Patches (Open RP)

Thought almost all creation might have forgotten the nightmare not everything did. As Graxitica reached the top of the cliffs he would see a yellow shirt gnome. Not everything forgot the Fey spirits knew well what he was and responded with everything they had.

The ground shook as Golems rose up throwing boulders, Wind rushed and lighting came down onto Graxitica. Then there was the coming Mutated Tree Ship.

On top of that the elves were already on high alert due to the Gre'shil. Five were in Graxitica location and drew there arrows.

Such nuances as this didn't concern Graxitica. However, as he had just recently took this form and most of his power was drained from obtaining it, whatever power he could absorb here in this forest would be just enough to level him off.

Plus, he was definitely in no position to argue as the thing appeared to be staring right at him and would no doubt give away his position and arrival. He forcibly absorbed just enough through his connection with the tainted source to top off then severed his link, the psionic backlash roaring straight towards whatever sentience that took up residence inside the thing.

Then he noticed the gnome, the golems popping up out of the ground, the lightning attempting to strike him...and the elves. Oh, the elves.

He let them fire their arrows at him. Should any be enchanted, it would just be a great boost to his own power should they hit let alone pierce the armor of his newfound body. He held up his hand, absorbing the lightning strikes - then redirected the electrical flow towards the golems. He winked at the gnome as he awaited the arrows to impact his armored hide, leaping down from the wall whether or not they hit him. His landing formed a small crater in the ground, he recovered quickly; a bit too quickly for his bulk one would think - and made a beeline for the trees.

He would simply just have to find a different way to access this untapped energy.

The Desert

Rotten Luck! To most, those words were a curse, and an individual with that name someone from whom to stay far, far away. For Jade, seeing the zombie here was a blessing, and as he landed with a wide smile, a fond greeting already on his lips, he was just about ready to sweep up the (relatively) little man in a tackle-hug.

Until the shout.

"Robot?!" the old soldier half-roared, half rasped in shock, coming to a skidding halt, and immediately looked for both an escape route and something with which to defend himself. Rocks being abundant, he found such a one and raised it threateningly, "Don't you come near us, you hear?! We don't...!"

The Dragon didn't keep track of the rest of the words the man threw at him after that, though the accusory tone and obscenity-laden language let his ire across just fine. Jade froze in mid-step, almost shrinking away, the scene only too much a reminder of how the Hetrar had treated him as a machine.

"Shut up!" he finally roared out, snapping back at the memories, as well as the soldier, his voice full of anger and pain, "I'm not a robot! I never was! It was just the stupid body! It's not my fault you idiots could never see past that!"

That did it. The old man froze in silence and with wide eyes, still holding the rock as if about to throw it at the heavily breathing Dragon. His brain wasn't giving him any words to respond, having blanked. Neither was Jade's, but his cause was a whirlwind of thoughts, not a lack of them.

"I'm...I'm sorry." he finally managed to get out, trying to hide a tear in the corner of his eye. He turned about and motioned them to follow, "Yes, its me. Come on. We should get out of here..."
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Gre'shil Village

Akat didn't like that answer, retorting to the former Kaja, "Yeah? Well, I can."

With that, she placed her hands before her chest and took a deep breath, then raised a foot and smashed its sole into the soil. Seemingly in the very same instant, the earthen walls around the human encampment suddenly shuddered, then collapsed into the ground in a very peculiar manner, almost looking like plates that had been swiftly retracted into the earth.

"Now you all let them leave." the Khelari told Tila and the other Gre'shil, "You've beaten them. You've got your victory. If they challenge you again, then kill them. Don't treat them how you don't want to be treated."

"And you," she turned to the slaves by the cart, "if you're those demon-obsessed people, stop picking a fight with everything you see, got it? It's annoying. Really annoying."

"All I wanted to do was see their city." she remarked to Tila in the same conversation, "You think they say hello? No, they start screaming, tie me to a piece of wood, and set it on fire. Not that it wasn't nice, but still. Rudest people I've ever met."

With that, she seemed to consider the matter settled, and indeed she did. Of course, the Gre'shil likely had other opinions...
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At

"Oh." Tamrat remarked in response to what he perceived as the demon's desire to depart this world, looking a little downtrodden at losing this interesting new friend already, "Well, if you need to go home, I can take you to the nearest airdock. There's always a runner or two there. Though um...you say it'd be good for your people if you stayed here the rest of your life? How come? Do you want to? It's nice. There are always new places to see..."
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'Twin City'

Being a blast door that was practically a wall, there were unfortunately no cracks or air gaps for Ildela to find. Since the presence of such would've defeated the purpose of the door, it was maintained well. There was no trace of corrosion.

She did find a gap, however. It wasn't in the door, though. Rather, it was in the wall next to it. To be more accurate, it was one of four in the wall there, coming together to form a rectangle. Pressure against the thusly outlined plate would cause it to recede and slide away, exposing a mechanism that was easily identified as a form of hand scanner. It didn't scan handprints though, rather matching elements of the DNA within the hand against its database. Not that this was apparent, of course. What was apparent was the shape of the hand outline in the baseboard. Large and clawed, it was easy to see it wasn't that of a human.

It was the hand of a Drokar - the claws of a Dragon...
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Elven Forest

Fortunately for Bisys, her concern at the orange lighting was unnecessary. The range runner's architects may have carried quite a few mannerisms that matched those of humans, such as nodding, smiling, et cetera, but one thing on which Khelari and humans differed greatly was the meaning they assigned to colors. To a human, green soothed and red excited or alarmed. To a Khelari, it was nearly the opposite. Reds, yellows, and blacks were soothing while greens, blues, and whites were calls for attention, warnings of danger, or other things that demanded the body be more active. The runner's presently orange illumination was no more an indicator of urgency than soft white would've been aboard a human craft.

Of course, that didn't mean the ship wasn't on alert for when it might be needed. Like now.

"Request received." the soft tone of the autopilot responded to Bisys' plea, being a little closer than the forest, and the next moment, the runner's reactor already raised output for the metaloid satyr to access. If more was needed, such as medical supplies, the ship was fully stocked. All Bisys needed do was convey her request in one form or another...

At

-'What's this? They have transports on this planet?'- the words nearly crawled right out of his mouth, yet his nature prevented him from speaking it. Whatever manner of creature he was speaking with, these things definitely had quite the advantage over humanity already.

Looking down at Tamrat, he gave the Khelarian a suprised look. "Of course I don't want to stay here the rest of my life!" he said, trying not to shout but at the same time to let Tamrat know he was serious. Which just so happened to be a total lie - controlling a world such as this could prove to be quite..."My people, we have only discovered a couple of other worlds through magical means. One of those worlds is ... well very hostile towards us. The other world is devoid of any life. Many wise men have lost their lives exploring that barren wasteland of a planet..." he lowered his head a bit, as if lost in thought over dead friends. "You're telling me you have the means to leave this planet on a whim? Ahem, in other words you can leave this place whenever you want to?" crossing his arms, Nev'oroxis would appear to be intrigued by this. Then...
"Well, I just got here, so it would be a great disservice to my people to not explore this place, especially encountering ones such as yourself that have the means to come and go as they please...so of course I can stay awhile!"

Edward sighed.

"Can you lot keep it down, you know how hard it is to make a shot at this distance without you lot yammering on about this and that...just get to safety...I'll keep an eye on this angry 'god' of yours..."

Edward motioned to Steve, "alright I'll cover you, you go and see what that ruckass was all about..."

The Shivan hopped off of the howadah and begun the walks towards Elizabeth and Tafari.

At

The Khelari had been about to ask just why Negative Rise didn't want to stay here, as his reason for going back didn't quite seem so obvious, but by then the demon had already moved on to another topic, so Tamrat decided to leave it for later. Much the same applied to the reptilian's curiosity about his people's ability to travel between worlds (Tamrat had just assumed they could), though there Negative Rise answered his question before it could be spoken.

"Awesome." the Khelari grinned and turned toward the gargantuan lava lake, looking for a good way down while he motioned for the demon to follow, "Come with me. Master Vetdjat is modifying the north telescope right now. If we hurry, we can catch him there before he puts it back."

Then a thought occurred to him, the Tamrat looked back to the demon with questioning realization, "Um...can you swim...?"

((Gonna wait until Rotten responds before writing my next reply for the Desert.))

Negative Rise looked on as Tamrat asked his question. -'Swim? In the lava? AH HELL...well thank Him Below for the whole magical enchantment bit...'-

Nev'oroxis shrugged his shoulders and said "Well, if it was water I'd say yes. I suppose I could swim in lava too, once again thanks to the enchantments placed upon me earlier before I arrived here. Lead the way!"

Seeing that the fighting had calmed down the Shivan stopped a couple of feet away from the two of them. To Tafari it would be seen that this wasn't just a regular Shivan but had all sorts of seemingly random cybernetic enhancements fitted to its glowing bones.

Steve waved to Edward who begun his approach.

"Betsy, shotgun mode..."

The rifle morphed and shifted until it resembled a rather large double barrelled pump action shotgun.


Hopping down off the Howdah and landing next to Steve.

"So ladies, gentlemen...I assume the fighting has been settled..."

Unfortunately for Edward Elizabeth wasn't the Elizabeth of his time period, her future but one of her past.

The Desert

"If you throw that rock I rip off your head. I said Was a robot as in This guy isn't a Robot clean out your ears GI Joe." He looked at Jade . "Yeah your him but how you get flesh and blood again?"

Glancing back and then around him "Yeah I think you might be right Mr. Hyper active here mentioned something about killer Machines. You might want to fill me in."

Gre'shil Village

The Ground shook and the walls fell. The result was shock fear and a bit of panic both from the Gre'shil and from the Slaves.

"GOD LIKE ONE!" came from a few voices and by now the story of what happened in the desert was way over blown. Many Gre'shil went for cover others bowed thinking that if they were humble before Akat they won't be destroyed.

Even Tila seemed not sure how to respond now. The oddest thing would be the slaves themselves who fled into the simple structures. In one way the Gre'shil were monsters to them but this place was far enough away from the Desert for them to be save and thought harsh life they were getting plenty to eat.

Tila large claw tapped the ground as she thought "Strong powerful and quick to actions, you are not young one but still not quite fully adult right? Like my Scar somewhere in between."

Elven Forest

The elves did fire at Graxitica but the arrows weren't enchanted they were the result of a bit of science. Most of the Elven weapons here were made to fight outside of the magic aura of the forest. So he would find the flash arrows blowing up trying to blind him and a few arrows with a net cord to tangle him fired at him.

The Gnome was yelling and cursing Graxitica but of course nothing was generated as sounds.

At

"Swim in water?" the Khelari couldn't help but let out a brief laugh as he headed back down to the bubbling lava, "Good one. Everyone knows you can't swim in water."

He had no idea how wrong he was of course, having never seen an amount of water deep enough to immerse his body, let alone swim through. He didn't linger on it though, instead doing as the demon had suggested and leaping headfirst into the molten rock. Therein, Tamrat swam much like a fish, undulating from side to side and using his tail as his main means of propulsion. It wasn't exactly the fastest way through the viscous liquid, but certainly faster than something like breaststroke.

Every now and then, he'd spiral about and back to the surface, opening nostrils to renew breath, and eyes to make sure Negative Rise was still following. Reaching the city took quite some time this way, but Tamrat didn't much mind, having made the trip from edge to center many a time. He had stamina to spare.

When he finally reached the area beneath the pillar-and-tree supported platform of metal and rock, the Khelari altered his course somewhat, entering a thin area of shallows created by a subsurface extension of the gigantic crystal tree.

"Over there." he indicated what could best be described as a pair of lavafalls 'falling' the wrong way a little ways down the circumference of the very uneven, yet roughly circular edge of the patchwork platform above, "Looks like he's still grabbing materials."

As if that explained everything (though to Tamrat, perhaps it did), the Khelari jumped back into the lava and swam to one of the massive metal pillars near the upside-down falls, then proceeded to climb a ladder let into the multi-toned black plating, motioning for the demon to follow. The place really was much like Grandville in that respect, the structure of platforms and their supports a jumbled, yet still somehow mathematically purposeful mess. The hum of energy pervaded the place, and there was clearly more at work here in terms of power than just the volcano. Just what this was wasn't so apparent however, as the young hunter climbed only to the platform upon which the falls 'began', leading Negative rise into a structure that a human would've described as some sort of metal church-temple combination with the roof blown off.

The place was somewhat circular, and the low walls jutted irregularly into the sky, the whole of it open upwards. All around lay rock, and along the far edge lay a reflecting pool that took up about half the available floor space. It was quite shallow though, at least judging from the appearance of the Khelari who stood in the lava that filled it to just above his ankles. Unlike Tamrat, this one's hide was jet-black, and several spines jutted from his back. Before him, standing at least twenty meters tall, 'stood' an arch of molten rock that showed tendencies of becoming a circle of the same diameter, floating freely in the air while the Khelari looked on thoughtfully, seemingly trying to figure out what to do with it, his long tail swaying slowly to and fro, tip dipping into the lava at random intervals...
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The Desert

"Long story." Jade told Rotten while he warily eyed the gradual boil-down of hostilities around Tafari, his desires to make sure Dr. Mechano wouldn't get fried and to get the heck outta Dodge in bitter conflict, "Both of them. Either way, there's a forest not too far that way."

He pointed in the direction of the elven lands, though he didn't take his eyes off the powderkeg, "Can you take those two there? They should be safe there...well, safer than here anyway."

If the zombie had reservations about leaving on account of the others still carrying more than enough potential to break off into another fight, Jade would of course understand. He felt the same way. Luckily, despite the old soldier's demeanor, he and the second Hetrar carried enough presence of mind that they'd state they could get there by themselves...
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Gre'shil Village

"Excuse me?" Akat blinked in return at Tila, "I'll have you know I've been an adult for almost a year now. I could find myself a mate any time I like."

"And I'm not a god." she addressed the Gre'shil at large, "What, you've never seen anybody move a rock before? That's Solids lesson number one. Literally. It's called 'Move a Rock'..."

At
Not one to be all too concerned with the intense heat, Negative Rise leapt down from the rim of the volcano, attempting to land on any sort of rock outcrop that would be below. Watching as the Khelarian dove in head first, Negative Rise followed suit, a shallow memory of doing the same thing while in Hell.
Swimming in lava wasn't one of those things just any damned soul could do - one had to be either born in Hell itself or be damned to a particular circle of Hell...and this distinction is where Rise's memory constantly failed him. From what he was able to discern, true-born demons KNEW they were true-born...while everyone else didn't...

With no tail to help propel him, Rise's lavaswim technique was more of a human imitating a frog's swim underwater...and much to the Khelarian's surprise he was more than capable of keeping pace with the creature. He also had an advantage over the living flesh - he had no need to surface for air, and could dismiss that as simply a benefit of the magical enchantments that had been bestowed upon him from his "home world". Upon reaching the shallows, Rise looked up at the crystalline tree, a certain measure of awe may've crossed his face, yet his usual frowning lips and the black orbs he had as eyes couldn't possibly give any such notion away.

Then Tamrat was on the move again, so once again Negative Rise followed. Reaching the ladder just as the Khelari was about halfway up it, Rise planted one heavy booted foot on the bottom rung as he reached up, pulling himself out of the lava...and then he leapt to the top of the ladder just as Tamrat took a couple steps on the upper walkway.

"So, Tamrat," Nev'oroxis said while he followed the Khelari into the open chamber, "swimming in water is MUCH easier than swimming in lava!" The demon's chuckle from saying this would sound as nails scraping a chalkboard, or more as metal raking against stone in refererance to a Khelari's familiarity with annoying sounds. Then he noticed the jetblack Khelari standing in the reflecting pool on the other side of the chamber. -'So THAT'S why this Tamrat wasn't surprised by my midnight black skin and eyes...'- It shouldn't have to come to any particular surprise to him - these creatures did appear lizard-like, almost as if they were dragons of a long lost age... ((I always forget, or get it confused...Khelari are the race of dragons right? Like Jade is?))

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The Elven Forest

((Nope. That would be the Drokar, which translates to Dragon(s) - both singular and plural - and is the proper name for Jade's species. The Khelari are just the people of Khelaris, who apart from their outward appearance and tolerance to heat have very little in common with Dragons, dragons, or even reptiles in general. ))

At

"That depends on who you ask." the Khelari standing in the shallow pool answered Negative Rise in stead of Tamrat, his tone much less energetic, but greatly more mindful than that of the young hunter. Even as he spoke, he didn't look back, and if the demon could discern so from his current position, he'd notice the reptilian's eyes were closed. Nevertheless, he seemed to be acutely aware of everything about.

"Myself, I find it much too cold." he continued to speak as he reached forward to the amalgamation of arch and torus, his claws apparently looking for something within, "And it's such a thin liquid too. Has hardly anything to push against."

Thos words seemed almost prophetic, for the very next instant, his eyes snapped open and he pushed his hand into the molten ring with speed, first gripping and then snatching out some manner of wormlike creature that brimmed with sharp, almost spike-like scales that looked to be composed of rock. The thing screeched horribly, the piercing sound orders of magnitude worse than the demon's chuckle, its tooth-filled maw snapping viciously at the 'air' while the rest of its body wound and lashed about.

"Tamrat!" the elder Khelari turned to the younger, then threw the thing toward him in a high arc. With eager eyes, Tamrat extended his arms in preparation, then grabbed the 'worm' firmly out of its trajectory, almost immediately sinking his teeth into what could've been described as the thing's neck. It struggled for about another second, and then the body went limp. A transparent fluid pooled about Tamrat's teeth and lips for a moment before the Khelari began to suck it up, followed by eagerly gnawing into the animal.

"Don't let me catch you skipping meals again." the elder continued as the torus began to shrink together into a sphere about two meters in diameter, "That's not good when you're young. I think I see why, though. So where did you find your new friend?"

"Mhf." Tamrat quickly yanked his teeth back out of his meal and swallowed the large chunk he'd already torn from the thing, "At the rim. And yes, I was going to find a kadj, but then I found him, and he smelled good, and I-"

"Tamrat!" the black Khelari interrupted with force, looking displeased, "You didn't try to eat him, did you?"

"Nnononono." the young hunter quickly shook his head, "I was polite. I didn't even lick him. I remembered exactly:"

"Food that talks is not food." both of them said in tandem, the elder assuaged by this, and continued, "Very good. Well then, new friend of my student, welcome to At. I am Vetdjat-M'at Ariam'n. May I know your n-oh. One moment."

Behind him, the torus had by now fully compacted, and the Khelari reached for it with both hands, guiding the construct down toward the pool surface. At the same time, the formerly wide legs of the arch, drawn in by the change in size, came together to form a compact base roughly as wide as the sphere, creating what looked like a very strange column of 'slow-motion-erupting' molten rock.

That suddenly solidified.

"There." Vetdjat remarked with a satisfied smile, "Much better..."
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'Twin City'

Unfortunately for Ildela, the door didn't come open after she'd pried of the scanner's front and rummaged about inside. In fact, the opposite happened, namely in the form of a secondary gate lowering itself into place before the first blast door and sealing shut with a series of heavy clacks.

A few moments later, the holographic head of a bald, bespectacled man appeared in the hallway, a very authoritative voice stating to her, "Attention. You are in an area restricted by law under the Drokar Flight Control Act. Unauthorized presence here is punishable as a state crime. You are to vacate the area immediately. Failure to comply will result in removal and arrest by both local and sate police. This message repeats. Attention..."

In total, the tirade would be run down three times. After that, the speaker would disappear, and presumably police would be notified. Of course, they'd never come. There hadn't been any police here for hundreds of years. Still, this gave a vital clue. The message system was clearly not linked to the rest of these machines. In conjunction with the scanner obviously intended to open the door, this quickly led to two conclusions. Either the whole thing was some elaborate trap, or the machines hadn't been the ones who built this place...

At
Negative Rise watched Tamrat's 'feeding' with about as much interest as one would while watching NatGeo. It kinda reminded him of a trip to one of Earth's water creature shows. It also kinda reminded him of the 'feeding frenzies' some of the upper demons conducted with the gluttonous damned souls - about once a century of torture, some of these upper demons would wander into the lower rungs of Hell, toying with each class of souls - the game with the gluttons was to toss putrid food, and mostly skeletal bones, out to these pathetic souls. It was quite the sight...

Standing stoicly near the entrance of the chamber, he listened in on the exchange between the master and student, nodding in affirmation to Tamrat's comments about being polite. He let out another chuckle at the "not even a lick" comment. If Vetdjat took any notice at all, he might see the chuckle was not accompanied with any sort of "smile" - as the demon was incapable of such action. As the peculiar elder lizard creature finished his ...whatever he was doing with the lava flow thing, Rise decided to introduce himself.

"Greetings, Master Vetdjat," he let out, his voice still ringing with the same metal raking-on-gravel sound as his laughter. "I am High General Nev'oroxis. I was leading a force of my Tevron Knights against a horde of our enemies. What happened next was very strange...during the battle, the earth trembled, after the battle, I find myself stranded here on this 'Patches'..." he let his words trail off to give an impression of confusion. Now, suddenly, he didn't feel very forthcoming with any more information than what he just gave Vetdjat. A couple things about what Tamrat had said earlier ... unstable transmission, and this particular 'master' of his knowing quite a bit about how this planet 'attracted' pieces of other planets. If anyone had a remote chance of busting up what he considered to be one of his more elaborate schemes for a mortal identity, it would be this black-scaled lizard the one named Tamrat called Master.

"Excuse me for my curiousity, ignorance and what may be a bit forward - but, what, exactly, is this structure we stand in? Also, what manner of creature are you? You look like ... well, you both kinda look like dragons to me," take it how they will, Negative Rise's comment was the best way he could describe to them how they appeared. "Also, young Tamrat mentioned this earlier - your kind has the means to come and go as they please from this planet? An astonishing feat indeed; a kind my people only possess by way of magical and mystical incantations, and thusly limited only to the few that know how to work those powers and charge a great deal for..."

-'And are you the one responsible for my being here?'- he wondered. As far as he knew, the planet he was on before coming here was ... decimated and devoid. -'WAS the planet I fought that angelic host on, truly called Ag'xis, and my memory of destroying it erased?'- In any case, he could possibly have his question answered should Vetdjat decide to let "Nev'oroxis" know the extent of their knowledge. And - DAMMIT Tamrat did it again ... mentioning something about "smelling good" - well, Negative Rise wouldn't worry about his own scent anymore...when he made that go away he had no intention of letting his body go back to giving off any sort of scent.

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The Elven Forest
Graxitica kept moving, the uneasy feeling he had early still dwelling. He knew all too well that if he stopped, the forest would definitely retaliate in some fashion. Not that he was worried about that - his psionic link with any source of energy in this area had already been voluntarily severed (and he still wondered how that gigantic "thing" had reacted to the backlash from the severing...but that was a fleeting thought). It was as his mind decided to play out a scenario of the tree-thing being wracked in pain from a sudden insurgency of psionic power that he heard a most familiar sound.

'Ah, the wolves,' an amused look crossed the otherwise sturdy face of the beast-shell. 'They've come in handy before...', remembering a time of his reign over the planet Kalderi, Graxitica let out a low rumble of a chuckle. He didn't know if any of his tricks would still work these days, especially given how uneasy it made him feel with the way that gnome appeared, and how it looked upon him...one thing was certain to him though: there was evil, an evil precense somewhere within this forest, hidden by barriers and magics of the fey and those that would call themselves "good".

Gre'shil Village

"Adult yes but still young. Tell me What you think round ears would do? Run into high grass of plans where they know large predators like black teeth are that can rip them in half in one bite. Or perhaps run into desert where the Gods live. It's dark and Round ears eyes don't see well either."

"They are afraid like any being afraid they do one or two things Run or fight. They have no place to run too so tell me what would they do now that the walls are gone? Before they could lie to themselves say the walls kept us Gre'shil out of there camp. But that false safety is gone now. Are you sure a Round ear seeking revenge wouldn't go into Gre'shil nest dome and smash eggs and kill hatchlings?"

"you not Gre'shil but you think like one. Don't like something brake it, don't like how things are challenge it, Don't like some creature or someone Scare it with Might or challenge it. You not Gre'shil but in those ways you are." Was there a hint of disappointment in Tila voice? Perhaps after all she was a little bit more evolved then the other Gre'shil even if she doesn't know it. "Tila thought you would think then act not other way round."

What else Tila might have said was lost as the other Clan mothers came charging forward. "You No Right! Round ears not your people, Gre'shil not your people. You have no right to take down wall! This not your place!"

Elven Forest

Graxitica might have noticed something odd. A fey flying after him suddenly stopped and flew in another direction. Not just one of the fey but all of them that were buzzing about avoided the Tinted area. What's more it seemed as if they weren't aware of them doing so.

Elsewhere The captain of the guard looked up as spot Kethara came into view with the dead assassin. "Alright now what's this?"

Aineruda woke up her wounds were healed. "What.. what happened. Water... I'm very thirsty please water." She looked weak but healthy she did loose a lot of blood but now that was the only sign that she was just a few moments ago on deaths door. Outside the Rover the guards cheered "SHE'S ALIVE!"

The Desert

"I don't know about leaving the God fellow, Doctor Doolittle (Edward), and the Vampire witch alone. For some reason her bloody name keeps remin..... bloody... Oh damn now I know who she is!"

HE turned and look at Elizabeth. "She's The Elizabeth Báthory the Vampire witch who killed 80 known victims and perhaps as much as 600. But that was sometime in the late 1500s early 1600s what the hell is she doing in the here and now. I'm glad I got her out of Paragon but... damn I'm really glad I didn't start fighting her in the streets if anyone knows a spell to destroy me it's her."

As fervently as the guards cheered Aineruda's recovery, Bisys thanked the energy donors.

Should the range runner react to Bisys's afterthought of need and have appropriate resources, Bisys would give Aineruda water from its supply. Though more likely was that the range runner, designed to cater to its creators, was more likely equipped with lava than water, so Bisys would pursue an external source.

That being the case, Bisys would leave a temporary specter over the Lady Aineruda. This invisible guardian would only react to frighten off any who had animosity towards its ward. Thus protected, Bisys could leave the range runner. Within a brief minute she would travel to the abandoned hot springs, claim some water in portable container, and return to Aineruda's side. This water might be less than appealing, but to Bisys water was water.

Either way, Bisys would try to help Lady Aineruda into a sitting position and offer water. It took more concentration to keep her hands steady than even the healing had required, but that was effort Bisys was all too glad to make.

"Drink," Bisys urged the recovering elf. "Questions can be asked once you slack your thirst."

At

"Just Vetdjat please." the elder Khelari retorted to Negative Rise with a mischievous smile as Tamrat found himself a place to sit and eat, "Unless you'd like to take me as a teacher as well. I admit, the idea intrigues me. I've never had a demon as a student before."

The words were spoken so casually, but chances were that to someone trying to conceal his identity all this time, the statement still struck like a bomb. Vetdjat didn't mean for it to, of course. For him, it was just a generalization of being, like calling a Flow an amorph. Thus, if Negative Rise didn't interrupt somehow, he'd continue to speak.

First he'd tell the demon that Tamrat and he were Khelari, calling themselves that after their homeworld's name Khelaris, and that while he'd never seen a living dragon, he doubted the species were biologically related. He'd also explain that the structure they presently stood in was one of their cities - well, the city now, as it was the only one Patches had fished off Khelaris when it had transported the piece here - and in the most general sense a large collection of tools. The platform that held the lava pool Vetdjat stood in was one such tool, allowing the Khelari to be close to others he might need while forming something from the molten rock.

Of course, whether or not he got the time to say all this was up to Negative Rise...
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Gre'shil Village

"Yes they are." Akat retorted loudly as she bent down, placing the palm of her left hand against the earth, "And yes you are. What kind of way of thinking is that, 'not your people'? Mhf. If you can think, you're people. Doesn't matter what you look like."

Then she stood again, eyeing the Gre'shil, "Yeah, I'm different from you. And they're different too. But we're still all people, and that makes us all have something in common. You want to be happy, they want to be happy, I want to be happy. You can get hurt, they can get hurt, I can get hurt. It's fine if you don't want to live together. But don't hurt each other. None of you like being hurt, do you? So treat each other like you want to be treated: as people. The same people, with the same rights."

Over the horizon, a few dots of light appeared in the night sky, and Akat continued, "I'll go take the 'round ears' to a place where they can do that and not eat your young or find a revenge, whatever that means. I'm hoping you can do it here. And yeah, if you or anyone else doesn't, I'll challenge them every time. People aren't supposed to treat each other as anything other than people, and especially not something to kill for food. That's the first thing we learn where I'm from."

Also one of the relatively few things all Khelari learned, at least speaking in terms of the many cultures here on Patches. Akat indeed had no idea what revenge meant, her society having no concept of it, and indeed believed that a human would break into a nest dome to eat the young Gre'shil.

Meanwhile, the small number of range runners that had come over the horizon descended on the area around the village, using their ability to manipulate gravity to pick up the 'round ear escapees'. Moving swiftly and efficiently, they'd be done in no time, then land to take them aboard properly. One runner, however, came straight into the village and landed behind Akat...
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Eleven Forest

A few minutes earlier...

The range runner did indeed have a store of water, as Khelari may have liked to swim in lava, but they still didn't drink the stuff. When the request came, the autopilot responded just as it had before, producing what it could to try and fulfill it.

And that wasn't all.

"Beacon received." the same voice announced not seconds later, and with a hiss the access ramp closed and the ship's engines began to hum into a low howl, like that of quiet turbines. Not moments later, the range runner's 'landing feet' left the ground of the elven forest, and the ship began to gain altitude, returning to its original shape in the process.

"Course laid in." the autopilot announced once more, then fired the main thrusters, the trees speeding away first aside and below, and then only below as the runner climbed much faster than even an elven arrow could catch up. Thankfully, none of this was felt inside. In fact, if Bisys and Lady Aineruda hadn't seen the terrain and sky going by outside, they wouldn't even have been able to tell the ship was moving due to its compensation of the acceleration's g-force.

It didn't stay at altitude long however, not a few minutes later already entering a descent, and not long after that reshaping itself to land once again. The noise of the engines soon ebbed away again, and the craft gently set down, the access ramp coming back open to free the view to the outside.

To the Gre'shil village.

"So I hope that you can, otherwise you're just as bad as those angry-all-the-time humans I mentioned earlier." the elf and metaloid satyr saw Akat with her back to the runner, continuing to speak to the Gre'shil. When she caught a whiff of the air coming out of the ship though, the Khelari turned about in mild surprise, remarking to the two, "Huh? When'd you go in there...?"
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The Desert

"So..." Jade looked unsurely to Rotten Luck, "Isn't that more of a reason not to be here right now...?"

Negative Rise just stood there as expressionless as normal.
-'So this one indeed knows my true nature,'- the demon's mind retorted.
With a shrug, Nev'oroxis looked straight at Vetdjat. He continued to listen to the Khelari explain things. The creature's knowledge was intriguing. Furthermore, unlike so many other lower class demons, Negative Rise wasn't the type that responded to summoning, couldn't be bound by any known means...so he just stood there, waiting for Vetdjat to finish.
-'Guess there's really no point in hiding it now, but let's find out...'-

He would start by answering Vetdjat's comment.
"Humans would call it ... respect, merely a pleasantry," his voice echoed through the chamber laced with an acridic tone. "Oh do carry on, by all means."

At

"Humans..." Vetdjat repeated thoughtfully, continuing to run his claws over the monolith as he spoke, "Can't say I've heard of those. I take they're the people of...Tevron is your world?"

"Ag'xis." Tamrat corrected with a quick shake of his head, looking up from his food and to Negative rise, "Tevron was...you said it was a reach there, right? What's a reach?"

The elder gave a quiet chuckle at that, going on as he worked, gradually circling the stone, "Ag'xis then. Must be far...ooor your name is different than ours for it. Happens all the time. So did these humans model you after themselves? Or are they of a different nature? How about you? What is your function? Do you have more than one? Are you an individual or part of a collective...?"

Elven Forest

The moment the Range Runner took over Durlan took his chance "See I told you they were kidnapping Lady Aineruda! Captain as head of the elven council and in command given Aineruda's missing! I Demand you arrest these outsiders at once on grounds of attempted assassination and Kidnapping!"

The Captain looked over and nodded then looked to those around. "Durlan is right you people did bring that ship here and it took off with her. Do you have an explanation even if you don't I will have to arrest you all. If I like it or not."

"Guardsman Tirmanla go and make the holding cells ready." Durlan looked at the captain "CAPTAIN! Get reinforcements! these are dangerous people your not expecting them to go quietly."

"Unlike you I do expect that. I don't have to like them to recognized people with Honor."

Desert

"Your Right Jade. I just don't like the idea of questionable types roaming around. But we can't send them to the Zig. So lets head to these elves and hope the group over there don't cause trouble." He rose up and started headed in the direction Jade mentioned earlier.

"On the way there how about filling me in."

Gre'shil Village

Aineruda looked out at the Gre'shil village and for a moment fear was on her face.

Then she heard Akat "Huh? When'd you go in there...?" "I don't know you have to ask Bisys. I... almost died." She didn't care if the water was from the hot springs or the ship she drank more to calm her nerves now then from thirst.

Sevral of the Gre'shil hissed seeing and smelling a Pointy ear one. Tila claw was tapping again. "We kill each other often it's Gre'shil way. You expect us to treat others otherwise?"

The comment from Tila wasn't sarcasm it was a simple fact to her. The Gre'shil were brutal to each other so why wouldn't they be to other types of people.

Elf Forest

"We have been brought to Akat and ..." The end of the third update from Bisys to Jade on their private channel petered off. If the satyr's face had been capable of movement her jaw would have to have been dug out of the ground, so far it figuratively fell.

"Huh? When'd you go in there...?" she heard Akat ask, then Lady Aineruda reply, "I don't know you have to ask Bisys. I... almost died."

Bisys unfroze and helped Aineruda with a steadying drink. Bisys sent questioning thoughts about the relocation to the range runner even as she addressed the Khelari, "But, you, er, the range runner said, 'Beacon received' then 'Course laid in' and then a few minutes later we were here. All I did was thank the range runner for energy and water to help heal Lady Aineruda. Didn't you call it, Akat?"

She had a slight twitch from being near the site of the Gre'shil's death challenge, though it was likely lost in her already erratic motions. Then she displayed a not-so-subtle movement as her head, then whole body, started swinging around, obviously searching for something missed among the turmoil both inside and out. That something was the pair of elfin guards. Guards needed to be kept with Lady Aineruda to hold the tentative truce. Guards left behind when the range runner, well, ran off.

"Uh, Oh..." "Uh, Oh..." Bisys concluded both aloud and to Jade.