Akadri Tech. Lights, the familiar Talik powered cannons. Hugleikr groaned and closed his eyes against the sight. A thick, musky scent filled the air. The giants. How did they live down here, beneath the waves? How could one breathe so far from the surface? How could they filter the air?

Well, with more repurposed war tech. He wasn’t sure how to feel about this. How these children of Garoch took the very technology that was meant to kill Garoch and his kind, and turned it into tools. On one hand it was ingenious, truly a powerful spit in the face of the Akadri who would seek the destruction of the world as it had been known. On the other, it left a bitter taste in Hugleikr’s mouth.

The ropes behind his forelegs tugged and rubbed one of his bandaged wounds. Pain blossomed, and he stumbled forward, following the strangers he’d been bound to (whether to support him given his wooziness from bloodloss and toxic water in his wounds, or to force him to comply he couldn’t begin to determine. Maybe both.) Ahead of him, the stranger he’d attempted to capture made every move with indignation. Tail lashing, heavy stamps of their feet. Occasionally they glanced back at him with a glare. Such a child. He sighed and shook his head.

“Where precisely are you taking me?” he asked one of his ropemates. The giant, a brick red toa with a vibrant swell of orange from his side ot his tail, and impressive impala horns, gave him a contemplative look before answering with a smooth voice.

“To yehr trial before my mother. Once she’s through with yeh, we’ll see where yeh land.” the mountain of a toa explained. His mother? Hugleikr lifted his head, padded along after his jailers. “We punish criminals here. Don’ know ‘bout where yehr from…”

Home had an interesting policy on crime, Hugleikr mused. “How we handle it depends on the crime. Punishment is a curious word. I’d associate it with abuse in my home. I certainly hope you don’t intend to beat me.”

The toa scoffed and shook his head. “Nah. I’d say the luta took care o’ that part fer us. Punishment is restricted freedom, and dependin’ on the crime an’ the criminal, some sort of work of service t’ rehab them. …Yeh’ll stay in Paschara till yer deemed safe t’ release.”

Fair enough, Hugleikr supposed. He was pulled onto an elevator, brought down. With the giants on either side of him, he couldn’t see the city around him. Not that it would have helped, even just sitting on the moving platform made his head spin. Was this the bends or…

“Come.” The opalescent stranger ordered, and as if he had a choice Hugleikr followed, until his ropes were being untied from his guides and instead coiled around handles in the floor. He watched this, and mourned how frail these creatures assumed him to be-- until he lifted his head and his heart leaped into his chest.
A hallucination? No, she couldn’t be, for her face was twisted with as much surprised familiarity as his own. If anyone else noticed, they said nothing and in a heartbeat Corundum’s crimson eyes narrowed and she lowered her chin, rising from what Hugleikr recognized now as a throne. No tail? …The centuries had changed little else about her, and she moved with grace and ease despite her lack of balancing limb.

“Plantiff, state yer name and accusation.” Corundum’s voice was lower, gruffer, than it had been centuries ago. Her accent not as thick as her kin. Still, Corundum… this was… good. Good news. Or at least not bad news. He could work with this. Ah, but first he had to do away with this attempted abduction charge. Best to be honest, he supposed. Centuries may have passed, but Corundum had always favored honesty and pride.

The opalescent garoch stepped forward. “Vackhalee, ma’am. This outsider attempted t’ abduct me, with the ‘elp of that little harpy. The black ‘n red.”

Hugleikr settled down as much as his bindings would allow, and waited. Corundum’s expression did not change, while Vackhalee sent another withering glare Hugleikr’s way.
“Understood.” Corundum nodded. “Stranger, yer name and plea?” those crimson eyes on him again.

“Hugleikr.” he answered with and idle wave of his paw. “And I will readily admit I am guilty on the count of attempted abduction. However, my so-called-accomplice is a stranger. I’d not spoken with them prior and I’ve little idea why they chose to assist me.”
Corundum’s eyes narrowed, the set of her ears shifted. Weighing his words. What she remembered. “I had thought,” he started to explain, before she could ask, “That the information I seek from this place would come to me more readily if I had leverage. To that effort, I sought to obtain such leverage. I realize now how foolish and short-sighted that plan was.” he bowed his head. “I submit myself to whatever punishment you see fit.”

“And that’s why, of course, you led my soldiers on a luta’s tail, and only submitted yerself to custody after a pod found yeh.” the queen’s disdain could not be clearer. “...If yeh’d just been patient, old man, I mighta told you what I know. As you didn’t… well, you join the others of yehr ilk. My verdict is two years. Yehr warden will assign you to your labor unit. As yehr new to Paschara, yehr first week’s pay will be withheld to pay for the creation of yehr ID and paperwork. After that, yeh’ll receive ninety percent of the standard market paycheck, with the other ten percent withheld as taxes.”

Two years? Well, it wasn’t ideal, but he supposed it could have been worse. “Very well. Thank you, ma’am.” he stood. “That seems entirely reasonable for my crime.”
He’d waited three hundred years. He could wait two more.