A/N: Here's a new chapter of my fanfic. Let's say it will continue as fallows. Now I want to thank all those who have reviewed my fanfic, though I only got about three reviews for the second chapter. However, I've gotten more reviews for this than I have for Byrus Liberation (please check it out please!). I thank:

Crazyvegimab: Thanks, and did you enjoy that part on the crown did you? Thanks! And there will be more mentions of Nourasian culture coming up!

Drama Queen of the Moon: Thank you!

Isabella of the Night: Thanks and I'll hurry up, there was just an error last time.

Ch. 3 "The Discovery"

Inside the courtyard was a broken fountain, filled with the red reeds of the marshes and green-blue algae growth of many old fountains he had seen in the city, although there were few fountains that were not used anymore. Living in a city of tents (1) rather than stone was something Aikka was used to. Stone buildings, however where not something he was unfamiliar with, he had seen such things in the scrolls and "books" of his sages and the artefacts that the Crogs had brought over. From what he also knew, Crogs lived in houses made out of metal too. It was kind of baffling that the Crogs would build their houses from a material that was not only hard to get out of the earth but to make into something usable, since on Nourasia, metal was pretty much a rare commodity (2). Very few had access to metal and if they did, it was usually one piece or object of choice, like a sword or an heirloom. Even though it looked like he was wearing a decent amount of metal, Aikka was actually wearing a semi-precious jewel called ambrez, which was in color like the bronze(3) that was used in moderation for weapons.

When he came upon the old fountain, Aikka peered inside and saw his reflection, mostly distorted by the algae and the little swimming insects (of which there were many on Nourasia) on the surface and below it. He smiled but then saw something – or a glance of something – that flew by at the corner of his eye. It wasn't really clear, the algae made the water a tad murky. But he looked away from the fountain just as he heard a crash in the jungle a few yards away from him. Not anything like a branch falling because it was too heavy or a gliding lemuer making a landing on some weak branches, but something far, FAR bigger than either could ever be. He ran towards the noise, curious to know what it was and what caused it.

Aikka slipped through the giant ferns and cycads that littered the floor near the old ruins. He could see something large lying a couple of yards away from him, covered in broken branches and ferns. Something worried him about the scene, even though he was barely close enough to see it in full. Now that he was thinking of it, maybe he should've taken his little bow and arrows, even if they were just for practice until he got older, with him, just in case. But before he could get any closer, a large thumping noise, like large feet walking made him stop on his feet. For a moment, he was still like a frighten rabbit, his ears moving up and down, getting the information about the sound. When he realized what it was, Aikka fell down into a crouching position, like how his tracking master had shown him, so he would not be seen.

Good thing Nourasians, when they had started to live within the rain forest, had learned much from the tree peoples, or they would not be living at all today.

What appeared in the periprael view of Aikka was something large, bulky and dark, dressed in armor and some kind of jumpsuit. Two ears twitched on top of a domelike head which beheld two glowing eyes. Aikka nearly squeaked in terror but stifled it and crouched even lower into the ferns.

A Crog had just entered the rainforest, not just any rain forest, but the one near Dol (4). What was he doing here?

Aikka watched silently as the Crog looked at the huge mass that had fallen into the trees and then bent down. A noise was heard, which sounded like something was being torn off of something fleshy. Another Crog came into view and started to hack into something. As they worked on whatever they were doing, they begun to talk to each other.

"The boss'll be grateful for this," said the first Crog, in red. "Took me over an hour just to track it down."

"Oh he'll happy," said the second Crog who had some grey on him. "As a token, maybe we should give him the wings just in case he doesn't like the cases."

"The wing cases are going to be enough as far as I'm concerned," said the first Crog, as he wiped his forehead, "it's tough just getting these suckers off of this thing in the first place."

When a snap was heard, the Crogs stopped working and there was an odd sense of gladness around them.

"This'll get some money on the table," said the first Crog.

"Better hurry," said the second, "if we get caught out there, we're gonna get in big trouble by the Nourasians."

"Nourasians?" the first Crog let out a laugh, "what are they going to do? They're practically cowards. None of them have the guts to fight against the like of the Crogs in the first place!"

Aikka felt anger rise through him.

The Nourasians were not cowardly.

We are not cowards, he thought to himself, when I am old enough to do so, I will show all of you that the Nourasian people are as capable of taking on great challenges and are the bravest people in the galaxy.

Aikka's hands became fists, though he knew he would never be able to win a fight against one Crog, never the less two. With his eyes nearly in tears from the hurt he felt from those words the Crogs said, he could only sit there and watch whatever they were doing. And then the what they were doing became so very clear to him.

A huge sun gold shell came into his view, being carried by one of the Crogs.

"Be careful with that!" snarled one of the Crogs, "quickly, get it strapped onto the carriers, before anyone finds out!"

"What about the beast?" asked the one Crog.

The Crog in bits of grey, who was seemingly the leader of the two looked at the "beast" they were talking about and then to the first Crog.

"Leave it," he said, "some scavengers will eat it and the forest will shallow it in time. We have a worst beast to deal with once we get these back to base."

Aikka covered his face when the smell of the rotting body filled his nose and made his eyes water. The carrier they had been talking about could be heard making a near silent roaring noise and lifting into the air. Aikka bent his body lower, hoping that the Crogs didn't see him in the ferns when the thing past by. With his most silent of words, Aikka prayed to the gods and spirits of the forest to hide him from any eyes that would come upon him. He would not move for another ten minutes.

Terms

By numbers

1. My own theory is that the city of Dol is made up of tents inside three hallowed out tree trunks (reminants of tree rings) of an ancient tree. The outermost layers are completely lined with walkways and tents, sheltering the citizens of Dol. The main palace, as if one were to call it is actually situated inside of the central hallowed trunk and buildt with wood and cloth as well as the wing cases of beetles that died of natural causes. Out of all the other buildings in Dol, this along with the temple is buildt more solidly and has certain pieces of architecture that other Nourasian houses do not, such as pillars made out of crystals and metal hangings. The entire city is them circled by three circular moats inside of the three hallowed out trunks and the cresent of the Amuluka river. There are bridges made out of wood magically "carved" arching and connecting each circle to each other. There is no caste system detaining who lives where (unlike in Crog society) but farmers have always prefered the area around the floodplain of the Amuluka, fishers have always taken the areas around the outermost circle and for some reason yet unknown, healers are always attrached to the middle section of the circles.

2. Metal is not very easy to come by easily, especially on Nourasia. In a land where there isn't much in the way of mining techniques (in fact, most Nourasians would be abhored by the techniques that humans use to mine, such as strip mining or clearing entire forests, in search of metal). A people who do not use metal much or have much use for it, the Nourasians do not use metal all that much save in the use of metal hangings (seen as tokens of wealth and power rather than simplistic decor) or weapons and tools. Most Nourasians use stone, jewels (such as in Aikka's crown) or crystals (like Aikka's arrowheads) instead of metal. Farriers, and smiths of all types are highly valued as such as well, and there is a legend of a mythical smith who created a sword so powerful it could cut through Ambrez "ambrez being a term for "diamond" since you can't truely cut ambrez by hand, magic is needed).

3. There is some major thought at the Nourasian thread in the official forums that Nourasia is in a "Bronze Age" so bronze is a more abundant metal though iron is also used, though not as much as bronze.

4. Dol is the Holy City of Nourasia. No outsiders (save the children of Nourasia) may enter it without special permission. It is said to be home to the ancient magic and lays in the center of the Kingdom of Nourasia. It is half surrounded by the mother river, Amuluka and sits inside of three circular tree trunks.See above.

Red Reeds: an indigionous plant to the marshes and swamps of Nourasia's equator. Sometimes it is cut for use in creating scabbards or wind instruments and chimes.

Ambrez: a semi-prescious jewel used primarily for the creation of armbands, decorative chimes and ordamentation, and most importantly the tiara-like crowns of the Nourasian royalty. It "grows" over time, in spirals and curves that the Nourasians love.

Gliding lemur: a marsupial mammal of the Nourasian rainforests. It is approximately the size of a Greater Glider and looks a little like a tuffed earred lemur. They are mainly vegan and shy around people, though they have been known to watch passing Nourasians with avid curiousity, causing the term "watching lemur" to be attached to those who seem shy and watch from adistance. They have flaps of skin on either side of their body,like a sugar glider and use them to fly from tree to tree.

Tree People: Name given by the city-dwelling Nourasians to a near-mythical people of the rainforest. Very little is known of them.

A/N : Thanks for reading, please review. Next time, Aikka finds out more about what has been left behind.