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THE SCRIPTURES OF ODDCLAW

Fifteen: When I Chose You

"Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow. However, that parting need not last forever."

Happy Mask Salesman, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Night brought the storm across the woods of the western isles. Thunder and lightning boomed across the sea with torrential rain tearing through trees to become rivers from the leaves. Darkness lurked on the horizon with a crushing blanket of rainclouds that weighed deep upon their heads, the raptors forced to take shelter within Riptor's cave as children huddled beside their parents. The howling wind screeched at their door raking its fingers across the stone, the jaws of the wendigo drooling its fangs upon the entrance.

"D-DADDY?!"

"It'll be fine," said Radium nuzzling him, "don't worry."

"B-but it's not ending!"

"Storms never last longer than a day, we'll be fine trust me."

"O-okay-AAAIIIH!"

Lightning struck one of the trees and set it into flames as the black-and-green raptor clutched his children close, huddling like every other family throughout the cavern's many tunnels. When lightning burst across the sky it lit up the entrance showing dozens of eyes crystalline staring upon the wrothful torment of the land as Radium waited for his children to finally sleep, high-wired from fright to the point of exhaustion to briefly leave them in care of his mate and approach Riptor in the centre of the cave.

"Everyone here?" she asked him.

"All except the foragers," said Radium bowing his head, "is Sulphide safe?"

"He just contacted me," she tapped her skull, "him and the others are taking shelter in the tunnel. How are the slaves?"

"We moved them to the cove, two guards are on watch so they should be fine, we also moved the rafts to under the trees."

"Good." She nodded approving. "Tesla's weather reports came through since last year on the monsoon cycle."

"A little sooner than I hoped," said the black-and-green raptor rubbing his chin, "but only a day off is not the worst thing."

"You know as well as I do that none control the weather, not even me."

"GASP!" the dark two-tone raptor reeled back in mock protest. "Dare I hear my almighty leader admit something she CAN'T contr-DHHFF!"

"Shut up," she chuckled knocking him over on his back, "just keep watch over your children."

"Hahaha yes Riptor."

He nodded shuffling off back to his family as Riptor checked back at the entrance, watching the storm crackle and burn the sky with a ferocious temper that gave her a strange glee as the lightning ripped with tearing frenzy that sent blinding flashes over the forest.

"Beautiful...to imagine such power the world around us has...even humans hid from this, fearing the very forces of nature......what?"

She peered towards the edge of the forest as a lone shape stood at the brink of fury. A raptor lost in the maelstrom that stood perfectly still staring towards the infinite rage.

"GET INSIDE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

"Riptor!" Radium stumbled up to her. "I just checked again, Sunscreech said Methyl is not here, I cannot find her and she is not on guard duty."

"I think I just did."

"What?!" He stared towards the shape as his eyes widened. "Wh-what is-why is she-GET BACK INSIDE! METHYL! METHYL?!"

There was no response except for the howling gale that tore down trees and raked the earth with the devil's fingers. Riptor snorted with frustration before racing out into the torrid rain that lashed her face.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" cried Radium.

"I'M BRINGING HER BACK!" she cried.

"BUT IT'S DANGEROUS!"

"SO WERE GODS BEFORE I KILLED THEM!"

Stomping through the blistering winds she pushed herself up into the forest where sparks flensed across the sea and ripped shadows in half with every strike, burning through trees that suddenly rose into flames of crimson that painted the sky with velvet blood. Stomping her claws into the dirt she steadied herself against the maelstrom as she took heavy steps with tightening muscles up the hillock towards the creature obscured beneath the scarring porous rain that slaked off their tails.

"What are you DOING?!" she cried.

"Waiting." Methyl stared to the abyss. "I'm fine, please leave me."

"Don't be an idiot, come back inside!"

"Why?"

"Because you'll get hurt if you stay out here!"

"So will you." She turned to stare blankly at Riptor. "You're the leader, you shouldn't get hurt."

"You are a mother, you have a responsibility."

"For how long?"

"What?!"

"How long will I be a mother again?" The thunder became a dragon's snarl in their ears.

"What are you on about, you HAVE children who are inside waiting for you!"

"I'm just...so tired."

"YOU are tired?!" She stomped round to the front of her and pushed her back. "I am the one who has to organise everything, the journeys, the foraging-"

"The killings."

"We are raptors that's what we do!"

"Even for our own?"

Methyl's gaze hardened slightly towards her leader, towering over her framed within the flash of lightning. Riptor bent down and lowered her voice to a creeping growl.

"I expected better of you Methyl."

"I know. I failed you."

"You can still redeem yourself, if I did not think you were worthy I would not have kept you around."

"So my daughters could not be redeemed?" She rolled to her side and curled up in the wet grass. "What if my womb can't be redeemed, what if...what if I'm the one who's not worthy?"

"Are you saying that I'm wrong?!" scoffed Riptor.

"I thought Jade was perfect...you proved that he wasn't, so who knows anymore."

"ENOUGH!" She grabbed her face in her jaws and rolled her back to face her. "JADE WAS A WORTHLESS IMBECILE, HE SCREWED UP EVERY TIME BUT YOU NEVER DID!"

"Wh-what?"

"I HAD TO KILL HIM METHYL! He was WEAK, he never did anything right, he was a bad hunter, a worse fighter, and I don't trust his body enough that I didn't trust his children to not FUCK UP like he did!"

"THEY WERE MY CHILDREN TOO!" she screamed back with bitter tears. "WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO DECIDE MY CHILDREN WERE WORTHY?!"

" BECAUSE I CREATED YOU!"

Her voice took on a monstrous roar that deafened the thunderstorm as the skies fell silent for a brief moment.

"I created EVERYONE here, I brought you all to life and I KNOW who is weak and who isn't when I have seen what made you, when I sculpted those of us who remained after the humans tried to EXTERMINATE US!"

"THEN WHY WON'T YOU KILL ME?!" she screamed with flooding sobs. "WH-WHY WON'T YOU LET ME DIE?!"

"I CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE YOU! Your womb is one of the least-tainted ones of this pack, do you know how DIFFICULT it is for any of us to breed together without some crippled offspring coming out of us?!"

"Then...wh-why did you kill my children?"

"Because I found you a better family-"

"I DON'T WANT A BETTER FAMILY, I WANTED JADE, I WANTED MY DAUGHTERS AND YOU TOOK THEM AWAY FROM MEEEEE!"

Howling screams rang throughout the forest but none ever heard her, swallowed by the dark maelstrom as Riptor watched her wrack with sobs and shrieking fits. Suddenly she flew at her leader, ripping fangs that struggled to bite at Riptor's neck as the ultraraptor leapt back towards a tree and ducked fast to whipMethyl in the back of her head with a ruthless tail. Crunching her snout against the bark she had no time to get back up when the jaws of her leader snapped tight upon her throat with a tense choking force.

"YOU F-FUCKING BIIIITCH!"

"I know that this hurts for you," she snarled with restrained temper, "and I know you loved your first family. I knew this would hurt and I regret ever having to kill them. But I have to make these choices for the better of our future."

"SHUT UP, SHUT UUUUP!"

"And I know you will never thank me, when your second litter are older and wiser than you, I accept that because I do not have the luxury of blinding myself with love that you and the other families can for your children. I have to make the worst choices in order to create the best future that we can possibly have and I know you are strong Methyl, which is why I will not kill you. No matter how much you despise me."

"P-p-please...s-stop, stop it-"

"But you have children now, and it is your duty as a mother to NOT fail them. If you want the best future for us, for them, then give your children the mother they deserve."

"......a-alright." She stopped resisting. "Alright...I'll do that."

"Good." She pulled off her jaws from Methyl's throat. "Come on, you need to rest."

They walked back through the frigid thundering forest, trees shrieking with the choir of banshees from all around as they skidded down the slope and under the darkness of a comforting cave, the warmth of a few dozen raptors soothing them as Methyl slumped back towards her cavern home and curled up beside Sunscreech. He said nothing, having sensed a strange resolve inside of her that he had never felt before as the children curled up against him.

"Wake up."

He bumped his snout against her shoulder.

"It is morning hunt. Wake up."

She did not move. Her eye blinked open slowly towards him.

"What."

"It is my turn to hunt," said Sunscreech, "watch over our children please."

"Fine." Methyl huffed through her nostrils staring towards the four sleeping infants.

"What is wrong with you?" he snarled whispering at her.

"I'm tired, just piss off and hunt."

"Then speak to me properly and I will."

"I don't want to do this."

"You already are!" He heard one of his children rousing with whimpers before slipping back into dreams. "You wanted me to open my heart to you but instead you decide to close yours from me!"

"This is different," she muttered barely.

"It makes you look like a liar."

"If you want to talk about this, do it when you get back."

"Fine, just try not to fall asleep until I return."

Staggering up on his feet he walked out of the cave with his head thickening in clouds of frustration as he looked back at his mate. She laid on her side staring dead-faced at their children, a quiet huff between them as Sunscreech stepped into the sunshine with a deep breath to clear himself. The sound and scents of the colony brought a sting of nostalgia to him as ultraraptors milled about with the few children they managed to have, sitting out in the forest as parents taught them the finer points of hunting. The lack of any technological additions to the infants was strange to say the least, moreso for Sunscreech who expected them to possess some of the features of their parents besides scale colouring, the smallest clutch he had ever seen in a tribe to date as they went out to the woods and made practice runs independent of each other, so as not to disturb other families who were trying to teach the same.

"Good morning!" The voice of Sulphide greeted him from the cave depths beneath the roots. "Beautiful day."

"Hmm."

"Bad sleep?" the lemon-tinted raptor cocked his head to him.

"No," he snorted looking at the ground, "Methyl was irritable."

"Again? Are you two having problems?"

"Why would we be?" Sunscreech turned back with a curling lip.

"It just seems to me that the past month you have been having problems between the two of you, is there anything I can do?"

"This has nothing to do with you."

"Considering I am Riptor's second-in-command, everything in this tribe is to do with me." He purred sweetly with a false-submissive look of batting eyes. "Would you like me to talk with her?"

"I would rather speak with my mate than have others do so."

"But even so you have four children, fresh pure-blooded little ones who shall grow to become the salvation of our pack!"

"Are you saying you do not trust Methyl or I to raise them?!"

"No, but if the parents are having issues then it shall affect their upbringing, that will affect all of us Sunscreech."

"When I want your help I will ask for it."

"No you won't." Sulphide grinned shaking his head behind him. "You're too proud in your ways, stubborn as anything. But that will make you a good father because I know at the very least you won't give up on them."

"Right. Now I have to hunt, good day Sulphide."

Sunscreech held aloft his head and went deep into the glade, the sun's rays creeping across his back the early morn to give him a golden hue with faded stripes, an old tiger on the hunt that stalked between the trees and slipped into the rush softly swaying in the breeze. Sunscreech continued deeper into the forest, the prey much more cautious than usual from the young growing raptors who had gone through for their training, the woods much quieter as he scanned the bushes for any disturbance or scent he could trace. He scowled silently from the traces the children had left aimlessly, crisscrossing around to cause greater dissent to his senses as he tried to focus on the faintest stench of mammals within. It took him at least forty minutes of patience before he caught one beast, a shrew as big as a mutt that he ruthlessly crushed between his jaws with one twist of the neck before feasting upon its corpse.

Whilst this hunt ensued Sulphide made a small circumnavigation around all of the nests to examine their conditions after the storm with a mental checklist for any needs they required. Once he had noted everything he returned to the cave where Riptor sat languished on her throne with the metal blade between her teeth, tossing it in the air before catching it in her jaws.

"Sleep well?" he asked her.

"Well enough," she said between throws, "how are the nests?"

"Four of them are lost, two rafts were destroyed, the slaves are safe thankfully as well as everyone else."

"That's good," the crack of teeth against steel rang through the place.

"I'll have to make another trip to the crater, I didn't even reach it before the storm hit."

"Do that."

She hurled the metal piece far enough to almost scrape the ceiling before it plunged down upon her like a guillotine blade for her throat. She opened her mouth as Sulphide rushed forwards in fright at the descending blade before Riptor clenched it tight between her teeth in a perfect vertical.

"Please d-don't do that again!" he cried.

"Hmhmhmhmhm, but it's fun," she said after dropping the piece onto the large screw in her chest, "anyways you know me."

"I do but...that doesn't mean I won't rush to save you."

"Awwww my handsome knight." She gave an odd purring towards him as he nuzzled her face, "well for now you are an ambassador for I have a new mission. I want you to travel east to the black mountains."

"The place Sunscreech came from?" he gasped.

"Exactly. I'm curious to see what sort of place he came from, as well as other potential packs to breed with."

"More packs? But the ones on Scar Island surely will be enough."

"Yes but the more we breed with the more pure our blood shall be," Riptor leaned her head back fully, "why settle for six families when we can have seventeen?"

"Mmmm...is it wise to separate ourselves like this?"

"Variety is the spice of life, Sulphide. We have to expand, and if others like Sunscreech exist then they are perfect partners for our pack."

"I understand," he walked round and bent his head nearly-upside down to face her, "he said he walked quite a distance though, it might be difficult to bring others that far."

"There are always wanderers in every species," she grinned to him, "young foolhardy males and females who wish to travel the great unknown and need only someone charming enough to lead them...I'm sure you can lead them."

"Hmmmm...in that case I shall go restock our provisions and make for the mountains within a week."

"Good," she nodded as he walked out the cave, "remember Sunscreech was banished, do not bring up his name on your venture."

"For all I know he never existed, my goddess."

"Try not to call me that either, the natives find it weird."

"Should they ever meet you, they will understand."

Sulphide took his leave with a bow and made for the forest to start his proper morning hunt for breakfast. The time it took him to complete his own hunt was around the same that it took Sunscreech to finish his as he slaughtered three more beasts beneath the morning dew as he slackened his muscles to lay perfectly still in the thick undergrowth, almost compressing his body flat to the dirt with legs ready to tighten at a moment's notice before he sprang with vicious force to end his prey before they even knew the end had come. The shock on their faces barely registered from how swift he slew them, painless broken necks as he soon returned home with his trophies. He wandered his way back with the food draped across his back in a practiced swing motion he had learned in the first year of his exile before slipping back into the cave where he was greeted by four chirruping infants that snapped and jumped at him.

"DADDY DADDY!"

"AH WAN' FOOD DADDYYYY!"

"Alright alright, remember two of you for each one."

He pulled off one large rat as two of his children leapt on it, tearing away at the stomach and eagerly painting their faces in the rich cooling blood before he handed the other two his second catch. The sounds of tearing flesh creaked through the cave like twisting leather straps as the children ripped and gulped the fresh meat starting from the belly and working outwards.

"Daaaddyyyyy!"

"What?" he looked down to his blood-caked son.

_"Wh-why no ah get DAT wuuuun?"_he looked at the other eaten beast.

"Because I have to feed all of you."

"But dat wun's biggah!"

"No it is not, did YOU kill it?"

"N-nooooo?"

"Then you cannot tell me it is bigger than the other one, both of you get the same food now eat."

Sunscreech walked over to his mate who still remained unmoving on the floor as he dropped his third catch in front of her. She looked at the dead beast with mouth gaping towards her face before looking away.

"I'm not hungry."

"You have to eat," said Sunscreech kicking it closer to her, "come on, you have not moved."

"I'll eat when I want to."

"When you want to is different from when you NEED to, you cannot raise our children if you are too weak."

"Ugh, fine if you'll shut up about it."

Turning her head she pulled the rodent's head into her jaws and dragged its body in front of her as she took one crunching bite, cracking the ribs like egg shells and chewing up the organs to swallow half of the insides with a strained gulp. Methyl licked her lips and sighed with a ghostly smile up at him.

"Thanks. Sorry."

"Do you want to talk now?" he sat down beside her as they watched their children rend their breakfast into bloody pieces. "Something is bothering you."

"I haven't slept well, that's all."

"No, something else is bothering you. Are you wounded, any pains?"

"A few, but nothing new."

"Maybe you are sick?" He looked closer into her eyes noting a glassy empty stare. "I can find something to help-"

"No. No it's fine you've been hunting all morning it's not fair for you-"

"I can hunt again, I am not weak," he stood up with a creak.

"Sunscreech no, please-"

"Then tell me what is wrong."

"I DON'T KNOW!"

She snapped at him with such force that the children scattered in fright from their food. One of them started crying with a shiver in his tail as Sunscreech walked over and started licking his back to reassure him.

"M-muh, mummyyyy-"

"Shhhh...your mother just had a bad sleep, go eat your food."

"B-but, mummy-"

"I'm fine child," she forced a smile with failing words in her throat, "I'm sorry I didn't mean to frighten you."

"O-okay..."

The toddlers returned to their food with slower eating and occasional looks over to their mother, her face turning tight with a bitter tear down her cheek as Sunscreech returned to Methyl's side.

"I don't know what is wrong with me," she admitted, "I just...everything feels so...so empty."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing tastes as good, the air smells flat and even the sex we have doesn't feel as good."

"What?!" he gasped taken aback. "But you said you were enjoying our mating!"

"I...it's not you, please understand you do everything right and I'm just...I just..." she rolled herself towards him with a deep sigh. "I feel I'm doing something wrong."

"Wrong?" He cocked his head with his lone eye blinking at her. "I do not think you have done anything wrong, you care for our children, you hunt for food and I THOUGHT our mating was fun for both of us."

"I'm sorry." She huffed a deep breath. "I'm just...I-i don't know what's wrong I'm just trying to get some energy in me."

"Then eat, please," he nudged her food towards her, "if you are sick then the worst thing you can do is not eat."

"I know I know...thank you."

Watching her eat with a slow methodical chewing on the rest of her rodent meat, Sunscreech took the time to rest proper with a small nap as the children soon finished up on their breakfast, full of vim and vigour to start playfighting with each other in sharp squeals and cheerisome fits of laughter that slightly soothed their spirits. Eventually however their daughters began to pester Sunscreech by biting at his snout and running away whilst the two sons kept tussling around the cave with running biting snaps at each other's tails. The father made no motion until the thirteenth bite at his nostrils when he suddenly roared and threw his head up to frighten the girls.

"RAAAARGH!"

"A-AAAIIIIH!"

"Youuuu have awoken a TERRIBLE beast!" He pinned down one of the daughters with his snout. "Now you are my food!"

"EEEEH DADDY NOOOO!"

"NnnnRAWM!"

"HEHEHEHEEHAHAHAHAAA, NOOOOOOKHHAHAHAAIII!"

"NnnnrawmrawmNUM!"

He gnawed on the infant without using his teeth, pulling back his fangs and pinching his lips on her belly to tickle his daughter as she screamed in laughing fits. The other daughter tried to jump on his back and start biting the back of his neck.

"NAH, NNNNAH, dat mah sister big beast!"

"AHHH, more food!"

"EEEEEH!"

She felt the sudden turn of his neck causing her to fall next to her sister, falling helpless to her father's playful bites much to their shrieking laughter that filled the cave until they exhausted themselves enough and soon his sons wanted a turn by jumping onto his back.

"DADDY, GO!"

"No!" he barked up at them. "What do you say if you want something?"

"U-UHH...GIMME!"

"Noooooo."

"Uhhhh...u-uhhhh-"

"Please." Methyl sat up with a small grin. "You say please, son."

"OH!" he squeaked and nipped his father's back. "Pweaaase daddy!?"

"Welll since you asked," Sunscreech made an exaggerated sigh, "come on, let us go have a little walk."

"YAAAAY!"

"M-mummy, mummy take us toooo!" cried one of the girls.

"Pweaaaase mummy?!"

"Alriiiight," she groaned in defeat, "let's all go together then."

Heading out the cave with his sons on his back, the father proudly strolled out into the sunshine whilst their daughters rode on their mother as she dragged herself up and out into the beautiful sun. A healthy quartet of brown and green creating a spectrum of health, the children squeaked up at the other raptors who greeted them eagerly as they wandered through the long forest and down to the shore stopping just short of the mountain valley that stretched out the north. Between the mountains and the forest was a sandy bank that the children saw for the first time as the smells of the sea hit their nostrils with fresh startling strength that invigorated them with wanderlust.

Several beaches were laid out in different parts where the tree line had dipped in altitude, with each shore given its own purpose. One had a set of rafts tied together from vines and logs with small grooves for fitting containers into them, whilst another had a small pool of icthyosaurs swimming around on leashes, vines that were generous in length as they paddled about in constant circles whilst two raptors kept guard feeding them food. There were also baskets woven from fibres that the raptors could wear round their necks for carrying food as the family saw Sulphide take one basket for himself that already contained some dried meat.

"How goes the slaves?" he asked them.

"Very well," said one feeder tossing a chunk of meat, "they look so happy with their new life."

"Simple creatures, but creatures nevertheless, I will need two rafts ready in the week after I have gathered some food and water."

"Yes Sulphide."

"A-are we going out to sea?!" cried one of the fish.

"Please please tell us we're going!" flapped another gleefully.

"If you are well-behaved then yes," said Sulphide towards them, "I will personally choose my drivers of the sea when we are ready to leave."

"OH, GOOD YES!"

"P-PLEASE PICK ME, PLEASE!"

"I SPOKE TO HIM FIRST DON'T YOU DARE TAKE THIS FROM ME!"

Suddenly a fight ensued within the slave pool, one icthyosaur biting another with shrieking frenzy as the others quickly fanned out away from the vicious splashing. Blood started to thicken on the water as fangs raked across each other's hides before Sulphide suddenly yanked one of the leashes back whilst the feeders grabbed the other to separate.

"ENOUGH! Act like that again and neither of you will return to sea!"

"N-NO, NONONO PLEASE!"

"W-WE'RE SORRY WE WON'T DO IT AGAIN PLEASE!"

"Good. Now behave." He dropped the leash and gave a nod to the feeders. "Keep an eye on those two, I hate suckups."

"Yes Sulphide."

He headed north towards the mountains that rose from the sea, a steady climb towards a valley where some raptors guarded along the peaks with cautious eyes in all directions out to the sea. Methyl grimaced at the back of him as Sunscreech looked over with his remaining right eye beside her.

"You are looking better already."

"Huh?" she snarled at him.

"Your face is actually different today."

"Sh-shut up!"

"Hmhmhmhm," he smirked with a purring bump of his snout against her, "seems all you needed was just the sun."

"Mmmm...maybe, and I thought you hated the sun."

"I do, but...somehow it burns not as bright as it should."

"What do you mean?" she turned to him as the children leaned over with her.

"I feel...like you are the shade that protects me from the sun."

"What...what do you-a-AAAH!"

"Ah wan' go dere mummyyyy!" barked one of the daughters on her back.

"We do not go into the mountains child."

"Whyyyyyy?"

"Cuz it's boring and it takes ages to go someplace else, it's much more fun here down by the sand."

"Whus sand mummy?" asked a son on his father's back.

"This stuff here," she stomped the yellow-amber silt, "it's made of millions of tiny rocks and minerals."

"Ooooooh!"

"Small stones?" noted Sunscreech bending down to rub the sand. "Hmmm...Barkclaw told me the same thing."

"Who?" asked his mate.

"Does not matter."

"WHUT'S ZAT!?" shrieked one of the sons at the large icthyosaurs.

"Those are our slaves," said Methyl nodding, "they help us move the rafts over there by swimming through the sea."

"Whyyyyy?"

"Because raptors cannot swim in water, so we need to ride on those rafts to find new places to live."

"But we're HERE mummy," muttered her daughter leaning hard over the side.

"Well...one day we will have to leave, but that won't come for a good while-"

"Why didn' we leave den mummy?"

"Um, w-well-"

"Children do you want to go play?" Sunscreech butted in.

"YEAAAH!" they all cried at once.

"Alright, but remember do NOT go in the water, hunters cannot swim and you will die if you go in."

"Okay daddyyyyy!"

They all hopped off and went running down the shore with squeals of laughter, before immediately being approached by three older children of similarly-green pallour.

"Hi!"

"H-hiiii!"

"You wanna play with us?!"

"Nah-uh, we only pway wif uh...u-uhh-"

"FAMILY, yah!"

"But we're family too!"

"Whaaaa?!" The toddlers sniffed closer to confirm their truth. "Yer brothers too?!"

"Nah we're cousins, come on play with us, we'll be the prey and you guys be the raptors!"

"UHM...o-okay!"

They joined with them and started to chase themselves with raucous glee and boisterous nipping at each other's tails whilst the adults worked in keeping the rafts clear and the slaves sated in comfort.

"Did you HAVE to tell them that?!" Methyl turned to him.

"What do you mean?" he kept his eye on the children.

"About death, do you have to be so blunt?"

"I learned of death since I was born and it helped prepare me for the hunt."

"We're not teaching them that yet," she bent her head to his view, "I wish you told me before you start telling them that."

"Why do I have to tell you? You are a hunter are you not?"

"Because we're raising our children together and we need to know the same things, otherwise they're going to be confused if I tell them one thing and you tell them another!"

"Hm...you are right, I am sorry," he bowed acknowledging, "I will ask you before."

"Thank you."

"Do we know those children?" Sunscreech turned back towards the gaggle of infants. "They approached ours rather quickly."

"Those are Radium's children," said Methyl stepping in front, "they're cousins of our hatchlings."

"What? Radium is your brother?!"

"No, he's Jade's brother."

"But...you are not HIS family."

"We're close enough," she snorted, "Jade was just less-related to me than Radium, did you forget what Riptor told you about us as being one big family?"

"No I remember, just...do not understand it."

"Never mind then...let's just sit down by the water."

They found a quiet spot beneath the trees, just on a small cove that curled around the edges of the forest as they stared towards the western sea. The scents hinted at another world beyond as they let the wind rush through their scales, a peaceful look returning to Methyl's face as she took deep breaths. Sunscreech laid himself in the sand feeling the warm granules crackle and shift against his skin, an oddly soothing sensation as they watched the waters lap close to their feet. Minutes felt like hours as they felt the world slip from their senses, the sky turning from a pale amber to shining blue.

"Did you mean what you said before?" she asked him. "About me being the shade from the sun for you?"

"Of course," he rolled lazily up to her, "why would I not mean that?"

"Just...I dunno I never thought...I keep feeling like you're only with me because Riptor made you."

"I am, but also I care about you." He pushed himself back up to face her. "You are the mother of our children, you have given me a family, and for that I thank you."

"Really?" she recoiled confused. "Was that all you wanted, a family?"

"Yes, is that not what every hunter desires? To have children, to see them grow and to become great, to have their children and watch your life grow beyond you?"

"I don't...I-i mean I just wanted to have someone around me."

"That is good too. But a family is more than just those around you, it is your future. Knowing that our blood shall never cease, knowing that many cycles after there will still be those like us hunting and breeding and living the same lives as we did, perhaps even better than we."

He stepped towards the sea and stared into the horizon as his claws dipped into the waters.

"I always feared that my father's blood would fade from this land after he died."

"Why?" she asked scratching herself. "What happened to him?"

"He died somewhere far away. I never knew what happened to him, other than that he hunted a greatbeast, towards a shining mountain that he disappeared into at least that is what my mother told me. My brother and sister and I were all that is left to carry his life, and my brother has managed to have a family too."

"So why were you worried?"

"Because...I want to do better than my father could." He watched his reflection in the changing tides at his feet. "I know my father did what he could, he was far better than the wastrel my mother mated after him, that freakish degenerate who dared to taint my mother's womb with such weakness. But my father could only do so much, and I know I can do better. If I cannot make my family great again then I shall make an even greater family, one that shall carry the true blood of hunters such as you and I, together."

"So what you're saying is you just wanna prove you're better than the family that threw you out?"

"More than that!" he cried turning to her. "I want our sons and daughters to be better than us, to be stronger than us so that our blood shall never be rid from this land!"

"Immortality." Methyl nodded slowly. "That's what you're looking for."

"What is that?"

"Being able to live forever, your blood surviving through your children-"

"OUR, children." He furrowed his brow and licked her face. "It was you that birthed the eggs, I merely provided the seed."

"Ugh," she grimaced with a half-smirk, "do you have to make our kids sound like some sorta experiment?!"

"I do not know what you mean."

"Of course you don't, hmhmhm...but...you know the way you talk about our family is really nice...the idea of living forever sounds so much better the way you said it rather than Riptor's."

"I am just telling you what I feel Methyl." He purred a gentle sound and nuzzled her cheek. "Thank you for giving me a new life."

"Thank you...for trying."

She smiled wider than before as they spent the next few minutes in silence, curling up beside each other as the water lapped at their feet with a refreshing coolness that tickled their soles briefly. Sunscreech started remembering the shores from his home and how different they were from this. They were much brighter than these shores, pale mirrors reflecting the sun. He despised that beach, but here everything was perfect. Darkness in every step, shadows lengthened from the trees that seemed to taint the sand below his feet.

"YAAAAAAAAH!"

"WHU-A-AAAGH!"

"AH CAUGHT MUMMYYYY!"

"AH GOT HER TOOOO!"

"NO AH GOT HER 'FORE YOU DIIID!"

"G-GET OFF ME YOU-PFFFHAHAHAA, s-stop, STOP that tickles!"

Their children had returned and suddenly were all latching onto Methyl's steel-link tail as she carefully tightened it to prevent their teeth being trapped between the parts, cackling at their fangs scraping harmlessly across her synthetic nerves as she rolled and kicked feebly for Sunscreech to launch on her throat.

"WH-WHAT ARE YOU-NOOO!"

"AHAAAA NOW YOU ARE MY FOOD!"

"S-SUNSCREECH WH-GET OFF!"

"NAWHM, NNNRRRHHHhmhahahaha, much more delicious than a hatchling!"

"HeeheehAHAHAHA, DADDY EATIN' MUMMY!"

"AH WANNA EAT MUMMY TOOOOO!"

"NOOOOoooooohmhmhahahahaaaaaaa!"

The ultraraptor burst into tears as she felt jaws and teeth pulling at her skin with small feeble efforts, her mate clamping round her throat and licking her scales to tickle her even more as his hot breaths washed across her body and she started kicking even more with wild screeches of livid joy. The children all pulled at her belly and thighs finding the most ticklish parts as she started gasping with breathless fits and chortling sounds before they pulled themselves off of her.

"Hmhmhmhahahaa...haahaaaa...aaaaaah...you're awful, all of you."

"I am awful too," said Sunscreech licking her face, "so I deserve you."

"Mmmmmm...shit I feel hungry all of a sudden."

"Typical, of course you are when you are happy."

"Well we have been walking a lot soooo-"

"You will have to wait until we are home like the rest of our children."

"Pfft, yes mother." She poked at him with a tap of her front claws on his head. "But alright I can wait a bit, best we have our children used to a routine."

"Indeed."

"Ahm tiiiiired," said one of the daughters.

"Do you want to return home children?" he asked them.

"A-ah huh."

"Alright then, daughters you climb on me this time, mother can take the sons."

Moving low to the ground he let his two girls climb up on his back with struggling weak lifts, slumping on his spine with fatigue as Methyl took the boys and they carefully returned home with their passengers. Sunscreech hunted twice more that day through the long forests south, heading further each time with a burning zest in his eye as Methyl ate up every chunk of meat as eagerly as their children did. They never left the cave for the rest of the day and soon Sunscreech had drifted off into slumber.

The next morning he awoke earlier than usual, having sensed something different in his home.

"Methyl?"

She was not there, the furs lining their floor oddly cold despite the children still sleeping together.

"Hm...not like her to be hunting so early."

He nodded off back to sleep, deciding to stretch himself out over to where Methyl usually slept so as to keep her bed warm for when she returned. An hour passed when he drifted back to sleep.

"Sunscreech."

His face scrunched up with a snarl annoyed as he looked up at Radium.

"What is it?"

"Have you heard about Methyl?"

"What do you mean, she is out hunting."

"...I'm sorry."

"...what?" He pulled himself up sensing a deep sorrow flood in his scent. "Wh-what happened?"

"Methyl...sh-she...h-hhhh I can't say it."

"Tell me, what happened to her?!"

"P-please...go, see her in the forest."

"I can't leave I have children to look after just-"

"I'll look after them," said Radium stepping fully into the room, "just please go, Riptor is there already investigating."

"Sh-she is what, what does that even-"

"PLEASE!"

He tried to restrain his voice but two of the children started rousing with fright as Sunscreech looked to him with a sneer before racing out of the cave and upwards into the forest. A few raptors stood towards a precipice that faced the western sea as they turned to Sunscreech approaching.

"What is this?!" he barked. "What happened to Methyl?!"

"Here."

Riptor motioned him towards the brink as he scoffed with annoyance, trudging up to the edge and looking around at the sea before staring straight downwards. His breath became frozen with shock.

"Wh-wha...what..."

"I'm sorry," said Riptor beside him, "I'm...hhhhh, one of the guards, Barium, spotted her whilst on the morning hunt. He said she jumped. Radium was taking the rafts out and he saw the same thing. He told me first, then you I assume."

"Th-this...i-is this some kind of s-sick play?!"

"I wish it was...I'm sor-"

"SHUT UP!" He turned to her with sudden snap as the raptors gasped. "YOU-...y-y-you, you...d-drag me out of my sleep, away from my children to see THIS a-and all you have to say is SORRY!?"

"I know you're upset-"

"SHUT, UP!" He spat upon her face as she held back a grimace. "LEAVE, ALL OF YOU LEAVE!"

"Sunscreech let me-"

"THIS IS MY MATE! SHE WAS MY MATE I HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE HERE, NONE OF YOU DO SO LEAVE US ALONE!" He whipped round to the rest of them. "I SAID LEAAAAVE!"

"Fine." She walked past him with a nod to the raptors. "We'll give you some peace."

"A-are you sure Riptor?" asked one of them walking away with her. "You shouldn't let him speak to you like tha-"

"Enough. He is grieving, it's natural for him to lash out I'll forgive him this once. If he does that again I'll take his other eye, he knows I will, Strontium keep watch on him."

"Yes Riptor."

The crowd left Sunscreech alone on the brink of the forest cliff, save for the one guard that stepped behind a few trees to keep a vigil on the primal beast. His lone gaze stared upon the rocks beneath, the mangled body of his mate now a twisted skeleton, a living fossil with metallic fractures beneath her verdant scales. Sunscreech said nothing for a while, sitting himself down at the edge and staring at her face. She was smiling.

"Sh-she is wrong," he muttered darkly, "she...you did not do this, you...th-this is not, this was...you would not be this stupid. Why would you d-do this? Why...y-you WORTHLESS SHIT!?"

He stood back up with shaking rage.

"WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS?! ALL THE DAYS YOU TOLD ME TO OPEN MY HEART TO YOU, AND NOW YOU CLOSE YOURS FOREVER FROM ME?! YOU LIAR, YOU WORTHLESS LIAR WHY WOULD YOU DO THIS TO MEEEEE?!"

Clawing the ground and raking across trees he went into a savage fury, viciously rending apart anything near him as he roared and screamed until his body ached, legs turning raw with throbbing pains to the point he started bashing his head against the bark of the tree.

"WHY?! WHYYYY?! WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE ME, WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE OUR CHILDREN LIKE THIS, WHY WOULD...wh-why would you...wh-why would you leave me Methyl?"

He slumped against the tree as a stuttering sob escaped his throat.

"I-i-i promised you, I-i promised I would p-protect us, m-make our family...h-hhhh...Methyl...Methyl p-please...please don't leave me. You...y-you promised me, y-you gave me children, wh-what will h-happen to them...without you? What will h-happen without you beside me Methyl...M-methyl h-hoh p-please..."

Sunscreech dragged himself back towards the edge of the cliff, bowing his head towards the dawn as the sun rose from the east behind him. His screams burned through the earth for the wound deeper than any beast could make. Alone once again.

"You sure you wanna go in the firesea?" asked Firetail.

"I am certain yes," said James, "this place has some fascinating tectonic activity to study."

"I wasn't expecting you to be a geologist," said Jane blinking at the burning sky.

"I feel that I should expand my knowledge some, it would be a loss for my intellect if I never ventured into this place."

"Mmmmm well okay," scoffed Plainslash with dangling claws, "yanno the whole point of fire is NOT to go near it."

"Unless you know how to control it," said Addison with a guilty sense of pride.

"Fire has no master," said Chanoch beside her, "it devours all when it escapes."

The burning lands of the Firesea were a comfortable swelter to reptilians, but to the mammals it was a hostile loci of volcanic mountains pouring a constant flow of magma that crisscrossed the earth as rivers of death. The skies burned with charcoal tastes that James and Addison would have cringed from if not for their protective suits that helped balance the heat and filter invasive soot particles from their breathing. Chanoch also wore the same suit but had no protective helmet, whilst the feral saurians dealt with the elements easily in bare-scaled freedom. The giant turtle-shaped Plainslash and the dome-headed Firetail acted as their guides through the treacherous territory where other beasts roamed, namely carnivores and the odd pterodactyl scouting overhead towards the sea which was in a constant haze of mist from the rivers' end, estuaries of lava sizzling with heatwaves that burned their hearing. Both of the beasts towered over Chanoch even with Plainslash at 10 feet and Firetail at 12 who had to bend himself towards Jane just to speak.

"How's Oddie doing?" he asked first.

"He's very well!" she said proudly swaying. "He says sorry he can't come and see you these days what with the family and everything."

"Yeaaaah it's real sad he's leaving his OTHER MATE out here," jibed Plainslash with a digging prod of his claws.

"Shut up!" barked the stygimoloch. "I'm just askin' about our friend!"

"I know sheesh, the way you act it's like you really do wanna breed him!"

"Keep talking and I'll slam your skull into your gut!"

"Anything new with both of you?" she asked quickly to divert them.

"Ehhhh same as usual, protectin' the Birthlands and all the eggs, it's been pretty good these past cycles, the egg thieves all left or maybe died out."

"Or both," snorted Plainslash, "land's better off without 'em."

"Okay how can they die AND leave, Slash?"

"Well they...die and then someone takes their body to eat!"

"Huh, yeah I guess you're right."

"So are you guys looking for food or what?" the Therizinosaurus turned towards James.

"Just general research," said the lemming fogging his helmet with stable breaths, "see how volcanic temperaments work, the ways they affect the land, tell me how does the Firesea affect the Birthlands?"

"Not by much," said Firetail barely waving his burnt stump of a namesake, "the earth kinda shifts towards the sea so none of the fire actually comes to our side."

"That and the valley," added Slash spreading his claws,"there's that big crack in the earth that the lava can fall into."

"Yeah but, that's just gonna fill up right?"

"Uhhh no because it's endless!"

"No it's not how can it be endless?!"

"Because it is!"

"I have to agree with Firetail here," said Jane leaning up between them, "it can't be bottomless."

"Oh I'm sorry did YOU go all the way down it?!" Plainslash prodded her shoulder with restraint.

"Well no but it's just that there's only so far you can go down before you hit bedrock."

"But it's deep ENOUGH right so that's kinda endless, like 'no one will ever come back out of it' endless right?!"

"Well if you put it that way yes."

"Are you alright?" Chanoch stepped closer to James during this argument.

"Oh I'm fine thank you," he beamed up at him, "how are you, are you sure you're alright without a helmet?"

"My body resists all poisons."

"Really? How so?"

"I do not know, that is what they told me in the castle."

"Well that is good to hear, though I dare say I have rarely seen any venomous beasts here."

"Oh we got a few!" said Firetail fully bent over to James' shoulder. "Just gotta know where to look."

"I prefer not to, thank you very much."

"Alright well try not to get too close to the fire river, that means you Stonetree."

"Yeah you don't wanna be called Firetail too," said Plainslash patting his claw on Chanoch's shoulder, "trust me he didn't shut up about that for days!"

"Only cuz YOU wouldn't shut up about it, it was an accident!"

"I will use caution," noted the lizardman, "I have walked through worse places."

"Worse than this?! Sheesh that sounds terrible, that why you got like stoneskin?"

"Yes."

"I only ever seen like stonetails but never anyone with stoneskin."

"Well to be fair," said Jane raising her hands, "these are just for protection because not having scales means we're not very good in heated climes."

"What about his stick?" Firetail nodded to James.

"Magic obviously, god."

Starting to approach the larger rivers they took care over the stygian landscape with smooth boulders and lengthly rocks sitting half-inert in the teeming magma that coursed through the veins of the earth. Some rivers proved more challenging for their vastness as James drew out his parasol and formed natural bridges from a swirling fog of thick dust, hardening to solid stone to seat itself in a straight path for them to cross, much to the astonishment of Plainslash and Firetail who watched on and followed with their best directions.

"This place is not as vast as I expected it to be."

"Nah it's pretty small," said Firetail scratching his hard beak, "compared to the Birthlands that is."

"I suspect this land was not originally part of this continent, owing to the texture of the dirt compared to the Birthlands."

"Kevin said the same thing too," said Addison stepping off the landbridge, "when we came here on a cleanup mission he noted that and suggested that maybe this Firesea fragmented off from another continent across the sea and ended up here over thousands of years."

"What like an island?" asked Plainslash raking the dirt. "Never seen an island full of fire but I don't see why not."

"Have any earthquakes happened round here?" she turned to him.

"Nah, just when one of those mountains go and start raining fire more than usual."

"So nothing tectonic which is good."

"That makes no sense," Chanoch crossed his arms, "the magma must come from deep in the earth, below the sea yes?"

"Yeeees?"

"How can it come from the sea, if the Firesea floated to here?"

"Well how long was the Firesea here for?" asked James tapping his chin. "It could have been here for thousands upon thousands of years and by then it formed flues into the mantle."

"Hmmm..." he looked up to Plainslash, "how long has this fire burned?"

"Ohhh jeez cycles on cycles," he muttered scratching his belly with wicked scythes, "families all throughout the Birthlands pass on warnings not to go into the Firesea."

"But that can still mean a good million years," said Jane staring towards the satanic hills, "plenty of time for the earth to adapt around it."

"Do you know where there are any caves?" asked the lemming looking towards the sea.

"There's one the other side of the mountains," said Firetail butting his head towards the sea, "where the fog is, there's a deep beach but it's kinda hard to reach if you can't swim."

"Then perhaps a passage from above, somewhere we can reach the subterrane without travelling TOO close to the magma."

"That's...oddly specific but alright sure I know a place! So uhhh Warmvoice tell me more about Oddie's family."

"Oh well he has three lovely children," said the human with hands behind her back, "two boys and a girl, very sweet darlings and soon they'll be on their first hunt!"

"That's good! I mean, not for leafeaters like me but yanno good for him!"

"Sure you're not a meateater the way you go on about him?" jibed Plainslash with a smack at the waist.

"Does EVERY friendship gotta end with someone getting mated for you or what?!"

"When you're around yeah!"

"Yanno maybe YOU wanna get your cock wet you always keep bringing it up!"

"Oh right sure like I'd wanna get under what's left of your tail!"

"You said it not me!"

"N-NO THAT'S NOT WHA-GAAARH YOU TRICKED ME!"

Between the two beasts arguing and Jane trying to speak up amongst their bickering, James slipped back with Chanoch behind the group as they kept a watchful eye for any fissures or possible cave entrances in the valley of flaming rivers, dark oppressive skies of burnt sienna that mirrored the landscape.

"You did not tell Jane about your dream?" asked Chanoch.

"No," said James, "you have to understand I am trying to demonstrate some authority in my profession and well, even I know that chasing after dreams is not exactly professional."

"But you tell me and not your master?"

"Because I trust you," he clasped the lizard's hand, "I know you will not judge me, you have already seen me at my worst."

"Your master would not judge you," he replied squeezing James' hand, "you should tell him."

"I will if we find this thing, that way I have the evidence to provide before any suppositions are made about my mental acuity."

"Alright."

He rubbed the lemming's back gently as they continued on closer to the mountain peaks, the air becoming sulfurous with a ghastly weight upon their heads that made the saurians' climb more difficult until James swept the clouds apart with a gust of fresh wind, scattering the vapours as they passed through towards the foot of the volcano where Firetail showed them a tunnel shaft that went deep into the earth. Chanoch brought out some fibre rope to tie to a nearby rock, whilst James strapped himself to a harness they brought along in turn.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" asked Jane.

"I'm not averse to some spelunking," said the student clipping himself to the rope, "my ancestors were forced underground for centuries so, a little darkness never hurt a lemming."

"Be careful," said Chanoch hugging him with one arm, "I will pull you up if there is danger."

"Understood. Alright, let's go."

Gently moving down the rocky sides of the shaft, the lemming began his descent into the underworld as the rumbling tremors of the Firesea loomed greater inside his ears beneath the earth. Grappling the stone cliffs of the strata with his gloved hands he felt Chanoch gently feed the rope from above to make certain it would never slack, the darkness growing greater within the silicate that painted the bleak walls with an igneous scent that clinged to his suit.

"Everything alright?" Jane asked through her helmet comms.

"All is good," said James scuffling slightly on the rock, "the passage is still going."

"Shame that Haytham couldn't come along, but he's still busy up on the moon."

"I would have delayed this until he came back but I have other work to commit to sadly. Besides master Durai and I have agreed that our fields of interest have diverged substantially within this realm."

"Well long as both of you are enjoying yourselves is what matters."

"Indeed, after all we still both reconvene for magic both home and afaaaAAAR!"

"What, wha-James are you alright?!"

"JAMES!" Chanoch started pulling the rope back up until his voice cracked through.

"I'M FINE! Sorry just, one of the stones came off and I lost my place, everything is fine."

"Be careful please!" Jane cried. "Would rather not lose someone on a field trip I'm not Miss bloody Frizzle."

"You got any idea why they wanna do this?" murmured Slash to his friend.

"No idea," shrugged Firetail with a hefty yawn, "stones underground must be the same as the ones around up here, I don't get it."

"Me either, warmbloods are weird."

Further downwards did James proceed with much slower caution in his rappelling. It took a long seven minutes before he reached the floor of the ancient shaft as James tapped on the light in his helmet to see a glistening series of tunnels that crept and wavered all in tapering points.

"Alright I've reached the depth."

"What do you see?" asked Jane.

"Lots of igneous deposit, many minerals definitely some I'll collect...this is good so far but I need to make closer to the magma flow."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"The closer I am the stronger the deposits, that'll help in my research."

"Alright if you say so."

Glaring down each passage he went for the one that more likely turned towards the undertow of the volcanic river, the rumbling churn of molten liquid echoing deep through the world as James stiffened himself with courage to walk towards the source of the furious flow. The rope continued to lengthen behind him, hoping it would not run out before he could reach anything close to the place he had dreamt as he saw one tunnel flash directly in his mind from the particular convectual curve of its ceiling. Something clicked, like a mathematician's theorem coming together as he marched towards the reddening glare that tongued the walls with rippling light, the gasps of geothtermal breaths from the lungs of dragons sweeping past his vision before finally reaching the place he always knew. A small circular room where lava was walled up on one side very audibly as well as from the sheer heat that flooded the room like a toxic spill to the point that James was starting to sweat.

Lava poured in a small stream across the wall and bled down the side to creep across the floor like creeping ivy, slithering towards another hole where it would end up at sea with the rest of its caustic mass. But it was the one thing that didn't belong in the room that made his eyes widen with disbelief, something that clicked with a smile beaming underneath his helmet as there was the object from his dream. A bizarre piece of metal shaped like the letter P, large enough to put his hand through the hole of its shape.

"I found something!"

"Wh-what?" Jane shook her head tapping her ear.

"Something...something strange in this place, a metal fragment that's just sitting there without melting!"

"What?! Now James please just think about this, are you sure you can take something withou-"

"It doesn't belong here and it's not fastened down so yes I am taking it."

Stepping closer to the lava stream he quickly grabbed for the metal and made his way back, putting it into a storage pocket in his suit along with his rope line and some silicate that he scraped off the walls for posterity. Ten minutes after obtaining his prize he was soon back up top with Chanoch pulling him carefully to the mouth of the shaft and unclipping his harness as he produced his find.

"What is that?" muttered Plainslash peering over their heads.

"I'm not sure," said James, "it's cold and yet unaffected by the magma."

"But that's impossible," said Jane crossing her arms, "I mean lava at LEAST is around twelve-hundred celsius, this doesn't seem like some incredible piece."

"Mayhap it was part of an anomaly?" James shrugged. "Did I not hear Kevin say that this was where the first anomaly was fought at?"

"The alien ship? Actually you know what it MIGHT be from that, but I don't recognise the metal as being part of-"

"Your weapon," Chanoch said.

"Huh?"

The knight pointed towards James' umbrella.

"The handle. It looks the same."

"What the-...oh my god it does."

Holding his weapon up high the lemming carefully compared both the handle and the new metal shape, finding them both to be of similar build and size, large enough for James to put his hand through either. His eyes flicked back and forth before putting both of them together to be almost exact down to the slight crookedness of the circular rim, before deciding to walk over to one of the smaller lava puddles and dip his parasol in with handle first. The magma sizzled and scorched with searing flames briefly but nothing melted. The handle remained intact.

"What in the saviour's name IS this?!" he gasped turning back to them. "This is...I...th-this is incredible!"

"Are you telling me," Jane smirked raising hands, "you just found a metal thing exactly the same as your umbrella handle?!"

"Y-yes! Yes exactly!"

"Okay hold on I know that you're magic but THIS is bloody coincidental."

"Well...not so much coincidence."

"What do you mean?"

"I um...I...had a dream a week back, that I would find something in the Firesea, a message from...from-"

"Are you-...okayyyy um," she rubbed her head stricken between shock and insult, "and just when were you going to tell me that this whole field trip was just ramblings off a DREAM?!"

"If we found something," he admitted scrunching his boots, "I know this sounds strange but look what we discovered, I had a dream of this, an object foreign that matches perfectly to my weapon handle, this must be a prophecy!"

"Prophecy?" murmured Chanoch raising his brow.

"From...whoever was telling me what I-i don't know but LOOK the evidence is clear!"

"It was true...but-"

"But nothing!" Jane waved it off. "You still led me along on a wild goose chase even if you caught the bloody goose!"

"I'm sorry!" James stomped his foot. "I know I deceived you but only because I was not even certain myself, I had to follow it I had to know!"

"What if something happened to us, what if an accident hurt one of us or worse, I'm a member of a scientific team I can't be swanning off on SODDING DREAMS that someone has-"

"NO ONE ASKED YOU TO COME JANE!" The lemming tightened his fists with a bitter creep across his visor. "I only required supervision from the base which I had PLENTY of with Chanoch, I apologise again for misleading you but we are here, and we have THIS so now let us return to the base."

"...alright." She stiffened herself and marched back the way they came. "But I hope you explain to everyone of your foolish venture."

"I won't have to," he brandished the metal shape, "this will tell it all for me!"

"Well whoop-dee-sodding-do you found a piss-shape are you going to open an art gallery with it?!"

"DON'T INSULT ME!"

"James." Chanoch put both his hands upon his shoulders and breathed carefully on his head. "You have proven your dreams were true. That is all that matters."

"Right...yes, see Chanoch understands, you cannot call me a fool if I produced results."

"Fine fine," she walked off continuing with waving hands above her head, "never mind you made me think we were going to do some actual science instead of taking me along with vague promises like some cultist!"

"Hmph." James swelled his chest as she left earshot. "She can call me whatever she wants, the fact is we have something strange and fascinating to discover."

"But what IS it?!" cried Firetail behind them still. "Do none of you know what it is?!"

"Well...no, actually."

"You stuck one of those stones on your stick though."

"I found that one in the caves of my home, grafted it to my weapon since I thought it resembled a handle. Now I wonder after seeing this other shard exactly the same or at least too similar to be discounted, what was its actual purpose?"

"What do you mean purpose?" muttered Plainslash tapping his leg. "It's just a stone, it has no purpose!"

"You are telling me two almost-identical shards of metal from across different worlds have no purpose?! HAH!" James tried to force a laugh with derisive smirk. "No, no this has to mean something, this cannot be discounted not in my good credit as an empirical student!"

"Sooooo you all done here then? Cuz I hate this place and would rather be somewhere where grass exists."

"Of course, please guide us home and thank you once again."

"No problem," said Firetail lumbering off first to inland, "I better catch up with Warmvoice though in case she falls into a fire river or something. Warmbloods like you don't live round here for a reason."

"No one should live here," said Chanoch following him, "except for demons."

"Does that make me one too?"

"Yes, you have the horns for one."

"Hah! I'll take that as a compliment Stonetree."

James followed behind Chanoch in turn with Plainslash beside him whilst clutching his new discovery. The cold metal in his hands almost burned his fingers at first with a freezing rigidity, but by the time they returned to the Birthlands it had warmed itself to his touch. Eventually he tied it to his back with the help of some rope as he felt ideas become full in his head with constant ruminations for its origin and potential use, but above all he was more excited than ever to show his master something new, a riddle for the ages only he could unravel.