Something something Inn
I looked at the caribou.
They glared at me.
I turned to look at the people around me.
They stared at me.
I finally looked back at Dancer and Sakura.
Guess what? Even they stared at me.
I gulped at the predicament I suddenly found myself in.
"Fuck me."
Out of all the things I was expecting, I was not expecting a bunch of caribou to be looking for a human... in fact, how do they even know about me? How did they even find me?!
As they stomped over to me, my right hand ventured to the knife around my belt. But before I could even think about drawing it and probably getting myself killed, Dancer got up from her seat and stood in front of me and Sakura. Her arms were crossed, and seeing how I was sitting I was treated to a nice view of her exceptionally toned ass, which practically stared back at me. It was a butt many craved to touch and fondle, and I didn't dare do such things lest I lose my mind from its supple roundness.
... I'm such a perv.
"Hello there boys, care for a drink?" Dancer asked them, cocking her hip out to one side and putting her hand on it and damn she had some nice hips. I saw her other hand was behind her and saw her finger point towards the far back of the inn where the swordsponies were standing. Looking over to them, the ponies were glaring in disgust at the caribou, specifically the mares with blades who looked incredibly pissed. "How's bout it?" She picked up her sake cup, holding it towards the two with no doubt a friendly smile.
Shit... if shit goes bad, we're gonna have to run out the back. I realized, licking my lips nervously.
And what do you know... things went bad.
The sake cup was smacked out of her hand before she herself was slapped hard in the face, causing her head to snap to the left. "Quiet you useless whore! We are here for the monkey, not some ignorant bitch who doesn't know her place!" The other caribou nodded, uttering words that absolutely pissed me off.
I growled slightly under my breath, and I was about to say something in defense of this strange mare who helped us out. But Dancer just looked back towards them. She wiped her mouth and then cracking her neck before saying, "You shouldn't have done that..." Milliseconds passed before her head suddenly connected with the caribou that was dangerously close to her, breaking something as he stumbled back with a yell of pain. Her left fist flew towards the other's neck at blinding speeds I didn't know were physically possible, the punch she threw swiftly flying towards the other's throat and knocking him down to the floor as the leader roared in anger and pain. Then they all drew their weapons, swords and axes and knives.
I took that as my chance to split this scene!
"Sakura, let's go!" I told her as Dancer fought against the caribou, allowing Sakura and me a chance to escape.
The mare lived up to her name of Dancer. She was almost dancing amidst the fight, her body moving like water as she threw swift punches and kicks, counters and blocks. Even as they swung their swords and axes at her in their attempts to down her, she either dodged them or redirected their blows into one another effortlessly. It was like watching a fight scene from a Jackie Chan flick or something. As she fought I grabbed Sakura's hand and we quickly stood up and ran towards the back of the bar as a bunch of other caribou ran into the inn, wielding weapons as Dancer shot me a look.
A look I had always seen in movies, games and so on.
Run bitch! Run!
And run we did.
I led Sakura towards the back, not wasting time before bursting out of the door and to the back of the inn. "This way!" I told Sakura, heading left as the young mare limped behind me. We didn't get much further down the route behind the inn before a caribou wielding a bow popped up from around the corner, he was quick to nock an arrow and aim at us, but I was quicker! I pushed Sakura out of the way before ducking down and scrambling down towards him swiftly the second he let it loose.
I'm glad my fear was fueling my desire to live right now, cause holy shit.
Before he could nock another arrow, I jumped at him from the ground with a yell. He was a lanky bastard, tall and barely any muscle. Eh, we were about on the same page when it came to body shape and size, cept for the antlers of course. I tackled the fucker to the ground, with him growling as he dropped his bow and wrestled me. "Filthy scum!" His jaw snapped at me, fucker bit at me!
He threw a hard punch into my side, the force making me yelp, "Gah! You're the one who smells like a fucking curdled cumbath!" I yelled back at him, throwing my own punch into his gut as hard as I could. I felt nothing but tough and corded muscle, and he just tried to stab me with his antlers. So I did the other thing a fighter does in this type of situation.
Play dirty.
I got into a position and kneed him hard in the crotch, my knee making contact with his nutsack through his pants. I imagined his eyes bulging out of their sockets as he roared in pain. He kicked me off with a yell, sending me flying into the wall of the inn. "Whoah! Gah, fuck!" I yelled out after hitting said wall and sliding down to the ground. My back hurt like a bitch before, now it was just begging me to end the suffering it was going through. I just shook my head before running back over to the downed caribou. He shot up with a growl, about to impale me on his antlers had I not fallen to my knees and slide between his legs.
That was a bad idea on my part, mostly because... well... the ground was rough.
"Fuck, my knees!" My knees felt like they were on fire as I rolled. I recovered and rolled back onto my feet before looking at the caribou. He was an angry bitch, and I needed to take him down so me and Sakura could run for it.
So being the stupid numbskull I was, I pulled out my knife and charged him like an idiot as he turned around again to charge right back. He ran at me, drawing his own knife and roaring a challenge at me as we both impacted one another like two freight trains of retardation. I grunted as I felt him punch my gut again, the air in my lungs escaping me like a deflating balloon. I retaliated by plunging my knife into his back as he cried out. He picked me up, my eyes widening in shock. He ran me into a wall and I almost lost the grip on my knife before ripping it from his flesh, and stabbing him, again and again, to get him off of me.
As warm blood gushed out onto my hand, we both fell to the ground with him on top of me. His thin yet heavy body keeping me down as I ripped my knife from his back. With a grunt, I wormed my way out from under him as the fighting in the inn grew crazier. I knew that because I could hear glasses being shattered, yells and declarations of rape, along with roars of pain. I wasn't sure who was winning, but I was hoping it was Dancer.
After working my way free of the now dead caribou, I stood up and backpedaled away. The adrenaline was flooding through my veins at this point and I was just now thinking about the fact I had just killed someone. Instead, I decided to scramble for his bow and arrows. Throwing the quiver onto my back and shouldering the bow, I ran over to Sakura who was hiding behind a nearby tree. "Sakura, let's run, now!" I grabbed her hand, throwing her onto my back and quickly dashing towards the alley leading out to the front.
Damn this caribou, where in the hell did they come from? I get that they might have... been part of the group from that small town I had ended up in with Daring, but jeez! I didn't have that damned demon orb thing Daring took, and there was no way they could have known I had gone this way. Then again, there's nothing stopping them from putting out a bunch of search parties for me if one of the group got a good look at me... fuck.
A body being thrown out of the Inn for a fair distance caught our attention making me stop. I saw Dancer burst from the inn with a broken and bloodied chair leg in her hand and a slightly bloody face. "Come on then!" She yelled at the caribou she had thrown out who had a bloody muzzle, a swollen eye, and several missing teeth. The caribou tried to stand up but was unable to as Dancer strut over to him before raising her boot clad foot high...
And then to the utter shock of my soul and nutsack, she heel slammed the caribou right in his junk.
I never heard a more pathetic noise come from a being in my entire twenty-one years of living, and I just instinctively crossed my legs with a wince as the caribou shrieked.
I swear... I heard something crack, snapple and pop.
The one weakness every male has... fuuuuck. I saw Dancer look towards me, wiping her mouth free of the blood before walking over. I backed up a little. "Keep yo heels away from the goods princess!" I told her with a slightly panicky voice, chuckling nervously.
Dancer rose an eyebrow and then rolled her eyes. "I would suggest we get out of this place, chances are more of those scum will be arriving soon." The thestral mare told me, before walking down the road I and Sakura were headed for before stopping at the inn to rest
I looked between the injured caribou and Dancer, before following behind her. I wish I could have gotten something more out of this venture except sake, a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. But hey, its something instead of nothing, I got me a new weapon I can learn how to use. I've always had a thing for archery since I played the Elder Scrolls IV, best game I ever played for the Xbox alongside Dead Rising. So maybe I'd be able to use it after we get a safe distance away, hopefully.
Dancer led the way down the road with Sakura still on my back as we left the inn behind. The sun had begun to set in the distance, and soon night would be upon us...
Makes me wonder what lurked under the pale moonlight...
Down The Road A Ways
We walked the road a ways, leaving the inn behind and vanishing into the hilly roads heading... southeast I think, further southeast anyway. I got lost just walking behind Dancer who was strutting down the road with a purpose. I was honestly tired, this entire day had been tiring for me, from when I woke up in the desert to the fight outside the inn. I just wanted a nap and some food in my belly. Sakura was tired as well, I could tell. She sagged on my back and was yawning every now and then, which I had ended up doing as well.
"Where are we going?" I asked after a moment of thinking about our situation.
Dancer to turned her head to face me. "Away from the Inn for starters." She told me as we continued along the road before she turned and headed into the woods. I hummed, wondering why she did that before I followed as she mumbled quietly to herself about something or other.
I followed her until we came to a small little area away from the roads, a tiny clearing with some trees and rocks nearby where Dancer stopped and sat down on a rock. I walked over to another and let Sakura slide off onto it, where she sat down and I just fell onto the grass with a sigh. I rubbed my knees, cursing the aching feeling that flared up in them. Sliding on my knees? Note, never do that shit again unless I have padded kneepads.
"Dustin," Dancer started, making me look up at her and cease my internal planning for getting padded kneepads. "Those Caribou... they were looking for you weren't they?"
That was a good question, while it did sound accusatory, I didn't fault her for it considering she beat them all and got hurt in the process. All of that, probably because of me, so I owed her that at least. I wondered as well if they were looking for me... I mean, there wasn't any other human around from what I could see and I did end up in a huge fight with those caribou back in Bronze Hoof before escaping with Daring. Maybe they were still pissed and were after me? I didn't have that damned orb they were looking for...
...
Huh.
"Honestly... I have no idea." I told Dancer, leaning back slightly on my hands. "I was in a small town west of here called Bronze Hoof, and I kinda got into a fight with them, alongside a mare who stole something from them... maybe they think I still have it?" I suggested to her, shrugging my shoulders. "Regardless, I'm not gonna let that stop me from my little adventure." I snorted, rubbing my nose as Dancer leaned on her elbows.
"No? Hmm... well, I hope you don't plan on running from every fight." She told me with a tiny grin. Just what was she insinuating? "You could have stayed and helped me fight, but you ran instead."
I blinked. Was she calling me a coward? "Well, you had that handled, and besides... I had to get Sakura out so she wouldn't get hurt." I explained to the mare sitting in front of me. "And I did fight one of them, where do you think I got the quiver and bow from?" I pulled off the bow, which felt kinda light in my hands. "Outta my ass?" I wiggled the bow as I looked down at it. Now that I could get a better look at it, I saw the bow was made of wood... like most bows from the medieval era, a long bow with two feathers at each end and the string. The wood itself was colored a dark brown and had some wrapping around the middle for comfort I suppose.
It kinda looked like the long bow from Skyrim, to be honest.
"Mmm..." Dancer said, sitting up straight before standing. "You two get some rest, I'll keep an eye out."
Thankful for that, I took off my bow and quiver and set them aside near the tree before finding myself a spot nestled between a rock and said tree before laying down. Then something landed next to me making me open my eyes, and I saw Snowdrop. "Pfft, where in the heck were you at?"
"Coo~" She cooed, perched next to me.
I just shrugged, accepting her answer before closing my eyes.
Hopefully, tomorrow would be a brand new day full of awesome.
Several hours Later
I snorted, opening my eyes when I felt a hand on my shoulder jostling me. Gah... too early for this shit. When I looked up, I saw it was Dancer staring down at me with her bright blue orbs eyes which were glowing a little bit. "Th' fuck?" I questioned her. Why wake me up? I despise being woken up.
"It is morning, time to wake up." She told me. And when I looked I saw the sky was barely lit up any.
Christ, talk about an early riser.
I yawned, my entire body feeling sickly and protesting my every movement as she did the same with Sakura. I groaned as I sat up, rubbing the back of my neck and digging in my ear to scratch it. After that, I grabbed my new quiver and bow and put them on as Snowdrop flew off... again, no idea why though. Looking around I didn't see or hear anything except the wildlife around us, which was a few birds and whatnot. I wondered how far it was to that town... what was it called?
Jainko! That's right... weird name.
Probably still a fair distance away from where we were now.
Ugh... walking sucks, wish I had a car. Shame Equestria and beyond lacked motor vehicles, I could use one right now to get down the road nearby. Would make traveling around a whole lot easier. I stood up and checked my knife and grumbled when I saw some blood still on it. So I dried it off on my pants before giving it a test twirl and thrust. Satisfied, I put it back into its sheath on my belt. My hand grazed my bow, and I pondered practicing with it. Wouldn't hurt to know how to use one.
Dancer walked up behind me with Sakura in tow. "Jainko isn't much farther, we should keep moving." Dancer told me, walking past and back out onto the roads.
I sighed and followed her, with Sakura who I let ride on my back once more.
The road to the town was long and filled with small talk between ourselves, with me mostly asking questions about the area around me. As it turned out I had wandered into the MLP equivalent of ancient Japan or something, where there were temples that looked an awful lot like temples from the older periods of Japan's timeline. In this vast land, I was told there were five regions which were all controlled by their own kings and queens. I was in the far western region, the poorest region, called Canto.
...
Yeah I know, I got the pun too and nearly laughed.
Canto was a pretty nice looking region despite it being one of the poorest ones. It was also the home of Sakura and several homely towns, and plenty of fishing villages situated near the southern borders. Dancer herself told me she was from the far north, from the richest region known as Marehoku. She gave no other information aside from that and Sakura was pretty reclusive about her own past as well, not even mentioning any family when I inquired about. They were both silent as the grave.
Yeah... off to a great start here, guys, know what I mean?
There were tons of towns in Canto, which I was told was also rather close to the sea... which confused me considering I was told it was the western region and I had just come from the west.
"So... how can this be a region close to the sea if it's in the west? I just came from the west, there's no sea there... not any I could find anyway, I kinda just... ended up there, didn't stick around." I admitted with a tiny sheepish grin.
"While this is the western region," Dancer started, and my eyes couldn't help but wander down to her butt and swaying hips as she walked. Damn it, I just had to be behind her! "The southernmost region is its own island and the southern portion of Canto ends at the Maretonian sea where most of the fishermen are." She told me, and I nodded to that after managing to tear my gaze from her exceptionally built ass. What she said made more sense to me now. "Canto is known for exporting a lot of fish products to the other regions, like sushi for example."
"You guys eat meat?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. When Dancer gave me a curious look, I added, "I mean... like regular ponies like Sakura probably don't cause you guys seem like herbivores and shit..."
Dancer hummed. "We eat meat, thestrals do anyway. Equestrians can eat meat but they prefer not to, something about it being taboo or some such nonsense." Dancer scoffed, rolling her eyes at the concept of not eating meat I bet. "The vast majority of Equestrians value life above all else, killing anything bigger than a cockroach is enough to make them sick to their stomach, unless they're pegasi. I've heard they eat fish to help build up their wings and replace lost energy so they can work more throughout the day."
I nodded, I recalled that headcanon surfacing on websites. Guess it was true here too. "With all of the flying around and cloud work they do, I would guess it burns a lot of calories doing that." I theorized, that was my own headcanon involving pegasi anyway. I can see that things like flight and working with storms day in and day out require a lot of movement and stamina, so I don't doubt they have to eat a lot to replace that lost energy. It probably explains why they nap all the time, they're hella tired after so much constant work.
Dancer gave me a makes sense nod before turning back to face the road ahead. "Jainko is a small trading village near the sea, there is also a healer there who can help Sakura. Perhaps we can get a good night's rest as well as food in our bellies once we reach there."
At the mere mention of food, my stomach growled like an angry manticore ready to fuck shit up! "That sounds heavenly right now... hot food and a warm bed sound lovely," I said with a sigh. I wondered what kind of food. Given that it was close to the sea, it was most likely fish... I wasn't so sure about eating fish, but hey. Desperate times call for desperate measures, considering the world I'm in now I would have to make a lot of changes to my usual diet. While junk food might remain, I would have to eat more healthy stuff and hunt down meat... assuming I can't just buy any from certain traders across the land.
I'm sure if I looked hard enough I could find some fucker who makes delicious chicken sandwiches.
"Anywho... 10K is lot of ground to cover... to me anyway, not sure what that translates into miles," I muttered, mostly to myself as I adjusted Sakura on my back. But the prospect of a warm bed and hot food was too good to pass up, I desperately wanted to get something to eat, I swear I was hungry all of the time and it annoyed me to no end. "Dancer, if you don't mind me asking... what's with those Caribou? Do you know why they're so... eh?" I asked her, I needed to get information, why were there so many and what was their deal? I had a sneaking suspicion involving the invasion of Equestria buuuut...
Dancer didn't answer right away, instead continuing to walk down the road. After some time, however, she did answer me once we passed by a sign telling us we were headed to Jainko... I think. "Not exactly... I only know that they are led by a caribou named Dainn, an old fashioned male who believes in the old ideals of the ancient Caribou Empire. Treating females as nothing more than playthings to use at a moment's notice, preaching that males are the superior gender and that liking soft and gentle things make you weak. Like flowers, milk or even candy, it makes a male weak." She scoffed, shaking her head. "He is a silly caribou who wishes for nothing more than to bring back the old empire's ways into his homeland."
Dainn, well fuck, I was hoping he didn't exist here. A sigh escaped me. But she did say he wants to bring back the old ways of the Caribou Empire, so is he not the leader? "So... this Dainn character... is he not the leader of his nation?"
A shake of the head. "No, he is but the foolish son of a Caribou leader who actually has some sense on how to rule his nation." She told me, which I was thankful for.
If he wasn't the leader, then that meant there wasn't going to be an invasion... hopefully, from what she told me. While Dainn may be foolish, he sounds ambitious, if the caribou I've encountered so far is any indication. He has a decent amount under his control, enough that he's willing to send them after me even though I don't have anything worth taking. I had a fair amount of gold though, but was that really worth hunting me down for? It was about... now that I think about it, close to 200 solid gold pieces.
Oh... and I had that funky dragon ring, wasn't sure what it was though. Maybe it held some importance? The old guy who had it was rather interesting, to say the least, making me wonder if the ring I carried had some significance.
Regardless of that. Dainn was still a threat to not only me but Equestria as whole. If he had a group and he was hellbent on this... venture of his to bring back some dark dude, how long would it be until he decided to make Equestria his target?
Hopefully, he would never rise to power... gods forbid.
"He sounds like a bad pony..." Sakura piped up from behind me, and I was inclined to agree.
"Good thing he's not a pony then," I said, smiling slightly. "He's a douchebag, nothing less if I have to say anything about him."
Most talk then died out, and we just walked in silence...
At Jainko
Walking... I've never been more disgusted with it in my entire life until now. I mean, I liked walking sometimes, but I wasn't carrying an extra 70 or so pounds on my back through barely tolerable heat. We had been walking for an incredibly long time now, which wasn't helped by the fact I had to keep stopping so I wouldn't collapse and die. Thankfully we rested every now and then before continuing down the road. The trees gave way to fields with short grass and very few trees, and the road split up as I thankfully saw a town ahead, a rather modestly sized one that smelled of the sea. The other road just went off into the distance somewhere, I guess continuing along the coast before meeting up with another town of sorts.
We kept moving until we arrived into the town proper, and I was relieved.
Jainko was a pretty nice sized town, filled with ponies and even a few gryphons and minotaurs. The houses were made out of wood and thatched rooftops, with a few better-looking ones with tiled and slanted rooftops that reminded me of ancient Japan. They had sliding doors too, with a few closing up as we passed by and ponies heading inside, others tending to small stalls and selling various goods. I saw some fruits and vegetables, alongside fish which a few gryphons were looking over, there were even some clothes. None of the clothing interested me though, considering I'm wearing top of the line earth swag.
The sea was just nearby, with small fishing boats rowing out into the water, hauling back things as somewhat larger trade vessels made port. I was reminded of a scene I had seen in a movie a long time ago... I can't recall the movie however, but it looked really homely and what not.
Walking into the town, Dancer led me and Sakura to a building near a larger looking one with, surprisingly a red cross on the front of the door. I was curious at that. They had the same designation for medical practices that earth did? I was very curious as Dancer led us into the smaller building first, one that had a distinct smell coming from it that made me slightly queasy. I followed her inside however, she was good to us so far, no reason to betray us...
Yet.
Inside the building, I saw there were some charts on the walls nearby, along with a bunch of tools I didn't recognize sitting on the tables, counters and in jars and bottles filled with powders and liquids that made me wonder what in the sweet hell. Was this a medical building or a voodoo house? Dancer was near the front counter of the place and had begun speaking with a pony while gesturing to me and Sakura in some language.
The pony nodded and gestured for us to come over. "Come come, I fix." The mare said, a sweet older mare that, honestly wasn't that bad looking for her age.
Eh, she looks like a Milf. I summarized, nodding with an appreciative hmm expression on my face.
I hesitantly walked into the shop I guessed it was, and followed the older mare to a small bed of sorts where I was told to set Sakura down. I turned, letting the younger mare slide off of my back and onto the stretcher as my back cried out in orgasmic relief from having set Sakura down. I didn't hate the girl, anything but! But carrying her for ten kilometers killed my back, jeez! That took a lot out of me, good lawdy. I had begun rubbing my back as I watched the older mare look at Sakura, checking her for any other wounds before going towards the knee.
When she poked the wrapping I had put on there, she asked, "Who did wrapping?"
"I did." I responded, poking my chest.
She made a face, and said, "Odd material... and it smells strange."
"That would be the antiseptic spray I used," I said again, quickly taking off my pack and fishing out my kit before retrieving the spray bottle. "I sprayed it on her cut, it helps to fight against bacteria and infection in wounds like she's got." It was handy in a pinch, and I'm glad I had brought it with me before leaving what remained of my house...
I wondered what happened to it?
The mare hummed as she poked the bottle, before unwrapping the cut I had fixed up. "I fix, only a moment." She said, as I decided to let her work as I went back to the main room with Dancer rubbing my back still.
Dancer was standing with her arms crossed near the counter, leaning on it and looking towards the door. "How is the girl?" She asked me.
I shrugged and crossed my own arms. "She'll be fine, the cut wasn't that bad when I first saw it back at the river. I don't know what kind of medicine you all got but eh, maybe it'll heal it up faster and I won't have to carry her. No hate but... my back is killing me." I admitted, sniffling as my thoughts turned back to when I first met Sakura.
She was a strange one, to say the least. We barely knew one another and she insisted on journeying with me, just to see the world. I wasn't exactly planning on going all over the world, I just wanted to look around and get some adventuring under my belt before going to Equestria. Sure I could have done like most bronies would have done my situation and head there from the get go, meet best pony and potentially make fun times happen. But I wanted to be on the other side of the spectrum, I wanted to see what else there was before heading to Equestria... besides.
I was having fun, despite only having gone to just two different towns.
Back to Sakura though, while I will admit she is strange. I wondered why she wasn't wanting to go back home, I'm not one to delve too much into one's personal affairs-It is unbecoming of a dude such as I-but her situation was... suspicious to me. Young, pretty, leaving home to explore alongside a dashing rogue, who then meet a total badass. This was beginning to fit some familiar tropes I had seen in movies, and a few games in my time of binge watching and playing things.
Okay... so, who is she? Time to use my game logic to try and figure this out... I just needed more information before I could make any solid accusations against her. I'm sure its nothing too crazy... probably just running away from a crazy dad or something.
"That's good to hear." Dancer said to me, in response to what I told her about Sakura's injury.
I nodded, and licked my lips a little bit. Dancer was another mystery to me, she was huge, in both the literal and figurative sense of the word. She was tall, incredibly attractive. At least by my standards anyway. A nice bust, perfect body shape and muscle, nice big wings. She also had a distinct air about her, something I couldn't quite place mostly because my brain was fried half the time. But I did know that she was important... I'm not sure how important, but important nonetheless, the same as Sakura was.
These two mares were secretive, attractive, and didn't say shit about their past other then a few vague topics.
Just like any adventure in any media... I could tell this was going to be interesting to find out.