From the Depths

Well, this is a new story; the sequel to Sands of the Pharaoh, in case it wasn't obvious. Not much to say here, so I'll just get on with it.

Chapter One:

A large, brown wing rose into the air, and all went quiet throughout the city of Zal-Kohl. The day was slow, the sands calm, and only a mild zephyr passed by every so often. This was Zal-Kohl, roughly ten years after the death of the last Pharaoh. The east, which had originally been made occupied by slaves and their huts, not simply stood as another part of the city. After previous mistakes, the people were desperate to undo the crimes they had done, and the class system had finally faded back into the depths. The holy waters once again purged throughout the pool, and a bright light shone down on it from above to prove the land was sacred once more. A small figure slowly perched its way onto a large rock, signaling for everyone to fall silent. Vihara had to make sure all the people were in order.

The harpy vulture soon lowered her wing, before clearing her throat. "As you all know, these past few years have been years of reconstruction. Rather than continue on Zal-Kohl's fated path, we have been striving to undo the anarchy that once plagued these lands." The harpy paused, letting the populous cheer and scream their thoughts. Vihara hadn't change very much. Her brown and white feathers were nice and smoothed down to give her a bigger look of elegance, and she wore a gold and black plated tiara on her head, as well as a matching breastplate, but looked the same otherwise. "We have purged our land of the crimes that were in fact, sought by the past regimes. And in such, we have recreated balance, and equality, throughout our holy lands. The gods have yet to contact us again, but I do believe that time will be soon, as we have done much to preserve the holiness that they once brought."

Staring over at the large crowd, her lips curved into a slight smile. For once, she felt like she was getting the attention and fame she had desired since she was a little girl. "Were it not for some of our bravest comrades in history, Brutha, and Zethra the First, our lands would have fallen into a dark shadow, that even the gods themselves would have difficulty rearing back. Though these brave warriors gave their lives, it was not in vain, as they have given us what we have today. Freedom. A home. A place to cherish, and care for. And above all, no longer must we follow in the footsteps of a corrupt and unjust leader." Vihara clacked her talons against the rock she stood on a few times, before settling again. "What comes next, you ask? Well my brothers, my sisters, my comrades, we strive forth! Hopefully to be once more blessed by the ones who have given us life, and something to strive for in the first place! The ones who have created our world, and the ones living in it. The ones who have created this desert, and its many sands. The ones who have created you, me, and all of us, the ones who have created meaning, and purpose!" She rose both wings above her head dramatically, letting the audience express their feelings once more. "And in return for all they've done, we have the simple task of honoring them! Who are we to deny such a task? We could be nothing! But no, we are something! As such, I hope you all will embrace your destinies, and learn from the past. What hasn't defeated us has only taught us to strive for a better future!"

The harpy concluded her speech, giving a long bow while the people cheered. She felt happy; she didn't know they'd appreciate her speech so much. With a slight wave, she turned around and hopped off the rock towards a lower level, and approached a large, brown dridder. A younger looking scorpion clung to one of her legs cutely. "Have was it Tyenaki? Have I been doing a good job so far?"

The dridder smirked, nodding slowly. She gently began to brush Zethra's hair to calm her down. "You've done very well, and I'm impressed. When you first said you wanted to be the new Pharaoh, I was skeptical." She admitted calmly. The dridder herself had been asked if she wanted to lead Zal-Kohl back to glory, but Tyenaki wasn't so sure she was fit for the job. Having still felt like the poor harpy deserved more, she let her take charge for now. "Any word from the gods?"

Vihara shook her head sadly. "Not yes. I'm sure they're talk soon. I mean, we know they're watching over us again. I suppose I'll have to prove myself worthy first, as no one else has spoken up yet. I'll do a good job leading though, honest! Did you hear the people out there? They love me! Me! Do you know how long I've been waiting for some form of recognition?" She asked, offering a wing to the younger scridder.

Zethra was becoming a bit more developed. She was no longer a toddler, but a pre-teen. She was still young, but no doubt had traits of her biological mother still in her blood. Her body was encased in a turquoise exoskeleton, and her human half looked slightly darker skinned than that of Zethra. Otherwise, she looked like a perfect embodiment of her mother. "I think you did well." The scorpion happily declared, nodding her agreement with herself. "How do you think up so many words?" She gently touched her hand to the wing, letting it stroke over her palm. It felt tickly, but she still liked the feeling.

"It's called giving a speech. I have them pre-planned." Vihara explained proudly, moving her wing to tickle at her face rather than her hand. "I'm sure you'll be just as great when you're older." Zethra began to see Tyenaki as her own mother and Vihara as her aunt. It made a strange, yet slightly cute family. "So what have you been up to little one?"

Zethra beamed. "I've been practicing combat!" She replied cheerily. Her stinger swished around behind her, before stabbing at the ground. Tyenaki seemed to want to train her to be more of a warrior.

The dridder smirked. "Yeah, she's a fighter alright. I bet she gets that from her mother. I know I wouldn't want to get in a fight with you." She teased, rubbing the scridder's head some more.

Zethra happily leaned closer into the rubs for a while. One thing she lacked from her mother was her stutter. That was probably a good thing anyways. "Mom said she'd actually take me out to practice soon. We're allowed to leave, right Auntie Vihara? Right? Pleeeaaase?" She knelt down a bit on all of her legs, trying to stare up at her in the cutest possible way. Although she was older, she still knew how to be adorable.

"Like I could keep someone like you confined… that law's long gone anyways. It's only for protection now, the wall. That's the only reason the gates are still closed, actually. We want to make sure that no other hostile species can get inside. You can go out if you want, but bring mommy with you! You need some protection!" The vulture scolded. Zethra always liked running off to explore on her own.

"Just be glad she's not running headfirst into walls anymore. Now she actually goes places." Tyenaki teased, making the scridder blush.

"Mooooooom! Not funny!" The scorpion whined, clacking her feet against the rocks in a slight tantrum. It left a few scratch marks in the boulders, but nothing more severe than that. "Stop embarrassing me!"

"It's my job." Tyenaki reasoned, before lightly grasping her hand, and began to lead her away. "Wave bye bye to Auntie Vihara! The best Pharaoh in all the lands!"

Zethra giggled, waving her arms as she skittered away with the larger arachnid. "Bye bye Auntie Vihara! Have a good day! Brush your teeth and your wings! And gimme a hug next time!"

The vulture nodded, sticking her tongue out as they went. "I won't forget! And I've barely been a Pharaoh!" She still liked the attention, even if she always denied it. It was good to finally be more than just a simple messenger. Now she was a ruler. It felt like a dream come true.

Tyenaki waved her off, before making her way back towards the house. "Brush teeth? Have you cleaned at all lately? I don't remember you using any of the cleaning ointment…"

"I did mommy! I swear! I do it every day and every night and sometimes in the noon!" Zethra was like a typical child in that way.

"Right. So then where is it?" She led them into the house peacefully, before glancing around. "Because I could have sworn I moved it so you'd have to ask me where it was to use it again. So where is it?"

"Uhhhh…" Zethra blinked a few times. Mommy knew everything. "It's where you put it! I used someone else's!" The child bluffed, before fleeing the scene of the crime. She skittered her way back into her room, before hopping up onto the bed. "But when are we going out to practice? Vihara said we could when we wanted to!"

"After you clean." Tyenaki said sternly, shaking her head. Ever since the holy waters returned, people had an easier time actually cleaning themselves, without relying on a particular ointment to clean. It did make life easier, as the water never seemed to drain anymore.

That was another benefit the community had gained since the removal of the old Pharaoh. Not only had slavery been removed completely, but the sacred waters returned, and provided them with a seemingly unlimited supply of fresh liquid. As long as they didn't use it in a corrupt way, it would probably stay that way. It was like a gift, from the gods to the people, and unlike most sacred objects, it wasn't forbidden to consume. That was quite fortunate. At least it proved that a higher power once again looked upon the people.

Zethra frowned. "I'm clean." The scorpion girl noted, sniffing herself. Alright, so she wasn't very clean. Her abdomen wasn't even shiny anymore, as dirt and sand had covered enough of it to dull out the colors. Her clothes were a bit dirty and filled with warm sand, which she used to keep herself warm, and her pincer was always dragging on the ground, so it had bits and pieces of sand, and some small rocks, attached to it. She was quite a mess.

"Oh no you don't." Tyenaki said sternly, creeping over before plucking the poor girl right off of her bed. She responded with frequent squirm, but Tyenaki didn't let up. She carried the squirmy creature over into another room, where she finally had a small tub of fresh water. Other than just drinking, Tyenaki borrowed a lot of the water to keep her and her daughter clean of filth. It was used frequently. Once she got close enough, she dumped the scridder into the tub before cleaning her hands off.

Zethra wiggled around under the water for a bit, before sitting up to poke her head out. Her cheeks puffed up into a bit pout, giving the most adorable glare/pout combination one could muster. Her tail drooped behind her in an upset manner, feeling soaking wet. She hated baths, a lot. Although when one's mother knew how to create her own binds, there wasn't much one could do. She'd rather have a water bath than a web bath. The young scorpion eventually poofed the air out from her cheeks. "I'm all wet."

"Yes, you are, but you're still adorable." Tyenaki noted, smirking and watching the girl sit in the tub grumpily. She never removed her clothes, as they weren't all that important. It wasn't like a little bit of water would ruin them, and in the desert, they'd dry out pretty soon. "If you be a good girl and take a bath like you're supposed to, I'll take you out for practice."

Zethra cheered, before ducking under the water. After a few minutes, she broke the surface to spit a long trail of water at the dridder. Revenge!

Tyenaki didn't all too thrilled about being sprayed with dirty water, but didn't really complain. At least she was still getting clean. "Alright, enough of that." The dridder mumbled, trying to block any oncoming spraying with her hand. Spit and dirty water didn't make a particularly lovely combination. "That's not considered being good!"

Zethra pouted again, spewing the rest of the water in her mouth back into the tub. "Nothing I do is good to you!" The child whined. Typical exaggeration, but sometimes it really did feel that way. She slowly began to scrub at her body with her hands, while Tyenaki tossed her a bottle of cleaning ointment. It was like a replacement for soap.

"Use this, or else you won't actually get clean."

"I knooooooooooow!"

After a good long while of bathing, the scridder hopped out of the tub and shook herself off. Her entire body sparkled in iridescence. Even her stinger looked good as new, happily swaying around behind her. "All clean, can we go now?"

Tyenaki nodded, helping her dry off fully. "Alright, but be careful! Don't get yourself filthy and sandy so soon! At least try to get most of your body off the sand!" Cleanliness never really lasted long in the desert. One fumble and one would be face first in piles of sand. Luckily for Zethra, she had a hard time actually tripping. The larger arachnid made her way out of the house and into the warm sands, which caved below her feet softly. She still enjoyed the feeling of hot sand around her legs. "Alright, let's go. Not too far though! Don't want to get lost!" She slowly led her adopted daughter towards the city's gates, before finally trudging outside with the scridder in tow. Outside sands. It felt so good, no longer being cooped up in the big city. Of course, there were little landmarks, so it would be easy to get lost.

Zethra rushed ahead a little, stopping every once in a while to help the dridder catch up. She was moving to slow for the kid's tastes. "Come on, let's go exploring! I saw this really cool spot from on top of the wall and I wanna see if it's cool up close too!" Zethra explained, giggling giddily. She began to happily rush out into the dunes, and the dridder kept in hot pursuit.

"I said not to get dirty! Be careful! I don't want to have to wash you again! Do you want another bath!?"

"Noooooooooooooooo!"

The two of them dashed out over a large sandy hill, before disappearing from sight. One thing was for certain; that child was a handful.

After a long trek from hill to hill, Tyenaki panted a bit, before continuing on. Zethra had enough energy to run for hours, she was sure. The dridder breathed a large sigh of relief when she saw the scridder finally stop, and quickly made her way over. They had already gotten pretty far away from the city, which was now about an hour's walk away. It seemed the child's destination was the top of a particularly large dune, and the scridder knelt down into a squat to get a better view of the landscape. Warm sand lightly brushed against her face, and she quickly shook her head to get it out of her hair. Neither of them had ever been this high up before, and even Tyenaki had to admit that the view was pretty elegant. There was miles of sand in every direction, but from the high ground the valley looked beautiful, illuminated colorfully from the large sun that passed by. Zethra glanced around for a while, taking it all in. Being cooped up inside the busy city all the time made her always want to just run outside and play for a while, in an area where she could be free. The city looked small and distant from her current position, and merely the thought of such made her naïve mind giggle.

"Isn't it pretty? Lookit all the mountains, and the sands, and Mr. Crispy! Hi Mr. Crispy!" The little scorpion girl began to cutely wave at the sun, needing to shield her eyes from the intense heat rays that emanated from its presence. "Why can't we come out more often?"

Tyenaki made her way over, before sitting down on the sand. It gave off a warm sensation against her body, but she didn't seem to mind that much. One who couldn't handle sand or heat wouldn't last a week near the city of Zal-Kohl. "Remember what I said, Mr. Crispy doesn't like it when you stare at him." The dridder reminded her, trying to divert her gaze away from the heated sphere. She didn't need a blinded child running around and crashing into things all over again. "It's because the desert can get dangerous sometimes. It's safer in the city."

"It's boring though." Zethra complained, pouting again. The winds seemed to pick up heavily, beginning to blow the sand around the desert more forcefully. The scridder slowly stood up and spread her arms out, letting the breeze blow into her. "Yay, it's that time again! The pushy pushy time!" Zethra suddenly sprang up to a full standing position, before dashing off against the wind, tumbling down the hill clumsily.

Tyenaki stared at her, and groaned. Zethra was covered in sand again. "I told you to be careful! These dunes are too steep to run around on!" Another strong gust of wind blew overhead, and began to alter the position of the sands again. This time it seemed stronger, and Tyenaki quickly shielded her eyes from the incoming barrage. "Zethra! It's getting windy! We have to go back! It might get worse!" The dridder got a bit nervous. Last time the wind grew so sharply, a sandstorm struck not long afterwards. This far from the city, they wouldn't have much protection.

"No, I wanna play! Lookie!" Zethra replied, beginning to run as fast she could in the direction of the wind. She sprinted off into the distance for a while, before staggering as the wind began to knock her back a few feet. "It's like a game!" She yelled before falling over onto her back. She quickly scuttled back into a standing position before trying again.

Tyenaki didn't waste any time, quickly climbing down the sand hill. If the wind was enough to blow her back, it would only get worse. "Zethra, stop! Come back! You're not supposed to be out in this weather!"

The wind began to make loud moaning sounds, which seemed to cancel out her voice. The younger scridder happily continued, straining to move as far forward as she could against the zephyr-based current. Tyenaki began to chase after her, feeling the storm getting worse. Large portions of sand began getting swept away, blowing harshly towards them, and the dunes around them seemed to practically vanish as the sand that they were made up of broke apart and shot through the air. Covering as much of her face as she could, the dridder tried to keep up with the child, but before long the storm began to start. Even the larger dridder began to feel herself being pulled and tugged a bit by the sharp winds, not heavy enough to resist the force. Before long, her vision was filled with nothing but brown, and the storm got so heavy that sand was the only visible thing besides the dust that blew with it. Fighting the wind as much as she could, the dridder plunged on, keeping her eyes shut tight. Of all the days for a storm to start, it had to be this one.

The scridder began to notice the increase in the storm's strength, and ducked down in an attempt to avoid it. Finding little success in that, she covered her face with her arms and tried to move as low to the ground as she could. She could feel the sand around her legs get sucked away and shot through the air behind her. "Mommy I can't see!" She squealed frightfully, tucking her legs together quickly.

Tyenaki grunted, making her way closer and closer. When she finally bumped into the scridder, she picked her up as best she could. "I… I told you to stay put! This is why!" The winds started to shift around, before blowing in the opposite direction, causing the dridder to stumble forwards for a while. The scridder cried softly, both at the scolding and the fear of the desert's harsh environment. She didn't know wind could get that mean. "We… gotta get shelter…" Tyenaki strained to say, soon beginning to run with the wind instead of against it. The force was too strong to go against, so she decided it'd be best to follow it until they could find some shelter. She blindly ran for what felt like hours, feeling the heavy stinging sensation of the sand whipping across her back. By the time the storm began to die down, the dridder collapsed on the ground, out of stamina and straining to get up. They were far from civilization now, and as the wind finally diminished, the desert slowly began to form in her vision again. She couldn't find any familiar landmarks at all.

"Ok, we're lost, but… I can help us find the way back. Don't worry..." Tyenaki muttered through gritted teeth, slowly getting up before stumbling forwards again. She hadn't fully regained her sense of balance and orientation. Her legs fell forwards again into the sand, when suddenly a harsh pain surged through one of her legs. The dridder winced, staring at her leg worriedly. It rested on the sand, but looked slightly injured. "What the… how did…?" She stammered, before pressing a hand against the ground. It was sand, sure enough, but with a little bit more force, she felt something hard under it. Quickly brushing the sand away, her hand came into contact with a harder surface. Rock. The dridder stared, beginning to wipe away the sand around her just to see similar texture. The environment went from sand to sand and stone, something the dridder wasn't particularly used to.

Zethra whimpered a bit more, squirming lightly in her grip. She slowly wiped the sand from her face, before opening her eyes to stare forwards. "Mommy, what's that?" She choked up, pointing a small finger forwards. Tyenaki's gaze followed the finger before settling on what seemed to be a canyon. The sand seemed to get thinner and thinner until it was merely solid rock, and a bit further seemed to be a large succession of pits and gorges. It looked like some sort of subterranean, rocky maze.

"I… don't know." Tyenaki admitted, slowly rising up again. One of her legs was wounded, but she slowly staggered forwards, moving closer towards the cliffs. Large cracks had formed in the ground, leading down into a deep canyon that looked like it would be fatal to fall into. "I've never left Zal-Kohl before… I have no idea where we are." The dridder turned around, staring from where they had came from. The desert seemed to be behind them in the distance, as if they had actually crossed the desert's border. She turned back to stare into the canyon. "I don't know where we are, but I need a place to rest. Maybe this place can at least offer shelter for now." Planting her feet on the rocks, she made sure the scridder was firmly held in her grasp before slowly beginning to scale the large walls of one of the canyon's cracks. It'd probably be safer near the bottom, rather than the surface. Her legs slowly began to stick to the surface, before she quickly made a strand of web and wrapped it against a rock, making sure it was tight and fastened. After a bit of tedious safety precautions, she slowly began to make her way down the walls. It felt like sandstone, a material she had gotten used to, but never really have to scale it before. In fact, in her position, she rarely had to climb at all.

Zethra stared as they belayed downwards, putting a finger to her mouth quizzically. "Why is there white stuffs coming from your bumbum?" She asked cutely. She tried to give it a poke, but Tyenaki shifted her away.

"It's just something to help my climb." She explained, glancing back downwards. It looked like a long way down. The walls were rough and jagged, looking as though they were formed naturally instead of sculpted manually. When she got nearer to the ground, Zethra perked up again.

"Mommy, looks! That rock is hurt!" The scridder looked a bit panicked, hoping the wall wasn't hurt at all.

Tyenaki glanced up, trying not to laugh. There was a narrow opening on the wall parallel to the one she was climbing, looking like the entrance to a cave. "Good eye honey. That might actually be safer." Swaying a bit, the dridder eventually leapt off her wall and swung over towards the hole, before grabbing on and pulling herself in. It was dark inside, but she didn't seem to mind all too much. "Looks like the canyon got worn away a little. We can always stay in this little cave here." Trying to adjust her eyes a bit, Tyenaki blinked in surprise. It wasn't just a mere nook in the wall; it looked like a tunnel that actually led somewhere. Glancing around carefully, the dridder slowly made her way through the tunnel, careful not to stumble or fall. As she got deeper inside, the walls began to get smoother and more developed, as if someone had been working of forming the tunnel themselves. "I don't think this place is empty."

Zethra glanced around curiously. Her eyes adjusted quickly, and she tried to spot something that wasn't just solid rock. After a while, her eyes fixed themselves on the bottom of the chasm, beginning to fidget again. "I think I see something. Mr. Crispy?"

Tyenaki blinked. "Mr. Crispy? He wouldn't be down here, sweetie." The dridder assured her, but stared forwards. Sure enough, there was a light at the bottom of the cave, and she began to speed up to reach it more quickly. Finally reaching the edge, she peered inside. Several large fires burned vividly from decorative torches, which illuminated a large, subterranean complex. "This isn't just a home… it's a city." Tyenaki muttered. There was a city inside the walls of the canyon? There were small buildings scattered around the cave, but nobody seemed to be around. She slowly began to head towards ground level, eventually touching her feet to the hard stone surface. The cave was dark, but not pitch black, so she could at least try to examine the new surroundings.

"Mommy, I have'ta go piddles." Zethra mumbled, tugging on the dridder a bit. She couldn't find anything that looked like a proper place to tinkle.

"Shh…" Tyenaki warned, putting a finger to the scridder's mouth. The faint sound of scuttling began to slowly increase in intensity. "We're not alone." The dridder whispered. She slowly began to back up, before she felt something hard and cold pressing against her back.

"Speak, or perish." A thick, raspy voice sounded from behind. It sent a chill down Tyenaki's spine, who slowly turned around. She suddenly flinched, staring at the creature behind her. The flames burning on the torches nearby was enough to illuminate the vision of a dark skinned male, with several red markings along his torso. He seemed fairly muscular, and held a large, black trident in his hands, keeping the blunt end towards her until she turned to face him. He quickly spun it to face the other way, prepared to drive it into her at the slightest provocation. Tyenaki's eyes slowly fixed on the creature's arms, which seemed to have long, sharp pincers on the end. They weren't human, that was for sure. Tyenaki backed up slowly, but he kept in pace and pursued. Staring a bit lower, she noticed a familiar form. A long, black exoskeleton covered most of his body, and a giant stinger was poised up from behind his back. She stared down at Zethra, before staring back up. They looked eerily similar, except the scridder didn't have pincers. The larger scorpion wore a thick, steel helmet on his head, concealing most of his face.

"I… my name is Tyenaki, from the city of Zal-Kohl, and I-"

"Unimportant, what business do you have?" He interrupted, clacking his feet against the ground. "You should know better than to trespass." His gaze wandered down to the smaller creature hugging against the dridder's leg. "What's this then?"

Tyenaki cringed. "We got lost, tried to find a place to stay." She tried to keep it concise, keeping her eyes of hi weapon. More clacking sounds came from around the cave, as more of the creatures began to swarm around her.

His focus on her seemed lost, staring at the younger creature. He lifted one eyebrow as he got a good look at her hands. She looked like a half breed. "Fresh meat."

Zethra tried to scuttle a little further back, and Tyenaki moved in front of her. "Hey, leave her alone!"

The trident rose up to her neck again, and several other of the creatures advanced towards her to make sure she couldn't try anything. "Stand down, you talk when I ask for it." The scorpion knelt down, observing her a bit more. "You. You're not a scorpisaï… you're something else."

Zethra tried to scoot away a bit more. She didn't like how she was being investigated like this. Plus, they looked like they could hurt mommy. "Leave my mommy alone…" She whimpered, before puffing up her cheeks at him.

"Your mother?" The scorpion creature repeated, staring back up at Zethra. "Surely you cannot be serious. She's not one of our kind. I'm not sure if you are either."

"We're not your kind." Tyenaki mumbled, trying to bend down as if to cover the small scridder. "What is your kind anyways? I thought scridders were extinct?"

There was a bit of murmuring through the crowd, before the male rose a hand up. "We know not of what you speak. We are the scorpisaï tribe, Nekrum. One of the few existing tribes there is."

"I've never heard of them… but few existing? So you are endangered?" Tyenaki asked, trying to look for some opening. There wasn't any. It was either speak, or perish.

"We are not. Many of our kind are savage beasts. We are some of the few that have actually formed a tribe, and live together, unlike our primal brethren. But that is of no concern to you."

"The girl, she looks like one of us!" One of them shouted from the crowd, stepping forwards. Almost all the eyes were fixed on Zethra, who cringed and tried in vain to hide better.

"Perhaps she can be. She can become one." The original one said, stepping closer. "Raising our numbers will always be useful."

Tyenaki stared, before shaking her head quickly. "N-no, she's mine, not yours! Leave us alone, we'll leave!"

"Silence, dridder. While we may not be savage, we still have no qualms about butchering you. Speak, child. What is your name?"

Tyenaki fell silent. She was scared, both for her life and Zethra's. "…Zethra." She squeaked after a while, bending low to the ground as if trying to go invisible.

"Well, little Zethra, how would you like to join our tribe here…? We're always looking for new recruits." As long as she was an outsider, he was certain she wouldn't be like the others. The tribe wasn't large, but they were smart enough to band together instead of fend for themselves alone.

Zethra glanced up at him, before looking back to Tyenaki. "Only if mommy can come…"

The scorpion thought on that. If she was the key to controlling the girl, then he might not have much of a choice. "Alright, you can keep your mother with you. For now, come. Let me explain." He slowly turned and began walking away. A few others began pushing the two in the same direction to get them to follow. "You see, the scorpisaï race isn't a very friendly one, and we can admit to that. It used to always be our ways, to just hunt and kill whatever came too close. Many of us would target each other, when nothing else was around, due to territorial nature, and need for food. Not too long ago, many of us started being attacked, and because of our solitary nature, many of us didn't survive. Seeing many of my own kind fall, I had an idea. I knew we had more purpose. It wasn't easy, but I slowly began to band together more and more of my brethren. Not all of them joined me, but I had enough, enough to form a tribe. We separated from the other, more primal scorpisaï, and now live alone here. We've become more culturally developed, but there are so many things we still lack. We wish to obtain those things. My name is Tyractus, and I am the chief of the Nekrum tribe. So tell me, Zethra. As an outsider, and possibly not even own of our own species, do you think you have what it takes to join us? We need to expand, and eventually, become the ruling society of the scorpisaï."

Zethra thought for a bit. Her mind was still naïve and young. It was a lot to take in, but she understood the basics. "You want me in your fam'ly?" She asked, tilting her head. Tyenaki followed behind silently. She didn't expect to be able to leave anytime soon.

"I suppose that's one way of saying it." He admitted, before turning around to face her again. "If you prove yourself worthy, the tribe of Nekrum will become your family, and your home. We can train you, make you one of us. In return, we only want loyalty, and dedication. We want more like us, ones who think before they strike, and don't act merely on instinct. And since so many of the scorpisaï act in such a way, we need to find the few that can be reasonable. We might still be a little hostile, but we aren't savages. Not anymore."

Zethra glanced over to the side. In the distance, two scorpisaï were dueling in a small makeshift arena, dodging and striking at each other with their tails. Both of them were clad in protective steel armor, although went after each other as though they were made of Styrofoam. Would they make her into a warrior? Zethra turned away to stare at the ground for a while. The one thing she was sure that she wanted was to keep her mommy safe and protected. She never did get that combat training she wanted, and this might have been her chance. Standing up tall, she gave him a small nod.

"I'll do it."

Tyenaki and Zethra had been placed in a small, stone room, staring at the wall blankly. Tyenaki was mainly just confused. Where were they? Why hadn’t they been killed? And what was going to happen? She had a hard time calming down, knowing that their lives could end at any given moment. After a bit of pacing, she sat down on the bed that they were given. It was less luxurious than she was used to for sure. The bed consisted of merely a stone slab with a bit of soft material on top so they wouldn’t have to sleep on solid rock. Even with the protection from the material, it still wasn’t the coziest place to sleep. They had a second bed in the room that looked nearly identical. The rest of the room was pretty standard, at least, in comparison to the rest of the area. Most of the walls and furniture were crafted from either stone or metal, and there was a shard from a fractured mirror on one wall to serve as a reflection. The room itself was illuminated by a few torches that hung from the walls and ceiling, as obviously the cave received little to no natural lighting. A few decorative cloths hung from the walls, each illustrating some type of picture from the scorpisaï’s culture. The dridder sighed, glancing back at the doorway. How long did they have to wait before they got some answers?

Zethra was even less patient, scuttling back and forth in annoyance. “How much longer do we gotta wait?” She whined, flicking her stinger against the stone under her feet. It made a loud clacking sound, but neither her nor the stone seemed to get damaged from the strike. “I’m hungry too, when do we get to eat?” Since they met Tyractus, they only made their way to large building, which seemed to act as some type of primitive apartment complex. It was probably just a guest lodging area for people who didn’t have their own homes. Tyractus brought them to their room, and told them to wait before he left. It had been several hours by now. “And I still hav’ta piddle!”

“I don’t know, let’s just be patient. We’ll leave when we leave; we can’t really change that.” Tyenaki murmured, sighing lightly. She herself couldn’t stop wondering, so it felt almost hypocritical to tell Zethra to be patient. “I don’t even think they really want me here, so I doubt I’m getting any special treatment. Just try to stay on his good side, and maybe this will all be over quickly, alright?” She asked, stroking Zethra’s hair gently. The usual silky feeling was still there, but now it was mixed with dirt and stone. She tried to brush most of it out. “They wouldn’t keep us alive if they were just planning on sticking us here forever. And if you really have to go, just go where no one can see you.”

Zethra nodded, squirming lightly, before peeking out the door. No one was around, so she scuttled out of the room to find a nice corner. She hoped she could find a real bathroom sometime, although to her a real bathroom was probably just a chamber pot. Eventually she found a dark, quiet corner, and sat down.

Tyenaki waited in the room with a sigh. Things didn’t seem to be going well. After waiting for a bit, she stood up off the bed again, before hearing the sound of clacking feet approaching. “Zethra? You back?” The dridder asked, keeping an eye on the door. She didn’t exactly want to be alone.

Although Zethra didn’t come in through the door. Instead Tyractus made his way in, glancing around before settling his eyes on her. “Where is the child?” He asked bluntly, clacking his legs against the ground impatiently. Seemed as though waiting time was finally over. Now was time for action. Or it should have been anyways.

“She’s out, but she’ll be back briefly.” Tyenaki replied dryly, before taking a step closer. “Please, I need to know… what do you want us for? We didn’t mean to invade, honest. We’ve got friends back home that we need to visit. They’ll be worried about our sudden disappearance. How long do we have to stay? And are we ever leaving?”

The scorpion grunted a bit in reply, before shaking his head. “We have a lot of business to tend to. We don’t exactly care where you go, but we need your daughter for now. The only reason you’re staying here is because she requested that you stay, and we want her to at least feel comfortable.” He explained. If that meant keeping her mother around, he wouldn’t interject. “Finding new recruits is a difficult process, and there are few of our kind or similar that would join our ranks so easily. She’s young, and can learn easily. We’re going to train her, so that we can have another ally.” He explained, before turning back to the door. Even the area around his tail was covered in what seemed to be steel.

“What use will one person be? You’re acting like she’s the chosen one or something.” Tyenaki mumbled, trying to follow him slowly. One child didn’t seem like it would change very much, if anything. Unless they were desperate for new people, it didn’t make sense to go through all this work.

“We heavily lack in females here. We need some more, o that we can actually keep our numbers up, or raise them if needed.” Tyractus explained. It sounded like they planned to use Zethra as a breeder. “But that’s not the only reason. I can tell, by how protective she was of you. She has the spirit and capacity to be a strong warrior. Not the best, but enough that she would be a valuable addition to our ranks.”

Tyenaki fell quiet. They weren’t going home. She could feel it. There was no way they could leave if they wanted to keep and raise Zethra. The young scridder finally made her way back to the room, staring up at the others. “Mommy where I wash hands?” She asked, tilting her head. He hadn’t thought very far ahead.

Tyractus slowly wrapped his tail around the child, before trying to drag her away by the stinger. “Come Zethra. I can show you, if you wish. But afterwards, we must begin. We’ve wasted enough time with our preparations.”

Zethra blinked, staring back at Tyenaki and awkwardly waving bye bye. “I’ll be back! Don’t worry!” She called to her, hoping that she would be back soon. Zethra herself was a bit worried. Preparation for what? After a little bit of dragging, she turned around to walk with him instead. They slowly left the building and moved towards a larger structure in the distance. It was easily larger than all the others, and had several banners running down the sides. While most of the building was carved from a dark red stone, a good portion of it seemed to be covered in metal, which was bent and shaped into various large figures. Despite being comprised of stone and steel, it was probably the most advanced looking building in the cavern. Zethra slowly looked back up to him questioningly. “What that?” She asked, pursing her lips. It looked different from the rest of the buildings; a lot different.

“This, is going to be the most important area you will visit.” Tyractus explained, leading her up the cracked staircase towards the doors. The building itself was on a large mound of rock, giving it almost a Mount Olympus type of feel, although not nearly as big. Other scorpisaï were everywhere around the area, going about their own business. A fair amount of them wore steel helmets to cover about a third of their face, as if expecting some sort of sudden attack. After the long trek, Tyractus led the child inside. In the front there was a small steady stream of water that seemed to come out from above the cave, and flow through the subterranean complex. Zethra quickly rinsed her hands off with it, before glancing back at him. She wasn’t sure if she was supposed to do that or not.

“Almost everyone comes in here at some point in their life. The reason it stands out so much is because it’s the most important area in our tribe. That fact needs to be displayed greatly.” Inside the building the walls were smooth, compared to most of the walls around the cave. Several torches illuminated the entire building, and it was comprised of several different rooms. For now, Tyractus stayed in the main room, leading her a bit deeper inside. Several scorpisaï wandered around inside, although didn’t appear to be doing very much. The temperature in the room slowly seemed to rise as they went deeper, until they reached the far side. Shelves upon shelves of weapons, armors, and shields littered the walls, and an armored scorpisaï stood at a large anvil, slowly shaping some molten steel with a fairly large hammer. “The main function of these halls is the blacksmith, where we create the tools we need. Our tribe divides up into three major groups; scavengers, warriors, and blacksmiths. The scavengers patrol the surface for food or resources, the warriors help defend the area and slaughter the larger beasts, and the blacksmiths create the armor and weapons the warriors use to fight.” He explained.

Zethra stared around the room, seeming to be greatly intrigued. There was a large furnace-like object near the center, filled up with smoldering embers. The blacksmith at work slowly began to mold the steel, letting it harden before setting it over the fire again. After a while, he began to shape into a helmet, and used large prongs to dip it into a container of water. A loud cloud of steam rose out with a hissing sound, and he took it out again before setting it near several other helmets. Large pieces and bars of steel protruded from another container, and the blacksmith took one of them out to work on smelting something else.

“Blacksmiths are rare, as it takes a lot of skill to be able to smelt the steel, especially with pincers as limbs. There are only a select few, and they do this for most of their lives.” Tyractus explained, trying to help the child understand what exactly she was watching. Zethra mainly seemed to focus on the metal when it glowed a reddish orange color, eyes fixed on that fluorescent color. “While we’re a strong race naturally, we do have our weaknesses and opponents. The armor helps protect us from harm in battle, and the weapons help us use only the most developed forms of combat. Since we need to conserve a lot of the steel, not everyone gets the same amount of armor. Usually you can tell when someone has a more professional rank when they are fully clad in steel. The strongest warriors need to have all the protection they can, and if anyone falls in battle, the scavengers usually try to take back their armor and equipment, so that it can be reused.”

Zethra nodded, slumping down a bit. This was all pretty complicated to her, in comparison to the rather simple lifestyle she lived back in Zal-Kohl. She was a little curious as to what they needed all this stuff for. Who was attacking them when they were living in a cave? Did they really need this many people on the offensive?

Tyractus glanced back to the smith, before slowly moving closer. “Amusei, can you smelt something youth sized? I’ve found a new recruit, and it might help if she gets a feel for how it will be.” He explained. He figured he could at least get the child acquainted with the feeling of being armored. “Just a helmet should be fine for now.”

Without a word, Amusei began to change what he was doing, quickly heating the metal up again before slowly working at it to change its shape. Smelting was a long process, but it was an important one to them. Zethra paid close attention, staring at the metal as it slowly began to take shape. The scorpisaï glanced at the child, estimating her head size, before going back to his business, slowly molding the molten steel again. After quite a bit of work, he lowered it into the water, letting it stay submerged for a couple of minutes, before raising it out. Amidst all the steam that flowed out from the water, he quickly moved the helmet slowly back onto the anvil, examining it. After making sure it was cooled down and shaped correctly, he handed it over to Tyractus and got back to work. The helmet seemed pretty simple in design. The helmet covered the entire top and back of the head, and on the front was a few openings for her eyes and mouth. It was shaped in such a way as to cover her cheeks, yet let her see clearly, and a dividing line between both sides of the opening covered the nose area.

Tyractus looked it over, before bending down to lower it onto Zethra’s head. It fit pretty decently, although the child squirmed around in protest. It was still fairly warm, and the metal wasn’t the softest material Zethra had ever felt. It pressed against her face’s flesh a bit at he adjusted it onto her, making her scrunch up her face a bit. She could feel it on all sides of her head, and it gave her a slight feeling of claustrophobia as the steel pressed against her. After a bit of work, he managed to get it fully on, before backing up to admire the sight.

She was probably the cutest warrior of the tribe, and pouted a bit through the helmet’s openings. She couldn’t get the squeezing feeling to go away. The scridder stumbled around a bit, trying to get used to the weird feeling, before pouting at him again. “Feels weird.” Zethra mumbled, knocking at her head slightly. She winced as her fist banged against hard metal, whimpering and lowering it again while caressing it in her other hand. She didn’t really feel anything against her head though.

“You’ll get used to it.” Tyractus explained, shaking his head. “All warriors need armor, unless they simply want to die when they enter combat. While other scorpisaï in the Nekrum tribe might not attack you, you’ll have no protection against other creatures. Eventually it’ll start to feel natural, and you’ll hardly notice it.” That was the case for most of them anyways. A lot of the scorpisaï almost never removed their armor, beginning to wear it naturally. “Plus, you’ll probably have more than just a helmet. You’ll probably need body armor, and a weapon as well.”

Zethra wasn’t sure that she would really enjoy that very much. The helmet on its own was bad enough for her. “Why do I needs this stuff now?” Zethra finally asked, shaking her head a bit. The helmet was tight enough that it didn’t rattle around. She didn’t thinks he would be getting into combat any time soon.

“You’re most likely to become a warrior. As such, you’ll need to be accustomed to fighting. If you want to be a good fighter, you’ll need to learn how to use equipment. You might be a bit young now, but if you start wearing and using it now, you’ll have experience for when you do get older, so you won’t be starting blindly. It’ll get you settled in, or else you’d hate it as an adult too. For now, keep that helmet on for the rest of the day. It’ll help you adjust.”

Zethra whined loudly. This wasn’t as fun and cool as she was hoping it would be. She thought she’d have special rights and be a ‘chosen one’, so she wouldn’t have to do any actual work. Her fantasy was quickly shattered, and she clacked her legs against the ground, upset.

Tyractus slowly sorted through some of the shelves of armor, searching for some premade equipment that might fit. After a while, he came back with eight metal cones, setting them on the ground before going to grab more. After a while, he piled a fair amount of armor in front of her. “I don’t expect you to wear this all the time just yet, but you should try it out while you can.”

Zethra grumbled a bit, picking up one of the spiky metal cones before trying to put it on her helmet. She looked pretty ridiculous with it on there, like a child trying to pretend to be a unicorn.

Tyractus sighed in response, taking it from her and lifting one of her legs upwards. He quickly slid the metal over her front right leg, and it seemed to fit pretty well. There was a strange material at a few points in the armor instead of steel, which helped it bend and stay a little flexible. Zethra blinked, raising her foot a bit awkwardly while the larger creature began to slide the other seven onto her other legs. Soon enough the shiny turquoise exoskeleton that covered Zethra’s legs were replaced with a light silvery color, and he helped fasten them on so they wouldn’t slide off. “These help both as a weapon and for defense. Gives more armor to your usual exoskeleton, and makes it sharper too. Takes a while to get used to walking with though.”

Zethra found this out on her own soon enough, taking an awkward step before tumbling downwards. Her legs flailed around a bit spaztastically as she tried to straighten herself, which only served to make her squirm and wiggle on the floor. The leg armor bent with her legs perfectly, making use of the non-metal gaps in the armor.

“Try to find your grip.” Tyractus instructed, grinning in amusement at the display. He quickly grabbed her by her back and hoisted her back up to her feet, which all clacked against the ground loudly. “It’s just like walking normally, except it’s harder to feel at the ground with your feet.”

Zethra grumbled, trying to take another step. She began to walk forwards exceedingly slowly, wobbling her legs around a little. She was scared that she’d fall down to the ground at the slightest movement.

Tyractus made use of the time, grabbing the top half of some body armor. It have four half circles both sides, to let the leg stick out. Without warning, he pressed it down onto her scorpion back, before trying to grab the bottom half and slide it under her to attach it to the top half. The scridder flailed a little more, but he made sure to hold her down. “Not many people get this much armor, so you should feel important. You probably won’t need most of this, but it’s just to give you a feel for it in case you ever do need it.”

Zethra wobbled a bit more. Her body wasn’t used to this much weight. She slumped down a bit, before staggering back to her feet. She was beginning to look less like a child and more like a warrior. The scorpisaï picked up a long steel tube with several flexible joints on it, before opening it down the middle and clamping it over her tail, up to the stinger. He quickly locked it into place, before helping her put on a protective plate over her chest and stomach. Thankfully the plate wasn’t fully solid, so it wasn’t too heavy. Zethra whined a bit louder, slumping down a bit. Tyractus backed away to observe her carefully. More armor than almost anyone ever wore, but she did look like a warrior. Like a knight even. Even Amusei glanced up to stare at her.

Zethra slowly pushed herself up with her armored legs, clacking them against the ground loudly before raising backup to full height. The only exposed part of her body was part of her face, torso, her stinger, and all of her arms and hands. Since the scorpisaï generally had pincers, they didn’t have any gauntlets for her. After a bit of wobbling, she tried to stabilize herself awkwardly. Metal pressed against every part of her body, and unlike the helmet, most of it was rather cold. Shifting around a bit, the armor shifted around with her, and she finally managed to stand up. “I… don’t think… I can walk…” She finally said, feeling almost twice as heavy as normal.

Tyractus nodded slowly, before grabbing a trident off the wall, quickly pushing the handle into her hands. The scridder wobbled a bit, planting the weapon onto the ground and clutching onto it awkwardly. It she was bigger, she’d look like a warrior hero.

Amusei slowly shook his head, going back to his work. “Careful, Tyractus. Steel isn’t always easy to get. There’s a reason we don’t give full armor to anyone. We need to conserve.” The blacksmith was beginning to think Tyractus was acting a little crazy.

“I am aware, I’m only experimenting.” The black scorpisaï muttered in return, helping her hoist the weapon up a little. “How does it feel?”

Zethra staggered a bit, before holding the trident up clumsily. “Kinda… cold… and heavy.” She replied, glancing around at herself. She felt strong for once. At least she could barely feel any of the armor on her exoskeleton, and only the armor touching her skin was cold. “Kinda nifty.”

“Good for you to think so.” Tyractus said, glancing her over a bit longer, before beginning to head back towards the main doors. ”We should head back to your house, now that you’re fully armored. And don’t worry; you won’t have to stay this way all the time. I think for once though, it’d be nice to let someone don full Nekrum armor. Just be weary for the weak spots in your front plate. Amusei, hope you don’t mind, but I think I’ll need all this armor for now. It’s only child size, so it shouldn’t be too big of a toll on your resources.”

Amusei sighed lightly, before nodding. “Yes, my lord. Your word goes above my own.” He recited. The blacksmith didn’t think it was a good idea to give a child that much steel and protection, but he couldn’t go against the tribe’s leader. “Just be careful. She’s merely a child.”

“For now.” Tyractus corrected, helping the bumbling scridder get out of the building. She was just a child, and a rather clumsy one at that. At least, while wearing a full suit of steel armor. She finally managed to get a little bit of balance in her legs, but all the extra armor of her body made her stumble just as much as she had before. Her tail swayed a bit, staring at it curiously. All the bends and joints in the steel made it a lot less protected, but it still made it actually usable. She slowly started down the stairs, before tripping and beginning to fall comically. Sighing, Tyractus quickly grabbed her before she fell too far, and helped her get back down to the bottom. He didn’t need that much armor getting destroyed.

Zethra finally stumbled back to her feet as she reached the bottom steps, glancing around to search for the building her mother was still lodged at. Many people stared at her, not used to seeing that much steel on someone, especially someone so short. She practically ignored them, making her way clumsily back to their residence, tripping every few yards and trying to get back up quickly before anyone noticed. Zethra closed her eyes briefly, feeling her breath increase slowly. As she made her way back up the rocks to her building, thoughts swarmed through her mind. Was she still a child? Why was she getting such special treatment? What would she do with all that heavy, clunky armor? What would her mother say? Zethra wobbled a little, straightening out before marching proudly into the building. She kept at a slow pace as to not upset or disrupt her stature. She had to look important, and strong. She’d look ridiculous if she tripped into the room in front of Tyenaki. A few more people stared, and she closed her eyes again, making her way to the room. “I… I am a warrior.” She mumbled to herself, stepping into the room proudly.