"Indeed," Leodus answered. "It was thanks to the Vultures that we won the war." That wasn't flattery; the war may have come to a stalemate or a Crocodile victory if that peculiar vulture hadn't taught the Leopards how to build and operate battleships. "You are too kind," Varn replied, bowing his head; his long beak almost touched the table. "Though even with our side having emerged victorious, that war truly opened my eyes. The period of peace that my generation had been graced with came to an abrupt end with the then-new Crocodile King's expansions, encroaching on the Vultures' and Leopards' territories and forcing our hands. "I'm not saying that triggered a series of nonstop wars, because it obviously didn't but...well, Chima's atmosphere has certainly been changing ever since then." "True," Leodus pretended to agree. He elected not to say, 'I was raised in an enclosed space, so I can't have perceived any difference between tribal relations during that time.' ValumVarn gazed out one of the archways. "I'm also not saying that we should distrust all of our fellow tribes, but some seem to have been emboldened by the Crocodile's actions. Have you heard about the Mammoth Tribe's abrupt revolution five years ago?" "I have," Leodus confirmed. His caretakers had brought him up to date on the Mammoths' revolution, which had occurred two years before the 'Logos incident'. A couple by the names of Melko and Maulryene had overthrown their tribe's original monarchy with shocking ease; it was rumored that Maulryene and some of her friends had used 'witchcraft' to achieve this. "Right, but have you heard that the Mammoths allied with the Sabertooth Tigers immediately afterward?" ValumVarn asked. "The new Mammoth Queen Maulryene is apparently quite chummy with the current Sabertooth Queen, Sabradia. Some suspect that the latter aided the former in overthrowing the Mammoths' old guard, making the revolution even faster...but that's just conjecture. "Anyhow, the Mammoths and Phoenix have been at each other's throats for as long as I can remember because of something that happened in the past, and that's not even mentioning the historically messy relationship between the Sabertooths and Lions." "You think Maulryene and Sabradia are planning to go to war with the Lions and Phoenix?" Leodus asked. "I wouldn't go that far," ValumVarn held up his hands, "but it's undeniable that tensions are even higher now, what with such a shockingly quick coup followed by the union of two tribes who allegedly despise two other tribes--the ones who distribute both types of chi, no less--and all in the wake of a war that involved information control and 'battles' fought with propaganda; a new kind of warfare." Leodus rubbed his chin in thought. The Crocodiles had indeed tried to flip the neutral tribes' perception of the war, making the Vultures and Leopards out to be 'ganging up against them' even though the Crocs had been the initial aggressors.
Shoot. SHOOT. God darn it. It's supposed to say Varn at those three parts, NOT Valum. MAN, I wish I could edit old posts.
167 BR... Vulture Prince Valum hovered over stalagmites, perpetually flapping his wings to keep himself afloat; there was no wind to carry him, not this far down. He flew close to his father and the two vulture guards, but Valum's eyes frequently went to their flightless companions. While the five leopard miners, having plenty of experience traversing such terrain, had no trouble climbing up and around the spiky rocks, the middle-aged gorilla with them was lagging behind. "Do you want a lift, Mr. Gulikovsky?" Valum asked the gorilla, hovering down near him. "I'm quite all right, thank you," the dark gray gorilla assured him, then called out ahead, "You've raised a well-mannered son, Varn!" Normally, anyone present would be appalled by someone addressing the Vulture King so casually, just by his name rather than a title; but it was common knowledge among the Vultures and their allies that Aeon Gulikovsky was a longtime friend of King Varn, dating back to their childhoods over four decades prior. Varn was as comfortable and laid back when talking to his lifelong friend as when talking to his own son. An eighteen-year-old Aeon, just after gaining the title of Diplomat, had tried to convince the Gorilla King to ally with the Vultures and Leopards during the final year of the Crocodile–Leopard War, and suffice it to say, that effort didn't bear fruit. Now, seven years after the Vultures and Leopards had officially allied, Aeon had seen his chance to try adding the Gorillas to the alliance. Varn, wary of the now publicly known 'magic' powers among the Mammoths and some of their Sabertooth allies, had begun to desire an equivalent for the Vultures and Leopards; something that would put them on an equal playing field to the other alliance, just in case. This came in the form of the rumored Rupture crystals, durable gems that could be forged into weapons capable of controlling the elements themselves. Or so the rumors claimed. The Elemental Rupture, a place deep beneath the Iron Mountains and the Arctic, and situated precisely on the invisible wall dictating the 'Elemental Balance' between north and south, was where the aptly-named Rupture crystals could supposedly be mined from. Discovered by the miners from one tribe or another around a century ago, the Elemental Rupture became the subject of many rumors and folktales since then; the most ridiculous of which (in Valum's opinion) was that the Rupture crystals being taken into the south wouldn't disrupt the Elemental Balance at all. Unsurprisingly, the concept of the Elemental Rupture and its crystals imbued with 'ice power' was generally considered a modern myth, and any Rupture crystals that may have been taken into the south over ninety years prior were long gone by now, probably melted just like the ice they resembled. Still, many in Chima, especially Varn and the young Leopard King Leodus, believed these old rumors had some weight to them.
Valum had first met Leodus three years prior to this excursion, when Valum was fourteen. The Leopard King was eight years his elder, but they'd become fast friends despite the age gap. They related to one another over their shared experience of growing up without one of their biological parents present; for Leodus it was his father, and for Valum, his mother, who'd been taken by a mysterious illness when he was young. Leodus had confided in Varn and Valum that his mother was actually Leia, the leader of Leopard Intelligence. While it was a strict custom in the Leopard Tribe that the current King must be the son of the previous Queen, and so Leodus had been forced to lie to his own people about that, the Vulture royals had no problem keeping a secret (and no interest in meddling in another tribe's inner politics). They appreciated the mutual trust between themselves and Leodus that had grown over the past several years, and had also agreed to assist in the hunt for his fugitive half-brother Logos; the slayer of the previous Leopard monarchs. It was through this hunt in the Iron Mountains and Arctic areas, however, that the Vultures and Leopards 'incidentally' (though Valum suspected that his father had used this as an excuse to do so) began to observe more of the Sabertooth-Mammoth alliance and its growing power over the years. The Lion King was particularly worried about this, due to his tribe's rocky relationship with the Sabertooths; the tension in the air had been almost thick enough to cut when Valum saw the Lions handing the Sabertooth delegation their supply of chi a few months back. It was on that day that Aeon Gulikovsky, heading the Gorilla delegation, discussed all this (and brought up the Elemental Rupture) with Varn, Valum and Leodus on the steps to the Lion City. Thus, one thing led to another, eventually bringing the Vultures, a hopeful Aeon, and Leopards Leodus had sent down into the depths of Chima-- "Looks like it's up ahead?" Varn interrupted his son's inner recounting of events, with a statement that was some sort of midway between confident and uncertain. Valum looked ahead to see a blue glow emanating from an unseen cavern just around a curve. However, it looked indistinguishable from the glow of chi that one would find in the Lions' chi pool. It had been long since theorized that natural chi sources other than Mount Cavora existed around the world. Perhaps this was one of those chi springs--? Valum's theory was erased from his mind mere seconds after it was formed, along with any doubts he'd had about the existence of the Elemental Rupture. When the group rounded the curve, they entered into a large cavern; a sight that would've been generic, if not for its floor being torn open in the middle to reveal a monstrous, gaping chasm, its sides lined with glowing blue crystals that were almost overwhelmingly bright. "I knew it," Aeon said, smiling. "The Elemental Rupture does exist!"
Varn alighted on the cavern floor and turned to face the group. "Now remember: if bringing the crystals south disrupts the Elemental Balance at all, we bring them back; if their very touch freezes our hands, we pry them off and throw the wretched things back into the Rupture. "This is an experiment to see if these 'Rupture crystals' are safe and useful to begin with, so temper your expectations." Valum alighted next to his father as he nodded along with the others. The two vulture 'guards' (though this mercenary couple was enlisted mostly to help collect crystals; Varn and Valum hardly needed guards for this operation) soon followed the royals to the edge of the Elemental Rupture, staring down into the deep crevice and taking large, empty bags from their belts. In all his seventeen years, Valum had never seen anything quite like the seemingly bottomless crevice staring up at him. Certainly it was similar to the aptly-named 'Gorge of Eternal Depth' in his homeland; but the difference, obviously, was in the glowing, translucent blue crystals that completely lined both sides of the crevice. "Amazing..." Aeon Gulikovsky breathed as he came up to the edge of the Rupture. "Though I hope the crystals will be as useful and as powerful as they're rumored to be, even if they aren't, at least this venture has provided us with a sight we'll never forget." Valum turned to Aeon to nod, but the gray gorilla was now looking at the miners to his left. The Vulture Prince followed his gaze. The five leopards, who were taking their climbing gear out of massive backpacks and hooking the firm ropes to their belts, had been provided by Leodus to assist his allies in the actual, well, mining of the crystals. The Vultures, being native to the Great Desert since seemingly the dawn of Chima, had little to no experience mining; the Leopard Tribe, on the other hand, had lived in the Iron Mountains for hundreds of years, since King Leo'dus (the ancestor after which Leodus had been named) ordered a migration there in the interest of overseeing the Elemental Balance. Thus, they were no strangers to mining and traversing both the insides and outsides of mountainous regions. "Say, why couldn't King Leodus himself join us here?" Aeon inquired. "He's currently fixated on investigating a rogue organization within his tribe," Valum took it upon himself to answer. "Some greedy leopards apparently had the gall to try creating a criminal empire within the Golden City, and he's close to cracking down on them." "Ah," Aeon nodded, "I understand why that would take priority. But now I appreciate the help he's provided us with even more, knowing he's busy with something else. If only my King was good at multitasking like that..." Valum raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "Oh, never mind that," Aeon shook his head dismissively. "I shouldn't speak ill of the Gorilla King if I want to persuade him to join the alliance, right?"
Valum nodded politely, yet privately thought, I'm not so sure if mining crystals that may be able to freeze things will convince a neutral king to join a military alliance, but I won't dash on your hopes, Aeon.In addition to being a diplomat, Gulikovsky was an advisor to the Gorilla King; quite a high standing in the tribe. So, who am I to say how easy or difficult it'll be to 'advise' the Gorilla King into joining? The Vulture Prince turned to where the leopards were setting up, and joined the other non-miners in securing the stakes they'd drilled into the ground. While two of the leopards and Aeon stood watch over the three planted stakes, ready to pull up those descending on ropes at the slightest sign of looseness, the other three leopards descended into the Rupture; with them went the four vultures, flying down and vigilantly hovering next to the miners to grab them in case, gods forbid, the ropes broke.
Luckily, that didn't happen. The mining went smoothly, and in under an hour, those who'd descended into the seemingly bottomless crevice came back up with over twenty Rupture crystals. The crystals were cold, but not freezing to touch directly. Valum pulled a jagged crystal out of one of the many filled up bags, jabbing it forward as if it were a sword. "It's not shooting any freezing beams out," he observed. "I'm sure there's a specific movement to get them working, and it's not what you're doing," Varn replied dryly. "I'm mostly just messing arou--" Valum began, but stopped as he and the other vultures stared at their gorilla companion, and the spectacular thing he'd just managed to do. Whilst the prince had been talking, Aeon, who'd also grabbed one of the Rupture crystals, had made a swift downward swing with it. A streak of blue energy as fast as a chi laser bolt shot out of the crystal, disappearing after making contact with a stalagmite at the end of the cavern...and instantly freezing it solid in a sheet of ice perfectly shaped to the rock's form. "Incredible!" the gorilla exclaimed as he looked back and forth between the frozen rock and the crystal that'd accomplished the feat. "I knew it! Imagine what we could do with--!" His statement was cut short as a small cylinder rolled up to his feet from behind him, exploding a millisecond later in a flash of light and fire. Gulikovsky and the crystal he held were instantly and fully enveloped in that fire. "AEON!!!" Varn screamed, staring into the explosion before jerking his head back to look in the other direction. Valum, despite being almost too shocked to move, managed to turn his head, following his father's gaze. They watched as the leopard who'd thrown the fire chi grenade, already on the move, pulled a blaster from the holster on his right hip, his eyes locked on one of the dumbfounded vulture guards. One of his companions, however, beat him to his target, downing the vulture with a quick and precisely-aimed head shot. "NO!" the other guard cried.
Her anguish turned to anger as she flew at the leopards from the other side of the Rupture, dodging some of their laser blasts whilst absorbing others with her spear; getting almost close enough to strike her newfound enemies with the point of the spear... ...Until one shot hit her side beneath her right arm, sending her flying backward. The injured and disoriented vulture spiraled down into the Elemental Rupture from the shock of the blast. A few seconds later, a strange flash of blue light erupted upward from the crevice. Through all of this, Valum stood still, his feet glued to the ground. He internally urged himself to move, to do something, but he remained frozen with shock. "GO, TOWARD THE ENTRANCE. MOVE!" his father's voice broke Valum out of the trance, as Varn soared toward him. Valum lifted off and did as told, but swerved away from the cavern's entrance as another cylinder--which Valum now identified as a fire chi grenade--tumbled in front of the tunnel, detonating. The cavern shook with the impact, and rocks began to fall. "These psychopaths are going to bury us all!" Varn snarled behind Valum, who turned to see his father plugging chi and drawing his silver sword; just in time to block a pickax swing from one of the leopards, who by now had run around to the other side of the Rupture, carrying their bags of crystals with them. Valum drew his own sword, only for a stalactite to break off from the cavern ceiling and fall directly toward him. Valum saw it in time to only partially dodge, ducking his head and trying to leap back as the sharp rock scraped across his scalp. Valum howled in pain, dropping his blade and instinctively putting his hands on his newfound scar. He fell to the ground and desperately tried to maintain consciousness. Going from half-conscious to fully awake around twenty seconds later, he looked up to see his father standing in front of him, fighting furiously against the five leopards. "F...Father..." he groaned. Varn whipped his head around. "GO, GET OUT OF HERE!" He urged, grabbing one of Valum's wings and tossing him back into the entrance tunnel with a chi-enhanced throw. Valum rose unsteadily to his feet as he saw Varn continue to stave off the apparent traitors...until one of them slashed up across the Vulture King's torso, with a knife that'd been concealed in the leopard's belt moments before. "NO!" Valum cried as his father collapsed into a heap on the now unstable cavern floor; indeed, everything was falling apart both figuratively and literally. Despite how badly he wanted to avenge his father and the other members of the expedition, to crush their slayers into unrecognizable states, Valum shoved those thoughts into the back of his mind, knowing that such would be impossible, and that he needed to prioritize escaping with his own life. Turning from the leopards as they ran toward the entrance, Valum flew as fast as he could through the tunnel, and didn't look back.
-last edited on Feb 25, 2023 17:35:49 GMT by The J
Post by The J on Feb 25, 2023 17:34:27 GMT
-Part 2: Cold Talons-
Chapter 10
157 BR... Valum gazed out at his desert domain, scanning the endless sea of sand that stretched out as far as the eye could see; though if he were to turn around, he'd see his city in the distance. For the other tribes, it would be considered a wasteland; but for the Vultures, it was the perfect home. The Great Desert, Valum's ancestors had named it, for it was great in their eyes. The Vultures were a species who could live and thrive in hot and cold regions alike, but they were more accustomed to the former. Since Valum had been made Vulture King nine years prior, this land was effectively his. A long eastern strip, Talon City stretched nearly all the way across the region, both the northern and southern portions; connected by a mighty stone bridge that stretched across the Gorge of Eternal Depth. This was an impressive feat even in the eyes of the other tribes, since the Gorge exerted a strange gravitational 'pull' that seemed eager to tear even flying creatures out of the air and into the abyss. Nevertheless, brave and determined Vultures of days long past had resisted the Gorge's pull, through both a constant plugging of chi and their own collective willpower, long enough to construct the bridge. The Vulture King and his guards hadn't gone outside the city to admire what Valum had retroactively named Varn Bridge, however. They lifted off almost in unison, gliding from the dune they'd stood atop to the bizarre occurrence that had been reported; a mid-sized boulder far to the west, away from Talon City, that was encased in a crystallized light blue sheen. Valum landed first and poked at the surface with the tip of his sword. "Ice...Perfectly contorted to this rock's shape, at that." Valum's guards landed and hurried up to him. He took a step back while keeping his eyes on the boulder, and told them, "The work of a Rupture crystal; it has to be." A decade had passed since the 'Rupture incident' that had left Valum scarred both physically and mentally. More so the former, he liked to think, whenever he looked at a reflective surface to see the scar on his head. He had met with Leodus almost immediately after returning alone to Talon City to inform his tribe of what'd happened. Leodus had told a heavily-guarded Valum that the miners must've been rogue conspirators, and promptly set about hunting them down. The genuine shock and anger in the Leopard King's expression had assured Valum of his truthfulness. While the Vulture Regents had threatened to end the alliance, Valum definitively shut their attempts down when he turned eighteen and was made Vulture King less than half a year later. Nevertheless, tensions between the Vultures and Leopards had irrevocably formed despite their kings being on good terms; though the Vultures' distrust for their allies had dissipated over the course of ten years, for the most part.
On top of that, even as matters quieted down for the Vultures and Leopards in the following years (though Valum and Leodus were frustrated by the lack of results in tracking down the traitors), there'd been an escalation of almost ludicrous proportions for Chima in general. After a disastrous wedding and an alleged lack of aid from the Lion Tribe, the new Sabertooth King Finglor had gone over the deep end and declared war on the Lions, set to completely wipe out the species. The Mammoths didn't take part in the war at first despite still being closely allied with the Sabertooths, but after finding out that the Phoenix had broken their neutrality to give the Lions proxy aid (understandable in Valum's opinion, considering Finglor's goal to eliminate a species in its entirety), a high-ranking mammoth named Malgus and his militant family had led a campaign against the Phoenix. According to rumors, this led to the entire family aside from Malgus and his son being wiped out in battle with the 'guardians of Chima' (which was not as understandable in Valum's opinion). Neither the Sabertooths nor Mammoths had dared to cross into the Valley of Balance or Great Desert during their crusades, knowing that would likely incite the Vulture-Leopard alliance to join the war on the Phoenix and Lions' side. In retrospect, Valum wondered if he and Leodus would've joined the war, had they known what was to come, but there wasn't much of a point to wondering what could've happened. What did happen was that the devastating war was brought to an end six years ago, when the Phoenix initiated a Great Illumination after the Sabertooths had breached the Lion City's walls. A burst of energy had washed over all the land north of Mount Cavora; and while it hit the Sabertooths and Mammoths like a brick, throwing them, their chi and their vehicles into the Arctic (where they were apparently trapped), the energy wave seemingly didn't affect anyone else beyond a strange ripple in their fur or feathers. As if things couldn't get any more insane, Cavora literally ascended, ripped out of the ground and suspended in the air like gravity no longer applied to it. The chi falls still poured, but now from higher up, landing in the mountainous, volcano-like hole where Cavora had been separated from the ground. The tubular canals that the Lions had once constructed to collect the chi (during the hundreds of years in which Cavora was grounded, and its chi falls came out of its sides) were gone, crumbled to dust. In their place, the Illumination had spontaneously rebuilt the Lion City to accommodate for the new geography, connecting it to the new natural chi pool above, with tunnels that flowed directly into the Lions' own chi pool. This caused discourse in itself despite bringing an assured end to the war, with many tribes criticizing the Phoenix for the disturbing fate wrought upon the sabertooth and mammoth species, in addition to the apparent 'lion favoritism'.
The critics had stated that the near-destruction of Lion City, while unfortunate, had also been an opportunity to make the chi falls 'neutral'. They claimed that, if the Great Illumination could terraform the land to such an extent, it could've created a river for the chi falls, flowing into a lake far from the grasp of the Lions. The Phoenix defended the way things turned out by reminding the tribes that the Lions had always carried out the duty of fairly dividing the chi between the tribes; that, if not for a tribe having taken up that role, the distribution of chi would've devolved into complete chaos long ago, with stronger beings inevitably grabbing more chi than the weak, and tipping the precarious balance of nature. Valum, for his part, didn't much care either way. His grief for his father, having to abruptly grow into the role of Vulture King, and his alliance's own interior politics outweighed all of that. Assuring the Gorilla King that the Leopard Tribe hadn't slain Aeon Gulikovsky had also been enough of a headache for Valum to not bother himself over who controlled the chi falls, as long as the Vultures and Leopards still got chi. Though, while Valum and Leodus shared this stance, the one thing they disagreed upon was their perception of the Phoenix. Valum was among those now weary and less trustful of the so-called 'guardians of Chima' after seeing the fate they'd wrought upon the Sabertooths and Mammoths, especially the latter; whereas Leodus was one of the equally prevalent voices who trusted the Phoenix more. Valum had been baffled by the stance, until Leodus reasoned that the Phoenix had been acting in self-defense when Malgus' coalition invaded their isles (which was true), that they'd saved the Lions from extinction with the Great Illumination, and that exiling the hostile tribes instead of wiping them out said a lot about the Phoenix Tribe, morally. Both stances seemed equally understandable, and Valum noticed that the Vultures in general fell into the 'distrustful of the Phoenix' camp, while most of the Leopards were in the opposite camp. Of course, being allies didn't mean that the Vultures and Leopards were going to agree on literally everything. That's just politics, Valum thought. "Sire, look out!" one of Valum's guards suddenly yelled, leaping in front of him. Valum reacted in an instant, drawing his sword from its sheath on his hip, looking up at the approaching adversary, and leaping a couple feet backward all in one motion. He'd learned from the past, and would never freeze up again like he did ten years ago. A second later, the airborne attacker had shot a very recognizable blue beam where Valum had been standing, instantly and fully freezing the guard who'd jumped in front of him. "I see your reflexes have improved," the hostile vulture noted, alighting in front of Valum. She wielded a glowing blue sword, but even more noticeable and bizarre were her light blue wings, which also seemed to glow.
Valum felt as though he'd seen this vulture before, despite her otherworldly appearance. He put his guard up whilst trying to remember. "Sire!" his remaining guard exclaimed, dashing in front of the Vulture King to put himself between Valum and the attacker. No sooner had he done so than the blue-winged woman froze him solid with a casual, almost disinterested flick of her sword. Valum quickly stepped around the newly created ice block, keeping his sight locked on the attacker as he circled around her, but seeing his guards' frozen forms out of the corner of his eye. He'd never actually seen the power of Rupture crystals freeze a living being before; if she'd dropped their body temperatures below zero... "They're alive," the attacker suddenly assured him, as if reading Valum's thoughts. "It's like when one ventures into the Arctic and is frozen; trapped in a sort of stasis, rather than killed. The Rupture crystals come from the same region, technically. Truly an enigma, this Elemental Balance is... "Trust me, Your Majesty, I'd never kill another vulture." Valum grinned, but scoffed. "Yet you're perfectly fine with turning vultures into ice sculptures?" "They will melt free." the blue-winged one claimed. "As long as one is frozen on this side of the north-south border, they'll melt in due time, especially here in the desert. Perhaps there will someday be a more potent version of this power that keeps people frozen even in the south, but such a variant doesn't exist yet." "You seem to be quite the expert on Rupture crystals," Valum mused, "though I suppose that's a given, considering you've forged an entire sword out of them." "Just the blade," she replied, as the sunlight reflected off of the shining silver hilt, "and yes, I've devoted a good amount of time to testing the Rupture Blade's capacity these past ten years." Valum realized then. The young mercenary couple that'd escorted us. "You're the one who...fell into the Elemental Rupture." He recalled, his eyes widening. "I was the one the leopards threw in, yes," she replied with a grimace. "It certainly left a distinctive mark, didn't it?" She flapped her blue wings while keeping her eyes on the Vulture King. "Even I don't know how this happened. I was barely conscious enough to fly back up, so I don't remember what the 'bottom' of the crevice looked like." As it fully settled in, Valum felt guilt hit him like a speedor. "I'm sorry, I had no idea you survived. That's why you left the Vulture Tribe...You want revenge on me for abandoning--" "What?" she interrupted, sounding genuinely surprised. "No, no, you've got it all wrong, King Valum. I hold nothing against you. I would've assumed you'd died, if our roles were reversed, and you were just as much a victim as me; I lost my husband, you lost your father." "Then...why--?" "I represent a group," she explained, "that'd greatly appreciate your help in destroying the Leopard Tribe."
Valum blinked, then shook his head. "...You've gone insane." "You're the one who's gone insane, clearly!" she retorted, pointing the Rupture Blade at him accusingly. "I can't fathom why you would stay allied with the Leopards after their betrayal! After what they did to us!" Valum held her gaze unflinchingly. If Blue Wings here was trying to get him riled up, then she was clearly still living ten years in the past. "First of all, those were criminals who'd infiltrated their ranks, and Le--King Leodus immediately set about hunting them down; only someone with the mind of a child would see fit to destroy an entire tribe in response to the actions of a few lunatics. "Second of all, what's this about my being 'insane'? I thought you didn't have any quarrel with me?" "Right, I don't," she nodded, apparently coming back to her senses. "It's clear to me, Young Majesty, that you were manipulated into maintaining the alliance by the False King, and probably his mother as well. Those two, especially the latter, are quite the crafty beasts. Yes...we know all about them." "'We'?" Valum quoted. Either she took the bait, or she was planning to state the name of her group in the first place. Valum guessed it was the latter. "The Ice Hunters!" she answered, with an unsettling amount of pride in her voice. "From the name, I'm guessing you all use weapons forged out of Rupture crystals?" Valum speculated, flicking his eyes at her faintly glowing wings for a split second. If she got any sort of power herself by making contact with the bottom of the Rupture... "Wait a minute," he continued, "last I saw you, you had a husband and seemed like a normal member of society. You're what, thirty-nine, and now you up and decided to become a terrorist?" "Thirty-four," she corrected, "and I prefer the term 'justice seeker'. The leader of the Ice Hunters saved me from the cave-in after you fled--which, again, I don't blame you for--so I owe him my life, in addition to our goals aligning anyhow. "Please, King Valum, join us to avenge my husband and your father--No, you don't even have to help directly if you're so opposed to it. But at least relinquish your alliance with the Leopards. I'm...I'm trying to help you here, Sire. I'll have you know, I'm not letting my fellows slay a single vulture." "Gee, thanks..." Valum said dryly. "It's very reassuring to know that you only want to wipe out our alliesof seventeen years, and not us." "Even 'wipe out' isn't the correct terminology," she insisted. "We'll destroy the Leopard Tribe, not the entire species. Only the vile ones, like the miners and the False King's mother, will be punished; a new, better Leopard Tribe will eventually result." "And how do you define 'better'?" Valum growled. This terrorist's self-righteous preaching was finally getting to him. "How do you define which ones are 'vile'? Just how many across history have used those same pretty words to justify starting wars?"
"I suppose...you wouldn't understand." the blue-winged vulture sighed. "I thought you would, since the two of us had almost the exact same experience that day, but I guess I was wrong." Before he could reply, Valum spotted, over the woman's shoulder, a shape swiftly approaching over the horizon. He kept his guard up, turned back to the other vulture, and found himself disappointed that she hadn't looked over her shoulder. I could've quickly disarmed her if she'd turned away for just a few seconds. Out loud, he said, "I wasn't trying to distract you with that glance. There really is someone approaching behind you; on a speedor, it looks like." The woman didn't take her eyes off Valum even as the speedor rider called out, "Icewing!" "Icescale," the blue-winged vulture, 'Icewing', acknowledged without taking her eyes off Valum; clearly having recognized the voice. And as this 'Icescale' got closer, Valum could make out the being's species and appearance; a crocodile, riding on what looked like a standard green speedor...but with not a hint of green on his body. His scales were white as snow without a speck of color, and his blue eyes seemed to faintly glow, much like his apparent compatriot's wings. A not-so-faint glow emanated from his massive, double-bladed vengious sword; shaped exactly the same as the average vengious, but forged entirely out of a painfully recognizable blue crystal. It seemed Valum's earlier speculation that the Ice Hunters all used weapons made out of Rupture crystals was correct. Valum looked back and forth between his two adversaries--as he could now confidently call them, he decided--while Icescale stopped his speedor a few feet behind and to the left of Icewing (next to the boulder she'd frozen to bait the Vulture King). The white reptile leapt from his ride with a swiftness that was surprising for his bulky silver armor and his age (he looked older than Icewing, in about his mid to late forties), landing on his feet next to his fellow Ice Hunter. Icescale looked casually at the two vultures that'd been frozen, and the two who stood with their weapons drawn. "I'm guessing the negotiations didn't go so well?" "I'm working on it," Icewing insisted. "Either convince the Vulture King, or freeze him," Icescale stated impatiently. "I'm here to bring you back to HQ." "Already?? I need more ti--" "Look sister," the crocodile replied gruffly, "you and I are the fighters, not the diplomats. If you failed to persuade him to relinquish the alliance, maybe Icegnash can do it later." "Get out," Valum spoke up quietly. "Eh?" Icescale acknowledged, putting his free hand up to his left ear hole. "What's that, Your Royalness? Got something to say, after all?" Valum stared at the two terrorists in turn, and said coldly, "Get out...of my territory." There was silence for a few moments...until Icescale chuckled, and suddenly swung his Rupture Vengious forward.
Valum saw the attack coming and dodged accordingly, dashing to his left without taking his eyes off the Ice Hunters. The blast from the Rupture Vengious (this time a curving shape akin to a boomerang, rather than a straight line) hit the nearest rock behind Valum, instantly freezing it. The Vulture King glanced at his two frozen guards for a second, and another memory of the Rupture Incident flashed in his mind: the stalagmite Aeon Gulikovsky had frozen, surviving the explosion through which the gorilla had met his end. Icescale grinned toothily. "Seems you're sharper than I thought, Valum," he observed. "Usually the 'get out of my territory' intimidation tactic comes from kings who're all roar and no bite...but it looks like you can actually back it up. Still..." he twirled his double-bladed sword around at incredible speeds, "...can you adequately fight us, without an elemental weapon yourself?" "No," Valum admitted, sheathing his sword at his hip and crossing his arms, "but freezing me won't do you any good, unless maybe you want to capture me and hold me for ransom? In which case the Vultures will most certainly be your enemies after that, without the shadow of a doubt. Doubly so if you simply kill me." Icescale licked his sharp teeth, seeming to consider Valum's words, as Icewing looked back and forth between the two men. "He's right," she said, "there's no point to this. Let's leave for now and--" "'Leave'?" Valum echoed, interrupting Icewing with a deadly coolness to his voice and expression. "'Leave', you say? It seems there's been a misunderstanding here; if you think I'm going to let you terrorists, who're planning to go to war with my allies, leave this desert... "I simply stated that you capturing or killing me would be pointless...not the other way around." And with that, Valum pulled the chi grenade out of his back pocket, jumping backward whilst throwing it into the Ice Hunters' midst. Icewing and Icescale dove in opposite directions just as fast as Valum had dodged the latter's attack earlier, and the chi grenade detonated; though the enemies escaped the small blast range, the explosion fulfilled its secondary purpose, shattering the ice around the two nearby vultures. Valum allowed himself a sigh of relief as his two guards shakily got up, still in one piece each. He'd been worried that the ice prisons around them wouldn't have protected them from the blast, but it seemed his gamble had paid off. The two vultures blinked and looked around before their eyes settled on Valum. They quickly dashed to his sides. "Clever," Icescale muttered as he spat sand out of his mouth, "but this is still a stalemate; if all you can do is throw more grenades, we'll see them coming now." As if in answer, the distinct sound of whirring helicopter blades came into their field of hearing from the south. It seemed the Border Patrol that the Vulture Army always insisted on sending forth finally served a purpose.
The pilot of the helicopter had clearly seen the explosion while making his way back to Talon City; the aircraft's small forward cannons released a volley of laser blasts at the Ice Hunters...all of which were frozen in midair by the Rupture weapons. The futile blasts plopped into the sand as round orbs that resembled chi. Valum was momentarily surprised that this was physically possible, but then remembered that these were Rupture crystals they were dealing with. Nevertheless, the modest attack kept the enemies occupied, as Icewing and Icescale had to constantly twirl and slash their blades to freeze all the oncoming blasts. Valum pushed his guards into the air. "Go! Fly back to the city to report this to the Guardian Force!" "But Sire, you're in danger here!" one of the vultures argued. "We can't leave you--!" "I'll...be safe inside the helicopter!" Valum conceded with a grunt. The Vulture King's subjects were always putting his safety above their own... "Go!" "Y-yes Sire!" the other guard said as he, his compatriot, and Valum lifted off simultaneously; the former two flying back the way they'd come, and the latter into the passenger seating compartment of the helicopter. A lone soldier within the compartment had immediately pulled the door open upon seeing his king's approach, and Valum slammed it shut behind him as he felt the soldier put earmuffs on his head; Valum hadn't even realized how deafening the sound of the helicopter was while his mind had been occupied by other thoughts. Yet now, a dark thought of what the Hunters could do once the barrage stopped materialized in Valum's mind. "Go, before they can freeze the helicopter blades!" he called out to the pilot. "Yes, Your Majesty!" the pilot yelled back, turning the craft whilst maneuvering the forward cannons to the left as much as possible, keeping the Ice Hunters occupied... ...And then it was over. The sounds of chi lasers abruptly stopped as the aircraft went out of range; based on the fact that they were still in the air, Valum guessed they were out of the Rupture weapons' blast range as well. He made a mental note of that as he sank into the back seats of the helicopter, facing the front passenger seats. He only then noticed how incredibly young the vulture sitting before him looked. A kid?? Valum thought. "Are you all right, Your Majesty?" the boy yelled over the whirring blades, loud even with the mufflers on the vultures' ear holes. "I'm fine," Valum assured him. "Say, how old--?" "That's good, Your Majesty!" The kid interrupted excitedly. "I was worried when I saw you down there, after we'd seen that explosion! It is my great honor to be in your presence, Your Majesty, not to mention rescuing you--!" "Wait, wait!" Valum put his hands up. "You don't need to shower me with 'Your Majesties'. Just talk to me like you would your CO. What's your name and rank, soldier?" "Oh, of course!" The boy nodded and saluted. "Private Vamprah, Sir!"
"Vamprah," Valum repeated the name, nodding, "and how old are you?" "Fifteen, Sir!" Vamprah answered instantly. "Fifteen??" Valum was aghast. "Isn't that awfully young to be in the army, let alone deployed?" "Oh, you must've forgotten..." the young vulture replied, scratching his purple head, "Your father, the late and great King Varn, had put a policy into effect that lowered the age of eligibility for enlisting to fifteen. "It was done mostly in response to the tribe's large number of orphans, making it so that we could go from the Hatchling’s Home to the military, thus having a new place to live, and the opportunity to be trained in various trade jobs early on in life. "This gives us the option to either stay with the army, or leave it at eighteen for a different job." Vamprah proudly put a hand over his heart. "I will be the former for sure; I've always wanted to be a soldier. I think I was born for it." The Vulture King eyed Vamprah. The kid had the more common purple skin on his head, yet had striking yellow eyes with red irises more akin to the Lions or Wolves. He wore the standard Vulture Army uniform: a sleeveless gray shirt and pants with the chi harness on the belt and six buttoned pockets on the shirt, undoubtedly packed full of rations and other materials. While Vamprah's patriotism for his tribe was admirable, Valum wasn't sure how to feel about his romanticizing of being a soldier. When this kid goes into battle, an actual battle, not like the little skirmish we just had... "I see... I'd honestly forgotten about that policy," Valum admitted aloud, crossing his arms. "Heh, some Vulture King I am, huh?" "No no, it's alright," Vamprah said quickly. "I don't blame you for having forgotten about the policy, Your Hi--Sir, especially with everything you've had to deal with these past ten years. "Although I was too young to really know what was going on during the Rupture Incident and the Sabertooth Tiger–Lion War, I've read up on all of it extensively." Vamprah frowned. "Plus, not many young vultures take advantage of the opportunity, for fear of risking their lives if they’re called upon in battle." Valum detected a hint of disgust in that last statement. "You disapprove of this?" "Well..." Vamprah replied, "yeah, a bit. I mean, I can understand being afraid, but why wouldn't you want to fight for your tribe?? Plus, we need soldiers and stronger security now more than ever, after the assassination of our previous king and a devastating war for Chima in general." Valum grinned slightly. He was starting to get a grasp on the kind of person Vamprah was. The kid was still immature, of course...but ambitious and intelligent all the while.
***
Icewing walked behind Icescale through the open doorway into their leader's office (though it was less of an office and more of a makeshift throne room, Icewing thought). Iceclaw sat upon his jagged stone seat, talking to the Ice Hunters' new recruit.
![[fp]](http://storage.proboards.com/6672327/images/npbLCuGzrLApxWtWqy0u.png)
