//------------------------------// // The Woodsmaster Returns // Story: An Aeternian's Conviction // by The Real Darkness //------------------------------// Arctus had hunted on his way over and chose specifically to be far from the town of Baltimare and the small settlement at Hayseed Junction. He kept the map on him as the only real tool to help him locate where he was, marking cardinal directions each day with stones, sticks, or some kind of naturally occuring fauna. And he stayed hidden when he foraged and hunted and spent many many days whittling down a log after cutting it down with his hatchet, taking weeks to perform the task. And months just to whittle it down by himself and also sustain his body. It had been many years since he last undertook such a long assignment, and still many years since he last arrived in Equestria suddenly during a previous assignment. He still remembered the blinding light that filled every window, every door that night. He remembered hearing the blood drip from his hunting knife after he slew the rising emperor of a nation hundreds of miles from Aeternia. It was the height of his nation's power and they wanted to expand and force peace by being the only nation left on their continent. Self-sufficiency was the basis of their glory. Arctus refocused on the task at hand, gliding the hatchet across the canoe one last time before he heaved it up and put it into the water, seeing it float well. And then float with him in it. "Oars." And with one word to himself, he got to work again. Before he set out that night, he made sure to sharpen all his tools and to provide two 'supports' to his canoe, hollowed out cylinders from another log. He ensured they were halved and two on each side, ensuring they had pressure on the bottom to assit the canoe in staying stable. He looked to the sky and could see every star clearly, the weather where he camped and prepped was very accomodating. Perhaps Celestia had something to do with that. And he left, equipment on him, some preserved food and fresh fruit and raw edible plants with him. The canoe was pushed out and he began to row, the hardest part of crossing a giant ocean was that he could not rest, he had to use the stars' positions as guidance and thus could not afford that sleep until he arrived. "This is what we do," he spoke to the empty ocean in the black, "for my glory, the glory of Equestria, and the glory of Aeternia." "We survive and kill where not a single animal would dare to go, we live in the nightmares of every kingdom to remind them that one day they may run into us." And he rowed on, speaking that night to keep him awake as he recalled from the Slabs of Scouts each name that died in service, each Scout that went on to be a Master. And he eventually reached shore of the landmass he wanted to be on. Arctus knew to the south was the Dragon Lands with the billowing volcano. It was early morning, the sun began to come up and the Scout quickly hopped out and pulled his canoe ashore, near a large rock on the beach and began to dig with an oar as quickly as he could until he had made a sizable pit. The canoe was shoved in and he began to bury it, memorizing the rock where he laid it under the sand for later use. The sun was up when he finished and he willed his exhaustion and pain away in his muscles, burying the oars atop the canoe. Arctus consulted his map as he hid behind the rock, noting his approximate location and that of Griffonstone. He recalled information from Kanna's journal. Four different Aeternians, three were here, one was in the Dragon Lands; and none of them would assist her in vengeance. He inhaled deep and then exhaled, "let's hope they're just living out their lives peacefully here and trying to find a way home." He stood and took off into the thinly wooded forest, making his way north. Once he entered, he became more aware to his surroundings and recorded the patterns of animals, sounds, and more occurences. The Master Scout was traveling slower, but nonetheless reached a clearing within an hour on the otherside of the forest. He saw the city of Griffonstone higher up on a cliff. "Accurate for an avian species," he put away his hatchet, only having his spear drawn, "I can't flee through these woods and lose any pursuers, too small." Speaking to himself was ill-advised by those who taught him but it was a habit he couldn't quit. He could sleep relatively safely in the woods however and given that he ate all the rations he brought from Hayseed Swamp, a rest and then more hunting or foraging would be advised. That's exactly what he did, only able to bag small game such as hares after he spent the day sleeping in the woods until about dusk. And he cooked when night began to arrive, gutting as he could with his knife and skinning as well. That same night he left the woods, having destroyed his campsite throughly so only the trained could see that someone was there. He ate as he walked to Griffonstone. And not even more than forty paces a small stud in his left hand's index finger vibrated harshly. Unless he was close to the source, it would continue to vibrate. He dropped low, still eating and approached the city carefully before going about the cliff walls to attempt to find the source of the mana he was alerted to. Countless tools for countless situations. While he moved about the stud stopped vibrating and he couldn't see the glow of mana or spell usage anywhere. Illusions or some other kind of subterfuge. He continued going about the cliff until he found the footpath up and began ascending in the night, it didn't take him that long to reach the city, if its poor state could reflect that. It was demolished, not by any Aeternian method, but from an economic decline as far as he could tell. His ring did not start vibrating again which meant something was certainly here. A great purple light shone on Arctus' left and he began a sprint, keeping himself low and going behind ruined buildings. The game was afoot. And the hunter had already bounded off and came upon a cemetery, hiding behind gravestones he moved closer to where the purple light was appearing. "Hey, my alarm went off." "No need to be worried, these griffins are scared shitless of us. We'll have the army we need to build a new Aeternia. Kill every griffin on this rock and go to those other lands that Kanna was talking about." "She probably already conquered them," the first voice spoke again and Arctus immediately recognized it, he vaulted over the gravestones and point his spear at the second person, seeing a second familiar face. "Shitting Gods damned Stars...it's fucking Arctus," the first recognized him, "Scout, you remember me?" He knew him, "Priest Atticus, you're the one who first introduced me to godhood magics." "So this is the legendary Scout born from the Destiny Stars, the literal Gods," the man garbed in blue had purple glows lighting their surroundings all about his body, sigils and symbols carved onto his skin. "Our first corpse recycler," Arctus spoke with distaste, "Hadden." "Even far from Aeternia you still mock me? I'm your key to the army you need, Scout." "That's Master Scout Arctus," he looked behind the pair and could see four raised bodies of griffins in varying degrees of decay, one was even just bone, "you're committing atrocities here, too." "Hadden, now that Sc-Master Scout Arctus is here, we don't need to raise the dead. He is an army." "I was dispatched by myself to protect the kingdom I serve." The two stared in disbelief at him. "The ever loyal Arctus turned his back?" Hadden insulted back. "There's another Aeternian here. Kanna's journal mentions so. Where are they?" He kept his spear pointed at Hadden. "You're so damn hostile. What happened to Kanna? You team up with her? Are we going to war here just because you hate me?" Hadden and Arctus were spitting word after word filled with hate. "I killed her, she stood against Equestria and learned the might of me. I must repeat that effort." "You gave away your stealth, Scout," Hadden rose his arms with a scream. The purple symbols came to life and countless corpses dug their way out of shallow graves, groaning. Hadden made his escape. "Uh...surely...surely you have need for a priest?" "I have no need for a priest that would raise an army against her," Arctus cut down Atticus where he stood, shoving his spear into his neck, firmly severing most of his head before retracting it back. The star filled sky provided some light, but the new moon did not help at all. Arctus knew he couldn't quite win this fight against the almost immortal, and while the health of the griffin kingdom didn't matter to him, these zombies could cause a serious problem, so he needed to figure out where Hadden was making his base of operations at. Arctus fled, cutting his way out with his greatsword. While slow, he could get swarmed or exhausted and that would not mean well. It didn't take him long to make his way out of the small army and up higher on the cliffs. The Master Scout knew from here that Hadden needed to die and he could find that third Aeternian here and move on to the Dragon Lands to tackle the real threat, although this was seeming like a real threat now and he already gave out information on where he came from. He inhaled. And exhaled. Arctus knew what he had to do, but he would wait one more night before giving it a try and he returned back to the woods, making camp quickly and settling in to sleep more. Tomorrow would bring a hunt. Tomorrow night would bring a re-deposit to the moved soil. After his short rest, Arctus began going about the woods and sniping arrow after arrow in whatever game he could get. Hares, large birds, and later that day he went to a stream that ran through the woods. The dead animals hung around a small rope, dangling from his hip. Another rope was tied to the bodkin arrow he held in his bow, not yet taut. The water would soothe others' nerves, but not the Master Scout's. He breathed in deep and pulled the bow back, the stream was wide and he could see the shapes of fish moving below. Calories, calories, calories, if he wanted to accomplish this next task, he would need so much food. He pulled the arrow back and loosed it quickly, planting it deep in a fish. His hand caught the rope and yanked the meal back to him. Arctus had a lot of sticks and wood kept nearby along with dried river stones in a circle. With a little of his magic, he started a fire at dusk, roasting meat after meat. While he cooked, he prepped the next piece of protein. Nightfall came shortly after he finished eating and he dumped the ash, stones, and wood all into the stream. He breathed in deep and exhaled, "for the glory of myself, of Aeternia, and of Equestria." Hadden would be his, his to claim and kill. Arctus did not enjoy how he defiled their dead to develop his unsavory magic, even if he explicitly rose corpses of their enemies. And every time he was dispatched was another time Arctus could have been gaining more glory and prowess to reach closer to the heavens he wanted to know. Arctus checked his equipment one more time before leaving the woods and making his way back to Griffonstone and drew his spear the moment he saw the cliff face and the stud stopped vibrating on his hand. The Master Scout rotated his spear and plunged it into the soil, hilting the full sharpened edge. His let his mana flow into the weapon. He was letting loose the full might of his spear and the Sacred Volcano that blessed it.