Well, here's part 2 of Heart of the World: Legacies. Turned out a little different than I originally planned, but my stories always do. Yes, I'm still flash-back obsessed. Gotta be good and have no flashbacks next time I write a story....
I hope everyone enjoys this. I'm a little out of War Planets/Shadow Raiders inspirations for the moment so this will be my last one up, for a little while atleast. Of course, usually the minute I say that I get inspired. lol Enjoy!
Legacies
A War Planets/Shadow Raiders Fanfic
"Any sign of Pyrus or Zera?" Tekla asked. She was in the control room of the Ice Palace, talking on the vidcom to Graveheart, Jade, and Cryos who had taken two ships to search both directions of the gorge,
"None yet on our end." Jade replied.
"So far I have not picked up any trace of the signal from Zera's locket." Cryos answered, looking worried.
"I'm sure we'll find them soon." Graveheart spoke up. "We'll keep in touch."
"I'll report the moment anyone finds them." Tekla promised them, and the vidcoms all blinked out.
Elsewhere on Ice...
"Where are we?" Pyrus glanced around the barren expanse of ice and snow before Zera and him.
"I think this has to be the Southern Ice Plain." Zera glanced around.
"Do you know your way back from here?"
"I might..." Zera looked around.
"Might?" Pyrus repeated, not thrilled with the doubt he heard in her voice.
"The ice plains are enormous. And there's no real landmarks to help navigate them."
"Great."
"I'm not the one who came up with the idea of leaping into the ravine." Zera reminded him.
"No, you were the one who led us there in the first place." Pyrus retorted.
"I also got us out of it." Zera countered.
Before Pyrus could reply there was a change of lighting on the plain. The ground and sky blended into eachother, leaving only white all around them. "What in the Inferno?!"
"By the Glacier, not now!" Zera looked around.
"What's going on?"
"Don't move." Zera instructed him. "It's a white out. An optical illusion created by the light on the ice and the clouds."
"I can feel the ground under me, but I can't see it."
"The light blends everything together, makes the sky and ground indistinguishable from eachother. It's dangerous to pilots especially. Ice pilots train for months to learn how to fly during it."
"How long does it last?"
"Usually only a few minutes." Zera answered.
"That's a relief." Pyrus glanced around. "Have you lived through many of these?"
"A few..." Zera admitted. "The first time ws with my mother. We were exploring the ice caves, when there was a raid. A tunnel collapsed and we had to find another way out. We made it out onto an ice plain, and were making our way across it when the white-out occured. One of the search pilots looking for us crashed."
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"Will it go away?" Zera glanced around at the white emptiness.
"Soon. It doesn't last...oh!" Glace exclaimed as a bladewing crashed to the ground a mile away from them.
"A bladewing...but who was piloting it?" Zera queried. "Will they be alright?"
"I hope so."
"Can't we go check on them?"
"Not until the white-out passes. It's too dangerous. Not being able to see the ground you're walking over."
"When will it end?"
"Soon..." Glace glanced around. "Come on..." She sighed in relief as the light returned to normal, and the sky and ground reappeared. "Let's go." She grabbed Zera's hand, and ran toward the crashed ship.
The pilot lay on the ground outside of the wreck of his bladewing.
"Stay here." Glace told Zera, and approached the pilot.
"Is he okay?" Zera queried, her voice small.
"Yes, just unconscious." Glace was relieved.
"What do we do now?"
"Well, I can't carry him." Glace admitted, studying the wreck of the ship. "And somehow I doubt the communications are still working. I guess we'll have to wait. Hopefully he got a mayday out..."
"What if he didn't?"
"Well...if no other search ships come our way, we'll just keep going after he wakes up. He should know our coordinates, so that'll make things easier."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"What happened?" Pyrus queried.
"Father found us." Zera answered. "We all made it back safely."
They both paused as the light, and landscape, returned to normal.
"Finally." Pyrus opinioned. He glanced at Zera. "Are we going or staying?"
"Let's go." Zera decided. "This way." She started off.
"You know where you're going, right?"
"I haven't gotten us lost yet, right?"
"That's a matter of opinion."
"The ravine ended on a solid wall. No sign of Pyrus or Zera." Graveheart told Tekla over the vidcom.
"Cryos hasn't reported in yet. Perhaps he has had better luck." Tekla stated.
"Hopefully there's a way out on that side." Jade put in.
"I hope so. The area surrounding the ravine has been searched, and no sign of them was found." Tekla told them. Graveheart and Jade exchanged a glance.
"Let's not give up hope. Remember, Pyrus and Zera have survived worse than this." Graveheart stated and the vidcom turned off.
"Tekla." Another vidcom blinked on. "Have Graveheart and Jade found anything?"
"No. The ravine was a dead end." Tekla reported reluctantly.
"Ask them to join me on this end of the ravine, I'll send the coordinates. There's an ice cave entrance. I'm not receiving the signal from Zera's necklace, but it there's another entrance they could be too far yet. We need to find out where the tunnels lead." Cryos told her.
"I will." Tekla promised, and her face disappeared from the vidcom.
Cryos climbed out of the ship to glance down the ravine at the ice cave entrance.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"How is she?" Cryos asked Glace, as she lay Zera on her bed.
"Exhausted." Glace replied, smiling as Zera murmurred in her sleep. "Not unexpectedly." She tilted her head to the door out of Zera's room, and they exited. "The raid?"
"Bone. They managed to steal some ice." Cryos answered.
Glace nodded. "I wasn't expecting raiders so soon. I wouldn't have taken Zera exploring if I had..."
"We found your bladewing, and the tunnel collapse."
"There was another entrance."
"And what happens if there's a tunnel collapse in a cave with no other entrance?" Cryos asked her.
"Well, you'll just have to rescue me, of course." Glace teased lightly. Cryos frowned, and Glace's smile disappeared. "What is it? Has something happened?"
"I received a message from the King of Fire." He told her as they entered the council chamber.
"And?"
"He's trying to negotiate a peace between the four worlds."
"That's quite a task...do you think he's serious?" Glace queried.
"I'd trust him before I'd trust Femur or Mantel...still, there's always a chance it's a trap."
"True...did he give a reason for his change of heart?"
"He said he did not want his son to reign in war."
"A nice idea...but his son is hardly newborn. He's older than Zera, isn't he?" Cryos nodded. "Hmmm...I suppose Femur and Mantel were...less than receptive to the concept."
"I don't think he's contacted Femur yet. He hinted that Mantel was...unenthusiastic." Cryos told her.
"There's a surprise." Glace said sarcastically. "Think there's a chance he'll succeed?"
"I think it's implausible at best." Cryos admitted.
"It would be nice, for Zera to reign in peace." She mentioned.
"I thought the same. I suppose that's why he approached us next, after his impasse with Mantel..."
"But it still could be a trap."
"Exactly."
"Still, as long a we're wary." Glace left the thought hanging.
Cryos nodded. "We'll see how he fares with Femur."
"That will be interesting..."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
Cryos glanced up as the bladewing came to hover near his, and then slowly land. Graveheart and Jade climbed out. "Tekla filled us in." Graveheart told him.
"Then let us get started." Cryos suggested.
"I'm beginning to think we should have waited in the ravine." Pyrus mentioned to Zera as they made their way across the ice plain.
"Too late now." Zera told him.
"I know. I just hope we're not making ourselves harder to find."
"As long as they figure out to search the ice plain, I don't see a problem." Zera stated. "We're easy to spot."
"Hopefully all the beast ships attacking ice were destroyed them, because that also makes us easy targets."
"I'm sure the others have taken care of them at this point." Zera told him.
"This plain seems endless."
"As long as we keep walking we'll eventually reach the end."
"In how many months?"
"The right tunnel branches off agian. We're splitting up to check both." Graveheart told Cryos over the handcom.
"Very well, keep in touch." Crios replied.
"Will do." Graveheart glanced over at Jade, who nodded.
Zera and Pyrus continued along the plain, not speaking. They scanned the sky and ground expectantly. Zera glanced down at her locket, but no sound or light came from it. She sighed.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"How long will you be gone?" Zera asked Glace.
"Only a few days." Glace assured her.
"Do you have to go?"
"It's very important we do, for the entire cluster." Glace answered, then pulled a small box from a pouch. "I have something for you before we go."
"A gift?" Zera took the box. "But it's early."
"I know. I just want you to have this now. Open it."
Zera opened it, and inside was her locket. "It's a necklace." She picked it up.
"Here." Glace opened the locket, revealing the picture inside.
"Oh!" Zera took it back gingerly. "Thank-you."
"It also has a tracer. So next time you get lost, you're easier to find." Glace smiled. "It will also let you know when your father is nearby."
"How can it do that?" Zera asked. As if on cue a light blinked from inside the locket.
"I gave your father a present, too." Glace answered, tapping the necklace to turn the signal off.
Zera hugged her. "I love you."
"I'll only be gone a few days." Glace reminded her, hugging her back.
"I know."
"I love you, Little Snowflake. Be good." Glace kissed the top of her head, and stood up.
The door opened. "Everything's ready." Cryos told them. He knelt down when Zera came to hug him.
"Be careful, Father."
"We will." Cryos promised her, and paused when he saw the locket, still in her hand. "Where did-"
"Mother gave it to me." Zera opened it to show him the picture.
"I wanted her to have it before we left." Glace explained.
Cryos nodded. "We have to go now." Glace nodded.
Zera watched them go, tying the locket around her neck.
Planet Ice...Present Day...
Zera glanced back the way they'd come. "We should have left a trail."
"With what?" Pyrus asked her.
"I don't know...But even if they figure out we went through the cave, they aren't going to know which way to search on the plain."
Pyrus glanced around, then paused. "I've got an idea." He pulled his staff off his back, and snapped it open. Concentrating a moment he held it out, and fire swirled along it. Slamming it into the ground, he drew it steadily along, carving an arrow into the ice. "There." He stepped back. "That should help."
"If they get this far." Zera started forward.
Pyrus frowned, and followed her. "Would it hurt you to be impressed just once?"
"When you do something impressive, I'll let you know." A smile curved Zera's lips.
Cryos glanced across the ice plain from the cave entrance. He glanced down at the computer he carried, which was showing a steady blip. He pulled out his com. "Graveheart. Jade. I found an exit, and I'm picking up a signal from Zera's locket."
"Wait there. We'll bring the bladewings over." Graveheart told him.
"Contact Tekla and tell her to send search parties to these coordinates, the signal is getting weaker so they're moving away from here."
"Don't worry, we'll contact her."
"They've made it this far. They'll be fine together a little while longer." Jade put it, then the com went silent.
Cryos put it away, glanceing across the plain. "Fine...together..."
Planet Fire...Several Years Ago...
"We are fine alone." Mantel stated.
"Then we'll be fine together." Flame, King of Fire argued.
"Our planets have been fighting since the beginning of our recorded history." Cryos put in.
"Then it's past time we were at peace."
"If you as me, this whole affair is a bunch of hooey. Nothing's getting done." Femur spoke up.
"Noone did ask you, Toad." Mantel slammed his hand on the tabletop.
"Hey, I've got just as much right to speak as you, rockhead."
"Watch your tongue, or I'll pull it out."
"Nothing can be obtained by arguing." Flame took up the conversation again. "We all have grievances against eachother, but we really need to look past them at what is best for the cluster. And trading our resources is what's best."
"Since when do lavaheads think first, or not like to fight." Femur spoke up.
"Silent, you insolent worm! Perhaps we should align the other worlds to overthrow you!" The Grand Vizier snapped.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that ain't exactly what you're up to!"
"Enough!" Flame slammed both hands on the table. "This gets us nowhere."
"Tempers are high." Glace spoke up. "We all need to cool down."
"Ice has added little to the conversation." Mantle brought up.
"Your opinion would be valued." Flame quickly added to smooth the point over.
"I think if we would have much to gain from an alliance." Cryos stated. "If all our worlds agreed to it."
"If; would; could. That isn't a real opinion - it's a roundabout answer." Femur stated.
"It's a point well made. A true alliance must be all of us. It would be no good otherwise." Flame told him.
"The toad has made a point, though." Mantel spoke up. "It is a round-about answer. What does Ice truly think of this Alliance?"
"That if this meeting is an example of how things will go, it's chances of longevity are slim." Cryos answered.
"This is all a waste of time." Mantel sat back.
"Please, have patience - all of you. Things may look rather unsettled at the moment, but with how long our worlds have been fighting we can hardly expect to agree in one day." Flame brought up. "The easiest path is naturally to continue fighting and stealing from one another. But as difficult as and alliance seems by comparison, in the long run it will be far more beneficial."
"Just how long do you expect this to take?" Femur queried. "What good's this gonna do if all we do is sit and flap our gums? The raids are gonna continue regardless."
"We have stopped raiding." Spark, Queen of Fire spoke up. The room fell silent. "We ask you to meet us halfway. We can trade our resources."
"Provided you really have stopped raiding, who says you're not raiding right now?" Femur pointed out. Everyone froze.
Spark's hands clenched into fists. "Surely you aren't suggesting-"
"I don't trust none of you. Anyone of you is capable of just that kind of treachery."
"You especially." Cryos put in.
"Why don't you all go to your ships and call your homeworlds? I'm certain none of us are raiding right now, but go ahead and make sure. Perhaps then we can try again." Flame suggested. "We will await your return here." Mantel stood and strode from the room, followed by Femur and Pelvus. Flame stopped Cryos. "A word, King of Ice."
"I am listening."
"Do you truly doubt in this Alliance's ability to last any time at all?"
"I think this meeting demonstrates the lack of willingness on all of our parts." Cryos replied. "All we have ever known is fighting eachother. It is a legacy thousands of years old."
"It is not the legacy I wish to leave to my child." Flame told him. "Is it the legacy you wish to leave to yours?" He nodded at the thoughtful look on Cryos' face. "Think on it."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"One of these days we'll learn not to get seperated from the group." Zera said suddenly.
"And miss out on all our adventures?" Pyrus asked.
"You're telling me you enjoy fighting for your life surrounded by beastdrones?"
"You're telling me you don't?"
A small smile came to Zera's lips, but disappeared when her locket began to blink. "Father." She turned back the way they'd come.
Pyrus turned as well, squinting his eyes to peer into the sky. "Up there - a bladewing." He pointed.
"I guess that's the end of our latest adventure." Zera mentioned.
"There'll be others." Pyrus replied confidently.
"Is that a promise?" Zera queried.
"No, just a legacy." Pyrus told her, smiling to himself. Zera was smiling as well as the bladewing came in for a landing.
Salmon 2002
I hope everyone enjoys this. I'm a little out of War Planets/Shadow Raiders inspirations for the moment so this will be my last one up, for a little while atleast. Of course, usually the minute I say that I get inspired. lol Enjoy!
Legacies
A War Planets/Shadow Raiders Fanfic
"Any sign of Pyrus or Zera?" Tekla asked. She was in the control room of the Ice Palace, talking on the vidcom to Graveheart, Jade, and Cryos who had taken two ships to search both directions of the gorge,
"None yet on our end." Jade replied.
"So far I have not picked up any trace of the signal from Zera's locket." Cryos answered, looking worried.
"I'm sure we'll find them soon." Graveheart spoke up. "We'll keep in touch."
"I'll report the moment anyone finds them." Tekla promised them, and the vidcoms all blinked out.
Elsewhere on Ice...
"Where are we?" Pyrus glanced around the barren expanse of ice and snow before Zera and him.
"I think this has to be the Southern Ice Plain." Zera glanced around.
"Do you know your way back from here?"
"I might..." Zera looked around.
"Might?" Pyrus repeated, not thrilled with the doubt he heard in her voice.
"The ice plains are enormous. And there's no real landmarks to help navigate them."
"Great."
"I'm not the one who came up with the idea of leaping into the ravine." Zera reminded him.
"No, you were the one who led us there in the first place." Pyrus retorted.
"I also got us out of it." Zera countered.
Before Pyrus could reply there was a change of lighting on the plain. The ground and sky blended into eachother, leaving only white all around them. "What in the Inferno?!"
"By the Glacier, not now!" Zera looked around.
"What's going on?"
"Don't move." Zera instructed him. "It's a white out. An optical illusion created by the light on the ice and the clouds."
"I can feel the ground under me, but I can't see it."
"The light blends everything together, makes the sky and ground indistinguishable from eachother. It's dangerous to pilots especially. Ice pilots train for months to learn how to fly during it."
"How long does it last?"
"Usually only a few minutes." Zera answered.
"That's a relief." Pyrus glanced around. "Have you lived through many of these?"
"A few..." Zera admitted. "The first time ws with my mother. We were exploring the ice caves, when there was a raid. A tunnel collapsed and we had to find another way out. We made it out onto an ice plain, and were making our way across it when the white-out occured. One of the search pilots looking for us crashed."
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"Will it go away?" Zera glanced around at the white emptiness.
"Soon. It doesn't last...oh!" Glace exclaimed as a bladewing crashed to the ground a mile away from them.
"A bladewing...but who was piloting it?" Zera queried. "Will they be alright?"
"I hope so."
"Can't we go check on them?"
"Not until the white-out passes. It's too dangerous. Not being able to see the ground you're walking over."
"When will it end?"
"Soon..." Glace glanced around. "Come on..." She sighed in relief as the light returned to normal, and the sky and ground reappeared. "Let's go." She grabbed Zera's hand, and ran toward the crashed ship.
The pilot lay on the ground outside of the wreck of his bladewing.
"Stay here." Glace told Zera, and approached the pilot.
"Is he okay?" Zera queried, her voice small.
"Yes, just unconscious." Glace was relieved.
"What do we do now?"
"Well, I can't carry him." Glace admitted, studying the wreck of the ship. "And somehow I doubt the communications are still working. I guess we'll have to wait. Hopefully he got a mayday out..."
"What if he didn't?"
"Well...if no other search ships come our way, we'll just keep going after he wakes up. He should know our coordinates, so that'll make things easier."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"What happened?" Pyrus queried.
"Father found us." Zera answered. "We all made it back safely."
They both paused as the light, and landscape, returned to normal.
"Finally." Pyrus opinioned. He glanced at Zera. "Are we going or staying?"
"Let's go." Zera decided. "This way." She started off.
"You know where you're going, right?"
"I haven't gotten us lost yet, right?"
"That's a matter of opinion."
"The ravine ended on a solid wall. No sign of Pyrus or Zera." Graveheart told Tekla over the vidcom.
"Cryos hasn't reported in yet. Perhaps he has had better luck." Tekla stated.
"Hopefully there's a way out on that side." Jade put in.
"I hope so. The area surrounding the ravine has been searched, and no sign of them was found." Tekla told them. Graveheart and Jade exchanged a glance.
"Let's not give up hope. Remember, Pyrus and Zera have survived worse than this." Graveheart stated and the vidcom turned off.
"Tekla." Another vidcom blinked on. "Have Graveheart and Jade found anything?"
"No. The ravine was a dead end." Tekla reported reluctantly.
"Ask them to join me on this end of the ravine, I'll send the coordinates. There's an ice cave entrance. I'm not receiving the signal from Zera's necklace, but it there's another entrance they could be too far yet. We need to find out where the tunnels lead." Cryos told her.
"I will." Tekla promised, and her face disappeared from the vidcom.
Cryos climbed out of the ship to glance down the ravine at the ice cave entrance.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"How is she?" Cryos asked Glace, as she lay Zera on her bed.
"Exhausted." Glace replied, smiling as Zera murmurred in her sleep. "Not unexpectedly." She tilted her head to the door out of Zera's room, and they exited. "The raid?"
"Bone. They managed to steal some ice." Cryos answered.
Glace nodded. "I wasn't expecting raiders so soon. I wouldn't have taken Zera exploring if I had..."
"We found your bladewing, and the tunnel collapse."
"There was another entrance."
"And what happens if there's a tunnel collapse in a cave with no other entrance?" Cryos asked her.
"Well, you'll just have to rescue me, of course." Glace teased lightly. Cryos frowned, and Glace's smile disappeared. "What is it? Has something happened?"
"I received a message from the King of Fire." He told her as they entered the council chamber.
"And?"
"He's trying to negotiate a peace between the four worlds."
"That's quite a task...do you think he's serious?" Glace queried.
"I'd trust him before I'd trust Femur or Mantel...still, there's always a chance it's a trap."
"True...did he give a reason for his change of heart?"
"He said he did not want his son to reign in war."
"A nice idea...but his son is hardly newborn. He's older than Zera, isn't he?" Cryos nodded. "Hmmm...I suppose Femur and Mantel were...less than receptive to the concept."
"I don't think he's contacted Femur yet. He hinted that Mantel was...unenthusiastic." Cryos told her.
"There's a surprise." Glace said sarcastically. "Think there's a chance he'll succeed?"
"I think it's implausible at best." Cryos admitted.
"It would be nice, for Zera to reign in peace." She mentioned.
"I thought the same. I suppose that's why he approached us next, after his impasse with Mantel..."
"But it still could be a trap."
"Exactly."
"Still, as long a we're wary." Glace left the thought hanging.
Cryos nodded. "We'll see how he fares with Femur."
"That will be interesting..."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
Cryos glanced up as the bladewing came to hover near his, and then slowly land. Graveheart and Jade climbed out. "Tekla filled us in." Graveheart told him.
"Then let us get started." Cryos suggested.
"I'm beginning to think we should have waited in the ravine." Pyrus mentioned to Zera as they made their way across the ice plain.
"Too late now." Zera told him.
"I know. I just hope we're not making ourselves harder to find."
"As long as they figure out to search the ice plain, I don't see a problem." Zera stated. "We're easy to spot."
"Hopefully all the beast ships attacking ice were destroyed them, because that also makes us easy targets."
"I'm sure the others have taken care of them at this point." Zera told him.
"This plain seems endless."
"As long as we keep walking we'll eventually reach the end."
"In how many months?"
"The right tunnel branches off agian. We're splitting up to check both." Graveheart told Cryos over the handcom.
"Very well, keep in touch." Crios replied.
"Will do." Graveheart glanced over at Jade, who nodded.
Zera and Pyrus continued along the plain, not speaking. They scanned the sky and ground expectantly. Zera glanced down at her locket, but no sound or light came from it. She sighed.
Planet Ice...Several Years Ago...
"How long will you be gone?" Zera asked Glace.
"Only a few days." Glace assured her.
"Do you have to go?"
"It's very important we do, for the entire cluster." Glace answered, then pulled a small box from a pouch. "I have something for you before we go."
"A gift?" Zera took the box. "But it's early."
"I know. I just want you to have this now. Open it."
Zera opened it, and inside was her locket. "It's a necklace." She picked it up.
"Here." Glace opened the locket, revealing the picture inside.
"Oh!" Zera took it back gingerly. "Thank-you."
"It also has a tracer. So next time you get lost, you're easier to find." Glace smiled. "It will also let you know when your father is nearby."
"How can it do that?" Zera asked. As if on cue a light blinked from inside the locket.
"I gave your father a present, too." Glace answered, tapping the necklace to turn the signal off.
Zera hugged her. "I love you."
"I'll only be gone a few days." Glace reminded her, hugging her back.
"I know."
"I love you, Little Snowflake. Be good." Glace kissed the top of her head, and stood up.
The door opened. "Everything's ready." Cryos told them. He knelt down when Zera came to hug him.
"Be careful, Father."
"We will." Cryos promised her, and paused when he saw the locket, still in her hand. "Where did-"
"Mother gave it to me." Zera opened it to show him the picture.
"I wanted her to have it before we left." Glace explained.
Cryos nodded. "We have to go now." Glace nodded.
Zera watched them go, tying the locket around her neck.
Planet Ice...Present Day...
Zera glanced back the way they'd come. "We should have left a trail."
"With what?" Pyrus asked her.
"I don't know...But even if they figure out we went through the cave, they aren't going to know which way to search on the plain."
Pyrus glanced around, then paused. "I've got an idea." He pulled his staff off his back, and snapped it open. Concentrating a moment he held it out, and fire swirled along it. Slamming it into the ground, he drew it steadily along, carving an arrow into the ice. "There." He stepped back. "That should help."
"If they get this far." Zera started forward.
Pyrus frowned, and followed her. "Would it hurt you to be impressed just once?"
"When you do something impressive, I'll let you know." A smile curved Zera's lips.
Cryos glanced across the ice plain from the cave entrance. He glanced down at the computer he carried, which was showing a steady blip. He pulled out his com. "Graveheart. Jade. I found an exit, and I'm picking up a signal from Zera's locket."
"Wait there. We'll bring the bladewings over." Graveheart told him.
"Contact Tekla and tell her to send search parties to these coordinates, the signal is getting weaker so they're moving away from here."
"Don't worry, we'll contact her."
"They've made it this far. They'll be fine together a little while longer." Jade put it, then the com went silent.
Cryos put it away, glanceing across the plain. "Fine...together..."
Planet Fire...Several Years Ago...
"We are fine alone." Mantel stated.
"Then we'll be fine together." Flame, King of Fire argued.
"Our planets have been fighting since the beginning of our recorded history." Cryos put in.
"Then it's past time we were at peace."
"If you as me, this whole affair is a bunch of hooey. Nothing's getting done." Femur spoke up.
"Noone did ask you, Toad." Mantel slammed his hand on the tabletop.
"Hey, I've got just as much right to speak as you, rockhead."
"Watch your tongue, or I'll pull it out."
"Nothing can be obtained by arguing." Flame took up the conversation again. "We all have grievances against eachother, but we really need to look past them at what is best for the cluster. And trading our resources is what's best."
"Since when do lavaheads think first, or not like to fight." Femur spoke up.
"Silent, you insolent worm! Perhaps we should align the other worlds to overthrow you!" The Grand Vizier snapped.
"I wouldn't be surprised if that ain't exactly what you're up to!"
"Enough!" Flame slammed both hands on the table. "This gets us nowhere."
"Tempers are high." Glace spoke up. "We all need to cool down."
"Ice has added little to the conversation." Mantle brought up.
"Your opinion would be valued." Flame quickly added to smooth the point over.
"I think if we would have much to gain from an alliance." Cryos stated. "If all our worlds agreed to it."
"If; would; could. That isn't a real opinion - it's a roundabout answer." Femur stated.
"It's a point well made. A true alliance must be all of us. It would be no good otherwise." Flame told him.
"The toad has made a point, though." Mantel spoke up. "It is a round-about answer. What does Ice truly think of this Alliance?"
"That if this meeting is an example of how things will go, it's chances of longevity are slim." Cryos answered.
"This is all a waste of time." Mantel sat back.
"Please, have patience - all of you. Things may look rather unsettled at the moment, but with how long our worlds have been fighting we can hardly expect to agree in one day." Flame brought up. "The easiest path is naturally to continue fighting and stealing from one another. But as difficult as and alliance seems by comparison, in the long run it will be far more beneficial."
"Just how long do you expect this to take?" Femur queried. "What good's this gonna do if all we do is sit and flap our gums? The raids are gonna continue regardless."
"We have stopped raiding." Spark, Queen of Fire spoke up. The room fell silent. "We ask you to meet us halfway. We can trade our resources."
"Provided you really have stopped raiding, who says you're not raiding right now?" Femur pointed out. Everyone froze.
Spark's hands clenched into fists. "Surely you aren't suggesting-"
"I don't trust none of you. Anyone of you is capable of just that kind of treachery."
"You especially." Cryos put in.
"Why don't you all go to your ships and call your homeworlds? I'm certain none of us are raiding right now, but go ahead and make sure. Perhaps then we can try again." Flame suggested. "We will await your return here." Mantel stood and strode from the room, followed by Femur and Pelvus. Flame stopped Cryos. "A word, King of Ice."
"I am listening."
"Do you truly doubt in this Alliance's ability to last any time at all?"
"I think this meeting demonstrates the lack of willingness on all of our parts." Cryos replied. "All we have ever known is fighting eachother. It is a legacy thousands of years old."
"It is not the legacy I wish to leave to my child." Flame told him. "Is it the legacy you wish to leave to yours?" He nodded at the thoughtful look on Cryos' face. "Think on it."
Planet Ice...Present Day...
"One of these days we'll learn not to get seperated from the group." Zera said suddenly.
"And miss out on all our adventures?" Pyrus asked.
"You're telling me you enjoy fighting for your life surrounded by beastdrones?"
"You're telling me you don't?"
A small smile came to Zera's lips, but disappeared when her locket began to blink. "Father." She turned back the way they'd come.
Pyrus turned as well, squinting his eyes to peer into the sky. "Up there - a bladewing." He pointed.
"I guess that's the end of our latest adventure." Zera mentioned.
"There'll be others." Pyrus replied confidently.
"Is that a promise?" Zera queried.
"No, just a legacy." Pyrus told her, smiling to himself. Zera was smiling as well as the bladewing came in for a landing.
Salmon 2002