Sukai= Mister

Io toushi patuo= I got this for you

mo'i= Me too

vei= I see

grahatai= thank you

Rowandi= Shadow Heroes

Mir vao= My guardians

Biama/Biama la= Welcome/welcome back

Chapter 15

April and Don had made it far enough away from Watamu by this point, but that did nothing to ease Don's nerves as he constanly looked over his shoulder. "I think we're far enough away Don." April said.

He sighed and rubbed his head. "You're probably right. I just want to get as far away as possible."

"Well, he seemed to be sleeping pretty heavily when we left in the middle of the night."

"Probably the help of the sleeping agent that I gave him."

"What?"

Don reached into his bag and pulled out a plant with dark yellow leaves. "The econa gives off an aroma that helps people sleep better when it's warmed up and crushed. So when he eventually fell asleep, I did what I had to. I'm glad I brought these. Didn't think I would need to use them."

"A ninja is always prepared, right. Maybe you could use some of that." April suggested.

"What do you mean?"

"These last few days, you haven't been getting much sleep. Maybe we should take a break."

Don rubbed his eyes. "No, even if I did I wouldn't be able to relax. I'll feel better when we make it to Azbani Territory."

"You know, I never bothered to ask you, but where exactly are we going in this Azbani Terriory? And what are we supposed to be doing?"

"We're going to meet up with the king and queen. Apparently, they have been having the same problems with agitated lakras in their area. Seeing as the poison used comes from there, it would seem that the attacks have been way more frequent. Some have even died."

"Oh..." was all April could say to that.

"The main thing is that the poison is generally used to cover these darts. That means that this is obviously, no accident. Lakras know to avoid butuli leaves. We have to find out where they are and stop them. The king and queen can help with that."

"Once we get through this, then we go back."

"...well, there's one other thing I have to do. I have to collect a gemstone for Nati. For tailaga ne gaido. Which means the Journey for Unity. It's a rite of passage for people who want to take the next step in their relationship."

"The next step-?" April started to question before Don gave her a knowing look. It seemed to click after a second and she gasped. "You're proposing?" she asked excitedly.

Don smiled. "That's the plan."

April never thought she'd see the day. Even though Mikey was married, it was still a shock. She glanced over at him and it was as if she was really seeing the new person that Don has become. He seemed to be standing a little straighter, and he had built a bit more muscle since she last saw him. She also noticed that he had gotten a couple inches taller than her. Has he always been taller than me? Now that she was looking at him with a clear head, she seemed to notice all the changes between the old Don and the new one walking next to her. "You know, I've spent so much time acting as your older sister that I have to remember that you're actually an adult. That's gonna be hard for me to get used to."

"Don't worry, it took me a while to get used to Mikey being the first one, out of all of us, to get married. Anyway, whoever has decided to do the proposing, they have to travel here and enter Arazue's Cave. Take one, and only one gemstone and bring it back to your loved one."

"That's honestly pretty romantic to go out all this way to propose to the one you love."

"Yeah... it is, isn't it?"

The more they walked, the more the cracked ground faded away. Grass began to grow again and trees became more frequent. There weren't as many as the Ezdic Territory, but still way more than Lullin. The air began to cool down some more the closer they got and they soon could hear the sound of rushing water. "A waterfall?" April asked out loud.

"Yep. That means we're here." he walked up to some hanging vines and pulled them away, revealing a bridge with a waterfall rushing right over it. After taking the bridge across, they came to a ledge and at the bottom was a large lake where the waterfall ended. Don looked over the land in front of him. "See that over there?" he pointed off in the distance toward the palace with white, square towers at the base of another large waterfall. In stark contrast with the black, mountainous region right behind it. "That's one of the places we need to go, but first we need to see Hotris." he pointed away from the palace to point at the tree standing above the rest.

"Is that another one of these goddesses?"

"Yep."

April nodded. "Okay, but how do we get down there?" she asked as she looked over the edge.

Don noticed Luna taking a few steps back and moved out of the way. He knew what she was about to do. "Well, we can take the longer, boring way and climb down, or there's a trail that leads downhill, or we can go the fun, shorter way and-" Don was cut off when Luna ran by and jumped off the cliff's edge, landing in the lake below. "-do what she did." he finished. "I know which one I'm doing. Meet you down there." was the last thing he said before he jumped off the cliff himself.

Being left with no other choice, she followed them in. She landed in the lake with a splash. A school of slovils swam by quickly observing the human with their beady, forest green eyes before taking off as fast as their multi colored fins could take them. April resurfaced and looked around, she had never noticed how clear and clean looking the water here was. She would never swim in the waters back home unless it was absolutely necessary, but here, she could swim in this all day if she could.

Luna and Don had already gotten out and were waiting for her to join them. Luna's fur had lost its fluff and Don had to take off his chaltiga now that it was soaked. April swam to the edge of the lake and Don offered her a hand to help her out. She squeezed the water out of her hair and clothes just as Luna shook out her fur, making water droplets spray everywhere including on April and Don. "Really? Was that necessary?" he said. She responded with a chuff, very happy with herself. "Come on, let's go."

They all moved down the trail, the sunshine felt nice. It wasn't beating down on them like it had been earlier. And just like in Lullin Territory there were different animals and plants. April figured that she would ask more about her friend's new home. As a start she was going to ask about something that interested her when they first started their journey. "Hey Don, you mind if I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"I just remembered you saying something when we first left. You said something about being blind? What exactly did that mean?"

"Oh um," Don paused as he thought about the best way to explain something like this. "So, remember when I told you about the goddess' sight?"

"Yeah."

"Well, the goddesses of this world can see everything and everyone within their territory. Certain people can be chosen to see what they see."

"And you and your brothers are those certain people? The vao?"

"Right. There's supposed to be about ten in each village. There can be more, but that's the general number. Our territory doesn't have enough because of the whole Kai incident."

"And what do the goddesses see?"

"They can see every person and animal in the territory and their emotions. I guess you can say it's kind of like a form of echolocation mixed with emotion sensing. The differences being that, instead of using sound they use the pulsations in the ground to locate people's aura. That sight is given to the vao only, and once you leave for another territory you no longer have that sight until you talk to the goddess of that territory."

April couldn't help, but at least be mildly interested. Still pretty skeptical, but interested. "They can tell how someone is feeling? Like they can tell someone's emotion through pulsations?"

"Yeah, you got it. Different color auras for each emotion. There's even a color for when someone is lying, which is why it was so easy to figure out that you were unhappy and lying when you got here."

April sighed. "Right, sorry about that."

Don shrugged. "It's fine now. On top of that we have the goddesses speech which is a way for us vao to communicate with each other no matter where we are in the territory using our minds."

"So now you're also telepathic?"

"Yep, but just like the sight, it can only be used within that goddesses' territory."

"Now, I've got meet this goddess."

It took them about half a day before they came up to a stream that Don noticed started to have a pink tinge to it. That meant they were heading in the right direction. They followed the stream to its source. When they got to Hotris, the massive tree towered over them. Just like with Tandaya and Rejuna, the pulsations were much stronger here. Hotris' trunk was wide and straight, the shining bluish green bark twisted upwards into the many branches. Each branch had long, slender light and dark blue leaves bunched together cradling some of the water that pooled at the top. The rest of the water flowed down the trunk and into the stream at the giant roots.

Don didn't really say anything, he just filled his canteen with water from the stream and looked to April to do the same. "What?" she asked.

"Fill yours up." he said. "We're going to go see her."

"What?"

"Just... trust me. It made a believer out of me." April filled one of her canteens just like Don did. "Just letting you know, this will hurt, but it's only temporary."

April nodded her understanding. "Bottoms up, I guess." she said before chugging down the contents. Don did as well and just as expected a searing pain shot through them. For Don, it was something that he had just grown used to so it didn't hurt as much as it did his first time around. For April, it was a different story. It felt like her blood was actually boiling. The pain was so intense that she felt like she might actually die. She couldn't wait for it to be over. When she opened her eyes again, the pain subsided. Looking around, she saw that she was in the same area, but there was a white fog surrounding them. She was kneeling in water. It wasn't deep, it felt about as shallow as a puddle. Don was next to her, helping her to her feet. "Where are we?"

"We're in Moraya. It's like a purgatory. This is where people go when they die and then they are judged by whichever goddess watches over the land."

"Okay, so where is Hotris?"

"Just wait."

The water beneath them soon began to bubble and break as Hotris made her grand appearance. She emerged from beneath the waves, her sea green skin looked rubbery at first glance. April could see gills along her neck along with fins on her arms and on her sides. Her whole bottom half split into six, dark tentacles. One of which lifted the two people upward until they were at eye level with her. She had straight navy blue hair and baby blue cat like eyes.

Everything about her intimidated April, considering the sheer size of Hotris. She was intimidated so much that she felt like she needed to take a step back. When she did, she slipped and almost fell off the tentacle she was standing on. Lucky for her, Hotris used another of her tentacles to keep her upright.

"You okay?" Don asked when his friend regained her balance.

"Y-yeah, but I... what?"

Don smirked. "Yeah, she has that affect on people." he turned his attention to Hotris and respectfully bowed to her. "Hotris, I'm here to assist your people, but I may need your gift of sight and speech. It will only be temporary. Once I leave, you can take it back."

She looked over to April who was still in a bit of shock at what she was seeing. She eyed the turtle again with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if she would need it too. "No, not her, just me."

Hotris nodded, almost looking relieved. She held out her webbed hand to him. A white ball of energy formed in her palm that turned a sky blue. "Thank you." he said to her before reaching out to her. That familiar sense of warmth engulfed him and he just accepted it. There was a bright flash and they were back in the living world.

It took April a couple of seconds to snap out of it, but when she did she stood up, a look of amazement in her eyes. "Wow!" was the only word she could express at that moment.

"Yeah."

"She's real."

"Yeah."

April looked up at the tree form of Hotris. "Wow."

Don grinned. "Come on, we have to get to the palace now."

As they made their way to the palace, April asked, still amazed at what she had seen. "Hey, so is there an afterlife?" Don looked at her curiously as they made it to a large, rushing river. "You know, since there's goddesses and a purgatory."

"Oh... yeah, there is." Don nimbly jumped onto one of the rocks in the river, Luna and April followed behind. Once on the other side, he continued his explanation. "They call it Teigai and Yombre. I'm told that Teigai is for the good. Yombre is for the bad and it's probably one of the worst things that can happen."

"What happens?"

He pulled his canteens out of his bag. "Well, basically, you're forced to wander around in complete darkness... alone."

"...Oh." was the only thing she could say.

"Yeah. Sounds like that would drive anyone mad." Don knelt down to fill his canteens up and April followed with her own. "I wouldn't want to experience that."

"I'm sure you won't have to."

"...Probably not."

After a while, they had finally arrived at one of the villages. Zolna village was where they made their way through. The village was near the water that was coming from the waterfall miles behind them. The houses and the infirmary were made of smooth stone with slanted rooves. Algae and moss clung to the homes as the moist air settled around them. The villagers were going about their day. The kids were swimming in the water while teens and adults did everything they needed to keep the village in tact. As Don walked by them he was recognized and greeted by everyone he came across. Some of the kids climbed out of the water to run up to the vao excitedly tugging at the ends of his chaltiga.

"Sukai Donnie, Io toushi patuo!" one of the children said as he held up a smooth stone toward him. When the sunlight hit it at the right angle it sparkled with different colors.

"Mo'i!" another girl said excitedly as she held up a flower to him.

Don knelt to their level. "Vei, vei." he said to the energetic children with a chuckle. "Grahatai."

He spent the next couple of seconds accepting gifts, which mostly consisted of rocks and flowers that they found while playing in the water. Some of the adults, most likely their parents, that witnessed what was happening came up to them and approached them. They bowed respectfully to him and apologized as they quickly whisked their disappointed children away, knowing that Don wasn't here for fun. He was here to work.

April just watched from behind as he interacted with them. Remembering how he told her that he was highly respected here by everyone. He stood up and kept it moving through the village passing by villagers that greeted them on the way. There wasn't much foliage until they reached the end of the village. There was a stretch of land where the few land animals roamed including the vao's lakras. From there they crossed the stone bridge to the palace.

It was even more impressive than April had previously anticipated. The palace is at the base of one of the waterfalls with eight thick, square towers, they're linked with small bridges and are connected by reinforced, wide walls made of white stone. Tall windows are scattered here and there across the walls in an asymmetric pattern, along with symmetric holes for archers. The water from the waterfall surrounds the palace grounds almost like a giant moat. Two vao were posted out in front and when they saw Don approach them, one of them greeted him. "Welcome Donatello, the Katu and Masuna await your arrival."

"Thank you. Luna, stay out here." he ordered the lakra and she went to go interact with the other lakra roaming the grassy area. They both stepped inside and Don led April through the long winding hallways of the palace.

"This place is huge. How do you find your way around here?" April asked.

"Lot of visits and a lot of exploring." Don said with a snicker. Climbing up to the second floor, they made it to the entrance of the throne room where two more vao stood watch. Don greeted them and one of them pushed in the double doors, revealing the throne room. It was pretty similar to Beloose's throne room, just with some minor differences. Unlit braziers hanging from each of the ten onyx colored columns. Carved images etched into the ceiling, look down upon the granite floor of the royal hall.

A royal blue rug splits the entire room in half from the doors to the throne while forked banners with ornate quilting swing gently from the walls. Between each banner sits a shrine-like ornament covered in candles, they've all been lit as they do when someone unexpectedly passes.

High windows are shrouded by curtains colored the same as the banners. The curtains have been adorned with decorated tips.

The thrones are covered in layered waves and fixed on each of the ornate legs is a blue tree. The bulky cushions are a light blue and these too have been adorned with ornate needlework.

The two people sitting on the thrones were the Katu and Masuna of this territory. Both of them were older, about middle age. Next to them, on their right, stood two of their advisors wearing maroon colored robes with gold trimming.

Katu Soane was an olive green man with wise looking gray eyes. April could tell just by looking at him that he had seen so much in his time. His dark green hair was long and tied in a braid. His silver colored headpiece rests at the top of his forehead. It's encrusted with dark and light blue shiny stones found under water and is designed with an oceanic motif.

He wore a sleeveless, white, leather top that covered him to just above his waist, it was almost completely buttoned up at the left side. It fit comfortably against his broad chest and shoulders. His pants are simple, wide and reach down to the top of his feet. Just like Beloose, he also wore a one shoulder capelet that was the same color blue as everything else.

Masuna Aquilia was a light brown skinned woman with kind, amber eyes. Her silken white hair fell over her shoulder in waves. Her silver colored headpiece came down to the middle of her forehead. It's set with shiny pink, and vivid blue stones with the same oceanic motif as her husband.

Her majestic sky blue dress flows from top to bottom and has a cowl neckline. the continuous flow is broken up by a long rope belt worn quite low around her waist. Below the rope belt the dress opens up. The front of the top dress is much shorter at the front and curves outwards. Her sleeves are purposely too long and a comfortable fit, their flow is broken up well below the elbow where they change color.

They had at least four of their own vao flanking both sides of them. When Don and April reached the foot of the dais. He placed a closed fist over his chest and bowed to them. Noticing that April was still standing upright, he gently nudged her with his elbow. Catching on, she bowed too. "Daumai vola." he said.

"Donatello, we have been expecting you." Soane greeted as he stood up from his throne.

"I'm sorry it took me so long. There were some delays." he explained vaguely, not wanting to refer to April.

"It is no trouble at all, my child. I am just pleased that you made it here safely." Aquilia stated in her motherly tone. "I am only sorry that we had to ask you here during an important time for you."

He stood up straight. "The people come first. I can wait to take care of the things I need. She will understand."

"Qui'o lea?" Aquilia asked just now noticing the red head standing beside him. "Is this your-?"

"No!" he said, then quickly composed himself. "She is just my friend. The one I love is waiting for me at home."

"Then let us not delay you any longer." Soane said. "My vao have tracked down a group of people off to the south east. People that they did not recognize and they have some of our people from the villages that went missing a few days ago."

"People have gone missing too?"

"Aye, an entire family is missing. Must have taken them when they were out in the forest. I worry about them. If those behind this are followers of Kai then there is no telling what they are doing to them." Aquilia told them. "Now that you are here you can lead them."

Don seemed surprised by this. "You want me to lead them?"

Soane nodded. "Everyone has heard about the Rowandi of Ezdic and how they were able to infiltrate the palace and free the true Katu. We may need your expertise here. My vao will lead you to where they are hiding, from there you will take over." he said as he placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Then let's not waste any time." Don said. "Let's go while we have the upper hand."

"Very well." Soane signaled his four vao on the dais to go and retrieve the others. They returned some minutes later with about ten others. "Listen, mir vao. Donatello is here to assist us with our current problem. You will work together with him and bring in those people that are destroying our way of life here. Where they will be dealt with."

One of the vao with a ball and chain flail attached at the hip, Tasura, stepped toward him, holding out a scaled gray hand. He had jet black hair tied back in a braid and sunny yellow eyes. As well as a long striped gray and black tail. "Biama la, Donatello. Glad to be working with you again."

"Same here." Don responded as he grasped Tasura's forearm and Tasura did the same back.

With a final salute to their king and queen, Don, April and about half of Azbani's vao set out to put a stop to this mess.

New territory! New goddess! New king and queen!

Everything is new!