//------------------------------//
// Ch.4: The Ruins 
// Story: Reanimated 
// by SilverMistfim 
//------------------------------//

After that, Cobalt had sat down and we had talked. We had decided it was best if we teamed up, Cobalt said he didn't really have anything to lose.
"I grew up in Stonehaven," he had said. "I was a miner with my brother, Quick silver. we snuck out on a carriage of supplies, jumping off of it when we thought it was right. we were young and stupid, we didn't realize the danger. Quick silver was…" he swallowed hard. "Killed by them. I still remember it like it was yesterday. his screams, the blood squirting in my eyes… that's... why I'm blind."

We didn't talk much after that, except for a few apologies from me and Opal.

It's my turn to take watch. Opal and Cobalt are asleep by the empty campfire. I am tired beyond my ears (it turns out that my nightmare-filled sleep earlier had only been about an hour and a half), and I refused to let Cobalt take watch, so I took his place.
I don't necessarily trust him. I have heard stories about scavengers, ponies who act like harmless wanderers then take all of your stuff when you've let your guard down. I shiver from the cold and levitate a blanket from my saddle bag. as I wrap it around myself, I see little glimmers of light from beyond the distant mountains. we still sat on that rock, overlooking a portion Equestria.

I try to remember what it was like when ponies roamed without fear of being eaten. the wind buffets my face. the vermillion sunrise and the orange light painted over everything are beautiful. at least the lurkers couldn't take away that. I hear a groan coming from behind me. I whirl around, my blanket falling to the stone ground. I loosen up, it was only Opal waking up.

"Good morning," yawns Opal. "Rose, you should get some sleep. you look awful."

I yawn. "yeah, I probably should. would that be ok?"

She nods, standing up. "lucky bastard gets to sleep all night." Says Opal, gesturing to Cobalt.

I chuckle and levitate my blanket over to me, wrapping it around myself and lying down.

I wake up to Opal nudging my flank. I sit up.

"What time is it?" I ask.

"Around noon." says Opal.

"I slept that long?!"

"Well you didn't get any sleep last night, so it's understandable." Opal says.
I sigh and rub my neck. Cobalt is sitting by the edge of the rock, looking at the sky.
"What have you two been doing all day?" I ask.

"Mainly sorting out supplies and gathering fruit." says Opal.

I nod and stand up. It seems they have packed up everything.

"Ready to go?" Opal asks to me and Cobalt.

"Yup." I say.

Cobalt stands up and walks over to us, not saying anything.

"Okay then, lets move out!" Opal says as she trot's into the forest.

I make a swift glance towards Cobalt, then follow her into the woods.

"So, I think we should look for some sort of landmark." I suggest.

"Why would we need to?" Asks Opal.

"Well, this IS my first time out. I just want to make sure we're going the right way."

"I guess… so where is the nearest one?"

"Let's see.. the castle of the two sisters." I say, looking at my map.

"Sweet. wait, if you already have a map, why are you mapping the area as we walk?"

"Ponies found it inaccurate to copy other ones, so to make a new one somepony must go outside, to make it accurate." I explain.

Opal nods, understanding. we walk over old bricks and the ruins of houses. I see a piece of rubble that looks like gingerbread, and a broken sign that says "sug r cub orn r" on it. most of the letters have been scratched out, so I can't make out what it says. I trip over a log of some sort and fall to the dusty floor. "uwah!"

"Are you ok?" says Opal as she helps me up.

"Yeah, I'm fine…" I stand up and dust off my legs.

Cobalt stands a few feet in front of us, waiting patiently.
I still don't trust him very much. we keep walking, and eventually the ruined village stops and is now an unforgiving forest. I look at my map.

"We're getting close," I say excitedly.
Opal smiles and changes from a walk to a trot, her saddle bags bouncing up and down.

Through the trees I can see a great stone castle. I change too a run. "Were here!" I say, grinding to a halt.

"Awesome!" shouts Opal.

Cobalt just stands in silence, listening to the trees.

"You shouldn't shout like that," he says. "someone, or something, might hear you."

Opal's ears flop down. "sorry."
"Should we go inside? or is it enough that we found it?" I ask.

"I think we should keep moving." says Opal.

Just as I am about to step forward, I hear leaves rumble deep within the thicket.

"Uhm, did anyone hear that?" I ask warily.

Opal looks into the trees, the silence booming in my ears. Then a ghastly head breaks through the trees, and I shriek.

"Don't worry, theres only one. it shouldn't be a problem." says Opal as she runs up to it and bashes its head in with a baseball bat.

I breathe out, but it just turns into another warning cry as a few more lurkers come out of the tree line. Opal backs up in shock.

"Um, cancel what I said earlier, we should get inside!"‏