(2) The Lands of Ralosia: Heartstone (6.5k words)

Aero, Jirro, Corri, and their fathers travel to a community on Platt Mountain. They learn more about Ruben and the other Densius, beings composed entirely of rock, dirt, and earth, with a gem acting as their Heartstone. During their stay, Aero comes across a mysterious Masked Boy.

(6/19/23) Self Edited, Audio edited, Peer edited

Peer edited by [email protected]

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~Chapter 1- The Boulder Child~

~Age 987B~

The moon was sinking into the skyline as dawn neared. In a remote area near the base of Platt Mountain, three children slept beneath a tree. Jirro, and his cousins Aero and Corri. The blonde-haired Jirro slept lightly, as if the slightest disturbance would wake him. The others slept soundly; after the last few days, the kids needed their rest.

A torrent of wind passed over the children, accompanied by what sounded like thunder. Jirro burst from his sleeping bag with his fists raised, ready for whatever had come. His cousins snapped to attention as well.

Jirro saw two black-haired men in nearby sleeping bags, his father and uncle. Uncle Razan was sitting upåright with winced eyes. Razan heaved for a moment before sneezing, creating another tempestuous wind and loud sound.

Jirro rolled his eyes at his uncle's sneeze. So obnoxious.

"Dad!" Corri shouted angrily before snuggling back into her sleeping bag. Aero lazily looked around, found the source of the loud noise, and promptly went back to sleep.

Lucar, Jirro's father, asked, "Couldn't you just hold it in for once?"

Razan smirked, clearly amused by the volume of his own sneeze. "You're not supposed to hold it in!"

Lucar groaned and stood up. He rubbed a finger over the talon-shaped scar over his brow and said, "We should probably get moving after that. Kids, time to move."

Jirro stuffed what few clothes he had into a bag. While the others were still getting ready, he looked up at the large, grey-scale mountain ahead of them. Platt Mountain was surrounded by lush green plains in every direction. Near the top of the mountain lived a tribe of Densius people.

Lucar placed a hand on Jirro's shoulder, "We should be able to reach the top around noon today. Once we're all settled in, we'll begin with training."

"Training?" Jirro and Aero echoed.

Razan spoke up, "You're going to become strong enough to take care of yourselves."

Aero excitedly asked, "As strong as you?"

Razan chuckled, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves! I'm not sure if you'll ever become as powerful as us. But you don't need to be."

"Regardless," Lucar added, "Living with the Densius for a while should toughen the two of you up."

"What about me?" Corri asked.

Razan frowned, "You don't have to worry about anything, sweetheart. You can count on your brother and Jirro to protect you."

Corri pouted her lip.

The family hiked through the mountain trail. Little Corri rode on her father , Razan's shoulders, her red hair trailing down her back as they went.

They noticed an opening into one of the many tunnels of the mountain. Jirro's friend Ruben had told them Platt Mountain had many intersecting tunnels, forming a bit of maze. Apparently, there was some powerful creature resting within those tunnels, but Jirro was sure that was just superstition.

As the family neared the plateau where the Densius lived, Aero and Jirro began to eye each other. At the same moment, they asked, "Want to race?"

Without another word, the two twelve-year-olds broke into a sprint at speeds beyond what normal people could move.

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Ruben walked along the mountain, rummaging for various stones, its stone feet clacking along the ground with each step. The red-eyed Densius' body was formed of various grey rocks and clay with a boulder shape and short arms and legs, but its pointer finger had fallen off earlier that day.

The Boulder child picked a few small rocks from around the mountain and laid them on the ground in a short line. The Densius placed its hand on the ground next to it, so the series of rocks took up the space of its lost finger.

Ruben concentrated on the rocks, trying to imagine them as a part of itself. The line of rocks began to gravitate towards the rest of its hand, pieces of clay wrapped between the stones, mending them together as if they were joints.

It lifted its hand, and the small stones came with it. The Densius wiggled all its fingers, and the series of stones that had just been bound to its body moved as well. Ruben focused on moving its new pointer finger, making sure that it was truly under its control.

Ruben looked around the mountain for other stones and found a few that would act well as a new thumb. Perhaps, it could give itself a second thumb!

No. One thumb was perfectly fine. Ruben would rather save those stones for safekeeping.

Ruben walked along the western portion of the mountain and spotted a group heading up the trail, a group of five Ralosians. Ruben hadn't met many Ralosians, those fleshy people who populated much of the world. But it knew these ones.

Two boys sprinted alongside each other, ahead of the others. The black-haired Aero and the blonde Jirro were neck and neck racing up the mountain, their loose clothing waving about as they ran at great speeds.

Ruben waved its rocky arms at the two, and they sprinted towards the Densius. The boys charged past and skidded to a halt, completely out of breath. Aero sat down while Jirro placed his hands on his knees. Each of the boys stood a little bit taller than Ruben.

Aero spoke through labored breathing, "Who passed you first?"

Ruben smiled and shrugged, "It looked like you two passed me at the same time."

"I'm pretty sure I won," Jirro shook his head as he caught his breath.

Aero hopped to his feet, "No way, I was ahead of you almost the entire way."

"I don't think so!"

The two bickered with each other for a moment while the others caught up. Their fathers came into view, both black of hair with beards. Lucar was more muscular and had a talon-shaped scar above his brow. Razan was carrying Corri on his shoulders.

Ruben walked with the family towards the plateau on the mountain where the other Densius lived. Each of them had different forms to their bodies - a mishmash of varying shapes of rocks. This Densius settlement was led by Emer and Elder Dimon, the oldest among them.

Elder Dimon was a short and stout Densius, building its body to be structurally sound, something Ruben did as well. It had white irises, derived from the diamond that resided within its body. Emer's body resembled Ralosian proportions much more, standing tall. Its eyes were green, from the emerald within. Emer and Dimon came forward to see the Ralosian family.

Lucar waved, "How's it going, you two?"

"Greetings! What brings you around today?" Dimon asked.

Razan winced, "We ran into some... nasty business recently. We were wondering if we could stay here for a while?"

"Nasty business?" Emer asked with a squint.

"Yup," Razan said with an uncomfortable look on his face.

Emer exchanged a knowing glance with Dimon before continuing, "Of course, you can stay. Ruben! We want to speak with Razan and Lucar for a moment. Why don't you help the kids build a shelter? Create the foundations with them, and we'll be along soon."

Ruben nodded, "Sure!"

The rocks that formed Dimon's mouth curled up into a smile, "Thank you, young one."

While the adults spoke, Ruben took the three kids across the plateau. As they walked, the always inquisitive Jirro asked, "I've been wondering, Ruben. How old are you?"

"Fifty."

"I thought you were a kid! You're older than our dads!"

"In some ways, I am," Ruben smiled, "For a Densius, I'm very young! Dimon is over 400 years old."

Jirro's eyes widened, and another question came. "How long can a Densius live?"

"I don't know..." Ruben pondered, "Forever, I guess. As long as our Heartstone is intact."

"Denius never get sick, do they?"

"No."

"Must be nice..." Jirro said quietly.

Ruben lightly frowned for a moment. Aero and Corri seemed to have a generally cheery disposition about them. But there was a seriousness about Jirro. He lost his mother to sickness at a young age. Perhaps that was why?

Ruben brought the three to a large pile of rocks and cast the ones he scavenged into the pile. A Densius's body was always subject to pieces of it fall away, so it was good to have spare rocks like these lying around to replace them.

Ruben turned to the three kids, "So, I guess we should start by setting rocks down as a foundation-"

"Got it!" Aero said as he promptly climbed the pile of rocks, pulling out the largest he could find and lifting it over his head.

Jirro hurried to do the same, searching the pile for an even larger rock than Aero had lifted to outclass him. The two continued to compete, struggling to find a rock that the other couldn't lift. Corri and Ruben weren't concerned with their competition and focused on building the best shelter they could.

"What was that 'nasty business' your dad mentioned?" Ruben asked.

"Some old lady tried to kidnap us. Destroyed our house too," Corri responded as she set a sizable rock down.

"Whoa, are you all ok?" Ruben asked.

Jirro spoke up, "Yeah, my dad took care of it."

"Why did she try to kidnap you?" Ruben inquired.

"To get to our dads," Jirro replied.

"Why did they want to get to your dads?"

The three kids stopped in place. Jirro answered, "I'm not really sure."

The two boys didn't think about it and continued to pull rocks down and place them in a large circle on the ground.

"What do you think Emer and Dimon are talking to our dads about?" Corri asked.

"No idea."