//------------------------------// // Seafaring Foals // Story: Tales of the Battle Foals // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// In spite of the impending danger their destination had in store for them, the Battle Foals were eager to enjoy their first boat trip. The Jotun proved to be a mighty beast of a ship, easily taking hits from rogue waves when the Celestial Sea decided to show its rougher side. Valkyrie was able to prove her ability as a sailor when she helped the deckhands perform various tasks around the main deck. Captain Frigg ‘tactfully’ advised the other foals to stay out of the way and ‘mind their own bloody business’. Heeding her warning, the foals decided to simply explore the gargantuan galleon before they hit land. Quantum had to stop herself from frothing over the rich history no doubt carried within this one vessel. She giddily pranced around the Jotun, careful not to bump into anything or the sailors. Readings from her glasses indicated that the wood comprising the ship was indeed as old as Frigg suggested, but its structural integrity was shockingly superb, suggesting that it was maintained as carefully as a mother cares for her newborn. Worrying that the salty sea breeze might start damaging her glasses, she decided to head below deck and explore further. The many clean hallways within the ancient ship made it look like she was on a luxury cruise with a Griffon theme. Many of the doors were closed which she didn’t enter, but one door was curiously halfway open. Intrigued, she went to take a peek. Inside was a male Griffon that looked only a few years younger than Skadi. Amongst him were shelves stacked with scrolls and books, one of which he was fervently focused into. The vast array of knowledge left Quantum mesmerized, and after a moment, the griffon happened to look up and notice her. “Oh! Pardon me. Were you standing there long?” “N-No, sir! I didn’t mean to intrude. This room merely caught my eye is all.” Quantum answered. “Are…you perhaps the history scholar that your king mentioned?” He nodded. “Sharp one. My name is Ymir, and you must be one of the foal warriors His Highness spoke so highly of.” “Well, I’m hardly a ‘warrior’ in the strictest definition of the word unlike the vast majority of my compatriots, but I like to think that I make a significant contribution.” Quantum said. “May I come in?” “Of course.” Ymir said. “Thank you, Ymir. A pleasure by the way. My name is Quantum Tech.” “Quantum Tech… Am I to presume you are the one who brought that mecha on board?” Ymir inquired. “Oh, you saw that?” “Yes. Quite a feat, I must say. Sadly, my talents lay more so with history and literature than science and technology.” Ymir said. “Then you and I are opposites.” Quantum said. “Speaking of which, we were told that you’d be able to tell us a great deal about this Heimr Island? You seem to have an impressive collection.” “Indeed I do. As a matter of fact, I was just refreshing my memory on the island’s general operation and maintenance, as well as a few urban legends.” Ymir marked his book and closed, and he got up to fetch a large scroll from a shelf which put onto a table beside before unraveling it, revealing a map of the island. “Albeit loosely connected to my documentary sources, this map is the latest iteration of anything charting the island’s geography known to exist.” One look at the map told Quantum Tech that it was quite ancient, and thus likely not as reliable as anyone would like. “A bit limited in resources, are we?” “Not terribly as far as Heimr Island is concerned. It hasn’t been visited for ages, so information regarding it is quite outdated. I’ve been entrusted with all of the best sources we have.” Ymir said. “I’ve discerned a few possible landing locations, but as there’s very little way to tell how these areas might have changed over time from mere historical records. I’m having difficulty deciding which one would be the most suited for our arrival. Even a beast like the Jotun can be left vulnerable in a potentially hostile environment.” Quantum fixed her glasses and smiled. “Then it appears you’d need an expert opinion, good sir.” Ymir chuckled. “Then please, allow me to inquire.” He stood beside her and pointed to a stretch of land sloping downward into the ocean, a peninsula jutting out into the ocean, a bay area, and an elevated area of the island marked by an arrow as ‘cave entrance’. “I should note that this bay was rumored to be riddled with tree stumps rising out of the water according to old sketches of the island.” “Trees growing out of saltwater? No, no, no. That sounds more to me like an estuary. As such, if the island has been unvisited for as long as it has, then I would imagine the trees growing to sizeable enough proportions that we would have to drop anchor in front of this natural barrier if we want to preserve the local ecosystem, and it would make travel between the land itself and the ship quite difficult.” Quantum said. “I had the same thought.” Ymir said. “The cave entrance would be quite risky though, unless you had a safe method of entry in mind.” “We could have our friend, Tidal Wave scout the premises, but I think that should come as a last resort.” Quantum said. “This peninsula would be a good choice since it essentially acts as a natural dock, but the amount of land in this fourth location would be suited for unloading more of us at once and boarding quickly in case of the need for a quick escape should something go awry.” “Given the grotesque rumors surrounding this forsaken place, I’d say it’s best to err on the side of caution.” Ymir said. “Agreed.” Quantum said. “You…seemed rather sure of yourself for someone wanting a second opinion.” Ymir chuckled. “You’ll have to forgive me. Whenever I meet another intelligent mind, I like to gauge their wits, and you seem fairly informed.” Quantum looked at him and lowered her glasses. “You’ve caught a glimpse of my magnum opus and you think I’m ‘fairly informed’?” “I’ve never seen it in action.” Ymir rebutted. Quantum giggled. “The you’re in for quite the show, my friend. Might I read a few of these tomes?” Ymir nodded. “By all means. Knowledge should be shared amongst all.” ***** On the deck of the ship, Shrapnel quietly sat in the center of the deck so that his sheer weight wouldn’t cause it to capsize, staying out of the way of the crew members. Beside him peacefully meditating was his master. Zebota’s brooch faintly shimmered an aquatic aura as he silently chanted, which caused some superstitious crewmen to quiver as they maintained the ship as if Shrapnel’s presence wasn’t frightening enough. Frigg had to order them to focus from time to time while letting the mystic duo do their thing, but silently she was mildly impressed that a little colt could tame a ferocious beast, if only because she understood next to nothing about zebra culture. What no one else noticed right away was that the sea was pretty calm. The seasoned sailors were pleasantly surprised when they did take notice, but couldn’t place why it was happening. They decided to keep carrying out their duties and not question good fortune…..even if the eagle-eyed old eagle of a captain noticed the little shaman’s glowing brooch and laughed off the looming possibility swimming in her aged head. ***** Elsewhere near the stern of the ship, Tidal Wave saw the rest of his friends calmly chilling near the edge of the deck watching the waves left behind by the Jotun and looking relatively bored. Air Slash and Greensprout were snuggled up, Bullseye was sitting with Crazylocks while the latter chewed on a rope like a dog bone, Turf War was noticeable fidgeting a little, and everyone else was just sitting or laying there with nothing to do. Valkyrie wasn’t present as she continued to aid the ship’s crew. Spiral Galaxy noticed their lancer join them and smiled. “I’m a little surprised you’re not going for a swim, buddy.” “Not in the middle of sea, I’m not!” Tidal Wave said. “At least you wouldn’t be bored to death…” Bullseye said. Crazylocks briefly stopped chewing on her rope. “A boring boar who tore a sore for more money couldn’t bake a long cake like this!” she said before resuming. “The only thing that’s been even remotely exciting is being on the sea.” Fire Fight said. “I could’ve flown us all there, and we’d be there by now.” Frostbite said. “You’d to make several trips across this vast sea carrying a few of us at a time, Frostbite.” Shadow Shroud said. “Ah reckon the real adventure will start once we arrive at that island, so it might be a good thing that we’re savin’ our energy ‘til then.” Kickback said. “I really must wonder what sort of evil we’ll encounter there. I’d feel horrible if these griffon soldiers suffer because of us.” Greensprout said. “If there is somethin’. I mean, it might be nothin’.” Turf War said. Air Slash could detect a hint of anxiety in his tone. “Sublimate your fear into sharpening your wits, my friend. You’re one of our first lines of defense.” Turf War was comforted a little, and he smiled. “Yeah, man. Them swords better be ready to say ‘wassup’ though.” “And your hammer, hammerhead.” They could hear wing flap above them, and they looked to see Valkyrie descending upon them. “Shields weren’t made to be cowered behind with your tail between your legs, you know.” She gently landed beside them. Turf War rolled his eyes. “Just tryin’ to be careful with it! We don’t know whose territory we ‘bout to step on.” Before anything else could be said, the foals heard a loud croon resound from behind the ship. They looked and saw a whale partially surface, and were treated to a minor wonder of nature when its blowhole erupted. “Whoa…” Fire Fight mumbled. The whale crooned again before diving, waving goodbye to the foals with its massive tail as it slammed down into the water before vanishing into the deep blue. “I think it was curious about us.” Tidal Wave. “You think?” Spiral asked. Tidal Wave looked down at his faintly gleaming brooch. “Call it a hunch.” He said. “Man, Quantum Tech would’ve gotten a kick out of that.” “Speaking of which, where is she?” Spiral wondered. “I think I saw her go below deck. Probably didn’t want her glasses falling overboard; at least her heavy-a** mech is tied down.” Bullseye said. “What’s the racket over here?” The voice turned to see Captain Frigg approaching them. “Oh, joy…” Valkyrie thought to herself. “Hi, captain. We just saw a whale!” Fire Fight said. The cantankerous captain’s unimpressed expression didn’t change a bit even when she looked out to sea. “You’er seriously getting’ riled up because o’ one them bags of blubber?” “Most of us haven’t been at sea before, captain. It was quite a special occasion.” Greensprout politely replied. Frigg scoffed. “Save the ‘special occasion’ tomfoolery for when we hit land. If you swabs are half the warriors ye claim to be, you wouldn’t get so distracted by a bloody sea cow.” “R-Right…” Fire Fight muttered. “Do you perchance know where Quantum is?” Frigg shook her head. “Coulda sworn it was you’er job keepin’ track o’ yer troops, bucko. I’m only here to help you squash whatever bugs r’ crawlin’ all over the island.” “Y-Yes, ma’am.” Fire Fight muttered. “Aye. And we’ll be keepin’ track of each other as a result, so don’t let us down.” Frigg said. Before anything else could be said, she turned around and was about to walk away when she overheard a comment from one of them. “I wonder if Aesir knows anything about Heimr Island? I don’t remember him mentioning it.” Tidal Wave said. Frigg quickly turned back to him and looked quite surprised. “Aesir?” “Huh? Oh, he’s an old griffon I met in a town called ‘Yodelneigh’. He’s a hardcore griffon historian. Come to think of, you talk almost exactly like he does.” Tidal Wave said. Frigg’s stern face seemed a bit softer as he described his acquaintance. “You’ve…met me older brother, have ya?” “What!?” Tidal Wave was especially shocked amongst everyone else bar Frostbite. “Oh, yeah! Forgot about that…” Valkyrie said. Turf War facehooved. “B****, what else you forgot?” Valkyrie glared at him. “Why I don’t just bash your empty skull in.” “Aye… It’s been a day n’ age since last I saw him.” Frigg said. “Ok, no offense, but you two are like…polar opposites in terms of your personalities.” Tidal Wave said, quivering a little at how she might respond. Frigg paused for a moment. “Always have been. He was always buried in his books if our Dad wasn’t taking us out to sea. Never seem to take anything seriously with that stupid smile he always had on his face; always got on me nerves, it did.” She explained. “When were old enough, we….well, we went our separate ways. I joined the royal guard n’ he went to go live with you’er lot…” “Did…something happen between you two?” Greensprout inquired. Frigg turned to her and gave a light glare. “None o’ yer business, swab.” She turned around again and was about to leave when she paused one last time. “How is he?” Tidal Wave wasn’t sure how to answer given the shift in mood, but he knew he had to. “He’s doing fine. His wings are too weak to let him fly, but he seems ok otherwise.” “Never mentioned any family?” Frigg asked. “Other than a late wife, no.” Frigg sighed. “Figures…” she muttered before finally walking away. The foals all watched her solemnly march across the wooden deck before turning to Valkyrie, who just shrugged. “Don’t look at me.” “Well…that happened.” Frostbite commented. “I have a feeling a lot more’s gonna happen pretty soon…” Shroud said. Her gaze became centered on an ominous cloud of mist far off in the distance that the mighty Jotun was fast approaching.