Chapter 01
A Sense of Adventure
It is the last bastion of sunset—colossal alien trees stood tall like towers above the world of Vielgardis dominated by the orange sky, the stem of the tree enveloping the size of a living compartment. The trunk consists of yellow, red, and blue similar to a great painter tinted them with colors. Each branch leaves consist of colors from purple to blue, Pink to red, and yellow to orange that is saturated together.
Laughter and cheers are heard through the surface as people prepare for the peace festival. Adults and children alike can be heard selling various goods and services to boost the morale of attendees, perhaps a lively celebration that serves as a memory to all bystanders.
A few steps away from the festival, people are constructing a sculpture of a beautiful naked woman with flora and fauna, linen silk covering her dignified parts as her long hair reaches her tighs. This marvelous feminine sculpture is a tradition of peace and prosperity to all life in the interstellar ark.
People gather in this sculpture and watch as the volunteers build it; most attendees are watching, gazing at the wonder of this creation. They knelt in prayer as a sign of respect—thanking the Gods for their safe journey in the cosmos.
To the people, It is a saying that a civilization strives for spiritual advancement that gains utmost peace in every life. The festival is a reminder of respect, A festival of nature that brought benevolence to the echelons of society, ushering in a new era of collective cohesion as absolved by the Interstellar Tribunal.
Taryine and Josta were ready for this—setting up their ascension gear to reach the very top of an alien tree branch. They unpacked the Grappling rifle and aimed its tips at the top of the canopy. The rifles let out a mild bang as the rifle tip let out oozing steam wires lunging forward like a rocket ship—letting out a hissing sound as the grappling wires travel forth. as the grappling wire reached the top, latched to a small branch enough for their weights to hold.
Then they unpacked the box climbing device—tied their waist in a comfortable position and then the box belt tied neatly like a knot and both slowly ascended to the canopy. To ensure no crowd from below would look in their direction, they set this climb where no people of the peace festival notice, cowering behind in shadows where no crystal lamps illuminate their location. Josta ascends at the wall trunk as he looks at Taryine below him, having self-doubt;
> "Alright Taryine, stupid question! Why are we doing this again?".
>
> "Oh, come on! Josta. Where is your spirit of adventure?"
Taryine removed the hood from her brow, exposing her freckled cheeks. Her short windy golden blonde hair swept away from the wind of the wire ascension. On this occasion, she wears a garment of a scout, tied with brown fur on his neck, her shirt, and her boots.
> "Speaking of adventure, you always get in trouble because of this."
>
> "Hey! At least they blame me after all the trouble I've been through. You going to be fine."
>
> "That's not helping in any way at all. It's about time I get punished by the Church because of you."
Taryine looked up and witnessed the canopy of the tree. It is a very flat branch on which they can stand—different colors emanates as the artificial sun penetrates the leaves. Its trunk branches latched into other tree-like roots are exposed.
Taryine stood up gently and straightened her spine—inhaling deeply to relax.
> "I will let you do this under one condition! If I ever get caught with your stupidity I'm going to kill you."
Josta said sarcastically with a prowl in his eyes.
> "Great!"
The girl said as she clapped her hands. She clenches her fists, twists both knees, and prepares with incredible speed and strength for the amount of force on her feet.
> "See you later!"
She responded enthusiastically.
As the impending sunset illuminated the groves of giant trees, she dashed through the branch, touching the leaves within. She smelled of musk lingering in the air as the branch glowed in aurora colors visible for miles in the distance.
> "Hey! You're cheating wait for me."
The girl grins and giggles as she runs at a certain distance. Josta paced quickly to reach her, almost stumbling on his foot. Their footsteps narrowed as they approached the end of the branch. One single mistake will be their downfall.
> "You are not trying to trick me again!" Josta stated with assurance in his voice.
>
> "Hehe, you betcha!" replied the girl as she returned a grin to the boy.
They can see another branch of the tree tens of yards away—their focus is to jump at the far end of the twig branch.
The girl takes steps and leaps into the air like a rocket ship—unknown where her feet will land. Both legs touched the ground with a thud. She succeeded. Josta is conflicted because if he doesn't reach a certain height, carrying a case around his back will mean his death. 'Will my strength be enough to reach high in the air while carrying a heavy object behind me?' He thought to himself.
He sprang into the air with his fist clenched—eyes solely focused on the landing spot. His scenario entered his head. Shattered legs were much preferable to a death sentence.
> 'Why do you think this way Josta? 'Foolish thoughts can kill you at any time.'
>
> 'There can be no mistakes this time as it needs to succeed.'
His resolve grows stronger with commitment and sublime. It must be precise and accurate to land his legs properly.
He found himself in a precarious position when another loud noise emitted a faint echo towards the wilderness. His left foot fell off the mossy area near the cliff branch. The weight on his back is as heavy as a stone that drags him behind. But Taryine's judgment was as quick as lightning.
As she gasped for breath, she grabbed Josta's left hand with the utmost instinct. As of this moment, gravity is treated as an enemy, like a tug-of-war. As a result of his perseverance, Josta brought himself back from the edge. Their breaths could be heard between their mouths as they both struggled for air. He sighs deeply, wipes his brow with his palm, closes his eyes for a brief respite, sets his bottom in a comfortable position then crosses his legs for comfort. The girl looked at him with calm dismay, then let out a nervous chuckle.
> "What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Josta looked at Taryine with an anxious look on his face. She chuckles at first as quietly as possible, then her laughter grows more sublime and vibrant. The contagious atmosphere made an entire ordeal hilarious-an emotion that made Josta grin and giggle at his mistake.
> "You should see the look on your face,"
>
> "All right, all right "I gotta admit it was a stupid jump. But thanks for saving me back there."
He glanced at his body for scathes and bruises but there are none of them except for muddy patches from tree molds
The girl showed off her right hand, displaying fuzzy brown gloves with white striped fur on her wrist. Her gloves were wide open, and she wore a hunter's garment with dye, a leather garment with fur accents. Josta takes her hands as a show of acceptance. He gets up, and his body and thoughts are as clear as rain. This is from the appearance of a fluttering heart and pulse to the pure determination of a powerful stance.
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> "Come on! We need to hurry before the festival starts, we can use the festival as a distraction."
She exclaimed as she began walking around on tip-toe.
"We still have time Taryine, now we have to find a place to set everything up," Josta teased as they walked further inside towards a brightly-lit branch.
***
The last ray of sunlight passes, a used to be a vibrant and colorful background of giant trees slowly fades away as the light from the festival begins to illuminate the surface—twilight lingers and starts to envelop the sky.
Josta followed Taryine further near the tree trunk. A tunnel with an arch-shaped entrance stood nearby, and two lamps hung at the entrance. They were no ordinary lamps; each torch carried a crystal that levitated on its own and gave off the brilliance of a dandelion.
Taryine gazed at the crystal but could not keep her eyes open for long. The closer they got to the door, the more vivid the details of the tree trunk structure became. They wandered inside a short tunnel leading to an area where no one was on the surface—suspicious of their dubious activities.
The lively crackling of voices can be heard through the surface as they make their way toward a leeway bridge. After briefly scanning the surface, Taryine and Josta noticed something spectacular—thousands of Novarians gathering around an event.
> "I think this is the right place to set up. Did you bring what I asked?"
>
> "I got it right here, hold on."
His words were full of certainty and riddled with meticulous expression. Taryine did as instructed, knelt in prayer, and took her sling bag made of Lakcevian silk, a four-leaf container forming in unison like a flower in place. As she holds her leather bag across her shoulders to examine its interior, her hands sway inside her backpack, picking out the correct ingredient.
She dug deeper into her bag, licking her lips with a curious eye. Her hands slowly unfold a wrapper containing linen clothing tied with a piece of ligature and a greenish glow inside.
> "Aha! Found it."
After discovering the composition - a linen cloth wrapper made up of multiple round objects - she discovers that it's as bright as a mirror, as glistening as a verdant meadow, with fragmented crystals and powdered diamond dust.
Taryine's expression struck a eureka—carefully placing it on the ground as if it is fragile, unraveling the leather strings that attach and seal the mysterious liquid that keeps it in place.
Josta's face is awe-struck with silence as the strange liquid is finally revealed.
> "What have you got so far?"
With such excitement in her voice, she clapped her hands in delight.
> "I have it right here."
Josta replied as his smile reached from ear to ear—unraveling a box with a smell of leather, a stinge of oil, and rust inside that lingers behind his back. He unpacked something in his cylindrical bag revealing four contraptions made of Ashwood and bits of iron parts that hold them together. This machine is notable for its aerial screw with a celluloid element, followed by a device containing a small container where the concoction is placed. Based on its shape, it appears to be a delicate hovering device.
Taryine set up the concoction with a crystalline powder and began slowly sprinkling it with her hands. The liquid began to glow as she moved. They trembled as a sign of caution as the concoction is fragile, one mistake could lead to disaster. Josta's face had a mixture of wonder and anxiety as he gazed at the crystal.
> "Hoping the tonic fits as intended, if this works—it would be another breakthrough for the device,"
Josta exclaimed as he examined the contents of his cylindrical bag—revealing a tweezer-like device.
He added, "I don't want to get psionically blocked again for a day, so I bought this just in case." He squeezed the tweezer around as he tested its reliability.
> "Hey don't look at me. I'm just a girl that always experiments, that's all."
>
> "Then you must be a flimsy chemical concoctioneer."
>
> "Oh shut up!" Taryine chuckled as she slightly punched Josta in the shoulder for the joke.
>
> "Be careful with the tweezers!"
Taryine slipped into her Pack and slid the wrapper containing the glass-circular container, squeezing the tweezers in the shell of the glowing tonic and carefully studying the composition, gradient, and color. His expression indicated that the quality of it is well-done. Josta placed it slowly into the small box of the machine and snapped the glass shell around it, making sure it is safe to use.
It contains four retractable clamps in each section to hold it in place. While Josta tries to seal each of the tools, it makes a clicking sound, ensuring that the glass tonic does not fall off during use. Compared to other contraptions, the device took four times as long as Taryine expected as she watched closely at the device with wonder and with care. It illuminates pastoral in color as the device emits a crackling sound.
> "Almost done, will this work?".
>
> "Absolutely! do not doubt Josta the talented craftsman."
An echo of voices suddenly appeared through Taryine's conscious mind. Initially, it sounded like a mass of muddled, conflicted voices repeating the same words. Then the voice becomes clearer, and she realizes it was Josta's voice speaking to her consciousness—described as if his voice was in a massive hall where the reverberation of the sound materialized.
> "Erm! Testing testing to Taryine's head can you hear me?"
>
> "You know I'm right in front of you right?" Taryine replied with the Old verbal tongue
>
> "To be honest with you, I'm still getting the hang of this ability. Besides, I'll stand by and observe as you go along."
>
> "Lucky you, I have to do the dirty work by myself." Taryine remarked with such dismay at herself.
>
> "You asked for this in the first place! since when did you become good at initiating plans, I'm doing you a favor."
>
> "Fair point."
Taryine subtlely agrees
"Looks like everything is settled, prepare yourself for what I am about to do, make sure to take a step back."
Taryine heeds his call and takes three steps back away from Josta and awaits the scene of what was about to happen;
While holding a deep breath, he positioned himself to meditate and closed his eyes as a means of concentration and ease. The hair started floating as if there were no gravity, and the weather was as calm as it was high above the trees.
Josta's hair began moving immensely like a gust of wind—each strand of hair moved like a tentacle—having a mind of its own. Using his ability, a symbolic manuscript that can only be understood by ancient empires appears on his forehead, growing in lightness like a subtle gold glow.
There is a circle on the outside and two inverted spikes on the inside of the symbol. The tip of its spikes hit the poles of the outer circle as if being stabbed. Then at the center of those two spikes, a vibrant star symbol glistens brighter than the rest.
His hair began to gleam gold as usual from his natural black color. His concentration was aimed at the four contraptions and linked with the tonic crystal made by Taryine in his mind.
With his eyes closed, he experiences an extrasensory vision that becomes more vibrant than ever. From the machine's perspective, he can see a distinctive night color, observe gold particles all around him, see Taryine in blue and observe the four contraptions right in front of him —and begin his psychic connection with them.
The four contraptions that are placed in line started vibrating—moving an inch in random directions. Emitting a faint light around its skin. The aerial screw propellers rotate in a counter-clockwise direction. At first, the rotation was slow and subtle until it intensified, and the surrounding ground started to pressure air—overwhelming the ground. After gently lifting off from the ground for a moment, the machines rose to become a head above Taryine and Josta, flying together simultaneously.
> "Whoah."
Taryine let out awe as the machine ascended higher above the trees and starts scouting over the environment.
With Josta Psionic connection with the device, he sees the surrounding area full of festivities and a large part of the crowd gathering
> "I think that settles everything, looks like the festival is doing better than I expected, but my concern is there are 'Ael Varthis' guards in the entrance. Instead of causing a scenery, my suggestion is to take an alternative route towards the balcony garden. But?"
>
> "But what?"
>
> "The temple is surely well guarded with Ael Varthis guards that include the balcony, but I want you to go there since it won't bring much attention. In the meantime change your clothes, we wouldn't want to get caught in that rag."
>
> "Hey! I made these myself, you don't call it a rag."
Taryine stomped her right foot out to pent out her annoyance. Josta let out a slight chuckle in Taryine's consciousness.
> "I'll keep in touch and observe, and these machines is here to help if things go south. But please Taryine, don't do anything stupid again."
Taryine let out an evil smirk and began sprinting towards the other crevice of a large tree, leaving Josta behind while he was in trance—meditating peacefully near the arch entrance.
> "I don't like that look Taryine."
He exclaimed as Taryine went closer to a beacon temple.