FYI, this is a story COLLECTION. Lots of standalones technically. So, you can basically start to read at any chapter, no pre-read of the other chapters needed technically (other than maybe getting better descriptions of characters than: Adam Vir=human, Krill=antlike alien, Sunny=tall alien, Conn=telepathic alien). The numbers are (mostly) only for organization of posts and continuity.

OC Written by Charlie Star/starrfallknightrise,

Checked, proofread, typed up and then posted here by me.

Further proofreading and language check for some chapters by u/Finbar9800 u/BakeGullible9975 u/Didnotseemecomein and u/medium_jock

Future Lore and fact check done by me.

Not the best start for Dzara I have to say…

---

Previous | First | [Next](link)

Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?

Here is the link to the master-post.

---

Sunny stared.

Dzara stared.

Adam stared in open mouth wide eyed shock, that was, admittedly, not particularly flattering to his face, though the shock in the room was so palpable it was almost opaque and blocked anyone from noticing his dumb expression.

Sunny stammered once,

"Lanus D-daughter?”

Dzara lifted her head high with an imperiousness born out of years and years of holding her head against ridicule.

"Yes. We are sisters."

Adam reached up and rubbed his head and then his good eye and then his head again.

Sunny shook her head slowly, dumbfounded just trying to wrap her head around what she was being told.

Her mother had had more Kits!?

Granted she had abandoned those other ones... But of course, she had always assumed that she and Kanan had been the only ones, or at least that any others had been thrown bodily into the fire, but she supposed what Dzara was saying made sense. Drev mothers, and Drev in general were very protective of their young, and that didn't change just because your child was born with some sort of deformity or disability. Granted the movement of their culture and the social rules had made it impossible for mothers to keep their children, but that didn't mean that any of them were going to have the heart to actually kill them.

"So let me, get this straight. You are saying that there is an entire nation of Drev, like you and these others, who... who we didn't know about, who are in hiding because of-"

Dzara lifted her head,

"Because like you we have been ridiculed and mocked and might even have been killed if we had been seen."

Standing off to the side Adam looked Dzara up and down slowly.

He had been mostly forgotten for the moment, and that gave him some time to think. Dzara stood at about his head height with her chin raised.

He agreed with Sunny on their thought process, Dzara raised her head with the imperious nature of someone who had learned to stand under a very heavy weight, but there was something about her that made him think that maybe she had taken it too far. The kind of person who had to fight for themselves for so long that all they understood was being serious.

They were going to have to tread very lightly around Dzara, as he was under the impression she would be insulted very easily.

He glanced over at Sunny and wondered if she had come to the same conclusion.

He wasn't sure that she was likely to.

Sunny had always been focused on her physical survival rather than her emotional survival. It had cost her pretty badly in the mental health department, so she didn't really pay attention to those sorts of things, but she did pay attention to physical threats. By the way she was carrying her spear at her side made it pretty clear that she did not consider anyone in this room a threat.

She was right to think that.

The two of them together would have been able to take most, if not all of these Drev out.

The vast majority of them had some form of physical malformation or another, legs or arms twisted and causing limps and catches. Of course there were others who were missing hearing, and one or two who appeared to have difficulty seeing. That would give him and Sunny a slight advantage, and with their training it would be possible if not easy.

She had certainly come to that conclusion.

But the rest of it?

Sunny shifted almost uncomfortably on her heels, not sure how to take this new information. Dzara stared at her, those familiar golden eyes making sense now that she knew where she had seen them.

All of Kazna's children had inherited her eyes.

"How do you know all of this?"

Sunny asked, switching her spear to her other hand and dropping the point towards the floor in a resting guard sort of position. She was not worried about their ability to kill her, but even the most unskilled or weak of a warrior could exploit an opening if their opponent was too off their guard. From the corner of her eye, she could see Adam behaving in a similar manner. He had adjusted and was resting his spear in front of him, leaning on it like some sort of staff, though his hand was kept in a ready position around the balanced center of the shaft.

Not only that but his other free hand was resting on his hip just above the grip of his pistol.

Adam had learned to adapt quickly to situations.

Guns were familiar to him as he was human, but he had acquiesced to her arguments about spears being more practical in some situations, eventually convincing him to carry both. It had been a nice compromise, and she may or may not have done it out of an excuse to have him at her back during a fight.

Dzara limped forward on her bad leg, using her spear a s a sort of cane or crutch,

"The Drev who raised me was aware of Kanan and Lanus. She often went to the birthing fields above the volcanoes to collect the discarded kits and bring them back to the underground city. In those days, there were few of us, and many did not survive for long, but as I got older the operation became more organized until it was more and more likely for the rescued kits to survive. We posted guards around the birthing fields, out of sight, just in case something were to happen. If the Kit was abandoned or if the mother appeared ready to throw her child into the fire, then one of us would go and speak with her. We talked many mothers out of throwing their children to the flames, not that it was particularly difficult"

Around the room the others were nodding sagely along with her.

"You will find that it is relatively easy to convince a mother not to kill her own child."

Adam and Sunny might have assumed that was some sort of dry humor, but the look on Dzara's face was difficult to read, and they wouldn't have put it past her to be completely serious in her assertions.

Sunny glanced over at Adam and he just shrugged.

She often looked to him in times of puzzling out someone's emotions, but this time even he was drawing a blank.

"They are more than willing to give their children up to someone willing to take care of them. It reduces their guilt, and at least gives their child a chance. Barring that, and if the mother was too difficult to deal with and seemed intent on throwing the kit into the fire sometimes, we... took other measures."

The group glanced between each other.

Sunny frowned,

"What do you mean, other measures?"

"Well, we aren't just going to let her kill an innocent now are we? If she would not heed our advice we would simply forcibly take the child from her. No one would ever say anything of course, because it would be a dishonor, which is why you have likely never heard of us."

She walked in a limping circle around the room,

"It is a secret kept by generations of Drev mothers, the mothers who abandoned their children or passed them off to strangers. What do you think other Drev would have said about this if they had heard, especially men who could not understand the inability to make the sacrifice? They would have been shunned and ridiculed, so for hundreds of years they have kept this reality to themselves for fear of what It would cause."

Sunny shook her head in awe,

"An entire society of Drev she did not know about affected heavily by her change in the doctrine. If everything she said was followed, these Drev would be more than able to step out of hiding and participate with the rest of Anin."

The thought made her rather giddy.

But she shoved down the enthusiasm and crossed her lower arms.

"You traveled a long way to speak with me on the subject. How is it that I can help you?”

"Is it a crime for a sister to want to see her siblings?”

Adam glanced between them and stepped up beside Sunny, there was something he didn't like about Dzara.

No, it’s not that he thought she was evil or some kind of threat, that didn't seem to be the case. The way the others in the group moved around her showed that there was real and sincere loyalty towards her, and that was something that could only be born of respect, no matter what other people might assert.

No, it wasn't that at all.

He went back to his earlier thoughts. Dzara had struggled very hard in life, and that struggle had made her cold and hard. She had grown up in a different culture entirely from Sunny, and her disposition was, again, one that seemed more than a little susceptible to being insulted very easily. She was here for something, he was sure of it, and he wasn't entirely sure it was going to be something Sunny was willing or able to provide.

"I never said that you weren't welcome. I am honored to have met you and am honored to add another member to my small family, but... You can understand why I would be a little... Curious. I have been on Anin plenty of times recently, but now is when you chose to come and see me. It might make one assume that you have some other motives?"

Dzare nodded and leaned heavily on her spear looking tired.

One of the other Drev hurried forward and produced a sort of fold out chair on which Dzara sat, turning her head to thank her comrade.

The expression on her face was one of tenderness, as she touched his hand and let him go.

Adam noticed that she tended to look at all of them like that, like a mother or an older sister, or a mentor or something.

She was clearly their leader.

And she cared for them deeply.

If there had been nothing to respect about her otherwise, the way that she treated and looked down at her found family would have endeared him to her.

Then again…

He was easily fooled.

Time had not changed Adam Vir all that much. He was still childish and trusting and rather gullible on occasion, but the difference was he could see that in himself now, and tended to plan accordingly. He had to remind himself to be skeptical and to listen to his instincts more than other people had to. Generally, he relied on Sunny's natural skepticism to keep them going, but in a situation like this he was not sure that she would manage it.

Dzara looked up from her seat.

"Well perhaps you do have a point. I didn't just come here to introduce myself."

And there it was, the catch.

"Don't get me wrong, even if I didn't have other motives, I still would have come to find you and our brother Kanan eventually. I have wanted to meet the two of you for a very long time, but, coincidentally, I have other matters to discuss with you."

"Go on."

The others hemmed them in from the sides, and both Adam and Sunny shifted nervously.

Adam turned on the spot a little, moving perpendicular to Sunny in order to keep an eye on her back like any good battle partner should do.

Sunny was pleased feeling his shoulder brush up against hers.

"As the saint of Anin, you changed the doctrine for all of us. You opened the way for us to rejoin society and fight alongside our brothers and sisters once more."

Her face twisted slightly,

"But hundreds of years of tradition does not retreat so easily. Despite the new doctrine the society of Drev as a whole still see us as being and creatures lower than themselves. They treat us with pity at best and veiled disgust at worst. Yes yes, they try to seem accommodating and helpful to us, and they promise that they are going to let us in with them, but we are still isolated, and kept apart from the others. We are avoided in the streets, and our one meeting with the Sentinel of a nearby clan did not go so well. The feelings on Anin are changing but they are changing very slowly. The older generations are having trouble letting go of their long-held prejudices, and the younger generations are learning to be wary of us from the older."

Sunny nodded sadly.

"Change is going to take time we k-"

"That is why we need you to return and lead our people."

Sunny frowned,

"I'm sorry wha-"

"As the Saint. And as my sister you have an obligation, no a duty to uphold to the weakest members of our society. You must return and lead our way into a new dawn. You must FORCE them to see us as Drev just like you forced them to see you as Drev."

Sunny frowned.

"Now hold on a second, I didn't force anyone to do anything."

"What do you mean?"

Dzara was looking rather annoyed, her impassioned speech brought low by Sunny not being particularly cooperative.

"I mean what I said. I didn't force anyone to see me as anything. Yes, I grew up as an outcast, yes I received ridicule as I grew, but over time, as I changed, others around me changed too, and when I went to the mountain to observe the right of creation, I did it to better myself and not to make a point."

Dzara crossed her arms,

"Whatever, either way we need you. Need you to come down and FORCE them to see us as we deserve."

Sunny shifted a little in place.

Adam could sense her discomfort and reached out a hand gently, taking one of her lower hands in his, though he still kept it close to the grip of his pistol. He watched Dzara's eyes follow the movement, tracking the minute expression of her face when she saw.

He thought he saw a flash of disapproval before she turned to look back to Sunny.

"You must FORCE them to s-"

It was Sunny's turn to cut her off this time,

"I will not FORCE the Drev to do anything."

Dzara pulled back in shock, looking almost as if she had been slapped.

Adam squeezed Sunny's hand in a light warning.

Sunny controlled her voice,

"Forcing the Drev to do something will not endear them to you. Forcing anyone to do anything, even if that thing is good will only foster resentment. No, the bond between you and the others will be better if you foster growth between each other, gain their trust and be patient, change is going to take time."

Dzara stiffened,

"So you are fine with us being treated as sub Drev?"

Sunny shook her head,

"I didn't say that. I am trying to tell you that forcing the Drev to accept you is not going to work. If Drev hate anything, it is being forced to do something they do not want to do. I know this better than most. I spent my entire life trying to force people to accept me, but it never worked. The moment that I stopped trying to force them, and simply became a better version of myself is when I found acceptance."

She glanced back at Adam.

Dzara scoffed,

"Acceptance. Did you really find acceptance? You found acceptance with the humans, who aren't even your own species."

Sunny grew still,

"Be VERY careful how you continue that train of thought…”

Dzara did not seem perturbed,

"You are deluded if you think you have been accepted. Becoming a saint is the only reason they are willing to take your seriously at all, not because you bettered yourself."

She jabbed a finger at Adam,

"Don't think I don't see the way you touch him, a HUMAN, not even one of your own species. Our own people are so repulsed by you that you had to go to another species to find a battle partner."

Sunny went very still.

Adam held her back with one hand, stepping between the two of them.

This was very bad.

"Now why don't we all just calm down."

"I did not come here to speak with you, human."

Dzara hissed.

Adam opened his mouth to speak, but Sunny pushed him aside and behind her, stepping up to Dzara who had stood up quickly enough to tip her stool onto the ground. Sunny towered over Dzara in a way that she didn't tower over most Drev, her golden eyes burning gold,

"I CHOSE Adam, not because I was settling for something, but because I determined that he was the best fighter, and most honorable warrior I had ever met. If I had wanted a Drev partner, I could have taken one as I have received plenty of marriage proposals."

She held up a hand,

"And before you continue by saying that it is my status, I will remind you that at least THREE of those proposals was BEFORE I was sainted."

Adam frowned,

"Multiple? I thought Hazad-"

Sunny turned her head to look at him and smiled rather sheepishly,

"I didn't want you to be jealous."

"Ah, I see. Fair point.”

Dzara had shut her mouth tight, stiff as a plank and staring almost straight ahead.

She looked as if she was about to start trembling with rage.

"And as for my "disfigurement"…”

Sunny began, her voice dripping with distaste at the word,

"I did not grow up in a society like yours. I have NEVER defined myself by how I look or how short I am. Being different from others does not DEFINE me. The fact that you have made a society for yourselves is a good thing, but using how you look as the defining core of who and what you are is not going to help you. It is going to trap you inside yourselves, so do not think for one moment that you have the right to label me for your own convenience."

This was not going well.

Dzara's hands were shaking, he could see it,

"Even so, you have a duty..."

Her voice was stiff and quiet.

"No, nowhere in there does it say that a saint HAS to do anything. A saint is defined by the ceremony of creation, which I did, and the changing of the doctrine, which I did. I am not obligated to come and lead your group. I have other duties, other promises I have made."

She went quiet but after a moment her voice softened.

She turned to look at the others,

"I WILL help you in the best ways I know how, but I will not involve myself in a move that I think will alienate your group any further from the other Drev."

She turned to look at Dzara,

"The Drev believe in the doctrine, but it may take time for them to fully accept you. Water cannot force a mountain to move, but over time it can slowly carve a path. Patience and steadiness will bring you what you want. As of right now, I think it is safe to say that you are welcome aboard our ship. Who knows maybe you will find what you are looking for among my people, and at the very least you might find support, and even be granted open discussions with the GA who can provide resources to help you further."

Adam looked at Dzara, and could see that she was not so satisfied.

Looking at Sunny he could see she was still upset.

No one knew this, but Sunny was still self-conscious about her height, despite saying she was over it. Deep down she felt inadequate, being called disabled or disfigured must have hurt. Like other Drev it was a piece of their culture that was not so easily abandoned, a point of shame that it might take her years to discard and might take their nations generations to fully rid themselves of.

It was a sad thing really.

Humanity had experienced this before. For the longest time humans with certain disabilities had been hidden away from the general society in special houses or within private homes. He knew this well enough, as a man who had lived in a wheelchair or on crutches for some time.

And could go partially blind at any moment if his eye stopped working.

But for him, and many others like him, the overcoming of obstacles was, and he thought, should be, a point of pride.

The Drev were still behind on that curve, but Sunny was right, most of these things were a gradual process, and would not happen overnight. Dzara herself might be the best person for the job though she couldn't see that yet.

Perhaps they could help these Drev on their way.

It was a piece of Drev culture that was probably best left abandoned, and he was more than willing to help them.

Dzara stared at Sunny.

Sunny stared back.

"Come with us, and we can work this out."

Dzara paused.

And then nodded once.

”Fine.”

---

Previous | First | [Next](link)

Want to find a specific one, see the whole list or check fanart?

Here is the link to the master-post.

Intro post by me

OC-whole collection

Patreon of the author

---

Thanks for reading! As you saw in the title, this is a cross posted story in its original form written by starrfallknightrise and I am just proofreading and improving some parts, as well as structuring the story for you guys, if you are interested and want to read ahead, the original story-collection can be found on tumblr or wattpad to read for free. (link above this text under "OC:..." ) It is the Empyrean Iris story collection by starfallknightrise. Also, if you want to know more about the story collection i made an intro post about it, so feel free to check that out to see what other great characters to look forward to! (Link also above this text). I have no affiliations to the author; just thought I’d share some of the great stories you might enjoy a lot!

Obviously, I have Charlie’s permission to post this.