Bushkeeper

by Odd_Sarge

13 - Heights

Stumbling forward, Andrew proceeded to collapse on his stomach. Blinking tears from his eyes, Andrew ignored the fact that his skin felt like it was on fire, focusing instead on what had just happened. One moment, something strange was going on with the unicorns, and the next, Andrew’s vision had been filled with white. Groaning, he rolled over onto his back and stared up into the cloudless sky. The cool air of the day was refreshing to him for once.

Until a harsh gust of icy air went straight through his hoodie.

Yelping in surprise, Andrew jumped up and shivered, looking around him. Beneath his feet lay coarse, grey earth, looking more akin to stone than actual dirt. Andrew could tell he was quite high up, as looking to his left found himself staring down at a faraway green valley. Nearby, he could hear the sound of a waterfall crashing over an edge, but his hearing was more attuned to the sound of the deafening wind passing him. His ears burnt with the cold, but he wouldn’t have to deal with the cold for much longer. Suddenly screaming, the teenager painfully struggled to tear his hoodie and undershirt off, throwing the garments on the ground when the task was complete. He fell to his knees and shakily looked down.

His skin looked as if it was the molten metal of a foundry, glowing with an intensity that matched the heat it was emitting. Horrifically, the cool air that brushed against his skin caused tufts of steam to rise upwards. Andrew could not stop screaming, for every place steam rose, the pain seemed to only grow worse. Fate eventually let up, for much more later the skin slowly returned to its normal coloration, the lingering steam in the air the only evidence of Andrew’s experience. Collapsing again, Andrew felt nausea creeping upon him. He resisted the urge to vomit, instead forcing himself upwards with the little strength the event had left him with.

He sat up completely and carefully ran his hand over his skin. Andrew still felt hot, but not to the extreme. Thankful that whatever had just occurred was over, Andrew stood. Nearby, his hoodie and plain black tee sat discarded, but Andrew ignored it, instead looking for something he had spotted when initially taking in his surroundings. Teeth clenched in pain, Andrew limped over to his walking stick and took it up. He ran a hand over his throat, cringing at the soreness he felt. The screaming he had done had certainly not helped him in the slightest.

“Why?” he croaked, both hands held tightly on the stick as he went over to the edge of the elevated plateau. He looked down, taking notice of the fact the apple grove seemed to be over a mile beneath him. “How?” He scratched at his neck again; he needed water badly. Whatever had afflicted Andrew had given way to thirst, and taken away his strength. Shuddering at the thoughts of his previous pain, Andrew wandered back over to his hoodie and shirt, slung the two objects over his sweaty shoulders, and looked for a way off the plateau.

The river that caused the large waterfall definitely had to be fresh water, and with how clean the water looked from below, Andrew prayed that the water would be safe to drink; he didn’t know if dysentery would be possible to survive while out in the wilderness. He hung close to a nearby cliff, looking up from time to time at the wintery peak above. It amazed Andrew to be up so high, so close to what essentially was the top of the world. From afar, nothing seemed to compare to the monolith of stone, and it seemed to hold true from up close. A couple of birds circled the peak, and Andrew noticed that there were three distinct species, judging from their colorations and sizes; eagles, falcons, and hawks. It was curious to see the three kinds interacting so calmly, but Andrew attributed it to the strange aspects of the animals in the land.

“I wonder what a bald eagle would say to me.” Andrew’s weak grin was cut short by the burning he felt in his pocket. As Andrew withdrew the amethyst orb, he could clearly see that it had changed; the orb had turned red. Holding the artifact up to the light of the sun, Andrew could see tinges of purple within the orb, swirling around mystically. The object grew stranger with each time he looked at it, and this time, Andrew realized what the orb had been doing the entire time; keeping him safe.

Shaking his head, Andrew placed the burning orb back into his pocket, ignoring the uncomfortable warmth it brought. He continued to hike, and eventually was rewarded with a stream of water that fell over the edge of the mountain. The crashing of the water was at its loudest there, but Andrew did not mind it, nor did the mountain goat on the opposite side of the stream. Waving to the goat, who let out a bleat in reply, Andrew knelt down to drink from the stream. He greedily drank down the cool liquid, taking the time to organize his thoughts.

He was on the mountain across the green plains the hydra and dragon had been fighting on; that was an established fact. How he got there? The unicorns definitely had something to do with it, but he didn’t know how. The fire? Andrew looked up from the water, looking around for a sign of the fire. Sighing, his fears were realized by the thick cloud of smoke that was slowly, but surely, rising off in the distance. It reminded him of why exactly he had been teleported to the mountain; to find the pegasi and stop the fire.

Taking one last handful of water, Andrew thought back to the last sight of the pegasi. He checked his watch, and thinking over the situation, figured that it had been about two hours since he had seen the pegasi flying towards the mountains. With growing hope, Andrew realized one important fact; this had been the mountain the pegasi were nearing earlier. The waterfall proved that, and with clear excitement, Andrew stood best he could with his stick, carefully crossing the slick stones across the stream, and towards a cliff overlooking the northern side of the mountain. As Andrew crossed the threshold, he found himself staring over the largest plains that he had ever seen.

When he had seen the miles of plains west of the berry thicket forest, Andrew thought that it was massive, but staring at the land laid before him made him feel as small as a pea. From his position, he could just barely see the beginnings of an arctic mountain range, smaller than his thumb, but no doubt huge. The plains stretching before him passed through a variety of colors, mostly in a variety of bluish-greens. It was just all so…

“Colorful,” Andrew murmured, rubbing his aching jaw. He looked back, the inky smoke having nearly reached his altitude. The wind seemed to be blowing the clouds to the west, which worried Andrew; it was going to block the sunlight covering the berry thicket plains. Shaking himself, Andrew thought about the importance of finding the pegasi. Returning to the cliff overlooking the breathtaking land, Andrew squinted for a view of any flying creatures. He was unable to see any from the distance, but he did notice a small column of smoke wafting up, miles into the plains. Eyes widening, Andrew realized that it was a contained fire; a campfire. Scrambling backwards, Andrew searched for a way down the mountain; he would find the pegasus herd soon enough, but the fire meant that there was another human around.

Slowing himself, Andrew took a deep breath to reevaluate his situation. The journey would take a while, and if whoever was out there could hike just as fast as Andrew, then he would have to move at double the speed he normally did. That meant preparations; he wasn’t sure if the carrots, turnips, or even water in the new plains were as plentiful as the ones in the berry thicket, but he wouldn’t be wandering out there underprepared. He had berries for the mean time, which was better than nothing, and after filling up his thermos with water from the river, he had enough water to last him at least three days, as long as he rationed it correctly.

The cold mountain air had been blasting Andrew the entire time, and Andrew’s body heat had finally lowered back to its average level. Recognizing that he was at risk of becoming sick, Andrew tucked his shirt back in and slipped his hoodie over his head. His jeans, luckily enough, were enough to block out most of the cold. Andrew ran his sleeve over his nose, frowning at the snot that had accumulated as a result of the cold.

'I need to get out of here.'

Walking around, Andrew searched for a way off the mountain. After a solid fifteen minutes of searching, with the cold bearing down on him endlessly, it seemed that there was no obvious way off the cliff. Places that seemed perfect for climbing down ended in steep dropoffs that Andrew was not going to risk, especially with the injured leg. Groaning, Andrew was about ready to jump from the waterfall and try his chances with the lake.

A faint bleat from Andrew’s right got his attention. The mountain goat from earlier was watching him intently, all the while standing perfectly straight on a nearly vertical cliff face. It let out another bleat and clambered down to him. Blinking at the goat that was a little smaller than one of the adult unicorns, Andrew attempted to understand what it was trying to say. Unfortunately, his animal-speech capabilities had conveniently failed for the goat.

“I’m sorry, what?”

Bleating again, the goat tugged on Andrew’s collar and led him to one of the steep edges that Andrew had inspected earlier. Before the teenager could slip another word out, the goat began to climb down a newly revealed path along the edge of the cliff. Swallowing thickly, Andrew knew what it wanted him to do; follow. Looking downwards, Andrew ignored the vertigo that threatened to overtake him and simply tried to follow the goat.

Luck seemed to be on Andrew’s side as he clambered down the hill. The path was barely large enough for him to fit one foot in front of the other, and his walking stick turned out to be quite useful as leverage. Placing the stick into a crack in the rock wall, Andrew took another break. The goat let out a disappointed bleat and waited for Andrew to follow.

“Yeah, yeah…” Andrew threw away whatever concept he had of annoyance as the goat and him passed down to a lower level on the mountain. The ledges before him seemed impossible to climb, but as the goat nudged him encouragingly in the leg, Andrew felt like it was possible.

With trembling hands, Andrew and the goat descended the mountain.

---

As the sun rapidly descended towards the horizon, Andrew waved goodbye to the goat, the guide quickly scaling the mountainside. Sighing a breath of relief, Andrew smiled at the mountain he had somehow scaled within a day. Back on Earth, there would have been impossible for him to do such a thing, but nature in the new land was a strange thing, and that cluelessness brought comfort to Andrew.

The teenager found a nearby spot to settle down for the night, reflecting on the idea. He had no idea what was going on in the world, and now he wasn’t sure if he was alone in the land. The ponies were to be protected, and if whoever was out there to the north was a kind soul, he would get them to help him. And if they didn’t want to help him…

“This is my land.” He squeezed his eyes shut, aware of the fact he would never remember the last words of the night. “Mine to keep.”

Leaning up against a pine, Andrew pulled his stick close to him and listened to the roaring fire he had started.

Comments

[AShadyDetective]

This, is interesting, good job

[Hein des Nisseroi]

You should not try to stick to a strict word range. Do not make the chapter any longer/shorter than it needs to be.

[Prismmirror]

He doesn't exactly seem in a rush to stop the fire...
A wildfire can spread as fast as 9 to 12 mph, and given that the wind is blowing west, he really shouldn't be dicking around. But, whatever. I liked the mountain goat.

[Odd_Sarge]

8086475
Fixed.

[Enmar]

goat was a cool dude