A/N: Sorry for the long wait... I have Finals all next week that are due, so any and all updates will be infequent, even more so for the next three months due to the fact that my internet connection will be down for those months. I really hope you all enjoy this next chapter, because G'Dar is in it! The story may change a little in the next couple of chapters and I think this will actually go on longer than I expected. And I should get the other chapters up soon, once I get them written up but Finals do not wait for anyone! Please read and review!

Ch. 4 "G'Dar"

Are the monsters gone mommy?

Again nothing.

Little G'Dar was frightened by the way his mommy was acting right now. First she had told him to hide under her when they had left the den, away from the smell of the monsters and his siblings who were no longer amongst the living. The monsters had killed them.

But why? he had asked his mommy when they were about to leave the den that he had lived in since forever. Why did my brothers and sisters have to die?

I do not know, his mommy had replied, but what matters now is that you are alive. Keep alive, you are my G'Dar. You must learn to live.

G'Dar was frightened by the words his mother had told him. She had taken him up when the monsters had entered the den with their weapons. He could not see them clearly but he could hear the sound of the weapons sounding off every so often, leaving behind sharp smells of burning and ozone when he heard them go off or when he felt their heat near his mother. For a while, a long while they were flying as fast as his mother could take him away from the monsters and the den. But when he asked if they were away and they could land again, there was sharp shriek from his mother when something exploded in the air next to them. He felt her falling, falling…

When G'Dar woke up again, all he could see was darkness. He would've scuttled out but he heard harsh voices outside, around his mother. In the dimness that was his vision he could see some dark shapes moving around the outside, around his mother. There was a rocking motion above him as he heard something being pulled off of his mother with a sickening sound of flesh being torn. G'Dar nearly cried out in fear but rolled himself up in a ball, trying to keep close to his mother's body. However, he started to notice something odd about her body, it was no longer warm or loving to him, instead it was cold and was starting to smell.

The little caterpillar-like larva nearly squeaked in horror when he realized what had happened but continued to roll his body up in tight ball, closer to his deceased mother. For all the while in the world, G'Dar did not want to be left alone. He did not care if he was that was left of his den family; he just didn't want to be alone.

It seemed like hours had past since the monsters had been around mother's body. G'Dar slowly unrolled himself from his ball and nuzzled one of his mother's legs. They were cold and stiff, which scarred him a little. He didn't want to believe his mother had gone from this world; he had lost so much in such a short amount of time.

His home was gone.

His siblings were all dead, lying in the home had had once occupied.

And now his mother was dead, which was the last thing he had left in this world.

If he could've, G'Dar would've been crying actual tears now, but instead he started to make a thin mewling noise that was common to his species as a particular way to express grief or loss. He tried to nuzzle against his mother but found her too cold and stiff. She had gone the way of all other Kabuto when they had died. At that moment he realized he could not stay under the husk of his mother any longer and moved out, wiggling away from under the stiff body until he was out in the open. If he had not been in grief he would've just hid there until the coast was clear. But he didn't and he didn't notice the creature standing next to his mother's body. At first he did notice a shadow but paid no further heed to it as though it was no more than a fallen leaf. But when the shadow moved he startled and made a high pitched squeal that was natural to his kind. G'Dar tried to move away but he could do nothing but huddle against the shell of his mother as the shadow bent down and extended a hand towards him.

Aikka wandered around the husk of the magnificent Kabuto. True it was now dead but its frontal shell still gleamed white in the sunlight. Once, it had had beautiful bronze wing cases, but now thanks to the efforts of two Crogs, they were gone, torn out in ugly gashes in her sides. Her jewel-like wings however, were still there, shining like glass in the sunlight flittering down from the canopy. It was a sad sight, to see such a wonderful creature dead and gone.

How terrible, Aikka thought to himself. And they are so rare nowadays. Even the tamed ones, there's not many of them left.

It was true, fewer people saw them in these days than in the old days when they blanketed the sky and flew through the clouds (1). This poaching, heartless killing of these creatures were probably and mostly the cause of their demise. It made Aikka sad to see a creature regarded as sacred to his people being slaughtered in this fashion. Tears started down his face as he gave a little blessing to the dead beetle, hoping somehow that its soul would pass through the Posts to be guided safely into the Spiritland. He was so absorbed in the thoughts of why this beetle had died that he did not notice the little caterpillar like larva wiggle out from under the dead husk of its mother and into the open.

Likewise, the larva did not notice him either.

Aikka brushed away his tears with one of his bell sleeves and turned around to see a strange white and blue creature like a caterpillar crawl out from under the beetle's shell. At first he thought he was merely seeing things, but when he took a closer look he did, he did see a Kabuto larva!

It was about the size of a Earthen house cat and about as furry since it had white "fur" covering it and spikes of blue fur sprouting out from its back. The caterpillar-like creature had huge blue eyes with silted pupils which scanned the area without much interest as though it was grieved. Although they had been guarded jealously by their mothers, Kabuto larva did look like this, wild or tamed. It took patience and a good sense of perception just to get a good look at newling larva(2).

And it was just standing there as though Aikka did not exist in front of him.

It was mere luck, or mere – mere something else that Aikka could not name that had given him that opportunity at the moment. He reached out for the little creature.

At that same moment, the creature gave out a high pitched squeal. It hurt Aikka's ear, so much so he had to flatten his elven ears to his skull from the noise. The creature continued to squeal in fear and flatten itself against the husk of the dead Kabuto as it did.

"Stop that!" cried Aikka, hoping it would understand. "I'm not going to hurt you!"

He then remember something that the young girl Chiya had told him.

Maybe if I could talk to him in the mind-speaking, he thought, maybe he would understand.

With the little guy continuing to squeal and scream, Aikka closed his eyes and started to focus. If he was much older he would be able to do it without much trouble, but he was learning so he had to focus. Focusing was a prime part of a magic-user's training to use the innate powers within(3). Aikka had been blessed with magic from a young age and had been put through training by the great mage Samus so...

With his inner eye open, Aikka searched for the Kabuto larva's mind. Within this state, Aikka started to hear some kind of voice in his mind, but one he knew was not his own.

"MOMMIE, MOMMIE, WAKE UP! WAKE UP!!!"

Aikka opened his eyes in surprise only to hear the creatures pitiful squealing again, this time, the squealing seemed more weakened in comparison to the crying voice had heard.

Maybe he's hungry or he's getting weaker, thought Aikka as he came closer to the little Kabuto larva. But his thoughts sounded so much different from the thoughts of other creatures.

It was true. Aikka had heard the other thoughts of creatures. But this was far different than the ones of the placid creatures he listened to when he was wandering around the stables and sometimes the marketplace. These creatures had no real reason to fear the Nourasians, since the Nourasians did not raise animals for food, rather as companions and producers of other substances like milk and clothing material. When it came to meat or leather, Nourasians hunted for it or fished for it(4). This kabuto, this young kabuto was evidently afraid, confused and saddened. The loss of its mother was heart-rending for Aikka; he was no stranger to loss of a family member. His own grandfather and his beloved grandmother had died when he was young, and he missed them deeply.

Slowly he closed his eyes and concentrated.

"Don't cry," he said to the larva, "I'm not going to harm you. I'm not like those hunters. I'm a friend."

The larva eased its crying and pressed against its mother some more. Aikka opened his eyes and frowned at the sight.

"Mommie wake up," wailed the larva in Aikka's mind.

"I don't think she will wake up again," Aikka told the larva. "I'm sorry."

The larva started to close its large eyes and moved away from the dead kabuto. It curled up.

"I'm scared," it said, though something told Aikka it was male.

Aikka leaned in closer to the little creature but as soon as he did, he heard a sound, no, a voice.

"PRINCE AIKKA! Where are you Prince Aikka!" said a voice that could only be Thuy, the female archery teacher. And if he could see her, she would be wearing her usually affair of mesh mail and her spilt tunic.

"Prince Aikka!" said another voice, this being of his Fencing Master Canaan. His long white hair could be somewhat seen.

"Who are they?" said the Kabuto larva.

Aikka turned to the creature and realized he had to hide it or something.

"My teachers," he said, "I have to hide you!"

"Wait!" he said, "why do I have to hide? And I don't know who you are either."

Aikka looked a tad stumped for words.

"Me," he said, "my name is, Aikka. I'm a Prince." He looked over his shoulder. He couldn't see them all that well, but Canaan and Thuy were coming around this area.

"What do you call yourself?" asked Aikka to the Kabuto larva.

For a moment, the larva tried going over the name of Aikka, and then paused in its thinking, looking up at Aikka.

"I am G'Dar," he said, as he crawled into Aikka's arms, only to be placed in the folds of the Prince's tunic.

Terms

Posts: The gates to the Spiritland or Afterlife in Nourasian beliefs.

Spirit Land: Where all souls go, wheather they are of Nourasian, animal, or plants, they go and live in a world much like our own, save for the fact that it is spring and summer almost all the time.

Other

1. The Kabuto is an endangered species due to the impact of poarching them for their shells, especially Royal Blue and Bronze types, whose shells are the most prized for decoration. Nourasians have tried to stopthe slaughter of their sacred animals, but all mostly falls to deaf ears.

2. Unusal for most insects, the Kabuto mother will be very protective of her offspring, even going so far as hiding them from their riders in the cases of tamed individuals. Seeing a tamed larva is extremely rare.

3. All magic-users on Nourasia are required to look within for their power, or so my theory on how they learn theirmagic goes.

4. Nourasians are mostly agricultural, though they do hunt for food and skins sometimes. To raise an animal for nothing more than food is considered barbaric to Nourasians. The only tamed animals that the Nourasians have are ones for riding, ones for clothing, ones for milk, and ones for companionship.

A/N: I probably won't be updating in a long time so please don't get angry,okay? Next chapter, Aikka and his parents, and the discovery of the larva...