Chapter 6: The Template
Yesterday Noon
The Template stood still, their feet covered by the puddle left by the pool. The Template stared blankly in front of it. Then, like a switch, something pressed into the mind that made it wake up from its daze. They noticed some tether that brushed past its shoulder and made itself look towards the direction, following the tether from the tip to its source.
Their gaze met empty air, but it could tell that something incomprehensible was there hovering. The gaze it felt on their body doubled in pressure once the owner of the gaze noticed them staring. 'Get out of the pit and gather energy.' A voice whispered in their mind. It was alluring and beautiful; the voice gave out a tone of authority that pressed down the receiver's mind, yet it was soft and gentle like a whisper of wind. They tore their gaze and looked down at the ground before tilting their heads and bowing. This was their creator, their master, their MOTHER. 'I..will…SERVE.' They thought before stepping forward; the movement almost made them fall.
But they managed to control their weight and took another step, then another, before taking one last step face to face with the pit's rocky wall. They raised their hand and grabbed hold of the wall's indents and crevices before climbing upwards. 'For…Mother' Thoughts echoed and repeated like a mantra. They finally caught the ledge of the pit and slowly pulled themselves up before properly standing and straightening their posture. Their gaze moved and watched as drone after drone began pushing piles of different materials and ores into whatever was left of the pool. Some even threw in some bodies of mutated animals and infected humans. They tore their gaze and looked to the side, directly at a pile of minerals and ore. On instinct, they raised their hand and made an upward claw gesture to focus on something.
A tingling sensation spread out from their mind, slowly disappearing and crawling toward their hand. They see a pulsating energy from their eyes that travels their body towards their hand before it spreads out like a rhythmic pulse, then from the pulse, creating a ripple in the air. The ripple traveled for a few seconds and landed on the pile; then, one of the ores shifted a little to the side, and they narrowed their eyes, trying to concentrate further. The ore that turned moved further, pushing away the pens above it before it wiggled free and slowly hovered above the ground. The Template eased their expression before looking to the rest of the pile and did the same; following the previous feeling, they managed to make everything from the pile hover in the ground after a few minutes passed and threw them towards the now half-filled pool. The Template felt proud for some reason and instinctually puffed out their chest, and then they felt the sudden loss of the gaze behind them. 'Mother…gone???' They thought confusedly before it shook its head and looked towards another pile of random assortment. "Follow…orders." They muttered silently before doing the same action on the pile and threw them into the pool.
It went on for a while, pile after pile of stuff. Until the last pile of mutants and infected was finally thrown in, the Template noticed that the Drones were moving away from the pool and made a semi-circle, lining on the cliff edge while some drones re-entered the cave to mine more. The Template manages to see how many of their brethren were here. The Drones numbered 250 and 50, were split in half and went separate ways. One towards the cave to mine and the other towards the forest to hunt; 13 Tankers were evenly spread out guarding the pool, the cave entrance, and the path towards the forest. Feeling curious, the Template approached the edge and stopped to stare at the view. Some parts of the dead forest had a few spots of green and purple in the distance and a large one on the horizon a few miles away from the forest periphery. They were curious about what the spots of color meant, but something took their notice from the corner of their eye. They turned their gaze to the left and noticed that something was moving on the left side of the cliff edge; the Template only managed to catch a few glimpses of blue and grey that did not fit the environment. Feeling more curious, the Template turned around and ran towards the path, passing by a few drones and slightly bumping into some, who let out scolding hisss or clicks. The Template was stopped by a Tanker who guarded the path towards the forest. The Template looked towards the Tank and opened its mouth; its mouth had regular human teeth and 4 sharp canines that elongated, letting out a hiss of protest; the Template was conveying to the Tanker that it wanted to check something.
The Tanker replied with a huff that almost sounded like a no. The Template gritted its teeth and tried to move around the Tanker. But knowing the Tanker would try to stop them, they sprinted around to surprise the Tanker, which managed to make them pass 10 meters before the Tankers' large hand reached out and grabbed their nape before slightly lifting them from the ground. Like a kitten, the Template dangled in the air like it couldn't move before it wiggled and squirmed fervently. Then the Template thought of something before they made their left-hand cross to their right side, aiming towards the Tanker's body, gathering the purple energy it felt before it let out a powerful pushing force that made the Tanker let go of them and fall down.
They used this opportunity to quickly run away to the other end of the path, dodging and weaving the few Tankers that noticed the interaction and tried to stop them. The moment the Template reached the end of the pathway, they quickly ran into the dead forest to hide. The two Tankers on this end of the path separated to catch up with them. The Template noticed a loose tree root and suddenly had an idea; mischievously, they used their ability to make the root stand up. It was challenging to control the root. Making a grimace, the Template ripped out the entire root from the ground and whipped it towards the following Tanker's feet. The first Tanker was hit on its legs and made itself trip from the sudden shift in balance. The Tanker behind it, being surprised by its companion's sudden fall, couldn't evade in time and tripped over because of the first's arm that fell in its path. The Template smiled wryly before sprinting away into the area it saw movement from.
After a few hours, the Template stopped and looked towards the sky; it was afternoon now, and from how it noticed the sun going down. It was nearing night time, and the forest at night was more active, where the mutated animals woke up and hunted for their food. They thought back to the blue and grey they saw on the cliff edge before they turned towards the left and sprinted to the mountainside. Once reached, the Template looked up and noticed a few heads of the Drones; now, it was directly beneath the mountain pool; all that was left was to move forward and find the colors it saw. They used the mountain wall to travel on how far they saw the movement. After, the Template walked for at least five hundred meters before stopping and facing the forest again. The Template closed their eyes and began to focus on their sense towards the area in front of them. Seconds turned into minutes, minutes turned into hours. Once the time passed to four hours, the Template heard a twig snap towards their right. They turned their head to the right before they crouched down and slowly moved forward, trying their best not to make any sudden noise that may alert anyone.
It stopped and hid behind a tree before focusing on its senses again. It heard a faint talking a few meters behind it; the Template couldn't tell how many there were since the voices were soft and mixed. The Template moved away from the tree and crouched down again, using their ashen grey skin and midnight clothes to hide amongst the color of the forest.
Once they crossed a few meters, the voices were slightly more transparent and more understandable.
"We can't just leave our…!!!"
"The Tribe is lost! Those…killed half of us, we can't lose anymore!!!"
"-Elia is right! We lost too much!!!"
The voices sounded like they were arguing; the Template first thought there were only three of them, but enhancing their senses a little more, they noticed more of them from the slight shuffle of the ground and movement. 'Prey…?' They thought before slightly adjusting their crouched form to rise up a little to see them clearly.
The owner of the voices looked human enough, other than their pale blue skin, pointed ears, backward legs, and varying hair colors. They stood at exactly 5'10 to 6'3. Their clothes were ragged and torn in some areas; some were simple shirts and pants. Meanwhile, some wore linen robes holding wooden sticks, and others wore leather armor on some areas of their body. Of the two arguing, one wore a purple linen robe adorned with green threads that took the shape of leaves and looked reasonably old, while the other wore only pants and shoulder armor on their thin yet toned top half, covered in scars. He was holding what looked like a crude sword made by a novice blacksmith.
"Like I said, our home is lost! Those humans will hunt us down if we do not escape!" The elder yelled towards the younger one, who gritted his teeth and did not reply. "We escaped with a few warriors; most of our group are Elders and Younglings! We need to hide away and gather our strength." The elder suggested that most of the ones wearing robes expressed various words of agreement. But the Young Warrior growled before he gestured towards the entire group.
"Look at what has become of us!!! Do you think we can live so long to see that time?!" He yelled before he swung the crude sword in his hand toward a tree, and with a crunch, the tree's bark turned to splinters as it slowly groaned and fell to the ground. The Template narrowed their eyes; they felt curious about such a thin frame they managed to cut down a tree taller than themself. Accidentally, however, they stepped on a branch, making the entire group look in their direction. 'Not…Good.' They thought before turning around and attempting to run away. Before he could distance themself further, the Young warrior who cut down the tree in one swing jumped in front of them with a wild expression. He had a feral glint in his eyes; he gripped tighter into his weapon, which was slowly shaking from the pressure. 'WHO ARE YOU!!!" He yelled, pointing at the tip of their blade.
"Stand down, Merelia!!! Can't you see their an Ashen one!!!" The elder yelled; even with their old age, they swiftly appeared next to the young warrior and held his wrist. Trying to point the blade down, the elder grunted before he looked towards the Template. "Forgive him, Ashen one! He is young and quick to act!" The elder tried to explain and appease the Template, even though they were not this so-called Ashen one. The Template tilted its head a little before something caught its eyes; there was a small bite mark on the young warrior's right wrist. It was not a deep bite, but it was still achingly noteworthy if anyone else noticed it. 'Special…?' They thought before remembering their Mother's orders.
Special + Energy = Mother's Praise
The Template's eyes shone like stars and had an unquenchable greed to kill everyone here. But then they suddenly thought about how they ran away from the Tankers and made the ones chasing them fall down. They suddenly imagined how their brethren were going to complain to Mother. 'Must…Not…Get…Caught.' The Template childish thought before they bent their legs and concentrated energy on them. "Have you gone senile!!!" The warrior yelled, pushing the older one away with their free hand. "Put down your sword, Foolish Child!!!" He yelled back.
The Template prepared to jump away further from the group, but suddenly, a loud bang interrupted their movements. Surprised, the Template looked towards the direction where the sound came from. Behind the warrior and the elder was a human wearing teared-up jeans, biker boots, a grey shirt with dirt smudges, and a biker jacket with spikes on the shoulders. The human's face was relatively young, with a head of tousled locks that effortlessly fell into place, a shade that mirrors the warmth of polished mahogany. Their left arm pointed towards the sky, holding something akin to a revolver without the cylinder and trigger guard. "Well, what do we have here?" The human's voice had a girlish tone, but the Template focused their gaze on them, trying to discern what gender they were and their physical capabilities. They stealthily took a sniff in the air before coming to a realisation. 'Male…scent…hidden.' The male in question zeroed in towards the Template, their blazing amber eyes looking up and down, discerning what the Template might and could do.
"It's the first time I've seen something like you," He said mischievously, the gun now pointing toward the Template's head. His gaze was curious and confident like he was expecting some kind of reaction. "You look pretty with your messy hair and ashy skin; maybe I can turn you into my servant!" Something within the Template surged like an uncontrollable energy. They felt a strong emotion of hate. Something deep within them was hellbent on blowing the human's head off. The Template narrowed its eyes at the human, trying its best not to attack head-on.
"Not Answering me?" He asked, slightly irked; the gun raised a little and was now pointed directly at the Template's forehead. In turn, the Template gathered energy in both of their hands and prepared for a fight. Meanwhile, the young warrior and elder were both facing the yet-to-be-named boy. The former pointed their sword toward him, and the latter expertly shifted their right leg to the side, preparing to evade the battle and rejoin their group. "Human," The young warrior spat with venom. "You're with those humans that attacked our home, aren't you." He presumed it was a fact, grip tightening more and more on their sword. 'Oh, this guy's energy is strong.' The human thought to himself, eyes filled with excitement and curiosity with a slight glint of something animalistic. "Nope~." He answered in a song-like manner, tone filled with the intent to tease and annoy the other. "I'm not related to those idiots," He informed them before chuckling to himself, using his free hand to cover his mouth. The Template noticed that the human was shaking slightly but could not smell or sense any fear. The feeling the human gave off was of delight and expectation. 'Danger…' They thought before using the energy to push the two away from the human and dodged to the side
The area where the three of them previously stood suddenly exploded, creating a 5-meter-long crater, but the force was enough to push the warrior and elder back a little while managing to move the Template by a centimeter slightly. "Oh? You dodge my explosive shot?" A deep, disgruntled voice echoed behind the Template, causing them to look.
Behind the Template was a man wearing a mask with no distinctive design and a hood up. He wore a dark purple robe and two sword sheaths on their back. His hand was covered by the robe sleeves, but a slight glint made the Template know that he had a weapon hidden on it. "You were truly interesting from the start." The man said; his tone of voice made all of them know that he was smiling ruthlessly behind that mask.
'...Fun.'