A Gift To Who Deserves It

They found the boats on the other side of the crumbling mess of black rock and lava that was once the Twin Peaks. One was thrown a safe distance from the lava, the only damage being a small crack in the Control Orb. It was Krash's boat, slightly larger in size and with far more elegant design and decoration than any boat belonging to a Collector.

It must have been sturdier too, for every other one was reduced to a pile of broken wood, the Control Orbs broken into tiny crystal shards. That left the four men with one boat to travel to two different places, Krash to Mammoria, and the rest to Raj.

"Is it really safe for me to step foot on Raj again? You said yourself that I would be executed if someone finds out that I was on Kalar," Krash asks, gazing at Kyro with worried yellow eyes. The Tanzide sits on the middle bench of the boat as they travel through the branches, the bag of Rage Stones sitting between his legs.

Kyro sighs, shifting uncomfortably, "You'll only be dropping us off, then you can leave and go back to Mammoria. We'll find another boat on our own," he says. Cage sits beside him, the both of them cramped between the walls on either side of the front bench. There are only three benches, and it only made sense that the smallest two men sit together. Kyro had been called many things in his life, but never small.

Krash nods slowly, then lowers his head, muttering something under his breath. Kyro leans over, peering over at Ingen. The violet-skinned Rajin sits back on the opposite bench, one hand on the Control Orb, the other tapping a finger on the pommel of his warhammer. He's been grumbling about being trapped in that bubble again since they left Kalar.

Kyro sighs, shaking his head. Ingen is strong, once the second strongest soldier in the Rajin army. However, that giant was not something he can even think of competing against. Not without something external to help; Rage Stones and Vas. Ingen does not have access to one of those things, and the other he refuses to take.

It is good that Cage placed Ingen inside that bubble, and while Krash may or may not understand it, everyone else does. Ingen is included in this, but as Kyro has known since his childhood, the bald Rajin will always find something to gripe about.

Kyro looks down at Cage, who stares at the vibrant colors surrounding the branch. He can tell that Cage is thinking deeply about something behind those black eyes, which pleases him greatly. After such a long time of always trying to guess what Cage is thinking or feeling, it is nice to finally be able to do just that. Even if Kyro can only do it less than half the time.

"What is it?" Kyro asks, peering down, "Something bothering you?"

Cage blinks, then looks up at the Rajin, "I don't know how you aren't bothered," he responds, "Just by landing, that giant decimated miles of land. I can accept the a good amount of destruction around it and a big enough quake, but what happened doesn't sit right with me. Sure it was massive, bigger than anything I've ever seen, but... miles of land. Everything around us was destroyed by that thing, yet it went down after only a few hits. It's as if it just... gave up."

Kyro hums, pausing. He feels the same way, but there have been many things on Kyro's mind. The plan to leave Raj, Ludan, the coming journey, Yoru, and... Mavyl. There hasn't been much room in his mind for that stone giant, "I have felt that it is strange too, Cage. But I am the last person that you should expect an answer from. Even with your short time spent under the tutelage of my sister, you probably know much more than me about what exists out there."

Cage nods, seeming to have expected that answer. He looks out at the swirling colors again, "I've never heard of something like this. Gira speaks of a race of giants in his records, and they match the size of the one we fought. Some are even bigger. but..." Cage's black eyes return to Kyro, "...It was flying, Kyro. That race of giants can't do that, unless for some unknown reason Gira decided not to mention it. It flew through the branches and found us. It destroyed an entire area of land just by falling. And worst of all, I think it was there for me! None of it makes sense."

Kyro gazes down at Cage as the man shakes his head, body sagging. Kyro looks up, two pairs of expectant eyes greeting him. Krash only looks wearily between him and Cage, while Ingen furrows his bushy silver brows, mouthing the words, 'say something!'.

There were many situations like this when Mavyl was still a growing boy. However, Mavyl was only worried about pretty girls and his position in the army, nothing even remotely close to a stone giant that can fly. And even more unsettling, Kyro also believes that it came for Cage. He had seen the way that giant tracked the man, no matter where he ran to.

Kyro takes a deep breath. He thinks of a Cage as a brother now, but even if it's just for this moment, Kyro will think of him as a son again. He puts a hand to Cage's sagging shoulder, "Straight up," Kyro says with a calm yet firm tone.

Cage does so, back and shoulders straightening as he looks up at Kyro.

At least he's not crying, Kyro thinks, Mavyl used to do it quite a bit. He meets those black eyes, expression solid, "You know what we must do, correct? What you must do? Why we are returning to Raj?" Kyro asks.

Cage nods, all of his attention on the words spoken to him, "Of course."

"Good. Now, who do you think is more important; your teacher, or that giant?"

"Teacher," Cage responds without hesitation.

"Exactly," Kyro says, patting the man's shoulder, "You can learn from thinking about what is behind, but if you worry too much, then you will lose sight of what is ahead. The beginning of the journey is close now. We've struggled too much to get this far, let us be certain all of that effort has not been in vain."

Cage nods slowly, pausing. His lips curl, and he puts his hand out, fingers together, palm down.

Kyro looks down at the hand, chuckling. He puts his own blue hand over the pale one, his fingers reaching down Cage's forearm. Then, Cage pulls his arm back, raising a fist in the air, his left fist in the air, knuckles pointing at Kyro.

Kyro furrows his brows, confused by the gesture. Cage continues to hold that pale fist up, punching the air softly. Kyro hums, then hesitantly raises his own fist, clacking his knuckles against Cage's gently.

Cage chuckles, lowering his fist, "Thank you, Kyro," he says, "I tend to think a bit too much sometimes."

Kyro nods, a faint smile on his lips, "So do I..." he responds, looking out at the kaleidoscope of colors, "...So do I."

---

"Thank you for your time," Alyra looks across the table with a friendly smile. A bald man stares back at her with a flat expression, his skin ghostly pale, eyes a deeper red than Alyra's skin. His finely built chest is bare and his only clothing is a long skirt with loose tassels hanging from the waist and a pair of worn sandals.

The man nods silently in response.

She shuffles through a short stack of parchment, handing one to the man, the ink on it detailing that both Alyra and the man approve the Record written during this meeting. There are two lines at the bottom, one is empty, and the other has Alyra's signature above it, "Take this to the clerk on the other side of the office, and she will discuss an appropriate payment with you."

The man takes the paper with another nod, standing from his chair, tassels of his long skirt flapping behind him as he disappears through the door. The silence does not bother Alyra. Even when describing his home and people, the man used no more words than needed.

Hearing the click that signals her being free of prying eyes, Alyra slumps, elbows to the table, red fingers rubbing her temples as her long hair drops on either side of her head like black curtains.

She enjoys being a Scribe, much more than handling registrations at the Foreign Registry. These meetings—like the one with the red-eyed man just now—are very similar to those she had at the Registry, however, instead of dealing with tedious things like trading and citizenship, the meetings here are about the planet the foreigner is actually from. Culture, geography, politics, war, and other subjects. Things that are much more interesting to Alyra.

Alyra reads over the just-written Record before her. That dark-skinned man is from a planet called Ghara, which is a whole two branches over from Raj. Large parts of the planet are ice and snow-covered, and even the warmest areas have rivers and lakes that freeze over during certain months. When the man told her this, Alyra no longer found his lack of clothing strange, even if there are piles of snow on every roof in Yellen.

The man is something his people call a Herder, which is essentially a nomadic Scribe. He travels to different planets with nothing but food and his mind, the perfect memory held by his race allowing him to remember every word read, every conversation had, and every sight seen. He'll return to Ghara after reaching the age of sixty, passing his decades of knowledge onto the next generation of Herders.

Alyra is still ignorant of how the man protects himself from beasts and ill-intentioned men. When she asked, he simply said that he is 'very exceptional at hiding his presence.' Not very helpful, but prying is not the way of a Rajin Scholar. Information should come to her, not her to it, Yoru had told Alyra on her first day.

Alyra leans back in her chair, throwing her head back with a sigh. When she first heard about it, she couldn't help but hyperventilate from the panic. Even now, thinking of Yoru waiting for death in a cell makes her stomach churn. Yoru had committed one of the most enforced crimes in Yellen... supposedly. Did she really? Would the ex-Head Scribe really be that careless?

Either everyone around her is playing one grand trick on her, or Yoru has truly changed, just like Alyra has suspected for some time now. Yoru plans to leave Raj soon, along with Cage, Kyro, and Ingen. She must have figured that she would already be gone by the time anyone found out. If only.

And now, another has taken Yoru's position. Valia has been the second most competent Scribe since she joined, and even if she was a bit arrogant at times, most thought her a nice person. However, Alyra knew better, she had seen the pure hatred in Valia's eyes when speaking to Yoru.

No matter how Alyra feels though, a vote was cast for the new Head Scribe, and Valia won by a landslide. Then, the woman's demeanor flipped like a switch. She now rules the Scribe Office with an iron fist, firing any woman who writes a Record that does not reach her standards.

The same goes for those who do not reach their weekly quota, and this has already resulted in a reduction of the number of Scribes by a third. For those like Alyra, who have done well in every area so far, the only reward they get is a demeaning reminder of every mistake they have made. Just the thought of that woman's eyes looking down on Alyra makes her blood boil.

Alyra realizes that she's nearly snapped the quill in her hand with anger, and calms herself with deep breaths. She's still not ready to return to the thick cloud of gloom that hovers above the Scribe Office yet, so Alyra distracts herself with another subject.

It's been a week since she watched Cage's figure disappear in the distance. What will he and the others do when they return? Will they try and save Yoru? Alyra doesn't believe that Cage can do it alone, even with the supposed powers at his disposal. He and Yoru explained that Cage would be able to remove Kyro and Ingen's tracker with these mysterious powers, but failed to explain exactly how.

However, even if Cage can achieve such a thing, he'll have to get past the guards first if he wants to help Yoru. Due to the damage that Cage caused in the city the night before he left, every single foreigner has been arrested for interrogation. The guards are certain no Rajin man could have done it, at least not any that are still allowed inside the city. Alyra has no doubt that Cage will meet the same fate himself, if he and the others ever return, that is.

Alyra had wondered how the Gharish man she just interviewed escaped the same fate as the other foreigners, but when he handed her his registration papers, she saw that he had only arrived on Raj this morning. Lucky, she thought at the time.

As if there wasn't already enough chaos though, Rajin men are getting riled up, visiting the training grounds for hours a day, tending to their weapons with a tellingly intense focus. The Utherians are coming, and soon. Alyra is sure that the Rajin army will triumph, but without an overwhelming force like Kyro to lead them, the battles have been uncomfortably close for the last two years.

Alyra doesn't know how the woman came across the information, but Yoru mentioned that the Utherians have also invading Mammoria for a few months now. Perhaps that will reduce the numbers that come here to Raj, but with how many planets the Utherians have recruited from, Alyra doubts it.

Suddenly, the door creaks open, and Alyra jolts, eyes snapping to see who is entering. It's Valia, staring at her with her now most frequent expression when speaking to others. Her face twists with complete and utter disdain as if looking at a rat eating trash on the street, "What are you doing? There is still work to be done, and you don't have time to laze around," Valia hisses.

Alyra clenches her jaw, pushing the urge to take the quill in her hand and slam it into Valia's eye from her mind. She smiles politely despite herself—a skill she learned from the previous Head Scribe-and stands, "I'll get right to it, Valia," Alyra says.

"You will address me as the Head Scribe. I am not your friend," Valia says, leaving the door open as she turns, "Yoru did not demand respect, for she knew that did not deserve it. That has made all of you think that the Office is a place to make friends. Now that I am here, you will all have to think differently."

Alyra scowls at the woman, dropping the quill on the table, "Valia!" She snaps, stomping around the table and toward the door. Valia turns, a disgusted look on her face, as if Alyra had just relieved herself right there on the floor.

However, Valia's expression shifts to that of shock as Alyra's fist cracks her in the nose, sending her tumbling backward through the door and into the Scribe Office.

Valia lies on her back as gasps and murmers surround her, her eyes wide, hand to her nose to staunch the blood flow. She seems unable to speak, attempting to find where Alyra got the audacity to do this to her.

Alyra stands over the woman, nose scrunched with fury, fists clenched at her sides, "Yoru didn't demand respect because she didn't need to," she hisses, "But you... You think that everyone should bow to you, that everyone owes you something. Well, let me tell you something," Alyra leans down, the rage boiling inside of her causing her to spit as she speaks, "I just gave you what you deserve, and if you're still not satisfied, then maybe the others can help you with that."

Valia's eyes widen with each word, lips twisting in disgust more and more with each word spoken. She pulls her hand from her nose, letting the blood flow, "You-"

"I don't need you to tell me," Alyra interrupts her, turning to leave with her eyes lingering on Valia, "I was already planning on leaving."

And so, Alyra stalks towards the door, several pairs of eyes watching her with shock as she leaves. Some were whispering questions to each other, some were looking on in admiration, wishing they could have done the same as Alyra, and others simply gawk, wondering how someone could have to bravery to do such a thing.

Alyra pays them no mind, and leaves the Archive without looking back. She doesn't know what she will do now, but one thing is for sure, she won't be returning to the Archive. Not as long as that rat of a woman calling herself the Head Scribe is there, and Yoru is not.