The Seventh Tribe: Gathering

Chapter One: Ten Years Ago…

Death, carnage, pain – these are only a few words that summed up the Second Tribal War

The scene opens to the village of Equinox, the central point that connected all of the Areno Villages together. Once a prosperous village that thrived on commerce and resources was now reduced to a ruined shell of its former self. The various markets were ripped away exponentially, a majority of the building structures had collapsed, and corpses littered the street on a daily basis. Today was no different. Fires blazed across the rooftops and the mixture of battle cries and the rippling sounds of weapons clashing filled the dreary atmosphere. Confusion was rampant across the streets as warriors from all six major tribes were jumbled together in the fight, unable to distinguish friend and foe. Redclaws were seen throwing lava shells into the crowds, Blackhearts burrowed their way through the battlefield, dragging down as many victims as possible; and a crystallized mist was spotted in various places – the Yagura Clan had joined the fight. No one realized that after forty-seven months of endless slaughter, the Second Tribal War would be reaching its climatic finish today.

"I'm giving you one more chance to turn back now." A monotonous voice pleaded. "You don't need to be here."

"And I keep telling you to stop worrying." A younger, arrogant voice replied.

Out of the reach of the war below them, two characters stood rooted at the pinnacle of the tallest untouched building in Equinox. The oldest of them was a shaggy-grey coyote with a mane of chestnut-brown hair that touched past his shoulders and a glazed look in his eyes that would normally appear to someone who is bored. He wore a ripped and tattered evergreen tunic with a hood, a pair of ebony-black pants kept in place by a black leather belt, a pair of dark-green boots with black straps, a pair of black leather bracers for each of his forearms, and carried a quiver of red-feathered arrows on his back. The symbol of the Redclaws – three claw marks – was tattooed to his left bicep and carried a pure-silver longbow with golden roots tracing across the surface.

The hound's younger companion an apple-red robin around fourteen years-old with a ruffle of feathers on his head that pointed in scattered directions. He was lean and nimble – clearly an expert in acrobatics – with a determined look in his eyes that could only say he was a troublemaker. His garments consisted of an emerald-green, short-sleeve jacket, a pair of plain-white gloves, a pair of red/white sneakers with emerald-ring anklets, a black-leather belt with various pouches, and a necklace made from yellow beads mixed with six multi-colored beads. The symbol of the Greenwings – a single hawk feather – was tattooed on the back of his right hand. The eager youth was holding a long dagger with a jagged edge – turning it in his hand from anxiety.

"You shouldn't go looking for a fight, Red." The Coyote forewarned. "Especially not during the war. The Master specifically forbad us not to interfering in the affair of the other tribes."

"C'mon, Veran, where's your sense of adventure." Red replied confidently. "Besides, we were trained by the Ultimate Master – we're better then all of them combined. What better way to show off our skills than to join the fight when all six tribes are trying to kill each other."

"You've only been training with the master for two year." Veran frowned disapprovingly. "It took me six years to complete my training under the Ultimate Master and Regis eleven years before he was ready for the Gathering Tournament. You're not experienced enough for this."

"Ah, stop being such a worrywart." Red commented playfully, leaning closer to the edge of the rooftop. "Besides, just because it took you six years to finish the old hag's training program only means that it's going to take me less time. After all, I'm the best apprentice she's ever had."

"Your arrogance is going to get you killed." Veran proclaimed.

"Wanna bet?" Red challenged.

And before the archer hound had a chance to stop his fellow apprentice, the overconfident robin flipped backwards over the edge and out of sight. Veran instantly darted over the edge, but couldn't spot the arrogant pre-teen amidst all the confusion and catastrophe below. The archer hound sighed – he didn't want to play babysitter. Resolving to the fact that the Ultimate Master would have his head for losing her newest apprentice, Veran pulled the hood over his head and leaped fray. As he came closer to the streets, the Second Apprentice reached over his left shoulder and withdrew two arrows with black spheres replacing the tips. He pulled back the drawstring and sent the arrows whistling between the warriors and smacked against the sand, releasing a large cloud of black smoke. The sudden hazard caused many of the mingled warriors to chock on their own breathe, barely noticing Veran as he nimbly landed on his feet. Most likely due to his training, the coyote archer was able to see through the smokescreen clear as day – he still couldn't find Red. But at the moment, that was the least of his concerns. As the smoke cloud began to wane, the feuding tribes began to find their way back into the battle and resumed their bloodshed. Unfortunately, Veran was in the middle when a Bluefin crustacean swung a conch-spiked mace overhead, which barely missed and crushed the skull of a passing Whitetail. The Bluefin warrior continued swinging his seashell weapon back and forth at the coyote archer, not caring who he hit, was growing frustrated with each miss. The crustacean finally had enough and threw his mace across the street, which Veran easily rolled away and allowed a Blackheart to be smashed in the ribcage. The Second Apprentice quickly moved into a kneeling position and retrieved an ice-tipped arrow from his quiver, sending it flying with a twang of his bow. The arrowhead stabbed into the crustacean's forehead and instead of killing it, transformed the aquatic warrior to a living ice sculpture.

"That should hold you for a while." Veran proclaimed, tapping the frozen warrior to check the hardness. He suddenly felt something bump against his leg and turned on his heel with an arrow already set. "Don't even think of flinching."

"Don't hurt me!"

The coyote archer was momentarily stunned and almost accidentally released his grip. Instead of a bloodthirsty warrior ready to pound his skull, Veran stared down at a little girl around six years that barely came up to his thighs. She looked relatively human with snow-white hair and flawless skin, but had claws and talons like a bird and contained a ruffle of black-feathered wings beginning to sprout from her underarms. Her only garments were a simple black shirt and shorts, which were ripped in various places and splattered in blood. Veran cautiously lowered his bow and kneeled down to have a better look at her – he had to grab the girl's shoulders to stop her from moving. The youngling seemed relatively unharmed with the exception of a few cuts on her knees and her glittering-white hair was blotched with crimson blood. The coyote archer noticed that the little girl was hiccupping silently and wet spots trailed down her cheeks – she had been crying.

"Shh, shh, it's ok." Veran said calmly, ignoring the battles waging around them. "I'm not going to hurt you. What's a youngling like you doing in the middle of a war zone?"

"I-I foll-lowed my mom-m-my." The human-bird girl answered, sobbing between words. "I thou-thought I co-coul-ld hel-lp her. But I-I-I don't kn-know whe-ere she is-s." She buried her face in her talons and kneeled to the sand. "I want my mommy!"

"It's all right." Veran said soothingly, feeling guilty that he might not keep that promise. Being thankful that the battle was moving away from them, the coyote archer lifted the human-bird in his arms and allowed her to cry on his shoulder. "What's your name and where are you from?"

"L-Lyda." The girl known as Lyda answered, sniffing slightly. "My mommy always says we Greyfangs."

"Greyfangs." Veran said annoyed, patting Lyda's back softly. "Of all the tribes in Areno…..Lyda, I'll try to find your mother, but I'm not making any promises."

"Mommy…" Lyda moaned longingly.

"I understand." Veran said sympathetically.

It was most likely that Lyda's mother was participating in the fight with the Greyfangs – the tribe with the most casualties in the Second Tribal Wars. The coyote archer had a feeling that the girl's mother may had died somewhere in the middle of this carnage, but he wasn't about to tell her that. The child had suffered enough. The only logical thing he could do was keep Lyda in a safe place and find Red before they escaped to safety. Unfortunately, the will of Argus – the great persecutor – was insistent on continuing the suffering of Areno's denizens. The Second Apprentice of the Ultimate Master was about to settle his longbow back into place when his eye twitch at a small sound. The noise echoed from the nearby alleyways and the fight was taking place in the center of Equinox – someone had stayed behind. Veran didn't want to startle the scared child more than she was now, but holding her made it impossible for his to reach for his arsenal. If he could just set her down for a second…

"AHH!" Lyda screamed fearfully; Veran flinched at the noise.

Thanks to the girl's unintentional tip, the coyote archer was able to jump to the right side to avoid a blur of steel-grey that skidded across the desert sands. Veran regained his footing and gently tucking the shaken Lyda behind the wreckage of a former market stand before facing his newest enemy. The warrior was fast, but the Second Apprentice didn't expect his new opponent to be so young. The warrior was a steel-grey griffin around fourteen years-old with a bright-orange beak, piecing yellow eyes, and a pair of four-foot wings connected to his spine. His attire consisted of jet-black running shoes with grey markings, two silver bracelets on each of his wrists, and the black cloth tied around his waist. The symbol of the Greyfangs – two snake fangs with a drop of venom between – was tattooed on his chest in black ink and four crimson-red gashes were visible on his sides. Veran's animalistic senses could sense the malice in the griffin's eyes as he slowly knocked a coal-tipped arrow in his bow.

"You're Veran, the Ultimate Master's second apprentice." The griffin stated proudly. "I waited years to test myself against one of the Ultimate Master's students – to prove my worth amongst the greatest of Areno's history. My victory over you will settle my placement as one of Areno's finest."

"Who are you?" Veran questioned coolly, pulling back the string.

"I am Gryz the Griffin, Second-Class warrior of the Greyfangs." The griffin known as Gryz answered.

"To be Second-Class at such a young age." Veran said collectively. "That is very impressive."

"I've trained my whole to strive for the best." Gryz proclaimed cunningly. "I've studied the way of the arena since my birth, learned from the best masters the Greyfangs have to offer. But it wasn't enough. No, in order to satisfy my thirst for power, I must learn what I can from the true master of Areno – the Ultimate Master."

"The master would never take a power-hungry vermin like you." Veran stated, tightening his grip on the longbow.

"He will after I kill you." Gryz replied.

The teenage griffin seemed confident, but not cocky like Red – he was serious. The Second Apprentice pulled back the drawstring as far as possible to increase the speed and strength of his shot, deciding where to strike. Veran wasn't a murderer – he wouldn't take the boy's life. A sudden clatter behind him drew the coyote archer's attention before he realized that Lyda had accidentally knocked over a piece of wooden debris. Not good. In the moment of distraction, Gryz dashed across the street at high velocity with his razorblade claws withdrawn to strike. Not having enough time to turn around, Veran released the string with a sharp twang, sending the coal-tipped arrow flying in the opposite direction of its target. Gryz felt confident that he had already succeeded in overcoming the Second Apprentice that he failed to realized Veran's arrow had reflected off the walls twice and was headed in his direction. Before he knew what happened, the teenaged griffin was thrown to the ground after the coal-tipped arrow stabbed into his right shoulder. At the moment of contact, the coal-tip ignited to a blazing fire, burning into Gryz's skin. The Greyfang warrior endured the pain as he grabbed the shaft of the arrow and ripped it out of his flesh, throwing the projectile into the sand. Gryz slowly pushed to his knees, panting heavily, and gazed over his new wound – the arrow had left a permanent burn on his right shoulder.

"Fast, resourceful, and cunning." Gryz praised, steady lifting to his feet. "These are traits given to you by the Ultimate Master – a worthy adversary to test my own special abilities." He raised his left hand, enveloping his palm in red energy. "You see, we're not the different after all."

"I have to disagree." Veran said, stepping between Gryz and Lyda as he withdrew another set of arrows. "I hope Red's doing better than I am."

The scenery alternates to the western side of Equinox where the battle was slowly dying down. But that was mostly because of the efforts of the Third Apprentice. Red the Robin was racing up and down the street, dashing between warriors with impressive reflexes while slashing them with his dagger. Unlike his predecessor, Red had no trouble killing his opponents. In the last twenty minutes alone, the teenaged apprentice had already killed of six Greenwings, two Bluefins, two Redclaws, four Whitetails, three Blackhearts, and eight Greyfangs. And he was just getting started. The Third Apprentice jumped between a Greyfang satyr and a Whitetail snow rabbit, equally pushing them away and slitting the rabbit's throat. Red was unconcerned as the arctic hare gurgled incoherently and dropped backwards before turned to the half-man, half-goat. Satyrs weren't natural warriors so it was fairly easy for the teenaged robin to disarm the goat-man and stab his dagger through his ribcage. Red ripped his weapon outwards to cut open the goat-man's side before letting the creature fall forward to die – he used the satyr's wooly hide to wipe off the blood.

"That seriously the best they got?" Red laughed mockingly, kicking the dead satyr's side. "C'mon, where's the challenge in that? I was hoping someone would at least last a minute before they died." All of a sudden, something hard and metallic smacked against the back of his head. "AH DAMN IT! What the hell was that?"

"You cruel, evil monster!"

"What the Shadow Realm." Red mumbled confused.

The Third Apprentice turned back, rubbing the sore spot on his head, and spotted a bronze disk flying across the street by rebounding off the walls. It was only shortly after that he realized the disk was actually a bronze shield as it was snatched out of the air by its owner. The brave attacker was a young serpent at eight years-old with poison-green skin, a row of black barbs running down his spine, and amethyst-purple eyes. His clothing mostly consisted of tatter royal-purple pants with a matching tunic with his recovered bronze shield fastened to his right forearm. His tribal heritage was made apparent when Red spotted the symbol of the Greyfangs tattooed on his left shoulder. Though he tried to put on a brave face, the teenaged robin could tell that the snake child was visibly shaking – he resisted the urge to laugh.

"Whatcha doing here, little boy." Red taunted loudly. "Isn't it past your bedtime? You better get back before mommy and daddy ground you."

"Shut up, you sick freak." The serpent scowled. "I saw what you've been doing – killing people left and right like this is some kind of game. You were even killing your own tribe for Argus' sake!"

"So what?" Red shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not my fault they can't keep up. But then again, as the Ultimate Master's student, that technically makes me better than all of them – I can do whatever I want."

"Students of the Ultimate Master are chosen for their good hearts and virtues." The serpent stated defiantly. "The apprentices exist to protect Areno and share their teachings to the world. What you've been doing…..this is not how the Ultimate Master would have wanted his knowledge to be used for evil practices like murder!"

"What the Shadow Realm do you know?" Red glared spitefully, twirling his jagged dagger in his hand. "I'm the apprentice around here."

"One that is undeserving." The snake responded calmly.

Red could feel his left eye twitching – he was pissed. The teenaged robin kicked off the ground and glided for the younger warrior with his dagger stabbed ahead, only to be reflected off the surface of the shield. It became apparent that the young serpent was wise beyond his years and he lifted his shield upwards, throwing off Red's attack and connecting the edge with the robin's beak. The Third Apprentice stumbled backwards while rubbing his beak, sneering with pure hatred at the serpent warrior raising his shield in defense. He was the Ultimate Master's student – the best of the best – and no stupid child was going to make a fool out of him. The red robin charged forward with his dagger gripped backwards, waiting until the Greyfang child had lifted his shield before flipping over the bronze plate. The young serpent warrior was confused when he didn't feel anything colliding with his shield until he felt Red's blade pressing against his neckline. The Third Apprentice himself was grinning from ear-to-ear, enjoying the shiver of fear that ran down the pre-teen's spine.

"You ready to admit I'm the best?" Red smirked victoriously.

"That's all you care about: being the best." The snake child said collectively; Red was annoyed. "What about the other things that matter like the welfare of your tribe and the safety of your friends. What about your family? Don't you care about them?"

"Like any of that actually matters." Red scoffed. "Wake up and smell reality, loser. On this world, it's either kill or be killed – survival of the fittest. There's no way I'm gonna let a bunch of thickheaded friends or my worthless family drag me down with them." He pressed the knife deeper into the snake's throat, drawing a line of scarlet. "The only reason I'm listening to what the old hag has to say is because she's the only one that can make me stronger."

"And what do you intend to do after you've learned everything?" The snake asked curiously.

"What else!" Red laughed humorously. "I'm gonna kill the bitch and take her place! When I become the Ultimate Master, the whole world will know who's number one – I'll be the most powerful warrior that ever set foot on this Argus forsaken wasteland!"

"And you'll pass your teachings to others?" The serpent continued.

"Shadow Realm no!" Red shook his head. "I'm not stupid enough to give others a chance to kill me. After I take over, I'm gonna teach the rest of the villages who is in charge. They'll have a choice: listen to me or die." He moved in closer, leaning towards the child's ear. "And speaking of which, I may as well let you in on a little secret before you do the same. I started the war."

"What?" Toxin exclaimed; he didn't dare move with Red's blade to his throat.

"It wasn't that hard, but it wasn't easy." Red continued proudly. "I was just starting out with the old hag when a little voice popped into my head – I thought I was going crazy at first. But after a little talk, it told me that there was a faster way of getting stronger than working out with the so-called 'Ultimate Master'." He scoffed and rolled his eyes at the mention of the name. "How an emotional bitch like that became master I'll never know."

"What does this have to do with the war?" The serpent continued.

"Impatient little lizard." Red said jokingly. "I didn't buy it a first, but it made sense to me. What better way to make myself stronger than to test myself against the strongest in the world at their most powerful? So I did a little digging, found the stupid trinket, spread a few rumors, and – BOOM! Instant war." He started laughing in a sinister manner. "And the best part is, all the leaders think that one of them started the war – those idiots!"

"And that voice?" The snake asked, slowly turning his head.

"She asked me to do a few things." Red smirked wickedly. "She should have thought about that before telling me everything."

"She?" The serpent repeated curiously.

"Like it matters." Red stated, pressing his dagger further. "All that matters is that this war is going to keep going until I become the real Ultimate Master."

"No." The serpent child said sternly. "I'll never allow that to happen."

"And what the Shadow Realm are you gonna…"

The traitorous apprentice stopped in mid-sentence as he gazed deep into the serpent child's eyes, which had transformed to bright-yellow slits. Red could feel his body going rigid before losing all feeling in his nerves, unconsciously allowing his dagger to hit the sand. The Third Apprentice came to a sudden realization before he fell backwards with a heavy thud and the darkness consumed him: the child was a Basilisk. The serpent child stared depressingly at the corpse of the former robin before his eyes regained their natural purple color and felt a sudden rush of weakness. As a Basilisk, the child species was capable of killing with a single glance, but it robbed them of their strength for several weeks – it was a last resort tactic. The snake child started to totter back and forth on his feet as his muscles began to relax against his wishes and fell forward. Thankfully, a strong hand caught him by the chest and settled him gently on the sand.

"Are you all right?" A strong, deep voice said.

"You…." The child mumbled.

Have you ever imagined meeting your idol in real life? That was partially how the Basilisk child felt at the moment. The newcomer was a powerful, deep-red lion with a golden mane that reached to his backside, but had the tail of a black-shelled scorpion – he was a Manticore. The warrior wore a breastplate made from black steel with the symbol of the Greyfangs pressed into the center, shoulder pads and greaves made from the same material, seven silver rings clasped to each of his forearms, a helmet forged from black/crimson steel, and a black belt with the symbol of the Ultimate Master – a golden, six-point star – on the face. Out of the corner of his eye, the serpent child could spot a silver hammer the size of his chest strapped to the Manticore's left hip. Though he appeared very intimidating, the colossal warrior reached into his golden mane and retrieved a water pouch, allowing the weakened child to drink.

"Are you ok?" The Manticore asked concerned. "I saw what happened. You were brave to stand up against him."

"You…" The snake said tiredly. "You're Regis. The Ultimate…Master's…first apprentice."

"Yeah…" Regis said slowly, looking over to Red's corpse. "You'll have to forgive me. I would have helped you earlier, but when Red started talking abut the war and strange voices, I had to wait and see if there was anything we could use."

"The tribes are fighting a war that needn't fought." The serpent child said importantly. "We have to stop them while we still have a chance."

The First Apprentice nodded his head in understand and he gently lifted the brave warrior into his arm. Before departing to the central point of the battle, Regis and his accomplice took one last look at the traitor of Areno. How could anyone have fallen so far?

The scene alternates to the central plaza of Equinox as the Second Tribal War was nearing the climax of the battle. All sides had suffered from a number of casualties, injuries, and most of the warriors were too tired to move. The one night within the month and it had to be spend fighting for their lives under the light of their single moon. Veran could have thought of many things he would have preferred than this, but he wasn't in any position to be complaining. But a shocking turn of events, the Second Apprentice of the Ultimate Master had been pushed back into the center point of the war by this upstart teenager. Gryz had proven himself to be a formidable opponent and the coyote archer was barely capable of getting a proper shot at the griffin warrior. And to make matters worse, Gryz had threatened to kill Lyda numerous times unless Veran intervened. The snow-haired girl was clinging to Veran's back, trying to hide her face in the back of the archer's neck. Both warriors had been cut and bruised during the fight, but the coyote archer received the worst due to his protection of the Greyfang girl. The Second Apprentice reached into his quiver and knocked two silver-tipped arrows before releasing the drawstring. Tired and weak, Gryz coated his hand in red energy and slashed across the air, snapping the arrows in two before they even got halfway. Veran tried to reach for another arrow, but discovered that his quiver was empty – he had used up his entire arsenal. On the plus side, Gryz had severally drained himself during the fight and dropped to his hands and knees before falling on his side. His muscles sore and stinging, Veran slowly followed his example – Lyda stared at him with worry.

"Hey, get up." Lyda said meekly, gently pushing his shoulder. "We got to find mommy."

"Listen carefully, kid." Veran panted heavily. "It's too dangerous for you to be here. Find a good place to hide and wait until morning – the fight should be over by then."

"What about you?" Lyda asked, tears started to swell in her eyes.

"I've been training my whole life to protect others." Veran responded softly. "I'm prepared to die so that you can be safe."

"No…" Lyda said tearfully, burying her face into the coyote's shoulder. "I don't want you to."

The coyote archer tried to reason with her, but the human-bird refused to leave him. And that had its consequences. A Redclaw Panther noticed the weakened warrior and made a charge for Veran and Lyda, wielding a crowbar like a sword. The Second Apprentice instinctively wrapped his arm protectively around the little girl and braced himself for impact. What happened next changed Areno forever. The battle was quickly brought to a halt as a spear of lighting crashed into the center of the plaza, sending most of the warriors flying overhead, including the panther. Veran used both his arms to shield the human-bird girl from the blast radius and cautiously lifted his head when the light died – Lyda remained nestled in his chest. By either fate or good fortune, the blast had left everyone unharmed and scattered around a crater fifteen feet in length yet only two feet deep. A quick wave of muttering was passed around the mingled villages, which came as no surprise based on who Veran saw standing in the crater.

"Master…" Veran said lowly.

The Ultimate Master of Areno had appeared before them. She was a hot-pink swallow in her late 30's with a white-diamond birthmark on her forehead and a braided strand of feathers that hanged off her right shoulder. Her garments consisted of pure-white tube top with a single strap over her left shoulder, five golden rings on each of her wrists, a lengthy pure-white skirt with a slit that started at the left hip, which revealed her slender, bare legs, and a pair of simple sandals. The most interesting feature about her was the golden six-point star tattooed above her breasts – the symbol of the Precursors. To the few that heard Veran's words, whispers of the Ultimate Master's appearance began spreading like wildfire. Serena the Swallow ignored the muttering and walked over to her second apprentice, kneeling down to the battered and bruised coyote. Lyda peeked for a moment to look at the looming master and whimpered slightly. However, a sincere smile from Serena earned the trust of the harpy girl as she removed her former student's hood and rest a hand on his head. It was one of those strange abilities only Serena seemed to understand. From the moment of her touch, Veran felt reenergized despite still looking like he had lost a fight with a meat grinder. The coyote archer steadily pushed back to his feet, lifting Lyda into his arms securely as he faced his former teacher.

"Master Serena…" Veran said meekly; Lyda rested her head on his shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." Serena said strictly, but not too much to scare the child. "I though I told you not to interfere with the war. We have nothing to do with this."

"Believe me, this is the last place I want to be." Veran said pleadingly. "But I found out Red was trying to join the fight and I tried to stop him."

"Where is Red now?" Serena requested.

"The boy's dead." The duo turned and the crowd parted as Regis the Manticore carried the victorious child into view, stopping in front of his former master. "I was passing by the village when I saw Red killing the warriors – even the Greenwings. I thought something must have been wrong and tried to follow him, but this little guy beat me to it."

"This kid killed Red." Veran said in disbelief. "Now I've seen everything."

"You killed my student?" Serena repeated, glaring down at the serpent.

"Forgive me, master, but I had no other choice." The serpent child proclaimed unwavering. "He was killing his own brethren without mercy and was enjoying it – I didn't want anymore bloodshed. I did what I had to in order to stop him from killing anymore people." The master's gaze didn't falter. "I can understand if you want revenge and I wouldn't deny that I might as well deserve it."

"You shouldn't blame him master." Regis said supporting. "Red was a bad egg to begin with. Before the kid killed him, Red admitted that he was the one that started the rumors about the other tribes finding the key and set them against each other. The boy was the whole reason the war started and he was only using it so that he could try to overthrow you."

Master Serena leered deeply into the Manticore's eyes, which were unflinching under his teachers gaze. The Ultimate Master could see honesty in his first student and felt her heart drop exponentially. The pink swallow had always known that her third apprentice had an insatiably lust for power, but to intentionally start a war seemed so…painful. The Ultimate Master allowed his gaze to drift to the sand below as she stared off into space, ignoring the muttering being passed between the tribes. The sudden knowledge of knowing they were being played like puppets made the six major tribes lose their moral in continuing this war. What was the point of fighting for something that wasn't real? Quite frankly, al the warriors seemed very relieved to stop – they had already lost too many friends and family in the bloodshed. But there was still one more matter to be resolved Serena told herself as her gaze lifted to the Basilisk child once again.

"What is your name?" Serena asked tenderly.

"Toxin." The serpent replied. "Toxin the Basilisk."

"Toxin the Basilisk…" Serena repeated, settling her hand on the child's head. "You have shown remarkable ingenuity, unwavering bravery, and loyalty to the people you protect. But more importantly, you have a kind and gentle heart that reaches out to others. With your permission, I would wish to make you my fourth apprentice."

"You-your fourth apprentice?" Toxin repeated with genuine shock. "Me?"

"You stood up against Red because you wanted to end the war." Serena stated certainly. "Perhaps if he had a gentle heart like yours, he could have become something great – perhaps even surpass me one day." She leaned down to the child, whispering softly. "You have a gift, Toxin. Don't ever forget that."

The soft tone seemed to act as a lullaby to the serpentine child as he slowly drifted off into sleep, nestling himself further into Regis' mane. The Ultimate Master allowed her lips to shift into a gentle smile as she softly caressed Toxin's cheek like a mother would for her child. But she couldn't ignore the pain and guilt she felt for losing Red in more ways than one – she wasn't going to repeat that mistake with this child. Serena stood in full attention as she faced her apprentices, taking notice that Lyda had finally fallen asleep from all the excitement.

"There's much that needs to be done and we have little time to do it." Serena said softly for the children's sake. "If we are to repair the damage Red made, we need to work fast. Regis, I want you to take Toxin back to his home and inform his parents or guardians of my offer to make him my apprentice. If they accept, you will guide Toxin to the Precursor Sanctuary in the Shadow Realm within three days. Veran, return that child to her family and gather all the Tribal Leaders at the Crimson Volcano as soon as possible. I think there might be a way to mend the broken bonds between them.

"Yes, master." The apprentices nodded.

Once making sure the serpent child was secure, Regis bounded over the wall of warriors and took off into the desert towards the Silver Dunes, leaving behind a trail of smoke. Veran cautiously moved between the tribes with Lyda still sleeping against her shoulder, throwing mistrustful glances to each warrior. In due time, the crowds began to scatter either to find a place to rest or begin the long trek back to their villages. This left Serena the Swallow standing alone in the crater she made with only her thoughts to keep her company. After a while, the Ultimate Master reached into her tube top and pulled out an odd pendant shaped like a golden, six-pointed star.

"So much trouble over something so small." Serena murmured.

-End Flashback-

The final scene transfers to the Precursor Sanctuary, home of the Ultimate Master. The central hall that stood at the pinnacle of the mountain tops within the Shadow Realm was fifty feet in length and twenty feet in width; the largest chamber in four worlds. The ceiling to the chamber was lost into the darkness above, but was seemingly suspended by six monolithic columns – each one bared a mark of the six tribes. The walls were decorated in every inch by exquisite paintings detailing the centuries that had passed with podiums below holding ancient artifacts of historic nature, preserved texts in many forms, and refined weapons from forgotten battles. Just one glance would teach a person the entire history of Areno. And to top it all off; a red velvet carpet stretched from the entrance to a triangular flight of stairs with an impressive throne forged from pure gold standing at the pinnacle. But the main attraction was the four golden statues that represented the four students of the Ultimate Master nestled the columns that marked the Redclaws and the Greenwings. Serena herself stood between the third and fourth statues, looking between her former student's expressions.

"It hard to believe it's only been ten years." Serena murmured to herself. "And still I can't learn to forget."

"Master?" Serena looked over her shoulder as Light Gaia/Chip fluttered up to her. "Sonic just woke up and wants to know when he can start training?"

"Already?" Serena snickered silently. "He only barely passed the trials yesterday and he wants to dive straight into it? I swear, not even Red was that impatient." A moment of silence passed between them; Chip twitched nervously. "Tell Sonic to eat breakfast in the dining hall and meet me in the Forest Cavern – the place where he took the first trial."

"Ok, master." Chip nodded uncertainly. "Are you all right? You look sad."

"I was just thinking about my mistakes." Serena answered solemnly, looking mostly at the statue of Toxin. "Wondering if I did the right thing."

Master and Apprentice begin their journey down the difficult road ahead. How will the events of the past shape the world of the future? What is the true reason behind the Second Tribal War? And how will Sonic's training assist him in the coming battles? Find out on the next Gathering!

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