Aqua walked with her wings folded tightly to her back. She was looking for a place to rest she had been running for days from a fight she had started and won. Her thoughts only being broke by a rumble in her stomach. 

She had not eaten since that day for a full lack of hunger but her stomach was now taking charge of her thoughts. She stopped and looked around for anything to eat. 

There were plenty of anamles to choose from but she was not a fan of meat and much prefered frout and roots. She did not recognize any of the plants. But spotted what looked like a village long abandoned and reclaimed by the land. Where there were people there were crops and she hopped to find a few.

She managed to find flat ground. The perfect indicater of a garden. Spotting the leaves of potatoes she forced it to grow to a large size than started digging. Than she pulled the top of the plant with her teeth ripping the plant full of potatoes out of the ground after getting the soil loose. She than place it on the ground and repeated the process with beets, and onions. Once done she gathered the food onto her back, useing her wings to keep it balanced as she looked for water. 

It wasn't every day where she found herself sailing the Clephsydra out of her usual route. However, she had received a very lucrative offer in a shipping and transport deal. Naturally places where others were less inclined to go would have to give more attractive rates when it came to asking for goods and services, and she wasn't one to shy from a new business opportunity. Alternatively it would give her more exposure to the world, which as a newly-ascended deity was a high priority on her list. She didn't advertise her status as the Overseer of Luck and Misfortune, since she didn't want any unwanted attention. No matter if she was a god or a mortal, she was still the same person she always had been.

With her new temple under construction, she was currently on the lookout for new veins of resources she could utilize back at the Machinarium. So far she had the most important areas completed, but she was thinking of adding a few more contraptions and mechanisms to streamline workflow. At the moment traffic between the towers was highly inconvenient, as the walkways weren't suitable for transporting heavy machinery or materials. Her solution was some sort of hydraulic lift system between tower floors, but that would require more raw ores to make steel. However upon arriving at Bakulaw, she learned of the local dangers and opted to buy information from the residents should they ever stumble upon something which would be of use to her. Shiloh wasn't interested in fighting for her life on a new level, again. If she didn't know better, she wouldn't have know this densely populated wildlife hideaway was really just a giant death trap of nature's design.

But with dangers came a new market, particularly in the security department. She was hiring out her squadron of automata while she stayed for the weather to improve. She and a group of her best fighters were scouting the wilds, looking for people who needed saving from becoming the island's next statistic. One of the best things about having a small army of walking, thinking machines was that they were resistant to most ailments that plagued beings of flesh. There were rumors of lost settlements hidden deep in the jungle, so if they ever stumbled upon one it would be worth their time to see if anything was left for scavenging. In armor and with her face covered by a mask, she had her sun glaive out to take advantage of the noonday light. Fire and sharp weapons were essential to make headway through the thick undergrowth. Not too far off Galatea and Euripides were taking records of their observations.

The former was a female automaton who resembled a human woman with dark hair and dark eyes. Her complexion was as fair as the pale resin that composed her outer casing. She was one of the more recent builds she had made, thus reflecting her more human-like appearance. The other was Euripides; an older model when she was first starting her career in creating thinking machines. He was more like a metal golem, with a more bare-bones skeleton of steel with metal plates covering the framework and joints. He had no facial features except for two lenses embedded into his faceplate for eyes, and a voice box to project his voice. 

The water was not hard to find saying that twoleggeds build there settlements near water. The river was a brownish green color and aqua was sure that it was not the cleanest but she would rather the water taist over that of dirt. The white dragon dropped the plants and than took one and dipped into the water. Quickly in and out, in and out. She than placed the beets down on the grownd and laid down before eating it. 

She was still young and knew to keep a look out for other animals. She knew that most animals were no mach for her bit even a lion was wery of a pack of hyenas. One was no match but a pack was a big challenge. She looked around and at the fact that she saw no threats and started eating again.

"Alright, let's fan out and cover more ground. We can't afford to overstay our welcome in this jungle. If we were in Laeto, it wouldn't be as much as a problem but this place is ten times worse. Galatea, accompany Euripides as you scout the area. I'll keep myself hidden and keep an eye on things, but you'll need to stay vigilant. He isn't a combat unit like you are." Addressing the two automatons, they departed upon receiving their orders. The alabaster-complexioned automaton and the metal construct began picking their way through the vines and trees in the dragon's direction. The clinking of metal and grinding of gears could be heard through the buzzing of insects and twitter of exotic birds. Using his highly advanced optics, Euripides was recording whatever he saw to his memory. Taking out an enchanted scroll, he began tracing the words he wished to inscribe with one of his metal digits. It was far easier than an ordinary parchment and ink quill, and made transcribing much faster too. 

"The variety of unique species indigenous to the island is astounding!" Came the metallic pitch being broadcast from his voice box. "I daresay, there must be at least a hundred in the arthropod family alone." Galatea did not seem as impressed, and was standing at attention with a sword at the ready. "These creatures have been living in isolation for perhaps a millennia. Naturally they would develop specialized characteristics in comparison to those from the mainland." Came her rather dry response. Rotating his head around, Euripides continued watching and recording various flora and fauna. "By the way Galatea, did you catch all the details Ms. Kyrie relayed to us back before we left? She said something about there being great carnivorous scaled lizards which attack on sight. All I remember was something about colorful scale patterns, an exceedingly large size, and several rows of teeth." The automaton gave a shudder as the lights of his optic sensors blinked rapidly. "We shouldn't run in to any of those terror lizards in the dense canopy. At worst, we'll see the packs of roving scavengers said to be bipedal and agile hunters." Galatea said in a disinterested tone. Cutting a swath of branches to clear out a path, she led the way.

Upon making progress, they came into the abandoned village where the young dragon was. All was quiet when the arrived, but then the combat unit entered a defensive stance as soon as she caught sight of a creature matching the details of their master's warning by the river. Euripides noticed too, and began to panic. "Is–is that one of them? It is isn't it? There's no mistake–bright scale coloration, above average size, powerful limbs! I can see the rows of teeth in its jaws!" Galatea silenced him tersely. "Keep your voice down, do you want to provoke it and have it attack us?" The high pitched, mechanical sounds of his voice would be easily heard by the dragon, and should she search for the source–she would find two strange beings now present a few meters away. One looked almost exactly like a human, while the other looked like a pile of metal pieces in a humanoid shape. Galatea had her sword drawn and visible, showing that she was armed and not afraid to retaliate.

The buzz of the gears was just a foreign as the rest of the noise, but it was not natural and she knew it but did not care. At the moment all she cared about was filling her stomach and nothing ealce.  She did not realize how hungry she was untell food hit her stomach. She only stopped at the voice. 

The human voice and language. She turned and looked at them. Whatever they were. One looked human but lacked the smell. The other oviously made from the same material as some swords. The smell made memorys arise from home. The lack of rum and blood being all that was missing.

She could have attacked for just the smell memorys but one had to make sure that she saw the blade he carried. She could care less that it was more than willing to atack. Normally she would be showing the other who they just challenged but she did not see it as a worthwhile opponent therefore not something to atack. She continued eating.

"Be silent!" Came the harsh but hushed tones from Galatea. The creature had noticed them, but did not attack. Or perhaps it didn't see them? Some beasts had poor eyesight and relied on movement to detect prey. If so, then the automatons had an advantage. The two began to argue quietly. Euripides wanted to have the beast chased off as soon as possible, Galatea wanted to take a more calculated approach. Their heated discourse led to the accidental firing of a signal flare, causing a loud burst of fire and light with a bang! Someone had fumbled with the emergency rune given for this express purpose, likely Euripides–which caused birds to scatter and smaller creatures to flee. With their positions broadcast to the jungle around them, Galatea's patience had reached its limit. She wasn't going to wait for the terror lizard to rip them apart on the account of 'wildlife preservation'. 

She had one task and that was ensuring the scouting unit's safety. The combat automaton charged at the dragon brandishing her sword, aiming to strike a vital point. She would ensure that its demise would be quick and painless, before its cries alerted more of its kind. Her current target was the creature's spine. A blow from there would disable and severely impair the central nervous system, and had a reduced chance of lending her open to attack if it was successful. Quadrupeds could not fully defend from their backs, as the rotation of their limbs were limited–not like the free rotation some of Antikythera's automata had.

Meanwhile Shiloh heard the blast of an explosion and quickly gained a higher vantage point using a burst of air. Using the winds to keep her aloft, she saw the flash of a signal flare being used several meters away. They would never use it unless they were in danger, so she began rushing towards the location of the flare's light as fast as she could. Galatea could hold her own against a single enemy or several smaller ones, but with Euripides she would be limited in her mobility. Investigate first and ask questions later; that was what she had to do now. 

Aqua was starting to get annoyed at the two's argueing. She had did her best to mind her own business but being attacked was somewhat impossible to not notice. She simply raised her paw, a root raised with the movement. The root raised just infrunt of the attackers foot. That should trip it. She sat on her hind legs and looked at the two. Usually she would not talk in human unless in human skin but she was not filling a fight with a full stumic. All she wanted was to lay in the sun and let the food digest.

"How stupid are you?" Her voice accusing and hard. "Most two leggeds know not to anger a flame spitter. And more know that if your going to atack one make sure that the target did not know you were there." Her voice would start to soften as she stopped than continued. "May I ask before you keep on this path of yours. What did i do to deserved an atack. Also what makes you think you stand a chance."

Truthfully she could care less on both accounts but it was always fun to mess with their mind. To accuse and watch the other was more her sisters thing but why not. They also needed to assess the situation and rethink there actions. She kept an eye on the ovious threat but kept listening for others.

Galatea simply cut through the root without hesitation. Seeing she had been spotted she quickly moved to a different location and reassessed the situation. "…Target appears to be capable of speech. That's new. It might possibly be capable of higher thought, or it could just be a highly advanced mimicry." Listening to the terror lizard speak, Galatea's expression did not change. Instead, she readied her blade again. "The law of the wilds is as follows: 'Survival of the fittest'. Either kill or be killed–isn't that how it is with beasts? Destroying a threat before it has a chance to strike you down is plain pragmatism. The wilds show no mercy." The combat automaton's voice was steady and calm, and the accusations the lizard made against her had no effect. Though the great lizard was so kind enough to inform her of its other abilities, which would make dispatching it easier. 

She had one objective: defend the scouting unit at all costs. Everything, no matter how strong could be destroyed. All it took was an attack in the right place… "I'll be sure to make your death humanely quick and painless." Euripides was trying to slink behind some trees, as he had no chance of fighting that thing at all. Neither of the automatons had seen a dragon, nor did they know the difference between a Bakulaw terror lizard and the former. By now Shiloh was almost at the site of the flare's location, and an overwhelming pressure was rushing through the area as the deity advanced. Sensing she was here, Galatea no longer had her sword raised. Cleaning the blade before sheathing it in a single motion, she awaited her master's orders. The sound of a tree being split open broke the silence as Shiloh burst from the jungle's canopy. There was a flaming sword in one hand and a dragon-bone blade in the other. Scanning the clearing, she stopped when she caught sight of Euripides and Galatea.

"What–where did… Oh there you are. I saw the emergency flare was fired, are you two alright?" It was then she saw the dragon lying nearby. Putting two and two together, she motioned for the two automatons to come over to her. Euripides bolted and ducked behind her as soon as he could, and Galatea slowly walked over to Shiloh while keeping her eyes on the dragon. "…Were you attacked?" She asked both of them. "No. However we couldn't take any chances. Especially with something like that right there." Galatea turned her head to motion in the direction of the dragon. Shiloh didn't blame her for being cautious, but realized their mistake. "You did well; even followed protocol down to the letter. You can relax, Euripides. That's a dragon, a juvenile one likely–not a Bakulaw terror lizard. They don't have fur."

Suddenly, the ground began to shake. The tremors were getting stronger, and birds were fleeing. Shiloh felt body tense up as she could feel something very big approaching them very quickly. The flare probably was to blame, and this was bad news. "This isn't good. We need to run." Trees were falling over as a horrendous roar thundered through the jungle as a real Bakulaw terror lizard was joining the party. This one was at least ten times bigger than the dragon, and was on two powerful hind legs. Its head was massive and it had teeth the size of spear heads. Bright red scales, brownish-orange stripes, cold reptilian eyes–it had another name among the people from the outpost on the beach: the Running Death.

Grabbing the scouting unit and throwing him over her shoulder, Shiloh ran. All three of them were fleeing the scene as the very bloodthirsty terror lizard swiveled its massive head for easy prey. Catching the scent of other creatures nearby, it let out a deafening screech again and charged at the dragon. It was the biggest thing in the area, and its bright white scales made it stand out against the jungle foliage. One bite from that thing could easily bisect a grown man if he was unfortunate to get caught in between its teeth.

Aqua was not surprised that the creature still chose to fight. The only thing surprising was the mintion of some wild law. A law she knew all to well. "It would do you well to lurn all the laws. Another being dont challenge a stronger creature" her tail flickered. "Fine, wannt to fight than fight." She got up, faced the attacker, and got ready to fight. Thats when the tree split, a new danger was present and oviously more of a challenge than the other. 

Aqua just watched as the three talked. She started cleaning her talons and face once she realised that the new person was not going to atack and nor was the others which took command from the new person. That said she refused to turn her back on them, being raised around theivs and pirates had that effect on her.

The presents of a large terror lizzerd was something new to Aqua but one thing was for sure it was going to atack and was not smart enough to reason to. In response to its roor she turned and started to flap her wings. She knew she had no chance at a full on fight but running would likely end in the same way. She leaped into the air and started ti fly. The tightly placeed trees move out of her way then back as she past. 

Once above the trees she turned and started to huver as she started calling the vines and plants to trap the other reptiles.

Bakulaw wasn't known as a place of death for nothing. As she avoided being torn apart by the terror lizard, the skies were no safer. Feathered reptiles of all shapes and sizes were in the skies, some with talons and claws meant for tearing at slower moving beasts granting a slow and painful death. Up above, a huge flying lizard loomed overhead, but that wasn't what proved the most deadly. Insects–the most plentiful and the most insidious killers were several times larger here than anywhere else. Hornets as large as a man, bloodsucking flies with a painful sting, and worst of all the flying spiders. Flying spiders who were the size of bears.

Down in the jungle Shiloh and the automatons were running as fast as they could. That mess with the signal flare had set off some kind of imaginary alarm that told all the hostiles in the area to home in on them. Still carrying Euripides, Shiloh shouted to him. "Call the Clephsydra–now! Every bloody thing is crawling out of the woodwork to get us! It's like all the fauna here are composed of pure hatred for sentient life, or just life in general." They were stopped when a massive spider dropped down from the canopy. Flinching, Shiloh was quickly backpedaling to get away. "Oh good lord–no no no! Not this! Not this thing!" Rotating his head completely, Euripides' optic sensors glowed a bright yellow when they spotted the gigantic arachnid. "AUGHH!!" His tinny shriek from the voice box installed into his unit created a rather high-pitched garbled sound, which apparently agitated the spider even more. "Stop screaming and keep quiet!" Galatea shouted as they were on the run again. "Ok I think I have an idea why everything hates us now!" Shiloh said between quick gasps of air. "When we get back to Antikythera–Euripides, I'm giving you a new voice synthesizer!"

The flying spiders up above began spitting acidic venom at the white dragon, buzzing around with the other hostile insects. Others began to shoot their webs aiming to snare it and drag it down. A shot of venom that missed immediately began burning the trunk of a tree upon contact, hissing and releasing steam as the bark corroded away. This might be the reason why there were such clean skeletons left lying around in Bakulaw… and ones missing parts.