The seven aliens woke up early the next day. A quick look told them that the elders were still fast asleep.
"Want to explore?" Alit asked the others.
Dumon looked at the sleeping elders. "I don't think they will be happy if they wake up and we are gone..."
"We won't go far. Please Nasch?" Alit begged.
The small, purple barian sighed. "Ok, fine. But nobody gets left behind. We all stay together." Alit squealed for joy and ran over the next hill with the other children following close behind.
"Slow down, Alit!" Gilag gasped. Alit slowed down to a jog and ran back to the others. They had ended up in a field surrounded by crystals. The light refracted from the crystals all over the meadow.
"It's really nice here." Merag stated while turning in a circle. She smiled (1) and laughed. Alit joined in, then Nasch. The next thing they knew, everyone was rolling on the ground laughing.
"Well, let's look around." Nasch said while wiping away a tear. The others got up and wandered around the meadow.
"Hey, check this out!" Dumon called. The other children came over to where Dumon was crouched by a stream. Little glowing creatures were swimming around in the river. Misael leaned over and touched a finger into the water. Most of the creatures swam away from him but one jumped up and hit him in the face. Misael lost his balance and fell in the stream. Dumon let out a giggle although he tried to hold it in. Misael grabbed Dumon's hand and yanked him into the river. Misael and Dumon laughed when Alit pushed the others in the stream.
"Yah! Don't do that, Alit! I'm going to kill you!" Vector screamed while scrambling out of the water.
"Are you afraid of water, Vector?" Merag teased the winged child.
"N-NO! I just don't like it." Vector whimpered. Nasch splashed some water on Vector. "Arghh! Please! No!" Vector yelled.
"I thought you said you weren't afraid of water." Nasch grinned.
"OK! YES! I am terrified of water!" Vector started crying.
Nasch and Merag immediately looked remorseful. "I'm sorry, Vector. We were just having some fun." Merag apologized with Nasch nodding in agreement.
"Maybe we should find something else to do." Dumon suggested. The six scrambled out of the water.
Alit's eyes started wandering to another part of the field. "Hey! What are those?" he asked. The others turned to where Alit was pointing. There were small creatures with long ears, small animals with little points sticking out of their fur, and little fluttery things with a narrow body and iridescent wings.
"I don't know... let's check it out!" Gilag ran over to the creatures with Alit and the others following. When they reached the creatures, Merag bent down and started petting one of the long-eared animals.
"Look how cute it is! I think it likes me!" Merag squealed in delight.
Dumon bent down next to her and cautiously petted another create with long ears. "These are interesting. I really wonder what they are. I'll ask Mirach and Sadal later."
Alit was looking cross-eyed at one of the winged things that had landed on his nose. Vector, meanwhile, was hitting an animal with points in its fur with a stick.
"Vector! That's mean! Stop it!" Merag cried.
Dumon looked alarmed. "You shouldn't do that Vector! I think the points might be-" Vector cried out in pain as the animal stuck its needle-like points into him. "-a form of defense." Dumon finished.
The six ran over to Vector. "It hurts! OWWwww!" Vector started crying again.
"Calm down. Just stay still. Merag and Dumon? Can you two start pulling the sharp points out of Vector? Alit and Misael, go get the elders. Gilag, help me hold Vector still." Nasch ordered. The alien children nodded and started doing their orders.
…...
"Yow! That smarted!" Vector yelled through his tears.
"Hold still. This will hurt more if you resist." Merag said while pulling out a quill from Vector's wing.
"Fine. But I- OW!" Vector yelped as Dumon pulled another quill from him. He strained against Nasch and Gilag.
Just then, Alit and Misael ran over the hill followed by the two barian elders. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Sadal yelled.
"Sadal! Language! The children are present!" Mirach rebuked Sadal. "And you." he rounded on the seven children. "What were you thinking running off like that without telling us? When we woke up to find you gone we nearly had a heart attack. Now, what happened to Vector?"
Nasch explained what happened while Mirach listened intently. "Well, at least you showed SOME good judgment when one of your own got hurt." Mirach said. The elder made the others help pull the remaining quills out of Vector. A very sore Vector leaned against Gilag and Nasch while they continued their journey to the crimson fortress. Eventually, Dumon asked Mirach, "We saw a lot of creatures in the meadow. There were tiny glowing thing in the water, animals with long ears like this," Dumon made an imitation of the animals' ears, "the spiked thing that attacked Vector, and little fluttery things. What were they?"
Mirach chuckled. "I keep forgetting how little you know about things. The things you saw in the water are fish, the long-eared animals are rabbits or more commonly called bunnies, the thing that Vector provoked is called a porcupine. As you saw, they can be dangerous when they feel threatened. Many creatures are like that. And the fluttery things are called butterflies. They are often called messengers between worlds because of the myth that they can travel between all worlds."
Dumon's eyes widened. "You mean, there are other worlds beside this one?"
Mirach nodded. "We know of only two others, but we are almost certain of others."
"What are the other two like?" Dumon questioned.
Mirach suddenly looked very uncomfortable. "Well, uh... Astral world is full of bright colors, mostly blue. It's actually very similar to Barian World. We can't go there because we are both worlds of higher energy."
Dumon nodded to show he understood. "And the other world?"
There was no denying it now, Mirach looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "Oh, uh... well... It's called Earth. It's a lower energy world so we can go there but we take lesser forms. You wouldn't like it at all. It's kinda a trash heap. Everything's heavy and sluggish, like how you feel if you haven't gotten enough sleep. And it's not as good as Barian World in almost every way."
"You don't like it much, do you?" Dumon asked.
"No. And you should try to forget about it. The creatures there are weak and you take the form of an earth creature, specifically a human, there. It's a bad place and you should stay far away from it." Mirach said solemnly. Dumon and the other children all nodded.
"Well, here we are! Come and look, kids. This will be your home, school, and playground." Sadal called. The seven raced over to him in order to get their first glimpse of the crimson fortress.
"Oh... Wow." Alit had summed it up pretty well. The crimson fortress was incredible. It looked more like a heavily fortified palace than a fortress. The fortress was made of red crystal that was brighter than the crystals they had passed on the way there. There was a balcony on the top floor and many smaller balconies in other places. The wall around it looked like it could withstand an entire bombardment for 24 hours and still not have a scratch on the perfect red crystal.
"Wow is a good way to put it. Follow me, I'll show you to your rooms. Tomorrow you can meet Hamal, the third elder." Mirach chuckled and led them to the front gate. Two guards were standing on guard duty.
"Halt! Who goes there? Put your hands where we can see them!" One of the guards called.
"Morons! Respond with less impudence when you are expecting your leaders back." Sadal snapped. The guards looked startled.
"Oh! Elder Sadal! Elder Mirach! I am so sorry. My humblest apologies. We did not expect you back for at least another few days." The guards both bowed in submission.
"Our calculations were incorrect. So we are returning earlier than expected. At ease!" Mirach said. The guards stood up and saluted then opened the gate. Mirach and Sadal led the children through. The seven young barians gasped and stared at everything from the crystal trees with blossoms floating to the ground to the carefully crafted pathway. The elders hustled them along through the palace doors, up some stairs, and into a room with seven canoe-shaped crystals.
"Here are your beds and this is your room. Go to sleep." Sadal said then dragged Mirach out of the room and closed the door. The seven looked at each other.
"He does not know the meaning of the word 'subtlety' does he?" Misael said.
"What DOES that word mean?" Alit asked.
"Apparently you don't either. Not surprised." Misael sighed.
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Alit yelled.
"Both of you go to bed." Merag dragged the two children over to their beds and shoved them in.
"Hey!" Alit yelped indignantly.
"Just go to sleep." Nasch groaned and lay down in his bed. The children all fell asleep thinking about their first 48 hours of life so far.
(1) The barian version of a smile since they don't really have mouths.
I'll try to update more often but no promises since I have some other stories I want to work on too and homework on top of that. Darned midterms... Well anyhow, read and review.