Chapter 5

After passing several sections of crops and herb gardens, they reached the little cottage overlooking the ocean below. The gulls cried above and the waves crashed below. The hut in fact did have cats surrounding it and by the looks of it, enticing nip planted everywhere. A particularly older fat gray tabby waddled right up to Star and all of her ridged reservations just melted away as she instinctively squatted to pet him. He just merrowed with joy and flopped over at her feet.

"Old Breezy must have sensed your stress or agitation," a friendly voice suddenly said from the hut entrance. Lucorrian too had been distracted by the sweet cat and looked up quite startled. A young blond mohawked man in bourbon colored robes stood smiling, his skin a pale white accompanied by faded purple, with the pink eyes that many albinos had.

At the sound of their master's voice, the other cats perked up from their dazed snoozing and went over to him, purring. "Lucian?" Lucorrian stuttered out, breathing heavy with nervousness. The man locked eyes with the group leader and cautiously nodded. Lucorrian just wanted to run over and hug the life out of him. Never had he thought he would ever get his wish of having a brother. As if sensing the tense situation on cue, a rather rough looking calico cat covered in scars hobbled right up and stood defensively in front of Lucorrian, They locked eyes in turn for a few seconds until the cat flicked his ears, rubbed against him once, and walked off. Lucian just held a surprised approving look on his face rather than his previous one of suspicion. "Jasper there says you are a warrior. He likes you, so you must be good." "Yeah. Where I come from, I am the best." A devilish smile crossed Lucian's face as he drew a dazzling sword from beneath his well worn robes. "Well, well, well. If you will please oblige me..." A little taken back by the sudden escalation of the situation, the prince was unsure of what to say. Nothing was going as planned. "Uhh...M-my name is Lucorrian by the way. I accept your challenge."

Lucian led the group to a battle court. Star and Denarha at this point were just going along with whatever their crazy leader's rolling plan was. Both brothers bowed ceremoniously and drew their swords. They circled and sparred for a minute and then stepped back. The royal crest symbol on Lucorrian's blade began to glow bright white as he lit his sword afire. "Ohh. That's how you want to play is it?" Lucian closed his eyes a moment and took a deep breath. When he reopened them again, they were glowing a mild yellow and bolts of lightning began to shoot off his body and connect with the ground. Lucorrian gasped at actually seeing such an element, and then forcing down his fear, the two of them charged at each other. The swords clashed like the sound of thunder and Lucorrian managed to land a bleeding burn on his opponent's arm. In reaction to this, Lucian flashed a smile of admiration and then shot a surge of electricity at him, sending Lucorrian flying backwards.

Denarah just started laughing at seeing her brother get knocked on his ass for once. Lucorrian just laid still and let out a long low groan. Lucian rushed over, "Are you okay?" "Yup," he replied dryly. "I can't believe it worked that well, I've been practicing." Sitting up, Lucorrian grunted, "I'm glad we had some fun, but now to business. You and I need a serious talk: the entire purpose of my visit."

The group followed their host back to his cottage. "Please wait outside Star," said Lucorrian. Him, Denarah, and Lucian went inside and sat down for tea, several cats coming up to occupy their laps. "Alright, out with it. You and your surly counterpart there have been on an eager edge ever since you arrived." Denarah looked offended. "My name is Denarah," she said defiantly, "I am his sister." Lucorrian just stared in fear, unsure where to start. He had been pondering this conversation the entire journey thus far. "This may be an uneasy and shocking conversation, perhaps even absurd. What do you know of your birth?" Obviously this is not what Lucian had expected. "Uhh. I was told that a middle aged lady, a governess, had left me at the bridge entrance with a name tag and nothing more. No one here had seen the tribal marks on my skin other than in old books." "Do you have this one?" Lucorrian showed the symbol of the royal house on his upper chest. "Yes. That symbol taunts my memories. All I know about it is that it comes from the Kingdom territory. What's it mean? The monks won't tell me much." Lucorrian was grinning ear to ear. He turned to Denarah. "It IS him!" Turning back around, "That symbol means you're royal blood. That governess was your mother however. She was forced to surrender you. We were sent here by the King, our father, to find his son, our half brother, you." Somehow Lucian managed to turn paler than he already was. "THIS CAN'T BE TRUE!...I'm going to be sick." He ran outside, shoving past Star on the way out, nearly putting her on the ground. A couple minutes passed before he returned; shuttering, he sat back down and attempted to sip his tea. Old Breezy immediately ran up to him meowing and tried to soothe him with purring. "W-wh-why now? What's the purpose?!?" "Calm down… deep breaths. It was...our father's dying request," Lucorrian said sadly. "He wanted to make amends I think. We're not leaving here without you, but you are completely free to return afterwards. We have about two days before the Kingdom citizens become suspicious and anxiety ridden. And well…(sighs) I have about four days to get my crap together for my burdened responsibility of ruling the ENTIRE freaking country! But, to be honest, I think you could help me with that. This trip here has shown me how divided we are as a country, so much intolerance and fear. This island and its people are not to be feared as everyone believes. They are the kindest and most peaceful beings I have ever met. The rest of the kingdom could learn a lot from you all. You can teach us, like an ambassador." Lucian just sat petrified and thoughtful nonetheless. We'll give you time to think on it. I am keen on exploring the library if allowed and our sister Denarah here is undoubtedly hungry again." Turning towards her, he continued, "so you are on lunch duty for everyone. I will be back later if you do not seek me out first." Lucorrian did a little bow and left with Denarha. Passing Star on their way out he whispered, "keep an eye on him, follow him, just to make sure he does not run away."

It was just after dusk when Lucian went and found his brother tucked away in one of the deepest corners of the library, covered in dust, and deeply engrossed in a book that had a tribal dragon symbol on the front. "I will help you," he said. "Umm hmm." Lucorrian hardly heard him. Lucian had to put his hand in the book and gently push it down. His older brother then looked up eagerly. "I never knew there was once a dragon tribe! I thought the beasts were made up by the Fire Tribe and witches to seem powerful." "Yeah. Yeah. They are real and mostly inhabit the Northern territories now. Did you hear me before?" "Oh, YES! That's wonderful. I really appreciate it. Don't worry either, I'll be by your side the whole way." "Ha. You might regret that. I've been told I'm an un-acquirable taste and can be rather misunderstood." "Nah. You don't truly know someone until you fight them. I'm going to like you. You're my blood." Lucian stood there dumbfounded at just being blatantly accepted, almost teary eyed. "These monks, and cats, may be your family, but so are we." "They hardly feel like my family; I feel more closely to the rogue cats squatting here being of use to them. Besides, I would like to see more of the country." "Good. We will leave by midday tomorrow." Lucorrian said, patting him on the shoulder, "Get a good night's sleep." He walked towards the staircase to go outside to their campsite to await the next day in complete excitement.

After saying goodbye to his fellow mask monks and every...single...cat, Lucian gathered up his belongings the next day and set out with his brother, sister, and Star. Everyone had different emotions as they passed over the bridge at the end of the island. "Why do you look so sad Lucorrian?" Denarah asked. "I thought you'd be excited, but you look worse than him." He sighed and gave a small shrug. "All I've ever known is responsibility and we have a very hard mission of change and acceptance ahead of us. This journey was a small relief, a freedom. But, I'm also sad at leaving all of that vast mystical knowledge behind." "Me too," Lucian chuckled lightly, "I barely scratched the surface of that library. I also miss my cats already; Breezy won't understand why I'm gone." "He'll be okay, they all will be," Star said in an unexpected soft understanding tone.

They traveled on the rest of the day in a solemn silence, other than when Lucian had to talk about something he had never seen before. It was way past dusk by the time the group finally reached the Water Tribe border. They were exhausted, but still managed to make a torch to heed Star's warning of the nocturnal predators. They were met by no guards this time and instead strolled right into the middle of camp. Everyone was dancing around a large centered bonfire, where many a fish were being smoked. They were greeted almost immediately by Star's father. "Welcome back young questers! Come. Come," he gestured towards a stone table by the fire, "Tell me everything; is it as strange as the lore says?. Introduce me to your new friend here. I've never seen anything like him." Before Lucian or anyone could say anything, the Water Tribe Master hobbled up behind them and touched Lucian on the shoulder. "Your aura is strong young man, and very strange. What might your name be?" Glancing over towards Quayzar and then back towards the Chief, he straightened himself up out of fear and spoke with assertion. "My name is Prince Lucian, Son of King Spiroar, Grand Apex Master of the Realm, at least until proven otherwise." Though still acting as though he were the smartest person around, he softened his tone to a more friendly one and continued, "Now I may originate from the Royal Palace, but I hail from the southern isle. My fellow monks raised me to reach my highest potential and it is where my heart still lies. I am here simply carrying out my duty." (That wasn't the whole truth Lucian knew, but that's all this chief needed to know.) He finally finished his panicked introduction by grabbing the chief's hand, and shaking it vigorously while saying "Out of the other tribes, I have heard that you are known for your patience. It is quite an honor to meet you." "Grand Master eh? Only the King holds that rank." Lucian shot a quick glance at his brother. "I even know more than him in the ways of bending. Long kept secrets of the Isle have allowed me to connect with the essence of the ancient forgotten Gods themselves. Far beyond the four standard pillars." The leader leaned back dramatically at the young man's boldness. "Well, well, well. You talk a big talk. Each of you is welcome to feast tonight, but tomorrow we will have a battle. Sleep well, goodnight." He walked away towards his hut, while the group just looked at each other with amusement and exhaustion. Star went back to her house with her father after dinner. Music and the song of the crickets filled the air as the group lulled themselves into sleep off in their tents.