WoLaD: The 1st Interlude V.2

"Wars of Light and Darkness"
By: Jade Lightning, a.k.a. Inuyashas-hanyougirl

"The 1st Interlude"

-----

Verse 2: "Meeting Mankind"

   Time.  The one force that Shadow hated most, had done him a rare kindness.  Though he hated it still, being bound to the fate of the world by the chains of immortality, the passage of the days, months, and years had helped him to heal.  It was as though Time offered an apology to the strain it subjected him to in this, a life that lasted longer than any other.

   The New Year came.
   It was also Shadow's birthday.
   This was the start of his four-hundredth fifty-ninth year.

   The four-hundred sixteenth without Arandor.

Sing a song of time,
   Words of days gone by,

Remind me of what has faded,
   So on their memory I may fly.

Be the breath of wind behind me,
   Pushing me along the way.

I'll never look back upon you,
  In my shadow, you will stay.

   Winter had become Shadow's favorite season.  When Arandor was alive, he loved Autumn the most, while Arandor favored Spring.  They loved these seasons because of the change each brought to the world; while Spring brought rebirth, Autumn was the time of passing away.

   Lulabei had died in the fall.
      But that wasn't why Shadow had grown closer to winter.

   The skies were grayer.  The world seemed locked in a deep slumber.  Walking in the snow as it fell all around him was serene.  It was uplifting.  It was calming.  It brought him a renewed sense of peace, which was something he desperately needed.

   Instead of finding renewal in the coming of Spring, Shadow did his healing in the peaceful dead of winter.

   He purposefully avoided going south during this time of year, and did all of his travelling in the northern regions, where he was assured snowfall, gray skies, and chilly air.  His fur alone kept him warm enough to avoid frostbite, and yet his control over the fire element kept his temperature just where he liked it.  He needn't fear freezing from the cold.

   He was happiest when he could feel a slight chill, but one that wasn't drastic enough that it made him shiver heavily.

   Nearly two-hundred years had passed since Shadow had hit his deepest level of despair.  All three of Arandor's bloodlines were still going strong, and now he had countless descendants, well, maybe not countless, but still enough that Shadow didn't feel bothered to number them all.

   All he looked for were those birthmarks, and at least one or two survivors from Alamalie's family, and Sutei's and Amarie's as well.

   And so he spent little time around the tribes.  Instead, he spent most of his time wandering the continent.  He studied everything, using the knowledge he had acquired from his lessons in both Malahdoran and from Kalak's teachings to fully understand the world around him.  Gravity, photosynthesis, plate tectonics, air currents…after long enough, there was little Shadow didn't understand about the world.  He saw the same things that his peers did, and yet he developed a deeper understanding of them long before any others would.

   Infact, only the echidnas and hedgehogs that were privy to lessons from him, and Arandor while he was still alive, possessed an inkling of this kind of knowledge.  Shadow often wondered just how much of it had survived the four-hundred some years since he and Arandor had left them.

   If anything, the lessons they learned in health care were the ones that had the most hope of surviving.  Even when Arandor was still alive, his teachings had lowered the infant and child mortality rate.  Fewer were dying, and that was a trend Shadow continued to notice.  However, the populations didn't grow from this alone.  The echidnas and hedgehogs were living healthier lives, able to survive illnesses and injuries that once proved fatal for them all too often.  Infections were what killed most of them now, and yet Shadow didn't know what they could do to thwart them, short of keeping wounds clean to prevent the spread of disease.

   Kalak had once told him that they could do little to help them short of teaching them.  As time passed, all life, not just the echidnas and hedgehogs, would progress, and soon they would develop their own ways for survival and growth, ways that not even he or Shadow could predict.

   Indeed, even for all of his knowledge, Kalak admitted he didn't, and never could, know everything.
   For if he could truly know everything, he was sure things would be quite different.

   "Maybe then, I wouldn't be alone."

   Shadow kept his eyes trained on the ground, studying the earth below him before his feet could compact it under the weight of his footsteps.  The high resolve he had to keep living that day two-hundred years ago had lessened somewhat, but he was determined to be anything but a ghost.  Believing stronger than ever that part of Arandor was still with him, he spoke out to his brother as though they walked together.  He found this cathartic, and that it kept his voice strong.

   Talking, thinking, doing anything to keep his mind working and his spirit alive, was what he needed to do.

   He had more time on his hands than he knew what to do with.
   His main objective now, was to make it to the end of this isolation alive.


   A snowstorm raged, and Shadow had had enough of it.  He fled to the safety of a cave, one he had explored once or twice in his past.  It was the perfect refuge, not only from snowstorms, but for simple shelter in the night when he decided he wanted to rest.

   By now, Shadow was convinced he had outgrown the need for sleep.  Instead, if he grew weary, he would find a quiet place to rest, somewhere for him to recline while he closed his eyes and meditated.  Instead of sleeping, he would simply rest his mind, applying waves of renewal magic to ease his aching joints and to promote healing where it was needed.

   He rarely slept anymore.  While he was certain his Dark Element could protect him, he didn't like the idea of being vulnerable while he slumbered.

   He also didn't want to dream.

   "Dreams, what despicable illusions that are dangled before us like food tied to a string, just out of reach of a poor soul with an empty stomach," Shadow muttered softly.  "We see something we want with every fiber of our being, bathing in the comfort, relishing the joy, only to wake up and realize it was nothing more than an illusion.  Dreams are nothing but a form of devilry if you ask me, Arandor."

   Shadow eased his way into the cave, feeling fatigued after a long walk that had started in the wee hours of dawn that morning, and lasting until late that afternoon when the full force of the storm unleashed its power.  This cave had a small pond of water in it, and kneeling beside it now he cupped his hands together under the water, staring at his reflection in it, one he could barely see in the low light.

   He tried his best to keep from sneering.  If he looked angry, it only made him feel worse.  Now, when he looked at it, if anything, he looked tired and worn out.

   He closed his eyes and shook his head fast, flinging the water up at his face as he did so.  After one more splash, he slowed the shaking of his head and sighed.  "Whoever is in control of dreams must hate me Arandor," he whispered.  He drank some of the water to soothe his aching throat.  After wiping his mouth with his arm, he looked to a pile of wood on the other side of the cave across from where he sat.  As though it were nothing but a hated chore, Shadow rolled his eyes in apathy as he set fire to them, lightning up the dark and dreary cave.

   Inching his way over to it, Shadow rearranged some of the logs of wood, sticking his hand directly into the open flame.  It did not burn him, much as it never burned Arandor, and thus they had to be careful not to let others see them do this, for it would not only expose their secret power, but also provide a bad example to those around them.

   A rare smile curled Shadow's lips briefly.  A soft chuckle escaped him.

   "We cannot have them sticking their hands in flames and burning themselves, can we Arandor?"

   Out of everything these creatures had learned and were so enchanted by, their favorite by far appeared to be fire.  It enchanted them with its beauty, and was so very useful, allowing them to see at night, cook their food, and keep them warm when it was cold.

   Their curiosity used to make Shadow smile.  Something so simple and basic to him, something he could control so easily it hardly fascinated him anymore, was something of great interest and importance to these creatures.  Watching them learn to harness it for themselves was a thing of wonder.

   Watching them develop their languages, cultures, and living skills was the most awe-inspiring thing in the world.

   Only now watching them live brought Shadow little comfort.

   He sighed, the smile disappearing.  Leaning back against the wall, he folded his arms behind his head and closed his eyes.

   "Well, never mind dreaming.  I'm above such frivolous things.  Dreams are nothing but lies."

   Shadow closed his eyes.  He immersed his tired body into a healing state, one that normally only sleep could provide.  As his body rested, his mind retreated.  He meditating, thinking about whatever he wanted to.

   In this way, Shadow was in control of his dreams.
   Using this control, he would have none at all, anymore.


   The sound of gravel and rocks grinding against the stone floor broke the silence.

   Shadow opened his eyes; the meditation ended.

   Still the noise continued.  Added to it now were voices.  Shadow couldn't understand the babble, if there were words at all.  It certainly wasn't a language that Shadow understood, and he knew every language that there was to learn.

   Rising to his feet, Shadow eyed the back of the cave suspiciously.  It went deep into the mountains, and there was no telling who or what might have moved in to it while he left it vacant during the rest of the year.  The last he spent any time in it was back when Spring was just beginning.  Nine months was perfectly long enough for someone else to move in.

   And what was worse was Shadow had the feeling he had never encountered creatures like these before, speaking a language he didn't know.  It was enough to rattle him the most he had been in centuries.

   He clenched his fists, ready to put up a fight if he had to.  "Whoever is back there, show yourself!" he bellowed.  He rolled his eyes and shook his head.  If he couldn't understand them, what were the odds that they could understand him?

   However, he could see movement against the darkness deeper in the cave.  The figure inched forward hesitantly, stopping when it could see Shadow better.  The Dark Elemental also had a better image of his adversary, and it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.

   This creature stood far taller than any of Shadow's kind, perhaps right around Kalak's height.  It looked nothing like a hedgehog, echidna, or any of the races Shadow had seen before.  It had no fur, except for the deerskin it wore for clothing.  It had the same basic design every other race had, but had smaller eyes, a smaller nose, small enough so that they fit neatly on the face just above its mouth.  Its ears rested in line with its nose on either side of its head, and it had thick facial hair, knotted and coarse just like the hair on its head.

   He could tell this one was male.  Behind him, were others like him, including females, and even a couple of children.  It was a crowd of six or so, all living in the recesses of the caves, and Shadow immediately wondered how many of them were living all throughout the cavern system.

   Shadow eyed the male in the front suspiciously, shaking his head out of confusion.  He struggled in vain, pulling from every corner of his memory, to figure out what these creatures were.  They looked nothing like all the other races, and yet, as he tried to remember more of his teachings, he came to realize that maybe it was all of the other races that looked like this one.

   He, and all of the others, were basically animals that had taken on their own form of this basic design.  There were colonies of cats living just like the hedgehogs and echidnas were, and at the same time there were cats still living in their pure animal forms.  This was also the case for other races; foxes, hedgehogs, echidnas, dogs, wolves…all of them walked, talked, and lived along side their pure animal counterparts.

   This race in front of him did not need an animal counterpart, although the closest he could come to one for them would be the gorilla or ape.  They did not need an animal counterpart because it was his kind, and all the other races, that were based on them.

   Such an important lesson…how could he have forgotten it?

   "Dammit," Shadow thought to himself, watching as the creatures took cautious steps, one or two at the time, to approach him, while he stood frozen, unable to react.  "Surely you taught us of these creatures Father.  Surely.  How could I have forgotten…how…"

   He closed his eyes.  He realized he could be putting himself in danger, but he simply had to remember the lesson.  He withdrew into the recesses of his mind, his body collapsing as he gave all of his power to searching for the memory.  The creatures let out gasps when he fell.  They murmured to each other, still inching their way to where Shadow's body lay.

   Shadow's subconscious tried in vain to sift through over four-hundred years of memories to try and find his lessons, anything that he learned that might help him identify these creatures.  He pushed past all of the lonely days, months, and years, and first went back to the time he spent in Malahdoran with Arandor.  The creatures in the cave were a lot like the Malahdans.  They stood to the same height, and minus the wings and beaks for noses their body structure was identical.

   Wait.
   The Malahdans.


   When Shadow and Arandor were learning about the Malahdans, Kalak brought up an old lesson when trying to help them understand what this new race was like.  It had been a long time since the human race was last mentioned, and because Shadow had never seen them before, they were easily forgotten.  After traveling every corner of the Salas continent, Shadow had seen every race at least once, except for the humans, and during one of these lessons on the Malahdans, Shadow asked why.

   "Why?" Kalak repeated.  He chuckled as his eyes twinkled and said, "It is because they have not made it to the Salas Continent yet.  One day they will, and you will at last have met every race of life that walks on the planet Eries.  When you do, be patient with them.  They are still primitive.  However, they're much better off than some of the other races, like the bats and the porcupines.  Do not be intimidated by their size, or the look of them.  All races must coexist peacefully, and forging bonds and alliances will help you all survive Mukot's onslaught.  Remember my son.  Somewhere out there, there are planets where humans are the dominant species.  Here, they take back seat to our kind, but we must embrace this diversity.  Outwardly we may be different, but on the inside, we all bear precious souls, shaped by the hands of the One Creator.  Though the roads we walk and how we walk them are different, we'll all arrive at the same place in the end.  Eternal peace, endless Light."

   The human race.  Shadow remembered it now.  It was as though he was awakening from a haze that isolation for hundreds of years had cast upon his memory.  They were almost identical to the Malahdans.  He had no need to fear them.  If they were more sophisticated than the bat tribes, and some of the other more primitive races, then forging bonds with this last race would be simple.

   They were still new to Salas, but as a race they had probably been around as long as all of the others had, and had gone through similar advancements towards civilization.

   More souls that needed to be guided.
   More to take up that fight.


   Shadow slowly regained awareness.  He felt something that was almost foreign to him now after living so long by himself.  He felt someone holding him as he rested in their lap.  He felt terror grip him, but his body remained restrained as his eyes opened.

   The male human he locked eyes with before was the one holding him.  Two women were on either side of him.  One woman had two children hiding behind her, while the other carried one inside her.  He could see another man looking on warily, almost as though ready to strike if he had to, not far away.

   As he woke up, the man holding him looked back to the woman with a child clinging to her deerskin dress and grunted, "Alive this one is.  He like little fox creatures living in the high mountains."

   Shadow's eyes opened the rest of the way.  He understood what the human was saying, but not because he was speaking in his own language.  This human was speaking in the language of the foxes living in the Northern Kingdom, not too far north from this cave system hidden in the mountains.  They lived alongside a colony of echidnas, a different strain from those living in the south.  Shadow had met them before.  The fact that these humans could speak that language was startling.

   "Wait," he muttered softly, speaking in this same language.  The humans looked back to him, letting out startled gasps when they saw him moving.  He sat up, holding a hand in the air, indicating he meant no harm as not to scare them.  Once he was crouching on the floor before the man, Shadow cradled his head, as though it hurt him.  The humans glanced at each other, looking back once Shadow spoke again.

   "Forgive me, but, please tell me.  When did you learn the language of the foxes?" Shadow asked, "And why speak it before me?  Why not speak your own language?"

   The male that sat at the front glanced at the woman behind him again, then looked back to Shadow.  "Because you are one of their kind, not one of our kind.  Would not speak a language you do not understand," he grunted.  Though he spoke the language, he still struggled a bit forming the words.

   Shadow's eyes widened a little.  He shook his head, but found a smile creeping to his lips.  "Well I can assure you that there are many more of, 'my kind' out there, and we do not all speak with the same words.  My race, the hedgehogs, have their own language, and there are more tribes of foxes, and even echidnas out there, that speak their own native tongues," he explained.  He stood up a little, before sitting down Indian style, and chuckling softly.  "Please, speak in your native tongue, for now that my mind has cleared I can remember how to speak it."

   More murmurs and gasps arose from the group of humans.  They whispered amongst each other, causing Shadow to grin even more.  Shaking his head he switched to speaking their language, just so he could prove to them that he could infact speak it.

   "You'd be surprised how well I can hear your whispers," Shadow said.

   Gasps, louder this time, rose up.  The cautious man from earlier, still standing towards the back, thrust his spear, one built almost as well as an echidna spear, towards Shadow, the sharpened tip coming within inches of his face.  Shadow didn't flinch.

   "You, how do you speak our words, furry one?" he stammered.

   Shadow's eyes lit up.  He chuckled softly, humored at being called "furry one."  Standing up, he held his hands up again and replied, "The same way you speak the words of the foxes.  I learned them."

   The man lowered his spear, but only because the other man pushed it down, giving an almost scolding glare to his brethren.  Stepping closer to Shadow, he said, "Where do you learn this?  Our words?"

   "That is something I doubt you'll understand," Shadow answered, lowering his hands.  Taking a brief pause, he sighed a little.  He hadn't spoken to anyone directly since he last saw Arandor's children.  He was amazed that he even remembered how to carry on a conversation.  "Do you believe in a higher power, someone who watches over you?"

   There was more murmuring in the back of the cave, where the two women, two children, and spearman now stood.  Shadow could hear only a few words, but most of them were of wonder, and thoughts of what this strange creature could want from them.  The man, after glancing at them, looked back to Shadow and nodded slowly.  "We have a creator who watches over us.  If things go wrong, we pray to him, and send him praise when they get better."

   Shadow breathed a sigh of relief.  It sounded as though they believed in a single sovereign spirit, just like the One Creator Kalak spoke of often.  While this didn't help him much as far as explaining himself, it would make it easier for them to believe everything he was saying.

   He smiled again and said, "I will tell you of myself, anything you want to know."  He paused, and then asked, "Are there more of you deeper in the caves?  When I was here in the spring I believed these caves were empty."

   The man nodded.  "Our group lives deep in the mountains.  We need shelter from the snow."

   "That's well and good," Shadow said as he nodded, "I mean you no harm whatsoever.  Instead…I'd like to help you.  Think of me, as someone sent by your deity; someone sent to help you."

   "You know the creator?" the man in the back asked.

   Shadow shook his head.  "No, not directly, nor does my father, who is a servant of his.  However, in his name, we work to protect all life.  Until now, I had met every species on the face of this earth, except for your kind.  I have helped all that I can, and now I would like to assist, and possibly enlighten, you as well, so you will fare better against any and all adversity.  To accomplish that mission, I had to learn all the languages of the world, including yours, and could only do this with the help of my father, a Guardian of Light."

   Instead of whispers between the people, the four adults talked amongst themselves in wonder.  Shadow watched this, and realized the smile was still hard pressed to leave his face.  He hadn't smiled like this in ages.

   Maybe it was because he could once again watch a new race of people build their civilization.  Something that no longer gave him joy, offered to amuse him again.

   The man at the front turned back to him, smiling just as the others did.  "Come with us please.  Please tell us more of what you know!"

   Shadow's smile disappeared for only a brief moment, before reappearing again.  It was almost as though it faded, just so it could have the opportunity to curl his lips anew.  It may have been because he was slightly nervous of the impending social situation he was stepping in to, for he hadn't spent that kind of time with that many people, anyone, in hundreds of years.  Even so, something stirred inside him.  Something about this made him feel…happy.

   He nodded and said, "It will be my pleasure.  Lead the way."

   The man nodded, and began to usher his group back the way they had come, deeper into the cave.  Shadow turned and put out the fire, bidding it to cease burning with his mind.  He glanced at the snowstorm as it raged outside, then back towards the group of humans as they went along their way.

   "Strange.  I didn't realize how much I missed talking…seeing the smiles of others, even as I feel one upon my own face," Shadow whispered softly.  "…The soul, it craves interaction.  Perhaps, my hate for sleep was unwarranted.  I've just, had too much of it, for where there are dreams, there must be reality, something to build those dreams upon."

   Shadow followed the humans, his heart racing as the dark cave got brighter as they went down, lit by small cooking fires deeper in the cave.  The silence was broken by the sound of voices.  His senses were rocked by all the stimuli, tingling and stinging after not being aroused so much in years.

   When he saw just how large this colony of humans was, Shadow could only continue to smile.  He was excited unlike he had been in years.

   "I'm tired of being alone."


   The Dark Elemental spent a good while with the humans.  He rarely left the cave for that entire winter, which before was something he'd never imagine himself doing, for he loved wandering around the winter landscape.  When he did leave, it was when the humans went hunting.

   Much as he and Arandor did with the echidnas and hedgehogs, he helped refine their hunting techniques.  He didn't have to do too much teaching, for this race of people was already quite proficient at hunting for food.  They were also good at cooking the food, and used all parts of the animals they killed; the bones became tools, while the pelts became clothing.  Nothing went to waste.

   What Shadow did help them with was growing food.  The humans ate fruits and vegetables, but did so in a hunter/gatherer fashion, taking only what nature could produce on its own.  With his help, they learned how to sow their first crops, and start their own orchards.

   He helped them learn more about the world around them, teaching them pretty much everything he and Arandor had taught the echidnas and hedgehogs.  He told them of each of the special races they shared the world with, and even taught them a few words in each language so they could communicate with any should their paths cross.

   It would be critical in helping them forge friendly bonds with any they met.  The last thing that needed to happen was for war to be stirred between the races.

   Shadow remembered the two Master Gems and their Seven server gems.  Arandor mentioned that they were a metaphor for life.  The server gems represented the diverse races of life that lived, while the Master Gems represented the one peace that they all drew on, and the one world that they lived in, and thus worked together to protect.  Together they would grow and cultivate this world.  If any one of them broke off and tried to cause trouble, all would fall apart.

   This was what he extended to the humans.  He assured him the other species of the world all wanted the same thing the humans did.  They all wanted peace, and the chance to live in this wondrous world, and to live well.

   The colony of humans grew to love Shadow, not just for what he taught them and his insight, but because of his stories of his own origin.  While he didn't feel safe telling them everything, which was something he refrained from doing amongst anyone, he did tell them more about how the Light and Darkness needed to remain in perfect balance with each other, and how neither should be understood as being good or evil.  He also told them a little more about his father, Kalak, and what it meant to be a Guardian of Light.

   As all were who heard these stories, the humans were fascinated by the idea of other planets, and people, beyond theirs.  Learning what a galaxy was, and how there were thousands upon thousands of them out there was mind-blowing.  They loved his stories of Guardians of Light protecting all of the creatures of the universe, allowing for them to be born, and live fruitful lives before passing away to the other side to dwell with the One Creator.

   Shadow spoke little about the afterlife.  He didn't want to think of those that were there that he held close to his heart.  He was fortunate that he didn't have to, for the humans had their own ideas and perceptions of Heaven, and this was one thing he didn't have to teach them about.

   By the time Spring arrived, Shadow felt a strong sense of renewal.  He understood why Arandor so loved the Spring, more than he ever had before.

   A lot of things were much clearer now.

   When he and the humans ventured out of the cave, however, he told them he needed to leave them for awhile.  The next in the bloodline of the Son of Strength would soon be born, and Shadow felt the need to check on them.

   Before he left, he encouraged the humans to journey south, using their new knowledge of the world to start new settlements, and build alliances with other races.

   They were empowered, and promised they would do everything Shadow had said.  They told him they hoped they would see him again soon.


   "Can I go back and spend the winter with them again?  Truly?"

   Shadow raced along the plains, heading for the sea cliffs to check on the echidnas.  The current bearer of the blood of the Daughter of Light was soon to be married as well.  He had a lot to check on, but began to realize without the humans he would have a lot of time on his hands.

   And no one to talk to.
   He already missed the talking.

   Sighing, Shadow shook his head and closed his eyes.  He simply couldn't look back.

   "Even they, one day, must fade away.  While I linger, forever."


   He had forgotten that he could forge lasting bonds with no one.
     However he now craved time spent with others.

   If he avoided people, he would be spared the devastation of losing them.
      But in exchange his heart would once again be worn thin.

   "Does balance exist?  Can I find it, or will I be alone, forever?"


   He couldn't concentrate, and if he couldn't concentrate, he couldn't run.  And so for awhile Shadow tried to forget the torment in his heart.  All he could think about was how he had at last met the final race of people to walk this earth.  Humans, echidnas, hedgehogs…all would have to come together to face Mukot, for even if they remained isolated, they were tied together in his cross-hairs.

   Shadow had taught the humans about coming together with other races, loving and protecting the smaller creatures that walked beside them.  The echidnas and hedgehogs had learned to forge alliances with each other, and in time spent with all the other races Shadow had tried to explain the importance of banding together.

   And yet he felt the true significance had only hit home with the humans.
   He had to teach his kind, and all the others, to not be afraid.


   "I have no choice.  For the sake of all life, and the safety of the balance of Darkness and Light, I must teach them trust.  Without that trust, they'll never survive."

   It would mean risking his heart to despair, but sadness was better than feeling nothing at all, and was worth saving everyone from Mukot's malice.

   "I must walk among them again, including those that bear the blood of you, Arandor, my brother."