Emperor Huǒ had just sent off his personal guard to search after the source of the mysterious tracks, he was sure that with their finely honed skills that tracking down the other party would be a simple matter. Eighty of his best and hand picked guards followed him wherever he went outside of the Castle, he had returned to his chambers and was preparing to leave.
While having his armor fitted, he made several pleas to his Ancestors, there was no room for error and the future of the Empire rode on his coat tails. If his plan failed, then all the hard work, all the time and resources that were plundered, squandered and spent would have been for nothing at all. Rìshí had always been a fine type of beautiful man, vanity and pretense were his primary motive. To take over the lands of his family once more and reunite the Clans, he would slaughter as many as needed and mow down anyone in his way.
With the sacrifice and level of dedication he was showing, a red beam shot down from the Heavens. Down came three Ancestors, they were covered in black armor that seemed to bed the light around it. "Triumvirate, Thank you for answering my request.." He bowed gently, it was a matter of his station.
The red beam doubled in size after Rìshí spoke, they were entirely without hesitation in that moment. To have all of their followers perish would be a ridicule from fate that none of them could withstand.
Seven of the Personal Guard came rushing back into the main hall, there were even wounds across their bodies from their rush to report the news. The Lead Guard knelt down, "Reporting to the Emperor, we have their location."
The Three Ancestors that were hanging in the red beam of light slammed down against the paved stone. "You realize that by contracting us to arrive, you must pay the price and in full. If you're not prepared to do so, prepare to pay with more than just your little life." All three of them seemed vicious but for their descendant, tough love was what they had.
The Ancestors were required to come when called, however whether they would choose to do so or not entirely depended on the situation. They could even be so angry and furious with the request that the Ancestors themselves could wipe out the clan from embarrassment or shame. Such occurrences were not unheard of in the records of the past.
As the Three Ancestors went to the last location that the Emperor's guard could follow, Alou was following Ates, and Ates was following after Aguna. A steady pace separated them but each sent their senses out into area and no portion of the landscape was able to elude their capable hands.
Aguna had all of them sink their senses into anything they could find, eventually they had a bearing and their speed even in creased.
Through various means, each of the Three Brothers were able to earn their Titles, their tracking skills were several ranks above the personal guards of the Clan's current Leader.
Probing each object one at a time turned out to be more difficult than they anticipated. No matter how hard the three searched, they could not find any trace of the Soul Pond's lingering aura or anything that came close to matching it. It frustrated them for a bit and the, they found a lead.
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Back at the Pagoda, everyone was busy waking up. Misozi was still busy toiling with the puppet and engrossed in the book. The others had only just started to get up, Kuzunoha and Vira had a late night pleasing Noyuki while Wu Hai was passed out and face down. When they all got up, it was apparent that not everyone got the same amount of sleep. The one with the most clothes on was Mursayade, she was already wearing some day clothes and it looked like she wasn't planning on doing much of anything. A coffee cup and book in her hands was a clear signal that she was going to be in the library.
Just as she was about to leave for the stairs, Vector called out. "Its Egg time."
Vira stopped what she was doing, "Its hatching?" She put down the things in her hands and came over.
Vector nodded, he pulled open the box and turned away from the group so that the first thing the baby saw would be him. He had been protecting the little one since he discovered it and defending it from being taken away at the last moment was more of a reflex than a signal of mistrust.
Everyone was tired of dancing around the Egg, Vector couldn't even enter combat while he was in care of it. Picking the Egg up in his hands, he held it behind the lid of the box. The shell was beginning to crack and split, Mursayade came closer.
Vector watched the larger lump of the mass inside the egg move through the light. Its head kneaded against the shell and it came apart like it was a wax casing. The shell was anything but ordinary and when the pieces began to fall, they were slowly set down into the box for later.
Slowly a small purple and red, sharp looking nose poked through. As it wiggled and struggled its way free, the Egg was flipped around in Vector's hands. The pieces continued to fall away and once the egg had fully come apart, like a drunken infant, its arms and legs were thrown out wildly. Violet and Crimson scales along its back seemed rather uniquely patterned while it stumbled to its feet.
"Its so soft looking but look at those patterns." Mursayade saw from a distance, she whispered to Kuzunoha who was also watching and curious..
Along its back, a row of turquoise spikes seemed like a strange thing to see on a fire beast but as Vector looked for wings to confirm that it was a dragon, he didn't let his disappointment translate to his face.
He smiled. "He's perfect." Vector let the creature roam across his body, it was extremely friendly toward him.
Mursayade wanted to say something but the Creature was looking around for food.
Vector pulled out some small insect parts, pieces of the Lighkerr that they had defeated during their breakthroughs on the first level. He had originally saved them as ultra fish bait or for some other elaborate use but with the hatchling yearning for food, Vector wasn't willing to split hairs or worry about it.
The small purple and red lizard was somewhat ethereal, it had no wings and the row of spikes on its back looked like they would be troublesome to enemies in the future. The red and purple turned into the shape of a skull that spanned its back.
"Its made of flames but its a lizard.." Vector wondered what the creature was thinking and then it rubbed its head against Vector's scales. "Its hot but not a searing pain, more like a heat patch."
The Egg had fully hatched and only moments later it was already treating Vector like its parent.
"I don't think the little guy remembers who he is." Vira was admiring it from the side, there were too many of them that wanted to hold the creature but it had just been born. It was important to let the newborn creature bond with one person, at least in the initial stages of its development.
Since the Lizard was purple and on fire, Vector dubbed it a Purple Martin but called it Martin for short.
Martin was very tone for being a newborn, its body gave off the feeling that it was quite ancient. Its marbled structured body was quite buff and contained almost no wrinkles. Martin was springy and it hopped around on Vector's body like a ferret chasing another around a tree.
Two small horns on its face were followed by the row of spikes along its back, their color showed they were a unique trait that didn't belong. When Vector felt them with his fingertips, they were cold.
Martin was still wandering around in search of food, Vector did his best to keep feeding it until it wouldn't eat any further but he was quickly running through the Lighkerr parts. Martin had a huge appetite and it was obvious that it would only grow in the future.
Vector wondered if he had made a mistake by choosing to be its surrogate parent, he was now responsible whether he agreed to it or not. Picking Martin up, Vector saw its mouth open and two fangs caught his attention. "I think its poisonous, the spikes are ice cold too."
"That doesn't make any sense, its a Fire type, Ice runs counter to its nature and poison? That shouldn't have come to exist." Kuzunoha was now very interested in the little guy, she came in closer for a better look.
Martin leapt from one shoulder to the next, when Kuzunoha came too close to Martin, he ducked into Vector's clothes and hid. "I think its afraid."
"I don't sense it feeling fear, I think it's just anxious. You're not the one it recognizes as its guardian." Vector pulled Martin out of his robes and held him up against a light. Martin's insides could still be seen, his scales hadn't gotten thick enough to block the light.
"I still don't understand how an Elemental gives up its life to be reincarnated as a Lizard but hey, we've found strange things at almost every turn, so, in a way, I suppose its not impossible for it to have happened." Noyuki wanted to play with Martin too but knew that challenging the right to parent it wouldn't work out well for the group.
Wu Hai probed it with his senses from a distance, Martin could feel it and ducked back into Vector's robes. It peeked out to see if Wu Hai was still looking at it and hid again. "Seems like Martin feels safe in your care. If it was a reincarnation and not just a sacrifice, then it was a matter of great fortune that we arrived when we did. Those soldiers from the Sunset Empire would have completely taken advantage of the Elemental, perhaps even enslaved it." He grabbed a piece of the shell from the box and examined it.
The shell was made of some sort of fire-laden crystal that looked like melted wax, its unique nature made the shell equally a treasure. Wu Hai closed the box and passed it over to Vector so he could put it away. "You might want to use that in a weapon in the future."
Vector was still feeding Martin bits of insect flesh each time it popped out of his robes, when he ran out of parts, he pulled out the smallest of spirit stones and passed it across Martin's mouth.
Martin bit down and swallowed the spirit stone whole, the stone was several times the lizard's weight. Vector was going to comment on it and then build a room in the tower to house him when an shaking sensation translated through the Pagoda.
It felt like an earthquake. The pagoda shook violently inside and out.
The shaking stopped for a second and then started again on the other side. "Another Quake??" Vira hated the unknown, it stressed her voice.
Misozi transmitted her voice through the puppet, she was freaking out. "WE NEED TO LEAVE! THEY ARE HERE!"
Wu Hai spread his senses out, he could feel their heartbeats outside while they hovered in the air and bombarded the soil above the Pagoda. "I don't know but there are three of them and they aren't randomly searching, we've been discovered. We don't have much time, the tower will be damaged if we don't go out."
Everyone quickly got into their armor, Vector handed Martin over to Misozi but he jumped right back onto Vector's back while he was leaving.
Misozi could still feel the murderous intent that the three outside were emitting, it was driving her crazy. The recollections of what had happened in the City left her panicked, the Storm Crow was an extremely violent being and the three above her were making her even more uneasy. As an item spirit, she was basically immortal but if her item were completely destroyed, she would cease to exist.