Something was off and Thane couldn't quite put his finger on it. Taking a slight glance at his crew he could tell they felt the same. It was as if the air suddenly felt different. That was probably too dramatic of a statement but it was true. It was suddenly thicker. it could have been because of the news they had just gotten, or the box that was practically shoved in his face. whatever it was Thane shoved the feeling down with a gulp and took the box from the tall mans hands with a nod.

"well we wouldn't be loosing out on much now would we?" Thane grinned and laid the box on his lap and stared at it, the object almost alien in front of him.

"Well then i guess it's off to the pools right? Can we see what this whole big mess is about finally?" Rink said stretching her arms above her head with a sigh

That was the point. The less temptation the mercenaries had to betray this mission the better. It wouldn't be for money.

"Yes, why don't we get this party started?" A smooth voice interjected. Gilleo grinned his cheshire cat smile, fangs barely concealed. "Let me introduce myself. I'm here to keep you alive if the Circle pulls any funny business to the extreme." He mock bowed. General Gi Leo Cervante is my name, but fuck the plesantries and call me Gilleo." He winked at Thane.

The Matron let out a strained sigh. Cheyhyi tried to conceal his smile, but he did look slightly baffled. Gilleo had that effect on a lot of people. He was quite the showman when the mood struck him, and a terribly effective dispatcher of Spiru's enemies. Cheyhyi didn't much like violence, as was the way of his race. That didn't stop them from being the most terrifying protectors of their families. Some could describe it as Dr Jekyl and Hyde. Never mess with a Dragnis child. Gilleo strode past the group and pushed opened the double doors. A pearly staircase gleamed. "Onward to the pools!" His general's cloak fluttered up behind him as he ascended and disappeared.

"Oh dear..." said Che.

The Matron rubbed her temples. "Right." She rose, struggling with her knees. Che slipped his arm under her elbow and helped her up. "Ah yes." She brushed herself off. "Thank you Cheyhyi." He headed up the stairs ahead of her, his silken tail hair dragging the steps. "Come." She said, and went up the stairs.

The stairs spiraled up and up until you saw a tiny pinprick of light and knew that the end was near. The railings were cool and smooth like glass and the sun shimmered off it, casting rainbow designs on the walls. There was a breeze up top and the ground couldn't be seen. The blue sky circled all around with fluffy white clouds. There was a small pool with steps that drifted into a larger pool. Off the large pool it dropped like a waterfall to a pool below. It was so large it accomadated two bridges across it where spectators were now gathered. The ledge fencing was all fine sculpted porcelin and the ground marble. An unconcious boy was being lowered into the small pool by two priests. He slid from their arms like a limp doll and floated. People held their breaths for minutes and then there was a feeling of mounting tension after nothing happened for awhile. Was the kid dead? He certaintly was pale enough and the red marks from the eels looked vicious. Someone stepped forward and the Matron held out her hand to stop them. They froze in their tracks by a mere motion of this small woman.
Slowly the water around the boy began to swirl in shades of purple like he was bleeding. His veins were shaded like bruises against his skin. He drifted to the larger pool the violet taking over the pristine blue of the water. Suddenly he was sucked under. The crowd let out an anxious gasp. The Matron's gaze flicked up to Gilleo. "NO!" The water went black. Cheyhyi covered his mouth in horror. The boy was gone. Gilleo growled and undid the heaviest parts of his armor before diving from the highest bridge into the opaque black pool. It swallowed him up like tar without so much as a splash.
Priests fell to their knees to pray. Yona was among them, hands clasped, whispering. No one else seemed to wish to dive in.

A hand emerged with thick black claws and a telltale familiar tinge of pistachio skin. In his hand he clasped a strange creature. It was small like a potato and looked like a fish. It was a fish with six sets of feathery yellow wings and a silver horn. It opened it's mouth and the most beautiful music filled the breeze. The music evoked calm and serenity. The boy's head emerged, the fish going into his mouth and the tar swallowed them up again.

The tar oozed towards the falls fading to a shimmering gold and falling into the blue waves below. Slowly Gilleo emerged clutching a smaller creature in his arms. From the face it could be identified as the boy...as for the rest of him, the spirit has invaded his cells and changed his body. Gilleo didn't have time to get out of the pool before they were falling with the force of the waterfall. All the pools sparkled perfectly as if nothing had happened.

Thane couldn’t place the feeling that hit him as soon as it was announced he was to help Spiru. Even though his hands have been on this box, the token of their agreement which he had no clue what to do with, it only just hit him as Rink asked to see the boy. It was almost as the air surrounding them was getting thicker and more stifling. He could tell Rink was getting uncomfortable, was that just because he was feeling it or was he feeling this way because of her. Damn Gorsimis and their mind links. He never knew what feelings were his and which weren’t.

“Yes, why don’t we get this party started?”
The sound of the voice jolted thane and rink up. The trio looked behind them as a lightly green skinned man seemed to be floating in. Thane could feel the heat from Rink as she stared at the newcomer; obvious hatred that he could tell it was her.

Thane felt the tip of his lips curve to a sort of amused grin as the man introduced himself.
“Gilleo...” Thane repeated, responding to his wink with an arch of his eyebrow. Of course Spiru’s high ups would want to make sure the job is done correctly and even appoint a watch dog. It wasn’t that far fetched for Circle to send out their own force and hunt them down, but to think they would need help dealing with them just made Thane want to burst at the seams. What could this flamboyant, though entertaining man do other then bust out into song and dance, maybe a line from a play or two. The sound of doors being flung open snapped Thane out of his internal dialog and he stared at the man disappearing through them.

Rink couldn’t help but find the matrons reaction to this… Gilleo… entertaining. She was running her temples the source of the frustration coming from the new face. The new face that she just unloaded on the crew. Dandy. Already she knew the man was more trouble than what he was worth and who were they to think they would need help? As the crews gunner of course she would take personal offence to that. A wave of calm and amusement came across Rink. Of course, it would be Thane and his love for theatrics. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions. For now she’ll just make even more of an effort to keep her mouth shut.

The sight at the top of the stairs made Rink choke. The precious cargo, the boy, was nothing more than skin and bones. His face and arms pale, dangling. Rink sniffed the air and felt a mix of pity and confidence coming from the priests lowering him into the pool. She didn’t understand why they needed to bathe him, but then again she didn’t understand most of the traditions in Spiru. However if a dip in the pools would restore him to what he looked like before, maybe walking and talking too, she wouldn’t think too badly of Spiru.

Brent stood still arms folded during the whole procedure. As they slid the boy into the pool and he laid there floating Brent did not move a muscle. He didn’t look to Rink to assure her everything was ok. He didn’t nod at Thane to make sure it was on the up and up. He just stood there. That is until the boy got sucked under. Then he was undoing his protection, before he could even get a boot off a streak of greenish blue fell into the dark pit of water.
“What the hell just happened? Where did he go?”
He ignored Rink demanding to know what was going on he just stared at the spot where Gilleo had been sucked in. Silence fell over everyone including Rink as a small creature emerged. The music was so calm and beautiful all she could mouth was “pretty”. Seconds later it was gulped up. Rink jumped onto Brent with wide eyes
“WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!”
He moved closer to the pool and saw the head of Gilleo popping up bobbing toward the edge of the pools. Before he could be sucked into the rush of water Brent grabbed Gilleo's collar and hung on for his life. The pool was clear and calm, yet he was still holding on to something.
“Pull!” As he said it Thane and Rink helped pull the green man out, the boy, or what seemed to be the boy, still in his hands.

“What the hell? Why did none of you do anything? Didn’t you see he was about to drown?! Isn’t he important to you?” Rink kneeled down beside the two making sure the boy was ok before turning to the Gilleo. “Even better of a question, why does he look like that?”

Half of the boys’ body was changed into something not so human. Rink seemed to want to touch it though she kept a good enough distance.

“They can’t” Brent said as if that explained everything. It shut her up at least and they just stood staring at the boy and his shallow breathing. “Do you need help lifting him; he might be in this form for awhile…”

Gilleo was nearly dead weight in Brent's arm. Most of his strength was going towards keeping an iron grip on the boy. Gilleo, still stunned from the pool's shock bared his fangs at Rink when she addressed him. He griped the boy tighter and held him in a protective embrace. He seemed not to hear Brent as his attentions were locked on Rink.

Rink growled at the man and backed off, hopping to her feet just as quickly. Brent got between the two and looked down, his helmet straight in Gilleos face. "Like i was saying" he said strongly and then stood upright " we should move him into the apartments, the crowd seems bit too antsy and the boy will seem to be in this form for awhile." he offered a hand to the man and looked in the direction of the matron and Che and nodded. "would you mind?" implying them to call off the unnecessary people as they make their way into the rooms.

Gilleo stared at his reflection in the helmet for a minute before responding. He loosened up on the boy. "Yea..." His croaked, his voice hoarse and scratchy. "Medium. Crowds..." He grabbed Brent's hand and pulled him and Tiberius up. Despite his weakened state he was still stronger than a human but not by much. Tiberius was held in one arm, his tail dragging the ground. It couldnt be very comfortable if he awoke to a skinned tail. "Pink haired one." He spoke to Rink not knowing her name. "Could you grab my armor?" Which was thin and not what would usually seem intimidating against swords in battle. The Matron was seething mad. She looked like her small body would pop any minute. Cheyhyi made his way to the group. "Let me show you to a resting area before you go off on your ship." He pushed them towards the stairs and led them through a now empty city. "Gilleo, I will send for the healer. Do not attack our vistors." It barely showed but anyone adept in feelings would sense he was pissed by the comment and also terribly exhausted. It was the exhaustion that spared them the outburst and lecture. Rudeness to Gil's race was not noted by any other race than his own. In otherwords it was politically correct to insult him on a daily basis.

"You idiot h'es too weak to do something like that and why would he right now, give him some credit he pulled that thing out of the pool and he's mostly alive" Rink was speaking quicker then anyone could really grasp, though her words may not have been her own. she covered her mouth armor in hand and walked slightly behind the group. Brent could have easily picked up the boy but seeing as Gilleo hissed at rink he decided it was probably best not to, not yet anyway. being a crutch would have to do for now as they dragged their way slowly through the city, though not very far from the pools to a set of apartments. the smell of the ocean was a welcome scent compared to all the tense energy that was surrounding them at the pools. "I dont understand... why was the matron so pissed when we left?" Thane said scratching his head they all were obviously worn out but it was an honest question to have. "And why does he look...well like that. I thought he was supposed to be human"

Cheyhyi didn't sound cruel, what he spoke, he thought of as fact and it was educational in tone. "General Gilleo's race can be prone to berserker strength in times of great physical need when they need to satisfy themselves." "I am a trained soldier." Gilleo retorted, his voice cracking and the last pitch sounded painful. He winced and decided not to continue speaking. Che continued. "I will send get a healer that deals in special matters such as these and to investigate the boy. He is human...well we thought he was human. The healer will know....I hope." Che wasn't fond of the idea of leaving them all alone for a small time what with a pool drenched blood beast and this strange boy. Cheyhyi led them into a lush room decorated in a mideastern style, the floor covered in pillows and comfortable pillow like sitting chairs. "No time to explain Matron at the moment. Rest while I go get the healer. General Gilleo, lay the boy down and go to the other side of the room promptly. Try not to make too much contact." His paternal surge made it hard to obey the order but he was well trained and managed to seperate himself from his own personal desires." He'd touched that spirit...he knew it meant something...something big."

Rink stared at the boy and walked to the closest seat without ttaking her eyes off him. she sniffed the air slightly and made a face. "nothing. I get nothing." thane nodded and joined in next to her. Brent patted her shoulder and placed himself further into the room. "it could be something you can't sense, don't worry yourself about it." he said she nodded in response. it was true, she was half human and couldnt get her own talents to work the way she wanted to. she could tell what people felt during dreams or if they really tried to shut her off. even some species were off limits. it made her uneasy to be in the same room with something she couldnt get anything out of. "So we just sit and wait eh. and how are you holding up general? quite the dive you took there" Thane said trying to make pleasent conversaion. if this man was to be on board the leviathan they could at leastt learn to tolerate each other.


Gilleo noted Brent wasn't too afraid of being in sort of close proximity, then again he did threaten Rink and that would make any new aquaintence suffer. He glanced up at Thane. Hadn't Thane noticed his vocal cords were suffering? How was he holding up!? He just dived into a pool of his own personal kryptonite and now looked like hell and was getting drained by the minute the closer he stayed to this...medium human thing or whatever. He eyed Rink. Maybe he could communicate through her. She had a knack for empathy and if he could use her as a floodgate. He nodded in response and leaned over to grab Rink's arm to connect them. He turned her face towards him so their eyes met. His own we're the brightest color of orange. Concentrate on me girl he thought. I can't exactly talk. Help me. You want to help me. The pools are made of a concentrated energy of one type and will destroy others. Most Spiruians think that means all other energies are bad but that is an ignorant mistake. Concentrating something into one dense form is unwise. That boy almost swallowed me. We need to get out of here soon. We need to get him out of here. The Circle and the Spiru elders shouldnt have him. Dangerous. Cant let them know we know its dangerous.

rink jumped at the touch of gilleo at her arm. with the way he threatened her and she being unarmmed it wouldnt be a fair fight at all. then she began to understand what he wanted. she made sure to pay attention. "Pain, h-he's in pain.... obviously. his throat?" she was trying to find the right words, she needed to get this right and not ramble. Brent looked at Thane.
"dont look at me like that! How was I supposed to know his throat was in PAIN and not just messed up for a bit" Brent shook his head and turned back to rink. "panic and anger... we shouldnt be here.. we shouldnt be here at all. no one should take the boy. they are going to make him stay here? we need to get out of here!" Thane thought for a second. Gilleo would have just disappeared with the boy if they just needed to get out. no they have to be clueless about it. Great so they had to come up with a plan that would fool them and hop on their ship. "alright. we need the doctor for you gilleo at least. we have one on bored that could...deal with the boy." Brent held in his laughter but nodded. "oh she can deal with him alright."

Gilleo raised an eyebrow. He...wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. But they somehow had to get out of here without the healer on Spiru touching the boy and figuring out any more information before they did. They would make him stay once they found out about the thing in the pools. He grabbed his armor to put on. That wouldnt be a good thing to leave behind. It was unpleasant wearing it while still wet. Okay he was a General...a master in war and well...he had no voice. Fuckin great. How would they ever get out of here with 2 and a half humans to drag along. Wait...that Brent...he knew Cheyhyi. He remembered overhearing it. He grabbed Rink again. Can we use Brent's link with Che?

The door opened shortly after Rink shot Brent a look a shadowy figure appeared at the door. The room stood silent looking at the entrance waiting for what should be the doctor to go and wisk away the boy who was still comatose. what they ended up seeing what the tall dragonis standing the doorway. Rink felt the sides of her lips curl up to a grin
"Che..." She purred and turned to Brent. Thane stared between the two and looked almost as confused as Che did. Brent stood up and put an arm around the mans shoulders.
"Old friend, I think we are in need of your services. So if you'll just follow us and not alarm anyone we should be getting on our way."
Now the look between Brent and Rink made sense. Che was their SAFE ticket out, as long as he stayed quiet and didn't inform anyone of utter importance then they should be miles away from Spiru before they actually decide to start searching. Thane motioned to Gilleo to pink up the man and Brent lead the man out the door and looked around trying to decided which way was the docks. He gave a face toward Che and muttered lightly something about docks and not having a sense of direction. He could feel Che guiding him toward the docks keeping his eyes on the road in front of them.

"I will tell you everything once we got to the boat." Brent said hurried
"You better"

Che was conflicted. He had a deep sense of loyalty to Spiru but somehow knew it was best to get the boy out. He sensed a darkness looming over them. Unfortunately he didn't know how far Thane and the others would get before this got out. He couldn't leave or do anything rash. Spiru's balance and stability depended on him. Without him the Matrons power would fail her. She was not a species normally in a position of power. She needed him and he desired to keep the peace. Brent was a man with a mission, a higher calling, he would rely on him to find a way to avoid war. "You know what is coming if this boy falls into either hands." Che said. "We need to find a solution to this unease without war." He slipped them into the dockyards and led them to the ship. The computer room was experiencing a temporary magnetic disturbance. Gilleo looked sick. "Go, take care of my General and he will take care of you.Vicerius are not creatures made for the pools.Trust his heart and ignore his fangs." He grabbed Brent and pressed his forehead to the helmet. "You are a good man. Stay good." He whacked him with his tail. "Now make haste."

Once the doors flug open the group noticed the signal, lights and beeping all seemed off, like it was trying to catch up with itself. Thane hurried and fussed with the communicator on his wrist, letting the rest of the shipmates know that they were in a hurry to get off land. Rink looked to the two old friends and cocked her head to the side, the feeling she was getting a bit jumbled up.

"Be well. I am sorry for this..." Brent nodded at the man and once he felt a tail hit him he turned on his heels and pushed rink through toward the Leviathan. "Hurry it up Gorsimis or you'll be feeling the wrath of spiru."

Within seconds they were on the large ship and speeding like a bat out of hell. Thane yelling commands at the crew while on his way to the helm.
"Rink, show the General to the infermary. Brent, grab Khory and meet them there." He didn't wait to make sure they went their seperate ways and instead ran to the lift that brought him right into the eyes of the large serpent. If he timed it just right they would be out of Spira's waters in just a few minutes, the guards would have already realized they were gone with the boy and would be on their tails. They would be cutting it close. Staying on course wouldn't be a bright idea. Circle seemed to be just a hop skip and jump away. Surely they would have one of their hawks on them by now. Hours away at sea and not even a wrod of their cargo.

"Make a sharp left, we're going to Gorimi." Thane shook his head at the decision he had just made but it was the best place to lay low for awhile. "Sorry Rink. We're gonna have to stop by your hometown for a bit" he said to himself.
______________
Brent was rushing through the halls, his boots making large thudding noises. Khory wasn't exactly the easiest shipmate to find. Khory was the type of person that was on the ship for reasons that no one really understood, but didn't bother questioning.
"Khory!" Brent called out into each room he stuck his head into.
"WHAT?! Lords! I heard your big boots the instant you stepped foot on the ship you oaf!" a small creature with large teal eyes stood at what could only be three feet tall



Rink groaned, catching herself midway and stared at the sickly duo. The boy was laid flat on the leather seat in the middle of the room, gillieo took a chair to the side, but staying close. Rink had propped herself up a counter and was silently waiting.

Che closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. "1...2..." He whispered numbers under his breath until he got to 500 and swiftly turned. Now he had to report that the boy was missing. Luckily that ship was top notch and they would be well out of reach for the moment. Spiru was still a fragile society from the last war and he had given his best man to the mercenary crew. Despite Gilleo's terrifying reputation his tactics in war saved thousands of lives rather than sacrificed. His unit was 1,000 soldiers and he had only ever lost five.

*******

Gilleo layed the boy down on the infirmary couch and sat. His muscles were weak, his reaction time slower than normal. He closed his eyes and tried to figure out what the damage was. It seemed like his nervous system had been attacked. That might be secondary damage to having his soul almost sucked out of him by this small boy. What was the game here? A weapon? Was this thing a weapon? He looked over at Rink, studying. "You don't have to be so uncomfortable. We are not enemies." He imagined he wasn't exactly inspiring comfort. There was always a predators edge to a Vicerious's features even one as docile as Gilleo. He wondered If she came from a vegetarian race. Those races had a tendency to be more fearful of the predatory Vicerious. His homeland was frozen tundra. The race had evolved to live on little but blood and meats. He could raise his core temperature up to 130 degrees for short term lengths of time. The record was an hour and fifteen minutes but he had only ever done it for twenty five minutes when he had fallen through the ice once. Then again he was smaller and younger then.

Rink look at Gilleo as he spoke and managed a weak smile to him. not enemies, probably. They were on the run together and they all know how that could bring people closer together. It wasn't a look of discomfort so much as feeling too damned much. She took a deep breathe and could only feel thanes guilt and adrenaline. This she would be fine with.
"You should probably just take it easy for now, Khory will be here and uhh... has some interesting methods of healing I guess."
__________


"Just take your voodoo make me better items and get to the infirmary will you? what do you need a Chicken bone, Lizard tails maybe? where are they or should i look in the trash?" Brent said with rushed, tired speech. The tiny creature looked up and him with a blank stare and blinked. "What?"
Khory smiled widely showing a mouth full of sharp teeth "It's been fun catching up like this but I should get started helping some sick people. Let me get my bag." With that the odd little creature slithered into the room. Brent stared at the space it used to occupy and wondered how long it could possibly take for Spiru to gather forces, what was really wrong with the boy. On top of all those mysteries was just one simple question. When a blur of white and teal came by he blurted it out.
"Just what the hell are you anyway?"
Khory turned around with the same big toothy smile he had seen before. "Why ask stupid questions at a time like this? Come I have people to help."

The walk back was a bunch of turns and a quiet ride up the elevator but before long they came across Rink looking down at the metal floor. The sight of Gilleo made Khory raise a very long teal eyebrow and then came the boy.

"He went into the pools didn't he? Lovely then. First the Vicerius" Walking over to Gilleo, Khory gave him a look saying "I'm going to touch you now" before aiming both hands to either side of his face. with sucking of teeth Khory released Gilleos face and stared at him again.
"Well USUALLY this would be done by drinking the waters of Urush and spitting it out through a flame across the body, but that wouldn't be good for you now would it." Sharp teeth glistened slightly and disappeared just as quickly as it came as Khory went to fetch something from the big bag of treats. Pulling out a small tube of green stuff and placing it in Gilleo's hands and motioned for him to put it in his mouth.
"But don't swallow just... keep it between your teeth." When he did so Khory took either side of his face and breathed in heavily. After filling it's lungs Khory released Gilleo walked to the sink releasing dark liquid from its mouth.
"spit out the tube when you're ready and don't look at it."
"Why not?" Rink asked looking in awe.
"Cause that would just be disgusting!" Rink found herself the only one laughing along with Khory. It wasn't that different from usual. Khory and Rink seemed to get along just fine.

"Now about this little one... We've had a long trip now haven't we?" Khory reached again into the bag and pulled out a glass jar of some sort of teal liquid. Unscrewing the lid the other side became a dropper. Khory climbed a seat and looked at the boy still in an odd form. With a drop on his forehead and chest he slowly reverted back to his normal form, still pale, still with his veins popping up gasping for nourishment. Climbing back into the bag Khory popped up with a disk and shoved it into the boys mouth.

"5 minutes top. Get him some drink and food. Thane might want to be here when he wakes up."
__________________________

Through the clear blue waters below Tahir saw a dark shadow coming from the direction of Spiru and aiming toward the south. His yellow eyes focused more on the shadow through the helm. He closed them and headed back toward Circle.

Gilleo stared at the creature approaching him. He sniffed inhaling what he thought to be some sort of cinnamon scent. He almost gagged when the stuff went in his mouth. His inhibitions were draining out along with the green liquid in his mouth. He kept the tube tightly in his mouth surprised it wasn't shattering between his teeth. Fuck fuck shit shit fuck. His eyes rolled up in his head and the tube dropped from his mouth. He thought he tasted blood as he dropped to the floor. His eyelids fluttered as if he was in a deep REM cycle of sleep.
********
"Hello?" His voice echoed down the hall. It sounded like metal and stone were reverberating back to him. His feet were cold. Stone didn't hold heat well down in the dank holds of the caves. These were the native caves of the leathery race of the Matron. A shiver ran down his spine. Somebody grabbed him from behind. "We have a stray soldier!" A faceless voice sneered, whispering wetly in his ear. "What's the matter soldier? Can't take the heat?" Not literally heat of course. This was Spiru's testing grounds for the deemed dangerous species. "I've already done this..." He growled. "I'm your General. You take orders from me!" He tried to shake the guard off and was met with a violent electric shock and a vial of water with a sample from the pools was slipped into his mouth, weakening him. "Back to your cell you mad fool." "Fuck you! No!" Gilleo screamed as he was dragged. "I've done this! I've passed! I've saved your life in battle!"

*******
Tiberius groaned. His throat was so dry. He was like a husk, so dry and crumpled into some constricting thing. He couldn't breath! He couldn'- He gasped, eyes opening wide. He stared at the eyes of some strange thing. "AHHHHHH!!!!" He screamed.

Brent pointed to Gilleo as Rink ran out of the room to grab some food as Khory asked. The vampiric man was knocked out cold but still seemed to be breathing.
"Is he going to be alright?"
"Nope. I killed him. He was going to get in your way." Khory was packing everything up in the bag that seemed almost as tall as the short shaman.
"Khoorryyyyy......" Brent was getting tired of the odd creatures sarcasm.
"Relax big guy, he's sleeping away. Probably having some tantastic dreams of the good old days." Khory shrugged and felt stirring from the body beneth. Reaching for the disk and taking it out of his mouth with one quick swoop Khory shoved it in the bag and stared at the boy.
AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
The scream was cracked and dry. Khory moved back unwaivered not changing his gaze.
"So it speaks huh."
Brent stayed quiet arms folded at the opposite side of the room thinking to himself... Yup thats the same reaction I had when looking at Khory.
____________

A hunk of bread, some cheese, fruits, herb water with honey. Rink had grabbed a tray full of whatever she could find from the kitchens. Along with some meats the crew obviously got from Spiru. She was almost to the infirmary when she heard the scream of a voice she hadn't heard before. She made her way into the room and was shocked to see the boy upright and staring right into the face of Khory.

"Hey hey! Its ok. Calm down. Khory here helped you. You were knocked out for awhile there. Do you have a name?" Rink kept her voice low and calm bringing over a cart with her foot to the side of the bed, laying the tray on it. Imagine if he acted that way to Khory, Brent would be a huge step up. Gilleo would be too. Rink shoved a straw in the cup and brought it to his face.
"Drink this. Your throat is dry."

Good old days were not exactly the dreams Gilleo was having. He was locked in an impossibly small cell, light in his eyes, nobody coming in or out for weeks...or was it months? No he had broken this task before. He wasn't here for months. No it couldnt be. His dreams flickered back and forth. The dream was real in the sense it was a chunk of the past on reset. He was the only one in Spiru history who had been in the training cell blocks for over a year. It was a wonder he wasn't insane. He had to go through torture sessions adapted to Vicerious endurance. Starvation, bleeding out, pain threshold. At the beginning he was given a word and the goal of the war game was to get that word out of him by any means possible. His central nervous system almost short circuited when the Matron before she took the title had found him. Between her and Che they'd gotten him back to Spiru and the former Matron was weakened by the public shame brought on from her attempted murder of the young soldier.
******

Tiberius jumped up and stumbled backwards. He fell, rolled to the ground behind Rink. He ducked behind the couch shoulder and stared at her bright pink locks. "Where's Clara!?" He could have sworn he heard her voice earlier. His eyes fell on the unconcious Gilleo. That didn't look kosher at all. "Oh god you killed it..." He squeaked.

"Calm down! There was no Clara with you when we got to you." Rink walked to the cabinets and pulled out robes and placed them near the boy and walked to where Brent was whispering to him.
He left the room and Khoy was trying to reason with the child. "I didn't kill it for the last time! He is just SLEEPING. S-L-E-E-P and if you don't calm yourself down you might give yourself a heartattack so how about you give us a name?"

Tiberius grabbed the robe and covered himself with it. Sleeping...but why in such an odd place? The guy, at least he thought it was one, looked pretty uncomfortable. His eyebrows knitted together in frustration. That light greenish skin seemed familiar. It was just out of reach in his memories. Water...strange fish, something pulled him out then more water and some melodious voice. He snapped back to attention. This thing didn't seem to mean him harm. In fact it was smaller than most everyone in the room. "T-Tiberius..." He whispered. His heart was racing at lightening speeds.

"Tiberus. Where are you from?" Khory asked. Rink tending to Gilleo not knowing whether to wake him up or not.

"I'm from Central City..." He said blinking confused. "Where am I? Where's Clara?" He shivered. "Am I dead? I...I think I was hit by a bus."


"Centeral city?..... is that in Circle?" Khory moved closer to tiberius and poked him slightly. Rink Shook Gilleo slightly ignoring the overflow of emotions coming from him.
Tiberius felt an electric shock. "OW." He rubbed his arm. The static from the shock seemed to charge around his arm and draw him closer to Khory like a magnet. "No...It's part of the states. Like on Earth. Are you aliens? Have I been abducted? Or am I just dead? Did I go to hell because I swear I only stole that one pack of gum once. I'm really not that bad am I?"


Tiberius eye'd the fish with interest."Where...am I? How do I get home?" He reached out to grab it, staring, transfixed. "Father will not be happy....I am so late..Father will not be happy. My bike is trashed. He will kill me."

Just then thane popped inthe room with brent and stared at the scene before him.
"I think its about time we learned just what the hell we all got ourselves into dont you think? Wake the Green one up or try.."
Brent moved rink out of the way gently and shook the ment slightly

Gilleo shot up, his fist slamming into Brent's metal suit. It barely dented. He stared wild eye'd at Brent's helmet. The floor was still cold. Just like when he was alseep. Gilleo hated the feeling of it. "What the FUCK did you do to me!" He growled at Khory then stopped noting the boy was up, partially hiding and seemed to be about to pounce on some little orange fish thing Khory had. Gilleo shoved the metal giant and lunged for the boy. He grabbed him and held him tightly away from Khory. Tiberuis looked like he was truly about to have a heart attack. He was frozen like a deer in headlights or more like a deer locked in a vice staring at headlights because Gilleo had an iron grip. He bared his fangs at the large eye'd voodoo man. "Who are your alliances with?" He hissed.

Khory sucks his teeth and motioned toward the boy.
"might help if you stopped being so violent toward him. not enough that you totally caught Brent offguard...but the boy will piss himself."
Khoy moved to the fish and poked it once and an image of earth popped up from the mouth.
"Earth. This should be our friend Tiberius' earth." another poke of the fish and a distorted image of earth with more dessert than water was shown. "And this... would be mine. Millions of years after Tiberius' of course but still the same one." Khoy turned to Gilleo and grinned. "I am a crew of the Levianthan. I am alliances with no one but Thane and Rink. Get it?"

Gilleo stared at the halographic type image. How could that be? What had Che and the Matron thrown him into? He eased his grip on the boy. "That is a satisfactory answer for now." Thane and Rink were the alliance right now. This boy was safe with this thing for now. TIberius was slowly released. He hid behind Khory. Gilleo grumbled not knowing how to handle the social nuances of this Earth based thing. "You don't look like anything I've ever seen on Earth..." Tiberius said. He was lying of course. When he was brought to his aunts estate in the summers when he was younger he'd see all sorts of weird creatures in the woods. But his rational mind wouldnt acknowledge it. But he really hadnt seen anything like Khory.

Khory pent Tiberious' head "Years and years off. No need to worry about that. I am fairly sure we entered this world the same way though.. you said you were riding a bike yes?"
Rink, now sitting on the floor raised her hand.
"Yes rink?"
"What is a bike?"
"like a car but not as fast."
"Ah"
"So you were riding your bike and was hit by car yes?"
rink raised her hand again.
"Yes rink?"
"whats a car?"
"..... an auto! those things with wheels and they move. and people sit in them!"
"Ah"
"Do you really get it?"
"A tank!"
Khoy hung his head "Something like that...yes..."
He touched the fished and it showed a tiberius in the hospital, clara asleep in the chair next to his bed.

Tiberius inched away from the petting. It felt weird from a stranger. "Whoa! Clara!" He waved his arms. "Clara!" He stared at the bed, face going sour. "Wait...how can I be in two places at once?"


Khory shrugged "Your accident brought you here for some reason. i'm not sure if you are supposed to be here or someone was supposed to be here in your place. Your accident made a rift. you are here. In your world you are in a coma. That's why clara is there."
Thane stared at the picture. the most obvious question was floating in the air. Khory kept a blank expression which gave him the answer he was looking for.
"you have no clue how to get him back huh?"
"Him turning in the pools was enough to tell me he's supposed to be here."
"That isn't what i'm asking. we have Circle and Spira both looking for this kid and now we are on our way to Gorimi."
Rink turned to him and if looks could kill he would have been dead on the floor.
"I'm sorry, but it was somewhat close, quiet and hostile. just what we need to get away from them both, or hold them off for now."

"Clara..." He whispered. "She has to be pretty worried. I wish she knew what was going on." Tiberius frowned. "Wait...where the hell is my Dad and Grandmother? The fuck. She's the only one staying overnight? Ffft. That's insulting." He pouted then perked up. "Huh...what pools?"


Gilleo rubbed his forehead. "We need to find me something to wear then...I can't wander around in Spiru armor in a hostile land. They will already be displeased."

Brent rubbed the knot that was growing at the back of his neck. Of course it did nothing through the armor. This was getting more and more complicated, and now heading into Gorimi, this were about to get a bit interesting. Pushing himself off the wall he was leaning on he motioned toward Gilleo.
“I'll send you and Tiberius to your quarters.” After a quick glance to the two and headed outside.

Khory stared at Tiberius and pushed him lightly toward the door.
“He won't bite you. Shoo.” Once they were out following Brent Khory stared at Thane and Rink. “Make sure your little family won't eat our new guest. Got it?” Khory smiled and slithered out of the room leaving Thane and Rink with very unhappy thoughts crossing between them.

Brent took a quick look behind him to make sure he was being followed. Once sure he took a quick turn to another hall and pointed at the second door to the right and left.
“Pick a room. These are the crews quarters. Thane, Rink, Khory, and I are all on this side of the hall though we hardly stay in these rooms. There should be some fresh linens and some casual leathers in the closets. There's an intercom..” He opened one of the metal doors and pointed at the wall closet toward it. “Here. Anything you need just give it a buzz, you can reach pretty much anyone you need just with a few buttons”