Legend of the Chezamon
Chapter 13- Ailav: Babysitter.
This was not his day.
It was not that he didn't like Kilo, but the boy was not precisely the bravest Mipedian in Al Mipedim. Kilo was the equivalent of fourteen human years old, in terms of appearance he was like a combination of Vinta and Ghatup, with reddish brown scales and golden eyes with long red hair, but he was rather thin with blue eyes, and his skills as a warrior were not very honed, at all. In fact, some of the older Mipedians had nicknamed him 'chicken', the word they had heard from the humans, in honor of Kilo's coward nature.
Another thing about Kilo was his tendency to cause accidents he didn't mean too cause; like when he was put in charge of herding the Khozzors and ended up letting them get away. For this reason, most Mipedians considered Kilo a bad omen and avoided him when they could.
That was the reason Prince Mudeenu had sent him as part of the delegation team.
To make sure the boy would not end up destroying Underground Den by accident, Ailav had been tasked by Sobtjek to 'keep an eye on the boy', despite his objections.
"I can't believe they're making do this…" the Conjuror sighed in frustration as he and Kilo were led around the Underground Den by one of the Hunters who had brought them there.
"Jerome… I think…"
"The mess hall is this way," Jerome explained as the trio made their way through the caverns, "But I'm warning you, if you're a vegetarian, you're in for an unpleasant surprise."
Kilo gulped, "You mean there are no vegetarian dishes?"
Jerome shook his head, "We're carnivorous. The only plants we ever eat are medicinal plants when we are feeling sick and the boreal berry treats in winter."
"Just what I needed."
Ailav rolled his eyes as he and the other two Creatures kept walking, passing by other Hunters and Huntresses who would give the outsiders short glances before going back to their business. Before reaching the mess hall, Kilo's attention was attracted by a door- an actual door- blocking way into a room; his curiosity getting the better of him, Kilo made sure that Jerome and Ailav were distracted and quickly activated his invisibility.
Kilo walked back to the door, which was colored in gray and black and silver colors, like the Chezamon named Ryuu; the Mipedian assumed the room belonged to him. Kilo was doubting if he should take a peek inside the room or not, if Ryuu ever found out he would give a very bad impression of the Mipedians. On the other hand, he would make sure to leave no trace of his presence in the room, and what you don't see doesn't hurt you.
Kilo remained invisible, made sure there were no Hunters roaming around and slowly opened the door, trying to make the least noise possible. When he entered the room, he was surrounded by darkness. Apparently, the Captain of the Clawders either enjoyed being in the dark or he didn't want to spend money on illumination. Kilo got tired of not being able to see anything and ignited a fireball in his hand.
What he saw completely amazed him.
There was an entire collection of armor- Chezamon armor- accommodated in the room, with helmets, body armor, gauntlets and everything. The color and design varied, some looking like samurai armor, while others having a more medieval style. However, all of them had vibrant colors and golden marks. Apparently, Ryuu's hobby was to collect Clawder armor, which also explained why this door was 'off-limits' to the outsiders, as Ryuu put it when they first met.
Kilo walked closer to a crimson-colored armor with samurai design, and just as he was about to touch it…
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?!"
Startled by the shout, Kilo jumped and the armor fell to the ground from its pedestal when his tail came into contact with it. He spun around rather quickly and saw Ailav, Jerome and another Hunter, this one with very light aquamarine fur, with white undercoat and pale, light grayish cyan markings around his eyes, paws, tail and on his snout.
Kilo smiled sheepishly as the trio set their fulminating eyes on him, but their expressions soon changed from anger to horror when the rest of the armors fell out of their pedestals, just like a domino path, the sound of metal clashing against the rock floor resounding in a high frequency.
Jerome and the unnamed Hunter had their mouths opened agape, staring at the once accommodated armor collection lying on the floor, now each set scrambled with another.
Ailav did a face palm, then rubbed his temples in frustration.
"Uh…" Kilo gulped, ".. Oops?"
"This is bad! This is soo bad!" Jerome wailed as he paced around the room, or Ryuu's Armory room, as dubbed by the Chezamon, "We're dead meat!"
"Calm down, would you?!" The aquamarine hunter, named Stringlyr, snapped as he attempted to accommodate the sets of armor correctly.
"How am I going to calm down?! You realize what when Ryuu finds out we just ruined his precious armor collection, he'll have us banished, don't you?!"
Kilo gulped for the second time, "Would he go that far?"
"You shut up!" Stringlyr snarled at the young Mipedian, "This is your fault, to start with!"
"Welcome to my world…" Ailav sighed in frustration
"I was just curious!" Kilo lifted his arms in defense
"Haven't you heard the saying 'Curiosity killed the pup?'" Stringlyr inquired, earning a confused stare from the Mipedians, "I'll take that as a no."
"What are we going to do?!" Jerome cried out in frustration for the third time.
"First of all," Stringlyr stated, "We need to keep Ryuu away. Second, we have to polish it and accommodate it the way it was. Third," the Hunter gulped, "We pray Ryuu doesn't notice."
"How are we supposed to keep Ryuu away?" Jerome inquired.
Stringlyr looked at the Mipedian Conjuror, "Perhaps he can help with that."
Ailav was taken by surprise, "Me?" he inquired, "How could I possible keep him away?"
"Well, you don't know this, but Ryuu has been awfully eager to talk with a Mipedian," Jerome explained, "He thinks your Tribe must be good into passing unseen, he had an incident when the purple-cloaked Mipedian disappeared out of sudden."
"You mean he became invisible?" Kilo inquired
"Invisible? Is that an ability or something?"
Kilo and Ailav didn't say anything for a while, but after a while, the Mipedian Conjuror sighed, "Alright, I'll see if I can keep him away from here."
"He should be in the Mess Hall," Jerome stated, "But be careful, he is not exactly very patient."
Kilo lifted up his arm eagerly, "What do I do?"
Ailav, Jerome and Stringlyr gave the young Mipedian an angry look, "Stay there!"
Getting the message, Kilo sat down on the stony cold floor, pouting as he watched Ailav leave and the two Chezamon Hunters attempting to accommodate the armor sets.
Underground Den's Mess Hall was incredibly spacious and large, apparently as big as Queen's Gate back in Mount Pillar, as Wamma put it. It was not adorned at all, but on one side there was a stone table in which a buffet was waiting for any hungry Chezamon. Like most rooms, mostly torches and firefly lanterns illuminated it.
But much to the other Creature's confusion, they soon learned that Chezamon did not use plates nor cutlery. They simply served themselves and devoured their meal in minutes (seconds in Kaya's case). Although Kaz, Tom, Peyton and Sarah were sitting on the ground (another rather awkward fact, the Chezamon used no chairs or tables either) with their respective Tribes, even they felt rather… out of place.
To enworse things, Chezamon gastronomy didn't give them appetite neither. It mostly consisted of various kinds of medium-termed meat (Drakdeer meat), various bulb-like pieces of Suffralo's breast, and a few berry-made desserts; mostly pies and cakes. Also, as an entry, there was a poached pill bug the size of a basketball ball on the middle of the table.
Most of the present Hunters and Healers were snickering at how the outsiders were struggling to even grab their food. Indeed, Bodhal in the Overworlders' group was trying to figure out how to eat the pill bug, which was still in its ball shape. Agitos and Takinom were disgusted of even touching the only half-cooked meat; the Mipedians were having trouble in cutting their meals, and Wamma was on the opposite side of the spectrum, must to his Tribemates' chagrin. He was not precisely picky with food, so he and Kaya, the only Chezamon he felt comfortable with, were having a 'who-can-eat-more' competition, and they were making a complete mess.
When Ailav walked into the Mess Hall, his red cloak flowing behind him as he walked swiftly, he scanned the area for Ryuu's gray and black fur. Unfortunately, since most Hunters had gray fur, it turned out to be harder than it appeared in the beginning. After five minutes, the Mipedian finally spotted Ryuu sitting with a group of Fangrors (something similar to the Generals), devouring a slice of berry pie hungrily.
"Hey, Ailav!" Luna's voice called out for the Conjuror, and when he turned to the direction it had came from he saw the human girl running close to him, "Where is Kilo? The others are worried that he might break something."
Ailav shuddered, "Believe me, you don't want to know. All I can tell you is that I must keep Ryuu away from the room where he keeps his armor collection-"
"What?!" Luna and Ailav were confused when a voice different than theirs snapped in horror, and soon Rocket was next to the duo with a shocked expression, "What did he do to Ryuu's armor?! If he finds out-!"
Ailav panicked and closed the Hunter's mouth shut, "I know that! Jerome told me! That's why I need to keep him away for as much as possible!"
"How are we supposed to do that?" Rocket exclaimed, in a lower tone this time, "When he's done eating he'll go to his Armory to make sure everything's fine with his collection! If there's a single scratch, well…" Rocket gulped nervously, "… You'll see."
"I think I have an idea…" Luna whispered, looking towards the Danians' group as Kaya and Wamma continued with their little contest, "But I need to ask a Danian for help."
"Forget it! No way I'm working with a bug!" Ailav hissed, to which Rocket snarled.
"I don't think you have much choice if you want to keep Ryuu away from the armory!"
"Can you at least tell me why must it be a Danian?"
A cry of triumph called the trio, and maybe the entire room's, attention; Kaya was hopping happily around, while Wamma was clutching his stomach with a sick expression, earning snickers from Bierk and Aimukk. Even Odu-Bathax couldn't but chuckle evilly as ne enjoyed Wamma's misery.
"Believe me, one of those Danians knows how to keep Creatures away from a place," Luna explained, turning to look at Ailav again, "And who knows? Perhaps at the end of the day you'll have a new friend."
"Friend? A Danian? Never!" Ailav snapped as he turned around, billowing his cloak behind him, and walked out of the Mess Hall. Rocket gave Luna a glance.
"I'll go get him, you get Sarah and the Danian you just mentioned."
The human sighed, "It's not that hard to convince Sarah to help. The problem will be to keep the Mipedian and the Danian from each other's throats."
Aimukk was confused as to why Sarah and Luna were dragging him out of the Mess Hall, not long after Kaya defeated Wamma in the eating contest. They said it was important, so he assumed one of the Chezamon wanted to see him. However, when they led him to a tunnel intersection where the Mipedian Ailav was waiting in irritation, his blood started to boil.
"What's he doing here?" He asked coldly, giving the Mipedian an aggressive look.
Ailav replied with a snarl of his own, "Look, you don't like me, and let's get it clear that I do not like you, but this is urgent!"
Rocket called their attention, "Remember the place where I told you Ryuu kept his Clawder Armor collection?" Aimukk nodded, "Well, apparently Kilo snuck in there and knocked all of the armor sets down. Unless you want Ryuu to kill you in your sleep, we need to keep him away from there while Stringlyr and Jerome fix it."
Aimukk crossed his arms, "And I have to help the Mipedians' because…?"
When Sarah gave the Danian a look that meant' If you don't, you'll regret it', as Wamma once explained to him, Aimukk felt a shiver run down his spine, knowing full well Sarah's temper (having been the cause of it a few times), finally let out a sigh of defeat.
"Fine! I'll see what I can do!"
"Speaking of which," Ailav finally spoke, "Why does Luna say you're good keeping Creatures away from places?"
"Well, when you share nest with Wamma, you must learn how to."
"Speak of the devil," Sarah muttered, "There's Ryuu."
The captain of the Clawders, having done eating, was heading for his private armory like he did all evenings, to take a look at his armor collection before resuming his duties, but he was startled when a Mipedian and a Danian stood in his way.
"Excuse me, Ryuu," Ailav spoke nervously as the Chezamon's crimson eyes set on him, "Sorry to bother you, but would you mind giving us a tour around here?"
The Mipedian shivered when Ryuu narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Ask one of the Hunters, I'm busy right now."
Before he could walk away, however, Aimukk blocked his way with one of his legs, "Usually, we wouldn't mind asking one of the Hunters, but…" he started sweating nervously, "Well, we… thought you would be much better in giving us a tour than the Hunters around here. I mean, you are so much disciplined and dedicated that they are.
"Hey!" Rocket snapped, offended, before Sarah elbowed him hard in the ribs.
Ryuu seemed to be flattered by their words, but he still was suspecting of those two. They were sounding like Hunters who were trying to cover something they had done wrong, However, what could two outsiders be hiding from him?
Rocket, sensing Ryuu was still doubting, decided to lend the two a paw, "Come on, you two! I told you he would say no, so why don't you go ask Hukaro instead?"
Aimukk and Ailav looked at him like he was crazy, but Sarah and Luna noticed a fumed look on Ryuu's face; apparently, Rocket was spiking Ryuu's ego.
"I mean, Hukaro once said Ryuu can't find his way through the Underground Den without his Clawders." Rocket grinned inwardly when Ryuu's fur started to bristle in anger.
"He did?!" he hissed ,"Well, I'll show him to watch his tongue when I'm done with these two!" saying this, he started pushing Ailav and Aimukk away with his head, "Come on, you two! There's so much you still haven't seen!"
Despite feeling awkward at being pushed around by a… wolf-like Creature… Aimukk and Ailav simply gave each other shrugs as they were led away.
At least it would keep him away from the armory for a while.
Ginga's moon was already high in the sky, illuminating Mist Forest, and all of Perim. Most of the Chezamon where already in the Underground Den, safe from the Night Seekers and the Chamils, but there were still a few Hunters patrolling their designated areas. These Hunters were especially trained to survive in Mist Forest at night, a feat not even the Clawders were capable of. Predation was much more abundant at night, despite the Chezamon's night vision, due to the fact that the creatures that predated on them were nocturnal. In fact, due to this, most of the Night Hunters had dark-colored fur and muted tones to blend in with the darkness, and lacked any kind of markings.
One of the places guarded by the Night Hunters was an abandoned castle ruin at the feet of the mountain; according to legend, a twenty solems ago it was inhabited by another, mysterious branch of the Chezamon species but they vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind.
Humans would confuse it for an abandoned medieval castle with a touch of a Japanese palace, but the Chezamon simply referred to it as 'Ghost Castle', and often used it to tell spooky storied to the pups of the horrors that would come to them should they venture into the castle at night. None of the Night Hunters understood why they were ordered to guard that castle at all, if it was long abandoned, and there was nothing of value in there. However, they knew their place, and their complaints would fall on deaf ears, anyway.
"Seriously," one of the Night Hunters, a dark blue violet male with Persian blue eyes clad in black medieval-like armor muttered under his breath to his companion, "Why are the Alphas so insistent in guarding this place? The only thing that needs guarding here is the Night Hunters who fall asleep on the job."
His companion, a Night Hunter with dark artic blue fur and grayish amber eyes rolled his eyes, "Quit it, Mahoga! You know the commander doesn't like it when we complain!"
Mahoga simply snapped, "How can I help it? I would rather be at the Den drinking some hot cocoa, but no! I'm stuck here! Besides, I thought you had a litter to look after, Echo!"
"Well, now that you mention it, I've been wanting to visit my mate for a while now, but what can I do?"
Suddenly, the pair twitched their ears to a sound, a sound they had never heard before; it sounded like the cry of echolocation of the Night Seekers combined with a howl, but they weren't so sure.
"What was that?" Echo left his post and started to walk around the abandoned halls of the castle, followed by the reluctant Mahoga.
"I hope it's not a Night Seeker," said Mahoga, swallowing the lump in his throat, "I don't want to deal with one again."
"It can't be a Night Seeker, if it wasn't we wouldn't have heard its cry."
"Why don't you tell that to Nightflight?"
The Night Hunters shivered when the sound of flapping wings broke the silence, and the cry became louder. They could feel something moving around them, but even with their night vision, they couldn't see its shape. The sound apparently came from everywhere; from the ceiling, the halls, the balcony, like an illusion.
"Who goes there?" Mahoga finally gathered the courage to speak, but his voice was trembling with fear, "Show yourself!"
"Well, well, well…" a voice which sounded like oil running through a pipe, but with a deepness that made the Night Hunters' hearts skip a beat, "Looks like things haven't changed since I was gone… Baojia still thinks that sending Hunters here will delay the inevitable."
This time it was Echo who spoke, "Show yourself! You've crossed into Chezamon territory and if you don't leave right now, we'll make you leave!"
"Such brave words to cover up your fear, huh?" the voice spoke once again, "You may try and act fearless, but I can sense your fear. It's… delicious," saying this, the voice snickered evilly, sending even more shivers down their spines.
"Final warning!" Mahoga snapped, "Leave now or come out of hiding and fight, you coward!"
…
"As you wish," the two Night Hunters felt the ground tremble for a fraction of second, and they heard heavy footsteps coming towards them, "I'd hoped we could come to an agreement, but I see you are not worth it. Besides, I'm hungry…"
Echo and Mahoga stared up at the owner of the voice in pure terror as giant batwings flared up and a pair of brilliant arctic blue eyes glared down at them, and the last thing they saw that night was a flash of teeth and red fur…
Ailav and Aimukk had not had a precisely good time.
While eager to explore the Underground Den completely, they had not been told that Ryuu was annoyingly explicit; he would often give long explanations, which made the listeners fall asleep without him noticing. Besides, it was not like there were not areas they hadn't already seen. But it was better than seeing Ryuu's reaction if he ever found out about his armor collection.
Finally, after a long, exhausting tour around the entire Den, the trio was finally passing around Ryuu's armory, making a bell ring in the Chezamon's mind.
"Well, gentlemen, it was a pleasure sticking out with you," said Ryuu, walking towards the door, "But I must check if everything's alright in there."
Immediately, Ailav and Aimukk blocked his path to prevent him from entering the room.
"Come on, Ryuu!" the Danian spoke nervously, "Don't be a party pooper! I mean, you look so much relaxed now!" he felt awkward using those words.
Ryuu stared at him like he was mad, "… Did you eat a rotten pill bug by accident?"
Before Ailav could say something, the door to Ryuu's armory opened and Stringlyr peeked his head out, noticing the trio, "Hey, Ryuu," he said calmly, "Everything's fine here, so don't worry."
"As if," Ryuu narrowed his eyes in suspicion, "Every time you say that, it means you did something to my armor collection! Now step out of the way!"
The gray and black Clawder pushed Stringlyr aside and looked into the room, expecting to see his armor collection a complete mess, lying on the ground, but what he saw caught him by surprise. Jerome and the young Mipedian named Kilo were inside, breaking his rule of 'no one can go into the Armory but me', but he noticed that his armor collection was intact. All of the sets were in place, properly accommodated, and with not a single scratch on them.
Aimukk and Ailav were frozen in place as well, but not because of the same reason as Ryuu not at all; they were astonished that they had left everything the way it was before Kilo screwed it up. Inwardly, they had assumed that the armor would have at least a few dents, but they didn't.
Whatever they did, they did it perfectly.
"See?" Stringlyr spoke, "Everything's fine. You have nothing to worry about."
Ryuu was speechless, "… Well, I must say… I'm impressed you didn't touch my armor collection, Stringlyr. I mean, you did it once, remember?"
Kilo sighed in relief, "Well, if we're all done here, how about we go to sleep? I'm exhausted."
However, before he could say anything else, Kilo's tail knocked against the nearest armor set, and almost instantly it fell out of place, clashing against the floor; but it didn't end there. Before they all knew it, the same event from hours ago repeated as all of Ryuu's precious armor collection clashed against the ground, the metal echoing through the caverns. Kilo gulped in horror, not believing he had done it again.
All the Creatures in the room were agape in shock for different reasons.
Ryuu couldn't believe that one single Mipedian, and so young, could destroy all of his armor collection.
Stringlyr and Jerome were dismayed, since now Ryuu would surely put the blame on them, and they would get the punishment even though they had nothing to do with it.
Ailav and Aimukk were frustrated, since all of the 'tour' fiasco had been for nothing. They gave each other a glance of dismay and frustration.
At least they had something in common, after all.