Chapter 21- start of the quest
As soon as the decisions on who was going and who will be staying have been made, Cielo moved on to the next subject, the warnings and potential dangers of the trip. However, before he could proceed, the Falcon returned with Glitterwing and Ozone, his notepad filled with the information he obtained from interviewing the pair.
"I have finished interviewing the escaped Cloud-Man and Cherub woman, Master Cielo," said he, "And have managed to uncover a LOT of things regarding Asgard Sky City."
"Okay, thanks, Swoop," said Cielo, "You need to take that to Yong Bao for analysis."
The Falcon nodded and left to do just that while Glitterwing and Ozone, after being thanked by the Falcon, Swoop and also Cielo, rejoined the group. They were told by Quaoar that they will be coming on the trip to shut down Kurama's cult and his plans. Without questioning, the pair accepted. After all, like Quaoar, they had family members in Kurama's iron clutches. Cielo then went on to the next subject without further interruptions.
"Okay, now before you prepare and leave on the quest, there are a few VERY important things we need to discuss," said the head Cielo, "Your quest, as with ALL quests like the quests to gather the ingredients of the Nine-Realms Potion for High King Peter had been, will NOT be an easy ride. You lot will face variety of dangers and temptations that you MUST be aware of."
"Dangers and temptations?" asked one of the Meerkats in Scuttle's team. As he said this, Yong Bao (who had received the information Swoop the Falcon had got from interviewing Ozone and Glitterwing on his notepad) sent Prism-Fins to check on Flutter the Martlet as he continued talking to Xenon and the White Flying Rod flew off to carry out the task.
"Yes, dangers and temptations," said Cielo in response to the Meerkat's question, "The first danger you will have to deal with, as one of your tasks will be to find and destroy the source of a dangerous substance Kurama is using, the dangerous substance itself. It is called Golden Glitter Gas."
Quaoar and the others flinched but then one of the Seven Sisters, Electra, came forward to explain what this was.
"One of Ombro's teams consisting of a Windrunner, several Juculi and Martlets, a Pyro (Fire Sprite) and a Hitodama who lead the group have managed to uncover something disturbing about what Kurama is using in his cult," said she.
"And also what Ozone and Glitterwing told me during my side interview with them," put in Swoop. Immediately, the Cloud-Man and Cherub respectively stood up and went to the front of the group.
"Kurama calls this stuff 'Glory Breath Gas', and he uses it in his wild worship services at Asgard Sky City's Gathering House," explained Ozone.
"It's basically a psychoactive substance like Red Sleeping Potion Gas and phobofluid," continued Electra, "But unlike the former which puts you into a nightmare-flooded sleep and the latter, twists your perception of the environment and sets your fear emotions to the ABSOLUTE edge, Golden Glitter Gas sends your senses into a state of haywire. However, like phobofluid, it can cause vivid hallucinations."
"Effects include euphoric emotions and stupidity," said Glitterwing, "We already explained the effects of the stuff to you before our trip to here."
"Yes," said Triton, Cielo's brother and he came forward to continue the explanation on what Golden Glitter Gas was, "Golden Glitter Gas takes on the appearance of a golden cloud spangled with golden stars, giving it an incredibly attractive and alluring appearance. I have come across this substance before so I know what it looks like."
Quaoar and the others listened as Triton continued, his glowing green-eyed face turning dark, "But don't, repeat: do NOT be fooled by its looks. It is a deadly substance that is HIGHLY addictive like Toxo-Cream, the parasitic organism that appears as a tasty white cream which is VERY sweet tasting but is destructive and takes advantage of its host's addiction to reproduce, getting them hooked on their incredibly sweet and creamy substance the moment even a small amount of it touches their tongue."
Quaoar winced, remembering his encounter with Toxo-Cream before and how deadly it was. Triton continued, "But unlike Toxo-Cream and like Red Sleeping Potion Gas and phobofluid, it comes from an organism and that organism is called the Golden Stingerfan."
Immediately, confused looks were exchanged among Quaoar and company's at what this was.
"Golden Stingerfan?" asked Caesium.
"What's one of them?" asked Naihanchi for she had also never heard of it. Quaoar entered thought for he had. Yong Bao went to his bag he had brought to the meeting and began to search through it. After he had found what he had looked for, he pulled it out, a book and went to explain what a Golden Stingerfan was. The book was about the various flora of Narnia in the nine Domains including the Sky Domain. Opening the book and turning to the page about Stingerfans, Yong Bao launched into an explanation about the Golden species. He then showed Quaoar and company the creature in question from the book. The creature in the book bore a flat round top on a stalk. The stalk thickened to some sort of body and from the body's bottom a set of roots branched out. This creature was coloured golden.
"This is what a Golden Stingerfan looks like," explained Yong Bao, "They look like plants but they are actually animals as well. The entire kind possesses these large fans, as you can see here," he pointed with one of his Ape's hands to the fan atop the drawing of the creature, "which they use like how plants use leaves to get energy from the sun and their roots are tentacles which allow them to move about. They have a type of blood system complete with heart-like parts instead of sap like what regular plants have. The Stingerfan kind comes in a variety of different forms such as the Common Pink Stingerfan which have pink sun fans; the White Stingerfan, the Aquatic Stingerfan which lives in the Eastern Ocean and this species, the VERY rare Golden Stingerfan, a species that grows in the Sky Domain. Its sun fan is a shining gold colour like a piece of leafy gold and its body and root-tentacles are bright yellow."
"Most Stingerfan species have a defence mechanism," said Triton, "But out of all the mechanisms, the Golden species has the most potent set. Despite its golden and sunny yellow appearance, the Golden Stingerfan possesses a VERY toxic and potent substance that has powerful mind-altering effects that comes in two forms. One form is the Golden Glitter Gas which the Stingerfan releases as cloud bursts at potential predators that dare even nibble at is root-tentacles. Once the predator inhales this gas, they are sent into a euphoric, dazed state ranging from stumbling as though drunk or thrashing uncontrollably as though having a seizure. These behaviours can render predators themselves vulnerable to dangers. Some of us observed a small group of Scout Stalker-Flies try to make a meal out of a Golden Stingerfan and they got blasted by this Golden Glitter Gas and were sent into an erratic flight with two of them falling predator to giant dumb eagles, unable to escape."
Quaoar and the others flinched when they heard this and could not imagine inhaling the stuff themselves.
"That's such a wonderful defence mechanism indeed," said Caesium.
"The Golden Stingerfan also has its defensive substances in liquid form," said Triton, "We have dubbed it 'honey-wine' as it is golden like honey but induces drunken effects like wine. The Golden Stingerfan has it concentrated in its root-tentacles to prevent predators such as Sky Mudpods from nibbling on them. Consumption of the honey-wine can result in severe drunken effects like the effects of the powers of the evil Pink Elephant."
"So how is Kurama getting this Golden Glitter Gas stuff?" asked Naihanchi, "He must be surely cultivating the Golden Stingerfan somewhere, right?"
"That's what we deduced but we haven't found where yet," said Yong Bao, "Due to the psychoactive effects of the Golden Glitter Gas and the honey-wine, the Golden Stingerfan has been cultivated and these substances harvested and often concentrated to enhance the effects on the consumers. Due to these effects, cultivating the Golden Stingerfan except for conservation purposes is illegal in most countries of other Domains, especially the Land Domain. We believe that the White Witch and her evil Fox-With apprentice, Dimitrescu Dokuringu, may have attempted to cultivate these Stingerfans for their substances but have been unsuccessful."
"If you were EVER caught cultivating even one Golden Stingerfan without a permit," said Cielo, "You may face SERIOUS consequences. On the Narnian Sun, it can even result in a death sentence as the Sunlings and Talking Sun-Birds do NOT tolerate such a dangerous plant-animal being cultivated on their Domain. However, we have had criminals cultivating the Stingerfan species illegally and secretly and they have sold their substances through black markets. Gelo, our Cloud-Man village leader, has search-and-destroy groups on patrol to make sure no-one is cultivating the Golden Stingerfan without a permit in our village. If anyone is found, the Stingerfans are confiscated and the criminals punished accordingly. Of course we cannot just eradicate the Golden Stingerfan completely. It is an important part of our plant-and-animal systems. We just have to control who cultivates them and for what purpose."
"Kurama is obviously using the gaseous form, the Golden Glitter Gas, for the worship services at Asgard Sky City Gathering House," said Ozone, "He calls it the 'Glory Breath Gas of Aslan', and believe me, the stupid behaviours are WAY too shameful describe but some of them include maniacal laughter, writhing on the floor, sobbing, stumbling as though drunk or screaming."
"They, especially Kurama, are making an UTMOST mockery of Aslan and his breath," growled Glitterwing indignantly, "The REAL Aslan's breath obviously NEVER has such stupid effects on ANYONE."
"That Nine-Tailed Kitsune is indeed staining the name of our Lion King in EVERY way and sense of the word, I can tell you," said Yong Bao angrily, "That's one of the reasons why we want to shut down Kurama's cult and why one of your important tasks for your upcoming quest is to find and destroy those Stingerfans Kurama may be cultivating somewhere. However, you will need to be careful when you do as those Stingerfans will not hesitate to smother you with their defensive Glitter Gas."
"How are we gonna do that without inhaling that stuff?" asked Morla.
"Anything that filters the air or allows you to breathe harmlessly in areas that would otherwise either suffocate you or incapacitate you," said Triton.
"Breath Bubbles like what the dwellers of the two Undersea Domains, the Sea and the Abyssal, would give to air-only breathers to allow them to breathe underwater," said Cielo, "Or filter masks. There are some for sale in some nearby villages."
"Will even attempting to cut a Golden Stingerfan at the stalk with a bladed tool trigger them to release their defence mechanism as well?" asked Caesium.
"Oh, it absolutely would," said Triton seriously, "When a Golden Stingerfan is under immense distress, it will release its Glitter Gas in HUGE amounts as the stem, like in all plants and part-plants, is its most important part and it would be fatal to those organisms if you cut its stem."
"That's one method of how these illegal cultivators harvest the Stingerfan's Glitter Gas," added Cielo. Disappointment welled within Quaoar and company.
"Typical," grumbled Spock, "How are we gonna kill them things then?"
"I could use my foxfire as it can kill most things almost instantly due to me being Nine-Tailed," said Quaoar, "But if there is a LOT of them, that would be impractical as overuse of foxfire could reduce a Nine-Tailed Fox to severe fatigue."
"Burning them," said Yong Bao, an idea flying into his head, "That's an excellent solution. Good mention, Quaoar."
Quaoar cracked a smile as he said this as Cielo turned to the others, "The only best method of doing away with those Golden Stingerfan farms is to either burn them, electrocute them or whatever means to kill them quickly without triggering their dangerous defence mechanism."
Immediately, Obi Wan walked in and produced a device, a phaser.
"I could lend Quaoar and company some phasers and phaser swords," said he, "They will be useful tools in quickly destroying those plant-animals without making them release their gas."
"Then they'll need those weapons," said Yong Bao. Immediately, Obi Wan turned to his accompaniers including the Little Green Man, Gris and the Luminos to search their bags for any phasers and phaser swords to give to Quaoar's group, or anyone who will be going on the quest and they left to do that. The solution to the Golden Stingerfan problem found, Cielo, Yong Bao and Triton continued.
"Another important task we would like you to go on is to find the remaining Arcobalenopods and warn them that Kurama is after them," said the former, "That is if you're able to find them."
"Indeed," said Yong Bao sternly, "After Momotaro and his team's report that one of that rogue Nine-Tailed Kitsune's scouts had managed to capture the Blue Arcobalenopod, there's no doubt that he will be sending scouts to hunt down the remaining six to capture as well."
Quaoar, Naihanchi, Aang, Morla, Moana, Crimsonandil and the others with them nodded at this important fact.
"But how are we gonna track down the remaining six Arcobalenopods before Kurama and his underlings do?" asked Spock.
"We've got a special tracker for you to use," said Yong Bao, "The Arcobalenopod tracker is VERY rare and for good reason as those creatures are VERY powerful. One of Ombro's spy teams had managed to find one in a nearby city to Asgard Sky City and have brought it back here for safekeeping," he then turned to Cielo, Triton and their families, "And I believe that's it, don't you agree?"
"Indeed," said Cielo in agreement, "I think we've pretty much covered everything that needs to be covered in this meeting. The next step is to set up the quest group to send on their journey."
Yong Bao nodded in agreement to this and Cielo turned to Quaoar and the others and declared the meeting finished and he dismissed the group. He also left to find Flutter the Martlet who had been talking to Xenon via the crystalline communicator screen so that he could explain everything he had explained in the meeting to Xenon himself and let him know what's going to happen.
As the group dispersed to get ready for the upcoming quest, the Flying Rod and Martlet servants packing away the equipment including the blackboard, Obi Wan and his group returned with their phasers and phaser swords to give to the quest goers to use as tools to destroy any Golden Stingerfan farms or cultivation areas they find as well as any of Shenron's progeny Garden of Youth apple trees, if they find any. As Quaoar began to go through who will be going on the quest and who will be staying, Momotaro, Inu, Kiji and Saru left the group in the direction of a stable. They had already decided that they will be going on the quest as well for they had special weapons that they could use to help but they also wanted to bring something else. A little while later, Crimsonandil and the Fenghuang couple Adamans and Iridia (whom Quaoar had decided will be going on the quest), noticing that the Peach Elf and his three Animal friends missing, went to look for them until they saw the four walk from the stable with a creature with them. Immediately, the trio of Phoenixes flew off to Momotaro and company as they petted and fed a creature. As they got closer, the three touched down and flinched in UTMOST stun at what they were seeing.
"Is that an..." began Adamans, his eyes widened in shock. Crimsonandil and Iridia loomed on, too frozen in shock to speak as Momotaro continued to pat and talk to the creature whose body was similar in shape to a T-Rex and its head was wedged shaped. Snaking from what appeared to be a mouth was a long appendage tipped with a sharp spearhead. That spearhead rammed into a piece of meat held by Saru as he fed the meat, dumb Sky Whale meat, to the creature. As the creature began to feed, Momotaro patted it while Inu and Kiji cleaned its dark smoky grey body and legs with special cloths. When Momotaro saw the three Phoenixes, he shot them a stern look.
"Do NOT take another step towards Stingray," said the Peach Elf, "He's not fond of strangers."
"Especially if they suddenly appear," added Kiji as he groomed Stingray's skin with the special cloth (like grooming a horse's coat with a brush), "You could startle him."
Immediately, Crimsonandil, Adamans and Iridia stopped and kept their distance. Then they gazed at Stingray in continued astonishment.
"I thought it was impossible to tame one of those Narnian Moon-native creatures," said the former.
"Yes, due to how INCREDIBLY dangerous they are," put in the middle one.
"Arrow-Tongues are but it is not COMPLETELY impossible to tame one," explained Momotaro as he continued to pet Stingray on his wedge-shaped head, the Arrow-Tongue continuing to feed on the piece of Sky Whale meat, "A few individuals have managed to tame one of these creatures but they are VERY few and far between."
"Another way to tame an Arrow-Tongue is to raise it from a hatchling," said Saru as he picked up a special cloth to help groom Stingray's skin, "That was the case with Stingray here."
"We found Stingray as an egg in a destroyed nest during our trip to the Narnian Moon," said Inu, "It was shortly after Cielo took us in after our original village on the Land Domain was destroyed and we raised Stingray when he hatched."
"I bet he must have been a BIG help," said Iridia with a smile.
"After all, having such a dangerous creature like an Arrow-Tongue by your side can make you a formidable opponent to deal with," said Adamans.
"Indeed," said Momotaro, "And Stingreay has been useful during our spy trips," he then patted Stingray and began to walk towards the Phoenixes, "Arrow-Tongues are immune to most elemental blasts and weapons such as a Pyro or Dragon's fire breath or a phaser. Electroshroom bombs also don't affect Arrow-Tongues though their blast force can still stun them. The only sort of elemental blast that will instantly kill an Arrow-Tongue is the blast of foxfire from a Nine-Tailed Fox."
"You're gonna have to be VERY careful when we go and meet Kurama himself then," said Crimsonandil sternly, "Kurama is one of those Foxes and if he uses his foxfire on your Arrow-Tongue, that's it for him."
Momotaro, Kiji, Inu and Saru gazed back at the Vermilion Bird in agreement and understood that she was right. Their Arrow-Tongue steed could only take on so many opponents of so much power. Against Kurama, Stingray would stand little chance. The only quest goer who would be able to deal with Kurama would obviously be Quaoar for Nine-Tailed Foxes can survive blasts of foxfire from other Nine-Tailed Foxes albeit injured. Momotaro and company will have to keep that in mind when they have to help with battling Kurama.
As the three Phoenixes continued to talk to Momotaro and his three An imal friends about Stingray, Scuttle, one of the Meerkats came in and saw a few satchels laying nearby. His curiosity piqued, he went over to the satchels and took hold of what appeared to be a sword hilt. However, Momotaro, Saru, Inu and Kiji saw him do this and were alarmed, especially the last one.
"DON'T TOUCH THAT, MEERKAT!" screeched the Pheasant and immediately, he dropped his cloth, broke away from Stingray's side and flapped over to his satchel. Scuttle, startled, backed away as Kiji seized his satchel containing his supplies including his weapon and pulled out said weapon. He then unsheathed the sword, revealing a katana-like blade glinting blue-grey. The Common Pheasant was trembling somewhat as he checked his sword.
"Why are you so protective of it?" asked Scuttle. Kiji then re-sheathed his sword and shot the Meerkat an angry glare.
"My sword is made from a special magical metal called Urulite," said he, "And so are some of the other weapons Momotaro, Inu and Saru own which are a disc shield, bone stick, war hammer and boomerang. Objects and weapons made from Urulite can ONLY be used by the owner; anyone else that attempts to use those tools risks getting SERIOUSLY injured as the Urulite won't recognise them."
Scuttle gazed back at the Pheasant confused. "So... it's kind of like 'ow a dumb animal intelligent enough won't recognise anyone else but its owner?"
"Kind of," said Kiji, "But that's one of the properties of this magical metal."
"I've heard of Urulite before," said Crimsonandil, "It's a rare magical metal that can ONLY be forged in areas where high heat exists as it is otherwise unworkable. Those areas are the Narnian Sun, Bism of the Underground Domain and the Abyssal Zone."
"Correct, Crimsonandil," said Momotaro, "And it has a variety of magical properties ranging from recognising ONLY the owner of the product it's made from as Kiji described, to channelling elemental powers."
"Urulite products 'imprint' on anyone that first lays their hands or equivalent on them," said Saru, "and once an Urulite object does that it becomes the owner's object for the rest of their life. Only when the owner dies can the Urulite object can become the product of a new owner."
"Anyone else other than the owner of the object attempts to use it will face it backfiring on them and injuring them," explained Kiji, "This is especially useful in battle as it prevents the enemy from attempting to use the Urulite weapon against the owner. However, it is VERY important that untouched Urulite objects or Urulite objects released from an ownership caused by the death of their original owner are kept from hands, paws or equivalent with evil intentions for obvious reasons."
Crimsonandil, Iridia, Adamans and Scuttle exchanged intrigued glances before the former then reached into her satchel and produced her flywheel to show to Momotaro and his group. Her flywheel had been damaged during the scuffle on the Land Domain when she and the others with her had to act to protect the King and his men from being slaughtered by Eagle Sec's group, its two stone discs missing sections such that they were no longer circular.
"I've been hoping to replace my damaged war flywheel," explained the Vermillion Bird, "But unfortunately I didn't have the time for we had been investigating these happenings on the Land. It's the only weapon I have and am most skilled in using. I'm no good with using a sword or bow and arrows..."
Momotaro took the flywheel and examined it and as he did that, Saru, Kiji and Inu examined the damaged discs with surprise.
"How have you managed to destroy your weapon?" asked the first of the three Animal friends, the Macaque.
"We were battling against a group of rogue Talking Beasts trying to assassinate our King and unfortunately, I missed some intended targets with my flywheel and it crashed into the ground, destroying the discs," explained Crimsonandil, "I don't know how I am going to fashion a new one as circular stones are quite rare to come by."
"They're not very common weapons, war flywheels, for that reason," said Adamans.
"That flywheel had been part of Crimsonandil's heritage," added Iridia. Momotaro continued examining Crimsonandil's destroyed war flywheel when an idea flew into his head.
"It can be replaced and I'm thinking of getting it forged with the same material as our weapons," said the Peach Elf. Surprise ignited within the three Phoenixes and the Meerkat.
"You mean forge a flywheel made from Urulite for Crimsinandil?" asked Scuttle.
"But... Urulite ONLY exists on the Narnian Sun, Bism and the Abyssal Zone," said Iridia.
"It would be IMPRACTICAL to bring that idea into reality," put in Adamans. Momotaro, however, was adamant in the idea.
"Indeed it would be impractical, but it will be worth the trip," said he, "However, it would mean Crimsonandil there going on a trip separate from the others to one of the three Domains where Urulite is forged into tools and weapons."
"But how am I gonna go to any of those Domains?" asked Crimsonadil, "It could take DAYS for me and some travellers to go there."
"Yes, and she will be needed by Quaoar in dealing with Kurama and his cult," added Adamans, his wife and Scuttle looking on in agreement. Momotaro, however, smiled.
"Asgard Sky City is not the only Sky city to have a Bifrost Transporter Pad," said he, "There's another Pad nearer to here but it's a few hours' trip."
Scuttle, Crimsonandil, Adamans and Iridia exchanged looks at this revelation. However, Xenon had good reason that they and the rest of Quaoar and Obi Wan's group arrive in the Sky Domain by some other way than the Bifrost Transporter for if they had used the Transporter Pad like the one Kurama's underlings frequently used for teleportation to and from Asgard Sky City, he would have easily detected their activity even if they were using it to go somewhere else and Xenon, knowing how the Bifrost Transporter worked, wanted Quaoar and company to arrive in the Sky Domain undetected. As the three Phoenixes, Scuttle, Momotaro and his three Animal friends continued to talk, Cielo came in to check on them.
"Oh, Cielo, I'm glad you're here," said Momotaro, "Crimsonandil here has a problem."
"Really?" what's that?" asked the head of the house Acqua man. Immediately, Crimsonandil showed him her broken flywheel.
"Momotaro there has suggested that a flywheel be forged from Urulite for me to replace that one," she said. Cielo took the flywheel and examined its damaged discs for a few seconds before he finally gazed at the Vermillion Bird. Immediately, a look of approval formed on his face. Acquas' mouths were invisible so their eyes often showed their emotions.
"I know someone who will be able to help replace the Vermillion Bird's flywheel," said he. Immediately, Crimsonandil smiled with hope while Iridia, Adamans and Scuttle looked on happily. Momotaro, Inu, Kiji and Saru also smiled and gently lead Stingray to prepare him for the upcoming quest.
Later
Quaoar and the others who were going with him made their final preparations for their quest and investigations and they made sure that they had everything they will need for the journey. Morla the Black Tortoise checked his satchel for supplies while Moana the Azure Dragoness, Aang the White Tiger and Naihanchi the Nekomata checked their bags. Thunderbolt the Raiju, Spock the Pegasus, Caesium the Chroma Cat and Griffin the Occamy discussed amongst themselves while Heather the Gold0-Fleeced Ewe and her Golden-Egg Goose friend Orchid checked their medical satchels. Weywot the Moon Insect Rabbit-Dog, Bentley the Giant, Ozone and Glitterwing also checked their bags to make sure they had everything. As they did that, Obi Wan and his group came and distributed the phasers and phaser swords to Quaoar's group so that they can use them to quickly destroy any Golden Stingerfan or other suspicious plant or plant-animal being used for suspicious purposes. Cielo, Triton and their families and their servants went about sorting things while Yong Bao continued to assign more spy groups to send off. However, Momotaro, Inu, Saru and Kiji who will be going with the group, have been removed from the spy group by the Kotobuki so that they could help Quaoar and company in their quest. Some of the group members also received additional weapons for their use. Adamans and Iridia the Fenghuang received bows and arrows while the Scarlet Macaw Red received a dagger. Ozone also received a sword and a shield while Glitterwing received a quiver of arrows and a crossbow. Orchid and Heather also received more medical supplies from Cielo's family and one of Triton and Galassia's sons, Aragosto, even gave Heather some more fire-flower cordial he had managed to harvest from the fire flowers he had managed to grow. Once those that were going to go on the quest were set, they got prepared to set off.
As Quaoar and company then got prepared to set off for the trip, Caesium saw Crimsonandil and the Meerkats as they prepared to leave with Gris, one of Obi Wan's assistants and some Luminos. They were going to travel in Obi Wan's Flying Saucer to the home of the Blue Bat-Bird Winged Dragon family, their species resembling Ombro's orange Fiery species but coloured in various shades of blue, and a Sunling that had moved from the Narnian Sun to make his home in the Sky Domain.
"Why are Crimsonandil and the Meerkats over there with Gris and those Luminos?" asked the Chroma Cat. Quaoar gazed at the Vermillion Bird and the Meerkats as they spoke to Gris, Obi Wan and also Yong Bao and Cielo as he checked his GC sword.
"Crimsonandil is going to go and get her war flywheel replaced," explained the Kitsumiho, "She's going to go to another Domain to get a flywheel forged from Urulite. Momotaro suggested the idea. Her original one has become useless since our battle back on the Land Domain to drive off that group of Rogue Talking Beasts threatening the King and his men."
"A flywheel made from Urulite?" asked Griffin, the metallic Feathered Serpent-like creature slithering in.
"I think that will be very useful," said Caesium with admiration, "I've studied the various magical materials in the Narnian world, among them Urulite and I've read that objects made from this magical metal sort of imprints on anyone that first touches it and it will ONLY function for them and them alone."
"Urulite can be EXTREMELY dangerous to anyone else that attempts to an object made from it other than its owner," said Quaoar, "The metal can explode back at them and cause some NASTY injuries. Also, Urulite is rare and extremely hard to forge, even with the highest temperatures with the kilns and furnaces we can reach, say back on the Land Domain. Urulite can only be forged at extreme temperatures FAR higher than what we can achieve back on the Land Domain," he then gazed at Crimsonandil as she showed Yong Bao and Cielo her destroyed flywheel made from two stone discs, "She and the Meerkats will be away for quite some time so we will have to manage without them until they return with a new flywheel for Crimsonandil."
Caesium and Griffin continued to gaze at the Vermilion Bird until they finally returned to prepare for the main trip. As soon as the group was ready and they had everything they will need for the quest with Crimsonandil and the Meerkats leaving with Gris and some Luminos in the Flying Saucer, Quaoar and company were finally ready. Quaoar checked his GC sword and also his satchel and tails to ensure that he had what he need when one of the Seven Sisters, Caleno, walked in with a special device. It was a white sphere on a silvery stick and it had two antennae ending in spherical clubs like a butterfly's antennae, also coloured white.
"Here, Quaoar," she said and with that, she handed Quaoar the device, "It's a very rare Arcobalenopod tracker Yong Bao has kept in his possession to keep it well away from paws and hands with evil intentions. Use that to track the remaining Arcobalenopods to warn them before Kurama seizes them. The spheres will glow in the colour of the Arcobalenopod when you are near him. If more than one Arcobalenopods are nearby, the spheres will glow in their colours."
Quaoar packed it into his satchel and thanked Caleno who left to check on everyone else. As Quaoar checked his GC sword, Momotaro came in with Inu, Kiji, Saru and their Arrow-Tongue mount Stingray. When they saw the sword-within-a-sword as Quaoar unsheathed the smaller sword from its larger counterpart, amazement welled within them.
"We've never seen a sword like that before," said Momotaro.
"Is that ACTUALLY one sword sheathed within ANOTHER?" Inu blurted out in utmost awe. Quaoar re-sheathed the smaller sword into its larger counterpart; put it onto his back with its strap across his front and gazed at the four.
"It is," said he, "It belonged to Naihanchi's ancestor Kushanku the Nekomata who lived during the Age of Winter and the Golden Age and it was his signature weapon. However, when he became old and no longer able to participate in wars and battles, he passed it onto his son Peter whom he had with Padparadscha "Paddy", his second wife whom he married after the death of his first, Alexandrite and since then, it had been Kushanku's lineage's heirloom. Naihanchi was to own it but she felt that she couldn't handle such a difficult sword so she gave it to me to carry on Kushanku's legacy."
"Kushanku," said Momotaro as he mulled over the name, "Kushanku, Kushanku, we've heard of him before."
"A Pyro told us about him when we lived in that human village back on the Land Domain," said Kiji.
"He was a noble warrior who went to one of the Nine-Realms Potion areas to save High King Peter, whom he named his son after, when he was badly poisoned," said Saru. Quaoar smiled and was about to reply when Morla called him.
"Quaoar, we're ready to leave," called the Black Tortoise, the Azure Dragoness, Monana, and Aang the White Tiger standing near him. Quaoar flashed Morla a look and turned back to Momotaro and his three friends.
"It's time to leave," said he, "Let's dash."
Immediately, Momotaro, Saru, Inu and Kiji went and mounted their steed, Stingray and commanded him to follow Quaoar to the group and Stingray, his spearheaded tongue snaking from his oral orifice with a hiss, did. As the five joined the others and as they went off in the direction of the Sky Cart, Obi Wan looked on with Cielo and his family including his brother Triton and his wife and sons, the various servants, most of them Flying Rods and Martlets, and Yong Bao the Kotobuki and most of his spy force.
"Make sure you do some investigations on anything important and report back to us either via the DV communicators or the crystalline screens you have in your possession," called the lead Grey Man.
"Also beware of ANY foes that might cross your path," added Yong Bao, "Including the infamous Cartoon Shadow Cat which is ESPEICALLY powerful during the night or in a dark area."
When Yong Bao mentioned this infamous beast described as resembling some black and white cartoon cat character from the human's world, some of Quaoar's group shot the Kotobuki a surprised look.
"The Cartoon Shadow Cat's still alive?" asked Naihanchi.
"It's become immortal since it consumed some of the forbidden Garden of Youth apples," explained Weywot, "like Shenron had recently done but also like that rogue Azure Dragon, it had gained a variety of weaknesses, some of which are severe revulsion to water, sunlight and anything pleasant like flowers, and a permanent injury on its shoulder inflicted on it by the Guardian Phoenix which, when struck, causes it UTMOST agony."
"That means this Cartoon Shadow Cat will be immune to my dangerous foxfire," said Quaoar glumly.
"I'm afraid so," said Weywot.
"Outstanding," Quaoar hissed sarcastically.
"Believe me, Quaoar," said Momotaro seriously as he rode on Stingray nearby, "We have met that beast ourselves during a night spy trip (not the most recent one where we witnessed some of Kurama's underlings catch the Blue Arcobalenopod) and we, including Stingray here, barely escaped with our lives. However, Saru had been mortally wounded by a strike from one of the Cartoon Cat creature's claw swipes."
"Thankfully, some nurse Cloud-Women found us and one of them had a tiny bit of fire-flower cordial and she used it to bring me from the brink of death," said Saru. Quaoar flinched when he heard this as did some of the others including Red the Scarlet Macaw.
"That sounds VERY serious," said the latter. Momotaro nodded with a dark look on his face before he resumed his attention on leaving. As the group continued to leave, Cielo, Yong Bao and the others including Obi Wan bade the group Aslan-speed and also to beware of other dangers such as the Man in the Grey Three-Piece Suit and Kurama's underlings. Within moments, Quaoar and company were out of earshot as they headed off for the Sky Cart.