Light in the Sky (Closed, Laryli)

The darkness of space faded as the planet Aurela came into view through the front of the escape pod, but the eyes of the pod’s occupant didn’t see it. The pods were life pods, designed to put their occupant in a state of suspended animation until they touched down on a planet, or were retrieved by a friendly vessel. But with no friendly vessels anywhere near him and the beacon of his pod broken, the only hope for Alaister was to seek refuge on the planet below, though he knew nothing of it.

As the pod entered the atmosphere it shuddered only a little, the inertial dampeners making the ride smooth even as heat gathered around the falling pod. The pod had entered the planet on the darkened side, meaning that it would be coming down in the night and likely to draw attention as it streaked toward the forests that bordered the eastern edge of the high elf kingdoms. Far below, eyes turned upwards to see the streak of light soaring through the sky far above them, but it was a patrol of high elves who would see the streak of light fall and land about a mile from them with a force that sent a cloud of dirt up that was visible even from their location.

Once it was down, the pod beeped several times as it worked to rouse its occupant from his suspended animation. Only a moment later the front of the pod opened upwards with a hiss as the pods climate controlled air met the cooler air of the night outside, but the occupant remained unmoving because of a wound to the back of his head that the pod hadn’t the tools to repair. The golden blood of a melaer dripped down the front of Alaister’s face a little, the white feather and beads bound into his hair being stained by it.

The patrol was closing in quickly via horseback and would surely take Alaister to be questioned somewhere, he was dressed in strange attire and carrying tools they had never seen the like of, not to mention the highly advanced pod he had fallen to the planet in. He stirred just a little, his eyes opening but vision blurred, he could feel pain which was a good sign but also not a pleasant sensation. Before he could move his vision blurred further and he fell into an unconscious state again, completely at the mercy of any who found the pod.

A pair of shining eyes peeked out of the nearby bushes, drawn to this crash site for some reason. Carefully the woman creeped toward to pod, sticking to the shadows. There was a bit of a fire around the crash site, and she had to move quick, because the local militia would no doubt be here at any moment.

She peered down on the unconscious man, her head tilting back and forth with curiosity. His clothes were odd, obviously not from any nearby settlements. The pod was a mystery to her, the fact it survived such an impact quite surprising. And of course, the strange golden fluid leaking from what appeared to be his back.

She raised her own arm, looking at an old scar on the back of her hand. Same colour blood. This man, whoever he was, might well know things about her. She grabbed hold of him, pulling him carefully out of the pod and hauling him over her shoulder to transport. The thunder of hooves was getting louder, and she needed to get him out of here before they found him and took him away, likely never to be seen again.

She darted into the underbrush again, the mans weight seemingly not faltering her movement much. She peeked out from the bushes a moment to see the Elven patrol already walking around the crash site. She hid once more, slipping quietly away, back to her makeshift camp at the top of the hill.

Alaister remained oblivious to his situation as he was hauled from the pod and carried by this strange woman, who even in his unconscious state he could sense the familiar sensation of a melaer about. It helped him to find his wits just a little, but he was still unconscious and couldn’t yet convey his thanks to his unknown rescuer. By the time the patrol reached the crash site they would find the pod, but there would be no sign of the occupant thanks to the woman who had been drawn to the crash, by curiosity or whatever else.

It would take three hours for Alaister to open his eyes again, when he did he would find his head bandaged, though his natural healing would have taken over some point and it was unlikely the injuries were there anymore. The blood stains certainly were, though. He sat up, clearly not suffering the effects of his injury anymore, his golden eyes glowing in the night and coming to rest upon the campfire he was laid beside. He raised a hand and pulled the bandage from his head, rising to his feet and only now noticing his sword was gone, along with all of the other technological objects from his person.

Taken, no doubt, as a precaution by his rescuer. But the campfire suggested a minimal level of advancement and his weapons, the sword included, were of a highly advanced technology that he couldn’t have in the hands of anyone who didn’t know how to use it. He found that he was alone though, but there were signs that his rescuer intended to return to the camp, so he decided to sit on the leather bedding he’d been laid upon to wait for their return.

“What planet is this?” He mused, his hand device hadn’t been removed at least, so he brought up a holographic display of the system he was in but that just raised more questions. “There’s no planet here... wonderful, that’s just... wonderful.” He sighed, deactivating the display and just waited in silence, staring into the fire.

The woman watched the man awake while hiding the high branches of a tree, looking down with curiosity and part-fear. While dragging him back she had felt unusual familiarities, as well as other strange senses that she couldn't hope to yet understand. And now he was stirring, taking off his bandages and seemingly, completely unharmed. She looked back to that scar on the back of her hand. Accelerated healing... just like her.

The mans equipment hung from the branch she sat on, all wrapped in a large leather sack. Well, apart from the sword, which was tied up separately. She found it odd that the man had not chosen to flee, rather remain on his bedding while pondering over a strange device. Though he did not speak in the native tongue, she found herself understanding his words perfectly. Something was very wrong here, and that fear caused her to tense up further. But the curiosity nagging in her wouldn't abate. She needed to find out more, and find out why this man was so familiar.

She unhooked her bow from her back, pulling an arrow from the quiver and notching it, ready to fire, just in case. She watched him quietly a little longer, before finally leaping out of the tree, landing gracefully on a rock not 4 meters away from him, an arrow aimed directly at his head. She didn't fire of course, but this made her feel safer. Her head tilted side to side as she measured him up, She remained silent, unsure if to speak to the man or if it would come out in his strange language.

Alaister remained still while he waited, peering into the flickering flames of the campfire with a small smile coming to his face. He took in a deep breath, this world was peaceful compared to the many he had been to in his time travelling. No, not entirely peaceful, there were things out there that darkened it, but there was still something that told of untouched peace and he couldn’t quite place it. His eyes closed for a moment and he let the small night breeze pass over him, it was pleasant here in on the hill, with the trees shielding the camp from the world.

His quiet thought was interrupted by the arrival of his rescuer, she stood on a rock with an arrow aimed directly for him, but he didn’t flinch away. Instead he rose to his feet and gave her a warm smile that spoke of untold kindness, raising his hands openly to show that he had nothing on him that could harm her. That wasn’t entirely true, his hand device could expel an energy shield that had enough force to throw people a distance, but he had no intention of using it.

“If you talk to me, I can learn your language.” He said, but he knew immediately she was melaer and he knew by the look of her that she likely had no idea what that even meant. She would be able to understand him in their native tongue, but he didn’t want to irk her too much and felt talking in the tongue she knew would help. “Then you will know I’m not a threat to you, my name is Alaister, I come from... up there.”

He indicated up toward the sky and the stars, then looked back at her with his glowing eyes, still smiling in that strangely soft way that said he couldn’t hurt a fly. Not true, he had killed plenty in his years, but there was still a genuine warmth in it. “I think you are too, I know you’re like me. I can feel it and see it. Our eyes, yes?” He pointed at his eyes, as they were the same as hers. “I think I could answer many questions for you.”

As she listened to the strange mans words, she kept her bow aimed firmly at him, not flinching. But he did seem similar to her in so many ways. He was right about the eyes. And she understood every word he said fluently. Everything about him screamed "familiar!" and yet she'd never seen this man in her life. Perhaps she had been out here too long, and hallucination was finally setting in? Or perhaps some god had heard her lonely prayers and sent someone?

She hesitated for a while, her bow trembling a little before she finally lowered it slowly, holding the bow to one side and the arrow to the other. She still looked afraid, but at the same time curious. Their glowing eyes met in silence for a short time. Only the crackling of the fire to break the quiet of the forest. Her mouth trembled for a short time, before finally speaking quietly.

"..L...Laryli. My name... Laryli."

Her hands both opened, her bow and arrow dropping to the floor, as if all will to fight had suddenly been sapped from her. She was so afraid, and yet this stranger seemed to emanate a comfortable feeling. Silence fell upon her again as she stared at the one called Alaister.

“Laryli.” He repeated, nodding.

The way her hands seemed unable to hold her bow or the arrow anymore spoke volumes and in that moment Alaister couldn’t help but feel for her, she must have felt so alone and the look of fear and confusion meant she truly had no idea who she really was, or where she really came from. He took a step closer, then stopped and instead sat down cross-legged on the ground, looking at her and offering the spot in front of him for her to sit as well.

“Where we come from,” he began, choosing his words carefully. “We never abandon anyone. But you were, weren’t you?”

He looked at her with that smile, but it had a mixture of sadness in it this time, and he placed his hands in his lap with a pensive look on his face. He leaned back a little to look at her again, looking apologetic all of a sudden, as though her being left alone with no idea of her identity or heritage were his fault. But in a way, it was the fault of all melaer and he knew there may be many like her since the fall of Melandrisia, of the few who escaped he had heard little aside from those aboard the Ascendia.

“Sorry, for not getting here sooner.” He gave her a smile again, as though he was in any condition to help a fellow melaer when he had arrived anyway. “If you want to ask me anything, I’ll answer every question. I promise.”

Although reluctant at first, Laryli sat down on the leather rug opposite him, crossing her legs and starting at him. Her eyes, though gold, seemed to have a feral quality to them, a side effect of being out here for so long. His apologetic tone confused her, given she had no idea why he would feel guilty about her.

Still, he had given her permission to ask questions. And she was full of them. She mulled it over for a moment, wondering which would be best to ask. Why she had been alive for 1,000 years while everyone else around her had died? Why people were afraid of her eyes? Why did he give a damn about her? After a short moment, a question finally escaped her, one that merged all these questions into one.

"W...What am I?"

Alaister smiled at her question, the most valid way of summing up many of the questions she had, but it also brought a pang of sadness with it. The melaer had once been such a beautiful and thriving people, now reduced to what could only be described as a small pocket of survivors who barely clung to their home and life before. But he steeled himself and the warm smile returned to his face, looking across at her with his eyes on hers.

“You are melaer.” He told her, his voice gentle and wistful. “We were a beautiful race, filled with light who once protected those who could not do so themselves. We were great believers in freedom for all peoples and we helped police the stars with the help of our allies, ensuring the strong could not bully the weak.”

His eyes glazed just a little as he spoke, images of home and family rushing to the front of his mind, things she had never had the chance to experience as he had. But they were gone now, almost all of them were gone and there was no turning time back to return them, and here in front of her sat the man responsible for their deaths. It was he that the enemy had torn apart Melandrisia to find, he that they sought to kill and he who his people had refused to hand over, and now they were almost extinct.

“We came from a world called Melandrisia,” his eyes returned to hers, looking genuinely saddened now. “It had five moons and fields of golden grass as far as the eye could see, the oceans were silver and the mountains were capped with snow that shimmered in the light of the sun. There was a forest in the north near where I lived, this feather was a rite of passage for my family, it came from a songbird in that forest, one we formed a bond with and gave us its feather willingly...”

He stroked the feather on the back of his head, which was the purest white you had ever seen and had the five small beads hung just beside it that only came down to about a third of the feather’s length. His eyes filled with tears, and they fell before he could stop himself, he hadn’t wept at all since the loss of his home but somehow telling this young melaer woman the truth made it hit harder than it ever had before. The tears were as golden as his blood, though the texture was clearly more watery than the blood she had cleaned from him when bandaging his head.

“But it’s all gone now.” He confessed, lowering his hands and laughing bitterly. “I’m sorry, I wish I could have met you and told you that you had a home waiting for you, maybe family to reunite with but... you don’t. There were once billions of us, we now stand at barely ten thousand, not including some lost souls like yourself.”

As he explained what she was, she couldn't help but feel the familiarity in his words, like she knew all this already, despite hearing it for the first time. Like an old memory suppressed, rising from the subconscious. Protecting the weak, filled with light... that all seemed a lifetime away though.

His tale of his home, and his rite of passage sounded impressive, far more impressive than her own rites of childhood. All she did was slaughter bear and boar, to keep herself fed and clothed. Laryli felt the sadness wash over her as the tale was told, something in her heart understanding what he was telling her. To live out here for so long, and now to be told that the home she never knew was gone too... it was overwhelming, her frown visible as the golden man shed his tears. But it had been over 800 years since she last cried, and she found it impossible to do so again.

Uncrossing her legs, she got to her knees, crawling closer to him like a beast, looking closely at his face as he told her how many were left. Her fear seemed gone now, replaced by a curious, sad stare. Though she was still not accustomed to all this... social activity. It felt awkward as well as interesting. Finally she spoke again, her tone sincere.

"So... we are both alone?"

There was nearly a recoil from Alaister when she crawled closer to him like that, but he contained himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t want her being that close to him, but more that he hadn’t expected her to suddenly crawl over to him in that way, like a beast stalking prey but with a look more of curiosity and sadness. He looked back into her eyes, her question making him smile just a little, the sincerity in her tone helping make him feel better in some strange way.

“Not at all,” he replied, smiling at her with the same warmth he had done to begin with. “You have me now, and I have you. There is much I can teach you about our heritage, and the ways of our people.”

He never specified them as being just Laryli’s people, or it being just her heritage. He felt that telling her it was theirs would help her trust him, feeling a bond with him because it was something they both shared. That would help in the long run, but now he had questions of his own, even as she was on her hands and knees peering at him. He looked around and then locked her with his gaze once more, looking just a little lost as he lifted his hand and activated the holographic display.

“This is a tool our people use, it can show you almost anything. But... it says that this planet doesn’t exist and our maps are the most extensive in the universe.” Of course, there was just a small hint of pride saying that, but you couldn’t stand tall as the melaer once did and not be proud - the secret was not letting pride control you. He deactivated the device again and looked at her. “So since I have no idea where we are, I’m going to need you to fill in a few details, if that’s alright.”

Laryli nodded slowly, still almost right up in his face. Clearly she had no knowledge of etiquette, or that her proximity would cause discomfort. She looked at the holographic display as it lit up, almost recoiling in horror for a second, before looking closely at it, waving her hand in the image, surprised that she couldn't touch it.

"Is that... some sort of magic? I know some of the city dwellers practice magic..."

She looked over to the campfire suddenly, crawling on all fours over to it, where a skinned Rabbit had been roasting on a makeshift spit for about two hours. She ripped off one of its legs, devouring it with frenzied bites, finishing it in less than 20 seconds. Clearly Alaister had a lot of work to do...

In the light of the fire, he could finally get a good look at her face. Her hair was a mess, but surprisingly clean. She had a constantly blank expression when tending to her food, as if completely focused. Her mannerisms, her stances and her expressions would be clear indication to Alaister that she had been like this for a very, very long time.

I know little of the cities... but the forests... I know the forests. I can show you around them, and out of them if it helps."

She ripped off the other Rabbit leg, crawling back to Alaister before holding up the Rabbit leg. Clearly all that practice over the years had paid off, because it was cooked perfectly, still juicy and succulent despite the open fire. She began to wave the Rabbit leg, clearly wanting him to take it.

"Eat.... you need your strength. You must be hungry."

Alaister observed her for a moment, she was a very trusting woman he determined, certainly she hadn’t trusted him to begin with but she had opened up to him very quickly. She was also wild, likely she had been out here for a very long time, from youth judging by how she seemed to have very little civilized behaviour about her. He just smiled, he didn’t mind her being so close and he wouldn’t berate her for it and it didn’t unnerve him like it might others, he knew that she wasn’t doing it intentionally.

“Our kind can all use magic to some degree.” He explained, raising his hand to show her the blue gem that held all the technology for his hand device including the holographic display. “But this is not magic, it’s just a very advanced tool, all of our people had one. If we could find the ship you came to this planet on, you may even have one too.”

The thought had just occurred to him that they could try looking for her ship, certainly it may be in disrepair or damaged, but he had just spent a thousand years running an entire battlecruiser by himself - he was sure he might be able to fix it to fly again. Of course, that would require finding it again first, which meant status was needed to get that kind of information. A plan was already forming in his mind, even as she went about pulling off the leg of some creature she had roasted over her fire.

“Forests will be fine, better to keep off the roads anyway in my experience, nothing but trouble.” He chuckled, remembering events of the past and shaking his head at all the times taking a road had led him into problems.

His eyes raised when she came over to him with the rabbit leg, taking it with a nod of thanks and a smile before he took a bite. He’d eaten no worse in his travels and it was well cooked, he smiled at her and nodded, feeling grateful for her filling his stomach. He wasn’t sure when the last time he’d eaten was, melaer could survive great deals of time without food but eventually you had to regain your energy.

“Thank you, Laryli.” He said cordially, then looked at her quite seriously. “Tell me, do you recall where it is you first arrived on this world? Where you were when you were a child?”

She smiled as he accepted her food, feeling accepted by someone at last. She then crawled back to her leather rag, slumped down on it as he ate and talked. Normally she preferred to avoid others or just not talk to them, but for some reason this man, who was clearly like her, just seemed trustworthy, in a way she could feel. Furthermore, she somehow knew that when he spoke, it was the truth. hen he asked her about her arrival though, it made her look sad. Clearly it was a bad memory. But she answered him anyway, after all, he'd been answering all her questions.

"I... don't really know how or where I arrived. My earliest memories are of my parents raising me. They said they found me in a crater at the base of a mountain, and took me in as they thought I was an abandoned child." She hesitated for a moment, then continued. "But that's ancient history now. Its been a long time since they were gone. Not exactly sure how long. I stopped following the calendar a long time ago."

She leaned down to a small leather pack next to her bedding, picking up a small pendant and tossing it to Alaister gently. It looked rusted, really old, but it still opened perfectly. Inside, a picture of a smiling elderly couple, with a little girl smiling between them, with golden eyes. Clearly her parents.

"I didn't really spend much time around others after that... they didn't like how different I was. So I came out here, and now I began to live among the trees. It is a .... quiet existence, and I cope well with that."

She picked up a stick, poking at the fire to keep it burning strong. It was a cold night, and the fire was the most comforting thing for her right now. Normally you wouldn't expect someone to still be reeling from the loss of their parents 1,000 years later, but when it was the only real social interaction you've had in all that time, its perhaps understandable.

He caught the locket she tossed to him and smiled at the picture inside. So she didn’t know exactly where she had been found, but she knew that it was in a crater at the base of a mountain, that narrowed it down a little. Likely if her ship was here, or the ship of her parents if she had been so young when found, then it was taken by the high elves who ruled these lands and those details would help find it. He gave her a smile, nodding at her tale about her parents, the ones who had raised her out of the kindness of their hearts regardless of the few strange differences about her.

“Your parents sound like they were very good people.” He said, nodding and then seeming a little saddened by her comment about people not like how different she was. He disliked people who were judgemental just because someone seemed a little different, giving no chance for them to prove themselves as a person.

Pressing his hands around the locket after closing it, there was a small white glow from the cracks in his fingers and he held the locket out to her, looking like it was brand new. He didn’t know a great deal of magic, he was more of a soldier and warrior than a spellweaver, but he knew enough to do repairs because it was a requirement for service in the melaer fleet.

“You should wear that, don’t hide it away in your pack.” He nodded toward the locket, then looked at her again. “It’s important we keep those we loved close to our hearts, lest we forget them and the lessons they taught us.”

His eyes scanned the trees for a moment, seeming lost in thought regarding what they should do next, if they wanted to find her ship they needed to find someone of necessary authority and use them to find out. Of course that was his goal, Laryli was more going to end up being along for the ride most likely, he frowned some at the thought because he didn’t want to be dragging her along against her will.

“Where is the capital of this land?” He asked, obviously having an idea. “I think I’d like to make a visit to whoever rules.”

Laryli took her locket slowly, looking down on the shine with renewed sadness. But she took his words to heart, fastening the locket around her neck once more, for the first time in hundreds of years. She seemed impressed by the magics this man wielded, and began pondering if she should ask him to teach her some of it. But his words were also taken to heart. She felt often that she should forget her parents, but it was because of them that she is where she is today.

She noticed his interest in his surroundings, looking around too, in case he had seen danger. When he made the request to visit the capital however, she was a little worried, but she decided to help him. She pointed out to the west, nodding.

"The High Elf capital is four days walk to the west... I only go there to trade furs. But they barely tolerate my presence there, I'm only allowed in because I bring furs... Oh! Perhaps this will be helpful."

Laryli fumbled in her pack, pulling out a rather old, partially crumbled map. It was just about readable, and was a crude display of the local area, including the nearby city. It had landmarks on it, detailing where nearby towns, cities and villages are, though it was no doubt a few years out of date, and thus could be missing something. She pointed to two locations on the map.

"We are... here. The city you want to visit is... there. We do have to travel through known Bandit hunting grounds though. I tend to sneak through, I am rarely ever caught."

Alaister smiled at her reaction to the locket and more so when she put it on again, glad that his words had gotten through to her. Now they would concentrate on the bigger picture, four days walk to the west wasn’t so bad, he’d taken on longer journeys in his time. He frowned though at the notion that they barely tolerated Laryli, so they were intolerant types then, but then he would just have to change that. He gave a reassuring smile that said not to worry, but then he just had an air about him that seemed to radiate calm, even for those in his presence.

“They won’t trouble you,” he said, nodding. “I’ll make sure of that.”

When she fumbled with the map in her pack he leaned over to look at it once she had flattened it out to be read, though admittedly it was barely readable even flattened. Still, he could make it out some, though considering the age of the map he felt that it could be out of date. He followed several paths through the area, raising his eyes to her when she mentioned bandits and gave a deep sigh. He really didn’t like bandits, not since an incident on a small medieval planet where he’d almost ended up dinner for a bunch of cannibal bandits, not his best adventure.

“If you think you can lead us through, then I trust you do so. But I am wary of bandits, their type are the kind to rarely see reason, I dislike unreasonable sorts.” He rubbed his chin, he’d met plenty of rulers who were unreasonable sorts too. “Alright, then we’ll begin heading there tomorrow, for now... I am tired.”

His ordeal in the life pod had left him exhausted, like eating, melaer did not have to sleep regularly. However, just like eating, sometimes their energy still had to be restored somehow, and so he fell onto the fur bedding he had been laid upon while injured and before he could say another word was out like a light. He slept soundly, his face a picture of peace when he slept, his shoulders not looking as though weighed down by some great responsibility.

The night passed with thankful silence, Laryli sitting up and watching the man sleep for about an hour, before finally curling up on her rag to sleep as well. Her sleep that night was filled with dreams, images of strange places, alien buildings, and mysterious faces. It caused her to wake at first light, the images causing her to awake with shock.

She looked over to the man, whom was still asleep, and seemingly a quiet sleeper. She crept over to him quietly, looking over his partially battered outfit. Some of the symbols were similar to those in her dreams. She poked at him every now and again, though making sure she did not wake him in the process. She was curious, and lacked the politeness or taboo knowledge. She moved in close to his face, sniffing at him, and at his hair. He was quite a curious specimen.

Her prodding and investigating had likely grown a little too intrusive by now, and no doubt waking up to this would not be something that he would expect...

The night passed peacefully and morning came without any disturbances. The trees surrounding their clearing shielded them from the sun, which meant they weren’t woken by it first thing. Of course, Laryli was already awake and poking at Alaister with all the curiosity of a child, or in this case more like a cat that had just met a new person. With the light now disturbing his slumber, and having slept enough to feel refreshed, Alaister opened his eyes and...

“Ahhh!” He nearly jumped right out of his skin, leaping back a bit when he’d found Laryli’s face right in his own. “Laryli!”

He couldn’t help but start laughing now, letting out an exasperated sigh. Her behaviour the night before had indicated to her social ineptitude and more feral nature, but now he had woken up to her curiously poking at him and with her face right in his, he could tell she really needed a few lessons into social norms. Reaching out he gave her an affectionate, but platonic pat on the head in the manner you would be an overly zealous pet in the morning.

“You startled me,” he confessed, rising from his bedding and letting out a content groan. “I feel much better, shall we start our journey then?”

For a moment he went about picking up his things, leaving his sword until last which he sheathed in its scabbard on his belt. There was still the matter of his attire, so he pondered over a few holographic images of outfits for a moment, then turned the device to himself and suddenly the outfit would change right before her eyes. Nanotechnology shifted to make the attire look much more like that of the planet’s development, he then smiled at her and raised his arms before doing a couple of half turns.

“Well, what do you think?” He asked, raising his eyebrows at her. “You’re the guide, lead on when we’re ready.”

Attire: https://2img.net/h/i2.photobucket.com/albums/y22/LordKrell/alaisteroutfit_zps7525275d.jpg

Laryli recoiled a little as he patted her head, but shortly after nodded, assuming it was some kind of civilized approval. "I did not mean to startle you... was just curious." She crawled back onto her rag as he gathered his things, packing what little she owned into her handmade leather pack, slinging it over her shoulder. She hooked her bow onto her back, surprisingly well made considering the wood she had to work with. Though oddly her quiver seemed to go on her waist, suggesting she had a different method of notching arrows.

As he used his device to change his outfit however, she lept back into a defensive posture, spending a few moments examining him before walking up close, poking at it to see if it were real. "You really do have strange magics." She looked at the device too for a few moments, trying to poke some of the buttons, though Alaister would likely swat her away from these attempts.

When he asked to take the lead at last however, she gave a short nod, before turning and scrambling up a tree swiftly, perching on a branch and checking into the distance. She looked down upon Alaister, giving an approving nod. "I see no signs of danger. Our trip should be uneventful for at least the first day." With that she left out of the tree, landing in a surprisingly graceful pose, before rising to her feet and walking swiftly to the west. "Come! Lets not waste daylight."

“I told you, it’s not magic, it’s a tool.” He said, smiling at her and then raised his fist to give her a gentle, but firm knock on the head when she attempted to poke at the buttons on the device.

Honestly, just like a curious cat.

He watched when she scrambled up the tree and waited patiently until she said there were no signs of danger, nodding and then turning to walk in the direction she was going. She was swift, but he easily kept up. A thousand years of wandering and perfecting his survival skills on many different worlds, he was as fleet footed as anyone who might have grown up in such a life and he knew how to travel through the wilderness. Their travelling would be uneventful for the next day, aside from the avoiding an occasional elven patrol more because Laryli seemed to prefer it than his desire not to get caught.

They continued until nightfall and then found a clearing to sleep in, they weren’t quite in bandit territory yet and while they were peaceful he decided to take their setting up camp for the night as a good opportunity to teach Laryli a few times. Besides, they had both slept the night before and as melaer they would not need to sleep again soon, they would be wide awake that night making a perfect opportunity to talk properly and for him to show her some of the ways of their people.

“You’re a very inquisitive person, Laryli.” He complimented, or at least it was a compliment in the way he meant it. “That’s natural, our kind are naturally curious, the amount of times I’ve been in trouble for poking my nose into something I shouldn’t have been involved in, well I can’t quite count them anymore.”

Alaister gave her a smile, then held out his hand device toward her, indicating for her to come over so that he could show her some of the buttons which were on the back of his hand, the blue gem that held the technology and energy weapon being on the front. The blue gem was basically what made the device work.

“I told you that all of our kind have one of these,” he began, pointing to some of the buttons. “It’s made so it only works while on the hand of its owner, each of us get one when we come of age and it’s like our lifeline. Here, I’ll show you...”

With that he began to run through the functions, he showed her the holographic encyclopedia that gave information on different animals, then the one that showed the display of people that were of interest. Then there were the maps, both of individual planets as well as the universe as a whole. He also showed her how the device worked with his suit, explaining that the suit was made of tiny little machines that could change when commanded by the device, so he made the suit change to how it had looked when she took him from the pod, then back to the outfit he’d changed into so he would fit in.

“And finally, in an emergency it could be used as a weapon.” He held it out palm first, the blue gem began to glow and then fired a blue field of energy toward a rock, sending it flying into a tree. “It takes a minute to recharge, so you can only do it once, it’s sort of like a last resort thing. See?”

Laryli watched him explain his tool with great interest, fascinated most of all by the strange animals he showed her, and then by the suit and how it worked. It was all totally new to her, as she had lived without technology all her life. Of course she poked a few buttons randomly, causing odd, random entries to come up about distant star systems or persons long dead. "Its... interesting. I have never seen such a thing on this world... you really are from another planet. But... so am I?"

As he demonstrated the weapon feature, she shook her head, pointing at her bow. "I will never need such a thing... I always have my bow to rely on." Her thoughts were on the following days trip, into bandit infested territory. They would likely risk battle, as they had been more active with the rumors of unrest in the region. She decided to explain it to Alaister. "We shall be traveling slower tomorrow... in order to avoid the bandit ambushes, we shall have to take forking or backtracking paths at times."

Looking over her shoulder, she crawled over to the fire, which was starting to go out a little, to throw some more wood onto it, before poking at it with a stick. As she did so, she began to hum, unwittingly to an old, Halan lullaby, no doubt sung to her when she was a baby. While Alaister would likely pick up on this, Laryli had no such thoughts, to her just being one of those tunes she had heard in a tavern on her trading trips.

He smiled when she poked at a few of the buttons, bringing up random entries and making him chuckle a little. Her curiosity really was endearing, he gave her another pat on the head, stroking her like a cat who had done something good, or simply purred when you did it. He didn’t even know why he was doing it, perhaps it was just her mannerism that led him to act the way he did toward her. Act like a cat, get treated like a cat, or something. That was his logic right now anyway.

“Yes, you are.” He nodded, giving her a warm smile again. “Your parents found you in a crater, just like you found me last night.”

He frowned at the next part, looking at he bow for a moment. He felt concerned immediately, her reliance on a tool was a bad thing, even the hand device wasn’t infallible if you were in bed or simply relaxing and didn’t have it on at the time. A tool was useful, until it was gone, then you had to find other means to fight back.

“You always have your bow to rely on, until you don’t.” He replied, looking at her quite seriously for the first time. “Don’t rely on tools to always be there, especially not in the heat of a battle.”

Alaister wasn’t trying to be mean, he was sure she was very fond of her bow and very capable with it, but he knew the realities of war and battle - a weapon was a reliable tool of battle until you were disarmed or caught unaware. Anyone who claimed to have never been disarmed or caught unaware was either a liar or extremely lucky, and luck was a fickle friend that might abandon you at any moment. If there was one lesson he would always seek to teach a young soldier, it was to train your body as well as you trained your weapon handling, be prepared to fight with your fists and your feet if you had to just to survive the battle.

He snapped out of his thoughts by her mention of bandits, giving a deep sigh at the thought of them. On his travels he’d had a lot of run ins with bandits, they were a pain in his backside everywhere he went, bandits really didn’t seem to care much for anything other than coin and occasionally ransom. A pity really, Alaister was one for second chances and would like to think if he got the opportunity he might turn bandits to a better cause, but alas they never wanted to listen and so he had by now stopped trying to talk. He had become jaded since the fall of his home, more jaded than he would have liked.

“Well, bandits are a difficulty I’ve had to put up with before, I’m sure you can lead us on safe paths through their territory.” He said, smiling to show that he was confident in her knowledge of the land they were in.

They sat there a while longer and Laryli began to whistle, a tune he had heard before because of a close friendship with a young Halan ship captain, who had brought his ship and crew to bare when Alaister had called for them to face the Myrlaer at the Battle of Highland. It was a Halan lullaby, a lullaby of one of the three ruling houses of Melandrisia and it hit him like a flood, this girl was the heir to that line. She had to be, it was the only way a girl with no knowledge of her parents would know it, they likely hummed and sang it to her when she was a child.

“That lullaby,” he said gently, smiling sadly now. “I know that lullaby... I knew the people whose lullaby that was. I know who your real parents are, Laryli.”

Laryli shook her head as he told her that she was not from this world, still not entirely sunk into the idea. After all, this is all she had known for 1,000 years, and now a man comes along and tells her this is all a lie? But then of course, Alaister seemed to radiate truth, and she couldn't deny the honesty in his words. It would sink in, eventually. His... odd affection toward her had not gone unnoticed, and she assumed it was some form of approval for their people. She smiled now, every time he rubbed her head, like it was some kind of reward.

His comments about her bow were a little saddening, after all, she had relied on them for hunting for a long, long time now. For most of her life she had killed beast and man with her trusted arrows, being both her protector and breadwinner. But again, she saw wisdom in his words. Perhaps she would need to learn to fight without weapons at some point. No doubt he would be a willing teacher.

When he mentioned the bandits to her, she nodded with another smile. "I can guide us around their primary hunting grounds, but we may run into stragglers. The smart ones tend to avoid me though... never ends well for them." Her tone about the bandits suggested an experienced background in dealing with them. She had clearly been fighting bandits before any of the current generation were even born. And even then, they hadn't changed one bit.

She was surprised to see him pick up on her tune, and almost shocked as he mentioned he knew her parents. She looked at him, quietly, a thousand questions spinning in her head. For about a good ten seconds, the only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fire, its glow illuminating her slightly muddy face. Finally she began to crawl toward him again, on all fours, stopping just short of his face, looking at him with wild eyes.

"Please... tell me about them."

There was a silence that followed his revelation, Laryli seemed to be trying to get her head in order, it was clear she had so many questions she didn’t know when to start. Then she crawled over to him in that feral manner, stopping just short of his face in a manner most would have recoiled from as a major intrusion of personal space, he took a mental note to teach her about that later lest she disturb others with her behaviour. Her wild eyes just made him smile a little, and he nodded at her request, easing her away from him by placing a hand and pushing gently.

“Elastor and Reina of House Halan,” he began, raising his device so that two holographic images of the duo would appear together, by the look of the image if must have been captured on their wedding day. “They were close personal friends, Elastor was the eldest son of Lord Eldren Halan, the Lord of the South. They went missing in the waning days of the war that destroyed our homeworld.”

He looked at her briefly, holding his hand palm up so that she could look at the images of her parents, happy and smiling together. Both of them looked like good people, the warmth in their faces obvious and their love for each other clearly strong, simply by their body language in the image. Alaister smiled sadly at the image, keeping it held up as he continued to tell her about them, deciding she would want to know what they were like, not just what their positions were on Melandrisia.

“Your parents were good people who believed in peace, your father was an admiral in the navy much like I was, your mother was a captain in his fleet.” He explained, changing the images to show the pair in their naval uniforms, her father’s a bit more elaborate being an admiral of course. “They were fiercely opinionated on matters of war, believing it should be avoided until absolutely necessary, a view I shared with them. Your parents stood beside me in battle many times, but also outside of battle, we were friends, not just comrades. They were very good people and I miss them.”

He didn’t mention the part where as the last surviving member of the Halan line, she was the rightful Lady of the South, putting her on equal rank as he was. Besides, there was no north or south to rule anymore, Melandrisia was a wasteland. Better if it had simply been blown out of the sky, Alaister felt, it would have been easier to cope with than knowing that their home was there but rendered uninhabitable. Laryli’s presence meant that both Elastor and Reina were indeed dead, two more presumed dead to cross off the list of those that he could hope might have been alive. Still, Laryli was a gift from them in a way, a sign they had once lived and now he felt more resolve to care for her than he already had.