Ch 6
Morning came and Caleb went out of his small stone house to see Orator standing just outside, watching him from a short distance away. He waved nervously and whistled for Pepper, who was playing near the base of the tree. She bounded over happily, followed by Martel with another armful of fruit and several adult mana beasts.
"She's ready for her final transformation. With this, she will be strong enough to carry you on her back, along with a light pack of supplies." Martel told him. Caleb blinked.
"But, won't she be staying here with all of you once she's reached that stage?" he asked in confusion. The adult mana beasts all looked at one another, then Pepper's father stepped forward to speak. Martel translated.
"Peppermint was hatched and raised by the non-human called Caleb and calls him friend. Because she is my daughter, she will have the clan name FireBlossom, but as she was hatched outside of the clan, she is not duty-bound to our ways." she murmured, "As such we now declare Peppermint FireBlossom free of our clans and the companion to Caleb. The non-human shall be her guardian and protect her as she will protect him. May you both be blessed in your lives and be filled with the light of mana." Caleb remained unchanged in his confusion.
"What does that mean?" he asked as Orator stepped up to the group, his crest resting against his breastbone.
"It means that Peppermint is free of any responsibility to the clans and their duties, and can continue to travel with you." he clarified, "Martel has told me everything she knows about what has happened to the world since my passing, and why you are here today." Caleb lit up and turned to Martel.
"Really! Pepper can stay with me!" he exclaimed. The group all nodded their heads collectively. "Thank you so much! Pepper, we can be together now! You can stay with me!" The young mana beast clacked in pleasure and nuzzled his cheek. "I'm so glad I don't have to lose your friendship..." he added softly, stroking her snout. He fed her the Mana Fruit and watched her light up, growing large enough to stand over him. She fanned her wings out and lifted them up, crying out in joy at her full grown body. Caleb smiled proudly up at her, glad to know that she would always stand beside him now.
"Now, for those raiders." Orator murmured, "The others will be leaving for their duties in a few minutes. Since you've been gone in search of my crest, they had returned and stolen several more eggs." He studied Caleb carefully. "We will follow your trail to their hideout and reclaim the stolen eggs. Then we will lie in wait for them to return." he told the doll.
"You want me to come along?" the redhead asked in surprise.
"Yes. Martel will also join us, as she is the only one among us with the power to transport the eggs here. Pepper will remain here to keep the eggs warm." Orator confirmed, "Since you are the only one who knows who is truly responsible for these atrocities, I need you to come along and identify him."
"Her." Caleb corrected before realizing it. Orator looked mildly surprised, fur lifting around his neck slightly and wings unfolding just a bit.
"Oh? Her? How odd. All right." he remarked, not put off in the least. "Well, let us be off then. Climb on." He settled down on the grass and waited patiently as Caleb drew up the courage to climb onto his back. Once he was set comfortably, Martel reached up towards him. Caleb caught on and pulled her up. She sat before him, cooing gently to Orator as Caleb looked around for something to hold onto, then sighed and placed his hands on the goddess' waistline. Orator stood and began walking towards the forest.
"Martel illuminated my footsteps with mana dust earlier, so they shouldn't be visible to those who don't use magic. I run off of a mana crystal and my optic sensors can detect mana dust, so I'm an exception to the rule, I guess." Caleb pointed out as they searched for the path. Orator nodded and scanned the ground. They picked up the trail and the mana beast began following it. "Hey, Orator. Why exactly are you called that anyway?" the doll added as a way of passing time.
"My name is my title. I am able to speak human language because Origin and Maxwell thought it would be well if the Spirit of Mana had a companion she could converse with and translate for her when it came to handling matters with the other mana beast clans." Orator remarked, "I was her companion, her friend, and I was often sent to meet with other humans ahead of her as a way of... warming up the people to her impending presence."
"So you are to Martel what Pepper is to me?" Caleb asked.
"Ah, yes, that seems about right. Actually, that's it exactly. If she is your close companion and someone you trust and love, then yes, that's definitely it." Orator answered and stopped suddenly. "Is this the cave?" Caleb looked over Martel's shoulder.
"Yeah! That's it!" he cried and slid down from Orator's back to run inside, "The eggs are all still here!" Martel waited until the mana beast had knelt for her to dismount, then hurried after him, her staff clutched in both hands. Orator followed them in after studying the area carefully.
"Thank goodness." Martel whispered as she looked around, "It doesn't look like any of them have hatched yet." Caleb studied a few of the sacks.
"No, but they're about to. Get them back to the nests, Martel!" he exclaimed, spinning to face her in a panic. The goddess lifted her staff, closing her eyes. She murmured silent words and the contents of the cave disappeared along with her, returning to the safety and sanctity of the meadow around the Yggdrasill Tree.
"Now the two of us shall wait here for the humans to come. Then I will speak with them about this matter." Orator commented as he scratched out a place for himself to settle into. Caleb blinked at him, unsure what to think, then shrugged and sat against the cave wall, closing his eyes as he thought about how he was going to make the stall for Pepper bigger without driving Altessa up the wall about it.
Caleb snapped to attention at the sound of Orator standing up, his claws scraping against the cave floor. He looked around, lost on what time it was as the mana beast looked down at him.
"They've finally shown up. You've slept through the last two days, Caleb." Orator remarked. The doll blinked and stood quickly, rubbing his head.
"Ah, sorry. I must have needed a serious recharge then." he muttered and jumped at the sounds of several other people entering the cave.
"Okay, this time for sure we'll rake in lots of gald selling these eggs to the Royal Chefs!" a woman declared. The group of humans reached the room where Orator and Caleb stood waiting, and froze.
"That's her. She's the ringleader." Caleb said after a long moment of silence. The violet-haired woman looked around in a panic as the other humans finally registered what they were looking at.
"Ah! Ah! A monster! It's one of those monsters! It's gonna eat us!" they screamed and raced out of the caves.
"H-hey! Wait for me!" the woman cried and turned to flee. Orator dashed forward and blocked the exit, glowering at her as she fell back in terror, "Please! Don't kill me! I'll give back the eggs! I swear!"
"We've already reclaimed the eggs. We've only come for you." he growled and the woman screamed again, "And stop that nonsensical wailing! It will do you no good and it rather annoys me. I'm sure my comrade there will say the same." The woman turned her gaping eyes to Caleb, who only shrugged.
"He's right, you know. It is kinda irritating." he agreed with a smile. Orator reached out while she was distracted and grabbed her by the collar with his teeth. The woman went into another fit, kicking, screaming and twisting around madly. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Caleb added. The woman either ignored him, or didn't hear, and continued her terrified tirade.
"This isn't working." Orator managed to say through his teeth and looked distant. The woman went on yelling, then began to calm down, growing more quiet and still until she finally went limp. "Ah, that's better."
"What did you do to her?" Caleb asked, eyes wide with shock. The mana beast turned and began to walk out of the cave.
"I gave her mind a very compelling suggestion that sleep might not be such a bad idea right now." Orator answered through a mouthful of cloth. Caleb jogged to catch up to him and they walked back to the Yggdrasill Tree together.
In the clearing, everyone gathered to watch the woman wake up to see where she wound up. As soon as she recognized more mana beasts were surrounding her, she began screaming again. Martel set her face and stepped forward, slamming her staff into the ground.
"That's quite enough!" she told the woman harshly, "As far as I've been told you've done nothing but scream this entire day!" The woman stared at her. "And no, I'm not here to save you." the goddess added in irritation, "Seek salvation within yourself; I'm just the Guardian of the Mana Tree."
"Woman, you have committed grave offense to every clan represented here by their clan leaders." Orator rumbled and the woman screamed again in shock before going quiet under his withering glare. "You don't seem to understand how little I care about your vocal power." he grumbled, "Now, you are to be judged and sentenced by the collected power of the clans. Your crimes are theft and trespassing on sacred land. You've stolen numerous eggs and sentenced young mana beast lives to almost certain death. The punishment for bringing harm to any egg is the offering of life in exchange for life."
"Wh-what is this? A bad dream?" the woman whimpered, "You... you aren't really going to kill me, are you? Over a bunch of eggs?" The mana beasts conferred in their own language, alternately looking at each other for agreement and looking at the woman with expressionless faces. Caleb watched worriedly as they talked on. He knew what the woman had done was wrong in so many ways, but he still felt bad for pointing her out now. If she was killed as punishment for her crimes, he would be responsible for bringing her before the mana beasts for judgment. He looked at the ground, worry filling his mind.
"Martel, I don't think this goes along with Lloyd's ideals." he finally muttered, "Isn't this going to spawn new hate and new revenge, like Lloyd said?"
"Patience, little brother, and you will see why I often sent him forward to consult with humans and elves before I appear." Martel told him with a small smile.
The clan leaders finally nodded in agreement and spoke to Orator, who nodded and turned to the woman.
"The clans have decided on your judgment and sentence." he told her. The ringleader of the egg-stealing scheme blinked, eyes wide as she began shaking fearfully. "You have been found guilty of all crimes put forth by the clans. Your life is now forfeit." The woman wailed again, covering her head with her hands as she sobbed pitifully.
"Martel..." Caleb moaned softly.
"Oh, don't give me that, woman!" Orator grumbled, "Such a drama queen... Your life is forfeit, but that doesn't mean you're going to die!" The woman stopped wailing and blinked up at him in confusion.
"I'm... not?" she echoed faintly. Orator shook his head.
"And what would we do with a dead woman's body in this meadow? It's an insult to all that we stand for!" he exclaimed incredulously, "Really, you have to learn to get over yourself. Your life is forfeit in service to the clans whose eggs were stolen in your schemes." He waved a paw towards the nests. "From now until the end of your days, you will live here in service to the clans. You will help raise the surviving hatchlings and take care of the sick, injured and elderly. You will never leave this meadow, nor will you need to as everything you will need to live on will be provided here." Orator declared, "And sensing that you are a half-elf and not a human woman as our friend Caleb thought, you will be in service for quite a long while."
"Half-elf? Really?" Caleb remarked in surprise, "I guess I should ask Master Altessa for an upgrade regarding my mana-detection device. Or at least a new one entirely." He looked over at Martel. "They never planned on killing her, huh? Orator certainly is a very wise and intelligent creature, isn't he?" Martel nodded cheerfully.
"Is... that all? I'm going to be your slave for the rest of my life?" the half-elven woman remarked in shock. Orator raised an eyebrow.
"Well, no, not a slave. We don't really have a need for slaves. You'll be a baby-sitter of sorts. The adults need to go out and spread mana to the world, helping the Mana Tree continue reviving the world. The hatchlings need someone around to play with them, feed them, take care of them... all that motherly attention and whatnot." he clarified.
"You might need this." Caleb added brightly, handing the woman Pepper's old ball, "I've been meaning to buy her a new one anyway."
"I suggest getting some rest. You start in the morning." Orator remarked and pointed at the stone house the MudPuppy clan built for Caleb, "You can use that house."
The woman left for the little house, still numb with what she had just gone through, the clan leaders all left to tend to their nests, and Caleb was left with Pepper, Orator and Martel.
"Thank you for your help, Caleb. I really appreciate it." Martel told him with a smile, "If it hadn't been for you coming when you did, we may never have found out what had been happening, or revived Orator to stop it."
"It was no trouble at all. Well, I'll be heading home now..." Caleb replied and smiled up at Pepper, who clacked happily, "With Pepper. I still can't believe she'll be coming back with me!" He waved his good-byes as Pepper knelt to let him onto her back. Caleb looked surprised, then laughed cheerfully as he climbed on. "Thank you, Pepper! Well, home we go!" Pepper clacked and leaped skyward, wings beating the wind to carry them both home. Orator and Martel watched them fly away.
"He's a very funny person." Orator remarked at last. Martel only shook her head with a smile.
"I expect nothing less from my brother." she affirmed.