One of the four arms of the blue skinned creatures pointed to the heavens at the strange object that fell from the heavens to the other children.

The world itself was the fourth from it's blue star, a rather chilly world smeared with an inch or so of snow. The curious boy and some of his companions headed into the lightly forested hill hoping to gain a better vantage point from the top of the hill.

Initial scans of the world showed that there were pockets of life forms gathered near areas of high thermal energy but very few of these areas inland, most were situated in or near the mountains and curiously enough they were several near an old settlement but no life forms near them at all as if the natives chose to stay away from that spot.

There were no other energy readings there - just a second - there was a spike in gamma radiation that flared up in the city but as quickly as it occurred it had died out as if the reading had been wrong, no, not wrong instruments were still picking up residual radiation radiating from center of the settlement but it was faint a mere drizzle of what it had been as if someone turned on a faucet, shut it off and it was now leaking.

As the ruler of her people it was up to her to determine her next course of action.

We should land and figure out what is going on down there.

"What? No Your Highness, its too dangerous." says An, the brunette handmaiden. It didn't make sense to her why the city suddenly flared up with gamma radiation. And she didn't want the Princess to the anywhere near it in case it flared up again.

Perhaps, but the rest of the world seems to be cold but inhabitable. We cannot let ourselves to be scared off if there is only one area that is dangerous. Especially if there any chance we can fix it. Unfortunately, the handmaiden knew that the Princess was right to some degree. The Trixian people were desperate for a homeland. However, the young royal was also stubborn and there was no way to talk her out of a course of action when she had decided.

Enru take us down to the closest point where you think you land safely.

The ship descended. The settlement was on a plateau with mountains ringing around it in all directions dwarving the place, looking down upon the ancient settlement. The landing gear of the ship made a crunching sound as they trampled snow beneath them as Enru set the ship down.

External sensors indicated that the atmosphere out there was breathable, the gravity roughly equivalent to what she was use to though the temperature was colder, warmer near the thermals but they were only a short way off from where the ship had touched down, perhaps 10 minutes or so away from their present location.

By now the residual radiation had vanished completely. They had a location where it admitted from with a few hundred yards though other than the thermals points of energy they weren't picking up anything unusual so far.

The shuttle made it landing effortlessly a testament to Enru's skill as a pilot. Only a soft crunch of the snow being crushed underneath the landing gear gave any indication they had landed. "We are now down on the surface. It will only take a moment for us to go through the landing procedures."

An was already hard at work that the checking out the sensors, "The atmosphere is breathable and the gravity is only slightly stronger than our standards. The temperature is colder than normal so we will have to dress up if we are to survive outside." The handmaiden had a slight hope that alone would deter Her Highness.

Then we will need to dress up and head out soon. I would like to figure out what is going on over there before the radiation flare up again. A few moments, the ramp lowered as the three Trixians began to move out into the cold.

Bundled as they were he ruins of the city dominated the landscape. Currently they were in the shadow of numerous stone buildings and as they approached they could see that the stones of the building had been an actual white and not snow or camoflauge.

Ringing the place were all these thermal vents and while the planet was bitterly cold once they got into the ruined city it felt warm, much warmer at least then they had already experienced. Yet sensors did not pick up anything unusual so they had to question if this was some natural albeit unusual phenomomum that they missed or were unique to the planet or the thermal energy that they uncovered earlier were strong enough to shield something else.

It was long before they came across primitive objects much like sleds that were stored in the yards of homes. It wasn't long either before An caught some fleeting movement but there was nothing there when she looked, was it her imagination or was there something there?

A lone animal? Sensors weren't refined enough to pick up one or two life forms but rather a cluster of life forms.

Octavia and her two handmaidens made their way to the city. The young royal was surprised as they approached the buildings were not covered in snow or camouflage but they had been painted or made of white material.

As the Trixian got to the city's edge they found that the thermal vents all around the edge of the city on the side they entered. There was no sign of advanced equipment but somehow the thermal vents were keeping the city warm, at least warm enough for the women to take down their hoods. The Trixians wondered how the city managed to maintain this thermal technology and it not be able to show up on any of their sensors.

Soon the trio came across what looked like homes, along with sleds that were sitting in their front yards, all this made sense in a snow environment of this world. However the brunette handmaiden immediately took up a defensive position, point her polearm directly in the direction of the movement. There was nothing there, and the sensors also could not spot anything. "Sorry, I thought there was something stalking us."

Well keep an eye out, but don't point that polearm out like again. If there are people here we don't want to spook them.

Soon therafter there was a newspaper machine or something akin to it that they discovered. There was a clear material on the front of the box though it was not glass, perhaps some for of plastic. The box was probably one of the most sophiscated things that they saw and it was rather simple.

It was more the fact that these people have or once had seeing that this was a ruin, a printing press of some kind.

There were trees on this world but none close to the settlement which may have indicated that there were trees closer by when the city was full of people or there was some sort of trade here for wood.

In any case the machine was quite old and rusted, braking over time so that the simple interior latch no longer locked the box. The papers that remained where yellow with age and brittle, some of the paper braking away as it was touched though the one in the display window showed a black and white photo of a group of blue skinned four armed aliens throwing a riot it appeared. Strange symbals had a bold caption over the picture as well and there was and article that ran aside it.

What the words said were another mystery that they had to dope out but An got a feeling of dread as she felt as if they were being watched, she could not explain it but she had this feeling that the ruins were not as empty as they had initially thought.

She was having a strange vibe from the building behind them and across the street, and in fact as she studied the building she could swear she saw something on the roof, again, it was brief before it disappeared from sight but seemed to watch them keenly.

The first thing that the Trixians came across was something that looked liked a box with a clear section in front of it. The box look liked it was very weld made as the clear material in front seemed to made of some sort of plastic. It suggested that whoever built this town had some degree of advanced technology. Or at least they use to.

The Princess looked in the clear portion of the box. The latch was broken so if she wanted to she wanted to open the box and grab what was inside for fear that she would destroy it. There were papers that remained in the box, papers that had turned yellow and age and looked like at any minute like they would disintegrate. On the top page of one of papers was a view of what she could only assume was the inhabitants of this world. In black and white appeared to be that some sort of four-armed aliens, they appeared to be rioting and were a large group. There appeared to be a headline but it was in some sort of strange alien language. Octavia had only been taught Trixian and stood no chance of even interpreting the language.

Well these people had the ability to print papers, so they seemed to have their own language. And the fact there there was no wood nearby suggested they had the capability to trade for wood. So their civilization was pretty advanced, I wonder what happened to it.

An however had no interest in the previous civilization. It was dead and buried as far as the brunette was concerned. Instead what concerned her was going on right now, and the handmaiden got this feeling that the three Trixians were being watched by someone or something in the ruins.

Her combat instincts told her to look at the building behind her and across the street. The brunette turned and looked but saw nothing at first. Then she thought she got a glimpse of movement on the roof, but whatever it was disappeared out of sight as if it knew she had spotted it. "We should leave now, we are far from alone her."

The Princess looked up and around, I don't see anything. I think your imagining things. Just keep your guard up.

Help me.

The words were clear within Enru's head as if she heard someone utter them though she could not really determine where they were coming from, at least not at first. She then got a chill racing through her though the temperature hadn't changed.

The effects lasted for a mere moment before subsiding. Then both An and Enru heard the words repeated before hearing a loud bang as well from the building that had gathered their attention. Even Octavia heard the banging sound.

Then all was quiet once more.

Help me.

Enru heard a voice inside her head begging for help. The young woman could not really tell where it was coming from and tried to shake her head clear of it. It was then that she felt a chill racing through her body.

Enru, what's wrong? asked the Princess concerned.

Slowly the chill faded away before she heard it again as well as loud bang from the building that had gotten An attention. "Somebody is in trouble," says the blonde handmaiden. "I have to help them out.[/color] She starts to move to the building.

An however was still more cautious, "No Enru, that person could be calling out to lure you into a trap."

Call out? I didn't hear anyone call out. I just heard a banging noise.

"Then you didn't hear it at all," said the brunette handmaiden. However, Enru was already nearing the building's door.

Apparently Octavia had not heard it though as Enru neared the building she found that it was in tatters, holes in the wall revealed the room beyond covered in debris from the collapsed ceiling or rather a portion of the ceiling to the west had collapsed inward on itself though there were two separate staircases on opposite ends of the room, one half buried in debris while the other had to lead up to the roof.

From it she heard the bang again as if something smashed against something, the sound of crumbling stone could be heard though it was colder now, Enru felt a stark chill in the air and voices, more like malicious whispers to numerous to count. She could not make out the words though, they were in another dialect it seemed though the voice in her head from before, weaker now cried out for assistance.

Both Octavia and An had not picked up anything new, not at first though both did catch the fleeting sight of something blue on that roof top for a moment before it dipped out of sight and they heard the clattering of stones.

Help me. An could hear it faintly in her head though again Octavia heard nothing.

Apparently Octavia had not heard it though as Enru neared the building she found that it was in tatters, holes in the wall revealed the room beyond covered in debris from the collapsed ceiling or rather a portion of the ceiling to the west had collapsed inward on itself though there were two separate staircases on opposite ends of the room, one half buried in debris while the other had to lead up to the roof.

From it she heard the bang again as if something smashed against something, the sound of crumbling stone could be heard though it was colder now, Enru felt a stark chill in the air and voices, more like malicious whispers to numerous to count. She could not make out the words though, they were in another dialect it seemed though the voice in her head from before, weaker now cried out for assistance.

Both Octavia and An had not picked up anything new, not at first though both did catch the fleeting sight of something blue on that roof top for a moment before it dipped out of sight and they heard the clattering of stones.

Help me. An could hear it faintly in her head though again Octavia heard nothing.

As Enru approached the building, the blonde handmaiden found it completely in tatters, as it had holes in the wall. The room inside seemed to be covered in debris from a partially collapse ceiling. There were two staircases, but only one was usable as the other seemed to be buried in debris. The one remaining staircase seemed to lead up to the roof, where An thought she saw some movement above.

Suddenly she heard a loud bang again, as Enru heard more voices, voices that didn't sound as requesting help as the others did. A cold chill came over the blonde handmaiden again despite the clothes she was wearing. The voices then started to sound weaker as they seemed to be crying out for assistance. "Tell me where you are and I can help you."

An and Octavia were still standing out in the open when the two spotted the sight of something blue on the roof of the building that Enru was exploring before the creature dipped out of sight. An once again heard the voice again. "Rats, Your Highness please stay here. Don't get any closer to any of the buildings, I need to make sure than Enru is not walking into a trap."

Up here, on the roof ... Silence and again the sound of crumbling stone but now their was the roar of wind. It was her move to make or so it seemed though she could clearly her something on the roof and even saw a few loose stones fall into the room through the hole in the ceiling.

Enru began to cross the street then. There were no other signs of anything on the roof though she heard the same words in her mind that An had heard. Then silence as if answering the question had been more than it could handle.

As she drew closer to the building she could hear the crumbling of stone and the roar of wind from the roof top of it.

Enru looked up and she could hear the voice again. By the time she get her focus on the roof there was nothing there, though the blond handmaiden was sure that someone was on the roof. She looked down and saw some crumbling stones fall into hole in the ceiling in the building.

An did her best to catch up but the brunette could only move as fast as the blonde. Soon the blonde entered the building to head for the stairs. "Enru, slow down."

All the while Octavia looked on as she saw the two handmaidens head into a building. She kinda felt vulnerable being out in the street like this.