TheFirstDecadebatonmaster500ShamrockTheNebulousMysteryRiderladymargaretColt For any who may be interested. This will be the earliest story in the Chima RP timeline (as of the time of writing this), and as such will connect to many of the stories that were written before it, but take place after. However, this chronology also means, without a doubt, that no prior knowledge of any of the other Chima RP stories is required to understand this one. This story will also fix some plot holes and unexplained things that have sprung up in the lore.
Rupture: A Chima Roleplay Prequel Story By JGREAD
Part 1 Prologue
195 Years BR (Before Roleplay)... Barriss' feet landed with a crunch on the autumn leaves as she jumped down from the helicopter (or, the "helicrocter", as the Crocodiles so charmingly called them). The bear waved happily to her friend in the hovering machine above, and the crocodile waved back, before skillfully piloting the craft out of the clearing. Barriss watched the helicrocter as it went west, eyeing her friend's adopted son, who sat in the open cockpit behind his mother. All of eight years, the young croc with striking all-white scales and blue eyes hadn't spoken a single word during the flight to the Phoenix Isles, and then to the Bear lands. He had simply gone where his adoptive mother went, and had awkwardly nodded a greeting to Barriss. She'd assumed at first that the boy was merely shy, but there was a sadness in those almost glowing blue eyes of his. Barriss could guess why; he'd been born in the Crocodile Tribe's Arctic colony (explaining his unique color scheme and resistance to cold weather), with both the colony and his biological parents being destroyed that same year, the final year of the Crocodile—Leopard War. In the eight years following the war, relations between the Crocodile and Leopard tribes had luckily been repaired little by little... But the war orphans on both sides won't see it that way for a while. Barriss thought grimly. The bear shook her head, turning her focus back to the matters of her own tribe. She swiftly stepped up onto the "podium" (a melded-together but mostly smooth pile of rocks, courtesy of Rhino Tribe allies from a few decades ago), cleared her throat, and spoke to her tribe, her voice amplified by the glowing orange orb of pure power in her harness. "My people!" Barriss began in her best charismatic voice. "I have brought with me a great power, having proved to our guardians the Phoenix that the Bears are worthy of said power!" She pulled another orb of fire chi from her bag, holding it high for dramatic effect. "Bears, awake!" She continued. "We will finally be able to defend and expand our land--!" She stopped. Ninety-nine percent of the present bears were still sound asleep, with the other one percent pretending to listen to her speech as they lounged about. Barriss was surprised; not by their reaction, but by her own feeling; instead of disappointment, she felt... anger.
Why? Barriss thought, scowling as she walked off the rock. Why won't they listen? If a war came upon our tribe while we're in this state, our entire homeland would be annexed easily. Our ownership of this land, our tribe's legacy, would be gone overnight, without any of you putting up a fight! Why can't you see that?! I'm only twenty, and I'verealized that! It's sheer luck that such an event hasn't--" "Barriss?" A familiar voice interrupted the bear's inner brooding. She turned to see another friend of hers walking out of the forest. The gold on her armor matched her species' yellow fur somewhat. "Looks like we're matching now." The leopard observed. "Congratulations on earning fire chi." "Oh, yeah." Barriss said, looking down at the red and gold Phoenix armor she now wore, identical to that of her friend. The armor materialized when one plugged fire chi for the first time, transforming any previous clothes he or she had been wearing. It annoyed Barriss somewhat, though the armor could be customized by its wearer afterward. "Hasn't changed anything for the Bears though." Barriss muttered. "You can't wake up heavy sleepers unless they're willing, eh?" Her friend said sympathetically. "If I just shoved some fire chi orbs into their harnesses, they'd be awake until the orbs ran out, and then would resume their slumber." Barriss agreed. "Strangely enough, it seems my words, despite being directed initially at my tribe, resonate more with others, such as yourself and my crocodile friends... "I have something to tell you. Let's go into the forest." Barriss stretched her arms as she walked into a more secluded area with her friend. "So," the leopard said after sitting down on a tree stump, "is this about 'Plan B'?" "You're spot-on, as usual." Barriss punned as she looked at the leopard's fur. Her friend rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Yes, it seems Plan B is what I'll need to go with, clearly. There are a few like-minded bears who've already gone to the colony. I know you Leopards are always cautioning us about this 'Elemental Balance', so don't worry, I won't be bringing this stuff up there." She jingled her bag of fire chi, and looked at the bright, flashy outfit. "Not the biggest fan of this armor anyway, to be honest. We'll keep our fire chi at a sister location in the south." "So, Barriss," her friend said, sitting upright, "you'll gather rogues from every tribe to build your faction?" Barriss began pacing with her hands clasped behind her back. "You say that as if I'm putting together an entourage of criminals." She smiled lopsidedly at the leopard. "You know my honor wouldn't allow that. No, it'll simply be like-minded people..." "Like minded warriors, I seem to recall you saying." Her friend recounted from a previous talk. Barriss cleared her throat uncomfortably. "Listen, you know I'm... different from most of the bears of my generation." She replied. "I have a warrior's heart."
"I don't know why. I was just... born this way. I mean, does anyone born with innate traits know why they're born that way?" Out of the corner of her eye, Barriss caught her friend stiffening the tiniest bit at these words. When she turned her head fully toward the leopard, however, she was back to smiling and sitting in her usual relaxed manor. "I want to fight, yes," Barriss admitted, "but for just reasons. My faction will be one that fights to... change the status quo. One that fights injustice. One that liberates." Her friend nodded in understanding. "Of course. So where is this Arctic colony, specifically? If you don't mind me asking." Barriss shifted uncomfortably. "Er," she began, "you've been a great friend for this past half a year, especially with your suggestion of earning fire chi. But... I haven't even known you for a full year, unlike my other allies. I just... don't feel comfortable telling you the exact location of the colony, not yet at least. You understand, right?" The leopard smiled. "Always wary of other's feelings, Barriss. Yes, I understand. 'Twas a somewhat silly thing for me to ask, now that I think on it." Barriss blinked her purple eyes, relieved. She didn't detect anything in her friend's tone that suggested she was offended. "Though having said that," the leopard continued, "I have a question that I do think is reasonable: if one came to your faction and requested that you overthrow their tribe's leaders, would you do so, for the right price?" Barriss felt stunned, but she remained composed. Looking down to lock eyes with the seated leopard, she spoke. "I'm sure you understand that we wouldn't do anything just for money; we wouldn't put unworthy, power-hungry people on thrones even if they could make us millionaires." The leopard woman nodded genuinely. Barriss was lucky to have friends who truly understood her, she realized. "I know you'll do what you believe is right," the leopard said gently, "but of course you realize the implications of this: you're creating an autonomous, armed city-state that isn't associated with any tribes, and will assist in revolutions--the ones you feel are justified--when asked to. Barriss, you know how much tension this will create--" "There's already tension right now, my friend." Barriss turned her back on the other woman as her lip twitched. Perhaps she was wrong about having friends who "got" her. Why does no one... understand me? "Tensions have been rising between the Sabertooths and Lions," she continued, giving examples, "and between the Mammoths and Phoenix. A mammoth I've spoken to--Malgus, I think was his name--told me they've been suffering harsh winters where they live, but haven't received warmth nor aid from our 'guardians', ever since some kind of falling-out in the past between the Phoenix and Mammoths. None of Chima's main tribes have their hands clean, and yet they'd be scared of us for fighting for causes we believe in?!"
"Calm yourself, Barriss." Her friend said gently, standing from the tree stump and putting a paw on the young bear's shoulder. "Remember that I'm on your side in all this; that I sought you out for a reason. I was only asking you to consider some things you may have not thought about." "R--right." Barriss said. She sighed and looked up at the cloudy sky. "I've always liked gray skies better." She said absently. "...Anyway, I know I can count on you for my faction's public relations. If anyone can make it clear that we're liberators, not conquerors, it's you." The leopard nodded respectfully. "I'm glad you think that. So, in regards to being righteous protectors and so forth, I suppose that means you'll mostly protect the Bears, if they ever face an enemy of their own while they're still slumbering?" Barriss stiffened, but quickly smiled. "Y--yes, that's exactly what I was thinking--" Images of the Bears' "reaction" to her earlier speech flashed through Barriss' mind at this. She was again standing on the podium, as her people ignored her and continued sleeping, utterly vulnerable to attacks. Unless I could... create an enemy for the Bears...
185 BR... "Alright, now five push-ups to finish." Leia instructed, concluding the boys' exercise session for the day. "That means you too, Subject #001." The white-furred leopard moaned exaggeratedly as he got into position and began his push-ups. Subject #001 is growing more and more rebellious the older he gets, even though he's only nine... Leia thought as she adjusted her monocle. Whatever, his father can deal with that. I don't foresee it getting in the way of my job here. She looked then at Subject #002, a leopard with much more common yellow fur, two years younger than Subject #001. Leia didn't smile, but she felt relieved, somewhat, that Subject #002's more studious and orderly nature continued to show through; a stark contrast to the chaos that was his brother's personality.
Subject #002 looked up as he finished his exercise. Dr. Leia was looking at him from the glass window in the wall of the Test Room. She had the same completely and utterly emotionless expression she usually wore, and Subject #002 wondered what she was thinking. She then turned her gaze back to the room at large. As usual, her paws were stuffed into the pockets of her open lab coat, under which she wore a suit of red and gold armor. A tinted monocle concealed her left eye from view, but her right eye was blue, an uncommon color for leopards, but not unheard of, he'd been told. Subject #002 glanced at his elder brother, who was (rather reluctantly) finishing his own push-ups. Subject #001 also had blue eyes, leaving Subject #002 as the odd one out in an ironic sense, since he had the much more common yellow eyes of the leopards. Subject #002 gazed around at the Test Room as he lay back, tired after his workout. The walls and floor were made completely out of white panels (though at least they weren't too uncomfortable), aside from the rectangular opening in one wall that revealed Dr. Leia and her desk, divided from the room with a glass wall. Two speakers stuck out on either side of the window, connected to tubes into which Leia would insert chi orbs, which amplified her voice so they could hear her through the reinforced glass. The ceiling was one big light panel, surprisingly giving off a white light that matched the walls and floor of the room, despite the blue orbs that rested inside and powered it. Subject #002--or was it Subject #001? He supposed it didn't matter--had already asked many questions about this room where they'd spent most of their time, ever since both boys were old enough to remember asking them. Most of the queries had been answered. Why are we here? It's a safe environment to test the powers you'll gain. Why are you behind that glass when we're in here? So you can't blow me up. Why can't we see our parents? Your parents are very busy, and have entrusted me to educate you. You'll see them again, later. If we're brothers, why is our fur different colors? Classified info.
Suddenly, as he glanced at his brother's plain gray uniform that looked identical to his save for the number on it, Subject #002 thought of a new question. He called to Dr. Leia. "Dr Leia!" "Yes, Subject #002?" She answered, looking again at the boy. "What is it?" "Why doesn't thy name have a number in it?" Subject #002 asked. "Why isn't it, 'Leia 3?'" "Wha-- Those..." Dr. Leia said, "...aren't your names. They're your designations. That's right, I have been forgetting to name you two. Probably because I'm focused on so many other things. Hmm... yes, they will be angry if you grow up without actual names, won't they? Alright, I'll consult with your father and acquire names." As the doctor left the room, Subject #001 said, "Her manner of speaking is strange, isn't it?" "What dost thou mean?" Subject #002 asked his brother. "She taught us how to speak." "Well, yes." Subject #001 admitted. "Even so, we talk differently than she does. Every time she talks, it's like she's addressing a... client? Is that the correct word? Like she's meeting with someone she doesn't know personally. I don't know, it just feels strange for some reason..." "I suppose I understand what you mean." Subject #002 agreed, standing. "Well, it's time for bed." "Already?" Subject #001 whined. "Why dost thine always follow the rules so strictly, brother? Why is thou such a... well, I suppose Leia hasn't taught us a word for someone like that. Go figure..." As the last word left the white leopard's mouth, the ceiling light ran out of chi power on schedule, engulfing the room in darkness (though light from torches showed through the open tunnel entrance into the room, behind Subject #002 and to Leia's left, when she was behind the glass in the wall). "Hmm, fine." Subject #001 grumbled, going with his brother to the bunk room down the tunnel.
The next day, as Dr. Leia served the two boys breakfast consisting of the usual fish (the only species incapable of evolving through chi, they'd been told) in the meal room of the tunnels, she made an announcement. "Subject #001, Subject #002," she said, looking at both of them in turn, "I now have names for you two." "This is so sudden," Subject #001 commented, "but thine is not complaining!" "Subject #001," Dr. Leia said, looking to the white leopard, "your name is now Logos." "Subject #002," she continued, turning to the yellow leopard, "your name is now Leodus."
"Logos..." The newly christened white leopard repeated the name. "What does it mean?" "An appeal for a speech or debate." Leia explained. "The one that appeals to the audience's reason and logic. It is a hopeful name, Logos, because you will ideally become a more logical thinker and speaker." Logos grumbled at this, but was drowned out by his brother's question. "What about 'Leodus?'" "Leodus doesn't exactly have a meaning," Leia mused, "but it is the name of one of your ancestors, so it's an 'honor', I suppose. Your father came up with it, since I'd come up with Logos' name." "Oh, alright." Leodus said, seeming satisfied. "Now, onto business." Leia said briskly, turning. "During my discussion with your father, we also agreed that the time hast come to begin the experiments." "Experiments?" Leodus echoed. "To give you two the powers I've spoken of." Leia said impatiently, waving a paw. "Come now, to the Test Room." "Oh, superb!" Logos said, brightening at the prospect of finally obtaining the 'powers'. Leodus, in contrast, seemed more cautious.
Both boys' apprehension grew after Leia strapped them to seats in the Test Room. The chairs had sprung from the ground after Leia had opened two of the floor panels with a button on her desk. She'd then walked down into the room with them, and affixed their wrists and ankles to the chairs with metal cuffs built into the armrests and footrests. "Don't worry." Leia said, though there was no compassion in her voice; just her usual monotone. "This is merely a precaution to prevent you two from destroying anything. This won't be a painful process, but it may cause you to become... feral, for a time." And with that, she pulled two glowing orbs from the pockets of her lab coat. One was a cool, frozen blue; a chi orb, which the boys had of course been educated on. The other, however, was orange, with a red tint and a fiery spark foreign to the boys. "What's that... orange chi?" Leodus asked. "It is fire chi." Leia explained as she stepped to face both of the seated test subjects. "A creation of the Phoenix. Its touch will burn any whose species hasn't passed the Fire Trials to earn it. You need not worry, since I passed the Fire Trials, gaining its usage for our species. Therefore, it shan't burn you." "It that why thou hast a red and gold suit?" Leodus asked, looking to the ornate armor beneath Leia's open lab coat. "Correct." Leia confirmed, looking then to the basic chi slots built into the two boys' gray uniforms. "You, Leodus, will now be armed by this fire chi. And this chi will be for thou, Logos." "W-wait!" Logos sputtered suddenly. "Thou taught us about the Age of Becoming, yes? Are we not far too young to wield the power of chi?" "I thought thine wanted power?" Leia replied. "And besides, that is the entire premise behind this project."
With that, Leia placed the chi in Logos' harness, and the fire chi in Leodus', before rushing out of the Test Room at top speed and closing the door behind her. She raced toward the staircase leading into her overlooking office as she heard the two young leopards' mews turn into roars. It was the fastest Leia had ever run; there was no way she'd miss the outcome of the first real experiment. Dashing up the stairs and around the corner, Leia pounced into view of the window overlooking the Test Room. Down there, the boys' chi auras had already erupted and returned to them, and they were now beginning to tear off the metal bindings keeping them affixed to the chairs. "Yes, yes!" Leia breathed as she grabbed her quill and papers, furiously scribbling notes. "Break free, easily!" Logos' eyes were glowing, the blue completely enveloping and hiding his pupils. The same was occurring with Leodus, except his golden eyes were now covered by a glowing red. While Logos didn't have other physical changes aside from sometimes visible blue streaks of energy coursing through his veins, Leodus' gray uniform had several red streaks going through it from the neck down, in sporadic lightning bolt shapes. Leia realized this was the fabric partially changing color. Additionally, golden panels shakily materialized atop his outfit, beginning from his chest down; the Phoenix armor was coming out in pieces, as if it were "confused". Leodus reared his head up and roared as this happened, sounding like a much larger beast than he really was. The metal shackles on the brothers' hands and feet now finally went flying as they burst out from their chairs, one of the shackles smashing into the glass window without so much as denting it (though Leia did flinch). Logos and Leodus now ran around the room at ludicrous speeds, apparently not seeing each other as they randomly ripped panels from the floor and walls in a sort of primal state. Finally, the two leopards noticed one another, and Logos was the first to charge. Leia stirred and quickly reached for a button on her control panel, intending to launch a dart from a blaster concealed beneath a high wall panel, to tranquilize the white leopard. However, she found that didn't have to; as Leodus' red eyes widened in a reflexive look of surprise, Logos suddenly halted, frozen in place. "What...?" Leia said as she looked back and forth between the two of them. Leodus, even in this "primal" state, still was intrigued by this new power of his, and began slowly walking in random directions, right, left, back, forward, then back again; all while keeping his sight locked on Logos' eyes, as if to test the extent of the paralysis. "If this is what happens when one plugs fire chi before the Age of Becoming," Leia began to herself, "then what could the correlation be?? How does this... 'paralyzing stare' relate to the power of the Phoenix? How!?"
Logos didn't get a chance to find out at the moment, as his chi orb fizzled away, and he collapsed into unconsciousness (Leodus' paralysis seemed to have worn off after a very short time as well). His brother soon followed, both the red eyes and the chi orb vanishing, but the partially-created Phoenix robes and armor remained on his upper body. Leia didn't pay this much heed, merely nodding in acknowledgment to that expected outcome, before turning back to her notes and continuing to muse about Leodus' paralysis ability. "Paralysis... fire..." She murmured. "Wait... The fear of fire... Those with pyrophobia can have difficulty going about day-to-day activities, and freezing up is a symptom in children. But Logos doesn't have pyrophobia, does he? How and when would he have developed it? And he didn't freeze up at the sight of the fire chi, which itself is much closer to being literal fire, but rather, at Leodus' eyes during the transformed period. "Perhaps plugging fire chi before the Age of Becoming gives one a sort of link to pyrobhobia; a way to 'weaponize' it. Fire chi is already supernatural enough, so it wouldn't surprise me. Yes, that does seem the most plausible explanation; plugging any kind of chi before the Age of Becoming is considered 'unnatural' and 'wrong', a belief that's now practically ingrained into the mind of the average Chimian, after having that rhetoric drilled into them by their forefathers for the eight hundred fifteen years of our civilization. "The centuries of that meme being passed down generation after generation hast created a sort of neural wall within the minds of most Chimians, a wall that is shattered by the sight of a child plugging chi. Perhaps one wouldn't know how to react to this in the case of normal chi, but when it comes to fire chi, there's also the loose link with pyrobhobia. Still, that doesn't scientifically explain why the eyes of one who plugged fire chi before that oh-so-important age can enforce a full-blown paralysis on another." Leia looked toward the ceiling, smirking. "Unless the explanation isn't 'fully' scientific. Our creator, or creators, could have simply ingrained this power of paralysis into our genetics, like a sleeper agent to be activated when a child plugs chi. A power that gives such an unfair edge in combat, especially if it permanently remains in the user after the initial activation, would serve as another reason for most Chimians to fear the concept of a child plugging chi, and therefore double down on enforcing the Age of Becoming law." Leia turned her gaze back down to the unconscious leopards, and the many torn-up parts of the Test Room. "If our creators did add that power to our DNA as another measure of deterrence, that is understandable, albeit ironic. Logos and Leodus were in a completely primal state, and very nearly destroyed this room."
"Perhaps that's an inevitability even our creators, the 'gods', can't control. If the Age of Becoming law was never created, the world would be in a constant state of absolute chaos, since practically everyone, even phoenix, would've plugged chi from an early age out of pure curiosity." Leia fixed her gaze on Logos even as she continued scribbling notes. "Why then, did such a power not activate for Logos? It wouldn't only apply to fire chi, would it? Although... unlike with fire chi, I have heard of several beings in the past plugging regular chi before the Age of Becoming, and they didn't develop this power. Then again, those have all been teenagers; thus, these powers may stop being able to materialize after a certain age, probably once one reaches adolescence. Perhaps it's simply not guaranteed to activate the first time... I shall need to test Logos with regular chi once again, to see."
Sure enough, when Leia conducted another chi test a few days later (Logos and Leodus had been more dazed and confused than angry after the previous test, but it had also developed in them a sense of curiosity almost as strong as Leia's), the paralysis ability awakened in the white leopard as well, leading to a stalemate in the inevitable battle between the two temporarily feral beings. "Excellent," Leia said in an unusually cheerful tone as the brothers stood facing each other, frozen, "after all these years, the experiments have begun in earnest, and have already shown such interesting results..."
-last edited on Jun 25, 2022 20:20:29 GMT by The J
Post by The J on Jun 25, 2022 20:20:09 GMT
Chapter 3
A week after the paralysis power had awakened in Logos, Leia strode through the halls of the Golden Castle, taking a turn into a secluded room. There stood the King, the Queen, and two other Leopards. Leia briskly greeted the later two, then bowed to the former two. "Your Majesties." She said, despite it having been mere days since she'd last met with the King. "Doctor Leia." The Queen answered stiffly, giving a curt nod before turning her attention to the other two leopards. One was the Director of Leopard Intelligence, the other, an agent of his. The Agent continuously flipped a coin in his hand, nodding at Leia upon her arrival. While the King and Queen were dressed in their usual extravagant (and rather gaudy, Leia thought privately) clothes, the Director and the Agent both wore inconspicuous brown cloaks, as if they were low-class citizens. "Looks like the gang's all here." The Agent said gruffly, catching his coin and stuffing it back in his pocket. "Unless we've added any more to our club?" "If we had, I wouldn't tell you." The Director said. "But nice try." The Agent grinned with sharp fangs. "'Twas worth a shot." No one in Chima outside of this room knew about the spy's mission, and while all of the Leopard Intelligence agents reported to the monarchs, the Director, or Leia, the agents weren't permitted to meet one another, unless it was necessary to put two together for a mission. This rule was put in place for various reasons, such as preventing the agents from compromising each other's missions, or even conspiring together to put their skills to use against the Leopard Tribe. Leia opened her mouth to speak, but remained silent as the Leopard King stated the obvious. "You wouldn't have come back now if you didn't have something major to report." "Indeed, Your Highness." The Agent nodded, pulling some papers from within his cloak, which concealed many pockets. On the papers were rough drawings of mammoths at a distance, with what looked like bolts of lightning and abstract swirls drawn around them. "I see this mission didn't serve to improve your abilities as an artist." The Director observed sardonically. "Ha, ha..." The Agent replied drily. "I had to capture the moment quickly, before I could be spotted. I figured you wouldn't believe what I'm about to tell you if I didn't bring a visual representation of it. What these mammoths were doing... I can only describe it as magic. That's what they called it, after all." Leia scoffed. "'Magic' is just science we haven't discovered yet!" The Agent once again grinned in his irritating way. "Sorry to burst your bubble, Doc, but there was nothing about this that science could explain. Lightning summoned from their hands; pure energy materializing out of seemingly nowhere; miniature storm clouds that glowed; their chi auras being prolonged and physically interacting with each other and their environment. 'Twas quite the show."
The Agent tossed the drawings sidelong onto the round table to his right, splaying them out. "And you know what's funny?" He continued as he gestured to the mammoths he'd drawn. "I'd assumed at first that this huge old fellow was training the teenager, but then it became clear that it was the other way around. I suppose she was the one who created this... magic." "You mean, discovered." Leia said, her head spinning with theories. "One cannot just 'create' something like this out of the blue. She must have discovered this power within herself, and then sought out another mammoth who had the capacity for it. Yes... it's a genetic aptitude, clearly." "You jumped to that conclusion awfully quick." The King commented. "Nay, Your Majesty." The Agent said. "I think the good doctor is onto something. Everything I saw points to that; a rare gift some are born with, but they can't know they have that power until they're taught, or teach themselves, how to bring it out. "This girl found one other person in her tribe who had the aptitude, so far at least. Otherwise, she probably would've been teaching a whole battalion of mammoths at once. After all, they do seem to be getting increasingly hostile toward the Phoenix, as you all know." "Or she's just trying to keep the power a secret," the Director reasoned, "keeping the knowledge of its existence within a tightly-knit and trusted group. Who's to say she's even loyal to her own tribe?" "I still think she would've had more than one person with her, in that case." The Agent insisted. "Like her family or younger friends. Why just this old man, if not for him being the only other person she's found with the right genetics for it?" "Perhaps you're both right." Leia spoke up. "It's a genetic aptitude, but she's also keeping it as secret as she can. In any case, the next course of action is obviously to obtain a DNA sample." Everyone in the room stared at Leia. "What?" The Queen asked, turning to the King. "Why do we even let this weirdo into these meeti--?!" "It is the logical next step," Leia said quietly to the King, ignoring the Queen, "Your Highness." The Leopard King, standing the closest to Leia out of all those present, managed to barely see through her monocle, and with her left eye beneath the glass, she gave him a particular look. "I see..." The King said cryptically, nodding. "Yes, you're right. Since we Leopards have not a way to test for this 'magic aptitude' within our tribe, we can use a mammoth DNA sample to figure out how." "Makes sense when you put it like that." The Agent said, crossing his arms. "The big fellow is certainly easy to spot, and I've noticed he likes to go out for strolls on the mountain paths. I can nab a few fur strands without him seeing me, no problem. He'll feel a prick, but by the time he's turned around, I'll be back in the shadows."
"While I normally wouldn't doubt your abilities," the Director cautioned, "what if these new powers of his will make it harder to sneak up on him?" "I didn't see eyes growing on the back of his head." The Agent chuckled. "You know what I mean." The Director said impatiently. "Yes, yes." The Agent replied, waving his hand dismissively. "I'll be careful. Come now, you know me, Chief!" "Then this meeting is adjourned." The Leopard King declared. The Queen made quick glances at Leia and the King in turn, before briskly striding out of the room, as the Director started to gather the drawings from the table. The King gave Leia an apologetic look, which puzzled her, before leaving himself. Leia glanced at her pocket watch, and then looked up to see that the Agent had turned toward her on his way out. He winked at Leia, and upon being met by a blank stare, stopped grinning and awkwardly shuffled out of the room as quick as he could. Leia walked over to the table next to the Director, mostly to take another look at the drawings. "Is it a new goal of yours to recruit the most obnoxious agents imaginable?" "Oh, come now," the Director frowned, "he's not that bad. He is a bit too much of a hot-shot, but that seems pretty common to this generation; leopards in their twenties nowadays... excluding you, of course." "Eh?" "Leia..." The Director turned to face her after neatly putting together all the drawings. "I know you're... shall we say, different. But you could try to be a bit friendlier to your fellows." "What are you talking about?" Leia said slowly. "Did you really think I'd never figure it out?" The Director raised an eyebrow. "After all these years you've worked for and with me? It's part of my job to perceive differences in the way people act. It's no wonder the King has elevated you to such a high position; your... unique psychology can be useful for certain matters, where others would falter." "Well... yes." Leia replied mechanically. "Of course." The Director chuckled and clapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Don't let it go to your head, now. Then again, you didn't when you earned us fire chi, all those years ago..." Leia watched him depart.
Two days later, after Leia fed the still-recovering Logos and Leodus, she returned to the meeting room at the King's behest for the Mammoth-assigned Agent's next debriefing. The Agent's usual annoying grin was gone, replaced by a pained grimace, as he wore a cast on his left arm. "Ah, so you did underestimate the so-called 'old fellow.'" Leia observed. "I did indeed..." The Agent grunted, but some light returned to his eyes as he gestured to the table with his good arm. "However! I got all these samples of his fur, as promised!" "That's all well and good," the Director muttered, rubbing his forehead, "but please tell me he didn't find out your species."
"Of course not, Chief!" The Agent assured him. "I wore the gloves, the jumpsuit, the mask; the whole thing! I mean, I suppose he might know from the shape of the mask that I was a feline, but that certainly doesn't narrow it down to the Leopards by any means." "True, it doesn't." The Director agreed. "But stop calling me 'Chief!' My title is Director of Leopa--" The King cut him off. "So this is fur from the elder of the two magic-using mammoths? You're positive?" "I swear it on my honor, Your Highness!" "Logically, that means about as much as swearing on a gust of wind." Leia commented. "Arg, the point is," the Agent said impatiently, glaring briefly at the Doctor, "he was using that magic when he tried to pummel me into the face of the mountain--or was he trying to fry the mask off my face? maybe both--so there's your answer." "Well, the important thing is that this mission was a success," the Director said, "even if it didn't go as smoothly as any of us would've liked. Well done, agent. You are dismissed." "Return to the infirmary." The Queen said gently. "You've earned yourself a long break." The Agent smiled, but now in a way that somehow seemed more humble to Leia, and left the room after bowing to the monarchs. Though as he walked out into the hall, Leia heard him murmur, "I better have earned a raise as well. Ah, who am I kidding...?" Leia walked toward the Director, who'd picked up the fur tuft, and she held out a hand. "I'll need at least two strands." The other leopard's face darkened somewhat as realization dawned on him. "Ah, so that's what this was about." He growled. "That's why you were so eager to get this 'magic DNA' in your hands." The Director turned to the King and Queen even as Leia continued to stand before him (though she put her hand down). "I must say, I still have reservations about this project you have Leia working on." He said carefully. "Those children--" "Have not and will not feel any pain from these procedures." Leia sighed in exasperation. "And besides, don't you remember what you yourself told me the other day, Director? About my usefulness in particular situations?" "Right..." The Director conceded. "You're only feeling reservations about the project now," Leia reasoned as she snatched up some strands from the fur tuft, "because you've just reminded yourself of it. That's why you should concern yourself with your work, Director, while I concern myself with mine." Bowing swiftly to the King and Queen, Leia whirled around and stalked out of the room.
The DNA splicing process was long and arduous, but Leia managed to pull it off over the course of several days. She glanced at the sleeping Logos and Leodus in their septic tanks as she scrawled more notes on the final day of the sub-project. "And thus," Leia noted, "the first two magic-capable leopards are born. The only problem is that we don't know how to draw out this power, or how to train them to use it. But at least they have the capacity for it now; that magic, in addition to the abilities they obtained from the previous experiments, ought to make them even more powerful."
Leodus tried to focus on reading the history book Leia had assigned him, but he felt his mind wander irrevocably. He wondered why Dr. Leia had subjected he and Logos to those experiments a month prior, and why his uniform had turned red and "grown" patchy golden armor plates. Leodus supposed that the transformation of his clothes came from plugging fire chi; that would explain Dr. Leia's red and gold armor as well. However, Leodus was still perplexed by the nature of his life here. He'd never questioned it until now; this place was the home of he and his brother; Leia was their caretaker who raised them and managed their education; once they reached an unspecified age, she'd let them go to the outside world. Now though, Leodus wasn't sure why his and Logos' lives had to be like this. The history books mentioned families living in buildings called "huts" or "houses", not underground facilities like this one. There was never any mention of parents or caretakers subjecting their children to chi-related experiments, or prohibiting them from going outside until adulthood. Leodus also noticed that after the experiments, while he'd grown more perplexed and intrigued, Logos had grown more and more angry. "Thine experiments were a bit cruel, weren't they?" Logos asked presently, pulling Leodus from his thoughts and back into reality. Leia, walking to the side of their table, answered before Leodus could. "How, exactly? They were not painful, were they? And even if they were, pain is a part of life. It is unavoidable." "Why is pain unavoidable?" Leodus asked. "Getting philosophical, eh?" Leia replied. "Actually, I suppose it's because of our sense of touch I've taught you about. It's what causes us to feel pain, but it also allows us to feel good things, like the feeling that one has become physically stronger after exercising." "I'd rather not have a sense of touch," Logos crossed his arms, "if it meant no more pain." "Now that's a stance I've not heard before," Leia mused, "however, you're forgetting that the sense of touch, and by extent pain, is also a necessity for survival. For example, imagine you've gotten an injury that is physically small, but on a vital part of your body. Pain signifies this; you could say it alerts you to the danger."
