Interlude 7
#30 of Among Stars
Part of: Among Stars (Prequel to 'The Golden Month')
The story of how a crew of misfits shattered the dominance of the Empire's tyranny.
Their victories, their losses, and their ultimate fate. An odyssey across the endless frontier that is space!
Las Lindas Web Comic Spin-Off, OC-Insert
The characters in this story (Except the OC-Insert) are © chalodillo
Interlude 7
'By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is the noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.'
Confucius was not wrong when he wrote down this true understanding of what Wisdom truly represented, but, if she had to be honest, there was also a fourth element which consolidated the learning of true wisdom: the capacity of appliance. One could easily forsake the idea that once one learns, they would never be required to show or tell due to how the path of enlightenment is subjective and thus driven by inner strength for inner purposes. But what could easily pass as a display of arrogance, others could easily consider revealing said knowledge the completion of true wisdom. Because wisdom wasn't a subjective feeling, but one that drew from the ability of those to give knowledge properly and without holding back on the true meaning of each word granted to a term or a word. It was the essence of being the teacher to those that were unaware, the bearer but also the granter of new truths to those that sought them for the sake of self-improvement.
Xiong Ambar had spent many centuries learning and relearning these concepts. The Wisdom Crest was, of course, blessed with the capacity to arguably channel more knowledge within her mind than many, giving her an edge in her early years that cost her a few deep losses within her family. Arrogance was always around the corner, and the only way to counter it was to either concede to absolute seriousness and thus abandon what made her call herself a free spirit, or embrace a state of mind that was confident but driven by small ambitions. The decision wasn't difficult to find an answer to, but the Bear Prime with luscious long red hair still contemplated after so long if this had been the right decision. In the end, she accepted that due to her own knowledge and the powers that came through her own Crest, it was only for the best that she remained 'weak' in the eyes of many. She didn't want to be known, to be seen by others- Ambar preferred the life of the hermit to the one that would have brought her as many chances to make Earth better as there were of her getting attacked and accused of foolish claims. A few disasters back in the small rural area of China were still solved by her from time to time, out of compassion than of reputation. An Earthquake? It was simply dealt with by manipulating the tectonic plates. A flood from the nearby river? She already gave instructions and blueprints to create shelters that would have held well against that mess. Never had she accepted any reward or offering, the 'Lady Xiong' being a woman of humble origin with a numerous family that slowly but steadily dwindled down until it was just her.
Of course, the Bear Prime knew from looking at the signs all over the world that she wasn't the only one. That there were other Crests and Primes. She met with Apogeo, a messenger from Deities of Old which had 'fallen' at the same time as Prism. A tragic background to have, but not one that Ambar would weep over due to how little she knew of her homeplanet. Earth was her home, she saw it as such, and yet she thought of Prism as a blow to what she would have wanted. A stable place to visit, maybe met her real family to get answers to what happened. But it was Apogeo, a possible stranger, which gave her the truth. And the idea that a monster as strong as the Emperor existed had her shudder at the mere thought. Her powers were mostly unrivaled on Earth, but she could easily admit that she wasn't the strongest and she was definitely unable to kill Gods of all the possible entities she could end up facing.
Ambar listened as the spirit narrated the fall of her home planet and how all Primes had scattered all over the Galaxy, with many Crests ending up settling right on Earth, where one of the possible Royal heiresses to the Throne was. Twelve Crests, under Light for the sake of Order. That discovery had her quickly look down to see if she could find any since this explanation easily reasoned why she had felt 'others' 'nearby and yet not'. She felt 'her siblings', and yet none were in China. A quick look through what information she could find helped her find roughly four other Crests beyond her. One in Japan, one in India, one in Scandinavia and one in Africa. This last one felt so wild and unreachable at times, as if the Crest knew she was looking for them and effortlessly covered her pattern from her 'eyes'. It was mildly-frustrating, but Ambar couldn't blame one to be distrustful of a sudden probe, regardless of how flimsy and barely noticeable it was. Patience was the virtue of the mighty, and she had yet to lose her temper even once as she cautiously waited for a hopeful change within this Status quo. Because she could feel it, deep within her core, that something was about to change as soon as the 'true Queen' showed up and gave them a leader to believe in. And while Ambar was still tied to Earth, she knew her new home wasn't going to last against a dangerous foe like the Emperor. Allying with what was left with Prism, consolidating the Crests, was the only way to succeed against their common enemy.
Just a few days ago, her hope to find 'her outwordly siblings' was finally rewarded with an opportunity. A chance to put an end to the silent but perceivable war which had ruptured through a side of the galaxy well away from Earth. Apogeo had left her with some technology to study. Long-range communicators that couldn't be traced by devices on Earth but that could reach out for any ships bearing Prism-made technology. Said communicators turned on a while ago, giving her quite the interesting reading as she traded messages with... the entourage of the Queen. Apogeo might have told her that the recent years had seen a serious decline of the royal cause, but that something changed a few months ago now. And the change, Ambar herself could see, was tied to the fact that 1) many Crests had joined the cause, with almost all of them now being firmly under Prism's side; 2) A human was now the Grand Knight.
While this last news would have shocked many, Ambar was actually amused and most interested by it. Having lived long enough on Earth to know of the humans' qualities, she could see why this change was for the best. She had just a brief understanding of the young man since he was the one that replied to most of her messages and he seemed to mean really well to their cause and be genuinely tied to it. The news that all but two of the Crests, had been rallied made her believe the final moment of this silent war would finally come to be. Would she be ready? She read many books about war to know of the pain and sorrow, of not just the fighters but those that watched impotently as everything they believed in was shaken by the brutality of warfare. And Ambar knew, as she thought of this, that she would have to be brave and strong to make sure the worst was prevented out of this.
Still, it felt quite surprising when the human himself asked if they could finally open a video-communication due to urgent matters and... she agreed. Curiosity, after so many years of general disinterest, finally prodded her to make that choice and she wasn't regretting what she was looking at.
The human looked fairly young, in his early twenties, the Queen, a Coyote Prime, the same. Both looked close and... tight. The same extended to the Fire Crest, a 'tough'-looking Fox Prime, and to the Love Crest, a cute Gazelle Prime. The Water Crest was a bit younger-looking than them, but she seemed to know what was going on and Ambar knew the last of their 'fun alliance' was jailed due to her allegiances with the Empire. But as she looked thoroughly at them, just before a conversation could happen, a silent but mirthful thought entered her mind, sparking a feeling she only heard about and that caught her off-guard by a lot.
_ The Ice Crest sure looks the most handsome hunk among them all~. _
d-d-d-d
AN
Brace for impact, it will happen quite soon and-
_ I'M HERE! _
AHHH! Ambar?! I told you next chapter-
_ Which is this one, you dummy! Plus, I want to finally be there and bring the hype in this story. _
Ah?
_ Don't give me that, sweetie. Or I will be forced to take action. Actions of the cuddle kind- _
I'm already facing the Ravenhurst ladies, have some mercy.
_ Never~! _