Chp. 3 - In the Shadow of the Tower
Four days since I met Yui, that made it roughly ninety-six hours since my mental breakdown outside, far enough away as to not alert her and loud enough that any if not all the creatures of the Everfree got the memo to steer clear of my anguish.
My crippling insanity aside, due to Yui's injury out traveling took a little longer, not only that but traversing land I had yet to explore myself made it difficult to navigate, especially due to the number of dangerous wildlife that inhabited the area. Timberwolves, a Hydra nest, even a pair of Cockatrice which Yui promptly had me avoid due to the numerous statues of creatures that dotted their territory.
Despite still being miffed at how wasted my efforts were, Yui had been surprisingly nice company, while we rested and I replaced her bandages we'd talk about our worlds, the things the show never told me or Taka, who secretly loved the show, like, I never knew there was this guy called 'Grogar' who made Discord look like a chump in comparison, but who was sealed with the Shadow Realm. Like, damn, that's a story I got to look up sometime.
Yui, of course, was very intrigued about my world, despite the negatives of living in a world ruled by idiots, I told her of my culture, how I was living in Japan at the time and their traditions too, I didn't bring up my family though, not yet anyway.
Back on the non-existent road again, I found my mind wandering back to my failure of survival.
"Are you still upset? I told you, your time wasn't wasted, honest!" Again, easy for her to say she didn't spend two months in a forest only to realize civilization was next door in the direction you had last to check. With a nudge of her wing, she caught my attention. "If anything, you being out here did mean something."
"Oh yeah? What might that be other than believing I lost all hope only to lose an additional bit of hope I didn't know I still had?" My curious reply came. From my side, she smiled from under her hood
"I'd have been monster food if you weren't here, nor would I have company on this trip... which is honestly enough for me," Her tone of voice dropped a little at the end, eyes facing forward. "Not everyone finds my role as... appealing."
Now, why did that sound familiar? With a frown, I bent down and poked her temple. "So what? Doesn't matter if they like it, you have a pretty fun job, and you profit from it, I'd say that's a win. So stop frowning about it."
Her gaze lifted, a sly smile on her muzzle. "Oh? Practice what you preach comes to mind, hmm?" Now it was my turn to face forward with a poker face. "But thank you, glad someone sees it my way." She raised her wing, curling the tip a little like a fist. "No matter what I'm going to become the greatest treasure hunter just like Daring Doo, then we'll see who's laughing."
"Knock them all on their asses." I grinned, bumping my fist to her wing. The closest thing to a fist-bump in this world other than a hoof
Sitting by a fire, my eyes lost themselves in the moon, lacking Nightmare Moon's visage, must be after season one then, but how far are we into their timeline? While the embers crackled I felt something sit down next to me, handing over an apple as I sat down my whetstone and hatchet.
"Yui, has anyone else ever come to this world? Like me?" It had been plaguing my mind for some time, if monsters from Monster Hunter were here, did that mean so much distortion has forced the worlds to spill into each other? It was a wild theory but I could imagine having constant rifts between worlds would do such a thing
She swallowed a bite of her apple. "Actually, yeah," Her reply made my head tilt down to her. "While not common, people from other worlds have ended up here, some come-and-go, mostly to complete a task, the Princesses called this event 'The Wayward', so that's why your reveal as being from another world didn't really surprise me," She did smile happily though. "But I never thought I'd meet one in my life! Especially one with such cool powers!"
I chuckled once. "Hmph, thanks..." My head raised to the night. "So... others like me... wonder if we're the cause of Barroth and Nargacuga's arrival..?" Perhaps this ruby will lead to that answer, or that person will show themselves at some conveniently timed plot point. That aside, I did have one other question. "Say, Yui... what happened to your left wing?"
That had her shift a little, looking up at the stars as I did. "I... never had it... I was born with only one wing, so... here I am," Now I felt like an ass. I raised a paw but she shook her head. "It's fine... just, ponies thought that without my wing I'd be useless, I had alot of issues because of that... but I had my family... and my passion for treasure, so if I couldn't fly then I'll just have to work harder without it."
Despite the upset look in her eyes, that passion of hers didn't so much as flicker. I get that, I'm not much of anything, I have my talents but to everyone, they're wasted on insignificant hobbies. Moving down I sat back on my rug, pulling the handmade fur blanket over me as I pressed my eyes to the sky. "That's amazing... guess here's where our interests diverge."
Yui blinked, a curious frown forming, "Huh?"
"Nothing," I rolled over, resting my head in my paw. "Just... being the pessimist I am."
"...Okay, goodnight, Zen."
"Night..."
"Zen! Zen! Zen! Wake up!" Ugh... too early... gamer needs lazy 'Zs'... "Ooo, this ruby is pretty~!" I am awake!
Jolting up from my rest, I found that said ruby was still around my neck, as for the mischievous laughter of the Bat-Pony, she was... running around? From my spot I watched her jump with such incredible agility, landing with her wing acting like a claw to stabilize herself on precarious branches or swing across them with ease. With a corkscrew twirl through the air, she landed next to me with the biggest smile I've seen to date.
"My leg's all better now!" She happily snatched me into a big hug, careful to avoid my chest spike. The heat from her body radiated over me as I blinked against her fur, softly patting her back. "Thank you-Thank you-Thank you~!"
"Not. A. Problem," Came my reply once she pried herself off me, smiling sheepishly. While adorable, I had to tilt my head off to her side. "Huh, don't remember that being there?" I raised my claw and pointed
Breaking just above the treeline in the distance was black tiles curved upward into a spire, the remains of a pole snapped off the point. A tower was just out of our view. Inspecting this, Yui scrambled through her belongings, tossing various things that I had to catch and dodge. Pulling out a worn journal, she flipped through various pages and notes, stopping on one that shared a striking resemblance to the spire.
"This is it... it's a remnant of Tambelon!" Tambe-what? Yui's ecstatic jump was only flattened by my deep shrug
"What? I haven't a clue what that means," My perplexing question was met with a sigh, then Yui held up the journal
"While almost any history regarding Grogar was laced in fairy tales, some say that fragments of the capital city were scattered across Equestria after his banishment into the Shadow Realm," I nodded along, watching her brow crease in deep contemplation. "Issue is, the Castle of the Two Pony Sisters isn't far so how come no one ever discovered this place?"
I waved a paw. "Perhaps they never wanted anyone to dig up this guy's history?" It was logically on any ruler's part, to hide the past they don't want others to know about. Yui seemed to agree with me, packing up her things again. "Guess we move forward?"
Strapping her pack to her back, Yui pointed the way forward with her wing. "Onwards to the ruins, my Guardian!" Then she stopped in front of me, pointing with her wing. "I never asked, how is it you're so knowledgeable on... well, just about everything you've done since we met?"
Packing up my things I tapped a claw to my temple. "Despite my less-than-glamorous lifestyle I picked up on alot of survival tips from documentaries, essentially like someone's book on survival, and when I'm bored I always end up discovering some interesting facts about plant life, and overall beneficial facts for life," I explained to the best of my ability, then held up my hatchet. "Back in school I had quite the knack for woodworking, so that's also up my alley."
She chuckled a little. "Then it seems I struck gold when I ran into you."
"Call it luck or misfortune because despite those traits I'm a health hazard," I added dryly. Then I noticed her curious expression I've grown to see
"Think you could give me some pointers, could be handy on my next venture?" She requested, so with a bow and a bag on my back, I replied
"Sure, I don't mind." While our destination wasn't far, there were plenty of examples I could point out to Yui along the way, from types of flora to what made good firewood, shelter, and so-on. This was a nice break from our casual talks because teaching her this stuff felt my talents hadn't gone to waste just yet
It's a trap.
I lacked experience in the field, but many games have taught me that a simple-looking pathway to an ancient location of some description always led to traps, and since it belonged to the tyrant to end all tyrants I wasn't any less suspicious of the mossy ruins ahead.
The pathway traced between two green banks, old archways of cobblestone guided the way through, old, faded markings dotted them but I couldn't make a lick of sense to any of their warnings. Yui, on the other hand, was fixed on the path ahead, her steps were slow but methodical, ears twitching carefully to the sounds her hooves made while mouthing out the runes. This was a real treasure hunter a work.
Tailing her I casually walked while fishing through my bag, pulling out my newest invention that I cobbled together. They were knuckle-dusters made of Barroth hide, with a thread to tighten them to my paws, they sat against the spikes and with a quick flex they didn't budge, perfect. With a proud smile, I stepped forward. Why did my foot sink?
"Ahhhhh!!" I howled in fright
"Zen!!" Yui jumped, while I froze against the bank, several arrows pinned between my body while they crumbled into dust, my eyes blinked once with a shaky slump against the steep embankment, gulping once. With a wary sigh, Yui approached me. "You okay?"
"Define. O-Kay?" I coughed, pushing off the grass and back onto the stone, carefully avoiding the same spot I stood on
Yui took the lead again, kicking a stone across several stones, two of which sank and fired concealed arrows from within the grass banks. Whoever did this, I hope they're in hell. "Stick close, I've dealt with worse traps than these but they can be everywhere." With a wink, she continued to lay a path for us
Motioning for her to lead, I shuddered. "Right... um, yeah, I'll... just keep tinkering back here..." I need to stick close to Yui, I swear these sedimentaries have it out for me
"We made it!" Yui announced, finally, I didn't have to trigger any more traps by accident, of course, she steps on the stones they do nothing, I step on them, well, hah, turns out, I must have been the bane of rocks in a previous life! Yui turned to me anxiously. "You doing okay?"
I shakily raised a thumb. "No more rocks, please?" That got a mirthful smile from the Bat-Pony, who now stood with me before the entry to the tower's base
Much like any tyrant, the base was pitch black exterior with sharp, silver supports jutted up the sides, although now nature consumed them, webbings of vines coated the rusted metal, all that stood between the old, forgotten doorway was a large, cobblestone plaza, lined with old stone henges that would typically mark the sight of a burial ground, somehow, I doubt this Grogar was that kind. A large, red crystal ball was fixed in the center of the plaza.
"Must be the way to open the door." Yui hummed, trotting closer to inspect both the orb and the glyphs carved in a ring around the circumference before the archways. "It's a celestial calendar, surprised magic isn't involved."
My eyes darted to the doorway's crystal, then to the one Yui was inspecting. "Hold on... I've seen this before..." While Yui couldn't understand Pokemon, she didn't move but instead watched as I made a slow circle around the plaza, inspecting each of the archways that remained. "They're still standing... all the others have collapsed..." My eyes widened, then spun around to face the way we came, spotting another stone that was directly reflecting the sunlight. "Expect the ones with crystal balls!"
"From your expression, I guess you found something?" Yui inquired to my nod, so I motioned to the orb we passed under
"Around us, the orbs are all specifically placed in archways facing certain times on this calendar at different compass points, my guess is that the sun reflects off certain orbs to open that door," It was an old-fashioned lock. I frowned with a growl. "Problem is, I doubt we have the patience or time to wait for that day."
Yui clopped her hooves with a glimmer in her eye. "You're right, so how's about we cheat time?" Without questions, she dug into her own bag and retrieved a white crystal of her own, holding it in her mouth while redirecting the beam of light onto the central stone. Her gaze fell, as the sunlight pierced right through the crystal. "But how's that possible? Are the stones enchanted?"
Now it was my turn to look surprised. Pulling up my scarf I pulled the ruby from its little pouch, holding it between my fingers. Maybe this might...
I copied Yui's motions, angling the light as we gasped, seeing the red beam refract from my gemstone, piercing the central stone. "You did it!" Yui exclaimed, and I watched as the red beam shot upward into the East archway, sadly, nothing happened after that
"Get behind me," I asked, shuffling around to redirect the light elsewhere, my guess is my ruby somehow resonates with these crystals so if I keep moving and use the central stone to refract the beam's angle into the correct orb then we might just beat this little puzzle. Next was the South-East, this time, a new refracted stroke of light pierced the West orb, but that didn't work either
Again, I continued my rotation, this time striking the South-West orb, nothing happened, and the South orb was the prime stone that fed into the Central stone so maybe it's the North. Going with simple deduction, the streak of scarlet bounced sharply toward the Doorway's orb, from there, the beam diverged, two lines, one to the South-West, the other missed the East.
It was between the North-West and North-East. "My money's on the right."
"Then I call left." Yui chimed in. With a confident nod, I spun my ruby around a final time, carefully refracting the sunlight across the plaza
From the South, the beam shot the Central crystal, which bounced up and into the eye of the North-East orb, that then split itself into two lines, the first one struck the South-West, the other to the East. South-West linked with the West, then West connected the East. A single beam shot forth to the South-East crystal that fired the final shot to the North-West. From there, a beam ricocheted back to the Central crystal, finally ending once it reached the Doorway's orb. My head's spinning...
With the radiant red strokes of light finally in-place, the doorway released an old, winded roar, the light show ceased and the doorway opened its maw to us, a gust of wind released an acrid odour. The way forward was clear. "We did it." Yui smiled, holding out her curled wing-tip
I chuckled. "Damn right we did," I bumped it gently, grabbing my bag, the way was pitch black, but I had an idea. Concentrating, I focused my aura into my paw, a faint flicker of light crackling like a flame, before exploding outward into a small, blue sunspot on my paw. "Let's see what tomb we've just decided to desecrate."
She shuddered at that. "That's just creepy..."
"My humor in its entirety," With that I took the lead, peeking into the tower and finding nothing more than a staircase leading downward, the rest of the tower's spire simply stretched into darkness, but what deepened my confusion was the lack of... abandonment. Well someone's been renovating? Why is everything still relatively tidy?
"Tell me, experienced anything similar to this back home?" Yui asked from beside me, pulling her hood up, I just smiled toothily
"Best refrain from saying things like that around me, less you want to hear more of my morbid quips." That definitely had her paler than before, hesitantly shaking her head as I chuckled, the echo stretching deeper down the spiral staircase. With a blunt stare, I felt my foot twitch. "Okay, let the record show, this was your idea." I pointed crudely at her muzzle, booping her
Her face recoiled with a faint pink hue, then her head slumped to the left. "Why's that?"
Three. Two. One.
*Crack-Crack-Crack-Crack*
Yui gently moved to stand against my legs. "Don't tell me, the ground's about to cave in from under us?"
I didn't so much as blink. "Yep."
"Bottomless pit or lake at the bottom?" She asked meekly
I just yawned. "Most likely."
I now held her bridal style, the light of my aura flickered out with only an anxious yet solemn look on her face. "Bring it--"
Her sentence cut short and the very stone shattered under us. No staircase just a dark abyss reaching up to devour us with dots of purple lighting the way. My throat suddenly ceased its function from Yui's hooves latching around my neck, the two of us plummeting toward certain death while the last rays of light vanished with a looming shadow and scarlet eyes.
To Be Continued...
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Keep going you can do this man don't let what other people say get to you man.
Emperor's New Groove reference made my day I can't stop laughing at that I can't wait for the next chapter
10187587
Good point. Would be funny if a digimon did show up.
10187973
Sadly I've never watched it nor do I want to.
(I feel like a million souls just put a knife to my back after typing this)
10188023
Here's episode 1of Digimon adventure as well as a video someone made with a clip from the new series:
You doing great. Loving the story so far.
10192916
I thank you
Beautiful.
10213827
Yes.
You...sure...do...use...a...lot...of...elipses...
Oh wow, did not expect "The Emperor's New Groove" reference
10487166
I pride myself on references, this was too good to pass up
Always is. No matter if it is not an immediate trap, it's a trap.
10940384
Exactly Right
"too bad you only have one wing right about now..."