[Jaykobell]

A mischievous little thing walked about the ground of the shrine. This cold stone floor, which used to make his paws bleed, were now warm and nothing special to him. After lodging here for an unknown period of time, he had grown strong paws, a thick hide, and an overall resistance to this cold weather. The snow was his enemy no more! He was better, stronger, wiser, quicker than the snow! Or so he thought, for he actually hadn't dared to venture outside the shrine.

He liked to call himself Ratio. He didn't really have a name, or at least, not a name that had been given to him by his parents -- whoever they were. Well, it didn't really matter. What Ratio knew was that this was his home, and it had been for a long time now. The people of this shrine, when there were any, left him to his business, and didn't seem to mind him. Some of them would leave some food for him if they felt like it, which was nice on occasion. Maybe that was precisely why he didn't want to leave the shrine. What was awaiting him outside? Snow, first of all things... and then mystery. How was the world now? It had been so long. He had no idea what the world, what life was like beyond the snowy scenery of Basantha.

Speaking of snow, it had gotten colder out of late. Ratio figured taking a sunbath today wouldn't do any hurt. This shrine was still in a very good condition, despite the fact that it was fairly old. The windows still stood and glowed with sunlight, so the floor was often dappled with bright sunlight, which heated the stony floor. And as everybody knows, lizards can't say no to a warm stone.

He headed over to the biggest spot of sunlight and lay on his belly, letting the sun warm him up. His green scales made it hard for just about anybody to not notice him. Right there, this unmoving blob of scales, sunning itself... But who cared, really? People rarely visited this place, so Ratio literally owed the shrine; well, so to speak, of course.

So he laid there, sighing happily as the sun warmed him up. Today would be like every other day... but it would be nice nonetheless.

[Shieba]

Finally able to see the doors to the Basantha Shrine in front of him, Sethor sighed in relief as he made his way through the snow. His goal now in front of his eyes, he quickened his steps once more. What a long journey it had been from Aldrect and what an arduous one. He had thought he had been prepared, but how wrong he had been!

Still, he had made it! Feeling like finally accomplishing something in his life and that he could, somewhere in the future, now return to his home with his head held high, Sethor was rather proud of himself. But after living in a sheltered home for his whole life, just to travel then through Wilt'no and up this mountain, he felt also very, very tired.

But this was no time for resting - and not the best place for it as well. He had come here for a purpose, for research; to discover unknown things on his own rather than just reading about what others had found. To, hopefully, learn more about the mysterious Temple pets.

Nothing seemed more alluring than getting out of the cold, but Sethor nonetheless hesitated for a moment. He had also heard rumors about wild creatures roaming the halls of the shrine...and he didn't want to meet up with one of those. From the old map he had seen, he had gathered that it wasn't all that large of a building as well...but the map could have been wrong. And there he was again, having to rely on the works and words of others. Could his family not see that calling themselves 'reseachers' or 'scholars' was nothing but a lie if they buried themselves in their libraries without ever seeing what they wanted to so desperately to learn about with their own eyes?

Pushing all thoughts of what he had left behind aside for now, Sethor only hoped that the rumors also were nothing but just that: Rumors, and that there were others like him inside the shrine as well. Finally, he pushed the door open, immediately welcoming the warmer stone under his paws instead of the cold snow.

[1]

[Jaykobell]

Days like this were wonderful, albeit slightly repetitive and boring. It was at times like this that Ratio felt like having a friend. You know, just to talk and to have fun. Being by yourself gets lonely. Most pets, though, didn't dare to venture through the Fe'gan Mountains, nor did they bother to go through Wilt'no Desert, if they came from that part of the continent. The detour was painful and ridiculous, so people gave in. Ratio sighed, both from delight and loneliness. He rolled over onto his side, his paws facing the entrance.

The silence is another thing that influences your thoughts about loneliness. Some people can't stand silence. Too dull, too quiet, too... boring. Some people, though, couldn't stand noise. Too loud, too annoying, too.. lively. It really depends on which kind of lifestyle you want. Noisy or quiet? Ratio wanted a mix of both, though maybe he preferred quiet more to noisy. That was why he bothered to reveal himself to the priests whenever they came. Sometimes they spoke in weird tongues and he couldn't understand them, but just the noise of those foreign words were enough to make noise. Speaking of noise, it was while he was thinking about all that that he heard the door to the shrine open. A breeze flew inside, both chilly and warm, and through the entrance came... a Lucain? A pet?

Ratio got onto his paws and raised his neck as high as he could, craning it forward as well. Would you look at that; it was really another pet! It wasn't a human. "Hey!" He called to the Lucain immediately, seemingly forgetting (or ignoring) the fact that not every pet out there is nice and open-minded. That Lucain could be a blood-thirsty cannibal for all Ratio knew. "Hey! You there!" he called again, and he dashed for the entrance. Despite being a lizard, he was, indeed, fairly quick on his paws. He stopped a few ways away from the Lucain, the dark night-sky pelt matching the scenery of this holy shrine rather beautifully. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" Ratio raised his neck and tried to look behind the Lucain to see if anyone else was with him. "Anyone else with you?" Ratio had seen Lucain when the priests had brought their own, either for company or for protection, or both. He had never, however, spoken with any of them. "This shrine's mine... kinda," he added as he tilted his head to the side. Wasn't Ratio a talkative little thing. "I live here. So why are you here?" Seemed like he really wanted an answer. Despite his urging questions, though, Ratio wasn't, in any way, trying to shoo the Lucain away. In fact, he was asking those questions to get the wolf to stay here, even if only for a little while.

[Shieba]

Sethor, being quite easily startled,almost gave a small yelp when someone called out even before he had closed the door fully behind him. Was he already under attack?! No, that was stupid, no attacker would say "Hey!" first...or would they? Still, he looked around rather frantically when he couldn't immediately spot who exactly had addressed him - until he saw a small lizard dashing towards him.

Trying to regain his composure after that embarrassing display of being a scaredy-cat, Sethor smiled down at the Kamee and managed to get out a "Hello" before he was pelted with a lot of questions. He needed a few seconds to sort out all the information hidden in them. For starters, there was a small Kamee who seemed quite self-confident about 'owning' the shrine. Which meant that being here was probably safe, after all. Mentally relaxing a bit, Sethor then tried to figure out why he was half-interrogated, even though he didn't feel unwelcome. But if he trusted one thing to be found even in the most remote corners of the world, it was bureaucracy. He didn't need a permit to be here...right? In the end, he had no idea.

"My name is Sethor Ildenfall", he therefore started, willing and trying to answer all the questions. Even if the Kamee wasn't out to check his (non-existant) permit, it seemed friendly enough and, if it was really living here, probably a good start for his research. Besides that, not being alone in here still seemed adviseable.

"And no, I've come here alone. I am..." Yes, what exactly was he? A scholar? A researcher? An explorer, even? "I am trying to learn more about Temple pets and am therefore here for research...if that is permitted." It really bugged him that he didn't know if he could just walk in here. He just hoped that the Kamee wouldn't feel teased by him asking for permission after it had stated that it 'kinda' owned the shrine.

[2]

[Jaykobell]

Sethor wouldn't have to worry about that slightly embarrassing moment; Ratio had been too busy rushing towards the Lucain to notice much of anything else. But, well, it was expected for people to be startled if someone, out of nowhere, suddenly called out to you... especially if you had just came in. It was as if an alarm had started off. Startling and even slightly frightening.

Ratio, however, didn't look like anything dangerous, small as he was; he could barely reach Sethor's elbow-wingblades. In fact, it was strange to have a lizard, like a Kamee, living in such a cold environment like Basantha. Didn't lizards live in deserts or jungles? Some reptiles could bear the cold; but Ratio lived here. "Ooh, I see! Yes, of course you can! The shrine's not really mine," he admitted, poking two stubby toes together to indicate embarrassment. "I say that because people rarely visit the place, and I live here by myself... well, almost." There were pets in here... but just thinking about them made Ratio shiver. And it didn't help when Sethor said he was interested in studying Temple pets. "A-ah. Temple pets," the Kamee echoed, and he swallowed. "You... why? They... They're really scary, you know," he warned the Lucain, but he didn't dare say much. Maybe it was the Celestial marking, or maybe it was the Eclipse, but Sethor just gave this... air of knowledge. Ratio had heard that most Lucain with the Celestial marking were very wise and knowledgeable pets.

The Kamee poked his toes together again. "Well, I can... I can tell you a few things about Temple pets. There... there are a bunch of them in here, too, although they don't really come out often." And thank Xai're they didn't. Being so small and fairly defenseless, Ratio couldn't fend off a lot of predators. He'd sometimes fight with small pets, like Rattegans, for a bit of food, but he didn't dare to meddle with the Temple pets. Their cold stare and their rock-hard fur gave Ratio this feeling that he would be utterly crushed if he were to meddle with a Temple pet. They owned this shrine, actually... really. "They're a scary bunch," he repeated, his tail coiling and uncoiling, indicating stress. "But if you stick around, I'll tell you things about them. And... and you could tell me about what you know." Sethor probably came from the cities, right? Or, at least, somewhere other than the Fe'gan Mountains. "It's my story for yours. What do you say?" He looked up at Sethor, his head almost falling backwards because of the striking difference in size. So today wouldn't be the same as usual, it appeared.

[Shieba]

Sethor smiled down at the Kamee. He couldn't help but finding the little guy rather cute when he sheepishly admitted that the shrine didn't belong to him. Still, living here alone was surely not easy and quite an accomplishment for someone as his interesting new dialogue partner and Sethor found that rather respectable.

"I understand." Sethor bowed down a bit so the Kamee wouldn't have to crank his neck so much. "Still, even if you don't really own the shrine, owning knowledge of something unknown to most is just as impressive." At least that was what he had been taught all his life and believed in as well.

He paused when the Kamee suddenly seemed nervous at the subject of Temple pets and felt suddenly rather unsure of himself again. Scary? That wasn't good. He hadn't really counted on the Temple pets just nicely answering his questions, but this almost sounded like even observing them would be rather dangerous. Then again, the Kamee was quite a bit smaller than most pets... "Scary, you say?" He pondered this and then the offer the other pet made. "I'd really like to hear more about them. If they are dangerous, I will gladly heed your warning and stay away from them as much as possible. At any rate, knowing what I would be in for would really help me." He then thought about what he could offer in return. "What...I know? What would you like to know? I'd really like to take up your offer, but I am not sure if there is anything interesting I can tell you. This is the first time I've traveled far and I've lived a rather sheltered life. Your life surely has been much more exiting than mine."

Sethor then looked around for a place to sit down at least a bit more comfortable than just standing in front of the door. "Well, if my story is still of any interest to you, I gladly will tell you whatever you wish to hear about. Shall we sit down somewhere? I believe you also haven't told me your name yet." Truly, Sethor was happy to have found someone intelligent to have a conversation with; a mircale, for he hadn't expected anything like this in such a place. It made him feel much safer; it was something he was good at.

[3]

[Jaykobell]

Ratio was subconsciously glad that Sethor had bent down so the Kamee wouldn't have to look up so much. He lowered his neck a little bit as Sethor bent down, giving a sheepish smile at the reply. "I don't think I'd go far if I owned the thing for real," he admitted, knowing well that the place would crumble down, since it needed a lot of maintenance due to its old age. "This place is old, so it needs someone who can work on it and repair it if something breaks." And with his small size, it would be quite a hard task for Ratio.

When they drifted back to the topic of Temple pets, Ratio poked his toes together again. "Well..." He looked in multiple directions uncomfortably. "I don't... think they'd be dangerous for you. You're big, and your claws and... wing things," he pointed at Sethor's wingblades as he said that, "on your back would probably be enough to keep them away if they tried to hurt you." Well, they had never attacked him directly. He had meet and seen Temple pets, but he had never really interacted with any. The impression he had gotten from them had left him scared enough that he wouldn't try anything with them.

He was going to answer the other questions when Sethor mentioned going to sit somewhere. "Oh, well... the spot over there had sunlight and a carpet, so it's warm," he proposed as he pointed towards it with a stubby toe. There was a slightly raised pedestal, with a carpet running by the middle and rectangles of sunlight coming from the large windows above. "I lie there when it's sunny." He got up and walked over that way, his tail standing up straight, a bit like a dog's. It was like showing Sethor to the place; which felt great. "And I wanna know anything you know," he answered as he walked along. "I've lived here for years, actually, so I know next to nothing about the outside world. I know little things from the lectures the priests give sometimes, but I don't know a lot." He stepped onto the pedestal and walked over to the end of the carpet, sitting down and facing Sethor. "Aah, I'm Ratio, yes. Ratio's my name," he added at once, remembering that he hadn't told Sethor his name, and that he had even asked for it just now. "And as for the Temple pets... Well, they live here because they come from an old deity, called Iiylumiel... They were created by him, so they're his children, I guess. They've got bodies made out of stone, and they don't eat... Have you seen one before? They have blue lights running through their bodies, too... And their eyes..." The Kamee shuddered at the thought. "Their eyes... I heard that if you look in their eyes for too long, they'll turn you into their slave..."

[Shieba]

"That's true..." Sethor only now took his surroundings in for the first time, having been focused on the Kamee from the moment he entered before. He wondered if venturing deeper would be safe? Even though the entrance area was most likely the place which saw the most visitors, it looked, well, old. "Owning this surely would be rather troublesome indeed." Which made him wonder who really made sure this place wasn't coming down.

Sethor smiled a bit wrily. "I might be quite a bit bigger than you are, but I've never fought someone or had to defend myself before. I'm not sure if my claws or wingblades would be of much help since I have no clue how to use them to my advantage, really." He followed Ratio to the pedestral and then tried to sit down in a way that was still confortable but gave the small Kamee hopefully not too much trouble looking up. He wouldn't mind if Ratio wanted to sit on his back, but talking was easier if one could see the one he was talking to. "Ratio, then." He smiled, remembering to cultivate his good manners. "Well, I'm honored to make your acquaintance."

When Ratio started to talk about the Temple pets again, Sethor listened and nodded half to himself. "I haven't seen one before with my own eyes, only pictures", he admitted. "And that rumor about them being able to make you their slave as well...it is a bit frightening, but so far, I've thought this was only a story made up to scare children. Then again, most tales hold an element of truth..." He pushed that thought away. There was no reason in scaring himself even more. "I have heard about Iiylumiel as well, but I wondered if this was a proven fact. What actually got my interest was the fact that they are called Temple pets, but are said to roam this shrine. So I decided to figure out if this was just some mistake in naming them or if there was more to them, the tales told about them or even this place here. A temple clearly is something different than a shrine..." He trailed off. Maybe, in the end, he just was a nitpicker jumping to conclusions. Ratio's explanation calmed and disturbed him at the same time. It was clear that most known facts about the Temple pets seemed to be true, but if the same could be said about the rumor about their strange powers, there were mysteries to be solved.

However, it was now his turn to share a bit of information. Not really knowing where to start, Sethor decided to tell Ratio what he knew about the place probably completely different from the snowy world he was used to. "Well, before climbing up this mountain I have traveled through Wilt'No with a caravan, but we only continued through the desert during the colder hours of the night, so I can't really claim I've seen much of it besides a lot of sand. Not that there is much else to see during daytime as well...but the sky looks beautiful at night, for there are no grey clouds which bring rain or snow, like here, covering the stars and with no lights from settlements around, it is quite an astounding view." He smiled. "And that's all I've seen in my travel. What I also can tell you about is Aldrect, because that's where my family lives. But I've never been outside on the streets much and more inside...events like the war kind of passed by me without that life seemed different for me." He paused. Ratio probably didn't know about a war and he didn't want to confuse the Kamee with too much unnecessary informations.

[4]

[Jaykobell]

Aah, wingblades, so that's what these things were called. Well, he had already learned something new today! The thingies on Lucain's backs are wingblades. Which did make sense; they were blade-like things shaped like wings. Really, Ratio should've figured that out by himself. "I think it's really to just slash them with your claws," Ratio guessed, raking a stubby paw across air to show. "I think just rolling over them... somehow... would make those bladewingthings really dangerous." Which did bring to him the concept of a Lucain rolling onto his back. Did the... wingascythe bend or something? For some reason he felt like he hadn't grasped the name "wingblades" completely. He also shifted his paws and poked his toes together when Sethor said it was a pleasure to meet Ratio. "Teehee," was all he could squeak out. No one had said that to him before! This stranger was so nice. "I'm happy to meet you, too. You're my first friend," he replied with a shy grin. Well, he knew some of the other stray pets in this shrine, but he didn't talk with them enough to call them friends.

Ratio shivered again at the mention of the stare of the Temple pets. "I... I met one before," he stammered, swallowing. "It... it was a D-Draculi, I think. I was scavenging for food when I came face to face with it..." He shivered again and hugged himself. "It was the scariest thing... They... they look so... so... empty." He didn't know what kind of word could describe the feeling better. Those hollow, glowing eyes staring at you, seemingly devoid of any emotion, just staring and never looking away from you... Thinking back about it scared Ratio out. "Th-that's why I don't venture too much anymore... Whenever I get the feeling there's a Temple pet nearby, I just avoid the spot altogether. As for the name... I think so long as it's a holy building, they stick around." To him, a shrine was just as good as a temple. Buildings made out of stone dedicated to the Gods and for worshipping. He didn't know much words and their specific definitions, though, so maybe the two were different.

With that, Ratio listened to Sethor's story, and the Kamee couldn't help but to stare with his mouth opened, awed. A place filled with only sand? Where there nothing but sand? So it was a bit like... these mountains, right? But snow instead of sand. "Why did you travel only during the night? What is it like over there? And is there really only sand? What does... what's sand?" He didn't really know. He had heard of it, just a little bit. "Is it soft like snow? Is it hard?" He had a myriad of questions about this 'sand.' "What's a caravan?" That too! What was that? "Aldrect...? What's Aldrect?" He didn't know that either. Ratio literally knew nothing about the world outside of the Fe'gan Mountains. Whatever knowledge he did know was from the priests who visited the stray pets he sometimes fought or talked with. "Tell me more," he urged with rounded, dreamy eyes.

[Shieba]

Sethor looked a bit sheepishly at his front paws. He couldn't see himself slashing someone without completely making a fool out of himself instead of doing damage, really. But his pride refused to let him voice that fact, especially since Ratio seemed to believe in his fighting abilities quite a bit. Sethor had to suppress a smile at the idea of rolling over a Temple pet to utilize his wingblades...but then again, it was an idea, while he himself was quite stumped when it came to fighting. "I will keep your advice in mind", he therefore offered a bit unsure as reply. "I hope, if the need should ever arise, that you are quite right in believing in my abilities to defend myself." He then paused when Ratio called him a friend. In truth, Sethor couldn't remember the last time someone had called him that. Having spend most of his life in the libraries of his family or with other students who considered him merely someone worthy to be acquainted with because of his social status, the fact that someone like Ratio grew to like and trust him enough to call him a 'friend' after knowing him for only such a short time seemed very precious to Sethor. "I hope I may call you my friend as well. In fact, this might just make you my first real friend. This makes me very happy", he truthfully said.

He then quitely listened to Ratio's tale. "So you can feel their presence?", he finally asked. This seemed to be important. "How strange for them...if you are right and it's indeed the fact that this is a holy building which makes them stick around, maybe it's more than just the fact that Iiylumiel died here...Iiylumiel was a fallen angel, so maybe, their...emptiness is not only what you saw in them, maybe this is what they feel as well and they are drawn to this place as the one where they subconsciously think they will find something to replace this, seeing as Iiylumiel surely had to feel some kind of change or something missing after becoming a fallen angel..." He caught himself when he noticed he was rambling. "Ah, I'm sorry. The researcher in me is obviously getting carried a bit away with all the interesting facts you are telling me."

He found himself then taken a bit aback by all of Ratio's questions and quite helpless as well. How did one explain what sand was? Here he was, being able to pride himself on having recieved the best education and now he was lost when facing such a question. Better start at the beginning. "Well, in the desert, it gets really hot during the day. Not like the stone here gets warm in the sun, but really hot. There is little to no water around and only few creatures can even live there. Nothing casts shadows you can rest in and the sun heats up the sand...I'll get to the sand in a minute." Hopefully. "At night, however, it gets cold because there are no plants or other things around which radiate warmth for a longer period of time. And yes, there are only rocks and sand around." Well, there was the occassional oasis, but Sethor didn't want to overwhelm Ratio even more right now. "Sand itself is...no, it's not soft like snow. In fact, sand means just tons and tons of very, very, very small stones. It's not rough like rocks, though, because they are so small, you can't really identifiy them as stones anymore...maybe you can compare sand a bit to dry dirt or earth. It feels more smooth than dirt and it doesn't make you...dirty...but it's like that." He was, obviously, failing at explaning here. "But there is even more sand in the desert than snow here. Here, you have still a lot of rocks and cliffs, but in the desert, there are times where you can only see sand in all directions. And a caravan...that's a group of people who have learned to travel through the hot desert without dying, sometimes to get items from one city to the next without having to take the long way around." He smiled then. "Aldrect is a big city and a lot of people live there. There are a lot of houses, but all are in better shape than this shrine. And in the middle of the city is a big fountain. That's...something which spurts out a lot of water in pretty ways and has no other use than looking nice." A rather poor way of describing the one place he probably knew really well, but explaining different types of buildings to Ratio seemed even more impracticable.

[5]

[Jaykobell]

Ratio had never had to defend himself either. The little skirmishes he had been involved in hadn't been dangerous, and some hadn't involved any fighting at all. Some had just been wordy skirmishes, with the wittiest of the two winning the food or the item or whatever it was they were fighting over. "Don't worry! I'm sure that if somebody attacks us, it'll come naturally to you!" Maybe the adrenaline would awake hidden skills within Sethor, or something! You never know. But deep within him, Ratio hoped the need to fight someone off wouldn't come.

"So we're each other's first friend?" Sethor had never had a friend before? But if he came from a big family, how could he have no friends at all? Or maybe he didn't consider family as friends but as family? Friends and family are different things, after all. Weren't they? Ratio had no idea, he didn't have a family, after all. "But let's be friends, yes! Even if you travel, you should come and visit me when you can!" The thought of having a visitor now and then made Ratio excited, and his tail curled and uncurled happily at the thought.

While what Sethor had said made complete sense, the Lucain had thrown so much information all at once that Ratio had simply lost the thread. The Kamee blinked and just stared at Sethor, the Lucain's muzzle moving about, but the words coming out all entangled and sounding like a foreign language to the lizard's ears. "That's.... that's a lot," was all Ratio could say, his eyes blinking. "You know so much," he mused with awe, staring at Sethor as if the Lucain were a real treasure vault. So many things this Lucain knew! Ratio had no idea how to make heads or tails out of this huge amount of information. "I know so little compared to you..." Ratio murmured almost to himself, poking two chubby front toes together shyly. He wasn't stupid, he was just... uninformed. How Sethor could find these facts about Temple pets interesting and not utterly frightening... it was a mystery to Ratio.

And again, there was so much information about the sand and the caravan and the desert and everything else that Ratio had no idea where to start. A place so hot it was hotter than the warmed stone of the temple. Rocks so tiny that they weren't rocks, but sand. A place with no plants or trees (he knew of trees, but only vaguely; he could see them in the distance from the windows). A place where the temperature changed radically from day to night. A caravan, people who can get through a dangerous scenery like a desert. The big city where tons of things are. A fountain, this new thing, where water squirts out from it. So, so many things...! Where to begin!? "So... so many things!" Ratio wiggled and spun on himself excitedly as Sethor explained everything. "I... I wish I could go out and explore, too..." He clapped his hands together excitedly, his eyes dreamy. But as he dreamed of all those wonderful, foreign things, he suddenly felt a dreary presence nearby, and his eyes turned from dreamy to horrified. The Kamee started looking around in a panic, looking at every corner and stones. "A... a-a... A..." All he could do now was to raise a shaking paw and point into a general direction, right towards the entrance door...



By the entrance was this Draculi, his pawsteps silent despite the obvious stone that his body was made of. The eyes of the Temple Draculi glowed as it looked about the entrance door. He seemed to have sensed somebody coming into the shrine, and had come to investigate, but it appeared that he hadn't spotted Sethor nor Ratio yet.

[Shieba]

Unknowingly, Sethor shared that thought with Ratio - that he hoped he'd never had to fight someone off, for he somehow doubted that fighting was something he'd be naturally good at. Then again, his uncle was a traveling warrior, so maybe there was some fighting talent hidden within the Ildenfall genes...? However, that was a theory Sethor didn't want to prove for once. "I shall hope so, too, then", he nontheless answered. At least he was no coward, otherwise he wouldn't have come here.

Sethor smiled a bit sadly. "Yes, you are my first true friend. Where I come from, people sometimes call each other friends because they think they might gain an advantage from it in form of money or status. And you are the first one who wants to be friends with me without such reasons. I'm very glad!" His smile turned brighter when he saw how happy the little Kamee seemed. "Of course I will visit you, even if I travel elsewhere for some time. A journey always seems much easier when there is someone waiting for you."

Seeing how he had obviously confused Ratio with his long monologue, Sethor apologetically shook his head. "I really don't know much. Nothing which I say is a proven fact. Actually, I'm just rambling on and on based on what you told me. Which means that you are the one who actually knows the facts and I'm the one who is trying...to get more facts out of this. Without you, I'd be lost here. It's just the scholar in me who tends to talk a lot when I'm not careful. I'm sorry if I confused you."

Sethor had to suppress a smile when he saw how excited Ratio had become. He briefly thought about taking the small Kamee with him when he would leave. But this was Ratio's home and he didn't know how well Ratio would fare during the travels through the desert. Still, he could at least offer. "I could take you with me when I leave. But I don't know if you'd feel good out there and away from your h--" He trailed off when Ratio suddenly seemed to panic. "W-what?" Completely caught by surprise, Sethor looked around as frantically as Ratio for a few seconds until he noticed where his friend pointed to.

He saw the Draculi in the second he also started to really feel his presence and it really gave him a chill. For a moment, fright and excitement fought within Sethor. A real Temple Draculi, this close to the entrance! Yes, Sethor was quite a bit scared, but he also figured that he had was taller and that there was an escape out.
But he also had to think about his little friend. The Draculi was taller than Ratio and the Kamee was probably rightfully frightened. Sethor quickly thought about what he should do. The Draculi obviously hadn't spotted them yet and while Sethor would have liked to just quitely observe it for a few minutes before deciding on an action, he knew he had to take care of Ratio first and therefore risk to be heard.

He bowed down as close to Ratio as he could to whisper to the Kamee. "Alright. If you want to hide, then this is the time. Even if it sees you, I'll make sure to intercept it then and I'm bigger than it. Or you could climb on my back and we hope that there won't be a fight - you'd have to be careful with the wingblades, though. But I'm at least going to observe it for a bit. The exit is close and it's only one, smaller pet. I'd rather take my chances with this one than going deeper into the shrine and meeting one which might be of greater size."

[6]

[Jaykobell]

Everything Sethor had said had gone through one ear and exited from the other. Ratio was so frightened by this newcomer that he couldn't think, nor move. Everything Sethor had said had gone unnoticed by Ratio; his attention was completely stolen by that Draculi. What were they going to do now? No claws could do any damage to the stone of the Temple pets. Ratio was so small that the Draculi would just squish him like a bug. The thought made the Kamee shiver. Sethor, on the other hand, was way bigger than Ratio, so he stood a chance, the Kamee thought, even if Sethor was no fighter. Maybe Sethor would prove to be big enough to scare the Draculi away. Maybe the Draculi wouldn't notice them. Maybe... maybe they wouldn't get hurt. There were so many maybe's!

Ratio was panicking until he felt Sethor getting close to him. The Kamee squealed, and the tiny sound echoed through the temple. Ratio quickly put his forepaws on his mouth to keep it from making any more noises. Oh, dear. So high-pitched, surely the Draculi had heard it, too! But Ratio tried to focus on what Sethor was saying instead of panicking at the Draculi further ahead. The Kamee looked up at the Lucain, panic in his eyes, and listened as much as he could. And.. and Sethor was going crazy! "I... I-I had th-thought about i-it," Ratio mumbled through his paws. "B-but... n-nothing can p-pierce th-their skin..." It would just most likely hurt Sethor if they tried to attack it! Or maybe he would just laugh at them and mock them and tell them just how weak they were... Ooh, this was so bad... As for going on Sethor's back, well, that sounded like an idea. But Ratio had never gone outside... what would happen to him, if Sethor escaped? It was a scary thought, to escape the world...

As they were talking, the sounds echoed softly; but that wasn't what got the Draculi's attention. The tiny squeal it heard coming from the altar made its stony ears twitch and prick. It slowly turned around to look from the entrance door to the altar ahead, and immediately it noticed the Lucain and the Kamee. Its slow pawsteps echoed now; it had noticed the two newcomers, and so there was no need to hide anymore. But as it approached, both Sethor and Ratio would get to notice that this Draculi had no evil intentions. While its face remained expressionless due to the stone, its aura emanated no evil. It felt like a completely normal pet, and a harmless one as well. Were Temple pets really that evil...?

Once it had approached the two enough, the Draculi stopped in its track and looked at the two pets. Pets it had seen before, but that it didn't know much about. Everyone had heard of the Lucain... mystical pets cherished by countless humans. The Draculi raised its head and stared at the Lucain.

... Lucain... visiting... shrine...

The voice echoed into Sethor's and Ratio's heads, the face of the Draculi still unmoving. Could it move its mouth? Probably not; it seemed to be using telepathy to speak with the two of them. The stone probably kept Temple pets from speaking out loud.

Names... Names...?

The voice was rough and obviously, this Draculi was not used to common speech. There were many pauses between words, and it seemed to omit articles and propositions if it could. And was it asking their names? It seemed like it simply wanted to interact with the two pets, and nothing more...

[Shieba]

Sethor had cringed a bit when Ratio had squealed, but his attention had been kept by his little friend. "It'll be alright", he mumbled softly. "I don't intend to fight if it can be avoided."

Then he heard the footsteps of the Draculi coming closer and closer and he quickly looked up to see the Temple pet apporaching. The excitement rushing through his body made him almost dizzy, but he forced himself to stay calm. The Draculi didn't seem like it was willing to attack right now, so Sethor tentatively sat down so Ratio could either hide better behind him or climb onto his back if he so desired.

When the Draculi stopped to look at them, Sethor found himself rather drawn to return the gaze, but remembered Ratio's words to not look into the eyes of a Temple pet. Glad that he remembered that his mother once told him that looking at the nose of someone gave the same impression to the other, he setteled for this, even though he inwardly called himself a coward.

Even though he felt no malice - which relieved him to no end - he was extremely suprised to suddenly hear a voice speak inside his head. For a moment, he just stared at the Draculi with wide eyes, but then decided to take the incredible chance which had just presented itself. He had never thought things would go so well!

"Yes", Sethor slowly answered. "I came from far away to visit this shrine to...learn." It was probably best to hide the fact that he wanted to focus his research on pets like the one he was talking to for now. He also tried to keep his sentence simple - the Draculi seemed to struggle a bit with language.

Then it occured to him that the Temple pet had only equired about him. Did that mean that it knew Ratio lived here and had not come with him? Or was Ratio simply too small to catch the interest of the other pet? Then again...the Draculi next asked for both their names. If it knew Ratio lived here, did that mean that Ratio had no reason to fear the Temple pets...?

"My name is Sethor and this is Ratio, my friend." He hoped that he could make Ratio feel somewhat safe so the Kamee could maybe use this opportunity to make friendly contact with a Temple pet as well. "What is your name?" Sethor then asked the Draculi in an attempt to start a small conversation.

[7]

[Jaykobell]

Nobody had to tell him twice; as soon as the Temple Draculi walked up to them, Ratio did his best to hide from sight. He was about to grab onto Sethor's tails when the Lucain sat down, and admittedly, this gave Ratio a lot more space to hide. The Kamee took this opportunity and quickly hid behind the dark Lucain. Ratio stood out against Sethor's dark blue fur, but he was so small that he could probably be mistaken for some Lucain marking, if he was lucky enough. And then suddenly, what was that? Sethor was actually talking to the Temple pet! Had he gone mad? Was he trying to lose his soul? Ratio knew Sethor had come here to learn about the Temple pets, but still! Didn't he know they were dangerous? Very dangerous? Ratio had also heard the comment in his head, but he still refused to communicate with that pet...

If the Draculi knew about Ratio, it didn't show. Maybe Sethor was more intriguing, or maybe the Temple pet was already aware of the Kamee. Either way, it didn't make any move to attack, nor did it comment about another pet, besides Sethor, being nearby. Its stony head tilted to one side curiously as Sethor replied to the Draculi's comment. Coming here to learn about what? Maybe the architecture? The Draculi had no idea. Lucain... learn... what...? Far away... The last two words had a strange dream-like tone to them behind the stony emotionlessness the Temple pets were known for. It seemed to be intrigued about this idea of going out to explore the world. Being a Temple pet, it probably hadn't left this shrine at all in its lifetime. Just like Ratio, it probably knew nothing about the world.

The Draculi's tail started to wave slowly from side to side after Sethor told it their names. It seemed happy that the two pets — or at least one of them — was willing to interact with them. Sethor... Ratio... Sethor... Ratio... It repeated the names a few times in its head, tilting it from one side to the other as it did so. No name... Draculi... no name... It replied to Sethor's question about its name. Maybe it was because it lived in this shrine that it had no name. Most Temple pets probably had no pet breeders, so for this wild Draculi, the concept of name probably never really had much importance for it.