“That’s fucking Kenon!”
Normally, Tenuk was a small being and not at all threatening, but as soon as he spotted the two Phovoses walking towards the main area with a tall, gangly, black Voidborn in tow, he had shapeshifted back into his old, menacing Rethavok form and was now charging towards them. Before Tenuk could get too violent though, he found himself being stopped by Vikalos and, weirdly, Talok, who had grabbed onto Tenuk’s overly long tail to stop him from going too far. Tenuk had admittedly not really noticed.
“It’s not Kenon!” Phovos exclaimed. “He just looks like Kenon. Because, frankly, MOST Voidborns look like Kenon.”
“That’s literally Kenon with less gold and a golden mouth mask rather than a golden complete face mask!” Tenuk hissed. “Where the fuck did you find that monster? I want him fucking gone! I want- OW!”
Tenuk span around, only to find that Talok had bitten his tail.
“No, mister not fluffy Tenuk! No being angry! It is baby Voidborn! Not this Kenon person you are thinking of!”
“Talok is right!” Phovos explained further. “This is Staton, the little Voidborn sprite who followed Theocydes around during Teekay and Elkay’s wedding. He’s just made a body for himself and is very disorientated.”
“But he looks EXACTLY LIKE KENON!” Tenuk continued to be angry. “I don’t want this bastard around near my expectant girlfriend!”
Staton raised his hands up, as if he was being held at gunpoint. “I do not know who Kenon is and I do not want to hurt anyone!”
“He is telling truth!” Talok snapped. “He is not Kenon! He is Staton! And he is harmless! He lost and scared and just working out how to have a body!”
“Yeah, what she said…” Phovos frowned. “Tenuk, you don’t need to be so aggressive.”
“Phovos and Talok are right, Tenuk!” Vikalos put an arm around Tenuk. “Come on. Let’s take you back to Elksia.”
“I don’t want this asshole threatening her.”
“Elksia is a powerful Time Drake, she knows what can and can’t threaten her. If Elksia was in danger, she would have reacted already, since she can sense the future!” Vikalos spoke calmly, trying to calm Tenuk down. “At the very least, she can sense threats to herself, and would have spoken up if she was in trouble. Elksia assumed that the Raptors would deal with the problem, and they are doing so right now.”
Tenuk did seem to settle, but mostly because Talok was telepathically suggesting he calm down. Once Talok was satisfied Tenuk wouldn’t attack anyone, she let Tenuk go and suggested that he take a deep breath. After taking that deep breath, Tenuk sighed, then turned back to normal and wandered off, heading back to Elksia’s room where she had built her nest.
“Sorry about that!” Vikalos sighed. “Are you okay, little Voidborn?”
“I… I am confused. I do not know who Kenon is. But already you all call me that…” Staton kept his voice low. “I do not want to hurt anyone. I just do… not really… know anything…”
“It is okay! We can tell you things! Can also call the big metal not-meanies and get them to pick you up!”
“Oh!” Phovoula suddenly exclaimed. “That’s a fucking good point. Let me call Theocydes. Does he know that you’re here?”
Staton hesitated, then shook his head. “I do not know where here is.”
“We’re at Savepoint, the Thantir’s HQ in the Athata Rift.”
“I… still do not know where here is…”
Phovoula shrugged, then fished around in a pocket in her hoodie. “Fair enough. Navigation is tricky if you’re a baby. I’ll give Theocydes a call…”
“In the mean time, Staton, come along with us!” Vikalos smiled. “Let us check you over quickly and make sure you haven’t picked up any Corruption or anything.”
Phovos and Vikalos led Staton away, to one of the patient rooms. Talok telepathically asked Elkay and Koh to go and join them. Being a Synaisthyn, Elkay would be able to better understand Staton and make sure he was safe and healthy.
Finally, Phovoula found her communicator, her Voidborn one. She fiddled around with it, then typed in a 20 digit number, only to be surprised when she got it right first try. It only rang twice before someone picked up.
“Youngling Phovos, I was about to call you!” Theocydes immediately sounded concerned.
“Let me guess, you’re looking for Staton?”
“I am, yes. He flew off in a fit of anger. Being both a Newling and a massless sprite, he can fly incredibly fast and I have been combing the sector for hours looking for him.”
Phovoula smiled. “Well, I have good news! We found him here at Savepoint. I think he wanted to head back to the Pink Paradise, got lost and wandered here instead. The places look kinda similar.”
“OH!” Theocydes’s tone changed rather quickly. “Is he alright?”
“Yeah, he’s fine. Phovos and Vikalos are checking him over. He seems rather confused about his new body.”
“Hang on… Staton has crystallised already? And he is awake and moving around?”
“Mhm. He’s clearly still working out how to have a body and feel things, but he picked up the Decay Lord omnilanguage already and is communicating clearly and walking no problem. I assume you guys are going to come and pick him up?”
“I’ve already changed course and am heading to Savepoint now. I’ve also messaged Vekeus, he’s gone off to pick up a Voidborn starter kit from his hidden base and he will also be joining us… He asks if Arkay is around though.”
Phovoula glanced around Savepoint. “Uh, he’s not currently but he’ll be coming back in about 40 hours though.”
“That is fine. Vekeus will just have to cope. Arkay is mostly harmless unless you provoke him anyway. Kesistatir and I will arrive as soon as we can. Please make sure that Staton doesn’t run away.”
“I’m sure Staton is fine. Did have a couple of people think he was this Voidborn called Kenon, but Staton has proved he isn’t this Kenon guy. Good thing Phovos and I found him and not one of the big guys.”
“Indeed…” Theocydes trailed off. “Anyway, I need to sort things out. Speak soon.”