Evergladia

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Years Ago, the Planet of Vogarth attacked the planet of Arista. The planet Vogarth is a very hostile planet that is sister to the Planet of Evergladia, their less hostile counterparts. Not only did the planet of Evergladia take the blame for this attack, the planet Vorgarth cut all ties to Evergladia. Unfortunately, the people of Evergladia could do nothing to clean their name. They looked like the inhabitants of Vogarth and shared striking similarities. Evergladia has tried to speak peace with the people of Arista, but to no avail. At some point, the communication between the two planets ceased and Evergladia was left alone, but it was not to last.

Emperor Aethris and Empress Naria of the Midwestern hemisphere still believe that the truth will be revealed to the Aristans in due time. They put all their efforts into revealing the truth to them and hoping that they will once more become allies.

The Present

Kaim was making his usual rounds in the forest and ensuring nothing was out of the ordinary. The trees were plentiful and grew the size of sky scrapers. The animals were minding their own business and ignoring Kaim's presence. Kaim took a deep breath of air and smiled. It was a great day to be an Evergladian. His eyes scanned the surroundings. It was about this time that the Nightgale flowers would begin to bud and await their blooming time in the late hours of the night. He was looking forward to that. As he walked about, he realized that he would have to take Lady Ellisa here some time. She would love to look at something like that.

Kaim stood at about seven feet and four inches tall. It was average height for males as an Evergladian. His blonde hair fell down to his shoulders and his ears were pointed on either side of his head. He wore his crown around his head and his eyes were the color of jades. He was especially attractive for his race much to the pleasure of his parents. He took advantage of that when it came to winning the hearts of the people and Lady Ellisa didn't seem to oppose him either.

Kaim was just about to leave the forest when he was suddenly distracted by something. His ears twitched as he turned back to see what it was. Something about it was very... off.​
 
Sergeant Lilith Vel slouched in her chair, as her commanding officer finished the briefing her and her team on their mission. Her long waist length hair was pulled up tightly against her head and twisted into a bun that she was able to tuck under a standard issued billed cap that she used to hide the fact that her eyes were closed. Though her posture might lead some to believe she wasn't paying attention to what was being said, the truth was exactly the opposite. This mission, more then any of the other missions she had ever been on, was important. Not just to the people of Arista, but to her personally. This mission had the potential to avenge the deaths of her family and friends and a good chunk of Arista's population and she was going to do everything within her power to make sure it was a success.

"As I'm sure you're all aware, this planet is inhabited by a extremely hostile, war like race. The majority of you are to avoid direct contact with them if at all possible. If you happen to find yourself in a situation where you have no choice but to interact with a native, deadly force has been authorized. Flemming, Lelory, this doesn't apply to you, or to you either Vel. Flemming and Lelory are in charge of rounding up a few natives for interrogation and Vel, you'll be doing what you do best, close quarters recon. We need information on their level of tech, number of armed forces and any other signification information you can find. The rest of you will be here with me, making sure everything runs smoothly. We're all Arista is sending for the time being so we can't reply on calling in reinforcements if something should happen. So don't take any chances that could get you or anyone else on this team killed. If there are no questions, let's get this mission started. The sooner we get the information we need the sooner we can finish mission and head home."

A resounding 'Yes Sir!' filled the room and the other members of her team stood and started filing out of the room. She waited to the majority of them had left before standing herself and moving to leave, when she felt a hand land heavily on her shoulder. She tensed slightly and turned her head to look over her shoulder, a red brow arched in question.

"Vel, a moment..." her commanding officer spoke, removing his hand from her shoulder as she turned to face him.

"Sir?"

"I've no doubt you can handle your main assignment, but are you sure you're up to the second?"

Though her face was blank of emotion, her sapphire colored eyes darkened and shown slightly. "You don't have to worry Sir, If there is a way, I'll get the job done."

The man in front of her nodded his head solemnly "Of course you will. That's all Vel, you better get going if you're going to make it to the outskirts of the nearest city before dark. Take one of the hover bikes. They're quiet and you'll make good time with it."

She lifted her hand placed it against her forehead at a slant, a small cold smirk pulling at the corner of her lips. " Sir! The hover bike won't be necessary. As I'm sure you know, I'm faster then most people and have been endurance then most people on the team. The bike will only get in the way."

"As you will then Vel, just get going."

"Sir Yes Sir!" she finished her salute before turning and jogging out of the room to get he equipment together.

Once that was done, she headed off in the direction of the nearest wooded area at a quick paced, ground eating trot, but making hardly any noise as she moved. Her only visible weapons were a rifle she kept tightly strapped down to her recon pack, a long bladed machete strapped to her right calf, and a small sized personal firearm strapped to the thigh of the left.
 
Kaim climbed into the nearest tree, watching for any sign of disturbance. After several intense minutes, he saw her. A small little Aristan girl. Well compared to him she was small. Kaim was very intrigued by her. She looked so peaceful, yet so determined. It was kind of cute in an other worldly kind of way. Her hair was long like a lot of the women of his kind. There weren't really that many differences between them the more he thought about it. He must have watched the girl for several moments because she was getting further and further away from where he had first seen her. That Artisan girl was moving fast. He jumped to the next tree, just trailing her and watching her. He was torn between the option of following her or actually talking to her. He didn't want to scare her. That was the last thing he needed to do. They were already on thin ice as it is.

Just as he was beginning to decide on what he was going to do, he heard the sound of twigs breaking several meters away. He looked to the east and saw that there was a wild beast coming this way. It was charging by the sound of it. He narrowed his eyes and then realized that the beast was going to collide with the Aristan girl if she wasn't careful. There wasn't time to just sit and watch. Kaim jumped down from his position on the tree and ran past the girl and coming face to face with the wild beast. He grabbed it by its horns and wrestled with it for a little while.

"Calm down, we're leaving. We didn't mean to disturb your territory," Kaim said soothingly to the beast.

The animal beast thing made a loud groaning sound before ceasing its struggle and turning around to walk away. Kaim let out a breath of relief. Usually those things didn't give up so easily. He was lucky that today the beast had been tired. Otherwise, that could have ended up quite badly.

"Good thing we didn't get trampled," Kaim said in what he believed to be Aristan language, but he wasn't really sure if he had gotten the word order right. Or maybe it was the pronunciation he had gotten wrong. Well either way, there wasn't much he could do about it now.
 
She was being watched. She could feel it. She glanced at the treeline of the forest she ran beside and caught the slight movement of something large moving from tree to tree in the same direction that she was moving. If things kept up like this, she and whatever it was would eventually run into each other seeing as she was headed for a less dense part of the forest before entering it. She was so focused on keeping whatever it was that was watching her in her sights that she failed to notice the approaching animal until it was almost too late. She skidded to a halt and produced her handgun, aiming at the center of the creatures head just moments before a blonde haired male Evergladian came flying out of the woods, his extremely long legs eating up the ground at a pace similar to hers, and grabbed the charging animal by it's horns. Her pistol stayed pointed at where the animals forehead would still be, though the Evergladian's back was now in her way, but she wanted to be ready in case the, well she wasn't sure what it was. It looked very similar to the large bulls on Arista, but she wasn't sure that's actually what it was. Whatever it was, she wanted to be ready to in case the male was tossed to the side by the bull and it continued towards her in it's charge.

A delicate brow arched slightly when the Evergladian started talking to the creature in his native tongue, which of course she understood due to her training, his voice calming and melodious in tone, and she was slightly surprised when the animal seemed to relax a bit and pull back from the male, and start to walk away, but not before giving Lilith a long last look, as if to tell her that it would remember her. Remember Vel, it's not just the native people you have to watch out for, it seems the native wildlife might pose a problem as well. With the animal well on it's way to leaving, Lilith was torn as to handle the situation. In all fairness, the Evergladian had only acted to protect her, no matter how misguided the act might have been, so she really didn't want to have to shoot him. On the other hand, as far as they knew the Evergladian's didn't know they were there so if she let this male live he might blow their cover. She took a couple of steps back to better her angle and took aim at the males chest just as he turned and spoke to her.

She couldn't quite understand him, though a couple of words nearly made sense to her. It finally dawned on her that he was attempting to speak Aristian and she couldn't stop the small smirk that pulled at her pink lips. She let herself relax slightly, though the gun was still pointed at him, and replied to his horribly butchered use of her language with a perfect representation of his own. "I'm not sure what you were trying to say, but you should probably just stick to speaking your own language and not butcher the language of a people who are seriously considering going to war with yours. I'm sure wars have been started for less."

While she waited for his response, she took the opportunity to look the male over, studying him. She had known that the Evergladian's where tall, but it was one thing to know and another to see it the reality of it. She was considered tall for a woman, standing at nearly 6 feet, but she was still at least a foot shorter than him. She watched as the wind played slightly with his long blonde hair and as it blew around his face, his eyes green as a perfectly cut emerald, she caught a glimpse of long pointed ears. Though she would never have admitted it to anyone she knew, she couldn't help but notice that he was very attractive and she had to suppress the feeling of desire that had started to coil inside of her. She had a mission to complete and if that mission was successful...No, she couldn't, wouldn't let the misguided heroic acts and otherworldly good looks of one Evergladian distract her from what she had to do.
 
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"I'm just letting you know I'm friendly. Secondly, I'm not sure you understand Evergladian as well as you think. The term is not butcher, but misuse. I'm not exactly sure what a butcher is, but I know it's not an Evergladian word," Kaim said who looked to be entirely perplexed, "Anyway, there are many dialects of the Evergladian language. You speak the language of the Northern Hemisphere. It is universal to an extent."

Kaim knew what a gun was, but he had never been forced to deal with one pointed at him directly. Were all Aristans this trigger happy? He wasn't exactly sure how he should be reacting to the gun, but he knew he shouldn't take the situation lightly... Well too late for that anyway. He couldn't help it. The gun didn't exactly match her looks which would suggest that she is a kind and caring person. It was all very confusing. However, it wasn't the gun that disturbed him the most, it was the fact that there might be other Aristans here. His people could be in grave danger. His heart literally ached for the wildlife that might have come across them. The poor things probably didn't stand a chance and what of the children that played in this forest? His people lived in the trees up above, but sometimes the children came down to play. Suddenly, the magnitude of the situation dawned on him like a shining ray of light from the four moons that shined down on Evergladia.

He had to warn all of Evergladia that they had finally come. Their time had run out. What good could he do if there were more than her coming. He was unarmed and while he was skilled with the bow and wooden staffs, he couldn't dodge bullets. Kaim took a deep breath finally taking it all in and processing what he could.

"I'm not sure how a war starts," Kaim admitted, "But they all end the same..."

This was actually Evergladia's first war with another planet. Sure there have been skirmishes amongst their own people, but they all agreed that peace with the other planets must be kept above all and they've been doing that up until now. However, that did not mean they were unaware of how wars ended. Mostly with the killing of friends and family of others. It was a never ending cycle of pain and suffering. A cycle that Kaim's people would most certainly like to avoid.

"Look, I know why Arista wants to go to war, but you can't honestly believe that it was us who attacked you? Wouldn't it be strange for a planet with no technology to travel to a planet where guns exist. Granted our skin is resistant to bullets, but they still hurt," Kaim asked her, "How about this, you come with me and I show you Evergladia for what it is. If for any reason you feel threatened you can shoot me where I stand, but before then, you have to promise to leave your hostilities on the ground."
 
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Her initial reaction was to snort softly at his mention of being friendly, though she regretted it as soon as it had occurred. Whether she had needed his help with the animal or not, he had gone out of his way to save her. Not something an innately hostile person would do. Her feelings of slight regret were replaced with a bit of embarrassment as he pointed out her mistakes in the use of his language. She supposed it was fair seeing as she had called him out on his misuse of her own. She wondered briefly if the military knew that the dialect they were teaching their soldiers was specific to a certain region. If it was more or less universal on this planet it would make sense that it was the dialect they had chosen.

She watched him as his attention shifted from her to the weapon she still held pointed at him. She saw the recognition of what it was that was aim in his direction. His emerald colored eyes flickered from the gun, then back to her, and back to the gun again. He was probably thinking the same thing that everyone else thought when they first saw her decked out in her gear. What was a nice girl like her doing with such dangerous and deadly weapons. Well she supposed that had been what they had thought when she had first joined the military. Back then, she had been a nice girl, just off the farm, and even she would have to admit the weapons she trained with looked a bit foreign when held by her. But she had also been a very angry girl, with vengeance being the only thing on her mind. No one saw her as that nice girl anymore. They saw her for what she was, for what she had let herself become. A killer. The fact that she wasn't a cold-hearted killer, like so many people thought she was, made her job that much harder on her.

When she let her gaze more back to his face she saw the moment the fact that she probably wasn't the only Aristian on the planet dawn on him and she cursed softly, her stance suddenly stiffening, her pistol raising from it's relaxed state to a state of precise readiness. She was going to have to shoot him. She couldn't let him warn his people. She felt the sadness in his words as he spoke of not know how wars start but knowing how they end. He was right. It didn't really matter how a war started, they all ended the same; in death, and lots of it depending on how much each side wanted to win, what they were fighting for.

His next words caught her a bit off guard. What did he mean no technology? There had never been anything in any mission brief that had mentioned the fact that Evergladia didn't have tech. They had to have tech, or they wouldn't have been able to attack Arista the way they had. She slowly started to lower the pistol and pointed it at the ground beside his feet, her hands still gripping it, her body still ready to lift it again and fire at a moments notice. What he was offering to do wasn't something that a race who had attacked her people should be offering. He could be trying to lure her into a trap of some kind, but a feeling deep in her gut made her think that wasn't true. It would give her the opportunity to do some in depth recon on their people and their cities, which would be invaluable information if the second part of her mission needed to be carried out. She lifted on hand off her pistol and moved into a more relaxed stance, tilting the brim of her hat up and allowing a clearer view of her sapphire colored eyes. "I'll agree to your terms and give you my word that I won't attack unless I am attacked or feel threatened , as long as I can keep my weapons."
 
"You can keep them, but," Kaim added, "You must promise not to shoot anyone before me. You must kill me first before you shoot any of my people. I don't want them to think that I meant them harm. Now then moving on to a lighter topic, let me take you to one of my favorite places."

Kaim relaxed a little bit more now that the Aritian girl had put the gun down. It was rather hard to keep one's calm while having a gun pointed at you. He knew it was going to take more than one bullet to take him down, so his death wasn't exactly going to painless should she feel threatened at all in any way. She wondered how much she had been taught about the Evergladians. Perhaps not a lot. His people were a conservative bunch in that regards. He would like to assume that what she knew was actually about another planet entirely. She looked shocked when she found out that Evergladia didn't have any technology. He was certain that everyone had known that, but then again, if his people didn't want anyone to know that no one would know for sure.

He followed a path that was incredibly narrow and only got narrower the further they got. However, it eventually came to an end and the two of them ended up at a marvelous lake that was home to the strangest of creatures. A humongous tree grew from the center of the lake and closely resembled a weeping willow only it glowed in various shades of blue. The trunk was about as thick as a house and it seemed to watch over the entire the lake. The kirin, an animal that looked like a cross over between a deer and some animal with wings, were drinking from the lake. They looked up when Kaim walked in and they backed up, terrified of the Aristian girl. They didn't know about technology, but they could smell danger.

"Calm down, Tala, she won't hurt you," Kaim said calmly to the animal as he stroked its mane.

The animal nuzzled Kaim playfully and Kaim nearly fell into the lake because he lost his balance. So Tala had gotten stronger since the last time he had visited her.

"Hey, be careful. I almost fell in!" Kaim said regaining his balance.

The animal must have had a sense of humor because it nuzzled Kaim a little bit harder and sent him tumbling into the water. It whinnied as though it was laughing at him.

"Oh ha ha very funny," he said crawling out of the lake, "I admit I kind of deserve that for neglecting you, but I got really busy with royal duties."

The Kirin

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She nodded in agreement and slipped the gun back in it's holster, which was strapped high on the thigh of her left leg. She was about to introduce herself when the Evergladian male said something about taking her to one of his favorite places and started walking. She had to jog a bit to catch up with him and was nearly able to match his pace, though his stride was much longer then hers. The rate at which his moved from topic to topic and mood to mood had her mind spinning and she could only imagine what short of chaos his thoughts must be. Speaking of chaotic thoughts, Lilith's own thoughts were being drawn down more and more chaotic paths with the new information she had just been given. According to her escort, Evergladia didn't have technology, at least not the kind of tech that would be needed to mount an attack on a planet such as Arista. Could her world have made a mistake? Could they have known that the people of Evergladia were innocent? She felt her heart rate start to increase as her thoughts turned darker and darker until she was pulled from them out of necessity and the rapidly changing landscape.

The path down which she was being lead was getting narrower and narrower and she was afraid that she might be being led into a trap. It was obvious that this path was leading them to a place that probably had only one entrance and exit. She felt her hand start to slip down her thigh to brush against the butt of her gun. She was a quick draw and an even quicker shot but there was a possibility that if this was an ambush, she wouldn't survive. She took a deep breath and forced her hand to move away from her sidearm, her fingers clenching in a fist. No. For whatever reason, she knew she could trust this male. She didn't know how she knew but she did. She was about to ask how much longer it would be before they got to this favorite place of his, but the words died in her throat as the path opened up to the most beautiful lakeside view she had ever seen. Arista didn't have many naturally wild areas, and most of the 'natural' land they did have was used for farming, both of the animal and plant variety. Oh she was sure there were places on Arista, very remote places that might look half as beautiful as what was before her, but nothing this beautiful existed on her world now.

Her eyes moved around the glade and fell on the large willow like tree and she felt a tear prick at her eye, though she refused to let it fall. A sudden slight movement at the base of the tree caught her eye and she turned her attention towards the source of the movement and felt her breath catch in the back of her throat. Whatever kind of animal it was, it was the most regal and majestic animal she had ever seen. It resembled a mix of deer, horse and bird. Almost like a mythical flying horse she had read about once. She froze when she picked up their hesitant and weary posture, not wanting to spook them anymore then her presence already had. She didn't want them to run away from her.

She wasn't overly surprised to watch the Evergladian male walk right up to the animals, stroking and talking to them as if he'd known them his whole life. He probably had. No she wasn't surprised at his actions, but she was surprised at her own feelings of jealousy. She felt her fingers twitch with a want to touch their fur and run her fingers through their short manes. She watched as the male stumbled a bit at the overly enthusiastic nudge he received from one of the animals and felt her lips draw up in a small smile. She was so caught off guard when the animal pushed against him harder, sending him into the water that she burst out laughing without realizing that she was doing it, her soft bell like laughter mixing with the amused whinnies of the animal, who was still standing next to the water and a very wet and slightly annoyed Evergladian. She was oo overtaken by her mirth that she nearly missed his mention of being a royal. That sobered her up quickly, though there was still a slightly upturned smirk pulling at her lips that she couldn't seem to get rid of.

"You're a royal?"
 
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Kaim looked at the girl who had suddenly began laughing at him, "Oh don't tell me you think this is funny! Tala you know I hate walking around in wet clothes!"
Kaim began to wring the water out from his clothes, "Well yes, I am a royal. I'm a prince actually, but I'd like to think of myself as a normal citizen. Anyway, since we're obviously done with formalities, my name is Kaim, the prince of Sorellias, the mid western hemisphere of Evergladia."
He bowed dramatically before continuing to attempt to dry himself off. Kaim couldn't help, but to smile at the girl's laughter. It fit her more than the gun did to say the least. Furthermore, she was cuter when she was laughing rather than glaring or looking serious. Tala looked at the Aristian girl and then back at Kaim before making another soft whinny as though it were inquiring about something. He turned and looked it in the eyes as though he was communicating with it. In all honesty, Kaim's expression said something along the lines of No, no, and a million times, no. He turned away from the kirin who nudged him forward towards the Aristian girl. He turned around and shook his finger at the animal who only bore an innocent expression at this point in time. He returned his attention to his guest and at the same time kept a close eye on the Kirin. They are mischievous little devils. Kaim thought to himself.

He wasn't quite sure what to make of the situation at hand. At least now the girl wanted to kill him a little less. Already she was doing better than his betrothed. Regardless of how they acted together, she practically hated everything about him. Sure he liked to goof off at times, but it was good to have a little fun every now and again. Plus, he swore that woman hardly ever smiled. The only times he had seen her get anything close to a smile was when he was suffering, but he refused to suffer all the time just so she would be satisfied. He simply wouldn't have it. Plus the woman didn't like Animals. What kind of Evergladian didn't like animals!?

Returning his thoughts to the situation at hand, he could only imagine how he looked at this moment. Kaim probably didn't look like royalty. He probably looked like a wet peasant who had decided to take a swim in all his clothes. His blond hair was now matted in places because of its dampness. He felt like a mess of man. It was at times like these he was glad he was a male. His white v-neck t-shirt had become transparent and he had certainly spent some of his time working on his muscles, but then again, it was almost impossible not to when you lived in the trees. He wondered if it would be safe enough to actually show this woman where he lived. Surely she could call for reinforcements if she wanted. He was no expert, but those Aristians sure knew how to find each other. He contemplated the idea many times in his head not sure which one he would go with. He really didn't want to bring the war to his people. Not if he could help it.
 
Lilith couldn't help but smile softly behind her hand as he made a rather dramatic bow before going back to trying to get as much water out of his clothing as he could. "I suppose I probably shouldn't have laughed, but I'm sorry your Highness, it was rather amusing." She watched curiously as the winged animal seemed to communicate with Kaim, first with a soft whinny and then locking eyes with the man. She was even more curious of the look that the prince suddenly had plastered over his face. Whatever the pair were discussing, he must disagree with intensely. A soft laugh bubbled up from between her lips when the animal nudged Kaim in her direction and then gave the male a rather innocent look as if to say 'what? I didn't do anything' as it was being scolded. "I suppose since you introduced yourself, I should do the same. Sergeant Lilith Vel, lead reconnaissance officer of the 326th surveillance and intelligence unit." she placed her arm across her ample chest and bowed slightly before straightening.

While he seemed to be focused on drying off and lost in his own thoughts, she took the opportunity to study him more closely. Now that his clothing was soaking wet, she was able to see the outlines of his body more clearly and what she saw had the pesky feeling from earlier rearing it's ugly head once more. Though he was a bit of a mess with his hair hanging around his face in limp wet tendrils, looking more like a commoner then a royal, she couldn't help but notice how his wet clothing clung to very lean muscle and line of his body. To make matters worse, his shirt had taken on a sort of transparency that left none of his well defined chest to the imagination. She felt a blush creeping up over her cheeks and she quickly turned her attention from the man trying to rid himself of access water to the land around them and the animals that seemed to call it home.

She looked at both with a longing that stemmed from a live long love of animals and nature. Though the work had been hard, she had loved her life on the farm. She had been surrounded by growth and life and there was a huge part of herself that craved that sort of living again. She slowly began to realize that living in the city for so long, and doing the work she did was killing a part of her. A part she hadn't even realized was dying. Slowly, as not to spook the deer like animals, she unclipped her pack and knelt to gently place it on the ground. While kneeling, she unsnapped the large jungle knife from her calf and the gun holster from her thigh and placed them on top of her bag. Once she had rid herself of all visible weapons, she stood slowly, her movements smoothed and practiced. She then licked her lips slowly and took a tentative step towards the animal Kaim had called Tala, making sure to keep both of her hands visible and making her movements fluid.

"Hi Tala. I'm Lilith. If you'd let me I'd really like to meet you and maybe get a chance to stroke that very pretty coat of yours. I promise I won't hurt you and I'll be gentle." she spoke softly and calmly, her eyes flickering from the animal back to Kaim, never really letting him leave her sight. But her want, no, her need to touch and feel this animal was too great for her to let this opportunity pass her by. There was no telling when she would be able to be so surrounded by the thing she loved most again. She was will to take the risk that he would attack her while she was unarmed in order to have some kind of contact with this magnificent animal.
 
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Tala watched Lilith very closely. She appeared to be skeptical of the Aristian girl and looked her up and down as though to check for anything else that was dangerous on her person. She stepped in between her and Kaim, making sure to keep a short distance between them like she was trying to make sure she wouldn't pull a fast one and hurt Kaim. After finding no other visible dangers, she snorted as if to say, "Fine you can pet me". Tala stood proudly and firmly, putting emphasis on the fact that she was not only beautiful, but also very strong too. Tala's fur was very soft and smooth. Her wings were velvety and felt like leather. Her horns were sharper than daggers, but smoother than satin silk. In all she was a very cuddly thing.

Kaim watched the exchange very closely. He was confused. Did Lilith just like animals? He wasn't sure. He folded his arms and watched her as she approached Tala both slowly and calmly. He thought it was funny that she would disarm herself to earn the trust of an animal, but not when encountering the same people who looked after these animals. What a strange world the Aristians came from. He shook his head and was glad that Tala actually did allow Lilith to pet her. Things probably would have ended badly if Tala had gotten spooked and made her feel endangered. That would be the last thing he needed when he was so close to being home, yet so far in some regards.

"Do you have a fondness of animals? Because if you do, you really have to see where I live," Kaim said with a heartwarming smile, "Come on I will show you. Tala's coming too!"

Kaim walked to an odd looking plant that emanated a green light, "This is what we call the warp flower and as its name would suggest it warps you to another place in the planet. Unfortunately, it only reacts to Evergladian DNA. However, anything I come into contact with comes with me. Like you for example."

He grabbed Lilith's hand and before they knew it, they were in what appeared to be an enormous tree with several hollow rooms cut into it. They were on the very bottom floor where merchants and traders exchanged goods. Kids played and ran about the tree floor. It was odd because there didn't seem to be a single trace of technology anywhere. In fact, all inside the tree were the same flower that had gotten them here.

The Warp Flower
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Lilith stood still while Tala seemed to decide whether or not she was going to let this strange female touch her. She could understand the animals reluctance. Lilith was a female of an unknown species and probably smelled unlike anything Tala had ever smelt before. She arched a brow but smiled as the animal moved so that she was standing between Kaim and herself. 'Awfully protective of him aren't you?' she thought to herself, but if these animals were close to the royal family, she could understand why Tala might be protective of the prince. She could hardly contain her joy when the animal finally gave her a look that was a mix of slight annoyance and acceptance and Lilith shyly began to run her fingers over Talas coat. The soft fur glided beneath her fingers a soft purrs like sound coming from her throat at the feel of it against her skin. She ran her fingers up Tala spine and shoulder and over the animals mane, threading the hair through her fingers in joy. When Kiam asked his question, she turned to him, just not noticing that she had all but completely forgotten about him. Her eyes shone with happiness and her smile was soft and genuine.

"I love animals. When I was younger, I used to live on a farm and we had lots of them...." her voice held a hint of sadness, but even remembering what had happened to her home couldn't completely dampen her good mood. She lifted a brow in question at the rest of his words, but didn't have time to answer or question anything as she was dragged toward a large glowing flower. She stared at the flower with a mixture of curiosity and fear but before she could express any concerns, both she and Kaim were suddenly not where they had been. She looked around in alarm, thinking he had pulled her into some type of trap, but as she slowly calmed she realized that it was a market of some sort. Bright blue eyes scanned the market place, her head tilting slightly anytime she saw something that looked even the smallest bit interesting. She had dropped her guard completely, even though a part of her, that part she had created to get her through her training screamed at her that she was forgetting something, something very important, she couldn't be made to care. "It's beautiful" as she continued to look around, she noticed that what Kaim had said before seemed to be true. She didn't see one piece of technology anywhere...

She turned her eyes back to Kaim, and bit back a small smiles as she noticed that, though he was no longer dripping he was still visibly wet. She also noticed how many looks he seemed to be getting from the women that were talking around the marketplace and she had to stamp down on a small bit of anger and jealousy that threatened to rise. 'Stop being such an idiot.' she sighed softly 'I really just need to get laid more often, that's all' she fought down a blush that started to cover her cheeks and coughed softly to clear her throat. "Where are we?"
 
Kaim had utterly missed the blush had begun to form on Lilith's face. He was completely captured in the liveliness of the marketplace. Even though he came here everyday, he always marveled in it. He noticed something new everyday and there was always a celebration of some sort going on. It just made him feel happy. The citizens actually had a festival dedicated to him. Come to think of it. What day is the festival dedicated to me? Is it the fourth cycle already? Kaim thought to himself. He decided he would come back to the thought later and confront it when the time came. Besides, it would great if that festival was today. There would be explosions of color in the sky and dancing and singing, food and face painting. He smiled. He loved face painting even though it was technically for the children.

"Well," Kaim said spreading his arms wide, "We are in the center of the Sorellias and lucky for us this is only the marketplace. I probably should have sent us to the port town of Sorellias. That would have been a pretty sight I think, but there are no where near as many animals."

Kaim walked by Lilith's side at a comfortable pace, sending smiles as girls waved and giggled at his presence. Even children seemed to be mesmerized by his appearance. One of the little girls gave him a flower crown and he wore a top his head as though it were made of the finest jewels money could buy. The more they walked the more animals they came across. A small four legged creature excitedly ran up and jumped into Kaim's arms. It resembled a puppy and it licked Kaim's face as though he were trying to eat him with just his tongue.

"Hello Mairax! Did you miss the prince while he was away?" Kaim said to the creature. It opened it's mouth, but a loud noise didn't come from it's mouth, just a low pitched tone that seemed to vibrate in the back of its throat. Kaim smiled and put Mairax down who happily trailed behind Kaim.

"Mairax, where are your manners, say hello to our guest, Lilith," He said directing the creature to her.

Surprisingly enough, no one seemed to mind nor care that Lilith was Aristian. Aside from the occasional stare of disbelief, no one looked angry or scared. Mostly just curious. It was a relief because Kaim wasn't sure how his people would react. He just assumed it would be nonviolent.

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Lilith looked around the marketplace in awe as they continued to walk. The jealousy she had felt before was safely buried where it belonged so the continuing attentions he received from those around them did not bother her, at least if it did she did not show it. She couldn't be smile when the little girl gave him the crown of flowers and he placed it on top of his head carefully, treating it as if it were some priceless piece of royal jewelry. He was obviously a man who was loved by his people, and loved them in return. A knot started to form in her stomach at the thought of what she and her unit had been sent to do. There was no way these people could have been the ones responsible for what had happened to Arista. Not only did the seem to not have technological capabilities, but just from what she had seen, and their casual reactions to her presence told her that they as a people were not likely to attach another world unprovoked, or at all.

She laughed when the dog like creature launched itself at the prince, though she would admit the look of the animal was a bit offsetting at first. When Kaim directed the creatures attentions to her, she smiled and knelt down, though she was sure the animal could easily jump onto her the way it had with Kaim. She held out her hand, palm up, not really sure if the animal would want to get her scent before approaching or if it would want to approach her at all.
 
Mairax ran into Lilith's arms like it had done with Kaim. He didn't seem to be nervous at all. It's stiff tail wagged as it made the same sound it had when it had been in Kaim's arms. Mairax was lovable and was probably covering Lilith in saliva at this point. Eventually the creature realized it wasn't on the ground and began to make a whimpering sound like it should be put back down on the ground. Once it was placed on the floor, it followed Lilith around like a lost child. It was adorable and it ran around her legs and bounced up and down full of energy. It walked into a food cart and then looked around before getting back up. It didn't seem to mind that it had knocked over a little bit of food and the owner didn't seemed bothered either. He just smiled and shook his head. Mairax was a common sight around the Marketplace.

Kaim walked ahead of Lilith and eventually the two of them got to a tree with a large house carved into it. At first glance, it didn't look like anything royalty would live in, but through closer observation, it did seem to be a place fitting of royalty. Kaim looked back at Lilith and smiled.

"I know you're probably uncomfortable here, but you have to meet my parents. They're really interested in-" Kaim's words stopped cold as he saw his betrothed standing in front of him. He didn't understand why, but he couldn't imagine that him being with Lilith looked very good. For one, the two of them were technically enemies and his betrothed didn't like Aristians to begin with. He swallowed hard and then thought really hard about what he was going to say.

"Lilith... this is Lady Ellisa my-"

"Betrothed," Ellisa finished for him, looking over Lilith carefully. It was evident that Ellisa felt threatened by Lilith's presence. Yes. Even here in Evergladia, it was thought that Aristian women were beautiful. The stereotype was proving to be true. Lady Ellisa knew that the planets were on thin ice with each other, but that did not change the fact that one of Kaim's weaknesses was pretty women. Her first question was why an Aristian was on Evergladia in the first place. They weren't really thinking about calling a truce were they. Or perhaps they were offering peace by sending a mate to them. Either way, Lady Ellisa didn't like the way things were going.

"Why are you here?" Lady Ellisa asked Lilith.
 
She laughed softly at the creatures actions and held him close, stroking the hard crest that seemed to be part of his head as he covered her face with his tongue over and over. When she noticed his nervousness about being off the ground for so long, she knelt again and placed him down gently before standing again and following after Kiam as he made his way through the marketplace, his destination seeming to be a tree at the end of the street that had a large house carved into it. "Kind of gives new meaning to the word tree-house..." she said more to herself then to Kaim, as they drew closer to the somewhat common looking dwelling. But as they finally reached the dwelling, she noticed that it was much bigger then the ones they had past before and even on the outside seemed to be more beautifully decorated, with all natural occurring plants and other things of course. She smiled softly as she found herself a bit eager to see the inside and was about to tell him so when Kaim's words cut off and he stopped abruptly in front of her and she took a step to the side so that she could see why.

In front of her guide was a tall beautiful woman, at least half a foot taller than herself, who did not look happy to see them. Well more to the point, she did not look happy to see Lilith. She arched a delicate brow at the word betrothed and looked from the angry woman back to Kaim. He had never mentioned anything about being betrothed, but then again other then telling her that he was a prince, he hadn't really told her much of anything, much as she hadn't told him anything about herself. She got the impression from his expression that Kaim either didn't really like Ellisa or was intimidated by her. Lilith smiled softly. It was probably both.

She had seen the way the other woman had studied her and all Lilith could think was that her presence upset Ellisa, though she wasn't sure if it was because she was Aristian or because she was a woman. When Ellisa addressed her, she stepped forward from behind Kaim and gave her the same bow she had give him, though it wasn't nearly as low, she wasn't a royal after all. "I am an advanced scout for a surveillance and intelligence unit with the Aristian military your Ladyship. The Prince was so kind as to come to my aid in dealing with some of your local wildlife and then offered to introduce me to his lands and people so that I might have a better understanding when reporting back to my superiors." that said, she remembered that she had left her pack back in the glade and turned her attention from Ellisa back to Kaim. "Speaking of reporting back. At some point I will need you to take me back to Tala's glade so that I can retrieve my things. I would hate to miss a check in and have them come looking for me." she hopped he got he underlying message to her words "If I don't check in when I'm supposed they'll come looking for me, guns blazing"
 
Kaim caught on to what Lilith was trying to say. He nodded in understanding and then averted his attention to Lady Ellisa. It wasn’t that he was intimidated by her, he just didn’t like her. She was always so mean or at least she always seemed that way. Furthermore, she really didn’t know how to just loosen up and take a load off. Kaim was only marrying her so his hemisphere and hers could make peace. Otherwise, he didn’t think he would ever be able to tie himself down with someone like her. Kaim sighed and then he thought about what he was going to say to Lady Ellisa without it seeming like he was going to blow her off. However that would be the first time he had done something like that. He didn’t exactly like hanging out with her and she was unnervingly possessive. She had the urge to make it known that he was hers and no one else was to tamper with that.


“Well, we have to get going here, Lady Ellisa,” Kaim said finally, “I don’t want Lilith’s people to worry about her or worse yet, come looking for her. Our people aren’t exactly bullet proof as they put it.”


Kaim scratched his chin and then Lady Ellisa arched her delicate brow and then smiled sweetly at Kaim. Suddenly he was hoping that she wasn’t going to do what he knew was going to happen. Lady Ellisa’s eyes glowed with victory as she stole a glance at Lilith and then she planted a kiss on Kaim’s lips before letting the two of them go on their way. She didn’t say another word, but she waved good bye to Lilith with a slight smirk on her face. Kaim had missed her expressions simply because he was trying to get as far away from possible. Could he really confine himself to someone like her? No doubt their sex life would be incredibly dull. Besides, Kaim had a high sex drive. Not that sex was important, but he liked it.


He led Lilith away from the house and then he looked around until he found a warp flower. They would have to go back to the glade and he was sure that Lilith’s people would go looking for her at some point. Nothing had gone wrong so far and he was hoping that it would stay that way. Unfortunately, he was beginning to realize that even if Lilith did return to her troop, wouldn’t that also mean an attack could be led to this very Kingdom without warning.


“Your people are going to destroy our lands aren’t they?” Kaim asked her once they reached the warp flower. He teleported them back to the glade and Tala was not there. It was just the two of them.


“Where did the rest of your squad go? Have they already begun their mission?” Kaim wanted to know. A lump was forming in his throat as he thought about the countless tribes that could already have been slaughtered by the Aristians. It wasn’t fair that his people had to suffer for someone else’s attack. They had little to nothing and soon that was going to be taken away from them.
 
Lilith watched the exchange with a perfectly blank face, not showing a hint of jealousy or surprise at the ladies action. If any emotion showed on her face it would have been boredom. It was clear that she was trying to send her a message 'He's mine so hands off' When Kaim all but ran passed her in his rush to get away from this betrothed, Lilith gave Ellisa another bow, but when she straightened she gave Ellisa a look that spoke of mischief as if accepting a silent challenge. "Your Ladyship..." then she turned and quickly caught up with Kaim, hooking her arms in his and leaning close, as if she were going to rest her head on his shoulder. Before she did she looked back at the other woman and wiggled her fingers in farewell before placing her head down. Once they were out of sight of Ellisa, Lilith let him go but continued to match his place until they came to one of the teleportation plants that they had used before. Once they were back in the glade Lilith waited for her head to stop spinning before jogging over to where her pack still lay. She was a little sad to see that Tala, or the other creatures like her, wasn't there but she had other things on her mind.

She opened her pack and started looking for her com, relieved to see that no one had tried to get a hold of her and if the time on the unit was correct she hadn't been late checking in either. "Most of my team are still at the base. There are two others who were supposed to capture a couple natives for interrogation, but I won't know if they've succeeded until I've checked in." as she spoke she was strapping the jungle knife and gun back around her thigh and cafe, though she left the pack with it's long range rifle on the ground. "It's not really them you should be worried about, it's me." she frowned softly, her eyes not meeting his. "My primary objective was to gain information, how many of you, what were your cities like, where they were, what kind of army or weapons did you have. Once we were able to capture a few of your race, my secondary objective would begin. I would be given a device to plant within one of your major cities. Once detonated, it would release a genetically engineered virus that would kill everyone in the city. If it were a success, it would be done in every city on Evergladia, killing the entire population...."

She looked up quickly, her blue eyes sad and slightly conflicted "But....but I don't think I will be able to follow that order if it's given...not anymore" her eyes fell from his face, not wanting to see his eyes fill with horror as he gazed down at her.
 
Kaim glanced at Lilith trying to take everything she had said in. For one, he couldn't believe such a device had even been created. She was going to destroy his entire planet? All of the animals and the people that lived here were going to die because of a misunderstanding. That was ludicrous. he could understand wanting to counter attack, but a complete genocide!? That was insane. And the person in charge of this device was the person he had been spending the day with. He couldn't wrap his head around it. She had been planning to do this the whole time. He had just thought it would be a simple attack and nothing more, but this, this was serious.

"You were going to destroy whole planet!?" Kaim asked incredulously, "By the phases of the moon Lilith. I can't believe it! Please tell you weren't seriously okay with wiping out an entire planet with one device. Even if my people were responsible of such a feat, was what happened to you so bad that you had to wipe them permanently off the face of the universe. There are families and creatures who have nothing to do with this. I don't care how bad the crime was, nothing can justify a genocide."

Kaim was practically shaking with rage and sadness. Had he really been so wrong about the Aristian girl? She had looked so genuine when she had been handling the animals. Plus, her people were interrogating his people as they spoke. Who knows what horrors they had been through already? Simmering himself down a little more, he took a deep breath before trying to see past what had been said to him. Lilith had just said that she might not be able to go through with it. That could be a good thing, but what about the others? Were they like her? It was unlikely that their opinion would be so easily swayed depending on what they had experienced here in Evergladia.

"What about the others? Would they be so willing to believe my planet is innocent? Do you think they'd let the others go to have me in captivity instead?" Kaim asked.

He was determined to change the mind of Lilith's people even if he was going to have to die for it. He just wanted his planet to be spared. That was all he truly wanted from interacting from the Aristians.

"You can take me to your friends if you want. I will go willingly. I just need to convince them that my people aren't responsible for the attack on Arista," Kaim pleaded.
 
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She felt tears prick the corners of her eyes as his angry, hurt words hit her like a slap in the face. Hearing his words, she knew he was right. It didn't matter if his people were innocent of the crime or not, mass genocide was a little harsh, but she was a soldier, and had been trained to follow orders, so she had never really thought about whether the plan was over kill or not. Ever since he had told her that his planet and people didn't posses the technology to have attacked Arista, something about her mission had been bothering her, but she didn't quite know what it was. And now, that feeling had only grown. In all the battles she had fought across the galaxy, and back home, measures this drastic had never been taken before. She more than anyone understood wanting to get revenge on the people who had caused so much damage and grief, but the people who should have been punished were the leaders who had given the orders, not the innocent people who probably had no idea what their leaders were up to.

She had wanted to correct him about the animals being harmed, but she knew it would only be a small comfort so she kept them to herself. She raised her eyes to look at him when he asked about her teammates. "I honestly don't know Kaim. Even though I've been with the same unit for years, I don't know many of the people well, I've always kept my distance from them. We're trained to never asked questions, to just do what we're told. I don't know if they would even listen to you....even if you gave them proof." her eyes widened when he offered himself up in the place of his people, telling her take him back to her base. She looked away and down at the com-link in her hand, biting her lip as she though.

"Are you sure? I can call Flemming and Lelory to see if they've found anyone and if not tell them that I found all the information we needed by 'capturing' you, but...if they don't believe you Kaim, they may resort to more drastic measures to get the information they think they need from you." she reached out, and tentatively placed a hand against his forearm "I'll do all that I can to protect you and make sure you're safe and try talking to my commanding officer on your people's behalf, but I'm not in charge here, I won't have the last say....but" her grip on his arm tightened slightly "I promise that I will do everything in my power to make sure the people of your planet are safe, even if it means stealing the devices and deserting. I trust that you're telling the truth about having nothing to do with the attack and I won't let you or your people suffer for something you didn't do. You don't deserve that."
 
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