Tribute Masterbook: Binary, Fuschia, Aldrin in Voidrae: Technology

Binary clicked to herself as she trotted to where she would meet the two stryx she was to impress the deities with, whatever that last bit meant. She didn’t like this sketchy location. A grand city, a massive tree, even a flat grasslands? All fine! But for some reason, she was meeting them behind the city of Sol, in the most sketchy, run down mansion they could find. They claimed they had a Witness, whatever that meant. She resolved to ask them when she had the chance.

As she moved up the long, winding road that humans stuck to when entering others’ territory, she saw the two other raptors and a harpia that scoffed at her. The big dragon cleared his throat as he rolled his eyes.

“You three are here tonight to prove to the Cosmic Powers that you are worthy of passing on your genes. If it were up to me, I’d say we do this in a battle, and the survivor gets to breed, but I’m not quite that good at fighting yet,” he huffed. One of the raptors, a male with white and grey patches covered in stripes on his topline, raised his head.

“Yeah, you’re not that good,” he snarked. The harpia growled deep in his throat. The male tilted his head before turning to the other, a female. She was a gorgeous blue with black horizontal stripes. Her head, chest, wings, legs, and tail were an inky black that reflected the distant city lights in shades of blue and green. Where the male’s striped patches ended, he too was an ink black. Compared to the female’s, his was more pinks and purples, with only the occasional flash of green as he moved.

The two made Binary feel a little self conscious. She was a gorgeous deep grey with black on her extremities, but her only pops of color were her green spots on her topline. She shifted her weight as the two raptors turned to look at her.

“Hey,” she offered nervously. “I’m Binary.” The male nodded in greeting.

“I’m Aldrin,” he said.

“I’m Fuschia!” the female added.

“Great, greetings are over,” the harpia groused. His red feathers looked like they were bloodstained in this lighting, edged with the vibrant yellow of his wing and tail tips. “I’m Bazooka. Let’s get in there and figure out what power we’re dealing with so I can go home and forget about you once the powers accept you.”

Binary shuffled her weight again, letting the flashier raptors go in front of her. Aldrin offered her an encouraging chirp, winking. Fuschia chuckled, lagging back a bit to walk with the more nervous female.

“Aww, you’re nervous about impressing the gods?” she asked. “I’m a big fan of Daius myself. You know, he makes the skies blue, just like my coat!” Binary chuckled.

“I don’t actually know much about the gods, or impressing them, or anything that’s happening right now,” she admitted. Fuschia clicked sympathetically.

“Don’t stress about it,” she said, smiling. “They’re very fair judges.” Binary nodded back at her new friend. Or at least, she hoped Fuschia was a friend. Aldrin looked over his shoulder.

“I’m a follower of Galyx, actually,” he called to the pair. “Big ol bug who made everything? How can you dislike him?” Fuschia snorted as Binary giggled.

“QUIET!” Bazooka roared from the front. “We’re here.” With his head, he shoved a door open, forcing himself through the frame. Surprisingly, he didn’t break anything, merely bending the solid planks of the frame slightly and losing a couple feathers to some sharp edges. The raptors trailed in behind him.

“You three are gonna sit here and find somethin to do while I look over these. I heard this place had some of the best battle strategy guides, so I’m checking them to see if I could beat these armies. Figure something out, and stay. Quiet,” he ordered. Binary lowered her tail.

The three raptors spread out, investigating the room. Bazooka had led them to a massive personal library, full of more books than any one being could hope to read. Binary moved between the shelves while skimming the titles. After several rows of tomes, she finally found one that read “The Eyes of Galyx”, grabbing it since it had the name of one of the Cosmic Powers on it. She grimaced at its weight, moving back toward Bazooka since he was near the room’s only light. Aldrin was there already, engrossed in a scroll about the entire history of the city of Sol. She could faintly hear him mumbling passages.

“Farmlands raided by Sohane warriors… Shepland natives sent aid during the Great Blazing of 05…” Binary couldn’t help but listen for a few minutes more, learning about the history of her native city. As she listened, Fuschia settled in, reading a humongous book about the origins, care, and training of anaruq. Fuschia would scowl at the pages and shake her head every so often, apparently finding parts she heavily disagreed with.

Binary placed her own massive book down in a fairly lit spot. She cracked it open and became engrossed in the descriptions of the gods, how to earn their favor, and even the ways of the agnostics who believed in the Void. Fuschia’s squawk of alarm drew her attention midway through a fascinating page on an ancient temple dedicated to all the gods that contained a way to speak to Daius himself.

She blinked as she processed the scene in front of her. A raptor with a long, fluffy tail was sitting in front of Fuschia and next to Bazooka, who was absent mindedly tearing pages out of his current book and handing them to the newcomer. The raptor, colored so much like a sandy island in the middle of the ocean, would grab the page in his beak and gulp the paper down with startling eagerness. After a minute of staring, Aldrin raised his voice.

“Who are you, and what are you even doing here? And you! Bazooka! Why are you defacing such treasured books and scrolls?!” he cried, glaring at the pair. Bazooka grinned widely.

“These are all outdated,” he crowed. “This here, he’s my favorite little paper shredder. Go back to your books now.” The last sentence was so flat and menacing that even Aldrin didn’t argue, snuggling into Fuschia’s side. She wrapped her tail around him as she returned to her care guide, glancing up at the newcomer every so often. Binary quickly returned to her own book, looking up after perhaps an hour or so, only to see Bazooka missing.

Fuschia shrieked in surprise again. “We have no witness!” she wailed. “We need to find him, or else the gods won’t accept our tributes!” She bolted out the door, Aldrin on her tail. Binary whimpered as she watched them leave. She moved to follow, looking around briefly. Hey, wait a second. Where’d that other guy go?