***Tirnanog***

***Gaia***

Gaia didn't feel anything aside from a certain disability to concentrate while she drifted on the fields of energy which spanned the world. There was no pain, no exhaustion. Those were the woes of physical existence.

If Gaia had been forced to describe her current state, she would have called it diffused, unfocused. Maybe weakened would be a satisfying qualifier too, had she desired for any humans to understand.

Like the two she had lately paid so much attention to.

Interfering so directly in their lives had taken a lot out of her. The power which was necessary to jolt them awake had been substantial. Especially compared to the little dregs of energy she normally managed to restrict herself to. Like what she used to interfere with genes on a molecular level.

For a being like Gaia, existing on Tirnanog was like living in a desert. The few lifeforms from Earth which managed to persist didn't offer her enough residual energy for such feats.

Each time she interfered with the material world it took resources she rather wouldn't spend.

This was why she had been so happy about the unforeseen ability to interact with the two.

Although, this interaction came with its downsides and Gaia wasn't entirely sure whether it was a good or a bad thing to be talking with the humans.

To treat them as if they were other avatars or iterations of herself held a certain danger to her mental stability.

It was hurtful to become attached to short-lived things and Gaia idly wondered whether the mistake hadn't been already made.

Was allowing this new communication trait to spread throughout the generations a wise choice? What if its unexpected inception caused further evolutions until the avatars lost their ability to control the interaction? It could easily evolve into a mistake which would be hard to take back.

At least without dire consequences for those involved.

It wouldn't be the first time for the Gestalt to craft a virus in order to enforce certain traits among the population.

And there were other concerns – social ones.

The avatar hadn't been entirely honest with the two.

Gaia certainly wasn't as oblivious to mortal woes as she made the two believe. Socially, yes, she hadn't lied in that regard. No surprise there, since there hadn't been anyone for her to train on.

Much like humans sometimes didn't understand what their cats desired of them, despite supposedly being the smarter party, Gaia had the same problem with her humans.

But no matter her social ineptitude, it was impossible for someone of Gaia's intellect to not understand certain human reactions and motivations.

Some things were just too obvious to foresee.

Like the necessity to not tell the two about the remaining assassin who had been tasked with liquidating their offspring. Otherwise, they wouldn't have started their journey.

Gaia needed them to visit the other clans to set events in motion.

And it wasn't as if the children were without protection.

It nonetheless didn't feel right to Gaia, who had placed a lot of effort into their offspring's genetic make-up. To lose something she had spent so many resources on was... annoying.

Unfortunately, the current situation had been Gaia's fault – in part at least.

She wondered whether there would have been a better course of action. One which hadn't led to the possibility of losing both her humans and their offspring. A course which wouldn't have resulted in the necessity to take action and avoided Gaia's current state.

Gaia decided there was no point in fretting over the past. She could foresee many things, but she couldn't tell the future.

No matter her desires, her humans' help was a necessity. For now. They needed to go on this journey and the offspring's safety had to be gambled on.

Gaia relaxed slightly while she was drifting on a sea of chaos made up of uncontrollable energies. Most of them were useless to her, but she was doing her best to regain control over what little she had access to, to incorporate the power back into her being.

To prevent that which made her capable of thought from collapsing.

Much like the humans, Gaia couldn't fully explain her existence. Whether she was just a metaphysical being consisting of electromagnetic fields and energy who had somehow gained self-awareness didn't matter.

Could the humans explain why or how they lived and existed within the material macrocosm they could perceive with their limited senses?

Gaia knew they couldn't.

Gaia also knew that she could think – so she was – as the humans would put it.

She wasn't one of those avatars who put more thought than necessary into a philosophical problem when there were so many other issues to address.

It took some time, maybe too much time, but she eventually managed to reconnect to her Greater Self. This wasn't the Gestalt, but others like her. Avatars who worked the Gestalt's will and formed one of the many sub-layers which made up the Gestalt’s whole.

“Foolishness!” They didn't waste time judging her actions.

“A necessity,” Gaia replied without much emotion.

“Which could have cost us your existence,” the others chorused. “Your identity would have been lost.”

“And it would have bothered you.” Gaia couldn't keep a little saltiness out of her reply.

Avatars didn't care much for self-preservation or others of their kind. They were generated and terminated by the Gestalt as necessary. Much like her humans did with their sub-identities.

Though, Gaia was a special case, her existence more important than that of others. Due to her purpose as one of the Gestalt’s primary avatars, she was one of the few who enjoyed a longer time of continuity.

“A new infusion of settlers would be necessary to transfer a new identity to the planet,” the others reasoned. “It would have cost a lot of time to organize. Maybe you should prioritize your own existence in the future. The Gestalt doesn't want to turn its attention a second time towards that place.”

“The Designer is actively interfering. He sent a special creation after my agents once he noticed my investments in them,” Gaia reasoned. “I cannot rely on time and countless iterations like you have available back on Earth, so their help is important. I am on my own here.”

“Maybe that's the problem,” the others replied. “You are on your own and interacting too much with the humans. You are deviating from the rest of us.”

Their voices broke up into background chatter as the avatars tried to find a new consensus on how to proceed.

Gaia allowed them their rude behaviour, glad they hadn't pried further into her affairs. They would probably be offended, horrified even, if they ever learned that Gaia had decided long ago to identify herself as a 'she', instead of the 'it' she was supposed to be.

Definitely too much interaction with the humans.

Even if all of the other avatars had the same origin, each developed a slightly different opinion from the rest, influenced by their experiences and the humans they oversaw. Such was their nature.

Which was the reason for the differing opinions within the consensus.

Gaia returned her attention to the chatter and listened silently.

Some questioned whether it was even wise for the Gestalt to 'claim' Tirnanog in this haphazard manner. They were afraid of contaminating Earth's biosphere with the Designer's creations.

Others thought about influencing Earth back into a more active role, while another party preached caution, as too much activity might trigger yet another extinction event brought on by the old enemy.

The more time went on, the more indecision spread among the consensus.

A human psychoanalyst would have called the Gestalt schizophrenic, but this was normal for Gaia and the others. It was their way of thinking.

The Gestalt's convoluted thoughts were more likely just a reflection of the environment it was existing in – humanity.

But that was just Gaia's humble opinion.

The Gestalt had shaped humanity. On the other hand, human thoughts and inventions were also influencing the Gestalt.

Gaia herself was the best example of how human concerns could reach the avatars and through them the Gestalt as a whole. She honestly couldn't say whether the Gestalt or its chosen 'body' had more influence.

The avatar would have shrugged if she had a physical body.

It was time to end this. “It's the good, old circular problem we are facing. You can't send me more avatars because there aren't enough humans in this world and I can't split off more avatars because there aren't enough humans. So, you have to trust me to succeed or fail on my own. Oh, wait, I am you, so you have to trust yourself to accomplish the task. It's quite the conundrum.”

The others didn't deign to reply. Instead, Gaia felt their presence retreat.

They probably had gotten annoyed with her humanism, so the avatar decided to relax and focus on reconstituting herself.

***Tirnanog***

***Loopsfast***

Loopsfast was incensed!

The cowardly females had flown away as soon as they had smelled the predator. They hadn't even tried to warn their riders about the threat.

Not that they had the possibility to do so. The humans had hidden inside their wooden colony as soon as night fell and drakes needed a line of sight to communicate with the fleshy little things.

The riders had called Loop a coward for his caution, but he wasn’t. Loop just saw it as common sense not to take unnecessary risks, like trying to mate with something twice your size while it tried to kill him.

No thanks.

But there was a difference between taking needless risks and protecting the colony!

So Loop stayed instead of fleeing into the sky’s safety. But nobody had cared about Loop flying circles above the colony while he was voicing his best roars.

Meanwhile, the predator's scent had spread all over the humans’ wooden colony.

Loop was confused.

He knew the enemy was there, but he couldn't see it.

Loop didn't know many things which could hide in plain sight, but all of them were bad things.

Something had to be done, but what?

Not knowing what else to do, Loop decided to try the oldest method drakes knew to solve problems. To drop things from a great height.

He soared down to the bog and picked up whatever was scooped up in his great claws without bothering to land. The big and sluggish females would have never dared to try such a manoeuvre, but Loop was fast and nimble.

On his return, he began dropping things.

Stones, wood and dirt rained down on the wooden colony the humans had built, but Loop’s first pass brought no results.

On his second trip, a roar of pain directed Loop’s aim and a part of the wooden colony shifted as the improvised projectiles hit the invisible opponent.

Loop didn't think and just dive-bombed the area while holding out all of his claws. He collided with something and his claws sunk deep into flesh.

Not knowing what to make of it, Loop followed his instincts and jumped away, right before a huge tentacle slammed down on where he had been a moment before.

Loop roared and fled from another tentacle which seemingly materialized from thin air before he managed to take flight again.

It still wasn't easy to see, but now that its hide was injured, Loop could recognize the outlines! The predator was huge. At least as big as the females. If they hadn't fled, the three drakes could have killed it easily.

The predator's roar had finally woken up the humans. They appeared on the wooden structure, but Loop still couldn't see any of the riders.

Seeing that the alarmed defenders still couldn't make out the threat, Loop dove a second time and used his tail spikes to cause another large gash in the predator's hide.

This finally caused a reaction and Loop was briefly frightened away by the loud whamming and flashlights coming from the humans.

But the predator's shrieks and hurried retreat soon emboldened Loop again.

He dove in for another attack, but one of the predator's tentacles came up to meet Loop and slapped him out of the sky.

The tentacle wound itself around Loop who bit and kicked in blind desperation. The predator had already fled the colony by dropping over the parapet and was trying to pull Loop with it down into the water.

Just before he went with the creature down into the darkness, Loop managed to cut off the tentacle with his great claws, leaving his enemy sans one of its larger appendages.

Holding onto his prize, Loop roared at the darkness below to mark the colony’s territory.

Drakes preferred plants for their meals, but a foolish predator or two were a good supplement to the menu. Tonight, Loop would feast on the colony’s enemy.

The tentacle in maw, he returned to his resting place where his rider was already waiting and calling for him.

Loop’s prize caused a big commotion, as it was at least twenty times the size of any rider, but Loop didn’t concern himself with the human’s troubles.

The enemy was vanquished. This was all that counted and Loop was tired. He didn’t have the patience to take a peek into his rider’s convoluted thoughts.

The females returned much, much later. After the humans had given up on getting Loop to talk.

They found him lounging over a piece of tentacle half his size.

‘You killed the predator?’ Cadence asked with unfeigned surprise.

Elegance looked equally intrigued.

Loop was about to open his foolish mind to the females and show them everything that happened. In truth, he hadn’t done much aside from taking a few nips at an ambush predator and dropping dirt on it. Shown in all its detail, getting yourself caught and almost dragged to your death also wasn’t a very heroic thing to do.

Lying wasn’t a drake-thing to do, but Loop remembered his rider’s lessons. Not telling all the details wasn’t lying. And who was Loop to correct a female on a mistaken assumption? He had fought the predator and survived. The predator was gone. This was the truth which counted, wasn’t it?

So Loop raised his head high and proclaimed as proudly as possible, ‘The foe is vanquished! Do you want a taste?’