Auren's Challenges

“God damn it, I’ve lost her again.” Fable frowned as he set down his Catalytic Lens, getting up from his spot under the Quicksilver Tree. The mage had only just realised his troublesome little sister had once again disappeared. Tucking his book back into his satchel, Fable turned in a slow circle.

There was no sign of Auren at all. “This better not be a game.” Activating his flying ring, Fable floated up and gazed thoughtfully at the surrounding forest. It was a big place to search. However…

“She’s probably at the volcano again.” Pulling his goggles down over his eyes, Fable shot off to the rather large volcano to his left. Auren did love shoving all manner of things into the lava to examine the object’s properties when heated, and the elder mage was starting to get sick of the singed clothes and smoke she often brought home.

Fable landed at the edge of the basalt hill, peering into the nearest cave. “Auren? You here?” A chirp answered his call, and he moved into the cave, groaning at his lack of torches. Maybe it was time to ask Auren for a Ring of Arcana.

“What are you putting in lava now?” He waited as Auren held up a hand, crouched over something. Her small body shifted slightly, casting strange shadows on the walls. It was really hot in here, he didn’t understand how Auren could put up with it, wearing those oversized jumpers.

“…Where has your jumper gone?” The young mage clicked her tongue as she turned around to face him.

“Look what I found.” Auren picked up a bundle and wobbled over to him, carefully pulling back the hood of her jumper. “It looks like an egg.” Fable blinked as he took it from his sister.

It did look like an egg, but it was metallic, and had what looked like bolts holding the two halves of the shell together. He turned it around slowly, calloused fingers running over the bolts.

“Can we keep it?” Auren’s voice broke through his thoughts and he scowled.

“No. Put it back where you found it. There’s probably a mother around here somewhere.” He placed the bundle back into Auren’s arms, avoiding looking at her wobbling eyes.

“B-but I checked! There were no other eggs, n-no nest, no nothin’!” She wrapped her arms protectively around the egg. “Pleeeaaaase?”

“No.” Fable said firmly, taking the egg back. He ignored her loud whine as he placed it carefully in a nook in the wall. “Leave it there. You have plenty of things to play with already.”

Stamping her foot, Auren cried out childishly. “Y-yeah, w-well you’re a big girly meanie!”

Fable snorted. “That I am. Now come on, let’s go. It’s getting dark.” The taller male turned back down the long tunnel, not glancing back. He didn’t have to use his magic or his sixth sense to know that the egg had been picked up and placed in Auren’s bag. And he was sort of glad that the young girl was so stubborn; he really wanted to see what was inside the mechanical egg too.

Auren poked the egg curiously. It’d been three days and nothing had happened. The mageling was starting to worry that the creature had long since passed and all she was holding was an empty shell.

“Be patient, Aurie.” Fable said as he breezed by, smelling of quicksilver and netherwart. “It might just be a young egg. Things like this take time.” The older mage smiled as his sister huffed behind him. He busied himself with looking through his old tomes, while Auren popped up at his elbow.

“But I want it to hatch now! I wanna see what’s inside it.” She slid down her brother’s leg, curling around his feet and latching on. “Make it hatch!” Fable shook his head.

“Here’s an idea: why don’t you head down to the basement and start on those solar panels for your lab?” That perked her right up. Fable gripped the enchanting table, steadying himself as Auren rapidly unwound herself from his limbs and shot for the door. “Hey! Don’t forget the egg!”

The ravenette scurried back in, plucking the egg and it’s makeshift nest from the table before leaving again. Fable sighed in relief. Now, to start on those rings.

—-

“Go to the basement Auren. Start on the solar panels, Auren. Take the egg with you, Auren.” The girl huffed as she hopped down the stairs two at a time. Her brows were furrowed in annoyance as she stumbled on a landing.

“Urgh, I’m not a kid, Fable.” Well technically she was, but still. Who did Fable think he was, ordering her around like that? Blowing a stray piece of hair out of her face, Auren peered into the dim basement. “I told him we need lamps down here.”

Placing the egg down carefully amongst a pile of copper wires, Auren flicked her wrist, a flame appearing in her hand. She went around the room, carefully lighting the torches on the wall. Once the room was well lit, she came back to the egg. Her palm brushed against the cool surface and she frowned.

“I need to keep you warm somehow.” Looking around, Auren grinned as she found a piece of a failed tunnel bore. “This will do.” Picking up some more scrap metal, she quickly fashioned an incubator. It wasn’t the best machine or the prettiest, but it would do for the few hours she’d be down in the cool basement.

Carefully placing the egg inside, she heated the copper coiled underneath with her magic, mindful of not letting the egg overheat. “There, snug as a bug in a rug.” Satisfied that the egg would be fine, Auren wandered off in search of the solar panel she’d started.

She soon located her project under a pile of steel plating, pulling out the wonky metal box with a sigh. The solar panel needed a lot of work, and her work was a lot of hit and miss. But somebody needed to learn how the science-y stuff worked and Auren was determined to be the one to figure it out.

Auren pulled a box of parts towards her and plopped down beside the panel, sorting through the objects eagerly. “Aha!” She grinned triumphantly, pulling out a small circuit. “I hope this-” Auren paused mid-sentence as a strange metallic grating sound reached her ears.”What…?”

Turning her head, she scanned the piles of scrap, looking for the source. “Are there silverfish down here again? I hope not. I hate silverfish…” Ring of Ignition at the ready, Auren moved into a crouching position, eyes straining to find the slightest movement. Her search soon had her turning towards the table where she’d left the egg.

“Oh… oh poop.” The egg hatched. And she missed it. Cautiously approaching the table, Auren reached out to poke the shell fragments. “It feels like metal.” She picked up a piece, examining it closely.

“Fable would want to see this.” Pocketing the shard, Auren turned on the spot. “Now, where are you, little guy?” A rustling sound came from Auren’s immediate right, and she stood still as a sheet of metal fell down in front of her.

Behind the sheet was a small, round creature. It appeared to be half metal and half organic, with something akin to a chimney on it’s head. She couldn’t see the creature’s eyes, but.. “Are those wheels?” The creature stopped rummaging through the pile of steel, turning towards her curiously.

Auren took in the mismatched eyes with fascination. What was it? “Hey… that’s a wire you’re eating there, little guy.” The creature blinked, before making a happy chirping sound. Auren’s eyes widened as she watched it swallow the wire in one large gulp before zooming towards her.

The mageling couldn’t help herself, she yelped and moved back a few paces. The little creature halted, chirping in confusion. It seemed to deflate, looking downright miserable. “Hey, hey, no don’t be like that.” Auren crouched down and crawled towards it.

The creature scooted back, still looking at her with sad eyes. “No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be scared. Please come closer.” Did it understand her? She hoped it did.

It chirped sadly, not moving any closer. Auren looked around, picking up a small piece of wire. “Here, look. Do you want it?” She smiled as it- he? Was it a he? -trundled closer to her, slowly opening it’s mouth. “Oh… oh wow.” Those were some razor sharp teeth he had. His nose twitched happily as he took the wire from her, almost snatching it from her grasp. She grinned.

“I think we need to teach you some manners.” The creature said nothing, chewing cheerfully on the wire. Curiously, Auren reached out, wanting to touch the metal that covered half of it. The creature looked up, eyeing her warily. He seemed to deem her as an ally though, wheeling up to meet her hand. Auren beamed.

“Hi there, little guy.” She gently rubbed the warm metal, moving slowly down to the part that looked organic. She blinked in surprise as she found him to be made entirely out of metal. “That’s slightly disappointing.” She leaned back, taking her hand with her. The little creature chirped in confusion, following her hand. He came to her lap and looked at it, then wheeled himself around her. After some thought, the creature simply hopped into her lap.

“Warm.” Auren smiled, cuddling the little being on her lap. “You need a name.” If she named him, then Fable would have to let her keep him. “I’ll call you… Coke.” She gently poked his nose. “You remind me of a train.”

Coke chirped happily. “Well Coke, I really need to get back to work.” But before she could move, an ender pearl appeared in front of her.

“Auren. Could you come back upstairs please?” Auren huffed. Coke looked at the floating orb curiously, hopping out of her lap to try and get at the object.

Auren scooped up the little train critter, nuzzling her cheek against his. “Come on, let’s see what Fable wants.”