~The road less traveled~

[HopefulMonster]

Chuck grinned ruefully.
"Yeah, anyone who's found themselves on the wrong end of a Shriekers sting usually tries not to make that mistake again. They can be pretty foul tempered as a whole.
As far as their venom is concerned, its a potent neurotoxin. In small insects the slightest dose is usually enough to paralize the bugs so the Shrieker can chow down on their meal. They can chose to use more or less toxin, a bit like venomous snakes. Think of it like...."
:the little feline ponders for a moment:
"Like having a tiny super soaker with a hypodermic needle for a delivery system. They try not to empty the chamber all at once unless they have to, because it takes about half a day for their body to produce a refill. So they tend to save that for last ditch defense if nothing else works. Though to be honest" :he winces: "the shriek is almost always enough to deter any predator dumb enough to consider making a meal of them." :he pauses for a moment to rub his ringing ears with his tail: "Sheesh. Alphas are the worst, the reverb just seems to keep hitting the inner ear......"
:shaking his head a bit he continues:
"Being as the toxin is a breed trait, most have some level of immunity. And a single dose wouldn't be enough to cause serious harm to something the size of your average humanoid creature. Now if you got a pack of Shriekers working together, attacking with full dosage...that would be a problem for bigger folks. Its sort of like africanized bee stings. One would be incredibly painful, but not deadly. A whole bunch at once on the other hand, would start to shut the body down. Especially once it starts affecting the muscles that control respiration.
Long story short? Don't do things to intentionally piss off your Squirm, since you're pretty heavy on that breed. Learn to read their body language and back off when they're annoyed."

[Aching]

A small, wingless griffon creature trotted through the trees. Aching was following a kitten, a frollicing little furball made of teal blue, striped with deep pink! The red eyed kitten was mewing excitedly to two young wyrms, who were perched on her shoulders,"You guys are going to have a half sister soon! She will huge. Right big sis?"

Clacking her beak, Aching nodded,"Yeah. We need to find something though. There's a legend about a lorekeeper. We need to find out how to take care of a seasonal royal wyrm." Just then, a little purple blur whizzed past, landing on the kitten's head. It peeped and twittered happily,"They think they found it!" Peep Daddy, the teacup purple parakeet wyrm exclaimed."Follow me!" He took off, the two wyrms riding on the kitten fluffed up, the little horned wood borers were just as excited as their handler. Another sibling! The twins held on tight to the soft fur as Shy-Shy began to bound after the purple fluff.

A male and female teacup tunneler were squigling in circles, when the purple parakeet stopped. Aching crouched down to nuzzle both the little black one and the little brown one. Inoshishi and Scrofa."You found them?" Aching asked softly, her beak was right there and she didn't want to hurt their ears. Scrofa, the little male nodded. He and Inoshishi found two stones! One for each sister. They grunted as they nosed at the port keys. One was a pretty speckled blue gray stone. Aching nudged her kit sister towards it,"Grab Peep first, then pick it up. I'll be right there, behind you. Keep your squirm close" The kit nodded and pulled all three of her teacup wyrms close before grabbing the pretty stone up in her handpaw. It seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that danced through the treetops. The world began to spin and drop away. She was now some place new, fur raising, eyes wide as she froze to the spot. Peep Daddy squawked, Nina and Pat squeaked as they were hugged a little more tightly. Aching let the malenistic tunneler squiggle up her beak and nestle between her owl eyebrows. Inoshishi wasn't worried about holding on, her handler wouldn't let her fall. Scrofa, the brown male squealed and struggled as Aching lifted him,"No, no! I don't wanna go! It's too scary!" Her clawed bird hands grabbed up the other stone, the wingless fox-owl griffon thing and the pair of tunnelers took the same journey as the rest of their party. When they arrived, Scrofa curled his tail over his face. Aching set him down and let Inoshishi go to...comfort him. There was annoyed grunts and squeals as they spoke their native tongue. Aching took Shy-Shy's tail in her beak and nibbled it. The kitten let her wyrms squiggle up to her head as she clung to her big sister's side. She peeked shyly at everyone in the glade from the security of her protector. Scrofa squiggled swiftly to hide in Aching's thick, furry fox tail, partly from the grumpy female tunneler and partly because he was a big scaredy-cat. Inoshishi proudly squiggled beside her handler's fox paw feet. She looked around at the crew who addressed the brown fluffy cat wyrm. A feline? Pfft...it should have been a tunneler! They were the best kind of wyrm, you know.

Shy-Shy was more interested in the wyrms. Wide, bright eyes smiled as she observed Big Q and she let out a yowl,"Lord Litha, hi!" She forgot being shy and waved at the big fae wyrm with both handpaws. That was sort of what her wyrm would look like! Aching laughed at the kitten's antics,"We're here to ask the Lore Keeper a few things. Mostly how to care for and properly house a standard Summer Royal Faerie wyrm." She nodded towards Lord Litha,"Like, do we water them, or mist them, do they need soil or fertalizer? Do we need to keep them hot and humid?" So many more questions,"Do they have mind control spores or try to trap other wyrms in pods or venus flytraps to absorb them? What do we feed them? There's so much to learn and so little time." Aching was always trying her best to take care of everyone in their own special needs."Are they more gentle and sweet, or do they tend to be adventurous and rash, or maybe a little bossy grouch-butt?" She parted her beak in a grin and looked down at Inoshishi, who she was certain was the grumpiest tunneler alive. Oh yeah, they had watched a movie recently..."I'm also a little worried we'll end up with an indoor plant haven growing from our walls."

[HopefulMonster]

The Teacup feline looks up and nods hello to the newcomers.

"Hi there! Welcome to the Glade." He smirks a bit at Q's horrified expression as the kitten calls him Lord Litha, which is nothing compared to the utterly mortified look on Litha's face.

"Actually, that massive rainbow winged lump is Quetzequatl, who we call Big Q for short. He's a Leviathan Wyrm, muuuch bigger than Litha."

Chuck gestures with his head towards the much smaller Mini Fairy. "That's Lord Litha, who represents the season of Summer. He's one of the Fae High Court, along with the other three seasonals and the Seelie King and Unseen Queen.
Basically that means he has a few extra tricks that your average Teacup Fairy doesn't. I'd imagine his offspring would have some of his preferences in regards to liking the warmth, and being around lush greenery. It depends on whom the other parent is though. If it's another of the Court, you're going to end up with a wyrmling that has a bit of their parent's magical 'Umph'. If it's one of the non Far Wyrms, you'll probably just end up with a slightly sparkly Hybrid."

Chuckling, the little feline nods towards Litha, curled up near the pool of water nuzzling the water lilies, which are richly colored and in full bloom despite the earlyness of the season. "As far as having plants bursting from the walls, I wouldn't worry about it. The seasonal work WITH the natural cycle. Think of them more like enhancers. The water lily buds where there, but not fully in bloom until Litha turned his attention to them. His powers encouraged the flowers to blossom enhancing what was already there. Let's put it this way....even a Handler with the blackest thumb won't have aaaany trouble keeping houseplants or a garden well tended with him around. "

[Aching]

The kitten was still entranced by Big Q, but quickly went towards the water to stare at the handsome summer fae. The gears were turning in her little head as her trio of wyrms clung to her fuzzy little ears. She was imagining a sparkly blue horned wood borer with wings or plant growths. Her tail flicked as she thought more about it.

Aching heaved a sigh of relief, "Thank goodness! We don't have to worry about too much. We can give it a habitat like it's half siblings. Maybe they can help make it a nest. BlueStar was pretty hyper...so I hope Lord Litha isn't so much. Maybe we can hope for a less hyper baby..." She stared at the twin wyrms for a moment. The kitten was the only one with the power to keep them still, just like their mother. She was grateful they weren't trying to climb Big Q! It was the worst thing she could think of, aside from him trying to eat her sister.

"Thank you, it kills a lot of my fears." Aching smiled, then looked down. Inoshishi was, well, where was she? Snooting around somewhere, probably. She carefully shook her tail until Scrofa fell out,"Go find Inoshishi so we can get ready to go back, please." Scrofa grumbled, but using his big, trowel like nose, he began to snuffle and snerk out her trail. The griffon thing's attention returned to the kitten, who was contemplating trying to pet Litha.

Shy-Shy turned around though, deciding the chance of falling in was too great. "Mister kitty wyrm, could there ever be a wyrm with rainbow fluff? My sister has a malenistic wyrm and there's albinos and dilutes. Can you breed for rainbow fur?" Rainbows would be great for her future breeding plans. Although, the world needs more blue and purple wyrms. Especially baby blue wyrms with adorable hedgie faces!

[HopefulMonster]

Chuck shakes his head with a small grin at the kitten

"Afraid not, little one. There's actually no way to breed for a Wyrm's fur color. We are, at our core, nature Spirits. Our physical appearance is the expression of our personal self. And while our bodies do carry physical genetic traits, fur color is not one of them. Its why you will sometimes see a brown Wyrm with tan fur, or a yellow Wyrm with green or orange fur. Its the choice that Wyrm made when spinning their physical 'shell' they wear."

[Moongara]

I went riding into the glade, glancing occasionally at the map display on my wrist, which acts like a GPS system would, only relying on the sensors from my warship, the IKS Anubis, instead of satellites in orbit. I had heard there was place around here where one could find a wyrm who knew all things about wyrms. After the addition of a particularly unfriendly Leaf Crawler, I had a question for him that made the trip worth trouble. Around my ears are the Fairy Queen, Tiri and her daughter, Shadowdancer and a small red fairy wyrm, Tiri's secretary Shar'sha flutters around my head, staying close to Tiri. I decided to only wear a leather headpiece instead of my usual armored war-mask, so as not to risk injuring Tiri. It is also why I have to use a wrist mounted map unit, usually such information is sent to the eye piece in my war-mask. On my left shoulder sits an equine wyrm, Old Sorrel, and the Golden Jackal-ess wyrm, Rommel, on my right shoulder a silver Tesla, Jadgtiger and a gold Tesla, H.G. Wells, they each have wrapped themselves around one of the ornaments on the shoulders of my military tack-leather vest. I am carrying a blue Leaf Crawler, whom I had named Schwarze Sonne, German for Black Sun and the name of one of my favorite songs, with brown leaves and the creepiest of Hematite eyes (http://i.imgur.com/lnNf6do.jpg), to keep him away from the other wyrms, who REALLY don't like him, in one hand. With my other hand, I manipulate the map to get a better view of where we are. At my side trots a small Hellhound puppy, Cer, who has "his two pet" Growlers, Reth and Hatshepsut riding on his back, their tails holding tight to the chain-mail harness I had made from him for that exact purpose. I was tired of watching Reth and Hatshepsut have trouble staying on his back, so I had a harness made that would allow them to have something to wrap their bodies and tails into to hold on.

"We are lost." Tiri said, flying down to look at the map on my wrist. "Does this thing have any idea where we are actually supposed to be going?"
"This system is pretty fool proof." I said with a sigh."Though I am not sure it is possible to find coordinates for this
glade, I just have been told it is on this planet." I said and inspected the map again. We were using a grid search pattern. I figured we would get there eventually. I wasn't in a big hurry, the scenery was lovely and a lot greener than the battleship gray my surroundings so often were. I finally got down off my horse, having noticed a very interesting little stone on the ground. The "oh look, shiny thing" tendency is a known species trait and it wasn't like I was in any big hurry, despite the crankiness of the Dark Fairy Wyrm Queen. I picked up the stone. Then the world started to swirl and the scenery around us changed.

I saw a very proper cat-looking wyrm along with several handlers and the infamous Big Q. I was very glad to have found my way here at last. Blacktiger, my faithful war horse (who has seen just about everything) stared around, very, very lost.

"Chuck, oh knower of all things wyrm, I am Moongara." I said with a bow, leaving off my full title as it didn't seem remotely appropriate. "I have a couple of questions for you, if you have time." I said, looking around at the other handlers. I honestly wished they weren't there, since I felt really strange about what I was about it ask. I still wasn't sure I entirely believed the truth of the words about to come out of my mouth even though I knew at my core I knew it to be true. I mean, the Catrian Empire is a strange place to live, littered with things supernatural, I mean my ship's first officer is actually a deity...but the Leaf Crawler issue was a bit much even by my rather lax standards. Before I could say more, however, Tiri chimes in.
"Maybe you can convince my handler to use her vast military resources to find us a planet or even a star system to call our own." Tiri said, "I can't seem to convince her on my own." I heard a couple of handlers giggle at Tiri's suggestion.
I roll my eyes and continued.
"I wanted to ask about him." I said, holding the Leaf Crawler out to him. "My other wyrms don't like him."
"He is evil." Rommel said from her perch on my shoulder. "And he needs to stop telling our handler things that aren't good for her."
"Silence." The Leaf Crawler growls.
"Don't you two start that argument again." I said.
"But you need to stop overdoing it, you know you can't do the same crazy things like 13 hour overland runs anymore." Rommel said. Reth and Old Sorrel chimed in with approving noises. "And no wyrm should ever want to be named after the head of the SS. He was evil." She said. "...and utterly useless." She added under her breath. It would seem she had picked up my people's ideas about morality, evil is bad, evil and useless, meddling or doing anything else that makes your respective side loose faster, even worse.
"And there in lies my question, is it possible for a wyrm to be that kind of evil, the creepy, unsettling type of evil?" I said. "I mean, I know I seem to attract some weird things but this is a bit much. I thought at first it was maybe because of the medicine I take for my headaches making me a bit loopy but no, he kept it up." I took a breath, and after a minute of consideration continued.
"I mean, my demon hunter friends don't like him either, including my healer, Levaran...well, he in particular doesn't like the wyrms at all. He is a bit strange and doesn't like any spirits around, since he has been a hunter and a healer for the last 1500 years or so. I very deliberately haven't told him, since he hunted that evil back in the day and it is still a bit of an albatross for him. Actually the ring in the pictures I took to register this Leaf Crawler came from my hunter's trophy collection. Levaran is a vampire...actually they both are. The other hunter who lives on the base, who is currently taking a 100 year or so break from hunting and is having a lot of fun keeping the base running, he just doesn't like the Teslas, but neither do the Anubis's engineers so that I sort of expect." I said. "Is it possible for an evil spirit to attach itself to a wyrm?"
"I don't see why you are all up in a fuss." The Leaf Crawler said. "I know you three" He switched his gaze pointedly from Reth to Rommel to Old Sorrel, "don't want to admit it but our handler could easily be a world destroying monster." He grinned. "And you really must recognize the irony of your tastes in music, someone perfectly capable of starting the next go around."
"He is referring to my listening to a song called Never Again by Disturbed, an Earth band." I explained. I realized all the other handlers who had come to ask Chuck questions must think there is something thoroughly wrong with my corner of the universe.
"See, evil." Said Old Sorrel.
"I am starting to wonder what I did to attract this particular critter." I said. "I mean, this fluff was one thing," I
said, pointing to my Golden Jackal, Rommel, "popping out of her box with her name already picked out and telling me that she was told to tell me that was her name by a ghost. At least, in her case, it was the name of an old friend of one of my vampiric commanders who's opinion I trust so I wasn't too unsettled. This...this is entirely another matter." I said, pointing to the Leaf Crawler. "Is it possible for something that should be attracting more benign, friendly spirits to end up with something truly unnerving attached? And is there anything I can do to not have this happen in the future?" I paused. "I am not planning to trade this guy away instead of possibly cursing someone else too. I believe he came to me for a reason. What it is, I have no idea."

[SandySchreiber]

Unwrapping himself from handler Sandy's shoulder, the sinuously long Wyrm Crossroads Crowley spoke up.
"Genuine evil is rare in this world. Most of what you humans call 'evil' is really greed, or spite, or ignorance and fear. These things are based upon your mortality, and your need to stave off the death of your weak bodies. Very few humans know what true evil is. ". The red-touched black Wyrm preened. "I, for instance, am true Evil. I feed off of the spirit energy of lesser beings " he said as he looked pointedly at the other wyrms cowering from his gaze. "But is this common leaf crawler evil?" The dark Wyrm frowned. "There does seem to be ....something....around him, like a miasma of darkness......but is it true evil?"
Crowley looked to the feline Wyrm they had all come to see. "Tell us, oh Chuck, what is it about this one wyrm that makes it....unsettling?"

[HopefulMonster]

:the tiny feline wyrm looked up from snuffling a patch of catnip near the edge of the pond as the new visitor and her Squirm arrived. Listening to the spew of information and questions quietly, his only visible motion was the flick of an ear as Crowley slithered forth. Huffing an exasperated breath, he squirmed towards the massive warhorse and stopped inches from the hoof that dwarfed him, looking up.

"You'll find a patch of sweet clover over there, to the left of the pond."

:turning to Moongara, Chuck addressed her calmly:
"I know exactly who you are, General. And I can tell you that the Leaf Crawler you are so concerned with isn't evil...no more than THAT puffed up fraud would have you believing he himself is." :he cast a scorn full glance at Crowley before turning back to Moon.

:taking a deep breath Chuck seemed to be gathering his thoughts:

"While Crowley does indeed feed off of spirit energy, it does not make him evil. It makes him a parasite." :ignoring Crowley's outraged spluttering, the feline continued: "What he IS correct about is that humanity seems unable to grasp that the concept they call Evil is merely one half of a two sided coin. Just as there is Light in this, and all worlds, there is Darkness. Whatever names we call them, they represent dual forces of nature that could not exist without one another. There can be no true creation without destruction, no yin without the yang. Take for example a raging forest fire or a tornado. Both wreak incredible devastation, death, and sorrow. But they are not evil. In the wake of a raging fire, life grows anew. The cycle is continued, and the wheel is in balance. Its when the balance is uneven that trouble occurs."

:as he spoke, Chuck squiggled closer to Moon, eyeing the Leafie in question: "Now take the newest member of your squirm, for example. While he does not have an 'evil spirit' attached to him, which by the by would be impossible, as Wyrms are themselves beings of spirit energy, they CAN be tainted by their surroundings. The Infected, for example, are Wyrms who's habitat has been polluted and poisoned by chemicals and toxic waste. Nightmares are Wyrms that have been infected by a darkness that alters their form and nature. For every action....:Chucks eyes narrowed slightly and he smirked as Lord Litha came swooping above Moongara and snatched the silver eyed Leaf Crawler by the scruff if his neck, arched a graceful loop, and dropped the protesting Teacup in the crystal clear pool at the center of the grove with an unceremonious splash. The feline Wyrm nodded at Litha.:

"Thank you. Though dropping him.in head first is not quite what I had in mind. Ah, perfect. Now look......"
:he gestured towards the water, where a spluttering Teacup was indignantly pulling himself from the pool. As the water ran off of the Leafies fur, whisps of dark grey and black seemed to float off of the little Wyrm and dissapate in the floral scented air. Chuck nodded approvingly.:

"Your new friend was acting a bit like an empathy sponge, General. He had absorbed so much negativity, anger, and just generally dark emotions and thought that it 'stained' his spirit essence. Its rare, but it does happen. My advice to you."...:here Chuck turned and looked the much larger feline directly in the eyes, seeming to be staring straight into her core: ..."would be to take a bit of a breather from war and conquering planetary systems. Spend some time doing nothing but bathing in the joy and life of the two that call you Mother. Visit a planet such as this one, and spendntime with your paws in the grass instead of in battle armor. Even the staunchest warrior needs to take a moment now and then to appreciate what it is their bloody and soul wearying battles are protecting. Otherwise, what is the point in fighting in the first place?"

:Turning to the sodden but much less dangerous looking Teacup, Chuck smiled: "Feeling better, cousin?"

:the Leafie nodded wearily: "Yes, thank you. I'm not sure what happened, I just....started not quite feeling myself. And it just kept getting worse. I didn't know how to make it better, and I started saying things to my Handler I knew weren't right, but....."

:Chuck nodded: "You are a sensitive, friend. And your Handler is a being of war. That's enough to wear on any of us. Encourage her to step away from.the plotting and bloodshed more often, and spend time with those she cares deeply for. And remember if you find yourself feeling the creep of darkness again, the grove is always here, and you are all always welcome."

:squirming back to his patch of soft moss near the pool, the tiny feline called back to Moon.: "Remember my words, Warrior, and remember WHY you fight. To lose sight of that is to be mired in the shadows with no light to guide your path."

[Moongara]

While Chuck was talking, I noticed Blacktiger go over to the clover patch, sniff and then lay down and bury his muzzle in it. Blacktiger had long ago mastered the art of eating while lying down...I think Saber or one of the other not-equine mounts in my base's stables must have taught him that trick.

I picked my now mildly damp Leaf Crawler and wrapped him in a blue rag from one of my belt pouches.

"Thank you for the assistance. " I said. I was idly wondering if I could get him a warding collar to help keep anything weird from bothering him again...though I was still wondering how anything so closely resembling a Slaughter Hound managed to get by security. I made a mental note to upgrade the warding spells on the base...just in case. "As for your advice, I am actually quite fond of the outdoors, though I will never walk around in the grass without boots on. One or two too many run in with stinging insects to which I react badly. I and my senior staff do enjoy rides at night around the planet I live on...assuming we collectively manage to dig ourselves out from under the never ending pile of paperwork that is the curse of senior command." I pointed to the black fur on my arm, "let's say black fur and sunlight don't get along. I hate to nit pick but the only one talking of conquest was Madame Fluffball." Tiri puffed up in annoyance. "Tiri, my dear, I love you dearly and it is great fun to have you around my base but there days I don't think you understand what I do for a living. I have always thought of the job of me and the military I lead as being the shield of the empire...not conquering planets for fun. Space is a brute of a place to travel and work and nasty things lurk in it's darkest corners."
"But I have seen you planning to remove a planet's population." Tiri said.
"Ordering sector-wide sweeps to find and cleaning out slavers dens or pirate lairs on otherwise uninhabited backwaters isn't conquest." I told Tiri, "it's backing up law enforcement." Generally, by the time it gets to the point that the military is called in, the pirates or the slavers have amassed firepower rivaling the average trade fleet's security force. I then turned back to Chuck. "We very much live by the idea that we fight because we love what is behind us, not because we hate what is in front of us." I went over to Blacktiger, who was happily lying in the clover, took his saddle off and, after finding a place to put it that looked like it would do not damage to anything underneath it, I lay down using him as a back rest. The wyrms with me spread out across his back. Cer flopped down beside me. "I hope you don't mind if I stay a bit. It really is lovely and quiet here."

[Aizui]

"Phew, this is exhausting." complained Aizui as she trekked upon the muddy path. Her shoes clunked together as the dirt sprayed in between the inner sides of her feet. The slushing sound was indeed loud and could have disturbed the entire forest; however, this was an oblivious factor to her. Honestly Aizui had no idea how she made her way into this wilderness to begin with, the only thought that crossed her mind was giving her pride and joys a trip to give them some fresh air.

The pride and joys as Aizui called it where no other than a litter of Gao-Xing wyrms; seven to be exact. Each one of them differed from the other. The first one that was promptly upon her head was a green face female named Mu. Beside the shy Mu laid a green face male named Lieren. This little guy curled his tail around Mu, staying close to her. On Aizui's right shoulder sat a orange face male named Junzhu, who proudly kept an eye ahead. Next to him was Tai a completely green fella with an eager to keep an eye on Junzhu. On Aizui's left shoulder sat two purple faced wyrms, Alabo (male) and Quezi (female) who seemed inseparable. Finally the last little one was a completely blue male who was barely keeping on Aizui's shoulder as the other two took up most of the room. No worries though, Aizui swept her hand down and grabbed little Beiji and put him on her bag. With so many wyrms traveling was not an easy task, and Aizui still managed to keep the peace amongst her litter and pursue into nature.

Moments went by and the poor human got weaker from the harsh travel they stumbled upon. It was close to the time where she was about to turn back when she noticed the path change. Flowers, shades of pink and white flooded the area and created a almost magical pathway. Curious she stood and stared attempting to follow it with her eyes before her feet. Unlike her reaction Beiji had a different idea. He quickly jumped off her purse and stumbled around the soft petals using them to get closer and closer. In utter shock Aizui raced to get her baby back safetly when she stumbled ontop of a wooden door. Luckily at that point Beiji stopped long enough for Aizui to grab him. "Beiji...why did you--" She paused as sounds echoed from the entrance.

Unsure of the danger she slowly opened the door to find other handlers inside. Each one carrying wyrms like hers. Poor Aizui didn't know what to do, she had no idea how she arrived or how she managed to find handlers like her. The only thing that this lady was good at was talking, so with that she began, "Hello? I don't really know how to um...get out of here? I was just on a path a little while ago to give my Gao-Xing some fresh air. I mean the whole reason is because I am sure they miss their homeland and I'm honestly not sure where it is, or what it is like. Honestly, I just want them to be happy. Sorry! I guess I rambled on a bit there... back to what I was originally saying, does anyone know a way out of here?"