In search of the Teacher

[Villamvihar]

According to the oldest legends of the satriv, when the species was still young, foolish and inexperienced, a strange, indescribable being descended from the sky to look at the species that warred with itself so much. Upon seeing that just how selfish the satriv were with the reasons for their wars, the being took pity to them, and intervened. It stopped the violent conflicts that sparked amongst the membere of the species under mere seconds, then called the wisest of the wise men around itself to tell them why it had come. It told the wise men of the era that its name was simply Teacher and the proper way to refer to itself was with the outmost respect that They demanded. The satriv wise men were then informed that They would teach them the proper way to live their lives, and introduced them to the power of knowledge, or information, and in turn, the wise men would pass the teachings on to the other satriv.

For a while, satriv civilization prospered as They introduced new concept to the people, but as time went on, the satriv became more and more arrogant. This eventually culminated in one of the students of the Teacher asking if she will become as powerful as Them, to which the Teacher simply smiled... and then the next day, They have disappeared, leaving behind untold chaos. Much of the satriv history was forgotten or erased from the records of the species, even though they have tried to keep track of it, and thus, little is known of what happened after the Teacher has left. One thing was for sure, though: from the ruins that the Teacher has left behind, emerged an interstellar empire, which then met several others, only to get in conflict with them as well. Long wars have been fought between other species, but ultimately, the warring factions have discovered that they have one thing in common. It seemed as if the Teacher had visited all of them in their histories and had a simply unbelievable influence on all of them.

But even though the Teacher had such an influence on this region of space, They have left behind but one monument, and that was a half-ruined temple on the hostile, almost unhabitable planet of LLN-3346, where fierce winds always assaulted the huge buildings, the corrosive atmosphere continously tested the strength of its walls, and the tough, adaptive plants have already overgrown much of the old structure. What is more, the temple was located deep inside the jungle, not to mention that most of it has already been covered in soil. Only a single, barely standing tower remained visible to the curious eyes of those who wanted to visit the last standing monument of the Teacher, and most of those were left extremely disappointed in the ruins. Allandron Lavros was not one of these people, though.

As an engineer, he was extremely interested in the simply bizarre, old structure that managed to remain standing for thousands of years, or even longer despite all the odds. Sure, the rebreather and the protective clothing he wore inconvenienced him a great deal, and it also prevented him from experiencing the structure with his own hands, but at least, he could see it with his own eyes. Sure, it was a mere, almost completely plain tower in the middle of nowhere, but if one looked at it closely, they could spot the tell-tale signs of the strange, complicated patterns that were forged into the seemingly indestructible material of the temple, but have been washed away by the sands of time. If one looked closely enough, they could imagine the once-marvelous shape of the tower: a simple, curved rectangle that advanced towards the sky in a spiral pattern, and slowly increased in size as it approached the ground. This simple shape was most likely crowned by a watchtower once upon a time, but now, only vague remnants stand where the top of the tower once was.

Allandron could not even begin to imagine how the temple once looked like. From the legends that depicted the Teacher, he was sure that it was a magnificent, simply awe-inspiring building that fell to merciless, cruel barbarians, or perhaps something even worse. But what could destroy the strange material of the temples, which could not be harmed even by weapons that were capable of collapsing stars? He did not know, but he shuddered at the thought, and looked away from the structure to clear his mind, which was when he noticed that he was not alone. There were three others around him, in fact, all of them coming from different species, but they were clearly looking at the structure, and suddenly, his heart was filled with hope. There really were others like him, after all!

There was nothing to lose here, so he made one step towards the ancient temple, then in his loudest voice, he started speaking.

"So I guess you are also people who want to know what this temple is exactly," said Allandron, his voice a bit shaky from the excitement. "Sorry if I startled you, but my name is Allandron Lavros, and I think I am just as interested in the Teacher as you are."

 

[PinkMoonSugar]

Aris walked slowly towards the monument, long white dreads swayed in the wind. History and lore sparked across her brain, finally seeing the Teacher's structure for herself. Wide eyed, a small, quick prayer escaped her lips in the tongues of ancient Filaree. She heard a voice boom from the life form closest to the statue. "So I guess you are also people who want to know what this temple is exactly," the dark one said. "Sorry if I startled you, but my name is Allandron Lavros, and I think I am just as interested in the Teacher as you are."

Aris watched his body move as he spoke, interested in what else his species had to offer. He seemed as if there was a wealth of knowledge behind those three eyes. She stopped at the same distance as the other two had once she heard them complete their pace. Taking a glance off to the side she decided that the next one to speak should be her. No sense in fearing the unknown as the elderly of her race had preached for so long.

"I cannot speak for the others, but I will say for myself that I am very intrigued. My people have spoken of the Teacher for generations. I made it my goal to know and learn. Allandron Lavros, I am Phaelaris of Silver Moons Hollow, hailing from the Drektha Province of Cassipira. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Aris took a short bow, keeping her eyes on Allandron, as was custom with her people.

 

[Villamvihar]

One of the living beings was kind enough to answer to the query of Allandron, which sent shivers down his spine. Finally, someone who actually responded to his request, someone who did not dismiss him as one who buried himself in the past! The other two that joined him seemed rather reluctant, though, or perhaps they were too absorbed in the glory of the ancient structure. He could definitely understand their fascination, after all, he had trouble with keeping his eyes away from the magnificent tower that has been worn down by the ages. For a brief second, he started to wonder if They have built something into the temple that always drew other species' attention towards it, but he quickly dismissed that claim. The Teacher would never be so malevolent as to manipulate other species.

He alternatingly closed his eyes to clear his mind as he realised that he was being rude by not returning Phaelaris' greeting and good wishes.

"It is a pleasure to meet you likewise," said Allandron as he raised his hand to his shoulder in the gesture that his species used to greet others. "I am excited to see someone who shares my own sentiment," he added as he tried to keep his voice even. He then turned to the others in an attempt to address them again. He really hoped that they were just as interested in the Teacher as him, and this hope seeped into his voice despite all of his attempts to control it.

"What about you two travellers?" asked Allandron. "Are you here just to see the work of the Teacher? Or are you interested in Them as well? I am really curious," said Allandron as he looked at the other travellers, eagerly awaiting their answers... Which was when a strange sound echoed across the air, piercing everybody's ears and directing their attention towards a strange, utterly alien creature. Roughly reaching to Allandron's chest, the strange animal had a flourescent body with six, almost tentacle-like legs, two, impressively muscular tails, four eyes, an unusually large mouth and no visible head. Before its tentacles was a bone, and when Allandron followed the gaze of the creature, he realised that its nest was located on the temple... and remarkably close to him.

"Not good..." muttered Allandron, taking several, slow steps backwards. The creature looked at him with unblinking eyes, voicing its anger through silence. "Do not make any quick moves," he said out loud. "I heard these creatures are dangerous..."

 

[Zorilla]

S

he sighed as she was coming up to the structure. Having to wear this suit like a bunch of cowards just so that the acidic air wouldn't have them as its next meal. To add to all of that she had company. She clutched her Met'leth tight in her hand expecting a fight. Her eyes looking left and right first to the girl and then to the male. Whoever the girl was had a hair system similar to her own that was dreadlocks, much like her own. Of course they were of a different color than hers and of course the girl herself wasn't a Mephitis in the least, she appeared to be too cowardly for that. With a glare though she spoke for the first time "I'm here on a intriguing mission. To find out how this Teacher could help the current state of my people." her species being well known, or at least in the more highly populated sections of the galaxy.

[spacer]She carried her weapon tight in her hand and glared once the beast like creature was mentioned. Quickly her blood boiled and her temper was about to flare. She wasn't exactly the person to be scared off by some kind of creature – despite how deadly they where. The man – who seemed to be in on the know when it came to these Teacher related things – was afraid of the translucent creature which should have perhaps stalled her ever so slightly. She changed her gaze – though only for a moment – to Allandron. "Hey, you Allandron, what exactly can this creature do? I can kill it, I'm sure, but what can it do? Does it have poison, fangs, spikes, claws, so on so forth." she expressed as she moved some, putting herself in front of the other female, whose name she actually didn't notice or care to notice. Fa'laria was quite the insensitive one – only paying attention to the first half of any conversation. She remembered Allan's name because he seemed to know the most, that was it.[/spacer]

[spacer]With the defense postisoning given to the girl behind her she lifted the sword like weapon to her front, holding it tightly. Her own white skunk like tail raising, the fabric keeping it nice and safe from melting off of its bones,. She'd have nothing to do with a death today. Her eyes focused right on the target, if it made one move of aggression it'd taste her steel – well polycarbonate but still. [/spacer]

 

[Esthalia]

Naiea sat cross legged on a boulder by the monument, not feeling the need to be close up with the other travelers. Her slender, angled ears caught their conversation easily, though she wasn't sure why she felt the need to listen. The Adari Frost Goat had no reason why she had even set out on this journey, seeing little hope of actually restoring her race from extinction. How could one person do something like that? She simply had to know.

The Adari woman turned her narrow head, letting her silver white hair cascade down her back in form of a glittering mane, highlighting the deep purplish blue of her skin. She was certainly something rare to see, especially now that he home planet had been destroyed.

There was a sudden distraction, turning Naiea's luminated blue eyes to take in the strange body of the the strange flourescent body creature. In her travels, she had come across something similar, though it lacked the additional tail and set of eyes.

There was a weary silence as the male of the group realized how close to the beasts nest he was standing, obviously nervous about a possible attack. Naiea stood up off the boulder, letting her solid black hooves grace the ground with a click. Her thick tail wiggled behind her as she thought of the possibility of adventure, seeing how one of the females tensed up and stood in front of the other.

 

[Villamvihar]

"I do not know! I am an architect, not a biologist," protested Allandron as he took even more steps backwards, which was when another, strange woman, leapt in front of the creature with a sword in her hands. Such a strange weapon was definitely outdated in this day and age, where interstellar cruisers ruled the skies and laser weapons evaporated the flesh, but it was an effective choice for an environment as hostile as this planet. Swords, after all, had no moving or technological parts that could go wrong because of the planet's strange atmosphere. Only their edge would dull, something that a sharpening stone could fix quickly.

Allandron blinked at these strange thoughts that seemed to manifest in his head, but then he shoved them aside. He did know a bit about combat, so he wrote it off as his bits and pieces of knowledge coming together as something greater than himself, not to mention that his main concern was the strange animal, which was guarding its nest rather intently. How the Teacher could allow such a creature to lay a nest on Their buildings, Allandron did not know, but then again, this temple looked as if it was abandoned at least centuries, if not millenia ago. But what he found even more bizarre than the Teacher allowing some kind of animal to defile Their holy place, was the fact that the creature had a bone in front of him. Upon closer inspection, the bone had the all-too-familiar colour of skull white, and before his descent to the surface, Allandron had done his research. Most forms of life on this planet preferred a flexible bone structure of a different colour.

What colour exactly it was, he did not remember, but it was definitely not skull white. Therefore, the bone must have come from a different planet, a different species. Seeing that this rock called a planet was never inhabited by any species except the Teacher, there was only one possible conclusion. The temple was guarding a graveyard.

"Impossible," whispered Allandron as he came to the realisation that he stood upon the bones of countless sapient alien beings. "They would never do that," he said with ultimate conviction. No, his logic had to be wrong. The Teacher was not something that one could touch. Those bones had to be the remains of an ancient civilization that was born before them, and not that of the Teacher, the one and immortal They who have conquered even death itself.

As he thought that, the creature he was facing with was closing in on him slowly, even if he was moving backwards. It was clearly angry for having disturbed its nest, and now it saw Allandron as a potential predator who could eat its young. At this sight, Allandron was forced to consider how he would defend himself against this strange creature, but he could not come up with anything that might have helped him. He had to trust one of the strangers with his own life.

 

[Zorilla]

B

ack on her home planet she'd have already slain this thing. It's life ended in a flash before ti had ever began it's very fabric and pelt being used as some kind of ceremonial orinament or perhaps a new dress. She held her Batleth firm in her hand as she growled to the best speaking a primal language composed of growls and grunts. She spun her weapon around in her hands making sharp flurishes sot try and distract the beast as she approached it speaking loudly. "Back mongrel or taste the blade of Pth'cha!" her tongue was like acid as she scouted the being before her. Fear ran through her body for the first time in a long time, but like all good warriors she absolved it relying only on the thirst for blood.

 

[Villamvihar]

The woman who jumped in front of the strange creature seemed to be well-versed in combat, not to mention that the strange sounds she made seemed to frighten the being for some reason and it backed off a little bit. Maybe it thought that the young woman was one of its natural predators or something like that, but the effect did not seem to last for long as the creature seemed to turn its fear into strength. The muscles in the strange animal visibly constricted and it was preparing to leap at the enemy in front of it. Allandron knew that he could not let that happen, so he looked around for something to hit the creature. Unfortunately the jungle soil did not offer such things, so he had to resort to grabbing a fistful of soil and throwing it towards the creature, hoping that he could distract it from whatever it was trying to do.

Of course, all that did was to make the creature angrier, but at least, Allandron reasoned, the soil blinded it for a few seconds, which were perhaps enough for his saviour to kill the animal, but he cared only for the distraction his diversion provided. He quickly retreated farther to distance himself even more from the strange creature, perhaps even warn the authorities. However, as luck would have it, in his hurry, he tripped over something and almost fell on his face. Luckily, he managed to stop himself in time. Less luckily, the attention of the strange animal was probably directed at him with the noise that he made, so he slowly stood up, trying to give the impression that he meant no harm.

He could not help but look at what made him trip, though, so he glanced down towards his legs. At the tip of his shoe, there was a small, barely visible metal protrusion which caught his eye. It seemed to be all but beckoning to him, but he did not dare to bend down to look at it, instead searching for the animal with his eyes. If it was not killed by the woman who intervened, he would have to try to distract it again.

 

[Zorilla]

S

he held her weapon tight in her hands as she studied the beast noticing that her growl seemed to speak to the thing on a level that no other prey had ever responded. It almost scared it, well almost! She leached her body back in a defensive stance, her right leg foremost in the stance her left leg bent and her bat'leth brought up in a horizontal fashion ready to roll back, flip the creature off and hopefully score a killing blow to the area she suspected to be its breathing pipe, as it flexed just slightly when she saw it breath. She was a hunter, a killer, a warrior of the Mephitis people ready to do battle! Well until that cowardly Captain rushed in and threw a rock providing her with a distraction. Normally any other situation and she'd have declined to use such an opportunity as this seemed to be a stain on her honor! However, she was in an atmosphere that was highly hazardous, the beast was unknown, and the people around her were weak and frail. This seemed like a good a moment as any to put the sod out of its own misery.

[spacer]She spun left, now directly behind the creature watching out for any of its tail movements. Her suit moving sleek through the air as she brought her Bat'leth, its curved blade arched back in a semi-crest shape, up and over her right shoulder in just the proper strike to slice at the creatures breathing aparatis. She brought the blade-of-faith down on it with as much strength as the Mephitis people had in their system, the blades sharpness drove it through beheading the creature. However, she wasn't done. Fa'laria spun around, the weight of the metal carring her in such a graceful way, and drove the blade through, hopefully cutting just bellow the heart. She then quickly brought it back around and cut that section in half and down, literally leaving the beast in pieces before she did a quick flourish, which slung the blood from her blade before she held it in one hand. She turned around, a peaceful, calm and quit girlish look on her face. "Did anyone sign up for that on the tour?" she teased.[/spacer]

[spacer]Fa'laria looked at all of them now before shaking her head, they had NO business in here without the ability to protect themselves! Even now if it weren't for her they may have been dead at the hands of the beast which was just before them would have eaten them. She sighed some and looked over to the new gal who joined them and smiled. She would've had way too much fun insulting them, no that would've given in to her inner instincts and this was no time for that, rather she spoke in dignity. "Do you think it'll have a mate, children, family anything else?" clearly she was interested in protecting them. [/spacer]

 

[*Ermine]

Ana breathed in deeply. In the distance, she saw people gathered. Likely talking. They all looked to be different species, only two of which she recognized. Neither seemed to have any traits to exploit. But then there was a 5th member of the group. Another new species. Before she knew it, though, the furry black and white one had its weapon out, ready to fight. The Satriv ran. They usually did. The one that surprised her was the one that seemed to be so laid back. It shocked Ana most because she thought every last one of the "Hyni", or Goat People, were dead. She didn't have anything to do with it, but she had seen the destruction of many fleets of ships. She thought they had all belonged to their race, but maybe she was wrong? Certainly, this one must have had capabilities beyond the rest of her race, and therefore was perfect for study, possibly for the future of her own race.

But the black and white furry creature seemed intent on killing the other creature, despite its attempt at communication. This would not do. She hadn't seen either of them before, but the furry one seemed to be much more aggressive. Clearly not intelligent. But its movement and apparent strength seemed enough to at least make her own people less fragile. And it killed the scaly creature, or at least it appeared to have done so. She wasn't sure whether to approach; this new alien was definitely dangerous, and she had no idea whether it would attack her or not. But if it did, she had her pistols. She nodded and walked calmly and confidently toward the group. "Ul isma lea wbunave kuw mari." She spoke directly to the creature, which she towered over, like most other races. She made sure her knives remained sheathed. She knew she couldn't take on this creature up close. "Or do you speak Teacher Common? I come in peace." She held her hands up. "I'll just get my samples, okay?"

 

[Villamvihar]

The strange woman with the even stranger melee weapon had actually managed to kill the bizarre creature, not that it helped Allandron, who was trying to regain some of his dignity as he stood up. He then took a closer look at the small, metallic protrusion which was responsible for his fall, and cleared a small space around it with his hands in hopes to get a better look at it. His attention was focused on the material, hoping to find out if it was the same one that made up most of the Teacher's structures, but then, the words of the strange woman and a new arrival interrupted him. The new arrival was talking about some samples and asked if they could speak Teacher Common, to which Allandron almost groaned internally. In this day and age, was there even someone who did not?

"Yes, I speak Teacher Common," said Allandron as he turned towards the new arrival, speaking in the same tongue she started speaking in. "Are you here to study this artefact of the Teacher as well? If so, then you are one of the few who shares my enthusiam," said Allandron as he slightly opened his arms towards Ana in the gesture which served the same purpose as a human smile. "I am an architect who takes his pleasure in studying these buildings, someone who has lived under Their influence for many decades," he added, then just as he was about to continue, he caught himself. He almost started babbling again. That would not do. He had to let other people talk as well, but then, he realised that he knew not one of the names from the group.

"And if you all are here to follow in the footsteps of the Teacher, then please share your name with me, for I am one of Their fanatics, one who wants to know everything that there is about them, especially how they have built these magnificent structures," he added, then he glanced at his leg. The metal object that he tripped in seemed to be seeking his attention even more for some reason. It seemed to beckon to him, it wanted him to unravel its secrets, but for now, Allandron could resist the temptation of the discovery. The strange object, however, had started to have a similar effect on every single living thing in the area. The nearby carnivorous plants seemed to be turning their head towards where Allandron stood, while noises started up nearby as animals watched the group with interest.