The sun is bright, and birds are singing in Deer Valley Forest, while not a person is in sight. The view is gorgious, for along with no men, there are no man-made objects present either. The scent of pine is everywhere, and it almost seems like you can smell the growth of the plants from the rain the night before.

Early spring, and the newborn animals are all just learning how to stand on their own legs. It seems like the perfect day in the perfect setting.

In the center of this small clearing however, there is a tree. The tree looks the same as any other tree in the forest, except it is dead, so it has no leaves to speak of. The animals are used to the tree being there though, so they just treated it like any other tree in the forest(which it obivously isnt, as im sure you all have infered)

Suddenly though, a loud whirring sound is heard, and half of the tree swings away on a hinge and 5 men step out. They ignore the fleeing animals and sit down in a circle in the clearing. They have much to discuss, and seem like they are in a hurry to discuss it.
-------------
(this is for anyone to post in, and i tryed to u2u John Bull 1 for premission, but he nvr replyed, so im going to stick with silence meaning approval. Forgive me if I'm wrong)

The tree snapped shut with a bang and a click, but the men continued in their heated discussion.

One man - the youngest of the group - seemed only to be half listening, his eyes scanning the surrounding environment nervously and erratically. The man beside him was rumaging through a large backpack. He cursed as he realised that whatever he was looking for was not there and zipped the bag shut again.

Just as the group was getting extremely passionate about their talk, their arms flailing, another member of the group suddenly crouched down lower. He hushed the other members with his aged finger and gestured them all to crouch down as he was. They all listened.

All that could be heard was the rustle of leaves in the soft breeze and the birds chirping merrily. The youngest man was becoming even more erratic and restless now. He was squirming uncomfortablly and shifting from foot to foot. The man next to him tapped him on the shoulder. There was no need for words; the younger man understood.

Crunch! A twig snapped not far off. There were sudden shouts and mayhem followed. The five men got up and ran in different directions. More shouts followed, loud roars over a peaceful scene. Then all of a sudden, there was a gunshot, shattering the peaceful air like a brick through a window. A scream. A thud. A dead man.

It was an hour later, and Elder Darin was dead.

Three hundred years he had lived, and three hundred years he had served; now, all that was for naught.

The elders had managed to repel the attack; it was not the first of its kind. Soon, they would have to find a new grove... soon, but not now, there was work to be done, and this one had to be preserved. If the secret was found out, the end would come.

Elder Arcturus shook his head in disconsolate silence. What was it they wanted? Arcturus, the eldest of the Council, had served for six hundred and twenty-three years; he had seen half a dozen men of his own kind killed in these six centuries, all of them murdered by the stupidity and greed of the outside world. Thoughts of vengeance rent at the outer gates of his mind, but he shut them away. There is no hatred, there is only eternal vigilance.

[Edited on 5-24-2004 by Xenographer]

"how did they find us?" he wondered. This meeting place had been a secure one for over 50 years now. No one ever came to this area anymore, the Guardians of the Elders made sure of that. How did they fail? And today of all days.

Arcturus shook his head in disbelief at their misfortune. Darin had called this meeting, as he had found new information, vital information, that he felt needed to be shared with the Council of Elders as soon as they could all meet.

And meet they did.

As Arcturus watched the other 3 men slowly make their ways back to the glen, he recalled what the meeting was about. Darin had had a vision. The vision told him of the forgotten location of the Ancient Book of the Elders, kept from the beginning of time. With this book, secrets long forgotten (along with the location of the book) would be revealed.

However, the vision was almost a sort of riddle, which Darin recited for us.

Under the moon but over the stars
with a whole lot of trees, but even more cars
Where all colors mixed turn into white
where night is day and day is night
In the city of...

here, Darin was cut off. and now, his vision is lost forever. They had nothing but the first 4 lines of the riddle, and no one to finish it.

Or did they?

see below

[edit on 21-6-2004 by pineappleupsidedown]

^^^You can clear that post now,pineappleupsidedown^^^
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
No they didnt....

Arcturus and the other 3 men: Mongoloid, Gameboy and Mario, decided to go over each line of the riddle that they had.

Under the moon but over the stars
Gameboy thought this could mean the Sun, because in Deer Valley Forest the Sun appears lower than the moon. The stars appear to start right under the sun. That doesnt give the elders much to work on yet.

with a whole lot of trees, but even more cars
Mario said started naming some places that had alot of trees and cars. "New York, Los Angleles, Seattle, Washington DC........" He could be onto something there.

Where all colors mixed turn into white
The elders are totally stumped by this line of the riddle. They dont think it makes much sense. Arcturus decided to move on to the next line of the riddle.

where night is day and day is night
The elders immediantly thought of Las Vegas. They thought this because there are so many lights on at night that it looks like day. And people sleep all through the day from the long "night" they had. So the day is night. But there arent alot of trees there. Mongoloid thought Los Angeles. It has alot of trees. It can get pretty light at night with all the parties. There are plenty of cars. They are under the moon...and all the "stars" live there too. They werent to sure about the all colors mixing into white part tho. But they thought this was enough.

In the city of...
Los Angeles!!!

Then they thought maybe they shouldnt be working on the riddle while smoking the peace pipe. Arcturus decided to lead the elders of the glen again, tomorrow, in talking about what the riddle could mean and where the Ancient Book of the Elders could be. Arcturus, Mongoloid, Gameboy and Mario all passed out onto the seperate beds from a hard day.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kinda weird...i know...

[Edited on 21-6-2004 by dreamlandmafia]