Chapter 27- Rhamphus' plans
Later
Rhamphus the Ropen had his meeting with his inner circle and told them everything that Quaoar's group had told him. The inner circle of the lead Ropen of Nuvem were UTTERLY devastated and OUTRAGED that they had been taken advantage of, especially with the misuse of the Great Sky Arachnoid Plague of the 1020s whose devastation had etched deep scars within the memories of the Nuvem citizens and the other Sky Domain dwellers. To use such an infamous time in the Sky Domain's history to trick the Nuvem citizens into locking themselves in their homes so that their city can be turned into an illegal Golden Stingerfan farm was tantamount to setting up a temple to worship the Witch White in the city (the White Witch was infamous EVERYWHERE in the Narnian world, not just the Land Domain) and Rhamphus wanted to hunt down whoever had done such an egregious deed to Nuvem and get them dealt with as soon as possible but the Ropen leader knew he had immediate matters to deal with first. Then once he had had his meeting with his inner circle, he set up an exterminator group to deal with the Golden Stingerfans elsewhere in Nuvem. The extermination team wore protective clothing and filter masks like the ones Quaoar and some of his teammates had purchased and among this group were Poptart Cats, the metal-eating Alicanto Birds and Cheshire Cats (which were Magical Cat creatures that resembled ordinary Cats but were brightly coloured like the aquatic Nestri Primi and had magical abilities like a Bakeneko such as telekinesis, levitation and the ability to disappear into stealth mode, and they could also glow and they sometimes smiled widely with toothy grins that can at times be unnerving. They were not 'true flesh-and-blood' cats so they were not Nekomata or Bakeneko and were more like Fire and Lightning Sprites and Aurora Sprites. However, they can still breed but they can ONLY breed with each other and not any of the flesh-and-blood Cats). The exterminators were armed with torches and flamethrowers to incinerate any Golden Stingerfan they saw. They did not want to cut down the Stingerfans with blades or shoot them with arrows or that would stress the plant-animals into releasing their deadly Golden Glitter Gas and Rhamphus does NOT even want as much as a whisper of that stuff drifting about in his city as even a small whisper of the gas can affect the inhaler. Though the effects would be small, even they were still shameful and can be dangerous. Golden Glitter Gas was deadly and toxic to certain species like Alicantos, Candy Fairies and Fairy Dragons. If these creatures inhaled even a small amount of the gas, it was a flight to a medical area for a few days. Large doses were far more dangerous and even fatal for them. Furthermore, inhalation was not the only danger to these creatures. Skin and eye contact with the gas were also an issue and if an Alicanto, a Candy Fairy or a Fairy Dragon allowed even a small puff of the Golden Glitter Gas to even touch their skins, it would result in a serious rash and potentially deadly allergic reaction. Based on these hazards, any Alicanto, Fairy Dragon and Candy Fairy citizen in Nuvem was commanded by Rhamphus to remain in or near their houses until practically every last Golden Stingerfan was exterminated. Due to how deadly Golden Glitter Gas was to such creatures, Rhamphus had hoped that there were no Alicantos, Candy Fairies or Fairy Dragons caught by Kurama in Asgard Sky City where the evil Kitsune often used this gas for his questionable worship services to his false Aslan based on Ozone and Glitterwing's information. The Ropen had in fact deduced that the Kitsune was cultivating these Stingerfans for their gas for those purposes and if that were true, then Kurama was treading EXTREMELY dangerous territory in more deadly ways than one. Based on this, Rhamphus had set up a plan.
As soon as Rhamphus sent his exterminator team out into Nuvem to purge the city of the Golden Stingerfans with Quaoar and his group's help with their phasers and phaser swords save for a few which they were to return to him alive; he will say why once they have done this and he has commanded any inner circle member that was an Alicanto, a Candy Fairy or a Fairy Dragon to NOT participate in these plans for their safety, Comet-Claws the Falcon and his team of spies arrived, having been sent by Yong Bao from Nuvola. Comet-Claws' team was quite a large group and had a variety of winged members for they were often tasked with flying to nearby cities and towns in the Sky Domain without the need for aerial transportation like with a Magic Carpet for they had their own transportation vehicles: their own wings. In Comet-Claws' team were several other Falcons, some Hawks, Eagles, Owls of various types and some smaller Birds like some Alicanto (whom Yong Bao had strictly commanded to stay WELL away from the Golden Stingerfans as their gas was extremely toxic to them), a Roadrunner, a Roc (an Ice Phoenix with powerful ice powers), a Fairy Dragon (which again Yong Bao had commanded to avoid ANY Golden Stingerfan), some Fairies and a Blue Bat-Bird Winged Dragon and an Ahool. As soon as Comet-Claws and his team had arrived at Nuvem, they met with Rhamphus and Quaoar and were told everything that was currently going on. Rhamphus had also told Comet-Claws and his team of his plans but he had forbidden the Alicanto and the Fairy Dragon from participating as it will involve the use of some Golden Stingerfans. Once Comet-Claws had been informed of what's happening, they entered Nuvem to help out with the tasks.
Quaoar's group had divided into smaller groups once again, splitting up with the extermination team lead by a male bright red and orange Cheshire Cat named Neonpaw, an experienced exterminator who had experience in dealing with a variety of pests and unwanted creatures such as the Sky Arachnoid and the Golden Stingerfan, to travel to various areas of Nuvem to destroy the Stingerfans. Neonpaw had allocated his team to the smaller groups before the division and now, he was going with his sub-team to the Gathering House of Nuvem to help check for any remaining Stingerfans within the building. With him were several more Cheshire Cats and a Lightning Pyro (a special type of Pyro made of lightning instead of fire) and also Naihanchi, Red the Scarlet Macaw, Caesium the Chroma Cat and Griffin the Occamy. As the group travelled to the Gathering House, Red, his talons cluitching his filter mask, gazed at the onlookers, the Nuvem citizens that lived in this area who were now out of their homes, as they watched on. Among them was the Talking Purple Tetrapteron family and their Roachcutter assistant from their shop of protective equipment. These shopkeepers had gladly donated many of their filter masks and Breath Bubbles freely to any of the citizens who wished to help in dealing with the Golden Stingerfans.
"Look at how UTTERLY distressed those guys are," he told Naihanchi. The colourful Nekomata gazed in understanding at the onlookers and their faces.
"I'm not surprised," said she, "They have been lied to for MONTHS!"
"And the fact that whoever had had the AUDACITY to use the Great Sky Arachnoid Plague of the 1020s against us to make us lock ourselves up so that they can cultivate those illegal Stingerfans makes the anger ALL the worse," Neonpaw added, the Cheshire Cat floating ahead of the other Cheshire Cats and the Lightning Pyro. All the members were armed with flamethrowers or other fire-generating devices and had filter masks on their heads but not over their faces yet. They will pull them over their faces once they arrived at the Gathering House of Nuvem.
"Not to mention the fact that they have been using our GATHERING HOUSES to grow those Stingerfans," put in the Lightning Pyro, his amorphous lightning body taking the shape of a Humanoid and his ivory bolts dancing and clawing at the air. Lightning Pyros were usually male while Fire Pyros were usually female.
"We have probably eradicated most the Stingerfans that were living at your largest Gathering House," Caesium explained, "But we believe there may be some that we may have missed. After all, we haven't investigated the whole House including the basement rooms."
"Then leave that task to us," said another Cheshire Cat, a bright green and yellow female. Then as soon as the Gathering House of Nuvem and its surrounding premises melted into view, the team pulled their filter masks over their faces and prepared their fire weapons. Naihanchi, Caesium, Griffin and Red did the same and prepared their phasers and phaser swords.
"Okay, if any of you are of the species to which Golden Glitter Gas is highly toxic such as a Fairy Dragon or an Alicanto, leave us and join the onlookers now," said Neonpaw. He checked the four from Quaoar's group and satisfied that none were of those species, the lead Cheshire Cat exterminator lead them and his team into the main entrance of the Gathering House. As they entered the room, Red spoke.
"It's obvious that the Alicanto members of Comet-Claws' team along with Asterism the Fairy Dragon will not be able to take on this task," said the Scarlet Macaw.
"Would a Breath Bubble or a filter mask protect an Alicanto, Candy Fairy or a Fairy Dragon from the Golden Glitter Gas, Neonpaw?" asked Griffin.
"Well, those breath protection devices may shield those creatures from inhaling the Golden Glitter Gas or have that stuff touching their eyes," Neonpaw explained, "But it won't protect them from contact via their skins."
"We had a case of a Fairy Dragon in the history of extermination jobs coming into contact with some of that Glitter Gas during a mission to destroy another farm of Golden Stingerfans and it landed him in intensive medical care for weeks," said the Lightning Pyro, "He looked dreadful. The area where the gas made contact on his skin, his back and Fairy's wings, took on an ugly appearance and he was in and out of consciousness and VERY ill and couldn't eat. He survived thankfully but it was a case we would NEVER forget and it prompted the leader at the time to pass a STRICT law that any exterminator of the Fairy Dragon, Candy Fairy and Alicanto species, as well as any other species to which Golden glitter Gas was deadly, to NOT participate in the job of exterminating Golden Stingerfans."
"We have a small close-knit family of Fairy Dragons and Alicantos living in our community back home," said Naihanchi, "And we're thankful that we did NOT allow ANY of them to come with us on this quest."
Neonpaw smiled and nodded before he then lead the group, their faces now covered with the filter masks, in the direction of the door to the basement rooms. Once they were in the lowest rooms of the building, the group set to searching for any Golden Stingerfans. However, they did not have to search for long for there were more of those illegal plant-animals down here as well with one of the bigger rooms also turned into a Golden Stingerfan farm and harvest area. Immediately, Neonpaw and his team set to incinerating the Stingerfans with their flamethrowers and torches while Naihanchi, Red, Caesium and Griffin used their phasers and phaser swords. Flames erupted from the yellow creatures with golden photosynthetic fans as they were roasted by the streams of flame or fiery laser blasts, or hacked to flaming pieces by the laser swords. The group continued until the number of Stingerfans in the room was reduced almost to zero. As the Griffin, Naihanchi and the Lightning Pyro were about to destroy those Stingerfans as well, Neonpaw called to them.
"Don't destroy those last Stingerfans, you three, and get back from them," the bright red and orange Cheshire Cat called. The Occamy, the Nekomata and the Lightning Pyro then backed away from the last remaining Stingerfans, the former two clutching phasers and a phaser sword. Neonpaw then pulled out a DV (distance verbal) communicator from his satchel and called for another team. Naihanchi and Griffin gazed in confusion at the Lightning Pyro while nearby, Red and Caesium tipped their heads to one side in confusion.
"I still don't get why Rhamphus wants a few Stingerfans," Naihanchi said.
"He'll explain once we've finished destroying as many of these Stingerfans as we can," the Lightning Pyro replied. Neonpaw continued to speak to the receiver on his DV communicator and within moments, he hung it up and returned it to his satchel. The lead Cheshire Cat then turned to the others in his team including the four assistants.
"Make way for the team of Cloud Birds and steam-shooting Sky Spitfire Birds armed with the force field cage bars, my underlings," he commanded.
"Force field cage bars?" repeated Red.
"They're bars that self-assemble around a target and project a force field bubble around them, assembling to form a cage," explained another Cheshire Cat, a bright blue and pink one, "They're common trapping tools we use in the Sky Domain and we use them to contain dangerous creatures or criminals."
"This Cloud Bird team's going to use those devices on those remaining Stingerfans," said Caesium.
"Exactly," said another Cheshire Cat. Naihanchi, Red the Scarlet Macaw, Caesium the Chroma Cat and Griffin the Occamy gazed on in wonder. Then within minutes, the second team consisting of sky blue birds with cloud-like wings and a type of Spitfire Bird with white and blue plumage and the ability to shoot hot steam out of their nostrils instead of acid like the yellow and red variety does back on the Land Domain arrived. They, too, donned filter masks and clutched in their talons were special magical curved bars. Then as Neonpaw and his team including Naihanchi, Red, Griffin and Caesium who were serving as temporary helpers stood back far enough, the team of Cloud Birds and Sky Domain Spitfire Birds tossed the bars at the remaining Golden Stingerfans. The force field cage bars flew at the yellow and gold plant-animals and circled them before finally closing in on them and trapping them in a cage with a force field. Two of the Stingerfans, sensing the threat, pumped out a burst of Golden Glitter Gas but as they were trapped in the force field cages, their gas was contained. Naihanchi and the other three looked on in amazement.
"Those force field bubbles are essentially restraining those Stingerfans' defensive mechanism for safer handling," Red cried in amazement.
"Using force field cages is part of our extermination jobs," explained Neonpaw, "If a pest is too dangerous to kill within a building, the force field cage users will come in and trap the pest in said cage. Once the pest is contained, we then carry that cage and the pest in it to a safe place for dealing with. In this case, a pest with a dangerous defence mechanism in the form of that golden spangle stuff. However we're not gonna kill them yet."
Naihanchi, Red, Caesium and Griffin then watched on as the Cloud Bird and Sky Domain Spitfire Bird cage handlers went in and took hold of the caged Stingerfans once their devices had done their job in trapping them. After this, they left the room to outside where they will be transported to Rhamphus for his plans. Then as soon as they had finished clearing this room of any remaining Stingerfans they may have missed, Neonpaw and his team including Naihanchi and the other three moved onto the next basement room to continue their search-and-destroy mission of any other Golden Stingerfans that were grown in them.
Up and down Nuvem, the other exterminator teams carried out the same tasks in other buildings that have also been turned into Golden Stingerfan farms and harvesting places. Quaoar helped one cage handler team lead by a Blue Windrunner to catch one of the Stingerfans in a force field cage in another Gathering House for Rhamphus and also spared some honey-wine extraction equipment from destruction. They may be needed along with the Golden Stingerfans but obviously not to extract its sap which was the honey-wine. Comet-Claws and his spy team also helped in the extermination process and capture of a few Stingerfans. Asterism the Fairy Dragon and the Alicanto members, however, stayed out of the tasks to instead help the citizens deal with the devastation that they had been lied to for all this time due to the aforementioned danger of the Golden Stingerfan's gas defence mechanism to them. A few members of Quaoar's group such as Moana the Azure Dragon, Glitterwing the Cherub and Ozone the Cloud-Man also stayed out of the extermination tasks and instead kept the Nuvem citizens informed of the progress. Moana did not want to inhale even a puff of Golden Glitter Gas EVER again after the initial incident while Glitterwing and Ozone did not want to face a torrent of bad memories from the Golden Glitter Gas as it reminded them too much of Kurama's shameful services involving it back in Asgard Sky City. The extermination process up and down Nuvem continued for several more hours until finally, pretty much all the Golden Stingerfans had been annihilated save for a few that Rhamphus requested. However, the exterminators weren't sure if ALL the Stingerfans, that is every last one has been dealt with so some of them continued to carefully search every nook and cranny of the city to look for any Stingerfan that may have gone into hiding while the citizens were warned to keep their eyes peeled to help the exterminators as well as immediately report any Stingerfan they see to them as well as to stay well away from them. The extermination tasks continued until the sun approached its setting point in the western horizon. Quaoar and company soon regrouped and went into a hotel kindly booked for them by Rhamphus for free as thanks for their help.
Later
In the hotel where Rhamphus the lead Ropen of Nuvem had booked them, Quaoar and his group were taking a much-needed and much-deserved rest for the massive work they had carried out in investigating Nuvem and hunting down the Golden Stingerfan farms. Quaoar was talking to Yong Bao the Kotobuki over the crystalline communicator screen and providing him with the current updates such as Rhamphus' plans to catch some of the intruders. While the Kitsumiho did this, Momotaro the Peach Elf had a meal with Inu the Dog, Saru the Macaque and Kiji the Pheasant while Stingray, their Arrow-Tongue steed who stayed in a stable outside the room Quaoar and company stayed, sipped on a lump of Sky Whale meat given to him by his owners with his spearhead tongue. The food Momotaro and his three friends had were some Sky Domain fruit and the meat of some Sky Domain creatures such as the dumb Hexapedal Deer. Kiji also had a Silver Spider pie while Saru tried roasted dumb Poggle. As the quartet ate, Kiji smiled in fascination at the Silver Spider pie slice.
"You remember when we visited a Silver Spider farm back on the Land Domain, Momotaro," the Pheasant said, "It's utterly amazing what roads of income you can generate from the crop-farm hybrid business, isn't it?"
"Indeed," said Momotaro, "The dumb rodents used as livestock for the Silver Spiders, the seeds they harvest with their webs and the Silver Spiders themselves are all an excellent source of food."
"I always wanted to be a Silver Spider farmer when I was a puppy," said Inu, "But when I tried it, it didn't suit me at all. It requires a LOT of care and dedication to be a Silver Spider farmer and it isn't a one-individual job either. It is a team-requiring job."
"Yes," said Saru as he held a roasted Poggle, "You need some assistants in checking the Silver Spiders' webs, some assistants in checking and regulating the population of the rodents those ant-living spiders use for their queen, and some assistants in checking the overall health of the Silver Spider hive and the Silver Spiders themselves, especially the queen spider who is the heartbeat of the entire colony."
The others nodded in agreement and continued eating. Nearby, Caesium was napping while Orchid and Heather checked their supplies. Naihanchi and Adamans the Fenghuang and his wife Iridia also checked their weapons such as their arrows.
"So what sort of plan does Rhamphus have in mind regarding his need for some of those Golden
Stingerfans, anyway?" asked Iridia as she checked her arrow supply.
"He wants those Stingerfans to use as bait in catching some of those intruders, Iridia," Naihanchi replied as she checked the GC sword which was now Quaoar's, the Kitsumiho still talking with Yong Bao back in Nuvola and making sure that both the swords were in good condition, "And we're gonna do it after sundown. What we're gonna do is place those Stingerfans inside one of the small Gathering Houses and then lie in wait for those intruders whom we have deduced for definite have been cultivating those illegal plant-animals for their Golden Glitter Gas and then catch them. Comet-Claws and his spy team are going to help as will some members of Rhamphus' defence force for the city. We're gonna help out too."
Iridia raised an eyebrow and resumed checking her arrows.
"Some of us have already deduced that this Stingerfan cultivators are from Kurama's group," said Orchid the Golden Egg Goose, "But we can't be sure if they actually ARE from that evil Kitsune's gang."
"Well, all the evidence from the Golden Stingerfans points to that deduction, Orchid," said Heather as she checked her supply of rare fire-flower cordial.
"Exactly," added Adamans, "Where else can Kurama source his Golden Glitter Gas for his false cult's worship services back in Asgard Sky City according to Ozone and Glitterwing?"
Orchid turned to the window and gazed at a certain Cloud-Man outside as he talked to the Giant, Bentley. These two tall members were staying in a large outdoor building built specifically for giant creatures such as Land Domain Giants and the Sky Domain-native Cloud-Men, their enormous size specifically designed to accommodate the massive size of these creatures for they were too big to stay in the 'general' rooms of the hotel. All cities had large buildings to help accommodate giant creatures like Cloud-Men and the Cloud-Men often lived in large houses. Orchid then turned her gaze top Quaoar as he continued to talk with Yong Bao. This time, he was discussing about Shenron with the Kotobuki.
"It won't be long until Shenron eventually loses his gift of speech from the Lion King, Quaoar," Yong Bao firmly said, "Based on what I've been told about that rogue Azure Dragon and his beastly behaviour unbecoming of a noble Cardinal Beast, it won't be long until he becomes a dumb beast. However, Shenron isn't the first rogue Cardinal Beast to be cursed with constant and unquenchable hunger resulting from abusing his position as the secondary Guardian of the Lion King's Garden of Youth apples by pilfering from orchard for his own evil uses."
"You've come across another Cardinal Beast that has suffered the dumb beast reversion fate from abusing his position as secondary Guardian to Aslan's Garden of Youth?" asked Quaoar.
"Yes, it was a rogue White Tiger of West," Yong Bao replied, "Like Shenron, he, too, had pilfered from Aslan's apple orchard. He had been banished by Aslan from the Garden of Youth and its premises. Though he left the area, he took several apples and used them to boost his strength, his greatest desire, but he behaved like a savage dumb tiger with a VIOLENT temper. Eventually, the White Tiger lost his ability to talk and reverted into a regular dumb tiger but with his immense strength boosted from his consumption of the apples intact. It took a HUGE army effort to kill the beast and I helped to dispatch him."
"Well, if that White Tiger suffered that horrific and terrifying fate," Quaoar said, "Then there's no doubt that Shenron will be following his path. And I'm sorry to say and Moana is going to hate this but there is not much hope left for Moana's brother but we'll just have to see when we either encounter him or meet him when we eventually get to Asgard Sky City to confront Kurama."
"Even if Shenron does redeem himself, the consequences of his actions are permanent," Yong Bao said, "Not only will he have his severe and constant hunger to deal with but also his reputation. He will NEVER be allowed to return to the Eastern Azure Dragons' kingdom in the Cardinal Domain EVER again. Any Cardinal Beast that has committed major crimes often become outcasts for the rest of their lives. As for Kurama..." he trailed off, not wanting to say it. Quaoar also felt a chill course through his spine, dreading what kind of fate awaited Kurama due to his crime of setting up a false Aslan cult. He knew that the true Aslan would NOT tolerate such being set up and the consequences at his paws can be DIRE.
"Anyway," Quaoar added, aiming to finish the conversation, "We'd better prepare for sundown. We have an important task to carry out with the leader of Nuvem City, Rhamphus the Ropen and I want us prepared for it. I'll speak to you later and report the results."
"Okay, speak to you soon," said Yong Bao on the screen, "Let me know as soon as you've finished with the process."
With that, Yong Bao terminated the call and the flat crystalline screen collapsed back into an octahedron which Quaoar took and put into his tails' fur. Orchid shuddered as did Heather and Naihanchi and also Adamans and Iridia the Fenghuang couple.
"Yong Bao encountered a rogue White Tiger that turned into a savage dumb tiger with immense strength, Quaoar?" Orchid said.
"That sounds INCREDIBLY frightening," added Heather. Adamans, Iridia and Naihanchi nervously exchanged looks as Quaoar gazed at the Golden Egg Goose and Gold-Fleeced Ewe.
"Abuse your position as secondary Guardian of Aslan's Garden of Youth by pilfering from its orchard for your own evil and selfish uses," the Kitsumiho darkly said, "The risk of giving in to your primal and feral instincts from the consequences of those actions can be a result. Salamander, Shenron's replacement for the Azure Dragon's turn to be the secondary Guardian of the orchard wasn't kidding when he described Shenron being under Aslan's judgement already. Believe me, you two; whether Moana likes it or not, we may find that Shenron may eventually follow that White Tiger to that horrific fate with his EXTREMELY ravenous hunger."
Orchid and Heather gazed sadly back at the Kitsumiho and turned these gazes to a certain Azure Dragoness who was also napping in preps for tonight's tasks along with Aang, Morla (whose head was tucked into his shell) and Spock. They dreaded her reaction to the fate of her brother and the possibility of him being unable to change. Sadly, the Golden Egg Goose and Gold-Fleeced Ewe resumed checking their equipment and supplies.
"We're to meet Neonpaw the Cheshire Cat once it gets dark," Quaoar reminded, "So I'd recommend you get some rest until then," and with that, the Kitsumiho left to nap himself. Orchid and Heather then finished checking their supplies and equipment, packed them away and left to take a nap. Naihanchi, Adamans and Iridia did the same.