Chapter 10
Once we got back to the village, I finally had gotten accustomed to the change in temperature, which was a relief as I was pretty cold earlier. "Excuse me, sir? Do you know where Mister Kamtoga is?" I asked one of the different camp members.
"He's in that hut over there," he said, me leading Rallen and Jeena to Kamtoga's hut and me knocking on the door to see if we could gain entry.
"Who's there?" Kamtoga asked.
"Um... Rallen, Jeena, and Maja. That trio you helped out?" I asked, Rallen about to say something before Jeena pelted him with snow to shut him up.
"Ah, the newbies! Come on in," Kamtoga smiled. We then proceeded into the hut and I smirked at how cozy it was. There was a fireplace, some pictures, and I even saw a photo of Kamtoga alongside two others, one of them being someone I recognized.
"Wyterra's Spectrobe Master... and who's this younger guy?" I asked when I saw the picture.
"Oh, him? He was some kinda guy that crash landed on Wyterra. He and I are best buddies... but my main partner... never mind, you came in here for something?" Kamtoga asked, him obviously not wanting to talk about him, but I had to ask.
"Apologies for bringing up the past, Kamtoga... but I think this Spectrobe Master may have a connection to my lost memories... I can see him in my mind and he's the first person I remembered... but I don't know what kind of person he was like. Do you know if you've seen me before?" I asked him, Kamtoga sighing and smiling at me.
"He was a brave and strong warrior, and very few knew his true name. He always went by the title of Master, even by me and my best bud. But something happened to him when we happened to discover a special chemical that could generate Krawl... he disappeared soon after those two fought over it... haven't seen him ever since. Even told me to leave the Cosmolink on Wyterra because he was 'losing control' of something... my bud that crashed in the ship? We parted ways after that and swore we'd keep defending the universe no matter where we were. In memory of our Master and partner," Kamtoga said, me smiling at that story before Rallen brought something up.
"There's also something else that's troubling. We found a shard of the beast king in Doldogo's ruins and Radeese said it was emitting one of the strongest red glows he'd ever seen. We need the rest of the shards because something bad is going to happen to Wyterra soon. We need to know if you know where the ruins are on this planet that holds the shard," Rallen said.
"Hehe, is that all? Sure, I know where the ruins are," Kamtoga smiled.
"Really? Well, lead us to 'em!" Rallen smiled widely, but then Kamtoga folded his arms and shook his head.
"Sorry, can't help you with that," he said, me wondering what he meant.
"Why not?" Rallen asked.
"Well, firstly because you don't know how to properly use the Cosmolink and secondly because you tend to be brash, as seen with that fight you almost lost in the caves," Kamtoga said, me looking at Rallen and seeing he was getting mad.
"I wasn't going to lose that fight! I was just going easy on him!" Rallen said, Jeena holding onto him to try to calm him down. No dice.
"Peh, is that so? Looked to me that not even your evolved Spectrobes could get through that hide! If I hadn't come along, you'd have been creamed," Kamtoga smiled, Rallen growling at that.
"I'm trying to ask nicely! Just tell us where the ruins are!" Rallen said with hostility, me holding down his other arm with worry.
"I'll say this just once. Courage isn't courage if it's heedless. And if you can't understand that much, well, all the more reason not to show you where the ruins are," Kamtoga said, Rallen growling at that as he broke out of Jeena and my grasp and looked pissed off.
"Whatever, we'll just go find it ourselves! Come on, guys!" Rallen frowned as he stormed out of the hut and I looked at him as Jeena scolded him before rushing off after him, me staying behind to look at Kamtoga.
"Sorry about that... he means well... he's just a bit upset," I said to him.
"Believe me, I know the type," he smiled at that, me going to go out and meet up with Rallen and Jeena, but seeing that they had already disappeared!
"Rallen? Jeena?" I asked, wondering where they could've gone off to. "RALLEN? JEENA?" I shouted. Still no response.
"If you're looking for your partners in the suits, they went up towards the north. Don't know what they're thinking, honestly. If you go too far to the north, the ice becomes very thin. Even the slightest jolt can send them falling into a chasm," one of the different camp workers said, me gasping at that and me immediately running back to Kamtoga.
"Kamtoga! Rallen and Jeena are going to be in danger!" I said to him with seriousness, him looking at me in confusion. "They're going north, to the thin ice!" I said, Kamtoga immediately bursting forward and joining me towards the northern area. And just as we passed the gate? We heard a terrible crash. It sounded like the entire mountain had cried out in pain. And I already knew what was the cause of it! "Hold onto my arm! I can fly us there to save time," I said to Kamtoga, him latching onto my arms as I flew us across the ice until we found a giant ice chasm. It looked freshly made, and I saw some movement down inside of the bottom.
"Rallen! Jeena!" I shouted at them, the duo gasping as they looked up and saw me. I was amazed that they managed to survive, as it was at least a 20 foot fall!
"Maja! Kamtoga!" Jeena and Rallen gawked as I saw they had another glowing fossil in their hands. It looked like a Spectrobe whose body looked like a donut and its head looked like a small lizard. I then flew down into the crevice and looked at Rallen with a sternness in my eyes.
"What were you thinking, Rallen? You could've gotten killed!" I said to him with serious concern in my voice.
"I know... I'm sorry," Rallen said, me simply hugging him, not letting go until I had gotten us both up to Kamtoga's point. I then went back down and helped Jeena up, both of them looking at Kamtoga with a frown of shame. "Sorry... for storming off before... and being brash," Rallen said, me smiling at that as Kamtoga smirked.
"Never happened, right?" Kamtoga smirked.
"Well, it did happen, and so did this. I do need to think things through... I need to get better at that," Rallen admitted.
"Well, kid, it's obvious you have issues, but realizing you have a problem? That's half the answer. I know that I was like you once. Always ran head-first into danger without a second thought... my Master, the Spectrobe Master, was the one to teach me not to be so reckless... I miss him, same with my old bestie," Kamtoga smiled.
"Yeah... we touched this fossil down there... if I'd known that you had done the same thing that I had, I wouldn't have been so brazen," Rallen said.
"Ah, Old Ukabi. I'd been wondering what happened to him. Must've turned back into a fossil after I fell down that exact same hole all those years ago and thought he'd gone to get help," Kamtoga smiled.
"Anyways, let's go on back to camp. You look like you'd be a fan of some hot tomato soup," Kamtoga smiled, me smiling at the offer.
"Could I try some? I haven't taste any kind of human food before," I smiled at him.
"Course ya can. You've got heart in ya too, lass. No idea how you were brought up to be this kind, but it's nice to have a Krawl on our side for a change," Kamtoga smiled. I couldn't help but smirk at that.
We then were led back to Kamtoga's hut and he gave us each a bowl of soup as he started to talk to us. I started to eat my soup with the spoon provided and I gasped at how sweet and tangy the flavor of it was, but also surprised at how hot it was! "Hehe, the secret ingredient is a special type of ground pepper. Makes it extra spicy on a cold Kogoerian night," Kamtoga smirked.
"So, I know I shouldn't ask this, but what do I need to do to get approval by you to get to the ruins?" Rallen asked.
"Well, since ya asked so nicely, I'll tell ya how to do it. There are two things you'll need to do before I'll let you in those ruins, both of them set to prepare you for them, as they're quite hard to get through. First, I want you to fill out all of your team in those Cosmolinks. That's 3 Adult Spectrobes and one Child Spectrobe for both of you. But to spice things up, I want at least 1 Evolved Spectrobe on each of your teams. The Krawl that you'll be facing on the other planets will be much tougher than the ones on this planet, especially since tons of them will have armor similar to old Crystal Face. Once you accomplish that, then I'll tell ya the second part," Kamtoga said.
"That can be accomplished. Besides, two of our Spectrobes can be evolved into their final stages as we speak. Just need to get back to the ship to evolve them," Jeena smiled.
"As for me, I don't think this would apply to me. This special Prizmod Rallen gave me already has numerous Evolved forms inside of it," I said as I showed him the Prizmod.
"Huh, that thing looks like it has some kind of similarity to the Cosmolink. Where'd you get it?" Kamtoga asked Rallen.
"When we first learned about the Krawl, it was when we found an ancient human frozen in cryogenic sleep. His name was Aldous and he provided the Prizmod and the equipment for me to use and evolve Spectrobes. Not long after that, the Krawl hit Nanairo, Jeena and I fighting off a lot of them not only once, but twice... and that's where we met Maja," Rallen said, me wondering who this Aldous character could be.
"Speaking of, what kind of Krawl is Maja? She looks the part with her purple skin, but she looks fully human other than that," Kamtoga said.
"She wasn't always the nice person you see before you. She used to be pure evil, serving the leader of the Krawl. She was the only female of 4 High Krawl, each given more power and intellect than the others, so they were pretty much the Krawl Generals, with Maja being the High Krawl of Darkness. We defeated her in the past, but she was resurrected again before we came here. She tried to invade our ship as we were sucked into a portal and the resulting turbulence and me landing on her head made her forget virtually everything. She didn't even remember her name," Rallen said.
"Krawl leader? And who is this Krawl leader? Didn't know they could have one," Kamtoga asked. I then said the name loud and clear.
"Krux... his name was Krux," I said. And when I said that word, Kamtoga literally spat out his soup and it sprayed all over me, obviously from shock.
"Did you say... Krux?" Kamtoga asked.
"Yes? Is there some kind of significance to that name? Have you ever met him?" Jeena asked.
"N-No... he can't be the leader of the Krawl... my Master..." Kamtoga said... and then it finally hit me. I looked at the picture of the trio in the photograph and then saw the being in my mind. The orange hair, the parts of the face that were still recognizable, and the story about a chemical that could generate Krawl? There was no mistake.
"Ho... ly... hell... The Spectrobe Master... is the Master of the Krawl?... So that's the connection..." I gawked as Kamtoga looked at me with a sigh.
"This is a bit much for me to take in... honestly, I thought he'd just disappeared... now I know what he meant by losing control. He was talking about himself..." Kamtoga gawked.
"I'm sorry..." Jeena said to him.
"Nothing to apologize for... I just need a few minutes. That should give you enough time to excavate and awaken the Spectrobes you found in the icy tundra. Mostly of the Water Property. I'd honestly pick Ryza," Kamtoga said.
"Okay... let's go, Maja..." Jeena said, me not even finished with my soup.
"D-Do you mind if I took the soup with me?" I asked him.
"I don't mind," he said. And as I left his hut, I could've sworn that I heard some sobbing from inside of that tent.