studies in the field

--+the digital world

November 5th, 1793
Exploration of the jungle has taken up most of my time during the day, and I haven't been able to record anything in this field guide until now. Please excuse me.
The jungle seems to be quite expansive. After a quick scouting expedition, I settled in a clearing not far from the one I awoke in, but more sheltered and near a stream where I can catch fish. The clearing is perhaps fifteen meters wide, allowing space for bedding and a fire, which I must monitor at all times lest it go out. Fire is something I always took for granted in the city, but here, I have to find a suitable flint chip and bang away at it until I get enough sparks. Thank goodness for my great clans-father, who lived in the Northeast Provinces for most of his life and learned to live off the land. I would probably not have survived if I didn't have the little fire.
I have constructed a basic system for fishing from the stream that runs close to the clearing. I whittled a piece of wood down with my flint knife (which I constructed from the flint chip and a stick, tying them together with fibers from a vine) and tied another of those vine fibers on it. I have to squat over the stream and dangle the string in, and it breaks if I pull too hard. I have caught, so far, two small fish, which has only barely filled me enough to last until now. I must think of constructing a spear from something sharp and a stick, because I cannot survive on fish alone. I saved the bones from the fish in case they may come in handy for such a tool, but I doubt I can make anything useful from them.
Thankfully, my bag has ended up with me. It contains a few books and my quill and ink, so I can write in this journal, but little else.
There seems to be no escape from this strange jungle, as far as I have been able to find. I worry about food--I cannot subsist on fish for the rest of my stay here--and about what I shall do when winter rolls round, if it does.
I have seen more clawprints. The creature is close.

---

Abide now with me, in anticipation of the fulfillment of this sacred purpose. Abide in expectation of the sign that will reveal the predestined moment of our emergence. Abide in eagerness for the work that we will do when we march upon the lands beyond these mountains, and to their ignorance and corruption shout the truth we know--that Arata has risen! That the time of cleansing is at hand, when all will be seared clean in the god's holy fires! That the primal age approaches, and soon will reign anew!

It got dark quickly in this jungle.
Her walk brought her past the stream and out into the beginning of the valley. She almost ran here in the dusky light; this was the time of the predators, and she had nothing to defend herself if she met jaguar or some other horrible apparition. Clutching her bag with her supplies close to her chest for fear of losing it in the twilight, she stumbled over rocks and branches, flinching at each sharp crack, cursing at every stubbed toe. Finally (for it was inevitable) she tripped over a fallen vine and crumpled to the ground, sobbing (not just because of her throbbing ankle and chest, but also because of the speed and fierceness that this jungle had reduced her to a gibbering wreck). What was wrong with her, that made her so pathetic, that caused her to wake up in a cold sweat each dim morning, that forced her to eat every meal as if it were her last? What made her so...so weak?
She lay there on the ground for a while, letting her tears drain away, slipping in and out of blessed unconsciousness. Her ankle was at least sprained, and she probably had a few broken ribs. She didn't know how long she lay prone there in the muck, awful jungle bugs and worms crawling up and down her limp form. But finally, with Ariene ready to give up hope and just let some creature come along and eat her, a branch crackled near by. She sat straight up, ignoring the pain, and peered into the now-dark-night. There was definitely someone there underneath the leaves, for she could see the moon glinting off something. Then the leaves rustled again, and she was sure now of some dark unseen horror lurking there underneath the
some dark unseen horror
underbrush, watching her. Ariene licked her parched lips and gathered her breath, intending to let forth a volley of defiant yelling and challenging and what not, but found she could only manage a hoarse, "Who's there?"
Unfortunately, the two simple words brought forth a volley of pain from her ribs, and she had but a glimpse of the thing from the bushes before her vision went dark.

She awoke to find herself laying on her side next to a crackling fire. The pain in her ribs still pulsed dully, but she felt a splint against her side. She touched it experimentally and noticed her visitor from the side of her eye. She rolled back onto her elbows to examine him.
He squatted by the fire, gazing pensively at her. He exuded a gentle calm that greatly contrasted with his cruel, twisted features. His entire body seemed to be sculpted from once-sinuous black stone that was now rough and cracked in several places. Blue plasma coursed below his skin, glowing brightly through the cracks. His face was similarly damaged, but it still held a curious -disallowed_word-Arabian? African?) accent. His English was flawless. "Please excuse me for not shaking hands. The spirit-matter--" He held up his hand without looking up from his book, and it was indeed dripping with the plasmic blue stuff, "--could well kill you. I assume a proper introduction would suffice?" Without waiting for an answer, he continued. "I am...uhh..." He glanced up at her for the first time, and she noted the look of confusion in his face. "I am...well, who are you?"
Ari, disturbed by his apparent loss of memory, stuttered out her name with none of the formalities she had been taught. "I-I-I am Arienewyn Ahari. Ariene, p-please."
The dragon nodded. "You can call me...Golemn, for lack of a better name."

---

Despite how gruff and sometimes downright strange Golemn could be, he made for a great companion. For the next two weeks, Ari and Golemn spent every waking moment together--hunting, exploring the expansive forest, and sitting around the crackling fire at night. Golemn was somewhat secretive about his past, and that, combined with his less-than outgoing manner, made it hard for Ari to find out anything about his past. But after she had told him about her life, he began to open up.
On nights when the cold wind came down from the mountains and chilled the air so much from its usually humid and pressing heat, Golemn would tell stories of fantastical proportions--skyships that sailed through the night, powered by stars; beings who were powerful enough to wipe out whole worlds (or create whole new ones). He was a wonderful storyteller, Ari realized. It was like he could paint a picture with words. She felt like she was at the helm of the mighty H.M.S. Royale, or was battling along side Golemn in the Wars of the Orient. Finally, she felt like she was comfortable in this place, this jungle which had once felt so unknown and dark. But there was still something
some dark unseen horror
that lurked just out of sight and threatened to pull her newfound confidence apart.

---

One night, when the rain poured down harder than ever, Ari and Golemn crouched wordlessly, feeding the dying fire with soaked sticks. Ari was in a foul mood, for Golemn had talked of leaving. She was afraid to lose her new best friend.
Suddenly, Golemn spoke up. "My world was different."
Ari looked up from the embers, but Golemn's eyes were cloudy and distant.
."My world was different," he repeated. "There was no starving or killing or evil. There was just a steady stream of...life." Here, a wistful look came into his eyes.
."It was always filled with spirits. When a person from here dies, their plasmic spirit travels to my world and stays for only a millisecond before being snapped back into another body. But there are some...like me...who live there for most of our lives and move between the dimensions freely. But we pay a price," and his eyes unclouded and he looked straight at Ari. "We endanger those around us."
."We claim to be so peace-loving, but we kill so easily. If our shells break, the plasma explodes and often wipes out whole planets. It's horrible." He let out a long sigh that seemed to carry the sorrow of his whole race. "The truth is that no matter how hard we try, we are not angels." His gaze turned hard and scornful. "We are monsters."

She found him at noon.
Golemn had left early that morning before she had woken and left no note. He had just...disappeared, almost as if he had been spirited away by some unseen force.
She didn't bother eating breakfast--the few scraps she had--she just grabbed her pack and ran out into the misty, dreamlike quality of before-dawn. She called his name over and over again. "Golemn! Golemn!" No response came. She sat on the banks of the river, hoping something, anything would float by. It had come, her dark fear, her
some dark unseen horror
wildest nightmare.
She trudged along, wearily, the stifling heat piercing every part of her body. Her scales peeled and popped in pure agony over her weeks and weeks of sunburns. "Golemn," she croaked, now looking for help as much as seeking to give it. "Golemn."
Her head hung despondently to her chest. Every so often, something would brush against her shoulder and she would jolt to a crouch, thinking it was some horrible creature out to get her. But it was usually just a branch.
But not this time. This time, when she felt a cool sinewy pressure on her shoulder, she looked up and found herself face to face with a very colorful, very thick snake. She recoiled and screamed, tripping over her feet and landing in the jungle's mix of mud and feces. It was only now that she spotted it--a dark lump twenty or so yards away, contrasting with the bright green underbrush.
With speed that gave no regard for her exhaustion of only seconds ago, she scrambled to her feet and sprinted over, falling to her knees to the now clearly distinguishable form of Golemn.
His knees were pulled to his head in a protective position. The stone surrounding him was even more dented and cracked--it looked as if someone had taken a hammer to every inch of him. One horn was broken off halfway, and he dripped blue goop from every orifice. Amazingly, he was still breathing, but dreadfully shallowly. "Golemn...?" Ari was afraid to even say his name lest he collapse. But apparently he still possessed some remnant of strength, and he twitched his head weakly. He made no move to speak, but his hand was flailing about in the dirt. Ari tried to grab it, but he pulled it away and clasped the bottle around his chest. He then pressed the little token into her hand and released it. His hand splashed into the mud dully, and Ari could tell quite easily he was dead.
She laid her head on his stomach and simply cried for a while. The tears dripped down the once-beautifully carved stone and puddled in the dark ground. This jungle was a cruel one, to take away the only friend--could she call him a friend?--she had.
Finally, when she could look up again, she held the bottle to her face, examining it. It was dirty, crusted with the result of years of neglect. But the blue plasma still pulsed inside. Golemn's lifeblood. She slipped the cord around her neck, and as she did, she felt an odd euphoric surge of confidence. It was like an injection of adrenaline...
Power, she realized. Magical power.

---

The clear, fast-moving water was cool and inviting. As she climbed in, she felt not only the dirt washing from her scales, but also the ropes of guilt she had felt since Golemn's early death. But still, she wondered. How had he died? Why had he left so early? And, possibly most importantly...
...who had hurt him so?
These questions she thought over and over again in her head as she floated down the river. The blue bottle bobbed around her neck, reminding her exactly what was missing from the scene. She could still feel the coursing power, so liquidly smooth that it felt like it was replacing the blood in her veins.
She pushed her hand out to paddle, but as she did, she felt the strange power intensify around her arm. As she pulled it back into her body, it subsided again. Curious, she waved her hand, and the power again collected around her palm.
She languidly swam over to the bank and slid out of the water. The bottle hummed gently in time with her pounding heart. She thrust one hand out towards the river, and jumped back as the water in front of her splashed up as if she had thrown a stone into it. She fell back, panting heavily. Was this Golemn's strange magic at work?
Bracing herself, she took a deep breath, and pushed hard with both her hands. The water in front of her erupted with enormous force. Dumbfounded, she stared blankly as the muddy water rained down around her. The bottle was obviously so much more than a little token.
She walked along the banks of the river, gesturing at the water ever so often and delighting as it moved with her hands. This led her to wonder, what if I did this on the ground?
Apprehensively, she squatted and felt around on the ground. It was solid river clay, sculpted during years of wind and water beating down on its innocent surface. Shifting her concentration fully to her hands, she rose them above her head and swung them down with all her might.
She flew up into the air, the speed stealing her breath from her. As the earth fell away beneath, she vaguely wondered if this was all a dream before her acceleration came to an abrupt stop and she began to fall. She hadn't really thought this through.
Her panic increased exponentially as the trees grew closer (wow, she was far up), reaching up to grab her from the sky and draw her into their embrace, an embrace that would be certainly fatal. Hardly stopping to think, she flailed her arms before again pushing them downward. It only slowed her fall a little, and she continued to hurtle towards trees that were now merely feet away. She pushed her arms down again, harder, and slowed considerably as the first branches raked along her skin. Now she was more floating than falling, but still at a considerable rate. She hit the ground hard enough to knock the breath out of her, but not break anything (hopefully). She realized how tired she was--this magic obviously took a lot out of her--and blacked out.

---

She awoke in a dank, dirty room. At first her mind refused to cooperate and she fell back into darkness, but as her clarity increased, she became more aware of her surroundings, which were clearly not the jungle she had just been in.
The room was small, only about twice her height in length. It was square, and there was a small sink and toilet in one corner. She was lying on a hard cot pushed up against the wall, and there was a door on the wall opposite her. There were no windows.
A prison, Ari thought, fearful.
Suddenly, as if on cue, the door banged open and in strode a strange pair of people, if you could call them that. The first was a tall, unkempt man with feline features and untidy hair. He wore a crumpled black suit that looked as if he had slept in it several times. His face was covered in tattoos, and his eyes were dull and unfocused. Behind him was what appeared to be a raptor in a matching suit, although finely pressed. The raptor looked distinguished and held an air of superiority about him as if he didn't deserve to be paired with the cat-like man. He stood up straight, not slouched in the traditional stance of the dinosaur, but he seemed to be exerting a lot of energy to keep himself upright.
The feline spoke first. "Hah, still in here? You really are weak." He ignored Ari's shock. "God, you weren't even worthy of this!" He pulled Golemn's blue bottle from his pocket. "How'd you get it? Kill someone?"
Ari, still rather stunned by this whole situation, merely spat at the cat-man's feet. "As if I would tell you," She said coldly. "Give it back." And she lunged for it, only for her blow to be parried deftly by the creature.
."You're just like the rest of your species. Stupid." He grinned. "But if you'd like to brawl, I'm ready." He dropped into a fighter's crouch.
Ari growled defiantly, but the raptor coughed. "Master Lhunenn," His voice was dry and cracked, but the feline (Lhunenn) snapped to attention. "Rather than fighting like a pair of toddlers, perhaps it would be best if you introduced yourself to the lady and told her of our objective here." Then he turned to Ari. "I am Abhis, Master Lhunenn's prime benefactor. I hope you will accept my apologies for my partner's behavior."
Ari blinked a few times. "A...a pleasure to meet you, sir. I am Arienewyn Ahari."
."I know," Abhis said, smiling knowingly. He coughed again, expectantly, in Lhunenn's direction.
Lhunenn sneered at him. "I'm Lhu," he said directly without looking at Ari. In a stage whisper, he muttered, "Don't get in my way next time, old man."
Abhis narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Lhu cleared his throat. "Our objective...well, our objective is to eradicate scum like you from the earth. You know, idiot dragons. Because most of you--" he peeked at her "--well, not you specifically--are too powerful for your own good. It causes problems," He pulled a newspaper from his jacket pocket. "Like this. Some fifth-dimension dragon was lead to believe some village was worshiping him and his ego got so swelled, his shell cracked and he blew up the place." He chuckled. "You really are a bunch of lowlifes, aren't you?"
Ari stared blankly at him in disbelief. Eradicate all dragons? Surely he couldn't be serious. There was no motive for this sort of thing...there couldn't be. Could there? All dragons weren't so prone to exploding, and most of them that she met had no magical powers whatsoever. But Golemn did...she looked up to confirm that Lhu was still holding the blue bottle. Carefully, she began to formulate a plan. "If you really do want to kill everyone...why keep me alive?"
Abhis and Lhunenn gave each other an apprehensive glance. "Well, actually...we just wanted to know a little more about the dragon that was with you. And the bottle he carried with him. It seems that you hold a little connection to the bottle. Care to explain that?" Lhu tossed the bottle from hand to hand, as if teasing her.
Ari clamped her mouth shut and glared hotly at Lhu. These two made a strange pair, and she wasn't going to give them the pleasure of seeing her squirm.
Lhu tutted, then turned to Abhis to whisper something. They both examined her critically for a moment before Abhis nodded briskly. "Ms. Ahari, since you've failed to cooperate, I'm afraid we'll have to move you to a...less comfortable room until you can come round. Master Lhunenn, if you will...?"
Grinning, Lhu twirled gracefully and delivered a sharp kick to the back of Ariene's head. As she was enveloped, once again, by darkness, she could see Abhis frowning and saying, "A dart would have done..."