Candleridge

[Fallendire]

Trigger grinned and got to work. Let's see - "Name of Officer." Well, he didn't want to take credit for this. After all, it was Frey's work. He scrawled out his superior's name on the line, then moved on.

"Description of Incident." Well . . . Trigger didn't really know what to put here. It had been pretty confusing, not to mention complicated. After a moment of thought, he doodled an octopus and a hammerhead shark engaged in an epic death battle, adding a decorative starfish border and a few smiling fish for good measure. Check! Next!

"Officers Involved." Trigger frowned. He didn't know the other ones he had fetched . . . so he just wrote "FREY" in huge, looping bubble letters, scrawling hearts all over that section of the page.

"Others Involved." Trigger giggled and drew an elaborate stick-figure rendition of the Oxie they'd seen, making sure to scribble in lots of dripping froth. He gave him a spear and a loincloth, too. There. Perfect. Next!

"Role of Officer." Trigger chewed lightly on his pen. He was writing this from Frey's perspective, right? So . . .

"I, Frey, the most awesomest guy on this whole entire base for real, was doing such a fabulous job on guard duty that it wasn't even funny. Then Trigger, the cute private, and his sourpuss brother who nobody likes came up. Then there was a submarine. Then Trigger, who is really really cute, when and got some people. And we pushed it. And there was a funny Oxie who was rabid and actually wasn't all that gross even though he had those weird spindly leg-things and no gills, and the city was cool, and then Trigger was cute and funny, and he's so cute that I think we should give him a promotion and make him my partner so we can work together all the time. Also, octopus v. shark would end with the octopus totally wasting everything. And there was a Breather too, I just forgot to write that earlier and I can't erase. The end."

The remainder of the forms were filled out with a similar quality level. WHen he finally finished the stack two hours later, Trigger gave a contented sigh, dumped them all into a file box, and carried them down to the processing office.

"Paperwoooork!" he trilled. He dumped it on the front desk, giggling madly. "Just delivering this for Frey. It's about all the stuff that happened today!"

[Bryden]

The man at the front desk took the stacks of paper work, galncing over them and then at Trigger, who was beaming so much that it was painful to look at. Honestly, didn't he mouth get tired like that?
This handwriting was... odd. Loopy and slanted and messy. Very unlike Frey's neat block print. And Why was the ink such a violent color? Frey only used a somber navy.
Well, whatever. Who could understand the ways of those wacky commanding officers!
The man took the papers back, nodding to Trigger- the grin was getting creepy, actually.
Oh, dear, THIS was going to be interesting... some higher-ups were NOT going to be happy with Frey, who was then NOT going to be happy with Trigger.
Who, floating there with that idiot smile, was inocent for this fact.


Meanwhile, Frey himself had taken his pack of basic supplies and the necklace and excused himself for "a swim to clear the head".
Once well out of the sight range of the base, the guard towers, and the perimter patrol, Frey drew the jewlrey from the safekeeping noth in his armor.
He quickly puzzled out the fact that the shell necklace grew both warmer and brighter, taking on a glow when he went in some directions, and a dull fade when he went in others. Like a childhood game of hot and cold, he wandered wherever the necklace told him to.
After about an hour and a half- maybe more or less, he hadn't brought a timekeep unit- he found his way to a reef. Dull and dead corals mingled startlingly with the bright living reef. It was odd. this place was odd. Even the fish scattered when he drew near. That was odd.
And then... wait, what was that? The necklace was warm in his hand and glowing vibrently as he neared an opening the the rockface there. Maybe just a cerviace... maybe something more.

[Aubs]

Alisander pouted. Altina was right about him, when someone thought they knew something about him nine out of ten times they were wrong. As Altina spoke about her darling little brother and what their parents would’ve thought about them, Alisander paused. What would their parents have thought about their relationship? They constantly argued daily, but what brother and sister hadn’t? That was all a part of being siblings. That aspect of their lives was pretty normal, but other than that it seemed as though there was a large rift between the two, mostly all because of Alisander’s doings. He was the one who chose to be anti-social, even to his own family. While Altina wasn’t a social butterfly herself, at least she took the time out to try to talk to Alisander and Alva. Ali felt as though he was always being looked down upon because of him being the youngest. I guess- I guess that was my mistake. He thought, watching his sister ramble on. He wasn’t even sure as to what she was saying, but he figured it was something about the two of them. It was then he heard her say the following, “No, I won’t take care you any more. No more babying. Now we’re partners.” She cheered up, from her sad expressions from earlier. “I think, Ali, there’s no one who could hope to be as smart as the two of us together. Together, we can.. well.. you decide. What’s the first thing we should do as a team?”

Alisander was unsure. His mind went completely blank. There was not one thing he could muster up for the two of them to do. He stared out past Altina to the neighborhood then past the neighborhood, out to the bubble. He then got an idea. “We-” He began, pausing to think of the exact words to use. “We’re going to go find the Breather.” He placed his index finger on his lips, thinking if that was what he wanted. He was so unsure if that was what he wanted, but he knew that it would please Altina. And the first thing he wanted to do was make his sister happy for once. "Yeah, that's what we're going to do."

[PsychoKath]

She was interrupted from her revelations but a soft glow that seemed to get brighter as it came closer to its rightful owner- as is the nature of Luminfish scales. Fear tore at her heart, he was here. Frey. He had so much as told her that he was going to kill her before, any moment now she would probably have a blast of liquid fire shot at her, or a spear in her stomach. There was a secret exit to her cave, but could she reach it first? Breathers were fast, but Gills were faster.. No. This was her only chance, she couldn't do all of this alone. Not anymore.

If all the cities were destroyed Nea and every other breather would die too, it was simple as that. This wans't bravery, it was self preservation! At least, that's what her brain was trying to tell 13 years of running at the sight of another creature. She looked over at her twin's side of the room, her heart died all over again seeing the stillness and dust.

Oh Trediah... I wish you were here...

Nea finally looked up and met Frey's eyes, and spoke in her soft musical voice, "My name is Neadih, or Nea if you prefer."

[Bryden]

This place was so bleak and so stark... the sudden appearance of a lovely girl made things all the more surreal. He felt as if he was having some warped dream. And the glowing necklace wasn't happening.

Also, she was a Breather. Not just ANY normal pretty girl. A freak. One could almost forget, looking at her.

He stopped at the entrance to her cave- it felt as if he would be intruding if he would have swum even a foot or so more further. Part of him knew that he could kill or arrest her, and that he could barrel in and barge through her home if he so chose- but Frey did have some modicum of decency to him.

He froze, regarding her with wary blue eyes.

"Neahdih," he said with a curt nod. His webbed-fingered hand extended slowly, necklace grasped tightly, "I am Officer Frey. And this is yours?"

[PsychoKath]

Terror claimed her heart as she slowly inched forward to take back her necklace. As soon as she grabbed onto it he would be able to grab her- but at such close contact her strength would overpower him easily... would he be that foolish? And what if he had a blaster or a spear? Then she was a goner.. but if he had either of those and intended to use them she was dead anyways. Once more she looked over at the bed of her twin, Nea knew that fear shone in her eyes but she didn't care.

Biting her lip she inched forward... she was doing this for Treadiah. Her eyes were locked on Frey's as she reached out with her slender and slightly webbed fingers- she refused to look away though her gaze held nothing but pleading and fright. Once the necklace was in her hand she backed away quickly, and in the blink of an eye it was around her neck again, the warmth the scales provdide steadying her pounding heart.

It was a moment before she had the nerve to speak, "I-I don't know why you didn't kill me.. You had every oppourtunity both times.. And I know everyone hates what I am.. And usually you shoot on sight like with my sister," she stopped, chocking with the pain before swalowing it. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

Nea drew herself up to her fullshort height and stated as bluntly and honestly as she could, "I don't really need to know why you didn't kill me if you don't want to tell, though I will be eternally grateful no matter what. But since you are here there are things you need to know.. Namely who is attacking the Bubbles. I.." she trailed off again, momentarily losing her nerve. Every part of her body was quaking and screaming out in alarm. This was the most she had ever spoken to any outsider in 13 years!

"I know you are conducting a search to discover it but you are missing the other half of the information. That information you're missing.. I have it. And I've pieced it together and solved it.. and the answer isn't good. I don't care if you don't believe me, I have the proof in my cave. You can see for yourself."

She shut up with relief, every quaking bone in her body daring him to call her a liar.

[Bryden]

Frey's blue, blue eyes bored into the young woman. His face was hard and set, just as much as his stance (floatnce? Swimnce? fukkit). He floated there, almost still- stationary as one could be in water- arms folded over his chest. Impressive musculature bulging threateningly.

"I think you're a liar," he said with calm darkness.

This is the part where the writer of Frey cringes and braces for the writer of the story's inevitable bitch-slapping. They both know that it is coming for this writer's smart-ass-ery, so let's just make it quick and move on with our lives and the story.

"I refuse to believe such utter idiocy from a Breather," he continued, hissing the word like poison, as if it burned in his mouth, acid. "I bet this is a trick. I bet you can't even prove it!" He laughed, right in her face.

"You want em to help you, little girl? Then let's see the evidence."

[Eva]

Altina was not surprised. Of course he wanted to find the Breather. What a silly, childish, idi- no. No. Don't start with that. Altina had to remind herself to think of Ali- No, Alisander- as a capable scientific mind such as herself. Okay. "Among the things that I've hidden from you in the past are reports of Breather sightings." Altina said, her voice simple. "Come."

When the two arrived back at their home, Altina gave Alva a 'hush' gesture and led her brother to her room, where her terminal was located. She sat down and gestured for her brother to sit down at the table she had next to her desk. She then accessed her files. "Nothing illicit, I assure you. You see, mother and father were actually looking into Breathers long before you and I were born. It seems that our curiosity was inherited. As far as Grandmother is concerned, I am unsure, but I do know that father had some interesting details." Altina opened a folder, which had many blurry shots of vaguely Gill-like people, although with obvious differences. "Nothing that we can be certain of, but these do indicate that Candleridge has been visited by Breathers before in the past. For whatever reason, it has been covered up." Altina gave an offhand wave at this. "If you want access to mother's and father's files, I can give it, but they actually know less about them than you do. You've seen them. All they have are sparse guesses." Altina opened up another folder, this one containing names. "These are a few people who reported sightings. One of them is Julie Langford, the woman who runs the Oxygen Bubble. Why she would distract herself from such an important job for this I don't know, but she herself is very interested in Breathers. To my surprise, many of the scientific community in Candleridge are. Which, until we get to meet one, is just wasting time. But then again, that's why we're doing this. To meet a Breather."

[PsychoKath]

Anger and fear were clammoring inside her, Nea's adrenaline levels were rising. If she wasn't careful her Breatherstrength would turn on again, and that wouldn't bode well for anyone. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, What if he didn't believe even after he saw the proof? But no. She had everything, every little detail, every little loose end- all of it. Nea gave him a mock salute and inclinded her head, indicating that he should follow her inside her home.

As soon as she entered, the luminfish scales and Glitterlily tounges inside the cave lit up, this way there was no mistaking anything. STanding far enough away so that he wouldn't feel threatened, she pointed to her wall. The wall contained maps, scematics, the treaties betwwen the Gods and the creatures of the Sea. Declarations of war, battleplans, the magics of the Bubbles, positions of the Cities in relation to the Caverns of the Gods, which tribes were allied with whom. Her wall even held recordings and pictures, and drawings mapping what order the cities were being attacked in and the immediate results between species. Deaths were recorded, as were births. Things were placed in chronological order, not a single piece was missing from Nea's wall- unlike the walls of both the Oxies and Gills.

All of the informaiton pointed to the fact that it was the gods own doing, and Nea had even discovered why.

"Theyw ant to exterminate us all, through war. Without wars they have no power, and before the cities were attacked Gills and Oxies were drawing up peace treaties- as were supporters of Poseidon and neptune. But once the Bubbles were jeopardized, all the treaties dissipated and war began again," Nea explained, while trying to search him for his reaction. Just looking at him she saw the backup conclusion he was probably drawing- one that would make it so he wouldn't have to believe any of this.

"Don't even try to say that its Breathers attacking the Cities. Have we been in exile for so long that everyone has forgotton our chemistry? After 5 days in one climate, our body changes to the other climate- if we are still in water when that happens, we die. Without the Cities Breathers wouldn't be able to survive."

[GnomesAteMyCake]

"Okay, start from the beginning. You're saying that the Sub's damage wasn't enough to stop it from working?"
"Yes, Sir," Nika repeated for the fifth time, the young man's eternal optimistic attitude beginning to fail as it was being stretched to breaking point. "I spoke with the mechanics at the sight of the incident, and the report was sent to me less than an hour ago."
"Which is what I have in front of me, correct?" the Captain asked, scratching his head. Holding back the urge to roll his eyes, Nika nodded.
"Yes, Sir. As you see, the damage was only to the hull of the ship and the rotary blades. However, all inner systems were- and still are- working in perfect order. There is no reason for a ship to stop working in the middle of the ocean."

"A strange occurance indeed," the captain said sluggishly, his eyes glancing over the paper before putting it down. A small pinprick of anger niggled behind Nika's eye, betraying his frustration and the beginnings of a headache. The captain of Candleridge was NOT fit for the job; Nika knew that he wasn't either, but their were plenty of others that would excel at the job. Anyone was better than this buffoon.
"I agree, Sir," Nika responded in a tired voice, his back aching from standing ramrod straight before his higher-up.
"Well, what did cause the sub to stop working?"
"I...I am unsure Sir. It has been proven that there were no mechanical faults with the sub, which cancels out the idea of the sub simply not working. Damage could've come from colliding with something like a shark or small whale. There's no reason at all for it to just stop..." Nika trailed off thoughtfully, before snapping his attention back to his captain. "Sir."

"Aaah, it'll be them Breathers, I'm sure," he said resolutely, leaning back in his cahir as if it wasn't that important of a matter. Nika's eyes hardened as he took a small step forward.
"But sir, that can't be right! There was a Breather helping the Gills to return the ship, I saw her! I...I'm sure it wasn't her, Sir," he finished lamely, looking down at the floor.
"Then you'd better get working on what caused the danger, boy. I'm putting you in charge of this; find out what's causing our ships to sink. Untill you've got answers, no ships will be leaving or arriving in Candleridge. Listen, Apostolos-" The captain stodd up, came around his desk and put his hands on the young soldiers....shoulders.
"I want to believe that there's no reason for war, we all do. Truth is, Gills and Breathers are out to get us; this planet is water, and we breath air. As they see it, we've no right to exist."

Nika nodded before stepping back from the captain and turning to leave. "I'll do my best sir."
"Good luck, Apostolos."
Now, to try and find a way to get hold of that Gill captain... he'll know something, surely...

[brypod]

Frey follwed the Breather girl into what he thought of as her lair. A dark cave- how very fitting. Perhaps, had he known HER, were his perceptions of Breathers not so classicly warped and twisted to Gill suprimist thinking, he'd not have found it so suited. Yet it was, and he did. A monster living in a cave- how apt.

He examined the wall. The papers... The charts... The images... So much information. He had never seen so much raw fact in one place! He'd never had a proper desk job, either, but still. His face went from an expression of skepticism to shock to one of pure facination. Dear gods... Literally.

He looked shrply up to Nia. He very nearly told her how he felt and begged to be enlightened. But then a good look at her reminded him of what she was. His confidence was suddenly shaken painfully.

The higher ups would have his tail for helping her. Literally. His demenor bacame gruff.

"Alright," he said, producing a weapon (a leathel looking pole spear sort of thing, convieniantly collapseable!) from a sheith at his hip. "Youll have to come with me. Correct or not, ill let the arhorites handle it." Hell if he wanted this mess on his hands. "You are under arrest of the Gill National Army from charges of espionage."

[PsychoKath]

Nea backed up so quickly that she was soon on her sisters side of the cave, a place that she had not been since the day she died. Her body was quaking, the army was who had killed Trediah! As soon as they say her they would have her executed, they wouldn't wait for an explanation, she was sure of it. Pale blue and slightly glowing tears leaked from the corners of her eyes.

Trediah had been right, the other races couldn't be trusted, and Nea had signed her death over as soon as she had helped the Oxies.

Nea shrank herself into a little ball, her fins quivering as much as her voice when she spoke, "No.. I can't go there! I'll not be executed on site, only to be drawn and put up on the city wall like they did to her. I won't.. I.. I.." And then her tears began to do what Breather tears always did. In a small pool before them both, the memory that had haunted her dreams for years played out before her eyes.

She raced to the Gill village, barely noticed that people were gathered all around. All she heard were the screams of delight, music and the scent of food plagued her senses. There was a celebration going on in their towncenter- but how could a celebration be happening when her world had stopped completely? Trediah didn't come home last night.. it was a simple food run, they'd done it billions of times before! Why wasn't she back, where was she?! Where.. And then Nea discovered the point of the celebration.

In the middle of the town square was a tall pole, with a body hanging limp and motionless tied to the top. Its body was mutilated and the pole was soaked green with its blood. Bits of food and grime covered the body and the base of the pole, from where revelers had tried their aim. Nea gazed in horror- what had this beast done to deserve this? And then an undersea durrent went by, and the creatures hair was blown back from its head to reveal its face, Neadih screamed out in pain and terror, for the face of the mutilated creature was her own.

Screaming she swam away as fast as she could- unaware as to what she was truely running from, the Gill soldiers or the sight of her twin's body.

Nea swiped angrily at the pool of tears before they started to reveal more of her past- they would go on all day if she wanted them to. There was no way she was going back there, not as long as there was breath in her body.

"I won't go, you will have to kill me first. Kill me here or take me to that city- either way I'll reach the same fate- death on sight. They won't wait to hear whats happening, they will act and you know it. I won't go." Her entire body was shaking the the effort of restraining her tears- her adrenaline was building inside her, strength threatening to pour out. Death awaiting her or not, she would not go down without a fight. Not this time.

[Bryden]

The officer cut an imposing figure. He was so much bigger then the Breather- more muscular and powerful, blatantly masculine. As he activated his weaponry (causing it to spark threateningly with barely contained electricity- deadly in water as it could never be in air) and announced his intent to arrest her, his face was frighting. Stern and imposing. He looked fully capable of killing her, right then and there.

But he watched the Breather deteriorate. Her memories bubbling up painfully, the hurt still raw and showing on her face, vivid as a view of red coral through crystal-clear waters. Frey had grown up spoiled. But do not think that he knew any less of pain. Any less of heartbreak.

The solider softened.

"Please, miss," he said, voice taking on a gentler quality. "You will not be harmed- but we need to talk to my commanding officers about this." He held out a hand, skin with a soft blue tone and fingers webbed, palm-up and not at all jabbing or threatening. "I give you my word. You will not be harmed by myself or anyone else in my regiment."

[Aubs]

“This-” Alisander began speaking, as he quickly filed through a few of the paperwork. He seemed unsure at first, as he’d been speaking in his usual monotone. No one was ever sure of what his feelings were, not even when he announced them while he spoke in his dull volume, with his nonchalant tone. “This, this is perfect actually.” He felt a smile beginning to form across his chiseled face as his blue-ish gray eyes sparkled with life. This expression was quite unfamiliar with him, smiling and whatnot, but he was sure he’d get used to it. Maybe. “Although we aren’t learning anything new, at least from a sighting aspect, we definitely have somewhere to start. Hm.” He placed the palm of his hand against his chin to ponder a little.

I wonder if we put two and two together that maybe we can find some type of pattern, He wandered off as Altina went on about the specifics of who apparently had caught a glimpse of a Breather. At least this side of him hadn’t gone away. It was especially nice to know he could always lose himself in thought, even in happier moments in his life. Blankly staring at the files under him, his hand still positioned on his chin to rest him up, he continued. There has to be something- Just something that sticks out. There has to be. I saw the girl Breather in town square and by the looks of it there seems to be quite a few sightings of other Breathers around the area. Altina said something about Julie- what was her last name? London? Lewis? Loafer? No, I think it’s Langford or something. That’s right, the strange lady with the assortment of catfish, who oversees the bubble: that Julie Langford. Not that I know any others anyway.. I think- Ali paused, coming out of his dazed trance and looking over at Altina.

“We should question these people, starting with Julie Langford. Something tells me we’ll get much more of an understanding about the sightings if we talk to them rather than just reading some papers, don’t you think? And it’s not like Julie doesn’t have time to talk since she has time to suddenly spot Breathers, no?” Alisander causally pushed the chair back and slowly stood. “It’s not too late, I think we should go now.” He proposed, going to go pick up his jacket from off the old, wooden chair in the northern corner of the room. “So you coming, or not?” He stood next to the doorway as he questioned Altina.

[Fallendire]

Well, now that he had completed his task for Frey, Trigger figured he should get the rest of the day off. He tended to view his time at the base as an extended field trip, not a prison sentence, and consequently had the erroneous belief that he was allowed to come and go as he pleased. And, of course, it was so much easier to conveniently forget that Harrison still needed his help with inventory.

The young clownfish snuck out of the base through the back door of the galley and struck out into the crystalline blue water, whirling and flipping on a whim, performing silly tricks for no audience other than a distant school of fish, some crabs, and a very disinterested octopus. Grinning, Trigger swam around in no particular direction. He was Trigger. He didn't have plans.

Rarely, however, one did form in that empty head of his. This was one of those rare instances.

What if he could go back to that Oxie city and do reconnaissance? He could spy on them really good and get tons of valuable information! Trigger drew in a huge gillful of clean, fresh saltwater. He could already smell his promotion. Delighted, the young Gill set a course for Candleridge.