Golden Shadows

by Sylif Daring Doo

Canyon Expedition.

*The planet Gordac, Lyaroa/Galesh's ship.*

Everyone except for Lyaora stood in the meeting room discussing who would leave the ship and who would stay behind to guard the ship from possible Hunter attacks.

To that end, Darkestlight volunteered to stay behind with the kids, Spark and Apache didn't have a problem with this but Syrin and Firefly protested, saying that they wanted to explore a new world, in order to keep the ship safe, Nightmare and Estalli were going to stay behind.

That meant that Galesh would be heading outside with Roxanne, Fang and Skitter, and while Galesh was certain that they would be capable of defending themselves, she wasn't thrilled about being alone with the wolf she killed, the wolf she practically enslaved and the Changeling she belittled, but she didn't protest at all, knowing that they couldn't afford to splinter now for any reason.

"Come on, we should make sure we have what we'll need to survive out there." Galesh said before walking to the cargo bay, followed by Fang, Skitter and Roxanne.

It didn't take the small group long to reach the cargo bay, and almost immediately as they got there, Galesh began checking the logs from a nearby terminal, looking through it for supplies, she didn't bother trying to speak up or talk at all, feeling that she had nothing to say to them...unless they started the conversation of course.

Galesh grunted in annoyance as she noticed a distinct lack of fuel and field rations, there were basically no energy cells in store and they were just about out of materials for ship repairs, Galesh sighed and closed the logs, she was about to speak up when she heard Roxanne speak up. "Hey Skitter...are you sure Garth will be alright without you?" The fox asked. "You left him behind to come help us after all."

Galesh looked over her shoulder just in time to see Skitter's eyes widen in realization, the Sentinel sighed and spoke up before then Changeling could have a panic attack. "Even so, the Hunter's temporal freeze is powerful, it should still be up by the time we are done with plenty of time left...unless this somehow takes us a year." She stated.

Skitter seemed to calm down a little at Galesh's words, she still looked guilty about leaving her son behind and didn't say a word as she walked off to somewhere else in the hold.

Galesh decided to let the Changeling be to handle her problems on her own, she then turned to the terminal again and started to log supplies that she deemed necessary for the expedition, once that was done she closed the terminal and walked over to a nearby panel in the wall that had a holographic keypad next to it, as she typed in the code, Galesh heard Roxanne speak up. "Can I ask you something?" The fox asked with an even yet curious tone.

"What is it?" Galesh asked as she typed in the last digit of the code, she looked at Roxanne as the panel opened up, the fox had a curious expression but looked to be hurting, probably because of Lyaroa yelling at her.

"Why did you do what you did to me and Nightmare? how was that supposed to help in any way?" Roxanne asked, her gaze hardening but still showing hurt deep within.

Galesh looked at the now open hole in the wall and took a step towards it, she reached inside and pulled a small crate out, the panel closed and Galesh motioned for Roxanne to follow with a nod of her head, she spoke as she walked to a large crate on the floor with nothing on top of it. "It was a twofold goal, the first goal was simple, for the two of you to defeat Lyaroa and enable me to capture her so I could bring her back to the Forge, the second goal was to bring the two of you back to normal." She explained as she set the small crate down on the larger one.

"Why?" Roxanne asked as Fang approached with curiosity. "You had no reason to want us back to normal, especially since you probably knew we would fight you along the way." She stated, not understanding the Sentinel at all.

Galesh sighed as she walked over to a nearby shelf and grabbed what appeared to be a survival bag, she then walked back over to the crate where the others were. "I knew that there was a chance that I would fail, and I needed to ensure that my daughter didn't go and do something stupid like try to kill herself or go after Sentinel's out of anger, don't tell Estalli this, but I had always planned on waking you and your friends up, I even had to play the heartless villain just so that you would hate me as much as Lyaroa, all with the sole purpose of protecting my daughter." Galesh explained as she moved supplied from the crate to the bag.

"Why exactly should we believe that?" Roxanne asked. "For all we know you could be planning to betray us the second we cure Lyaroa." She stated with an oddly calm and even tone, she crossed her arms and glared at Galesh.

With a heavy sigh, Galesh looked at Roxanne with tired eyes. "When you've spent over a thousand years looking for your daughter, you do crazy things to protect them, even if it's from yourself." She shook her head and closed the bag after she was done. "I have done horrible things in my life, I won't try to deny it but I would never...NEVER put my children in harms way if it can be avoided, I may have given Lyaroa to the Swordwraiths seven thousand years ago, but I only did it to protect Anseri...for all the good that did." She muttered before standing up fully and placing the bag on her back, she then walked to the exit ramp and pushed a button on a nearby pad, opening the ramp.

Roxanne stared for a while and looked at Fang who shook his head at her, she sighed to herself and followed Galesh, now realizing that she had said enough already, she was followed by the older wolf and Skitter soon followed as well.

*Gordac, outside the ship.*

Skitter shielded her eyes as she stepped off the ship's ramp and into the bright world, it took her only a second for her eyes to readjust to the light and she whistled at the sight before her, to many it may have been a nice sight, but to Skitter it was breathtaking.

They had landed in the center of a large, circular part of the canyon, the pale red rocky walls and floor were lit up in the strange orangeish light blue of the planets sky, the path ahead of them was singular but it looked like it held several paths ahead and there seemed to be some kind of green plant life growing up ahead, the rocks seemed to glisten in the light and they also reflected this beauty off the walls and around the area. "Ok, I have to admit it, this planet is so much more beautiful than Equestria." Skitter said as she looked around.

Fang looked over at Galesh to ask her something and was confused to see the Sentinel grabbing four small devices that looked like earpieces that would hook around their head like a headband, she then held one out to the wolf. "Take this and put it on, it will let you communicate with the Computer." Galesh explained as she proceeded to pass one to the others.

Skitter huffed in amusement as she put her's on. "Great, just what I wanted...to give the Computer a chance to make snippy remarks at long range." She complained with an eye roll.

"There is no need to be rude miss Skitter." The Computer said to them all, sounding offended.

Galesh sighed. "I'm sure she didn't mean it Computer, now report...what do we know about this planet and its denizens?" She ordered firmly before moving to the exit of the circular canyon, followed by Fang, Roxanne and Skitter.

"From what little I have learned from Mistress Lyaroa, not much I am afraid...the dinosaurs of Gordac have no culture to speak of, instead living in a predator and prey manner much like most unintelligent wildlife, they have evolved much over the past few million years and above all, the Raptors are by far the most dangerous as they live, hunt and fight in packs, it is almost a guarantee that where you find one Raptor...there is a pack ready to strike." The computer explained.

Galesh nodded and led the way through the canyon as they entered the single path, it was spacious enough for them all to walk through easily In pairs, the rocky and jagged walls however made sure that the group was careful or else they risk injury, they soon came up to a narrow path and Galesh took the bag off her back, she held it to her side in one hand and sidestepped through the path, once she was on the other side, Galesh looked around for dangers before looking at the others and waving them over.

One by one, the three friends made their respective ways through the narrow path in silence, none of them daring to speak just in case they wake something, thankfully nothing happened as they crossed, and once Roxanne was over they were ready to continue, but then they heard it.

A loud booming roar echoed through the canyon and the ground shook as violent booms echoed on the winds. "What the hell is big enough to make those steps?" Fang asked quietly, not daring to speak any louder than a whisper.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it sounds like it's heading away from the ship and forest, so it doesn't matter." Galesh said before whispering into her earpiece. "Computer, scan for Acain." She ordered.

"Scanning...scan complete, subject...missing?" The computer stated with obvious confusion.

Galesh tensed up and Skitter immediately noticed this. "What does that mean? is Acain dead?" She asked, really hoping that it wasn't true.

"No." Galesh replied before looking at Skitter. "If he was dead, we could find the body no problem, but with him being missing, that means either he isn't in this world anymore, which I know he is still here somewhere so that's out, or worse, he knows how to hide like Anseri does." She stated before shaking her head and throwing the bag over her shoulder again, hooking it over her arms so that it wouldn't fall off. "All we can do is get out of the canyon and search the forest beyond, i have a good feeling about that place." She stated before taking a better look at the surrounding area.

They were in a small crossroads of sorts, plant life grew up in random spots around the walls and ground, this area was more shaded than the circular canyon they landed in and it exited to two other paths. "Computer, which path leads to the forest?" Galesh asked as she stared at the two paths, one was off to the left and the other was straight ahead, she asked this question because the canyon walls made it impossible to see any trees.

"Straight ahead." The computer replied. "Madam Councilwoman, Lady Estalli is on the line." It said before going silent.

Galesh started walking to the path and was followed by Fang and Roxanne, Skitter followed a moment later, keeping a cautious eye on the other path. "Mother, Lyaroa has informed us on that creature that roared a little bit ago." Estalli's voice stated before taking a second.

"That creature is a called the Gargantuan by the Raptor packs, it roams the planet by land or sea and is easily the size of a Sentinel Assault Ship, Lyaroa recommends caution and to avoid the Gargantuan at all costs." Estalli warned before cutting the connection.

With that, the four were alone once more as they traversed the canyon, the path they followed grew increasingly hazardous and narrow, eventually they had to crawl in order to get through, after twenty minutes of travel they were relieved to find that the path exited into an open part of the canyon, it was strangely smooth and the rocks were more rounded, there were no plants in the area and the rocks seemed to have turned more brown as opposed to the pale red rock that the rest of the canyon had.

The lights from the sky made the pale brown rocks shine like lights and made them look like shining copper and bronze, there was only one other path and Galesh stared at it intently, not walking right to it unlike the last few times, she crossed her arms and stared with a serious expression.

Skitter looked at Fang and Roxanne, the former of the two was busy watching the path behind them and the other was watching the sky, wary of any aerial attack, the Changeling looked over at Galesh and walked over. "Can I ask you a couple of questions?" She asked the Sentinel.

Galesh glanced at Skitter out of the corner of her golden mist filled eyes which soon turned into biological eyes with white sclera, black pupils and rounded dark blue irises. "What is it?" She asked, still keeping most of her attention on the path ahead.

Skitter took a moment to speak because she was a little disturbed by Galesh suddenly growing eyes in their sockets, once she had gotten over that enough to speak she did so. "Sorry if this is too personal, but I've been wondering about something for a while now...who is Estalli and Wilhelm's father?" She asked curiously yet cautiously.

Galesh looked down at Skitter with a neutral glance, she then spoke in a tone that was not hostile. "After Lyaroa killed Huralo and ran away from the Forge, I was all alone since Anseri had run away a long time ago, in my depressed state I tried to fill that void in any way I could, about two hundred years ago, one of those ways involved a Sentinel named Emerion." She said no more on the matter.

That was enough information for Skitter to understand the message. 'So Estalii and Wilhelm were born because of a one night stand, and they are twins so they are about...two hundred?' She questioned in her mind, she then shook her head clear and looked up at Galesh again. "Alright...this question isn't intended to be rude, but how old are you exactly?" She asked rather bluntly.

Galesh's mouth curved upwards for a split second before it turned serious again. "Eleven thousand years, i cant be more precise because after five thousand I stopped trying to keep track of the exact number." She replied with a slightly amused tone.

Skitter blinked, having not expected that answer from the usually serious and humorless Sentinel, so to both hear and feel amusement was a shock, she managed to keep her surprise from overwhelming her and spoke. "So...wow, you're young for a Sentinel." She said without thought, she then held her tongue as she watched the Sentinel to gauge a reaction.

Galesh shook her head, she turned to look at Skitter with a peaceful expression, which was odd to see on the Sentinel. "Youngest member of the Council in history." She said with a hint of pride before her face turned somber and thoughtful, she then sighed and looked at the path. "We should get going, the longer we wait, the longer it will take to save Lyaroa." She stated before walking towards the path.

Skitter followed Galesh and was followed by Fang and Roxanne soon after, the group of four was once again silent as they made their way through the canyon path that was smooth and without jagged rock, the walls were slowly being filled with life, ranging from a pale green moss to vines and plants. "We must be getting close to the entrance of the canyon." Skitter noted. "That or an oasis of some kind." She added as she picked a few blue and yellow plants from the walls of the canyon, she also grabbed a few other plants.

"What are you doing?" Fang asked, referring to the plants that Skitter was collecting. "Please tell me you aren't going to eat those." He said as he watched Skitter grab a sickly green plant bud.

"No, I found out that Estalli likes to study plant life, I figured she would like something to do if she's going to be on the ship a lot in this journey." Skitter reasoned, she then teleported the plant life away.

The path was long and winding, it split into two paths that the Computer couldn't scan properly, so they split up to cover each path only to discover that they both led to the same place, the canyon continued to be filled with more plant life the further they went, they had been walking for so long that the sky darkened by the time they reached a small canyon circle that was large enough for them to rest.

"We should stop and wait for daylight." Galesh stated as she looked up at the now dark orange and dark blue sky. "We don't know what's in the forest or the canyon at night, and I'm not keen on finding out through an ambush." She explained before taking the bag off her shoulder and setting it down, she then opened it and rifled through its contents for a few moments before grabbing a small circular black metallic object with four silver metal claws and a single white button on the top. "This is a perimeter charge." She said before closing the bag and placing the object on the ground. "With one push of this button, I can set up a perimeter around us and it will alert us if anything dangerous enters it." Galesh explained before pushing the button.

Soon enough, a holographic wall surrounded the canyon circle and remained. "Now, we should rest up for tomorrow, we'll make our way out of the canyon then and search the forest for Acain." Galesh suggested before walking over to a canyon wall and sitting down on the rocky ground, it wasn't comfortable but it would have to do as she rested her head on the slightly grassy wall.

"You three rest up, I'll take watch." Fang said as he continued to look around for any threat.

Skitter looked at Fang and walked up to him. "You need rest too Fang, not even you can avoid that." She stated with an almost motherly tone.

Fang rolled his eyes. "That's the one thing I actually admired Shade for, he could stay up forever and not care...not like he could die from it or anything else." He joked before shaking his head and smiling at Skitter. "Go and get some sleep, we can reminisce some other time." He said with a calm tone of voice, showing that he was in a good mood right now but would rather talk when it was more convenient.

"Who's Shade?" Galesh asked, she then opened her eyes and looked at Fang. "And what do you mean he can't die?" She questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Roxanne was the one who answered the question. "Shade's a friend of ours from when we lived in the old world, he's a Night Wolf from the world of Oglan and when we say he can't die...that's pretty literal, so unless he gets wiped out in a single blast, I doubt he could die." She said with a shrug.

Galesh raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "I find that cutting someone's head off or destroying their heart works just fi-why are you laughing?" She asked as the others quietly laughed.

Fang was the quickest to cut off his laughter and answer the Sentinel. "Shade cut his own head off one Sunday just to see if he could die that way and he doesn't have a heart to destroy." He explained with a shrug. "Night Wolves are weird like that." He added with mirth.

Galesh said nothing and closed her eyes, seeking to get some sleep for the next day and to forget about absurd creatures. 'As if a creature could survive like that.' She mentally laughed at the idea.

*The next morning.*

Everyone had a rough night and only got a few hours of sleep in aside from Fang who didn't get any sleep at all, so as they stretched or moved around to get rid of the stiffness in their muscles, Galesh opened the bag that was on her shoulder and pulled out four small cracker like cubes and passed them around.

"What's this?" Roxanne asked as she stared at the small cube, she looked it over curiously, it looked and felt a lot like a regular cracker and it was confusing her to no end.

Galesh looked at Roxanne and after she ate her cube, she spoke in a calm tone that somehow sounded like she was giving a lecture. "They are field rations, one cube is enough to sustain an individual for an entire day." She explained as she slung the bag over her shoulder and secured it.

"Do Sentinel's eat?" Fang asked out of curiosity. "Because it seems odd for Sentinel's to make something when they don't need to eat." He added to his question.

Galesh rolled her eyes at the question and retrieved the Perimeter charge. "Of course we eat...we don't necessarily have to eat because we can sustain ourselves with our powers, but yes...we can eat if we so choose." She explained.

A minute or so later, and everyone was ready to go and get out of the canyon, though Skitter did seem to be a little annoyed about something and she wasn't shy about making that something known. "That cube was very bitter and I hope I never have to eat another." She commented with a dry voice.

Galesh then led everyone to the path to leave the canyon, the orange and light blue sky shined brightly on the canyon, once again making it a beautiful place to be and Skitter drank in every single detail, especially loving how the canyon shined even brighter than yesterday. "Alright, let's find Acain so we can get off this planet and save Lyaroa, maybe then we can come back so you can take in the scenery."

Author's Note:

I know, It's not the best chapter, but it should suffice for a while.

Not much to say here, I explore Galesh a little more as a character but that's about it aside from some details on the canyon that I have them inside.

See you next time and I hope you enjoyed though.