Well...it's been embarrassingly long since I last posted, huh? Computer difficulties kept me from doing it, mostly. I hope this chapter makes up for it.

Chapter Forty-Eight: Key to Life

The wind blew through the towers on the mountain, reaching deep into the main chamber where the Order of the Snake sat. Pit Boss felt the wind on his scaly face from where he sat. When he was younger, the awful sensation of cold made him shudder throughout his entire body, but years of meditation had pushed it out of him. The Orders' job was to sit and perceive, contemplating on the nature of the grander world. The smaller things like pain and discomfort were mere distractions to their goal, and these couldn't be allowed.

That, however, wasn't to say that they must not ignore all smaller things. Once in a while, they got visitors into their place of meditation. They were the lay people in the valley below the Great Twisty Mountain where their tower rested, and they brought offerings in exchange for one great answer to a deep and troubling question that an individual might have. Since the Order of the Snake never left their position in the tower, they recognized such visits when the wind blew through the chamber.

A fox man meekly stepped in, leaving an incense offering at the feet of the Grand Sage. His clothes appeared ratty, signaling the weight of his grand trip. His eyes held a great fear, revealing all of the uncertainty buried within him.

"You have come a long way," the Grand Sage announced. "You are weighed down by the concerns and worries of the smaller world. You remember the necessary meditations needed to let go of them all?"

"It's...it's hard to focus on them in troubling times," the fox man stammered.

"When you recognize troubling times, that is when you need to focus on these meditations the most. But it does not matter the pace at which you go. You have all of the time you need to achieve your enlightenment, and you'll reach the end of the road at your own pace. If we may take some burden off your shoulders, we will gladly do so. But you know it can only be one burden."

"I do. And I've thought long and hard about it."

"What is it that we may take from you?"

The fox man knelt before them. "Oh great Order of the Snake, I'm afraid that the world has been plagued with a grand evil. He shows his massive face around every facet of Skylands, throwing down his armies and causing trouble and misery for everyone he comes across. He fires his magic down on villages without pity, laughing at their sorrow with great contempt. He calls himself Kaos, and if he were to continue on his rampage, the very face of Skylands will look far different than before. What are we to do?"

Pit Boss cast his gaze on the marble floor, deep in thought. Indeed, this was a difficult question. Vicious evil often grew in Skylands from time to time, making people very miserable. As a member of the great Order, it was his job to help individuals to eternal peace and happiness. This Kaos couldn't possibly make anyone happy.

But why concern oneself with that happiness? It was just as impermanent as each island in the world. In fact, such evil that the fox man described was also impermanent.

The Grand Sage replied, "Indeed, Skylands may change. But the world's very nature is to change. Nothing is as it once used to be. Indeed, you are not even the same individual you were yesterday. Nothing is permanent, not even this great evil you concern yourself with. Remember that, meditate on that."

The fox man looked up at them, appearing unsure of the answer. Apparently they hadn't told him what he wanted to hear. Nevertheless, he replied, "I'll try. Thank you so much, great masters."

"You are welcome, dear student."

And the fox man went on his way, refusing to follow up with any questions.

Just like the islands and the great evil, the nature of his visit wasn't to last forever.

Of course, it didn't simply end.

The fox man's visit was only the first of a series of similar visits. Day after day, another person from the village visited their great tower. Sometimes whole groups came up with representatives to ask their question. And it was always the same question, with few variations throughout. They always asked about the evil known as Kaos, how to deal with it, how to adapt to the changing climate. The Order of the Snake simply reminded them to follow their meditations, to focus on the current moment and recognize that the hardship wouldn't last forever.

Pit Boss himself focused on his own meditations alongside his brethren. Easy breaths, calm and simple, as he repeated the simple mantras of their practice. The nature of everything was impermanence. Everything changed, and the evil that the people concerned themselves over wouldn't last forever.

Still, why did so many people make a fuss over it? Each individual was granted one question to ask. They could ask anything. They could ask about the nature of birth, the purpose of death, the lives they were meant to lead. There was a whole world of greater, more troubling questions for them to ask. Yet each of them chose to ask about Kaos. What kind of threat was he? How great was his evil that it caused swarms of people to become afraid?

Somehow his meditations became hollow. He tried hard to cling onto them, to hold onto the meanings that he'd studied his whole life to understand. What was their meaning? Why couldn't it make his worries go away.

One day, someone entered the tower once more. The wind blew into the chamber where the snakes sat.

And Pit Boss found himself shivering.

It wasn't a big shiver. He still had enough recognition of the cold's impermanence to control himself.

But the fact of the matter was...at this point...it should not have happened at all.

A fire sentinel strode into the chamber, her flame tail licking behind her. Her hair was tied back in a traditional bun, and her eyes held the solemn nature of a full-fledged guardian. In her grasp, she held four simple white candles, which were to be her offering.

"You have made a long journey to reach this place," the Grand Sage told her.

"I know, and it must seem strange for me to be here," the fire sentinel muttered. "But my people do hold your Order's teachings in high regard. We meditate on them as often as we can."

"It is not strange at all. It is most welcoming, in fact. All creatures of Skylands are allowed to study and practice our teachings. We invite any who wish to learn."

The fire sentinel nodded.

"We can tell that you carry a lot of burden on your shoulders. You have come to relieve some of it, yes?"

The fire sentinel stepped up closer to the Grand Sage. She set the candles down in a row, lighting them by succession.

"This is my father's flame, my mother's flame, my sister's flame and my master's flame," the fire sentinel explained. "I offer them to you, so that you may see them and know that we are here."

"What do you need?"

"Our home, it has...a grand force named Kaos has sacked it with his armies, banning the practice of martial arts. I try to follow your teachings, to accept that things change, to simply exist as you currently are without worry or fear. But I've been watching my culture nearly fade away for the past month, and I don't know if I can faithfully follow those teachings any longer. What must I do, to set my spirit at ease?"

Pit Boss didn't have a possible answer for that. If an individual didn't want to follow their teachings, then their teachings couldn't help her. He found himself just as lost on the idea as she was.

Why was he focusing so much on his own spirit, anyway? He was supposed to be dedicated to helping others on their path!

"It is ultimately up to you to decide where you will go," the Grand Sage announced. "You can follow our teachings to the letter, using them to find your way to enlightenment. You could focus your energy on this world, trying to help others to whatever happiness can be found. Your path might not line up with our teachings, and that is your duty to find. You can let this current trouble wash off your back like water washes off of stones, or you could confront the trouble and try to bring it to an end. The choice is yours."

The fire sentinel nodded. "...I might know what I need to do now," she replied. "Thank you for your words."

"Of course, my dear."

The fire sentinel left, heading on her way to find whatever path she could.

The encounter resonated with Pit Boss, and it didn't leave him for several days. Each individual needed to find their own path, whatever that might be. Like it or not, Pit Boss found that he had to find his own path. If his current thoughts were becoming selfish and unfocused, he might as well follow through with them.

And so, the next night, he took his leave. He left the temple, as well as his years of service and meditations, behind, slinking into the cold wind.

It happened one day when Pit Boss traveled through a desert. In spite of the dryness in his throat, the hollowness in his gut, the heaviness in his limbs, the heat on his scales, he pressed onward. Most would be distraught by how much suffering occurred in the desert, but Pit Boss still held onto his meditations on this nature. Even without the necessary supplies for such a long journey, those meditations helped to keep him from getting discouraged.

Of course, he found the desert to be a curious place. Lizards crawled along the sand. Cacti sprouted up, their spines warding off enemies. And...an occasional flower grew from the dry rocks. The desert was a place of great suffering. He couldn't imagine anything desiring to live in it for long. All creatures yearned to escape suffering, and had to do so as soon as possible, right? Yet the plants and animals here seemed to be thriving. They paid no heed to their suffering.

Pit Boss stopped by a small oasis, where even more plants and animals gathered. He knelt by the water, cupping his hands and collecting it into his palms. He focused his attention on the animals as he sipped. They seemed quite content, didn't they?

He tensed up as several swords and spears pointed at him. He found himself now surrounded by a rather large group of bandits. Fox men, elves, trolls, they appeared to be a rather mixed bunch. But there seemed to be a type of disorganization among them. Pit Boss still had a mission to do, so he had to bide his time.

"Hello gentlemen," Pit Boss greeted them coolly.

"Knock it off, idiot," a fox man growled. "Cough up whatever goods you have."

"I'm afraid I have nothing. No jewels or money, no title to my name. I am merely a humble traveler, off to find my purpose in this world."

"Yeah, and I'm the Dragon King. You're not the first to use that garbage on us, and you won't be the last."

Pit Boss lowered his hands to the ground, a green aura filling his palms. He hadn't practiced the magic learned in his youth for a long time. Perhaps he still had a grasp on it.

"I assure you, this time it isn't a lie," Pit Boss insisted.

"Cough up what you have," the fox man yelled. "This is your last chance before we gut you down."

"I'm afraid you won't be gutting me down today."

He pressed his palms to the ground. The green aura hovered underneath the bandits, until wispy snakes grew out of the ground. The snakes wrapped around each of the bandits, constricting their movements. They didn't squeeze, and they didn't bite. But they would help Pit Boss get away unharmed.

Pit Boss rose up, dusting off his dirty robe. "I must be on my way now,"

A whizzing sound zipped through the air, and in another moment, arrows sailed in their direction. The arrows landed straight into the heads of the bandits, cutting each of them down. This attack missed Pit Boss completely. He stared at the bodies, shaking terribly as their blood pooled at the skirt of his robe. They were just...dead.

And then he looked up a the originator of the attack. It was a mechanical looking beast, possessing a humanoid shape. It wore a green hood on its head, shielding its single blue eye. It held a metal bow in it's right hand, and a drill-tipped arrow in its left. It looked straight at Pit Boss, its eyelid motioned in its best brow furrow.

"You're safe now, noob," the mechanical beast huffed. "Try not to walk into an obvious trap like that again."

"You just...killed them," Pit Boss stammered. "Just cut them down."

"Someone else would've gotten to them eventually. Git gud or get out of the way."

Pit Boss clenched his fists. "You don't even care about the lives you've taken? You're not going to show remorse, or sadness, or contemplation?"

"That's a human thing to think about, isn't it? I'm not human, that much I know. And I can't go back into character creation to change it."

"It's our duty to limit the amount of suffering we bring unto others! You can't treat individuals with such disdain, that much I'm certain! These bandits could've had a change of heart! They had a chance to end their cycles in this life, and you cut them down before they could see that?"

"You mean they could've respawned to play again?"

"This is a game to you!?"

The mechanical beast let out a chuckle. "You really are a noob. People don't respawn. You only get one life. You never have another quarter to place into the machine. You never get a chance to decide what you want to be. If you happen to be evil, there's no changing that."

And the mechanical beast walked on, leaving Pit Boss and the oasis behind. Pit Boss fell to the ground, the pool of blood submerging his clawed fingers. He couldn't stop his great sobbing.

Pit Boss eventually found presence of this Kaos force that he was seeking. He came across it one day in a devastated forest, with fallen trees and wounded animals everywhere. The tree stumps held markings on their bark, as if they had been cut with some sort of tool. Thick black pools stretched across the grass, releasing a terrible odor when one drew close to them.

And he also came across individuals known as Skylanders, the heroes who were tasked with trying to defeat Kaos once and for all. The one he met was a penguin in black-and-gold armor, who wore a helmet with his warrior's ponytail poking through. He wore blades on his flippers, which seemed to be his main weapon. There also seemed to be a gentle touch in his eyes, which was much more inviting than the hard look in the mechanical beast.

"You held off that force on your own?" Pit Boss asked.

"Not quite. It was smaller than usual," the Skylander, King Pen, nodded.

"But it still brought about this much damage?"

"You've got to do what you can, even when it seems hopeless. That's what you believe, right?"

Pit Boss rubbed his chin in thought. "I believe in a gentle spirit when it comes to battle. One that you possess," he explained. "That is what I've come to discover on my travels, at least."

"I see."

"Actually, I've been seeking to find this Kaos and bring him down. Perhaps I could join the Skylanders and assist you in the fight?"

King Pen's eyes lit up in glee, and his beak turned itself into a smile. "I'll bring you to Master Eon, then! I'm sure he'd like to see you!" he decided.

"You're sure?"

"Sure I'm sure! Let's go!"

Pit Boss and King Pen traveled through the woods together, suddenly stumbling across fleeing bandits. Drill-tipped arrows soared above their heads, narrowly missing them. The green-hooded mechanical beast walked in, grumbling to himself.

"I miss the high-level enemies," he muttered.

"Oh there you are, Ro-Bow!" King Pen announced. "I thought I spotted you helping me rid this place of trolls!"

"It's never fun to find trolls in a discord server. But I see you're going two-player with a sperg."

Pit Boss frowned in confusion. "Sperg?" he wondered.

"We're actually on our way to meet Master Eon," King Pen continued, changing the subject. "You should come with us! He's been really eager to meet you."

"I told you I didn't want to facetime with him. I'm not interested in your friend requests to join your party. I work best as a solo player."

"So you just never want to see him, then?"

"No."

Pit Boss found his hands shaking. He'd been focusing on his meditations since their encounter, trying to figure out how to deal with individuals such as Ro-Bow. But none of them accounted for machine life.

Machines...were still people, right? They could change, couldn't they?

"I'm actually quite interested in your thought processes," Pit Boss decided. "I'd like you to accompany us, so I might pick your brain a bit."

"I don't have a brain, in your sense," Ro-Bow spat. "Perhaps you're interested in my processors, or memory banks. It doesn't make me want to team up with you any more."

"I'm interested in you, too," King Pen agreed. "Pretty please?"

Ro-Bow crossed his arms. "Fine," he grumbled. "If it'll get you to leave me alone."

The three of them boarded a train for the closest village to Eon's Citadel, as King Pen wanted to accommodate his two non-Skylander companions. Pit Boss and King Pen sat on either side of Ro-Bow, trapping him in their row. They each took turns picking Ro-Bow's brain for nuggets of information, asking him various questions. And the mechanical being appeared more and more annoyed with each passing question.

"Does it hurt when you fire lasers out of your eye?" King Pen asked.

"No," Ro-Bow grumbled.

"Do you dream at night like others?" Pit Boss asked.

"No. Sometimes my memory banks pick stuff out. And it would be more accurate to say 'Recharge Mode'. I'm not organic like you noobs."

"Did you make that bow yourself?" King Pen asked.

"Yes, out of broken parts."

"Have you ever had meditations on the nature of suffering?" Pit Boss asked.

"You mean the suffering I'm currently experiencing at this very moment? Why do animal species have to personify everything?"

The train halted for a moment. Pit Boss looked out the window, noticing dark clouds outside. There seemed to be some kind of turbulence, didn't there?

"I don't know, I'm feeling rather strange," King Pen stammered. "I'm going to take a walk around the train car."

Pit Boss raised a brow at King Pen's sudden fear, but allowed him to get up and leave. Ro-Bow crossed his arms, glaring below him.

"Y-You should have a better appreciation for life," Pit Boss muttered. "Don't just slaughter everyone you meet."

"I spared you," Ro-Bow growled. "I knew you were innocent of any crimes."

"But you thought it was right to cut those bandits down?"

"All they were going to do is make others suffer. Why should I have let them go? I told you before, people don't chance."

Pit Boss looked out the window, studying the storm outside. "I think you're wrong," he insisted. "I think we all have a choice on what we want to be. We have plenty of time to find enlightenment. And if you don't want to bring harm unto others, you can always choose to stop it."

Ro-Bow scoffed. "You really are a noob," he muttered.

Pit Boss bit his lip, furrowing his brow in thought. He sat in silence for several minutes, trying to come up with another argument for his side. It was his job to help people find their way to happiness. It was still his job, even out here. And he thought he could get through to a machine somehow.

"...Not here," Ro-Bow suddenly mumbled.

Pit Boss jumped in surprise. "What was that?" he asked.

He looked over at Ro-Bow, who now had his head leaning back against the seat cushion. His eye was closed, flicking up slightly and occasionally.

"...Check...mines…," Ro-Bow muttered.

Pit Boss poked him on the arm, but he didn't react. He smirked at this. Things had gotten too slow for the machine's liking, huh?

King Pen waddled back over toward them, relief on his face. "This is a regular storm. No big deal," he announced. "My mind jumped to something else completely."

He then glanced over to Ro-Bow, chuckling a tiny bit. "Seems like he fell asleep."

"Oh no no. He's in 'Recharge Mode'," Pit Boss added.

King Pen took the empty seat in front of Pit Boss as the two of them continued chuckling to themselves. Ro-Bow fell into the empty seat at his side, mumbling about hard landings. Pit Boss poked him again, and he still didn't react.

Pit Boss's humor left him, and he then asked, "King Pen, are you aware… of Ro-Bow killing people?"

King Pen turned around to look at him, his flippers crossed on the back of the seat. "Yeah, but he's specific about it," he explained. "He always goes after the ones doing crimes, and actually tries to free the innocent from their imprisonment. He never hurt anyone who did any wrong."

"So he...values life, in a way?"

"He goes a bit far in punishing evil, at least for our taste. Eon wants to see him for training, in order to smooth out the edges a bit. You should fight alongside him, because he's a great warrior. But he's not yet the gentle spirit that the two of us are."

"Have you… ever taken another life before?"

King Pen sighed, glancing at his flipper blades. "Several. I used to be a typical soldier, and we often killed the people we fought against. I didn't think too much about the value of life back then, and didn't grow woe some whenever I took a life. It wasn't until my time in isolation that I started meditating on it. Do I...seem less respectable to you...from what you've seen?"

Pit Boss shook his head. "You actually seem more respectable. I appreciate honesty."

The two of them chatted with each other for another hour, with Ro-Bow oblivious to anything they told each other. As they neared their stop, the machine's inane mumbling turned into frightened whimpers, which indicated that his dream was turning into a nightmare. Pit Boss shook him awake, shrinking back as Ro-Bow shot up in alarm. The machine sat still for a moment, regaining his bearings, before relaxing once again.

"Don't do that," Ro-Bow growled. "You want me to gank you?"

"I didn't mean to startle you," Pit Boss insisted. "I thought you said you didn't dream."

"I don't. I sometimes unconsciously view memory files."

King Pen slid down into his seat, chuckling to himself. "So when did you lose your hood in Motleyville?" he asked.

Ro-Bow's pupil shrank back in shock.

"What were you looking for in those mines?" Pit Boss wondered.

Ro-Bow pulled his hood over his face. If he had cheeks, they would have been bright red.

"Actually," Pit Boss realized, "What were you frightened of before?"

The train halted to a stop. Ro-Bow got out of his seat, growling, "I need to be on my way."

Pit Boss and King Pen followed him off the train, walking into the station. Ro-Bow leaned on a pole, his head bowed down in thought. They stepped up next to him, doing their best to avoid the crowd spilling out of the train.

"We don't want to mock you or anything," King Pen insisted. "We're just concerned, is all."

"Nothing to be concerned of," Ro-Bow spat. "Just viewing something that I always do just before I finish charging."

"You mean before you wake up," Pit Boss added.

Ro-Bow glared at him. "Stop personifying me," he huffed. "I'm not human."

"Human enough, as far as I can see."

Ro-Bow looked away again. "I recognize your robes. Your mindset. You believe that individuals increase their amount of suffering based on their actions. I've suffered a great deal. I don't want to believe that all of it was my doing."

"That's your choice, then. You can choose to have different ideas about this world than I do. You can choose whatever you want. You get to make all of the decisions in your life."

King Pen walked to Ro-Bow's side. "All Eon wants is a talk," he insisted. "Nothing too big right now. Any reason why you're pushing it away?"

Ro-Bow stood to his full height. "No," he insisted. "Let's talk to your Eon."

"I'll lead the way, then. Let's all go."

Pit Boss and Ro-Bow followed King Pen out of the train station and into a small village. Pit Boss glanced at the quaint little houses, the cute bushes and flowers, and the gabbing pedestrians that walked by. Everything seemed peaceful here. An idea of impermanence still lingered in his mind, even now. Yet…

"Ro-Bow, I think this world is beautiful," Pit Boss announced. "I think the two of us could help protect it together."