the door opened, My master turned to a gorgeous red light, then broke intonation, as a million sparkles rained over me the red turned into a pure white as it soaked into my body.
" I shall get to work now!"
the cockpit hissed as the door fully opened out walked a woman who ironically missed the light show by mere seconds!?
we looked at her, and her voice was really gruff.
" I am alpha, the synthoid in charge of giving you these."
She handed us each a bag and a card.
They had our names. Single name the names we had chosen!?
Lumina, Kenedy, Marshall, and Silver.
On it was our picture and a fingerprint mark? The bag was small, but her face seemed like it was about to say something but remained silent.
" Speak Alpha. What is it?"
" Yes, sir, the password for this company is in the card. orders are issued. maps and A.I. connections are active Beta menu trial One. after exiting, the owner may store the ship within the ring. I will depart with you then. Please begin with getting prepped to leave."
I looked at her and thought about my small storage realm laughing in my heart, knowing the others could do the same. I spoke up.
" We are ready to exit when you are..."
" Yes, Sir, please proceed to cargo bay doors."
The Synthoid was very plain looking with short white hair and grey eyes. Its clothes were slightly odd, but then again, we are all wearing a single colored jumpsuit. mine is Grey, Mars has blue, Ken has Black, and lumi has yellow on. they look nice and are not so baggy that we can move well.
It took us a minute or two getting down the ladder, but that's because no one was in a rush to get exercise in this freezing cold at what seemed like the but crack of dawn!? But we all exited the ship none the less it wasn't snowing but was briskly cold. we turned to look at the Ship Size Noticing she said I could store it in my ring, I looked at her in disbelief!
I looked at my hand, focusing on that ring that I've been wearing this entire time!?
was that the damn things only use!!
I couldn't fathom it, but I just went ahead, forcing myself to accept the idea of holding my hand out. I thought store the ship in my mind, and without having to do much, a light covered the ship as it slowly shrunk, melting into light as it entered the ring storage space. The void magic was very advanced as I could feel it pulsing in the void. it pulsed back, allowing me to know it was full. Unless I stored it in the ship, then placed it back into the ring, there was no space left.
the lady who called herself alpha turned around and began walking in a direction I had yet to know.
I thought about the map only to be shocked by the view that popped up. it was a marker of a planet, a blip showed where I was, and when I thought about that, it zoomed in, showing me a rough area. I Grey dot showed me north, and a green arrow showed me a direction. it was the opposite of that woman?
She went west we are to go east, I guess...
looking around, it was planning time we were in a meadow with forest surrounding us in all directions without the map. I would probably be stuck here forever. thankfully, we have one that at least gives us a direction to go, although no matter how far I scroll, there are no factors that distinguish where we are headed!?
No cities, no names, only directional applications...
it wasn't exactly an issue until it was when we met the forests edge, which actually took us almost all day. Looking back on this meadow, I felt an ominous glare but found nothing when I looked around.
It has started to get dark, but if we walk into the forest right now, it will be pitch no site dark!!
" Want to make camp here?"
" Haha, yeah, that's a bit creepy."
" I don't think it's scary. I mean, I can see pretty well in the dark. I am half Dwarven."
lumi stood proudly, and my lips curved into a smile thinking about that guy at the ceremony hall. he was about the height of her now but built like a brick wall, so does that mean she only gets thicker from now on!?
" Pfft ahahahah! Nope, I am a wimp, and my nightlight is at home on some other planet!"
" Yeah, I am no more braver than you, but we need a place to sleep!"
" Have you all forgotten we came her on a ship... that's still in my ring. saying that out loud makes me feel like it's cheating."
pointing my hand out thinking about the ship, it began to appear in a bright light.
although I felt weak as the mana rushed into the ring, it turned out, it's not free and needed to be recharged at least once Ina while. I felt my gut flip as I threw up. My head was light, but I wasted no time after that to get inside lock the door and lay down. the others ate a meal then went to bed all the same. conversations were not on the top of our lists. We walked for what felt like hours and got nowhere! welp after a good rest, we will continue tomorrow.
which brings me to the middle of the night. we locked the ships cargo bay. Thank the lords! something was beating on it sometime in the middle of the night but was unable to enter. It finally went quiet, allowing us to sleep a bit more.
the sun rose sometime before we woke up, but it was different from our sun. this one was white but gave off a pretty clean white glow. it felt as if my skin was being rejuvenated, and I felt full of energy.
Being happy about that, I packed the ship up, pointed at the east, and marched. it took us three days of walking, sleeping, and walking, but we finally found it! a Village, It wasn't exactly large, but it was great to meet humans. I was enthusiastic about it that I wasn't paying much attention. before hearing the screaming from people a head of us. seems weird that they are screaming and waving.
it did not take us long to realize the problem as the Rumbling sound grew louder and louder.
Turning to look behind us was a mistake as it just slowed us down.
" Run now! Golem Protect the kids Get them To the gates."
the golem appeared from a green light swooping the kids up in its Six arm mode it grew tracks and spun dirt as it took off.
I was not so lucky as I felt myself slip. I landed chest first, on the ground hard as screams grew quiet eerily so. I did not panic, but I just began to stand up as I felt my back get hot. my body went limp once again as my face twisted in pain. I was hit by something but can't reach it!? I saw a man on a tiger running at me. his screams felt so close as his words echoed.
" Get up, Boy Get Up. Do not let this beast tide be my last nor yours! Get the fuck Up!! Reach for me! "
He came directly at me, mustering everything I had. I stood up, feeling a doom linger in my eyes a beast had leaped at me. Everything slowed down as my body felt heavy, time ticked by as the Beasts maw grew closer I saw the blood in its Teeth the meat left from its last meal. It was closing in on my neck, and I couldn't change that fate.
in that second, all I could muster was putting my hands up in fear. when had that even happened? I felt words in my ear like a whisper.
" Don't mess this up!"
My body is flinching as my finger points at the Creature. My mana built in my hands, and I pushed them into the mouth of that creature, watching its eyes grow wide. It bit down in shock as I felt my wrists Crunch. Its head grew bright red as gore blew in every direction. my mangled hands were the only thing left in sight as I was snatched from my right. My breath was gone. My mind was fuzzy, and I felt terrible. The man who was holding my body was hurt like me as his arm looked eaten and mangled like mine. Noticing he had killed the two other Beasts, I had not even noticed which one had hurt him. Was that because of me!?
I felt weak. As I lost consciousness, I tried my best to apologize.
" I... I... am..."
I reached for his arm as my fuzziness went to black, like turning off a TV my vision went Black.
when I woke up, the ceiling was broken, and a bit burnt. I jumped up, bumping my hands on my knees, but I didn't feel anything looking at my arms. all I saw were nubs, my breath caught in my chest, I have no hands. I jumped out of the bed and bumped into a man sleeping in a chair.
He is becoming alert as he shook his head a few times.
" You woke up about damn time, boy!"
His arm was like mine as he held it up to his forehead. he looked at the expression I made, and he laughed.
" HahaHa, don't Fret, when we get to a large city, you can get them nubs healed right up. oh, wait, Ya got them credits for a healer?"
what?
" Where are my brothers and Sister!?"
" OH them other orphans you brought in... One is a few rooms over, and them boys are out doing Manuel labor with Manuel and Laborator. they offered to help, so don't go getting all stuffy. I mean, we are not too handy at the moment."
he held up his nub, looking at mine.
" That okay. So what do I do with this? how do I recover? you said something about a healing for credits!?"
" woah woah, slow down, boy, you can only heal those major wounds it may seem useless right now, but that wound in your back hit your spine. you are lucky to even be walking, let alone alive. Now sit back down, and let's get the elephantorous out of the room."
He sat me back on the bed and pulled his chair closer.
" What is it you were doing out there anyways?"
I looked at him and decided to lie.
" we were coming from an orphanage."
the man's face went from smiling to Stern as he spoke.
" Cut the Bearshit boy, You have never seen a Mangok shade before. and you stuck your hands in its mouth! the one full of acid. Then you summoned out a ship that still sits out there! killing gratitude for that as it saved the skin of our ass to be honest. that reason is the only one I am here for now. Let me know the truth, and we can see where we go from there."
I thought long and hard before speaking.
" haah, okay, honest, right! let's start with. We are from an orphanage. On another planet, the patron of our orphanage saved money to buy a ship, but his illness made it impossible, so I killed him and took it, and my siblings. we only had enough fuel for here. We landed in a meadow west of here. We have traveled for the past few days, the Synthoid in our ship, we found woke up and walked west, but that was why I chose West. something hit our ship on our way here, causing me to lose my golem linking it to my brother's and sister.
the last thing was well us appearantly being chased by hundreds of those ugly lizard things."
" Mangok shades, acid spitting black wolf lizards that usually attack at night, dwell in caves, sometimes travel in packs, but every once in a while, mana tides wash over our planet allowing Beasts to overcome certain weaknesses. we call them beast tides."
" Not going to ask a question?"
" I already did, but if you are going to lie. then why should I ask anything else."
I looked at him as he had a smug smile on his face.
" What if I can't tell you that truth, though?"
" That's not my problem, but I can smell you, and you don't smell of death or blood. Nor have you the inheritance of a killer."
his smug smile turned dark as I felt a chill run down my spine. My body flinched as I fell over the next time I awoke he was sleeping again, and I had an iv with fluids.
a nurse came in, and I noticed the black eye on the man. her smile beamed as she noticed my gaze.
" I am quite a bit stronger than him, but since becoming a cleric, I have renounced hurting others unless they harm children and you child have many years to grow. although it seems the wound to your spine needs better attention than I can provide. to much pressure will send you into a seizure. which We can't have. I will give you a token and take it to a cleric in the city they will help you for a fee. this let's them know the diagnosis."
She got up and left before the man opened his non bruised eye.
" That demon left, yeesh. Talk about pyre of no harm But she beat me like I was a useless goblin! ooh, well, I did almost kill ya. okay, we call it fair, I won't threaten you again."
he waved his stump around as his other hand scratched his ass.
" Well, you have questions. I don't have any like I said the lies and all. matter of fact, I do only have one. You are broke, right?"
his eyes raised as he held up his hand in a circle with his index and his thumb.
" I mean, Credits, Coin, Moolah!"
I looked down at my feet and thought about all my Belongings.
" Well, I own that ship no matter the way I achieved owner ship and whether you believe me or not."
he shook his head.
" Nope, the Guilds took possession of it until the owner takes it back, so you an unregistered will have to pay the fees which is only a few credits I mean ten or twenty. but the real kicker is an unregistered will pay the fee of ten thousand credits for illegal entry onto planetary ground. Technically, that is fifty thousand because you admitted to a synthoid to a Knight. and since you committed to murder I have to book you for that. Those kids will be booked with you as accessories to the greater theft of a vessel. and also a few other treaty breaking laws, which by flying here illegally, you admitted that. the total penalty would be no less than death for all four of you."
He leaned back in his chair as my heart sank. I looked at his smile as his smug face. Once again, he looked down on me.
" Well, then how can I let my siblings go free. I will take the full blame. in fact, I kidnapped them..."
" Unwise kid, unwise. Don't panic now. You are a stone cold killer, right. suck it up and accept the idea of death."
he stood up, looking at me.
" I am here to give you a hand up. I met with Alpha a few days ago. the passwords, it's Marshmallow, Keeper, Lighthouse, Platinum. I am a beastmounted knight, so I tend to move a bit faster with my mount. It's a Uniligorcorn I call her strawberries."
I was left stunned as he was all smiles as beams of Sunrays shone through the window. I stood up, walking over to it.
In my best voice, I leaned onto my elbow, putting my nub on my chin, striking the pose, and not feeling embarrassed at all.
" It's okay, Society has given me a hand at finding my fate. allowing me to see the world's around me no longer. Is it just at the tips of my fingers, No its enveloped my hands with this new fate."
" Pffrs hahaha hahaha."
He wiped tears from his eyes.
" Now I thought you needed a hand at humor, but I see you are all thumb up!"
I couldn't help but giggle. Eventually, we had both broken out in full-blown laughter.
It took us a few minutes to stop and get back to maturity with all the jokes at hand. But we did finally calm down.
" Glad to see you laughing, kid. It makes it easier to tell you your sister is in a coma."
he smiled as he Harumphed out this news.
" Will she be okay?"
" Yeah, Kid, she will. You, on the other hand, will not. I only have enough coin to pay for one injury and mine. ah, you do have that ship. I was lying, by the way. it's still in the forest outside the village gate. but even then, who is going to buy stolen good at a high enough price to pay for two healings... since both those injuries will take a healer. Who knows advanced healing, maybe even a few hundred minor heals over them nerves and spine."
he pointed with his nub out the window.
" Your goal was just east a few hours ago, am I right?"
" Yeah, it was, but now I don't know this is kind of a big blow for a group of kids... Two of which hate my guts for everything I've done, like the fact that we are here, and one has enough resentment in me that I feel guilt just looking at them. and now here I am after saying I would protect them, with what! I got freaking stubs! anymore you need to know?"
I noticed his eyes just before he closed them they seemed a bit mad, and his breath made me shiver.
" Haah, okay, then what do you plan to do?"
I held my tongue, looking at him, but had no words as I felt myself shrink the tears just wouldn't stop.
" What can I do? My sibling is hurt, I'm disabled, and I am not even from this planet!"
" Is that all runt?"
his words made my eyes focus on him.
his hands grew as Claws gripped the seat. his face Elongated like that of a wolf. his hair grew six inches, and fur had grown luxuriously.
" I am not here forever Runt what do you want me to do live for you. Are you stupid!
even a disabled child can pull its weight. my left nut could pull more weight! are you going to give up. tossing in the towel, then fine. I will make a plan for you if you can't figure it out by the time you are out of that bed. But it will be triple hard because I ain't here to raise you. I was here to help you, and I'm done after that runt! we will go our separate ways at that time."
he stood up in his furry form, walking out the door it slammed rather hard behind him, and all I could do was look at these damn stubs.
" Did you forget I was here. I could heal you both my little apprentice. But this time, I feel like the lesson isn't learned."
" But master...
I was cut off by the next few words, and all I could do was grit my teeth.
" No buts, you are my apprentice. I have already told you I expect more of you. I will let you suffer for the next month, but the moment I am done healing your soul, if you have made no progress, I will strip you of that right to be called my apprentice am I clear Silver."
this was no joke. My name being said, stung, worse than I thought. when had I ever told her my name? there was only one way to answer as my gut felt like it had rocks in it.
" Yes, Master. I will learn from this mistake."
I hung my head, hearing nothing else from her, and that made me feel even lower than dirt. I lay down, fighting back the tears as I gritted my teeth. I need to do better. No, I am going to do better!
I sat up, crossing my legs, focusing inwards. I forced my weak soul to open feeling a pinch my master scoffed at me.
" Hmph, that will do nicely. Let's begin then."
it was in this moment that I felt fire as the power my master exuded alone, the sun had touched my back as I focused on my soul realm.
It slowly grew brighter until all I could see and feel was that light. As I basked in that power, I forced my realm to react! How long had I been there? No, it doesn't matter. Follow this Flow!