost instantly responded to fleeing. Hiding. Everyone."
Ah… well, that was quite a bit of information. Some of which Ark fears he'll someday be killed for.
It suddenly hit him like he ran into a giant sign with the words "Obvious" written on it.
"You are the one that was in the 'Reaper' video?"
"Yes."
He began to take the turn in the alley to his left as he asked, "You… you're the 'Murdering Soulless
Child'?"
His question was answered by the 5 dead thugs laying in the alley. Their bodies were maimed and
broken, pale and cold. No blood flowed in the water, it had all washed away hours ago. Ark looked on in
horror, was this what Geb was capable of? Is this what… she did?
She stood at his right side and said with her normal innocent tone, "Yes, I'm the Murdering Soulless
Child. I am the Reaper of the Army. I am a Judge."
He slowly looked down at her in terror, why was he suddenly so petrified of Geb? Geb was a murderer.
She was a killer. He knew that. But why is it really hitting him right now?
Geb looked up to him with face of innocence and asked, "Shall we go? It would be inconvenient if
someone saw us here."

The walk to the Inn was horrifying. Ark's body fought with itself, trying to decide to "Flee." or to "Flee
later when she wasn't a few feet away from you."
Before he could make up his mind they walked into the Inn. He suddenly felt cold. Deathly cold. The
markets on the way to the Inn had all closed down, this rain was far too heavy to work in. Far too cold.
Terrifyingly cold.
Why was everything hitting him now?
He shivered and hugged himself and a little before he made it to the Innkeeper, a jolly old man with
quite a beer belly, big beard, and a rough but a up-beat voice.
The man leaned on the bar and said, "Hello thar!" as Ark and Geb approached.
Ark nodded and in a voice he had hoped to sound less weak said, "Hello. I um, need a room for 2 for
awhile. We're moving out."
He nodded and said, "Aye, I got a room, but it's not for 2."
Ark sighed, "Do you have 2 rooms?"
The Innkeeper shook his head, "Nope. Last night when the storm started it shot a branch right into the
engine of that Odin transport ship that arrived last night. The thing jammed the engine in the worst of
spots, and they didn't notice it till' t'was too late. Engine broke right away. They rented out most of the
rooms and said, 'It'll be fixed in a few days'. So I'm packed on rooms right now. You'll have to take the
last one. I'd have 2, but some gal has been renting out our biggest room, room 9, for nearly a month
now."
Ark sighed. Of course this was his luck. "Fine, I'll take the room." the Innkeeper nodded, listed the price
of it for a day, then handed him the key after he paid him for a week of use.
Ark began to turn and noticed the trail of water that lead straight to him and Geb. He sighed and turned
back to the Innkeeper, "Do you have any sort of fresh clothes or something we can use?"
He shook his head, "Sorry lad." his face went into a funny knot of beard and wrinkles when he took on a
thinking face, "I do have some bowls, though." he ducked under the bar and produced 2 giant bowls,
god knows what they were used for, "You could hang your clothes in the room and use the bowls to
catch the water." the man eyed Geb, "If uhh, you two don't mind that sort of thing."
Ark was so miserable in this situation it took a moment for that to register. He sighed a deep sigh and
rubbed his temples, "Alright, that'll work." he grabbed the bowls, "Do I need to pay you or anything for
these bowls?"
The Innkeeper shook his head, "Just don't get water on the wood. Ruins the whole thing." he smiled and
said, "Have fun you two." and turned away back to whatever he was doing.
Ark really wanted to punch him in the face for that.
The two made their way to the room marked '14' and entered. The place was decently sized, with a
good sized closet to their right, next to the door. But only one bed. His sudden fear from earlier seemed
to fade away as they were replaced by misery. Something was just annoying him all of the sudden. All
the moments where he just happily shrugged it off and made a joke about it just didn't seem right.
Without his jokes he was just cold, alone, and then cold again.
Ark didn't hesitate to take off his shirt and hang in the closet, placing the bowls down below it. For
decency's sake he kept his pants on, he didn't want that kind of stuff exposed when Geb was doing
things like stripping down right in front of him-
Ark turned around, cheeks flaring red. Why did she always do things like that?
He could hear her putting her things into the closet, then the drops of water hitting the bowls. He
really… really didn’t want to deal with this right now.
Sure, earlier in the night he saw Geb naked plenty, but that was the sort of situation where you just
didn't care because a girl was bleeding to death in your room. Now, it was just a bare, wet, beautiful
body inches behind him.
He took the deepest breath he had ever had to take in his life and clenched his fists as hard as he could.
He had to calm himself down. Whatever stupid ass thing he wanted to do could most likely be carried
out. He fondled her this morning and she wanted him to keep doing it. Sure, he had shrugged it off with
a joke or two and kept on with his day without thinking about it, but right now he couldn't.
He took a step forward.
Ark forced himself to remember what it was like to make a joke, to laugh at this kind of situation and
pass it up like a boy who didn't have a care in the world.
A care in the world…
Maybe that was why Ark felt like he was scared, why he felt like he was cold, why he felt like he was
alone? Because he didn't want to be scared, he didn't want to be cold, he didn't want to be alone. He
needed to fix it.
He took another step away from Geb.
Alright, Ark, so how do you fix this? he started talking to himself, trying to figure out this predicament.
I'm scared. I'm scared of Geb. She's a murderer. She's the Reaper.
But why does that bother me all of the sudden? He knew that before, why should it bother him now?
He knows Geb is a murderer, before she even told him or he saw the dead thugs. She told him about the
dead thugs before, yet he didn't care.
Maybe you're just afraid of death?
Ark thought for a moment and nodded, That would make sense. I'm not afraid of Geb, I'm not afraid of
what she does… I'm just afraid to die. But Geb wouldn't kill me. She… she said I wasn't worth killing.
Cold.
I'm cold. I don't want to be cold.
There's a nice, comfy bed 3 steps ahead of you, with covers. Sit down and wrap yourself in it.
He took another deep breath and made his way into the bed. The big thick fluffy feeling of the covers
made him smile. Soon he wouldn't be cold.
Ark got up from his laying down position in the bed and leaned upward with the covers still wrapped
around him.
But I'm alone. I have no friends.
But it's coming to this again. Why did that not bother you before?
He heard Geb walking towards him, and it came to him.
I think of Geb as a friend.
When she said she was so high ranking in the military, so important, you felt alone… you felt alone
because you felt unimportant to her. As if you don't even have the right to talk to her.
Her footsteps stopped at the front of the bed.
But that doesn't help. She most likely does think I'm too unimportant to talk to. I'm just now realizing it.
She never was my friend, I was just a tool.
His other side of his mind shook his head at that, She's your friend. At least, now she is.
Why do you say that?
Because if she wasn't your friend she wouldn't have gone to you for help when she needed it. She
wouldn't have tried so hard to get what a 'joke' meant just so she could talk to you. He felt a rustle under
the covers and his other voice continued, And she wouldn't have come into the bed.
Something rubbed against his side. Somehow, he knew that it was Geb. This is something that she would
do. Cause him inconvenience in this sort of troubled time. He needed to figure out why he was feeling
bad because he was alone, And yet here was Geb trying to stop his progress-
Ark sighed. This was absolutely not a time for him to try to use his brain.
She had slipped under his arm and her side rubbed against his. He tried as hard as he could not to look
at her, but he still felt her. Even to him she was cold, and he was already freezing cold as is.
A short time went on in the awkward situation and Ark noticed that he hadn't thought of, or done,
anything stupid yet. Already he could tell that his normal mood was returning to normal…
… But that didn't stop him from looking down at her and feeling that strong urge once again. He could
see everything about her from where she sat. He hoped the arm wrapping around her waist wasn't his,
but who else could it belong to?
Some force made his arm grab her and pull her closer to him. Ark could have sworn Geb was going to do
something, like punch him in the face or kill him, but she didn't. She just sat there leaning against him
with no resistance at all. She was even blushing.
Geb.
Blushing.
This day was entirely out of order.
More time passed, and still Ark didn't do anything stupid. Eventually he just closed his eyes and rested
his head against hers, taking in the small amount of warmth she had.
He would give anything in the world to do what his body was wanting him to do at that moment, but he
himself didn't want that. In no way did that make it any easier for him, though. She was the prettiest girl
he had ever seen in his life, she rubbed up against his side in the way that was most distracting, and she
was right next to him. He had to fight with every fiber of his being to stop himself.
But Ark knew it wasn't right. Not now. Perhaps never. He liked Geb, sure. Even through all the
complications she was the closest thing he had ever had to a friend. But she was just… a friend. A close
friend maybe, considering the situation, but just a friend. Maybe that'll change, maybe it won't. He
wouldn't know.
Then he thought to himself, What if she leaves? It's not like I could ever talk to her again. She's a Judge.
She'd drop from my life and there's nothing I could do about it.
Maybe that was the real reason he didn't want to be close with her. Ark knew she would leave
eventually. Protecting himself from her would make it easier to deal with… It wouldn't hurt as much to
lose a close friend than to lose someone you loved.
That would work better for Geb, too.
The awkward way her body moved and how she reacted to Ark's touch betrayed her tough outer look.
She was fragile. She was vulnerable. She was getting emotional. No matter how much it pained him to
say… he didn't want to change her from what she is. She needed to be like a robot, she needed to be
emotionless. If Geb learned to be emotional, if Geb learned to love, if Geb learned anything at all about
emotions… she would become useless to her superiors.
He really thought about that last thing, why would she be useless? She could be the most efficient
murderer in the world if she was angry at who she was killing.
But then the other part of his mind came to him with the answer once more, She isn't that kind of
person.
And that was fact. She kills, yes, but she doesn't hate. She would be useless with emotions.
Maybe that's why they train Judges with no emotions? Maybe they can't control human nature when it
comes to that sort of thing, so they just don't bother trying. They keep Judges bottled up so they don't
ever think of trying to have a different way of life.
Dozens of other non illegible thoughts raced through his mind for awhile until he finally shook them
away.
The only thing he was sure of at that point was that he had gotten only 3 or 4 hours of sleep, so he was
still tired. It was raining, and that always made him drowsy. He was still freezing cold from the rain, the
warmth of Geb didn't help much since she too was freezing cold.
So he calmed himself and took a deep breath, slipped behind Geb, wrapped his arms around her, and
laid down, dragging her with him. He grabbed the fluffy covers from around his waist and pulled them
over him. He reached his arm back around and, even though she was so close, he didn't care.
He just wanted to sleep in warmth.
He didn’t care.
There was a joke in here somewhere…
Why, Geb? Why?
Why do you do these things to me?
An innocent boy my entire life. Worked hard as a worthless child, abandoned by my "family" 2 years ago.
I had it pretty well, worked on repairs and some medical things and I didn't have a care in the world.
Then suddenly you come along and ruin my entire life.
"Don't worry yourself, Ark. She's just going to stay and be quiet in the corner of the room the entire time.
Only thing is that she's a little weird, that's all." I said.
Two weeks later, "I'm really liking this. I get plenty of money, nice things, she provides me with jokes and
comical relief after a bad day . Nothing bad at all!"
And now… Why did everything change?
"Dum de dum, oh, hello Geb."
"You're worthless, Ark." she said.
" I know…" I said. There was nothing to prove her wrong. Yes, I felt sad. But I had learned to live with it.
That's why I was different from the rest of the low life thugs in the world.
But Geb, no, she had to go and change it all.
Bursting into my room, bleeding with 7 gunshot wounds. Alive. I didn't think of how she hated me, how
she looked down at me like I was a worthless person. I didn't care about her painful words, so I helped
her. That's who I am.
I dug the bullets out of her own body. Her blood stained my arms. Her blood stained… well… everything.
I'm not afraid of blood, I wasn't afraid of what she was, I wasn't mad what she had said to me… I just
didn't want her to die. An innocent thing.
Then why, oh why, did she reward me with this?
It just… escaladed so quickly.
First, completely accidental fondling. I caressed her chest with no knowledge of what I was doing, and
when I did find out what I was doing I pulled away out of it. She tried to get me to do it again, but I told
her "No!" She didn't know what she wanted me to do, so I stopped her! A noble thing!
That was the first test.
Next test was an internal conflict involved with the fate of the temple. The temple would tumble over
and be worthless if I didn't triumph over the second test.
I spoke with my own mind and came to the solution of each problem. In fact, the thing that had caused
this all, Geb stripping naked in front of me, was actually what sort of ended up solving the problem. I
found how to cure being scared, I wasn't really scared of Geb, I was scared of death. What she did. I
solved cold, I wrapped myself in these covers. Geb solved loneliness for me. It wasn't something I could
solve.
That was the trap.
I wrapped myself in the covers with her. I held her close for nothing but the noble intention of warming
up! Another noble act of the Knight Ark!
But alas. I should have seen the trap. Warmth it may be for it was still a selfish act. I loved the feeling of
Geb's warm body in my arms. I loved the soft feeling of her skin against mine. I just loved how I could
hear her, feel her breath in my arms. She was just so close. I loved being so close to someone. But I didn’t
act on it, yet another noble thing.
The third test.

She woke me up by shifting in the bed as I lay asleep. I fumbled awake in the confusion of the moment,
trying to find out where I was like I do every morning. "You're in the bed with Geb, at the Inn,
remember?" my mind told me.
"Oh yes, that's right. The naked, beautiful, young, murdering child of the army Geb. Not that big of a
deal."
I joked with my own mind. That's just how I am.
The third test is the one I cannot pass. The fact that she most likely wasn't even asleep, probably because
her mind was riddled with tests and questions that none of which were answered -because of me- that
kept her awake; only added onto the problem. She turned around in my grip to stare into my eyes with
hers. The lights outside of the Inn showed through the large curtained window on the far end of the
room, lighting the edges of her perfectly curved body in the night. Everything was silent except for my
heart beat, that seemed to be coming from my throat, and her breathing.
Her teal eyes and pink lips were the only thing I could really see. Oh yes, I can see the rest of her, but
that didn't interest me. Not now. Whatever showed on her face of complete innocence was moot, I could
see it all through her eyes.
I could read them.
"Confusion" was the main one. "Doubt, Questions, fear." were the others.
She was afraid of how she felt about me. Hell, I am too.
I don't want to be something to her. I don't want to change her. I… I can't… if I did… the consequences
would be astounding. For so many different reasons.
So please, Geb, please.
Stop this now before I do something to ruin your life.
Stop staring at me with your breathtaking face. Stop looking back and forth between my eyes and mouth
as if you don't know what to do with them. Stop being so blissfully ignorant. Stop being… you…
…I can't resist anymore.
Geb inched in closer to Ark.
Stop, Geb. Please.
He wanted to cry. I don’t want to ruin her life.
"Geb, stop. Please."
I don't want you to hate me.
Ark could feel her breath on his mouth. She was just so close. A centimeter, no more.
This will ruin you. Nothing you know could persist. You know this and you still continue.
You're too smart to not know this!
"You know exactly what this means, Geb! Stop!"
I don't want to ruin your life…
"I can't… I'm so sorry."
She wasn't stopping. Time practically came to a stop for Ark.
He felt the slight brush of her lips against his and he lost hope. It was over. There was no stopping.
A last whimsical thing before everything he wanted to keep from happening cascaded in on itself was
the words, "Robots aren't supposed to do things like this."
She froze.
Oh god yes she stopped!
His humor returned, his mind came back. He didn't want to do this. He didn't have to. He could resist.
He could resist!
Or… maybe not.
He drove forward and pushed his against hers. HE was the one to deliver the kiss.
The thing was short lived. It wasn't even a kiss. He barely got to feel it. He doubted she did either, it was
like a smack of lips that he imagined you gave family members or close friends as a casual thing.
But that would work! God damn it that would work! Ark yelled in his head.
Geb just looked stunned at the whole thing. Ark wore the stupidest smile in the world while everything
Geb thought of, tried to think of and tried to understand broke under his stupid smile.
He sighed and pressed his forehead against hers, "I'm so sorry Geb."
She looked sad all of the sudden. Disappointed…
He repeated to her, "I'm sorry Geb. We just can't."
She managed a whimper of a word, "I'm so…"
"Confused?"
She nodded with Ark still pushed forehead to forehead.
"What is it you're confused about, Geb?" he asked her in the simplest tone he could manage.
"I felt this un-logical force that drove me to want to be closer to you. I cannot explain it. I didn't… until
you made the joke…"
"You got the joke?"
She nodded again, "You said a robot wasn't supposed to do things like this. Your jokes and banter from
before were me being like a robot, because I am a Judge I act like a robot. I understand this. So to be not
like a robot would be to not act like a Judge, which is what I do not want. If I was to become something
that I am not supposed to be, I would become useless."
Ark nodded so happily he was afraid he'd somehow end up head butting Geb, "That's right, Geb, that's
right. You can't do things like that."
"But I want to."
His happy jig inside his mind took a sudden halt, "What?"
"I want to feel like what a non robot would feel like. I want to do things that they would do."
Ark sighed, couldn't be simple, could it? "But Geb, you can't."
"You did."
"What?"
"What I wanted to do was to press my mouth against yours. I don't understand how that would help,
but you stopped me from doing it. Then did it yourself."
Ark blushed, "Yeah… so?"
"Are you allowed to do it and I'm not?"
He shrugged, "I don't know. I didn't want you to kiss me-"
"Kiss?"
"That's what it's called. Pressing lips against each other. Kissing."
Geb nodded.
"I didn't want you to kiss me because I thought you'd become something that's not… well, not like a
robot. Like you said. You wouldn't be useful, right? That's be bad, right?"
Geb nodded once again.
"So I wanted you to stop so you didn't do that… but then I accidently kissed you."
She looked on blankly, not seeming to want to say something.
"Did you feel any different? Did you uhh… change?"
She shook her head, "No. It felt… pleasing… but I didn't feel any different."
He moved in closer to her and kissed her again, this one lasting just a little longer.
Ark retreated from her mouth and said, "Nothing?"
She shook her head again, "What am I supposed to be feeling?"
Ark opened his mouth in astonishment, Hell if I know! "I don't know… but are you sure you don't feel
like… not a Judge?"
"I feel… I… feel?"
"Yeah, feel..." Ark didn't really think about it, but Geb feeling something was kind of a big leap already.
"I feel as if I'm still a Judge… but more of what a Judge shouldn't be…"
Ark sighed, "That's not good. Do you still feel like you could do a Judge's job?"
"Of course."
"Well, then, do you feel like you could live without being a Judge?"
"No."
Ark took a sigh of relief. No matter how much he didn’t want her to feel that way, it was the only way.
He gave her another fast kiss and turned her around. He grabbed her close once again and asked her,
"So you like being kissed?"
She rustled around and rubbed against Ark's chest more, "Yes. And I like this. Being close to you."
He took in a deep breath and yawned, "We could always do things like this."
For once Geb actually did something Ark expected, she grabbed his hand and put it on her chest once
again. He removed it once again and said, "Not like that. Not yet."
"Why not?"
"Because, Geb. You can't just go and do things like that all of the sudden."
"Why not?"
"Ah I dunno! You have to know the person enough to do things like that."
"Like what exactly?"
Ark shrugged, "Hugging… kissing… things like that. Being close to someone is something you're not
supposed to do unless you want to be close to them."Ark knew he sounded like an idiot, but he tried.
"But I want you to be close enough to hold me there. Why can you not?"
He took a large sigh, "Ahh… I don't know Geb! It's just not right right now."
"Then why can you kiss me? Is it not right for one thing but right for the other?"
Ark nodded his head weakly… he thinks that's what he's trying to say, "That's right. You could hug
someone," he tightened his grip around Geb's belly to give an example, "and you can kiss someone," he
kissed her shoulder, "But you can't do things like what you want."
She stayed quiet and Ark hoped she got it. She wasn't nearly as dumb or blind as he had thought at first.
He underestimated her. Not anymore, though. Geb was sharp if just a little blind to the world around
her.
Ark sighed and moved a little underneath the covers. He wasn't tired at all after this entire fiasco. It was
going to be a long night with Geb.
He sighed again.
It's going to be a long week.

Ark opened his thoughts to the morning with a growl. His eyes didn't want to come open, so he didn't
force them. He was still tired. He always was in the morning, no matter how long he slept. He grumbled
and turned over, falling completely off the bed with a huge Thunk and scream of surprise.
Ugh. This is how my life is now.
He sighed after a moment of laying on the cold, hard wooden floor and got up. The blood rush to his
head was awful and caused him to tumble over to the wall and lean against it for support. As his head
cleared he actually felt quite good.
Ark stumbled over to the wooden closet, the bowls had almost been entirely filled with water. Not too
much stained the floor or looked like it did, so Ark was happy for that. Good things so far today. Cept for
the bed thing.
The shirt was a little damp, but really he didn't care. Soggy was better than dried and wrinkly like its
normal status. He saw the clothes that belonged to Geb hanging in the closet and grabbed them, might
as well give them to her while he's up, right?
Ark turned and moved over to the bed to find that Geb wasn't even in the bed.
Where the hell had she gone? The worst of thoughts hit him, I didn't actually ruin her did I?!
He began to worry, but then he began to feel he was an idiot. Why would she had run away?
… She was still naked.
What the hell is she doing?
He could see it now… Geb just strolling casually through the markets butt naked, not having a care in the
world.
God, why me?
Ark sighed and didn't think of looking for her. He took in the possibility she had left for good, but he
seriously doubted that. She was probably out doing something that someone like Geb would do. Secret
meetings, assassinating people, getting attacked by thugs. Who knows?
He sighed once again and made his way out of the room. He thought to himself, Maybe she's getting
breakfast. We didn't eat anything last night. But then he remembered that she didn't have any clothes,
and that'd be quite hilariously depressing to see happen.
Then he sighed an even heavier sigh. Because he could see Geb doing something like that.
The possibilities were endless. He was starting to think about Geb out in the markets shopping for
clothes when he saw her coming out of room 9.
He said the first thing that came to his mind, "Good morning… G-" He paused when he saw that she was
wearing some sort of insanely tight black clothing. It looked like a smooth silk, but had a thickness to it
unlike cloth. The only thing that wasn't black was the small white shoulder pads and a thin pulsing strip
of blue running around the entire thing in a weird Y shaped design. It more of surprised him than
anything, it made her look rather exotic and powerful or something, so he couldn't help but look at it in
that way, too.
She had closed the door behind her and looked at him in the eyes with her normal blank innocence,
"Good morning."
Ark shook his head, I shouldn't be surprised. This is Geb. I have to remember that. Just go with it. He
waved at her and said, "Good morning, Geb… uh… Where'd you get that fancy looking er…" he could tell
it wasn't just clothes, "armor…?"
She began walking towards him, "Hope."
"Hope? Is that a person?"
She didn’t say or do anything and walked past him, into the room.
He shrugged and said into the room, "I'll be downstairs, meet me down there for breakfast."
Ark rolled his eyes, Everything with Geb is an absolute mystery.
As he made his way to the stairs he stopped to wait for a girl coming out of room 9. As a polite
gentlemen he waited for her to go first… only to remember that that was the door Geb came out of.
The girl thanked him for letting her go first in the narrow hallway, then proceeded on. Ark walked
behind her, eyeing what she was. She was young looking, maybe mid twenties. She had a bag with her,
fancy looking thing that had the big logo of the Army on the back of it. She looked formal, a nice uniform
of an Army employee. The woman's uniform was a sort of long skirt with a tight leather shirt. The shirt
was decorated with all sorts of things, the Army logo, fancy things hanging off the side and on the collar
to make it look futuristic and a few pockets here and there. Overall a nice look.
He sort of put things together and, because he was a leap before looking kind of guy, weakly said, "Er…
Hope?"
She turned around and had a face of a confusion, "Do I know you?" it came off as a little cautious.
Ark looked behind him to see if Geb was coming out yet, "Ah… I don't know how to say this. I'm Ark."
Hope looked at him curiously then sort of eased up and said, "Oh, hello, Ark. You're Gebs' holder,
correct?"
He nodded, "Yeah, I just saw Geb come out of the room you were in… she had said she was talking to
Hope, you're Hope right?"
She nodded and looked around the hallway, "Yes," she cleared her throat, 'I was just talking with Geb
about what had happened last night."
Ark blushed at the thought, she knew? Geb told her? "Geb told you about that?"
She nodded again, "Yes, she had told me the fight with the thugs and how you saved her. Quite
honorable, I wanted to say. It's a good thing you were chosen, losing Geb would be quite unfortunate."
Ark nodded and acted warily. So not that part of last night. "So what was with the new clothes?"
She took a deep breath and said, "It's her uniform, she works at the uhh…" she paused and looked as if
she was trying to think of something to say, "Ah… she works at the Special Ops. That's their uniform. I
uh… had it on me because we… have these weekly meetings…"
Ark sighed and motioned for her to stop, the sort of vibe he was getting from this girl was that Geb
hadn't told her that he truly knew what she did. She was trying to make an excuse for the situation.
"Thanks for bringing the spare clothes. Hers are still a little stained with blood and probably won't be too
good to go out in public with them, right?"
Hope nodded, relieved that she didn't have to keep trailing Ark on. Let her think that I just don't care.
"Ah, anyways. I have to be going, Ark. Thank you for your hard work and thank you again for saving
Geb's life." she bowed and hurried away.
What silly people Geb works with. Honestly he thought they were going to be meaner, but Hope was
quite nice. On the outside, anyways.
He shrugged again and heard Geb approaching. Ark looked behind to find she was in her normal clothes.
He said, "Hello again, Geb."
She nodded in response.
Ark started walking down the hallway and asked over his shoulder, "So did you call Hope to get you a
change of clothes?"
"I called her to report what had happened last night. She had brought the armor because she wants me
to wear it while I'm out."
Ark turned around to look at her, "But you're wearing your normal clothes?"
She shook her head and lifted her shirt up to reveal the armor underneath.
Ark nodded and turned back around, "Ah… okay. I guess that makes sense. Good for me, too. I hopefully
won't have to clean up gallons of blood from the Inn room too."
He came to the stairs down to the Inn and turned around to face Geb again. He asked with a slight blush,
"Did you tell her about what happened last night?"
"I reported only on the thugs."
Ark chuckled, "Did she ask why you were naked when you were talking to her?"
Geb nodded, "I explained that the rain made it too cold to sleep in them."
Ark sighed, "Did you mention anything… about us… you know… kissing?"
She shook her head, "No. I found that un-needed information to report."
Ark smiled and said, "Well that's good."
He walked down the stairs and sat down at one of the tables. Then something very unexpected
happened.
Geb sat down and said, "I think it was un-needed because they might take it weird for a robot to do
something like that."
Ark laughed the heartiest laugh he had ever laughed before. She made a joke!

I know the pieces fit… I watched them fall away. No fault… none to blame… that doesn't mean I don't
desire to point the finger. To the blame the other. Watch the temple topple over… to bring the pieces
back together is to find the meaning of communication."

Geb stared blankly forth, as usual, and replied to Ark's laughter, "Did I say something incorrect?"
Ark stopped his laughing… then laughed some more, "No, Geb. You made a joke! It was funny!"
She smiled faintly, "So I correctly 'made' it?"
Ark nodded, "You sure did."
He smiled some more and was going to try to start a conversation until a waitress came by and asked
them what they wanted to eat. Ark shrugged and asked, "What do you have? Never eaten here
before…"
The young girl, maybe around his own age, apologized and said, "Sorry, I thought I had seen your friend
here before so I figured you knew what we had…" she hurried over to the bar and reached behind it,
grabbing two pieces of rough looking paper. She came back over and said, "Here, our menus. I'll come
back in a minute when you're ready. Do you want anything to drink?"
Ark nodded, "I'll have a uhh…" he looked the menu down and found the drink list, "I'll have the
Crokarn." the Crokarn was a cherry tasting soda that was quite cheap and easy to access even out here
in this remote planet.
Geb looked surprised as the girl asked her for her drink, she said, "I don't know."
Ark sighed and said, "She'll have Crokarn too, she's new to uhh… our language."
The waitress nodded with just a hint of 'odd' on her face and said, "I'll be back in a minute."
He nodded as she left and looked around the Inn. The place was quite busy, actually. A lot of the people
wore uniforms of ship members, so he figured they were all eating for breakfast before they went and
tried to repair their ship. He shrugged it off and looked down the menu for something to eat. The Inn
was small but actually served as a partial restaurant because the need to eat when crew members of
ships required food. Usually they stopped when they were low on food or waiting for refuel, so they
almost always stopped.
The reason they didn’t carry much food was because of a recent problem with space-ship fuel. Ships
only required the few seconds of blasting off to exit the world's gravity's well, but because of the small
actual amount of fuel needed to do so the prices were high. So, to make more money, crews were
forced to start carrying more Cargo on trip. It worked out to be a fine change, but left little room left in
the ships for food. The lighter and smaller the ship, the less fuel required, the less money spent… exedra
exedra.
Ark grunted as he reached the end of the menu. Nothing sounded too amazing, but he decided to get a
classic toast, eggs, bacon and pancake combo. He looked up at Geb who was eyeing the menu, but
seemed like she didn't care.
He said, "Do you know what you want, Geb?"
She looked up from her menu and shook her head, "I do not know what any of this is."
Ark sighed and got up, taking his chair with him he moved to Geb's side of the table and sat down next
to her, "You've never eaten at a restaurant before?"
"No."
I guess that makes sense. "What did you eat before you came to live with me?"
"I ate paste."
Paste? "Paste?"
Geb nodded, "Specially made for me. They told me that it was the 'healthiest' food they would give me.
It was the only thing that I ate, three times a day."
Ark cringed again, "Did it taste good at all?"
She looked down at the table, doing her whole 'thinking' thing. But like most of them it only lasted a few
seconds, she looked up and said, "I would of said 'I don't know', but because of the food I've eaten
because of you I would have to say 'No', it did not taste good."
Ark nodded, I thought so! he moved in closer to Geb and looked at her menu, pointing at the first thing
on the list he said, "That's fried ham and eggs. Pretty good, if just a little plain."
Geb nodded.
Ark continued, "The next thing is a waffle. It's pretty awesome, you put this maple syrup on it and it adds
a lot to the flavor. The next is…"
He explained everything on the menu, and eventually recommended the same thing he was planning to
get. About a minute after that the waitress came with their drinks and they ordered, then waited for it
to come.
Ark got bored in the silence. Well, not the silence, the place was quite loud with chatter, but his silence.
"So er, Geb… What uhh.. what did you do for fun, being a Judge and all?"
"I don't understand."
Ark sighed, "What did you do for fun before you started staying with me?"
"What's 'fun'?"
Really though? "You know what? Never mind. What did you do to pass the time when you weren't out…
doing whatever you Judges do."
She looked down at the table and said, "When I wasn't on a mission I was being trained by my Parent.
When I wasn't being trained by my Parent I was left in my room alone."
He nodded, "Hm, so what did you do in your room?"
"I didn't do anything. I stayed in the corner until I was called upon."
He shook his head, "You didn't do anything?"
She shook hers, "They didn't allow me to do anything. I waited."
He shook his head more, "That's no good… you know… " he thought that that was why she was probably
always in the corner of his room, doing nothing. She was use to doing that. "I could always find
something for you to do in my room, you don’t have to be blankly staring at the TV all day when you're
with me."
She didn't say anything and he figured he could throw some ideas out, "You could watch TV with me or
fix some robots with me, in fact I just got a package the other day from my friend Gary. It'll take awhile
to work on so I could teach you how to fix things with that…"
"I don't see a need to. I would have no use for it."
Ark shrugged, "Even if you didn't it'd still be fun to do." a thought struck him, "Hey! What if one of your
fancy weapons or something breaks in the middle of a fight! Wouldn't it be nice to know how to fix it?
Huh?"
She sat quietly but then eventually said, "That seems logical."
Ark chuckled, "That's right. So when we have the time I'll start teaching you to fix things. It's settled!"
Soon enough the food came and they ate it, with comments of "That's bacon" or "That's eggs" they
finished up and left.
Geb followed Ark out of the Inn and asked, "Where are we going?"
He said over his shoulder as he waded through the crowd of people in the morning markets, "I wanted
to go and pick up a few things from my room. It shouldn't take long. Then we can go back to the Inn
room."

Ark turned the first turn in the alley way and tripped over a can. He flew face first into the concrete floor
and things tasted a little painful for about half a second as his nose crushed into the floor; then it tasted
like a catastrophic amount of pain. He questioned why it sounded like he heard a little girl laughing…
Ark whimpered as he picked himself off of the floor and touched his crooked nose.
Geb simply stared at him, if she showed any concern whether or not he was hurt, she hid it very well. He
growled and grabbed his nose and with a deep breath popped it back into place. He sighed after the
pain had passed and said, "Yeah, I'm fine Geb, don't worry."
As Ark moved forward growling she asked, "I don't understand. I was not worrying."
He didn't bother turning or stopping, "It was another joke, Geb."
A moment later Ark heard Geb's footsteps stop in the puddles of the rain the night before, and instantly
he knew what she was doing. He let out a heavy sigh and turned around, "I'm sorry Geb, I'm suddenly
not in the mood to wait for you to think for five minutes about that." He grabbed her hand and dragged
her through the alley. She kept herself standing upright as he walked, but she still didn't snap out of her
thinking mode.
As Ark dragged Geb through the alley he couldn't help but notice how different the place looked. The
world just… seemed not the same. Everything but the dropping of the still fresh rain, his footsteps in the
puddles, and the distant voices of the nearby market people… it was all so… quiet…
But he knows nothing has changed… Why did it seem so different? So quiet? He turned around and
looked at Geb, she was still in her state of mind. Ark stared at her trying to think of why everything
suddenly felt so eerie until he felt a light rain drop on his nose. He looked up and felt another hit his
cheek, then continued on walking to his room.
He took a turn and met the dead thugs once again. He tried not to look at them as he carefully walked
over their dead bodies, but couldn't help but notice the smell. Ark was already surprised they hadn't
been found yet, they would be very soon. He got past the bodies and hurried his pace as he began to
worry if they would find out Geb killed them. No one would really care if a group of thugs showed up
dead, but they would care if that group of thugs was seemingly killed by a super human.
But at the least he didn't have to worry about them finding Ark himself as long as they didn't find him in
his room after they followed the trail of blood. No one knew where Ark lived… Barely anyone even knew
Ark. He didn't even have a monthly rental or anything for his room, he just occupied it. It was
abandoned when he found it.
So, he calmed himself a little. The rain began to start up just a little again as he reached the room. He left
Geb waiting at the door, she was still thinking, and went inside. Instantly he was hit with the horrid smell
of a butcher shop. It had only gotten worse. With his hand over his mouth Ark went inside the closet and
grabbed the black box with his tools.
Then, he went over to his mat where the thing his friend Gary had sent him sat. It was a small little
transmitter used to send out Morse Code, some old war language. Nobody but a few undeveloped
planets even used it anymore. By Ark's understanding if he fixed this then up to even a hundred percent
power it could only transmit a few miles at most. Why would anyone need this?
But Ark shrugged, people from recently undeveloped planets were entirely different. Maybe it was
useful for them.
So he packed the small thing up in his box and made his way outside. Grabbing Geb's still un moving
hand he made his way back to the Inn.
About halfway Geb finally awakened from her thoughts and said, "It was a joke because I did not worry
about you, which in most cases a normal human would."
Ark smiled and nodded, "That's right, Geb. You're pretty smart, aren't you?"
She didn't answer the question, but it wasn't really a question in the first place. When he came upon the
dead thugs he remembered he didn't have to hold Geb's hand anymore and walked around the corpses.
At the end of the alley he said, "Geb, we're going to need another bath tonight."
To his surprise she said, "Yes. That would seem logical."
He turned with a questioning look on his face, "Oh really? And why's that?"
She stopped before running into him and said quite quickly, "It is logical because we smell like blood. It
would be quite inconvenient if they were to find the bodies and hear a rumor of two people smelling
like they just killed someone."
Ark turned back around with a Huh and an even more questioning look on his face, "You learn fast, don't
you?"
"Judges are genetically altered to have a faster brain. More oxygen and blood goes through mine than
humans, causing it to be able to think at a higher capacity. I have more n-"
"Augh. Stop. Now. It's cool and all but unlike you Judges we humans have feeble and weak minds."
Ark laughed at his own joke as Geb said, "That is not true. Less powerful brains you may have they are
not feeble or weak."
Ark laughed a little more and said, "Yes, I know Geb. That was another joke." he cringed as the words
came out of his mouth.
But surprisingly Geb didn't do her normal "thinking" thing and simply nodded, "I understand."
Ark shrugged and continued his walk towards the Inn, "That's good." he chuckled, "Maybe I can start
having an actual conversation with you."
Sooner than later they made it to the Inn room, Ark set down the black box on the floor and pulled some
covers off the bed and made a makeshift mat. He laid all the tools and the transmitter on the floor and
beckoned for Geb to come over. After explaining why she needed to come over he handed her a piece
of the transmitter, the motor. "Alright Geb, it's simple. The motor and antenna need to be fixed, since
the antenna is harder you can work on the motor." he scooted in closer and pointed to a part at the
motor, "See how that little screw there is loose? Well that'll cause that gear to…"

Ark taught her how to fix the motor for a few hours, unsurprisingly she caught on quite quick and they
made good progress. It was only around late afternoon when Ark decided to go and take their baths. He
preferred to take at night, so he figured he could look around for a new place to stay while he waited for
it to get late.
So that's what he did. He got Geb and browsed around the more fancy side of the town. He had a ton of
money income from Geb, if he could find a good price he could live in a very nice one room rental
apartment for years, even if she left now. After about an hour of looking and asking around he found a
decent looking one in a big one room complex. It was barely bigger than what he had, but much much
more well kept. And that wasn't counting the risk of dying every time he walked out to the markets. It
was a good deal, but Ark was in no hurry. He looked around with Geb for a few more hours, an
apartment was pretty much what he was attracted to.

he sun was almost fully gone in the sky, so Ark decided to go ahead and get his bath done. It was only
about a five minute walk from where they currently were, so they made it there pretty quickly. Because
Ark was dramatic, he burst open the twin doors and startled Lana once again.
She yelped out, "Oh lord… Ark you really need to stop doing that."
He shrugged as he approached the counter, "Sorry, I just have to." Ark reached the counter and rest his
hands on the counter, "I would like two baths, one for man and one for-"
"Sorry Ark, can't tonight."
Ark frowned and whined, "Aww, why?"
She shrugged, "The pools are going through annual cleaning."
"Then why is this place open?! Leading my hopes through a nice tunnel that ends in a trap…"
Lana suppressed a laugh and said, "Well, one of them is filled back up…"
Ark's eyes drooped, "It's the mixed one isn't it?"
In a dramatic, climatic voice she said, "Yes, Ark." she laughed, "The workers cleaned out the pools earlier
today and they're filling back up now, but the other two pools had a pump problem. So the mixed one is
the only one filled up and working right now!"
He sighed, "But…"
Lana's eyes went shifty and she called him in closer, she whispered to him, "I think you can pull it off
with her…"
"Huh?"
"Your girly friend… I think you could pull off a mixed bath with her."
Ark sighed, "I know I could, but then it'd just be weird…"
Lana shook her head, "Oh Ark. You'll never get anywhere with your girlfriend if you don't take of
'convenient' circumstances like this one…"
Ark almost burst out laughing at the thought of Geb being his girlfriend, but went with it anyways, "Well,
what am I supposed to do in a mixed bath with her?"
Lana smiled, "This is what you young boys-"
"You're 3 years older than me!"
"Never mind! What you need to do with your friend there…" she looked over Ark's shoulder to Geb, who
was looking at a painting on the wall, "Is take her in that bath and just relax. If you relax and don't put
any pressure on the potentially romantic situation it'll get her more use to being…"
Ark waited for the response, "… being?"
She blushed and said, "Being naked around you…"
Only after saying it did he realize that she didn't know who Geb really was, "Well what would that
accomplish for me…?"
She blushed even more, "Plenty of things… if she is relaxed showing her body to you maybe you could…
you know… get intimate more often…"
Ark jumped away from her and almost yelled as he said, "Lana!"
She did the same and said, "What!? I'm only trying to help!"
"I'm only sixteen!"
"Well! That's old enough!"
He blushed more and said, "But with GEB?" Geb turned over in confusion at the yelling of her name.
Lana said, "Well! I dunno! You two look close enough!
"You just met her yesterday! How could you possibly come to that conclusion?!"
"Well! Uhh.. The way she looks at you!"
Ark turned around to make sure they were talking about the same Geb, after seeing her looking as
confused as a snake floating around in space he turned back around and said, "Geb doesn't have
anything on her face to tell you that!"
Lana sighed and said, "I dunno… her eyes… something…" she sighed again, "Forget it then! Never mind!
Did you want the baths or not?"
Ark shrugged and said, "Yeah sure why not?"
Lana was surprised, "Really?"
"Yeah, I've seen her naked before it shouldn't be too awkward…"
She gasped, "Ark!"
"Hm?"
"You're only sixteen!"
Ark put his palm to his face and said, "I didn't mean it that way… Wait, weren't you just telling me tips
on how to…?"
"Unheard of!"
They both laughed after a moment and Ark said, "Alright, so how much is it?"
"12 coppers"
Ark nodded and rummaged around in his pocket, pulling out a bill for 20 coppers he handed it to her and
said, "Keep the change, I guess."
She smiled and said, "Why thank you."
Ark turned to Geb, "Come on you, let's get this over with."
She nodded and walked over, with a cackle coming from Lana Ark entered the dressing room. He went
to a locker and began taking off his shirt until he saw Geb come in. He sighed and said, "No, you stay
outside till I'm done."
Geb looked confused, "But I heard that this is where we both bathe."
Ark shook his head, "Yes, you're right. But I don't want either of us stripping down in front of each other.
That's a little too far. Give me… thirty seconds and then you come in."
She nodded and walked outside the door. Ark took off his clothes and proceeded into the pool, but not
without first saying For the sake of being in the same area of Geb, I shall don a towel around my waist.
He let out a relaxing sigh as he entered and waded himself to the farther end of the pool. About 30
seconds later he heard someone else enter the bath, and tried not to look. But, as Geb would have it,
she came looking for him. He could hear the small splashing of the water and saw the waves, and
eventually saw her outline in the steam. Ark finally sighed and said, "What do you want, Geb?"
She oh so innocently said, "I was trying to locate you, to make sure I didn't make a mistake in your
directions."
Ark face palmed and said, "Well, you found me… so… take your bath." He could barely make out her nod
through the thick steam. She moved to the edge of the pool and just sat down. Ark did the same. He
popped his back with a growl against the rock then stretched and laid back. A few minutes passed and
Ark found himself insanely relaxed. He thought to himself, If I keep my eyes closed like this I'll probably
fall asleep in no ti-

He woke as he bumped into something. He didn’t feel like opening his eyes, so he just let out a groan
and decided to try to go back to sleep. But then he bumped into something again. Something… bouncy.
Maybe this was a dream? Wasn't he laying on a nice rock?
His head bumped into it again. He opened his eyes to see the bare body of Geb looking down at him. He
groaned and said, "Geb… why are you in my dream, naked of all things?" he groaned, "I'm not having
fantasies of you are I?" he groaned, "My cool attitude is finally cascading in and failing… giving away to
more primal urges of a man! Woe is me!"
She looked on in question and eventually said, "I don't understand."
Ark closed his eyes again and said, "Of course you don't. You never do the first time!"
"Do you understand anything I say the first time?"
Ark grumbled, "No."
"Then it is logical that I do not."
He sighed as his head started clearing, "This isn't a dream, is it?"
"No. I am positive that this is the reality that I was originally born in, unless dreams are abl-"
"Yes, it's not a dream. Only the real Geb could make my head hurt by talking." without opening his eyes
he rubbed his temples and said, "Can you explain why I'm suddenly floating around bumping into you?"
"You fell asleep on your rock, then slipped off and floated around in the pool of water. Then bumped
into me."
He sighed and opened up his eyes again to look at Geb, the view from her stomach was quite nice, he
had to admit, "Why are you always there, Geb?"
"I don't understand."
Ark rolled around in the water and eventually made it to Geb's side, "I mean you're always there. Next
to me. No matter what I do."
She nodded, "You are supposed look after me for my stay here."
"Well, yes. I'm supposed to be looking after you. It seems like you're… just… always there."
"I still don't understand what you mean."
Ark shrugged, "Neither do I…" he paused in thought and said, "You know, I might actually be sad when
you leave." he chuckled.
Geb looked over, "Why do you laugh after saying something that saddens you?"
"Eh, it helps relieved the pain." he looked over to Geb and said, "Have you ever laughed before?"
"Not that I can recall, no."
Ark let out a Hmph like grunt and said, "Well, want to try?"
She shook her head, "There is no logical need for me to learn how to laugh."
He sighed, "I guess you're right… but it's still nice to do…" he grumbled again, "Come on, try with me."
he leaned over and looked her dead in the eyes, "Ha." Her blank expression didn't change, "Come on…
repeat after me… Ha…" still, she didn't do anything, "Come on! It's fun! Why do you think I do it so
much?"
"To distract yourself from the realism of the bad sides of your life."
Ark almost burst out laughing, This is why I like Geb. "Yes, well, that's what laughing is most useful for.
Try it… Ha…Ha…"
She let out the most pathetic Haha noise Ark had ever heard in his life, "Come on, you gotta put some
emotion in… oh… right… Yeah this could be a problem." he sighed, "You're hopeless. I can't ever have a
real conversation with you without laughter. You may get my jokes but they're still useless if you don’t
laugh!" he buried his palms into his eyes.
"I'm sorry."
Ark almost leapt from his spot he sat at, "What was that?"
"I said I'm sorry."
Ark feared a black hole would open above their heads, "Geb, do you even know what that word
means?"
She shook her head, "No, I don't think I do… but…"
"But what?"
"But if felt like I needed to say it."
Ark gasped dramatically, "Is Geb the Judge thinking for herself now? You know, ever since you barged
into my room dead and dying yesterday you've been acting quite strange."
She nodded, "It changed my perspective of humans."
He yawned, "Is that so? How?"
"Every human that I've ever seen seemed weak, corrupted, and powerless. What you d-"
He flexed, "You saw me help you and it made you realize that it wasn't true?"
"Yes. You helped me and it made me think that not all humans are weak like the ones I've seen. I know
that not all humans are as such, but the only ones I've seen that aren't are ones that dead, long gone
'heroes' of the past. I doubted they existed anymore."
Ark crossed his arms, "That's deep."
She looked to him, "I don't understand."
He sighed, I guess she isn't entirely cured. "I mean that you're… serious, your words have depth behind
them. It's deep."
She thought for just a few seconds, "I understand."
He smiled, "Good." he was going to pat her on the back, but caught himself before he leapt. Instead he
looked down and fiddled with his fingers, "I know us humans are weak and pathetic, but there are some
good ones. You just have to look deep in the pile. I wouldn't bet on one of them being there for you if
you needed one, but they are… they're just far in-between" he sighed, "Now you've gotten me in a bad
mood."
He slipped back into the water and silently swam around. Geb watched quietly.
Eventually he made it back to her side. He put his mouth in the water and blew bubbles for a second.
Then he grumbled, "Geb, do you stay on Bol?" Bol was the main planet that Ark's and Geb's society
came from. The most technologically advanced planet known to them.
"Yes."
He faintly smiled, "Is it nice?"
"I don't know."
His smile faded, "I figured not." he blew more bubbles, "Can you describe it?"
"Bol is the planet that your race originated from. It is known for its unique natural structures and
massive crystal clear lakes and its superb fishing. If you haven't experienced the history and way of live
of planet Bol, then it is one you will surely miss."
He dunked his head in the water, "I mean tell me what it looks like, not tell me what the pamphlet
reads."
"What it looks like?"
He nodded and sighed, "If it's too much trouble then never mind."
"The place they keep me is within the main Column. It's at the top, next to the army base."
His smelt crept back in, "The Columns are the natural crystal towers that everyone stays in, right?"
"Yes. I have never explored the land outside of the Column nor have I been to much inside of it."
"There's lots of people in it, right?"
"Yes."
"Are the lakes pretty?"
"I don't know."
He smiled, "Of course you don’t." he stood up and made his way to the middle of the pool-- where the
shampoos sat. He grabbed them and washed his hair, did a quick run over with soap and told Geb to do
the same.
He ended up having to do her hair, but he left her to rub herself down with soap.
Ark was quiet, even after they had said goodbye to Lana. Geb was naturally quiet, so if Ark was silent
everyone was silent.
They arrived at the tavern and Ark sat down at a table, (Try spelling "At a table" without messing up.)
intending to have late dinner. Geb sat down next to him. The waitress came in, looking a little tired. She
asked what they wanted to drink, and they both ordered Crokarn. Then, when it came time to order
dinner, Ark quietly explained what food was what and they enjoyed their meal. It cheered Ark up for a
bit, until he laid down in the bed, suddenly tired. Geb laid down behind him and he just groaned in his
mind.
"Ark," she said, "I forgot to inform you that another Judge, Claire, will be coming here sometime
between now and in the morning."
At first, it was a low rumble in his chest. Then, it turned into a long, dreadful Uuuuugh, then it finally
escaladed to a very sorrowful sounding, "What?"
"Another Judge will be arriving by mor-"
"I understand that part, but why is another Judge coming to stay with me?" he rubbed his head into the
bed, "No, just… forget it." his groaning face turned black when he realized something, "Will I be getting
paid for her as well?"
"Yes." Geb's voice said, "The rate that I'm currently at."
His attitude instantly flew out of depression. He flipped around to look at Geb, "I think I could kiss you
right now."
"Why?" she asked.
"Because, with the money I'll be getting from two of you will be plenty to move to Bol." he gave Geb a
quick kiss, "That's been my dream since I was a boy." he gave her another kiss… then another… then
another…
He was practically making out with her by the time he stopped himself, "Sorry," he said, chuckling, "I just
don't think I've been this happy in a very long time."