| Elsewhere, at the nearby spaceport......
His name was Solik'tril Jones, a raven haired, green eyed elfin boy
of eight. Adopted elfin son of one Spaceman Eric Jones (First Class), Military
Spaceship Technician-Repairs/Maintenance.
His original birth parents (too burnt up afterwards for identification)
had died in a horrible accidental fire that would have also killed him
if his new adopted father hadn't braved the flames (earning some interesting
burns) and rescued him (crying and bawling, still in diapers). The sniffling
infant bade had looked up into the face of his savior, and the rough but
kind mechanic had looked down into his. Next thing (after seeing to getting
aid to the infant boy) was to call his Judge Advocate General (military
lawyer) and filing for adoption of the orphan child. Contacts where made
and investigations conducted. The source of the fire was never discovered,
nor did the surviving relatives come forward to claim the lost infant.
The local officials had no record of this child's birth (the only records
had also perished in the flames). The elfin officials, having already discovered
that the infant had bonded with the human being, sighed and let the adoption
take place. So Solik'tril became Eric's son.
Eric did his best to raise his child as a normal elfin boy, but while
somewhat successful, the boy had decided that he would follow in daddy's
footsteps! So, when his magical talent was discovered, he had horrified
the happy mage who'd performed the test by outright refusing to learn any
magical spells beyond what ordinary elves learn while growing up (the elfshot
spell). Instead, the boy had begged and was finally granted a cyberjack
implant at the base of his skull, just like father! It allowed him to interface
with machinery in such a way that was still unmatched by current soft patch
(non implant man/machine) interface. It also totally ruined his wellspring
of magic due to it's rather invasive nature. If, somehow, he'd been born
with it (such as all current AI/Golems were), it would not have happened.
Eric Jones had initially been leery of letting it happen, but his son had
been so.....set on it that and so much wanted to following in his footsteps.....
Eric had given in, and how his son was like a shadow.....learning all
he could about mechanical and electronic gadgets.
He was quiet talented and inventive, actually.
"Boy was born with a logic probe in his hand....I bet," Eric had told
his co-workers proudly on more than one occasion.
That aside, there had been a whole gaggle of friends invited for Solik'tril's
upcoming birthday next week (since Eric had unilaterally decided, at an
early time, that the first of that particular month would be his son's
birthday....since nobody could tell him what Solik'tril's real birthday
was), when it had happened.
His son had been happily chattering away with father, talking shop about
a recent plasma flow injector problem he'd been studying in simulations,
when Eric saw his son take on a wild..... frightened look!
The submerged memories of the elfin boy's previous life had come back
on his real eighth birthday, and it was ironic indeed who he'd been in
that earlier life.
His name was also One-Eye, an elfin hunter, warrior, and elder of the
Wolfrider tribe of the now departed World of Two Moons! He had another
name a long time agone, but even he no longer remembered it. Indeed, he'd
earned his name when he'd been captured by the humans near his holt (the
elfin home) and had one eye put out from them before his wolf had attacked
and driven the rabidly xenophobic stone age thugs away. The healer of the
tribe had been able to seal the wound, but not regrow the eye back. Hiding
the lack of eye under an eyepatch, the elf (lovemate of Clearbrook and
father/sire of Scouter and a long lost daughter) soon called himself One-Eye....and
the others soon also called him that.
Needless to say, One-Eye had little trust or love of human beings after
such a tramatic event. Fact was, he hated them.
That aside, he followed the commands of his Chief (little more than
a boy in his teens) when the young cub had lead them hither and yon. Even
when Cutter (that young chief) had gone and befriended some humans and
aided other humans back at Blue Mountain. He was loyal to Cutter, and never
questioned Cutter's judgments.
Besides that, the elf was fierce in battle, especially when his family
was endangered. Thus, he had died fighting to defend his injured son back
at the Frozen Mountain (the location of the Palace of the High Ones back
at that time). He'd been blind sided by a troll, and fallen in battle.
But his soul found no quick release when the Preserver Petalwing sealed
him in wrapstuff (material that makes something that could be termed a
stasis cocoon). This trapped him on the point of death, unable to go either
way. Days later, Leetah sensed that body and soul were still together,
and desperately revive him. The result was anything but good. Oh, his body
was back "online" but the elf's spirit was well and truly set on just getting
some peace and pain free existence in the halls of the Palace. That was,
until the day the shockwaves tore that little time shard universe apart.
He and the other spirits within the Palace Saw the approaching destruction,
but were powerless to prevent it.....or flee it. Well, all except One-Eye.
There was one last place and thing he'd do before everything went into
the fire. So, he'd touched Clearbrook's soul tenderly (if quickly) and
spoken one last word of warning (not able to say more before the Chaos
Wave struck).
But now with the return of his memories, the young/old elfin boy was
faced with a lot of problems. His most vivid memories was of his eye being
taken out. So he hated human beings. The other memory was the first memory
(of his new life) that was burned into his mind was of his father coming
in and rescuing him! He loved him and liked human beings in general.....but
he also hated them and distrusted them.
The boy, backing up in fear, then shook his head and whimpered. Confused
and scared.
(The fact that besides the fact he could see out of two eyes instead
of the remembered one, he also had more fingers and toes than before....ten
instead of eight....wasn't helping matters much).
"Dad....I...." he said, then slipping in and out of English, Terra Prime
elfin, and his old tongue.
Seeing his son in distress, the frightened Eric Jones scooped up the
shivering child who cringed away from him....then drew closer for comfort
at turns.
"Cubs.....lifemate....where are you?" Solik'tril Jones/One-Eye whispered,
fainting.
Jones, not bothering with niceties, burst into the ER of the Base and
bellowed for aid.....and NOW!
-
 Meanwhile,
in yet another location......
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