"And that, as they say, is that."  James staggered back clasping a book in his hands.  "Right...yes, I think that's enough."

        "Are you sure?" Chanoch looked at the other book on the stand.

        "Positive," they watched the portal in the pages close with a snap, "a small yet efficient library of reference is all I need for my greatest task."

He stepped over to his desk with his new tome in hand as he sat down and started to read, comparing with notebook full of Ivalician script to translate from whilst Chanoch stood to the side biting his thumb with cautious looks at the door.  The T.E.A.R. base was quiet as the night guard kept watch with less workers about, the sounds of gentle rolling treads and clacking feet signalling the badnik and reploid workers going tireless through their routines keeping maintenance checks.  James sometimes looked up to exercise his eyes and stop them blearing from the rows of text he traced, gazing around the room with its firm steel walls and comfortable double bed with a TV covered in a cloth drape on the opposite wall.  Then he caught sight of Chanoch.

        "Something wrong?" the lemming looked up to him.

        "Is this...right?"  He gestured to the pile of books on the bed.

        "Chanoch I thought we went over this," James turned in his seat, "look, we agreed that what master Durai did was wrong yes?"

        "Yes."

        "And that I am perfectly capable of deciding what I can do with such knowledge that I receive."

        "Yes."

        "So, what is the problem?"

        "Why...do we not tell anyone else?"  He looked at the closed door hearing people passing by.  "We have to hide this, I feel...I am worried."

        "Just so we don't have Haytham coming in barging about forbidden this and that, word spreads around a small place such as this.."

        "I...yes, I understand."  Chanoch sat himself on the edge of the bed.  "Shall I put these somewhere?"

        "Yes thank you, the drawer under the bed," James pointed in a vague direction as he turned back to his work, "I put my weapon in there as well to keep out of the way."

He picked up the books and opened the sliding drawer beneath the bed, seeing the brolly roll inside with a clasp that put both the unusual handle-shapes together as one in crooked symmetry.  Keeping his hand sharp away from it, he placed the nine books inside and closed the drawer to lay himself down upon the bed, trying to silence the thoughts in his head with occasional looks towards James.  He struggled for a moment before deciding to busy his hands with a small sewing kit from the bedside table, practicing embroidery patterns in the shape of a raptor's head.  An hour passed with not a word between them, mutterings from the lemming turning louder as he chewed a pencil staring at the mystic script.

        "This word is...augh, what does it mean, is it like leader or...entertainer, it's hard to say, maybe it means...no, no it can't be that never mind aaaagh!"

        "What is wrong?" Chanoch looked up.

        "I can't make sense of this damn word, it keeps popping up to refer to someone specific!  I keep thinking it's a leader of a group, but I see references to her courting others and entertaining them as some sort of showman."

He turned back to Chanoch with his head over the seat.

        "Do you have any ideas?  Someone that can both lead and entertain a large gathering?"

        "A circus ringmaster?" he shrugged.

        "Noooo no this woman is alone, they speak of her as if idolising her but at the same time she revels them with her...her act, I suppose, whatever she does, the text in this book seems to imply that she has some mystical quality as if answering to those of a higher power-"

        "A priestess."  Chanoch clicked his fingers.  "In the old land, my ancestors had dancers at the temple."

        "A...priestess, what is that?"

        "Someone who spoke the voice of Elohim to all who hear Him.  She spoke through her body, her dance shows the beauty of Elohim at least, back in ancient times."

        "Dancing with...ohhh of course," James clapped and grinned, "Chanoch you've done it again you BEAUTIFUL blessed man!"

He leapt off his seat and smooched the lizardman deeply which caused him to blush, spinning back round on his feet to sweep back to his chair and pore over his text.

        "A dancer-priestess yes this actually FITS, the text converses with members of her group who spoke of her in both respects, as leader of their order and a grand entertainer to lift their spirits!  Now, yes, we have the setting of this tome now what was its purpose?"

        "A history book?" Chanoch twisted the threadneedle in his claws.

        "Mmm it's not quite so dry as that, I feel it's biographical."

        "A diary then?"

        "Noooo I think this is more of an anthology...oh, gosh I hope we have the whole set that would be the worst thing if we didn't."

        "I will check, what is the title?"

        "Um, it's," James closed the book briefly with a hand inside to bookmark the page, "I um...actually cannot understand what this title says, the cursive is ludicrous."

        "Not even numbers?"

        "I don't...THINK there are numbers at least certainly hope not.  I guess we'll come across that bridge when we get to it, I just have to gleam as much information as I can from this before I return."

        "Are you heading home soon?" the lizardman returned to needling his raptor.

        "In about a week yes," the lemming reopened the book and traced a verse with his finger, "I am very excited for my new experiment and I aim to show my people what I can do."

        "I wish I could be there for you."

        "You will be."  James pulled a small talisman from around his neck and showed it to him.  "You said so yourself."

        "Ahh yes," Chanoch looked over smiling, "I hope the best for your experiment, my love."

        "As do I Chanoch.  I have no other ideas left."

        "You have many, do not doubt yourself."  Chanoch tightened a fist towards him.  "I believe in you."

        "Tha-...thank you."  He turned back to his book.  "I am certain this will work.  Surely."

Continuing to work long into the night, James scribbled away on his notebook as the history of this tome unveiled itself.  Sometimes he asked Chanoch for a second opinion, moreso as the book revealed itself to be of more religious sacrament in detailing ceremonies whilst omitting the names and places of those involved.  The scribe was fascinated, moreso by the level of secrecy that surrounded the tome as he spent the next week of his time at the base pushing through two books worth of knowledge.

On his return to the village of his birth, a cloudy day with a warm breeze that sagged from the ocean cliffs, there was a clamouring of activity present that brought him and Haytham towards it, magnetising the plaza with excitement as lemmings gathered in the square as a sea of green hair bounced and teetered.  The man who was James' mentor stood great above them, a saint amongst elves with his pale beard and dark-sanded robes lofty with no lemming less than a foot shorter than him, gazing over the villagers to see their elder speaking with other lemmings, ones dressed different in the style of tartan-plucked hats and long pleated skirts with buckled shoes.

        "Never stood out this much since the Chocogala," he muttered with his arms above the crowd.

        "Chocowhat?" asked James keeping slightly ahead.  "Gosh I haven't had chocolate in ages, I miss when Oddclaw made them."

        "Ohhh is he a chocolatier?"

        "Yes he's very skilled, it's the talk of the base!"

        "They are marvellous, anyways the Chocogala was a festival celebrating that most noble of beasts, the chocobo whom I have never had quite the fondness of compared to others of my prelate."

        "What do those look like?" James smirked licking his lips at him.  "I presume they are not made of chocolate."

        "No no, I wouldst think they would crack or melt under the burden," he chuckled pulling his beard, "think of large birds with gangly legs and staunch unicolour bodies, beasts of burden who carry us over land but I myself never took to their fancy."

        "Hmm..." the student rubbed his snout looking back towards the plaza, "I think those are highlanders over there."

        "Indeed," said the mentor shielding his eyes from the sun, "a rare thing to see them this far south, with exception of your father."

        "EVERYONE!"  The voice of the lemming chief boomed from the centre square.  "Thank you all for coming out today, I know we are all rather afeart for the news concerning some recent rumours that have surfaced over the land.  Yes, the Great Darkness is coming within the next forty years."

A gasping shudder rippled through the crowd as parents clutched children tight.

        "BUT we have a solution!  We did not wish to alarm anyone until we had a plan and so we have conferred with the other tribes of the island for a plan that shall allow us freedom.  Chief Murdo, you have the floor."

        "Thank you sir."

The most senior highlander stepped up with strong Caledonian twang, twenty years his younger with a billowing kilt and sharp eyes beneath his tam-o-shanter.

        "From my tribe I say greetings and thank ye fer welcoming us intae yer hame.  After conferring with the prophets oan the Great Darkness, we and the other chiefs of the twelve tribes have decided that now is the time to build the Vessel by which has been prophesised tae deliver us from evil."

The audience started to sigh and murmur with relief and growing jubilation.

        "Our finest shipwrights are now drawing out schematics, after we have taken a tally of the entire population with accounting fer extra births in the interim period.  We have a meeting place to confer at the centre of the isle where it's easiest fer all of us tae come together.  We will keep ye posted on our progress but I will say the Vessel shall take at least five years, mayhaps seven so there is still time.  We will come again when time is near so ye can prepare for our future exodus."

        "Thank you chief Murdo," said chief Arino stepping up once more, "so there you have it!  Our exodus shall come and we shall soon be saved truly from the Great Darkness!"

A rousing cheer came from the village as hands went up in a clamour of excitement, the two chiefs shaking hands and speaking with smiles as the lemmings flustered with joy and hopes of stirring questions.  What should I wear, what should we bring, imagine our child born on this vessel and other such things came all across the square amongst friends and family.  All except for James who stood there with tightening fists clutched around his twin-handled brolly and a furrowed brow knitted in silence to which Haytham felt his aura.

        "James."  He placed his hand like one would on a strange dog.  "Look at your people.  Are they not overwhelmed with joy rather than fear?"

        "They are imbeciles," he muttered quietly, "they know nothing of the shores beyond, they think darkness is only satisfied with the one island."

        "I know you have longed your imperative be against this great evil...but are you truly going to stand in their-"

        "Yes."  The lemming turned to him with gritted teeth.  "I must fight this darkness, when no one else will-"

        "My lad please consider-"

        "NO listen!"  He gripped Haytham's hand with a hopeful glint.  "My experiment, if I can just get a moment to demonstrate to them, remember when I brought that book-"

        "To which I immediately took away-"

        "Yesyesyes but forget that I'm over it that's not important, what IS important is that my experiment was a success and if I can just prove to them in front of their eyes what I can do then just maybe they might consider!"

        "You will find a hard bargain considering this Vessel offers much greater hope," said Durai patting James' hand, "I applaud your experiment's progress despite our disceptation over the book-"

        "Of which I apologise for," James quickly added.

        "-but I ask only that you consider what your audience's reaction shall be.  Proffer your experiment, but without interference against that Vessel which shall offer them another path."

        "Bu-"

        "I do NOT mean that against you," Haytham placed his hands on the lemming's shoulders, "I know you shall succeed, I have seen your work and it is veritable, but your people's tradition has taken hold of them so greatly that it will be an effort to emancipate them of it.  Offer your solution, not as the sole but as the alternative."

        "Yes.  Thank you, master."  James bowed with his hands clasped and a heavy sigh.  "I apologise again for my indiscretion during my experiment to you-"

        "Water under the bridge," the master ruffled his hair, "I have had my moments of umbrage during great theses and prognosticates of my younger days."

        "In...that case, may I ask that you arrange a meeting with the elder for tomorrow or soon?  For a public demonstration."

        "Of course my lad."

        "JAAAAAMES!"

A cannonball of blue and green almost barrelled towards them as James quickly grabbed the one approaching.

        "DID YOU HEAR, DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THE VESSEL?!"

        "YES yes I did Ali I was here."

        "Mother an' father are here OH HI MASTER DURAI!"

        "Hmhmhallo good Alistair," the old human hugged James' brother, "and what merry pursuit have you fought today?"

        "Um...wh-what?"

        "You look cheerful," said James patting him, "what's happened to cause it?"

        "OH, my girlfriend she um, sh-she and I are going away, father's taking us up to the highlands for the solstice!"

        "That's wonderful, I hope you have a good time!"

        "Y-yeah!" Alistair plucked his topknot with a fretful look.  "I know you just got back and um, I-i really wanted to spend time with you, I'm sorry."

        "What, don't be!"  James hugged him with a smooch to his head.  "After all the times I've left to be in Oddclaw's world you have every right to make your own plans and to be with Susie."

        "Are you...sure, James?"

        "I have Chanoch, I understand how it is."  He grinded his knuckles into his little brother's hair.  "I would at least want to see you off, I rarely get a chance to meet with Susie."

        "Heheh, alright!"  The teenager grinned pumping his fists.  "We're uh heading out in three days when father takes the highlanders back."

        "Good good, plenty of time before which I have something to show the village."

        "OOOH what is it?!"

        "A-AH, that's a secret."  James tapped his brother's snout.  "You will know the morrow, before you leave at least."

        "Alright!  C'mon let's go see mother, um, master Durai would you like to come too?!"

        "I would be glad to," said the man with curtsy, "I just have to speak with the elder on a miniscule egress, I will call at your door soon."

        "Okay, see you later sir!"

The younger lemming bowed and took his brother's hand as they made their way home, the crowd of villagers dispersing with glee to overshadow the current of fear that ran through underneath.  James could feel it lurking, wretching through the pits of their hearts and creeping its claws as he thumbed along the grip of his handles, the sounds of discontent and the worries of leaving behind this home, this house they built and the sea that welcomed them each morn.  Alistair however saw only the smiles, dances and the giggling, the wry excitement of those who were both thankful of a plan to save them but also rather thrilled at the prospect of a new world.  Whilst Haytham went to the elder's house the two brothers returned home where their mother embraced them, smothering them into her bosom before they went to make dinner as James stirred the pot and Alistair cut the vegetables.  Winifred cleaned the house and took down the laundry before it got too cold from what little sun had come until nightfall, when Harold returned from offloading his wares with Haytham in turn following as they walked in laughing.

        "He, then, hhh-HHHEH, HAAH, bum out, window flap, whack wood, whack wood!"

        "PFFFHAHAAA, OHHH GODS that, th-that, that is quite the vision to behold!"

        "Are you telling people that story again?!" Winifred shook her broom at him.

        "Laugh!" Harold smirked with a shrug.  "Good knocking, creak ear!"

        "I did NOT, that was the carriage and you bloody well know it!"  She bopped him with the handle as he cackled.  "I do hope my husband has not been troubling you master Durai."

        "Not at all!" Haytham waved taking her hand to kiss with a bow.  "Your family have always warmed the cockles of my heart."

        "SNRRK!"

Alistair saw one look from his father that silenced any mirth that threatened to escape.  Harold invited Durai over to his seat as the man sat at the table beside the bearded lemming as they watched the family work.

        "How went your wares sir Harold?" asked Haytham.

        "Out," he made a sweeping motion, "empty."

        "Splendid!" Haytham clapped his shoulder.  "A meritorious ascendancy of commerce to benefit all, I daresay in my experiences here you have always proven yourself to be quite the tycoon!"

        "Hm, bless.  How morn, Win?"

        "Ohhh can't complain," she swept dust into a pile, "besides all the excitement of that Vessel being made, do you really think the Great Darkness is coming so soon?"

        "Forty years is like FOREVER!" cried Alistair chopping carrots.  "Why are we worrying about it now?!"

        "Because in forty years there are children like you-"

        "Um, I'm not a child-"

        "And they HAVE to worry about it because to them it will happen next week."

        "He is right though," James added looking over, "he is not a child, but I do agree that this is not something you ignore, could you hand me those please Ali?"

        "Okay," he scooped the carrots in a bowl and poured them into the pot, "but, do we really have to leave?  I like being here."

        "We always had to leave one day," said Winifred pushing the dirt mound out the door, "we told you about the Great Darkness when you were young, you've known this dear."

        "But...mmmm what if it doesn't come?"

        "Arrive," said his father scratching his beard, "future, perfect.  Seer, see...watch, feel, know."

        "Don't worry Ali," said James leaning over to rub his arm, "I won't let anything happen."

        "What do you mean?" he turned to him.

        "Let's just have dinner first, we can't debate on an empty stomach."

In truth James did not want to spoil the surprise in case anyone caught wind of his plan, keeping quiet as he served up the stew that was rich in both meat and vegetables.  Winifred brought out some bread for each of them to dip their fill in as they savoured their meal, bantering about their days of quiet mundanity, Alistair raving about his trip to the highlands that he positively bounced in his seat with each mention of Susie, whilst Haytham shared family-friendly anecdotes from the old days of his tutelage.

The next day James stood in the midst of the village plaza, carrying a book and his brolly with a stand placed firmly in the square as people would gather once again still a-tizzy from yesterday's announcement.  The highlander guests stood intrigued with chief Arino and Haytham Durai sitting together as the lemmings bustled about with James' family at the forefront of the crowd beneath a cold sunny morning mixed by the warm breeze that dipped through the valleys and slithered through the street with whistling ears.

        ""GOOD MORNING!" he clapped his hands with his back turned straight.  "First I hope that you have all had a most wonderful night after the recent news that our good friends of the Highland tribe have brought us.  You are all familiar with the prophecy, the Great Darkness which has been confirmed will arrive within 40 years hence.  And the Vessel is being developed by which our tribes will unite with the strength of the Talisman to bring us to an exodus.  BUT, I offer an alternative."

He placed the book upon the stand.

        "One that will not interfere with the Vessel's construction, but one that shall make it obsolete.  Consider, for a moment, if the Great Darkness could be defeated."

        "Wh-what?"

        "Did, did he just say-"

        "What IS he saying?!" the audience started to whisper with unease.

        "If one could defeat it!" James raised his voice with a finger raised.  "Expel it from the world then we would have no need for an exodus!  We would never have to fear, never tarry our roots and settle not as emigrants but as citizens of this fair island."

        "Wh-what is he talking about?" Alistair muttered.

        "I-i am not sure," said his mother holding his hand, "just let him speak for a bit."

        "I can tell that some of you seem distressed by this," the mage pointed his brolly's tip to the crowd, "the idea of going against the prophecy is a fearsome one but not that I am intentionally upsetting!  I am offering an alternative, please note."

He swept his umbrella towards the book with a flourish as he pulled open the page.

        "I will demonstrate to you, a power, that I your most learned scribe has formulated over the years I have spent in other realms, one that I assure would make a great weapon, the only weapon against the Great Darkness itself!  I ask for your silence as I perform this."

Through modesty the audience watched without any interruption, despite some fidgeting and nervous sounds with James' father staring cold upon him with a growing distrust that mirrored that of the chieftain's look.  James ignored them and pushed the village from his mind, feeling for the talisman of Chanoch's face in his robe and taking a deep breath.

        "You're here.  I knew you would be."

The scribe placed his hand upon the open book with his other hand on the umbrella, feeling something as he closed his eyes and started to murmur the words he had long since practiced.

        "Unde et factum est, et ego mitto vos hic.  Et stellae manibus meis invocabo te."

The book started to vibrate, trembling through the stand as he felt its pages flutter briefly against his fingers.  The lemmingfolk stepped back as they saw something flickering from the paper, except for Alistair who stood enraptured with his father pulling him back firm when a deep energy filled the plaza.  James stood with his feet apart to brace himself and bury the tip of his umbrella into the cobbles as his fingers clawed against the pages.  A sound guttural emitted from it, surging with storms of an ancient sea beyond their reckoning as his body shook with gasping winds whistling round his feet, tensing his eyes as he stared into the abyss, raising his hand above the portal as he repeated his words.

        "Unde et factum est, et ego mitto vos hic!  Et stellae manibus meis invocabo TE!"

Something lurched as the bookstand shuddered, keeping its tome in place by some magnetic force as the audience stepped back further with fright and the chieftain tensed his legs to prepare for any sudden movements.  James' hand rose higher above him, invoking the aura of sorcerer's apprentice as the book pulled closer towards him with a heave of the stand.  There was something coming, a mass grandiose from the other side of the book, everyone felt the world pushing against itself.  The birth from the womb and the gale against the creaking door would give the same energy of the bending of the very fabric of existence to the lemmings who watched reality become uncertain as the scribe dangled his fingers with a gleeful grin.  His family had never seen this smile of his, not of joy nor esteem for himself.  It was something different.  Something that Haytham spotted with a sharp breath to himself.

        "UNDE ET FACTUM EST, ET EGO MITTO VOS HIC!  ET STELLAE MANIBUS MEIS, INVOCABO TE!"

The world tore itself apart, splitting a piece of the sky as the lemmings cried with fear and scattered from the square with James' family and Haytham keeping as close they could within the boundary of chaos unfolding.  The village chief stepped from his seat and quickly departed from the stage with his guests clutching him close, seeing the scribe's hair flowing up to resemble a crown of serpents, his fronting curl sharp as lightning that streaked back across his head when he stepped back once.  Only once, for something to pierce through existence like a drill from the depths, vomiting across the square to land with a crushing thud and a cloud of dust that shook through the village amongst shrieks of the folk.  James staggered back as the portal closed in the book, the pages crackling with a fire briefly before the book itself shut.

        "Wh-wh-wha...what was that?" gasped one of the village.

        "Did he just...what, what DID he do?!"

        "LOOK!"

They gazed upon the foreign object that had landed in the square.  A totem on its side around 12 feet in length carved from some ancient stone of dark porous mineral that felt cold to touch, lugubrious liquid coming off on their fingers.  There were symbols adorning all sides of it as the villagers gazed over with Haytham at the forefront keeping the younger ones away with Alistair rushing to his brother's side.

        "A-are you alright?!"

        "Yes, yes I am," he gasped, "hohhhh that took much more than I expected."

        "What just HAPPENED?!" cried his mother.

        "Please everyone keep your distance!" Haytham waved them back.

        "What IS that?!" muttered another lemming.

        "Some sort of...stone pillar!" said one bending past Haytham's shoulder.

        "Everyone I must INSIST that you keep away," he pushed them further before pulling out a brush to dust away at the symbols.

        "James what is the meaning of this?!"  Chief Arino marched towards the mage.  "Was your intent on frightening half of us to death?!"

        "I was PERFECTLY capable of controlling it," said James crossing his arms, "no one was hurt!"

        "That is not the point, I expected better from you than this madness of flying stone pillars LODGED through the air like arrows!"

        "Tis but a demonstration of my skill, the level of power by which I have attained in order to assuage you of your fears against the darkness!"

        "Right now I fear you more than any darkness in this moment-"

        "What have you done?"

Haytham stood up with a face of ghostly ill.

        "What.  Have you DONE, James?!"

        "What are YOU babbling about?!" cried Arino pointing at him.  "You were the one to offer me this, this, you said it was a demonstration!"

        "Yes but not desecration!"  The human marched over towards James and grabbed his shoulders hard with eagle's talons.  "WHAT, in the name of Faram and all the heavens HAVE YOU DONE!?"

        "What is wrong with you?!" Alistair threw Haytham's hands off.  "Both of you keep shouting at him and not SAYING anything he did!"

        "How do you know of those symbols?!" barked Durai curling teeth at his student.  "How did, you, I, kept that book from you EXPLICIT you should not have known-"

        "Never mind books!" said the chief waving him back.  "Your student just poleaxed half the village with his magic trick!"

        "IT'S NOT A TRICK!" James stomped his foot.  "The entire point of this was to prove that I have the strength, the ability to face the Great Darkness, by summoning a totem through this portal I can also send things back THROUGH it, do you both understand?!"

        "WHAT?!"  Chief Arino stepped back with eyes agog in stuttering gape.  "I-i...I-i-i...you...did not create that thing?"

        "No, I summoned it from another realm!"

        "Th-that...that is, that is not the way, THAT IS NOT-"

        "YOU!"  The highlander chief Murdo stepped up with a scowling grimace to loom over the mage.  "Tell me now lad, do ye mean what you say, that you summoned this stone from another realm?"

        "Yes," proclaimed James standing straight, "I did, that was the purpose of my demonstration."

There came a silence as the village struggled to comprehend his words.  Not because it was beyond them, but because it was unthinkable.  Chief Murdo stepped back and raised his finger with a poisoned look.

        "Blasphemy.  BLASPHEMY!"

        "Wh-what, WAIT!" Alistair stood between them.  "Wh-what are you saying, what's he done?!"

        "THIS scribe has broken the sacrament of the Linking Book, that nae beast should ever be brought through its pages to our fair isle!"

        "THAT IS NO BEAST!" shouted James pointing at the totem.  "That is but stone I have not broken any sacrament don't you DARE accuse me false!"

        "What travesty is this?!" he stared at Arino sweeping a hand to James.  "You invite me tae yer village and I'm being spoken back to by a scribe who dares tae upset the balance of our hame?!"

        "I AM TRYING TO HALT THE PROPHECY OF DARKNESS!"

        "ENOUGH!"  Chief Arino spun back towards James thrusting his brolly tip at his face.  "You have caused a great transgression, against my knowing you have tainted this time of diplomacy and a joyous future with your devious experiment!"

        "WHAT devious, I told you before I was finding means to halt the Darkness!"

        "And I thought you had a better mind to cease that nonsense, learning your place as a scribe not a warlock!"

        "THEN WHAT GOOD AM I THEN?!"  James stomped his foot with a venomous sneer.  "What good is a scribe who does nothing but write, never uses what knowledge he sought to prove theories or dispel illusions!?"

        "Knowledge is its own power, and nothing else!"

        "Knowledge is WORTHLESS without action!"

        "I put you to this task because I trusted you to be an enlightened student, one who prepared for the future so as to still the nerves of our people and to strengthen their hearts!"

        "For the day that we run and hide like cowards again?!"

        "This is SURVIVAL, not cowardice you ingrate!"

        "YOU DID NOTHING TO SAVE US BEFORE HOW COULD YOU SAVE US AGAIN?!"

        "...what?"  The audience gasped with a shivering disgust.

        "Who was it that freed us from our shackles?!  James, James Campbell, the saviour of our tribe whilst YOU wallowed in misery refusing to fight, refusing to stand up against our oppressor until my very namesake, came to free us!"

        "Do NOT test me boy," Chief Arino raised a finger to him, "your words here will remain etched in every mind-"

        "THEN LET THEM BE ETCHED!" he shouted.  "Let the words of a saviour's descent be etched, not the words of a COWARD like you who watched us die, BY THE THOUSANDS WITHOUT A WORD!"

        "JAMES THAT'S ENOUGH!" his mother shrieked at last.  "STOP IT, STOP IT NOW!"

        "YOU KNOW WHAT HE DID MOTHER, OR RATHER WHAT HE DIDN'T!"  He turned to the audience and swept his hand across the stage.  "You of all know, ALL you elders know what happened in our past, DO YOU WANT TO SUFFER THAT AGAIN?!  The long fruitless exodus of a land that may be worse than this isle, this glorious home that we have, that you PRAISED and wept and kissed the very grass the moment we were free, AND YOU WOULD GIVE THAT AWAY?!"

        "SILENCE!"

The loudest voice came with a shock that stunned the village, a brief cold wind whistling through as they turned towards James' father.  Harold stepped up towards him, his head trembling in anger as he carefully gripped Alistair's arm and led him away with visible disgust.

        "Home.  Now."

        "B-but, father he-"

        "NOW, BOY!"  He gave one look to James and shook his head.  "Fool.  Pity, blind."

        "I am the LEAST blind in this village!" James barked thrusting his arms.  "What is this, why are you all fearing this, I'm not interfering with the Vessel, the Vessel will still be built!"

        "Oh and well you know it," said the highland chief cracking his fists.

        "I have no intention of upsetting your plan, all I insist is that I prove my strength in facing the Great Darkness, ALONE, without any danger upon any of you!"

        "That is against the prophecy, when the Great Darkness comes we shall leave upon the Vessel to another land!"

        "BUT I CAN FIGHT IT AND WE NEVER HAVE TO LEAVE!"

        "YOU CANNOT GO AGAINST THE PROPHECY-"

        "DAMN YOUR PROPHECY!"

James fell from a fist as the audience reeled, watching the student fumble with shock and clatter to the stones as he clutched his face.  Chief Arino stood above him, his fist shaking and his brolly clacking near the lemming's head.

        "You know...nothing, for what I and the elders had to suffer through, you ungrateful little skelp.  Take your book, return home and from now on you are never to leave Durai's side again."

        "You think I am a child?" he scoffed leering up at him.

        "Any one with too much power is a child to the gods they dare to face.  I will only warn you this last time, to never pursue this path again for the next time you do, I shall see you cast from this village as a hermit left to wander with your madness."

He turned and walked away, taking the hand of Murdo as they spoke glibly to each other with James slowly pulling himself up to watch his father pull his brother away, past the shame-filled eyes of his mother who shook sadly and departed with them in turn.  Haytham remained at his side, giving a hand to lift his student up as the lemming took his book quietly from the stand, and stared across towards the masons who now coveted around the stone pillar with instructions from Arino on how best to dispose of it.  He walked to his home with Haytham silent, not saying a word until he felt enough had passed with the stinging red of James' cheek throbbing sharp to make his face twitch.

        "What do you plan to do now?" asked Durai carefully.

        "I have plans," said James, "I just need to rethink."

        "That would be wise.  I..." he placed his hands upon his face and sighed deep, "I am fearful for you James."

        "You certainly showed that."  His voice remained flat staring out to sea.

        "You are venturing to paths unknown," he rubbed his temple, "this is exactly what I was fearing, that the public would not understand, they would fear you for your rumination."

        "Is that what you were afraid of?"  James stroked his snout with a numbing motion.  "I thought it was something worse."

        "It was, but this is one reason of many.  Speaking of which, I must ask you this."  The human turned to the lemming.  "Do you know from whence that pillar you summoned is from?"

        "I wouldn't know, no."

        "Is that the truth James?  Because I recognise those symbols, and I know that they are forbidden."

        "I couldn't possibly know, could I master?"  James never turned his head despite the ghost of a smile on his lips.  "Where do you recognise it from?"

        "My homeland, Ivalice.  Those symbols they are from a city that is...lost to time, it is inconceivable yet somehow you brought forth a totem of heresy, one whose very existence would defy the gods as a disgraced tattoo of the infidious!"

        "Why do you worry about that, when your gods do not exist here master?"

        "It is not blasphemy which I fear, it is corruption of the decent.  Your idea was sound, your execution was absolute, but your rootage...that disturbs me more than anything I have known."

        "Because I dragged some pillar to my village?"

        "No, because that pillar is an omen!"  He pointed back towards an elaborate cross in the shape of a wrought dagger.  "That, is a piece of my world's history from which none should ever see again."

        "Why?" James looked past raising a brow.  "You cannot just keep me in the dark with whispers of forbidden like some old witch-"

        "I am afraid."

James pulled back with surprise as Haytham's face turned pale.

        "I am...sorry, but I am afraid for you James.  You...somehow dragged from the depths of forsaken annals a dark period of my home that I...cannot face the comprehense of you being affected by it."

        "What sort of...period?" the lemming asked.

        "I cannot.  Forgive me, just please I beg of you," he gripped James' shoulders with a deep gasp, "do not pursue this, whatever you have done to summon that totem please stop.  Promise me."

        "...alright."  He sighed clasping Haytham's wrists.  "I will not pursue it, I will try to find some...some other means."

        "Thank you James."  He sighed and pulled him close.  "I would never wish to impede your progress so please understand that...that I-"

        "It's fine master."

        "No, I know you have been frustrated by my obfuscation and I apologise but I am genuinely petrified by this development and I did not wish to lose face.  I want you to continue your research just not involving totems and the like."

        "Right, yes, I understand."  James patted his master's hands with a gentle smile.  "I will find some other means, I just needed to prove the formula."

        "I will try to facilitate the chief's fears," Durai stood up brushing his knees, "it will be rather difficult concerning your vehemence."

        "Thank you," said the mage nodding up to him, "I did rather um...lose my head for a bit."

        "I shall clear the air best I can, you just continue your research safe as can be, promise?"

        "Promise."

The master walked back to the village as the student turned back towards the sea.  There was a quiet of discontent, a silence that unnerved him and every lemming in their houses as he licked his lips slowly, pressing his hand against the satchel where his book slept.

        "I can do this," he whispered, "I just need to perfect it.  I KNOW I have the solution.  I can do this.  I can do this."

James stared towards the cold sun gleaming above him as the wind turned against the sea.

        "They're frightened, I know, they...they just do not understand.  But I know.  I know I'm close.  I just cannot let their fear take me.  No matter what.  No matter.  What."

Third Energy Research - Subject Fifteen ("Ecco and the Hive")

13-07-2045

Recorded by Dr. Andrea Dixon

Our experiment with the Gravity Well seems to have caused some fruition, but as for how much it is uncertain due to the lack of data we have managed to obtain from the unusually-minor presence of the most recent anomaly.  Our report came from our ambassador, Oddclaw, who whilst on a hunting trip with his family encountered an alien ship known as "the Hive" that was harvesting sea creatures for food.  One such sea creature was a bottlenose dolphin, of modern descent who had been hunting down this alien ship in vengeance for them kidnapping his pod.

According to Oddclaw, Ecco claimed to be capable of travelling through time and space by himself and between them they have reasoned that the Hive had been pulled to our world by means of our experiment.  The TEG readings verify this, though both Ecco and the Hive managed to depart by their own means of dimensional technology, the Hive escaping with Ecco ceaselessly  chasing after them as his mission according to our ambassador.  It is unfortunate we did not get the chance to meet this Ecco, if only to try and understand how he manages to move between dimensions by himself.

        "An' then, I went WHOOSH!" Seaclaw swung his stick in an upwards strike.  "I-i dodged her claws an' then went like MMMPH, MMMPH, HWAAAYAGH!"

        "Heeheehaha wow!" Leafrunner cackled kicking her feet.  "Didya kill any of 'em!?"

        "Nuh-uh, think Oddtooth did!"

        "I woulda killed one," Skyfang scoffed scratching her snout, "but they fought dirty!"

        "You can't FIGHT dirty," Sandrunner waggled her head, "that's like saying you eat the wind, that's stupid!"

        "YOU'RE stupid!" she snapped back.

        "Don't call me stupid you little shit!"

        "Better than a BIG shit!"

        "Oh THAT is IT!"

Sandrunner grabbed the younger raptor's head and pulled her down with a tussling kick, rolling across the dirt as Seaclaw leaped back away from the fight whilst Leafrunner laughed and a dozen hatchlings watched on with excitable shrieks from their half-feathered faces.

        "GET 'ER MOMMY!"

        "YEAAAAH BITE HER FACE!"

        "AAAAAAGH!"

The younger niece slammed her head into her auntie's face, knocking her briefly back before leaping on top of her neck and half-biting at her throat with a pull of restraint.  Sandrunner shrieked, not wounded but indignant as she clawed her feet up towards Skyfang's body with little raking scratches.  The children stomped their feet with rising cheer to form a cloud of dust at the lake shore, turning heads from other families who snorted derisive at this foolish display as Sand and Sky turned and rolled with each other across the beach, the younger clamping on the neck and the elder digging just a little deeper into the niece's chest, not enough to hurt but enough to sting in deterring her opponent in a mutual dare of who would stop first.

        "What is going ON?!" a red-feathered raptor came from the bush.

        "MUMMY'S FIGHTIN'!" squealed one of the hatchlings.

        "I can see that but WHY?!"

        "Cuz Skyfang called her stupid!"

        "Yeaaaah that's gonna happen," said another raptor coming behind, "she'll be fine she'll stop soon."

        "That is not what I fear," his brother swished his black tail, "I would rather not have to face our brother-in-law for harming his daughter."

        "Oh please!" Leafrunner jerked her head.  "Oddie knows us she's fiiiine, Skyfie can take anything you know how many trees she's fallen out of!?"

        "UM, I KNOW!"  Seaclaw  raised his hands waving.  "It's uhhhh...IT, it's more than six but-"

        "EEEEYAAAGH!"

Skyfang's screech signalled a change in the fight, the younger raptor pushing herself free from her aunt before jumping onto a rock and spinkicked across Sandrunner's face with a whipping strike of her tail to send her staggering back in surprise before Skyfang threw her whole body against the older raptor.  Sandrunner rolled through the dirt and swiftly dug her heels into the earth with a full headlong charge much faster than Skyfang anticipated, slamming into her chest and throwing the younger onto her back before she came biting just on the point of breaking her skin, choking almost as Skyfang threw her limbs and kicked with Sandrunner keeping away in a dragging pull.

        "HR-HRRKH, HRRKH, I'M DEAD, I'M DEAD!"

        "Heheheh, now who's stupid?"  Sandrunner released her niece to let her sit up.  "Pretty good at fighting though!"

        "Heheh, yeah, uhm..." Skyfang sniffed at her aunt, "could you...teach me how you fight?"

        "Whaaa?  Seriously?!"

        "Y-yeah, you fight good!"

        "You got two brothers dontcha?!"

        "Yeah but...I wanna fight BIGGER beasts."

        "Mmmmm..." she looked towards her sister as their eyes mirrored green and hazel with a smirk, "alright, if ya don't mind your cousins watching you get beat!"

        "Nah," Skyfang lolled her head, "only if ya don't mind letting 'em see ya lose!"

        "IF," noted Deeptail strolling up, "your turn to hunt today dear."

        "I knooow," Sandrunner nuzzled his face, "look after our babies."

        "I always do."

        "You too Leafy," said Bloodbark shaking his feathers, "my feet are gonna break if I walk anymore."

        "Awww should I lick them?" Leafrunner lapped his neck.

        "WHA-NO, jeez I just wanna rest a bit!"

        "Heeheeha you are so easy, alright Eggsnout, Bloodtooth you're coming with me, the rest of you stay with your father and uncle."

        "AWWW!" squeaked four of the kids.

        "I wanted to hunt todaaaaay!"

        "You'll get to hunt the day after, Eggsnout and Bloodtooth haven't!"

        "Yeah!"  Sandrunner slinked past taking two of her children with.  "Same for your brothers Sandtail and Bonefoot, come on!"

        "YESSSS!" a white-footed raptor skittered through bouncing merry.  "I'm gonna hunt the BIGGEST thing you ever seen you won't even EAT its head!"

        "YEAAAAAAH SON!"  She nipped the back of his neck and giggled with a skip.  "See you soon children!"

        "Byyyye aunties!" Skyfang and Seaclaw chirped.  "Have a good hunt!"

        "How is your family doing?" Deeptail asked turning to them.

        "Gooood," Seaclaw rocked on his heels making his grass skirt swish, "mother's reaaally tired she sleeps a lot."

        "She did almost die," Skyfang leaned on her brother a foot shorter, "that'd make anyone tired!"

        "I dunno if it'd make you tired," said Bloodbark slumping against a rock, "but I'd wanna sleep a few days after too."

        "Is she alright?" the black-tailed raptor bent down to their snouts.  "Do you need help?"

        "Nah we're okay," Skyfang licked his face, "how're you uncles?!"

        "Ohhhh quite good thank you, hoping to take the family to see the bloodfeather tribe."

        "ALL of them?!" Seaclaw leaned over to the 8 hatchlings feuding en masse in the dirt.

        "It will be difficult but I am sure we will manage."

        "Yeah we have to," Bloodbark thumped his foot, "I mean they have to know where they came from you know, we're the only bloodfeathers here an' they keep asking 'why do we have feathers, why do some of us don't' so we have to show 'em!"

        "Well we don't have to," Skyfang nudged her brother, "you're like father and he was born here!"

        "Heehee, yah!" Seaclaw smirked hugging his sister's neck.  "We hafta go now, bye bye uncles!"

        "Farewell children," Deeptail bowed with a purr, "take care of your mother alright?"

        "OH-kayyy!"

They wandered back through the nests of raptors that covered the length of the lakeside, the clustered forests of the east encroaching upon the craterous mounds that dotted the bare earth near the stone plinths that stood at the centre, menhirs formed naturally to a small hill where the swiftclaws gathered akin to settlement.  The waters of the lake rippled from raptors drinking upstream and washing downstream, shivering bodies with heads dipping like birds in baths on the warm tropical breeze.

        "How are you feeling?" asked Jane beside the nest.

        "Better," said Moonclaw curled up within, "that water you gave me helped, thank you."

        "No prob," Amy shrugged with a whirring click, "never been a vet but once I got your refs I had it covered."

        "I am sorry to be such trouble but that beast was determined to kill me."

        "Oddclaw mentioned these raptors before," Jane sat up close, "what exactly are they like?"

        "They came from far away," she yawned with a long stretch exposing her belly wounds, "beyond the Deep Mountain I think they said, but the one who I fought called herself Rumble, I believe she was banished from her tribe for some sort of obsession."

        "And she tried to kill you to take Oddclaw for herself?"

        "Yes, that is what she said.  Definitely sick and I am glad she is dead."

        "Wow okay," the wolf raised her hands, "getting real up in here huh?"

        "She was a starbeast, I am certain," the raptor sighed with a slight cough, "I think the rest of her tribe are as well, I do not know what you wish to do about this."

        "I do think it's important," said Jane tapping her teeth, "I appreciate the info Moonclaw, I'll pass it on to Thomas and Angela."

        "Wait."  She lifted her head with a twitch.  "Speak with the alpha first, he spoke with them more than me, he can tell you better than I."

        "Ohh?"

        "I am...just, not certain if...Rumble was banished after all, the rest of her tribe were far more respectful."

        "Ahhh, understood."  Jane nodded with a clap of her hands.  "I'll be sure to keep that in mind, wouldn't want a diplomatic incident."

        "Does that happen often?" Amy asked rubbing her steel scalp.

        "No thankfully, not that we have many tribes to handle, maybe at least four."

        "I like to call us a union rather than a tribe, especially since we get paid in like supplies from you guys."

        "And living accommodations," Jane waggled her finger.

        "Yeah like, wow, sheets!"  She clapped her metal hands with a clang.  "I haven't had actual sheets for like years it's crazy!"

        "What is wrong with just sleeping under the stars?" Moonclaw purred rolling her eyes up to the morn.  "You are a warmblood, you should fare better than us and yet you insist on living in caves."

        "Well why don't YOU live in caves then?" Jane shrugged with accusing smirk.

        "Because my family keep me warm."

        "...oh."  She pulled back with a little sigh as the raptor winced.

        "Forgive me, I did not mean it like that, that was...I am sorry."

        "No it...it's fine, I know what you mean, humans don't mind sleeping together for warmth, but the way our unit operates is not like a family."

        "Am I missing something?" Amy placed a hand on Jane's shoulder.  "Did...did something happen?"

        "No, no nothing to concern yourself with it's fine."

        "Alright."  She leaned over the nest.  "So uhh what's life like for you guys?"

        "We awake, we hunt," said the raptor, "we eat, we play, then we sleep."

        "Sounds like a pretty simple life, I mean that's like basic organic needs you don't wanna do anything more than that?"

        "I have all I need, and have journeyed enough to last me for the rest of my life.  There is nowhere I wish to be now but here."

        "Awww.  I getcha."  The wolf-reploid stood up and dusted her knees.  "I'm just gonna go check the plants here to see what I can synth."

        "You want me to come with?" Jane offered.

        "Naaah I'm good you two just hang out and chill for a bit."

Heading into the forest, Amy clenched her metal paws on the undergrowth that crunched and crinkled beneath her toes, dapples of grey and vanilla in uniform parts that gleamed in the sun caught between trees to give an emerald sheen upon her body.  The sounds of the raptors crooning in their morning wake could be heard as she stared with wonder around the prehistoric glade, ferns brushing her steel thighs as rodents skittered and dragonflies buzzed past as big as her tail of synthetic fibres.  Flowering plants bloomed underfoot as she knelt down in a clearing where several clustered together, orange and white petals swaying in the breeze.

        "Hello little guys, hope ya don't mind if I take a few things off ya."

She opened her fingers into a variety of tools including surgical scissors and an extractor, snipping pieces of the plants and pulling their contents out to scan their ingredients.

        "Okayyyy let's see, you're an analgesic that's goood, and you've got something antibiotical but I can't tell which, need to ask Kev about this...woah, woahohoho buddy YOU got some special narcotics in ya huh, that's a lot more than an aspirin!  But then that could be a pretty good painkiller if I dilute it enough cuz otherwise everyone'll be tripping balls!"

        "Good morning, Amy."

        "OH, Y-yeah hi what what is it?!"

She pulled up with with fingers retracting in a dozen clicks.  Turning fast she saw the long-legged robotic mantis with a long flat farmer's hat standing beside a mottled-brown raptor of many-scarred face.

        "Hello!"  Barkclaw chirped with a curious sniff.  "What are you doing?"

        "Oh it's just you sorry you guys gave me a start."

        "Do you like the plants?"  The raptor approached nuzzling the petals.  "The sunwings love them too."

        "Yeah I was just looking, don't worry I was careful."

        "It is good to see you again," Stonevoice bowed, "how are you Amy?"

        "Oh yeah great, great," she rubbed her thighs with a grin, "I was just extracting ingredients, yanno, med stuff."

        "I apologise for startling you, Barkclaw was searching for the sunwing butterflies that live here."

        "Oh right, well I'll just take what I need and be off then yeah?"

        "I remember you!"  The raptor bumped his head on her chest.  "You were in the deep sea cave, you are Stoneleaf's friend!"

        "Yeah, yeah and you're uhm...Barkclaw, right?"

        "Yes, yes!  What are you doing?"

        "I'm taking the juice from these flowers so I can make stuff to heal wounds."

        "Oh!"  He sniffed and licked at one flower.  "Yes, when I feel sick I eat these to feel better."

        "Woah seriously?"  She rubbed her head.  "How many you eat at once?"

        "Only two.  I took three before and I slept very bad, it frightened me!"

        "You saw like visions and such?"

        "No, I had very bad dreams."

        "Oooooh," she looked upon the flowers and gently stepped back, "that's good to know thanks for telling me, I'll remember not to give the humans more than two."

        "Are any of them nearby?" asked Stonevoice stepping forwards.

        "Yeah Jane's here just over at Moonclaw's place, I asked to come along cuz even I get sick of being all cooped up in a station."

        "Did the gravity well experiment succeed?"

        "It SORTA did we're still figuring out what happened exactly, it sucks we don't have much to work with cuz the visitors we brought just up and left."

        "Oddtooth told me about them," said Barkclaw sitting amongst the flowers, "they wounded his eye and took Seaclaw, but they had friends who helped them across the sea and brought him back!"

        "I heard yeah-"

        "AND THEN my brother fought the starbeasts, went into their nest and killed them with Oddtooth and Skyfang a-and Moonclaw and made them LEAVE to never come back!"

        "Alright ALRIGHT I remember."

        "My brother is the best hunter with the best family!"

        "You are his family too," said Stonevoice in the raptor's tongue, "that would make you the best brother to him."

        "Th-thank you Stonevoice," he cooed wiggling his rump, "OH, look s-sunwings!"

He threw up his head towards the sky as a small cluster of amber wings came fluttering down upon the field of flowers.  Barkclaw's eyes quivered with excitement as Amy stepped back to let the butterflies descend peacefully upon the raptor, sensing his eager calm and fluttering lightly onto his head to taste the rich salts of his scales.

        "Mmmmmhhhh, heehee tickly!"

        "Hahahaha wow," the wolf smirked crossing her arms, "this place gets cuter every day."

        "How are the reploids faring?" Stonevoice asked sitting at a tree.

        "Oh they're doing great, this place rules!  Sure it's beyond any civilisation whatsoever but yanno maybe some of us just don't wanna go back to society, I mean that's the deal we knew when we came here."

        "I have never known civilisation, having been constructed within a tower of machines on an island then made an exodus to a settlement of refugees."

        "Woah, seriously?"  She blinked sitting herself opposite.  "What happened there?"

        "In my original programming I was tasked to harvest animals for experiments.  But a small group of us chose to rebel against our creator's oppression upon the natural world and so escaped in a battle.  Since then I have reprogrammed myself with the choice to protect and preserve nature."

        "Ohhh wow.  That's pretty awesome, you're like a guardian then."

        "Yes," he nodded with his solar helm capturing the light, "This is my purpose now, as chosen by me."

        "I respect that," she nodded, "must be glad the humans don't wanna hurt anyone or that'd be a real problem huh?"

        "It would not."  He shook his head.  "Should a human come to harm this world I would kill them."

        "Wh-what?"

        "I protect and preserve nature above all else.  Even the beasts that the raptors hunt I would protect over the humans."

        "Um...wow, okay," she tightened her fingers with a heaving breath, "I definitely don't agree with that."

        "Jack was the same."

        "I mean I'm a nurse so I CAN'T kill anything period, that's just not me, hell I struggle with even hurting."

        "I respect your choice, in your occupation that is a necessity."

        "You're not even gonna ask me bullshit moral questions of 'but what if someone was gonna kill everyone in a hospital' or something?"

        "No," he put a hand on his belly, "I respect your choice and do not require any proof of diligence towards it."

        "Oh good cuz I hate when people ask me that," she puffed through her snout and laid her head back, "so what else is around here besides all this?"

        "Nothing," Stonevoice turned towards Barkclaw who knelt amongst the flowers, "this is a world that despite the many anomalies that come to it, remains pure and unspoilt in most of its capacity.  It is a good land, ancient with beasts who only live to survive and breed and ensure their species continues from the organic need of comfort, purpose, and family."

        "I haven't had much chance to look around," said Amy staring at the saurian covered in moths, "I'd like to see more, yanno I think I'm gonna ask if I can go check that Mohberrin Village on their trading route."

        "It is good to learn more of this world."

        "Good to learn more about any world...well, maybe not the moon, that's kinda dead all over."

        "Indeed."

        "Oh, they are leaving!"

Barkclaw stood up as the smallwings took their leave, filling up on nectars and salts with long little tongues before they fluttered into the sky.

        "Goodbye friends!  Stonevoice can we go wait for Oddclaw?"

        "Of course," the mantis stepped back to his side.

        "I'll come with ya too," Amy stretched her joints and walked beside them, "just see what yanno, simple life is like after all the techno stuff I had to live in."

        "I can show you!" said Barkclaw nipping her hand.  "Would...would you like to see?"

        "Sure!" she patted him as he nuzzled her fingers.  "Been here long enough I might as well see how things work around here properly."

        "Yes yes, let me show you before brother comes back!"

She couldn't help but laugh at the fearsome beast, now become an excitable dog eager to play and revel with leaves kicked underfoot, the sun's rays blinking upon their heads and shining down their backs with a peaceful breeze.  The raptors in their dozen nests were tending to their children, organising hunts and arranging duties between the guards that kept a constant vigil with stiffened tails and searching eyes whilst Amy caught sight of Jane sitting with a red-backed raptor whose silver eyes glimmered like dimes.

        "And some of your people went with him?"

        "Yes," he continued, "he spoke with me of his tribe needing more hunters to breed with."

TRUTH OF DEATH                MANY SHADES

        "Starleaf sensed he was speaking true, so I had no reason to think otherwise."

        "Does um...Starleaf," Jane tapped her head, "can he sense others' thoughts?"

        "More their intentions than what they think.  He has helped me greatly when others are in need."

SORROW'S MASK                BUT THE FACE STILL SMILES

        "He says that even if they cry, he can see the smile of their deceit beneath."

        "Hmmmm..." she rubbed her cheek looking over to the west, "so your people should be alright?"

        "Yes I let them leave, they wanted to journey to new lands and build their own nests."

        "But what about their families here, won't they miss them?"

        "They do yes," Fishclaw bowed his head, "but those that left were old enough to decide for themselves whether to leave or stay.  One of my own daughters left with them and I do miss her, but I must respect her choice."

        "I am sure she's fine," she patted his neck soothing, "it would have to be a very desperate group of raptors to ask for help from another tribe just to keep their numbers up."

        "If they had come to this tribe twelve cycles before, they would have been forced away.  But with all that has happened and these starbeasts that have come, that and your tribe befriending us, I cannot think as a swiftclaw should."

        "What do you mean?" asked Jane.

        "The beasts that have come do not act as beasts that we hunt," said the alpha stretching his legs and gazing to the lake.  "Our peace with the flyers and waterjaws, Starleaf and your tribe, I struggle to remember how things were when it was just us as hunters and the lands that we live in."

        "You've seen too much of the world," she nodded, "it's changed your perception that you know relying on the old ways isn't enough."

        "When we hunt it works, but for everything else yes you are right."

        "I am so sorry for all of this," Jane rested her head upon her cheek, "all of this is definitely us, I know we are trying to do our best to contain it bu-"

        "You are not responsible for the starbeasts that come.  How they come, yes, but what they do is them and not you, let us not forget some of them are good friends such as Stonevoice, he is my brother's guard and he has never been happier!"

        "Hmhmhm, that is true yes...so, you do like us being here then?"

        "It is not a question of whether I like you being here," he raised his head to the fullest height, "it is a question of whether you make our home better or not, by being here."

        "And what's the verdict?" she asked biting her lip.

        "That you have nurtured a friendship."  He sniffed her head with a soft lick.  "You have healed us and kept watch for beasts, you have done so much that even the elders have forgotten when we were trapped by your tribe in your caves when I was young.  Whatever may come, Warmvoice, you have the strength of the Swiftclaw tribe behind you until the day that you return home, of which I hope shall come soon."

        "Th-...thank you," she bowed to the raptor with a sudden tightness in her chest, "I-i'm very honoured you would...hold us so high."

        "I do not say this just as the alpha.  But as the brother of Oddclaw whom you kept safe and well-fed.  For that alone, you have my deepest gratitude."

        "Well, I mean he is...our friend."

        "And so you became our friends, in fact I remember it was you who stepped from the hairless and pleaded not to fight us."

        "Well Oddie too, but both of us you know."

He laid himself down upon a flat stone where the sun beamed upon his back, burning a wondrous heat that soaked through his bones and he sighed with a growing peace resonating through his form.  Even the murmurs of Starleaf whistling through the synaptic depths of his mind became tranquil as he stared towards the lake, seeing raptors wash and drink, hatchlings now grown into near-adults as they bit harder and tussled stronger within clouds of dust all with the shrieks of mirth.  He gazed over to his mate, sleeping within his nest, her body like darkened smoke wreathing through fresh fields of earth as she nuzzled against her family.  Jane took her leave, sensing their talk was over when she saw the look to his mate and walked back to Moonclaw's nest with only one but great worry on her head.

        "I just hope Andrea figures out something soon."