To Lands Unknown

by Latch

Where the winds take us - (1)

Kid's cooking wasn't half bad if I remember correctly, pretty decent in comparison to the rest of us for just starting out. Zia had taught him all there was to know about the basics of cooking, preparation and the like. But when it came down to it afterwards, Kid was a fast learner, pretty good cook as well.

The next few weeks passed by pretty slow for us after that. Zulf had taken to spending most of his time trying to plot our course with the winds. Using the recently updated maps of Caelondia, he began sketching himself a new map on a larger piece of parchment he found, once that detailed our path across The Boundless Sea. He had a good idea of where we could end up with us just following the winds.

Zie spent many a time gazing wistfully back towards Caelondida... or, in whichever direction she thought it was in. She didn’t pick up her guitar much, rarely sang either; it was only once during out time at sea did she ever sing though. It was about a week into our trip by then. The song she played was the very same one she'd played when the kid found her.

The kid spent most of his time thinking and sitting alone on the edge of the Bastion. Most of the actions he’d done were possibly coming back to him now, likely the things he’d done in the Tazal Terminals and the elimination of a fair number of the creatures from the Wild Unknowns.

I tried to keep him busy during those weeks at sea, I wanted to keep his mind off of those kinds of things until he was older. He’d be able to understand things then, but he was and still is, just a Kid.

Me? Well... I spent most of my time trying to fix up an old brass pocket watch I found lying around on the Bastion. I also took some of my time to look after the Bastion too, making sure things were running in their prime and nothing was happening to the monument. Nothing ever did happen to it though and I never really ended up fixing the watch neither.

Olak knows how we ended up here though... Mighta' been some kinda magic that brought us here or something like that; perhaps we ended up travelling a lot farther than we initially thought. But in the end, the winds were what ultimately brought us here to your land.

Zulf managed to stress himself out several times though just trying to plot out our course. He had some sleepless nights here and there while he was trying to accurately trace our course, didn't really help him much with what frustration was mounting from the work. Only made the job more stressful on him. He was a bit short-fused during those weeks.

We had some other form of company arrive on our floating vessel just a few days in too; Albatrosses and Seagulls. They became a welcome sight for a time. Some of them were often skittish on our approach and would fly off when we came too close. Some grew the courage to steal food right out of our hands when it was there.

They quickly outgrew their welcome.

We never hurt any of them though, the Kid had used his Musket time and time again to scare off most of them when they started to become a bit of a pest, plus there was the matter of cleaning up most of the droppings they left in their wake. We had to step up with keeping them away then.

It was only half ways into our third week when we came across land. To be specific, we came across the uncharted continent which we now know as Equestria.

---

The shores were a welcome sight. Sure, we never really grew tired of the Sea, but we all wanted to set ourselves on solid ground that wasn't floating miles above the sea. Didn't feel natural on the Bastion as much as anyone would’ve believed.

Zulf was the one to point it all out to us when he spotted the distant shapes of land looming over the horizon while using that old spyglass. He couldn't believe his eyes for a time, saying it was a possibly mirage or something like that. He trailed off as he began explaining that it wasn't right, it would’ve taken a lot longer until we reached land.

We didn't believe him either for a time. Once we took all took a look through the spyglass though, we were surprised as he was when we seen the faint greenery lining the distant shores.

Kid was busy in the forge tending to some of his gear when we saw it, so I sent Zia to inform him.

Zia had come into the forge a little over forty minutes ago, notifying him of the situation at hand. An unknown land lay ahead at the edge of the horizon, too far away at the moment for the naked eye to see, but close enough for them to see its shores.

"An hour," she’d said, “one hour until we can see the them more clearly."

He had been busy modifying another War Machete when she came in, basing it off the original one he often had sitting off to the side. It was a tough job for sure, trying to make every little change to it the same as the original, but he prevailed for the most part, getting most of the modifications in already and sharpening the blade to near perfection.

The forge hadn't seen much use since they left Caelondia since he never saw combat for almost three weeks. The anvils had collected large amounts of dust during that time, and the fire pit for molding metal had actually gone cold, with not a single trace of heat left behind amongst the many coals. Only recently he had taken to reusing it to pass the time, and right now was a matter of convenience. Best to be prepared for anything from here on.

Then the time had come.

Zia opened the door to the forge, notifying him that they were in range to get a good look at the land. He nodded and set his Machete down onto a workbench sitting off in a far corner of the room.

He followed after Zia shortly after and was eventually standing with the rest of them near the Skyway, which didn’t see much use anymore either. He and the rest of them watched in quiet awe as the shores of the new land came into view; trees had covered a majority of the coast, further down it held a river which broke through a gap between the trees. Further up the shoreline yielded a lesser amount of trees, with one sandy beach dotting the coast.

"I don't recognize any of the lands geography. It doesn't match any of the known continents with settlements," Zulf spoke as he slowly shook his head. From just looking at him, he could tell Zulf was showing signs of mounting frustration. "There's no telling where the winds actually took us during these few weeks, as I even had difficulty tracking our course!"

"Nature's like that, each day is never the same when you're in her company," Rucks replied simply as he leaned on his cane, calm as ever. "We found land though, that's something we probably would never find on our own, and we have Mother Nature to thank for that."

"Do you think there's people settled somewhere inland?" Zia asked to both Zulf and Rucks, a bit curious of the matter.

"It's possible," Zulf replied with a sigh. Crossing his arms, he continued, "like I said, this land doesn't share the same resemblance to any of the known settled continents, so perhaps there may be a town or port somewhere along the coast at the very least if we're lucky. If not, then we're most likely on our own..."

---

We spent a bit off time chatting there for a while. Kid remained quiet throughout the whole thing and was just scanning the coast, same with Zia after getting answers to a few more questions.

Zulf had taken to going back into this tent and began mapping what areas of the land that were visible following the discovery. I can't say he was much of an artist, but I can say his maps were the best we had then.

When I checked up on him some time later, I found him lying on the ground, passed out with the quill still clutched in his hand. Turned out his work finally got the better of him.

When I came back outside after taking a quick look over his map, I noticed Zia and the Kid conversing for a time, both of them watching the land as it slowly came closer. Well... Zia was doing the talking for the most part, Kid just sat and listened to what she had to say.

With them busy, I’d taken to doing a quick check up on the weather, just to see if things would remain calm all the way through.

I happened to notice something highly unusual as we neared land; the weather was behaving a lot funnier the closer we came. The seas behind us had that natural calmness about them, just the waves rocking about from the wind. The water though, seemed to becoming more still as we got closer to the shores. The winds seemed to be dying as well, and yet behind us, the waters seemed as rough as they could be.

I didn't know what to consider at the time since I had no knowledge as to why it was happening, but I knew for certain that we wouldn't get far into land as we initially would've expected.

When we finally did hit land and I knew we could go no further, I brought the whole situation up. Kid immediately volunteered to scout the lands below to determine if it was safe, see if he could find any reason as to why it was happening. We didn't object.

"You sure about this, Kid?" Rucks asked as he stood in the arsenal's doorway, watching the Kid get his gear together. "You’ve already ventured all across Caelondia and went through the Tazal Terminals just to get this Bastion up and running, and yet here you are wanting to head out for more in a place that's entirely different."

With him volunteering for the journey below he had to get a specific type of loadout together. The dense flora meant he had to choose something that would be right for the job of being in close quarters and wouldn't get caught on something if he swung it, that being his War Machete. The blade was perfectly suited for cutting through almost anything as demonstrated by the blade quite a time ago; it could carve up a boulder with ease given a bit of time.

Next came the choice of his Breaker's Bow. It was only a precaution for taking it with him since there may be opportunities where he could come across a foe he won't like going up against face to face, if he were to ever encounter such a foe at all. As such, bringing the bow was more out of precaution than necessity.

"I guess there's really no deterring you then once you have your mind set to it I guess..." He heard Rucks sigh, "we'll wait for you outside." The room brightened as Rucks' silhouette no longer stood in the doorway.

After a bit of time passed, he finished gathering his equipment and was ready to head down below. His machete sat comfortably in a sheath lining the left side of his waist, the width of such almost reaching his thigh; his Breaker's Bow along with its arrows were strung across his back with the arrows sitting in a cloth quiver, both easily within reaching distance.

Now, he was ready.

Stepping out into the sunlight, he saw Rucks and the rest of them chatting near the Skyway once more. Their conversation died down somewhat as he neared them. He noticed Rucks raise an eyebrow as he got closer, noticing a lack of a certain shield being with him.

"Think you can handle yourself out there with just those, Kid?" Rucks asked as he seen the light arsenal the Kid was packing.

He nodded in response.

"Just don't get too far ahead of yourself, there's no telling what kinda dangers might be lying in wait for you down there." Rucks looked over to Zia and nodded, "as a precaution, I asked Zia to dig through the distillery, see if she could find any health or black tonics lying around. Turns out this was the only one left."

The Kid looked over to Zia who held a small sack of something in one hand, and a single cyan colored vial in the other.

"I also baked you some bread too in case you get hungry down there." She brought the items a bit closer to him and offered a smile.

"Thank you," he responded quietly, nodding his head slightly with a soft smile of his own as he took the items. He tied the sack to his belt and put the vial in a pouch along the back-right side of his waist. He then looked over to Zulf, seeing if he had anything to say.

His attention appeared to be fixated on something else entirely as he noticed him staring off into the horizon, looking a bit forlorn for the moment. Soon realizing that the Kid was looking at him, he broke from his trance and met the Kid’s gaze. “I’m afraid I’m not quite finished mapping the local areas currently. You’ll have to rely on your own sense of direction for the time being until I can finishing mapping this region.”

"Just remember Kid, you still have the City Crest with you," Rucks added, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If you think you'll end up getting lost down there, either look up and you'll see us, or follow to where the crest takes you. It'll lead you back to where the Bastion is, or where it might be anyways.

"We also tied a rope to the old Skyway here; goes all the way down to the surface," Rucks pointed to a length of rope attached to the Skyway, the other end of which hung beyond the edge of the Bastion. "Just be careful on your way down though, one nasty fall from this high up and you'll be done for."

The Kid nodded his head walked over to the rope and secured himself to it. Giving a few light tugs to see if the rope was indeed secure, he then began scaling over the edge of the Bastion.

"Stay safe," Zia muttered as she watched him disappear beyond the edge.

---

Zulf and I had a bit of a disagreement afterwards on whether it was right for just letting him go down there on his own. He brought up the point that the winds would likely return before he’d get back and that we could just continue on into land.

I told him that the Kid needed a bit of space for a while, he may have been cooped up there with the rest of us for a time, but he’d done things that he never felt proud of, especially in the Tazal Terminals. He needed the time to himself down there.

The Kid hit the earth with a harsh thump, landing face first into the earth as he did many times before. Slowly, with a pained groan, he peeled himself out from the dirt, feeling dazed from the impact.

He'd long since grown accustomed to the Skyway dropping him some thirty feet above each area, often falling from higher heights in the off chance he was unlucky. The misfortune kinda grew on him the more it happened, though such a habit forced him to down his health tonics at an alarming rate.

Thankfully, he decided to lessen the drop by about ten feet this time, reducing it to a mere twenty foot drop. It didn't hurt any less however, but he was thankfully spared some of the more severe injuries from such a fall.

As he pulled himself from the dirt, he felt bits and pieces of the earth detach themselves from him, landing back onto the soil beneath him. Sitting himself upright, he happened to notice the faint imprint of his form being indented into the soul. There was even a slot where the hilt of his blade had pierced through too.

He chuckled softly at the sight. Such a thing had never happened to him before; Caelondia’s dirt only got stronger from the Calamity, making it feel like you were treading on stone instead of dirt.

After finally pulling the rest of himself from his crater, and getting himself comfortable, he took the chance to examine the world around him; to see what there was to see.

All around him, from what he could feel from the environment alone, was the remarkable feeling of calmness stemming from the surrounding area. There was the serene sound of several birds chirping to one another in a sing-song tone in some of the trees nearby, there was even the occasional chitters of smaller animals as well heard nearby too.

It all was so tame...

That feeling he’d always had in the Wild Unknowns, of being stalked by the predators of the land, and of others lying in wait for him. Peckers, Lunkheads, Pincushions... there was none of that here.

It was surprising; a stark change on what he’d long since gotten used to in Caelondia.

So calm...

Following the source of the rope in the sky high above, he spotted the Bastion sitting clearly amongst what few clouds there were. He noted the spot it held in the open air, despite the fact it was the only landmass capable of floating in the skies. It was a bit of a pointless thing to note, but depending on how long he’d be down here, it was important to make note of it anyways in case anything happened.

He brought his attention back to the forest around him, scanning the area in the hopes of looking for a viable through the woods. To his slight avail, there wasn’t, but that wasn’t going to stop him at all. With no path evident, he chose a direction which he was certain to be west, and began forging a path of his own through the treeline.

Author's Note:

A bow and a machete, every bit as effective as the fancier stuff.

The one song link in the chapter is Build That Wall (Zia's theme) from the Bastion OST by Darren Korb.

Comments

[TheArchive]

Still interesting so far. I'm honestly surprised you didn't bring up one of the lasts things Rucks said after the end of the game. He said he couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces when they dock that thing right on their land.

Anyway, I noticed a few problems again, though just minor ones. You seem to be a bit redundant at times. One example I saw is this:

He chuckled softly at the sight, such a thing had never happened to him before. Caelondia's dirt only got stronger from the Calamity making it feel like you were walking on stone more than you were on dirt, and this was certainly a comical change.

See the two bolded parts? Saying he chuckles at the beginning of that paragraph makes the last part (that it was a comical change) redundant. We already know it's comical, so you don't have to say it's comical again at the end. That part was also a bit drawn out. You could have easily reduced it to a line or so (just have a brief mention about how he found it funny that the ground was apparently soft enough to leave an in imprint in the ground, unlike the hard ground of Caelondia), but instead you have several paragraphs dedicated to that one unimportant detail.

Again, I'm enjoying the story, and I hope you find my comments helpful.

[Subatomic Seal]

I love what Rucks says wheen you have certain loadouts, my personal favorite being if you take the Galleon Mortar, and the Calamity Cannon.
"Aw, come on now. That's just overkill,"