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Bonds of Gold

by K9 Lupus

" The New World"

Castor's band continued making themselves as comfortable as they could within their haphazardly cleared section of the lab. After some trial and error along with accompanying broken glassware revealing areas for further optimization, it was found to be open enough to accommodate the heft of several moving adult yangul. Scientific instruments framed their new, makeshift den with researchers busily carrying more large, cylindrical devices out from storage. Some of the Yangul were busy basking in the last rays of afternoon sunlight filtering in through the window after their long journey. Others were content simply examining the new technology before them with a skeptical or inquisitive eye.

This world of stacked metal and transparent wood known as glass by the humans was foreign and strange to the yangul compared to their home outside the walls of the colony. The familiar residual warmth of the earth and desert sands was absent here, instead replaced by the cool, sleek texture of reinforced metallic flooring beneath the smooth plates of their belly scales. For Castor however, he had returned to his element. The scents, sounds, and feel of the lab were his stomping grounds, and he ensured not a single second would be wasted in the pursuit of his goal. No longer could he manipulate the objects that had fascinated him since his youth during his flight away from Old-Earth, but with his vast stores of knowledge left intact after his transformation he was still capable of guiding the others forward with what would need to be done to rid humanity of this ailment once and for all.

Janis, a woman of slim build and jet-black hair drawn back into a partial bun at the back of her skull approached Castor with a chart stuffed with disheveled documents filled with various scribbled edits within the margins.

"We've finished reading over the research notes you had encrypted on the servers and updated our own procedures based on what you've provided. You've come up with some innovative work in the past, but I honestly can't believe you got as far as you did on your own without telling anyone, even Trisha. We can get to work on doing the physical assessments for the yangul volunteers you've brought, but I'll have you know that not everyone on the team is exactly on board with the idea of housing a bunch of giant lizards here. This is a place of science, not a zoo after all."

Castor eyed Rigel plastering himself against the glass to eye the street below. Reared up to watch the passersby, he was grinning with delight, the long day's journey already far behind him.

"Have any of the visitors under my care tried to harm you or the other researchers?" Castor replied with a deep, breathy tone, his words coming back more easily to him with increased use.

"No, but that doesn't mean that people don't fear something possibly happening. It's difficult changing people's opinions about anything they feel strongly about, especially when you come up out of nowhere like this when half of us thought you were dead." Janis ended with a quick flourish of her pen to make an additional edit on the documents held in her hands.

"They are more than what you or anyone else first thought, myself included. We are more than just giant lizards. We exist and we have value from that fact alone. People will learn with time. You can see all of that, yes?"

Janis frowned. "It doesn't matter what I see. It's not about that at all. It's only about the results we get. This is a sensitive matter. That's all I'm saying. I was appointed lead in light of your sudden absence. That means I've had to deal with the council shoving their new legislative adjustments and protocols down my throat since you up and decided to do your undisclosed body switcheroo for you and your family."

"I'm sorry that things have been challenging for you in all of this." Castor said.

Janis waved the apology off with her free hand and dropped the stack of documents onto the floor, scattering papers in every direction. She heaved a mighty sigh, then went to work sorting the mess before her. "It's fine. Our department has been under double the pressure from the council to find a cure. People are starting to get restless, and it'll be us they blame first if we're not able to come up with something usable. Don't get me wrong. We all want this to end and be behind us. I just hope testing out your notes on yourself was worth the sacrifice."

********

Phoebe woke with Rigel soundly asleep at her side. It was still dark, the colony resting in preparation for another busy day ahead crafting a life for themselves here on this planet. The faint glow of the pale red safety lights of the lab mixed with the filtering silver moonlight bouncing in through the window. With a stretch of her neck to rest once more on her forefeet she noticed that Kahzur was absent from his corner of the lab he had bedded down in. She decided to investigate, licking Rigel's snout in parting before standing to head over to the open stairwell door. The dank stairwell scent saturated the air as she climbed the narrow staircase to the open rooftop access. Kahzur lay near the edge of the building, studying the blank, dark canvas of the sky. His head turned hearing Phoebe's claws against the ground, his peaceful repose shattered.

"You're up too?" Phoebe asked with a quiet hum, taking up a spot beside Kahzur.

"I wanted to see the city. I thought it would be better when things were quieter."

"Trouble sleeping?" Phoebe pressed further, unconvinced.

"Less distraction. That's all." A cool breeze rolled over the top of the lab, the warmth back in the lab growing all the more appealing for both of them. "Phoebe, why are you here anyway? Shouldn't you be with Castor and your boy?"

Phoebe growled in offense. "I saw you were gone, and wanted to make sure you were ok. You traveled with us this whole way out here, so I thought I could offer you at least that courtesy."

Kahzur made no reply, silent in his continued contemplation of the sky, until he loosed a softer, gentle tone to Phoebe's surprise compared to his typical short, abrasive grumbles.

"It is strange to me that the stars are absent from the sky here. For this place you humans have built to block out their light when our own fires when they were still allowed on the surface did not worries me. Humans wield great power. More than I think they are well aware of. I only hope what Castor is trying to accomplish now can lead to something better like the Elder hopes."

"What would better look like for you Kahzur?"

"No more hiding. We have been patient observers long enough, and we should take a place alongside humans. If for nothing else than to be able to roam our lands freely again. So both our peoples may be safe together."

"Kahzur, then if that's what you want why do you push everyone away anytime they try to get close to you?"

The tip of his tail twitched and slid in abrupt, jerky motions from his rising agitation.

"Phoebe, I was enjoying this time with you until just now. You should go."

"You do this to yourself Kahzur. By getting so caught up in your duties you've forgotten to take care of what means the most to you. Like Fayburim."

Kahzur stood and wheeled to face Phoebe with his teeth bared in a hissing cry.

"Don't speak that name again." he warned while his tail lashed back and forth behind him.

"She still speaks yours." Phoebe calmly offered.

Kahzur was caught off-guard by Phoebe's reserved demeanor paired with the sudden insight that Fayburim had not left his memory to the wind as he had thought.

"I failed her before, and it's best for both of us if I stay away." he affirmed, repeating the mantra he had built within himself over the years since parting with Fayburim.

"She blames herself for what happened between the two of you. She took other mates and still had no eggs by them. It wasn't you. She's been meaning to tell you, but you've never even cast a glance in her direction. That has been the hardest part for her. She hasn't had anyone at her side since because she only wants you."

Kahzur's anger faded back, his mind struggling to rewrite the story he had convinced himself of. "If this is true, then I was wrong."

"You had misunderstanding. That's all. You and Fayburim both. When we get back to The Heart after this is all done, fix it. Don't deny yourself that chance for happiness." Phoebe said as she turned to head back towards the stairwell. She stopped halfway, arching her neck over her shoulder to gesture towards Kahzur, her stern gaze having been replaced be a more neutral disposition.

"It's warmer inside. Will you join us?"

"I'll stay a little longer." he quickly answered back.

Phoebe begrudgingly turned agin towards the stairwell before being halted by the same gentle tone he had used when she asked about his well-being.

"Phoebe?"

"Yes?" she responded, her eyes focused on the red glow permeating across the stairs.

Silence cut between them as Kahzur sought out the words to describe the pain he had carried so tightly finally beginning to unravel.

"I will." he managed to say.

"Good. She'll be glad to know that." Phoebe said back before descending down the stairs to join her family, leaving Kahzur with the starless sky and his thoughts of what could fill all of that empty space whole once more.

********

Phoebe and Rigel sat together on the upper level of the lab looking out at a gathered crowd of people standing in front of the lab's main entrance. They carried signs urging for the end of scourge and redirection of wasted taxes used on failed medicines. One of the researchers were trying to quell the group's concerns, but his efforts only appeared to be further stoking the flames.

"Mom, why are they here? Will they help too?" Rigel muttered while he snuggled the back of his skull against his mother's chest. She curled her tail a little tighter around his legs.

"I don't think so. They're here to speak their mind since there have been troubles. The same as to why we are this way now."

"Will Daddy fix it?" Rigel asked recalling all of the activity below as the yangul accompaniment had been set up to draw blood samples to be compared to Castor's.

"He's trying his best. Pay them no mind. We may have lived here before, but now we're new again, and just like when we visited The Heart it will take some time for people to get used to us."

"They look like big bugs down there." Rigel said with a flick of his forked tongue.

"None that you can eat." Phoebe quickly remarked.

Out of questions for now, Rigel ran off in search of something else in the lab to keep his interest while Phoebe continued to observe the growing conflict below.

********

Castor's research team utilized their time well, performing all of the necessary bodily assessments on the yangul to move forward with the preliminary synthesis of the scourge vaccine despite their limited equipment access. It became an unwholesome pattern for Castor to request a particular device only for Janis to say that it had been seized and labeled "Non-Critical" by agents of the council. Castor was singularly focused in this pursuit, pacing about the lab and criticizing his colleagues for inefficient work and methods that were no fault of their own. They were so close, and in the back of Castor's mind was the knowledge that only concrete proof of the cure's existence would satisfy the council.

Janis approached Castor later on that day with a much more modest document held in her arms with twice the scribbled notes as the last.

"What is it this time?" he grunted while lines of genetic code whizzed by on the monitor in front of him. She was momentarily startled by his abrasive mood, but had been there herself not too long before he had arrived back in the colony. It was rather refreshing to not have to dole out orders for a change.

"I called in a favor when you arrived. You're still one of us after all and proper protective equipment must be in use at all times for those supervising activities within the lab. Protocol." she said with a smile.

Then Janis clapped her hands and from the other hallway came two lab assistants carrying a heavy length of material that had been modified into a lab coat suitable for yangul anatomy. The bewildered smirk on Castor's face as the assistants tentatively draped the coat across his back was more than she had expected. The new coat flowed down over his sides to nearly touch the ground at either end. A leather strap wrapped across the base of his throat and another behind his haunches kept it secure with ample room for his tail. Phoebe eyed her mate from where she had decided to take a break basking near the windows and gave Castor an approving chirrup of his new garb.

"I'm glad you seem to approve. You still represent us out there, and so I thought it'd be best that you at least somewhat look the part compared to your newfound scaly attire. The colony knows the gist of the situation, but remaining discreet would still be best for now. However, this gift doesn't come with good news. I got an update on Trisha's condition."

"Is she gone?" Castor gravely asked.

"No, not yet. But she doesn't have long. She asked to see you. I recommend you go right away. We can take care of things here while you're gone."

********

Castor hurried through the streets with a multitude of shocked and uneasy eyes watching his every move. He cared little for them. At the other end of the colony lay the repurposed infirmary that was now exclusively used to house those affected by scourge. Castor was greeted at the door and led inside by an individual wearing a full contamination suit. He followed the gentleman's instructions: to the end of the hall, one turn right, then forward through the set of double doors, and finally turning left. While making his way down the halls that smelled of disinfectant and neglected grime he saw a woman knelt in front of one of the glass doors. Her hands were pressed to the glass, trying to rub through the hair of a small, bandaged boy on the other side. Castor quickened his pace past them, not daring to glance inside.

Trisha's quarantine chamber was simple: a bed, a wilting pot of blue and white flowers, and a small dresser with a notepad and a few books. She was hooked up to several monitoring devices, and laid with her legs and arms fully bandaged. More red bandages wrapped over the empty hole where her ear used to be, and only a shred of her once shining brown hair remained. Castor misspoke his ID number, needing to repeat it again before the electronic lock would grant him entry. Confirmed, he gently pushed his way inside and breathed in the sweet scent of Teranovus irises. Her favorite.

Trisha rolled her head to one side, managed a diminished gaze of awe, then a weak smile before gesturing Castor further in. Her breath came shallow and uneven; every motion of her body slow, methodical, and taxing.

"Everyone's been saying you became one of them, but man...seeing is believing." Trisha spoke, trying to laugh but coughing instead. "You can still understand me right Castor?"

"Yes. Trisha....I.."

"Don't speak. Just listen to me for once in your life. No matter what I'm about to tell you, I need you to act normal while you're here. If you react, they'll know. The audio feed is cut for now, but someone will notice soon. "

"What are you talking about Trisha? Who will know what?"

"The council, Castor. They lie. They all lie. You're one of the only ones I can trust. They want you and me both dead. You're next. They control scourge. They use it to prune away those who might be troublesome for them. Regular people too, just to make it believable. I found out too much and didn't have time to warn you. Castor, you made the right choice by leaving. I can't end this, so you need to. My files are in the lab. They have everything you need to bring the council to justice. Password: T-S-O-E-0-7-0-4-2-0-4-5.

"Old-Earth's last date.." Castor said, the date seared into memory for all of the first residents of the colony.

"An end to a new beginning...one that you will help shape. Go." she answered before a series of jitters started in her hands. The rest of her body followed suit quickly after as her heart rate monitor blared an alarm. Feet pounded down the hall, and seconds later a medical team poured into the room, skirting around Castor to tend to Trisha. Out of the corner of his eye Castor saw the red light of the camera in the room switch back on.

"Trisha..."

********

Castor rushed back to the lab and was greeted by Janis whose clipboard was finally empty. She was in high-spirits, but Castor's frantic scanning to make sure everyone was accounted for concerned her.

"Uh..I thought you'd like to know that preliminary tests of the newest samples have gone well. One more batch to confirm the results, and then we should have enough to begin distribution pending approval of the council."

"Where's Kahzur?!" Castor blared to Janis's surprise.

"He said he was going to try meeting with the council since you were away. Give them a proper introduction to hopefully set things on the right path. I'm amazed that he's already been picking up words from you as quickly as he has. What's wrong?"

"Listen, Trisha left me with something important to do. There's a folder on the server she's kept hidden that's password protected. When you open it that needs to be copied over with my name as an urgent bulletin to every residence in the colony. Immediately. Am I clear on that? I'm getting Kahzur right now."

Castor relayed the password to Janis and was off without another word.

********

Kahzur had endured the stares of the people on his way to the council's building. Their fixated eyes reminded him of those back at The Heart when he had been selected as The Elder's lead assistant, incredulous and wary. He was surprised to see that the council's chambers were empty except for Chancellor Trence who sat at the center in his flowing purple robe like a lavender heart cased in metal.

"Where....are...others?" Kahzur forced out, his lips having trouble with the foreign sounds compared to the Yangul's flowing dialect.

"Ah, so you can speak as well. Here I was thinking that only Castor would come to greet me. No matter. Yangul, what need have I to entertain such council with a beast? Why are you here today?"

"For...peace." Kahzur stated with his head held high as a proper representative of The Elder and his hive.

"Peace? Peace! Hahaha!" Trence laughed loud, the sound echoing and amplifying throughout the chamber.

"I will educate you on what peace is. When the colony was still establishing itself here on Teranovus I stumbled across one of your kind caught up in one of my traps. I considered ending its pain right then and there, but my daughter asked for me to spare it. She liked them because she said that their gold was like her own hair. So I set it free. I thought I was setting a good example for her, but I had sealed her fate. I had an argument with my daughter some years later and she decided to travel out to the desert to clear her head. You ask for peace, but that same one with the missing toe I had shown mercy to killed my daughter. He tore her flesh from her bones, and I watched the whole thing, unable to do anything. For years I have crawled my way up to where I am today to one day get a chance to right this wrong. Tell me what peace can be had when your own will murder a child in cold blood!"

"Chancellor!!!!! This is nonsense!!!" Castor roared as he barged through the heavy, wooden doors.

"You've lied to everyone! I know the truth, and so does everyone else now. It's done, so you might as well come clean. You are the one who murders children and innocents with scourge. Just for your own agenda. You are a sham and no leader I, nor anyone else will follow anymore."

"I have only done what has been necessary to keep my place." he answered. From beneath his stand, he pulled free and aimed a stashed ionized beam handgun at Kahzur, the chamber already loaded and burning bright orange. "As I will continue to do."

Kahzur stood frozen, caught in the middle of much more than he had originally anticipated, his claws digging small furrows into the patterned carpet beneath.

"We...can find...a way....together." he pleaded to the chancellor.

In the chancellor's mind, Kahzur had vanished and in his place stood the yangul from his memory with blood coated around his mouth.

"There is no together. My kindness returned only pain! Now I'm done with this and a new era will start with you! You did this! This all started years ago by what you took from me. You took her. Let this be humanity's lasting mark on this new world!"

The chancellor loosed a scream and fired a beam aimed squarely at the center of Kahzur's bony brow.

Kahzur braced for the pain, then the nothingness that would follow, but none of that came. Instead, a large form blocked his view, heaving with a ragged roar of pain. The beam had torn through Castor's shoulder, leaving behind a charred tunnel of bone and tissue ending at a crisped patch of skin on the opposite side where it had been scarcely contained by his thickened hide.

Kahzur stood in disbelief. Trence slumped back onto his seat, his visions of the past dissipated. He was only left him with the horror of fresh blood streaming through Castor's open wound and lining his coat with crimson rivulets.

"I don't understand. Why not save yourself and run?" Trence said, the gun hanging limply in his hand.

Castor's legs wobbled beneath him and his head swayed from side to side, double-images of the world floating through his hazy vision as he tried to focus on the chancellor's moving purple robe.

"Because...this is how...I save everyone. This...is my way. We must...change...if we are to live together. I believe in that. This can not...be the way. Have compas..."

With the last dregs of strength drained from his body Castor fell forward with glazed eyes, his body still, his life over.

"No.......no......no...no...no no no no!" the chancellor screamed. Trence curled within his seat and pulled at the remaining grayed locks of hair on his head. Then, in the depths of his insanity a light appeared. He was calm and assured now, the way forward made clear.

"Alice...I see now...what you've been trying to show me this whole time. They don't give me what you did. They don't need to. This is how I come back to you." His hand was shaky at first, but then stilled once the barrel found his temple.

When he finally pulled the trigger, it was with the peace that he imagined Kahzur had spoken of.

********

The time of Season was back again within The Heart and all Yangul were out parading their best intentions towards those they wished to court. Males flashed their golden scales and rumbled deep, undulating bellows to catch the eye of coy females. The usually filled paths were void of life, everyone clustered by the cliffs etched into the surrounding walls of The Heart instead. Phoebe observed young males rejected again and again, but for the lucky ones, a pair of interwoven tails disappearing into one of the caves heralded their successful efforts.

Watching the activities unfold from her own cave, she felt a brief spark of joy when she spotted Kahzur lacing his tail around Fayburim's, the two side-by-side as they disappeared into her cave to carve out a new beginning for both of them. Any new instinctual twinges to participate with the others Phoebe might have felt were smothered by her grief.

She decided to see if The Elder was at his tower, hoping it would offer some respite for her troubled mind.

"Rigel, do you want to come on a walk with me? I was going to visit The Elder." Phoebe cooed.

"I'll wait here." he replied without even lifting his head from his feet. Phoebe thought of trying to convince him to go, but let things be for now. It was easier this way than getting in a conflict with her boy. He'd come around in his own time.

"Ok. I'll be back soon. I love you." she affirmed with a lick across his skull.

********

Although the paths were empty, the bellows of the males still rang well across The Heart. Their cries were meditative, and Phoebe sank back into her thoughts while she mindlessly stepped one foot in front of the other. The past few days had whirred by. So much had happened, and yet there was still so much to do.

Each of the council had since been detained and awaited judgment from a new legislative force created by the people operating on a platform of transparent communication through all stages of government to prevent anything like what happened with Chancellor Trence from occurring again. There was talk of drafting laws considering the Yangul extended residents of the colony as a show of good faith towards further relations.

Janis and the other researchers back at the lab had been hard at work on a new project in light of recent events. Led by efforts from Kahzur supplying a database of Yangul vocalizations, they aimed to develop a communicator that would allow for translation of the Yangul language by human ears. When Kahzur had returned to The Heart to report back to The Elder, a decree was issued to offer Castor a resting place among the other elders at The Heart for his heroic actions to bring the two races together. It would be an honor that would reside with him alone. All yangul present were in agreement to the proposal, and so Phoebe and Rigel had accompanied his transport back to The Heart to observe his resting ceremony.

Phoebe arrived at The Elder's tower and made her way inside, aimlessly wandering towards The Elder's chambers while she admired the naturally formed architecture of the space. The halls were eerily quiet with most attendants vacant from the premises in favor of participating in Season themselves. When Phoebe poked her head through the arched entrance of The Elder's chambers, he was resting on his basking spot, his eyes closed in a meditative trance.

"I wondered if you would drop by." he casually mentioned, slowly opening his lone eye to glimpse Phoebe at the other end of the room.

"I thought it would be best since I don't intend to participate in activities elsewhere. I thought that you'd be among them today." she said, half-surprised and half-relieved to have some company, at least for a little while.

"Elders are forbidden to participate in Season. I use this time for reflection instead." The Elder's eye roamed, scanning for the small, familiar shape usually found at her side.

"The little one is not with you. How is he?"

"He wanted to stay at the cave. He's convinced that his father will return if he stays put." Phoebe replied, stifling back a fresh surge of ache in her heart.

"Pain makes itself known in many ways. I'm deeply sorry for your loss. Your mate lived true to his word, and helped to bridge both yangul and humans together."

Phoebe brushed away The Elder's condolences. She had heard them far too often in the past few days for them to have any deep meaning right now.

"There's no need to feel badly Elder." she said partly to The Elder, and mostly to herself.

"Castor left us with the mantle to connect our peoples together now. That was his gift to all of us in this. There is something I have to know though. Is it true that you killed the chancellor's daughter on the surface, even after what he did to spare you?"

"Before Kahzur had brought it up to me in his report that was a time I had nearly forgotten. The one this chancellor spoke of, the girl with the woven yellow hair; yes, I did consume her, but I did not kill her. That is a story that has been twisted by time. When I had found her, she had been alone and had already succumbed to the desert's heat. We don't waste an opportunity to feed, and so I did what I did. That is the truth. The story in his mind was one he conjured up to cope with what had transpired. I don't blame him for that."

"I see. Thank you." Phoebe acknowledged.

"As for your own boy..." he continued.

"I'd like to extend an opportunity to him when he felt ready for it. He may study under me, learn the ways of the Yangul, and perhaps in his own way find meaning in this quickly changing world."

"That's quite generous of you, but I'm not sure he'll be open to something like that." Phoebe said.

"Give him time and the chance to feel normal again. Remember that he needs you most of all right now. The rest will carry itself out as it's meant to."

********

Phoebe returned back to the cave where Rigel was still waiting in the same spot. When she appeared, his eyes had brightened and he motioned to stand, but quickly realized it wasn't his father as he had thought and slunk back down. Phoebe greeted her son and curled up next to him. A few minutes later, there was a scuttle of feet outside and three heads appeared at the cave entrance.

"Rigel, come on! Let's play!" the oldest asked, with his gaze in the direction of the climbing area.

"Mom, can I?" he asked. She wanted to keep him there at her side, to have something to pull her focus away from her painful thoughts and reliving saying goodbye to him again and again, but she smiled and nudged him forward.

"Of course. Go have fun." He rose for the first time that whole day and went over to his friends who were already dashing off towards their next little adventure. Rigel hesitated at the cave mouth, turned to his mother and flashed her a look as if to speak before a whistling cry was heard, Rigel's friends urging him to pick up the pace. In a few strong bounds he was gone from view and well on his way down the sloped path towards the climbing area.

Phoebe ventured out to the edge of the cliff and sat there, on the precipice of a new world and a new life. Castor had led them here, and without him she would have to continue. For her son she would. Somewhere in all the change, and all the pain, and all the loss there was hope here for a better future. She looked up at the beams of waning light sparsely filtering into The Heart, the cries of the males quieter now as most pairs had left to their caves to reinforce their bonds.

"Castor, is this what you wanted for us, for everyone?" she whispered to the wind, hoping some small, miraculous sign would appear that he had heard her. None arrived. She glanced over in the distance and saw Rigel with his friends at the climbing area, standing highest of all of them with a pleased grin across his snout. The pain in her heart faded back, the troubles ahead not yet needing to be addressed. For now, in this wondrous place of earth, sand, and rock there was peace.

Tomorrow could wait.