a traveling Gryphon merchant needs to learn to survive a new world. that is filled demons, and angels. a crossover with Slightly damned and MLP.
A traveling Gryphon merchant is brought to a new world under strange and totally should never had happened circumstances. But now he has to deal with learning to cope in a world with Demons, Angels, and weird squirrel people? But the most troubling of all is he needs to relearn the value of his wears.
a crossover with the Slightly damned universe and MLP.
warning contains alcohol.
Slightly damned is owned by Raizy or The Chu.
we all Know who owns MLP but to restate Hasbro owns it.
The normal merchant trade routes to Griffon Stone a bustling town on the well trodden dirt paths that during this time of year are packed with Produce from farmers so that they can live through the winter and ultimately keep their farm. This I have known since I was a small child and probably younger than that since after all when you grow up traveling most of your life you tend to listen to what your parents say. So with that being told to me every year we tend to avoid the main path, and take a different route one that has been used by everyone in my family and fellow traders that were able bodied enough to take the dangerous cliff side path that has a few times taken the lives of said traders.
I opened my eyes to see the path ahead of me it was a path that was suspended above a steep drop that if fell down would have few people surviving. It was a small path also, it had only room for one person at a time or risk falling to your death. I grabbed my huge pack that was sitting next to my paws and began the perilous journey to town so I can sell what I can and restock on some supplies to continue to the next town and the next.
Yeah life can get pretty dull doing this most of the year but you can get an odd sense of fulfillment from doing it. But I really should stop thinking to myself and focus on this path or I may fall to my death and frankly I don't want to die by falling I'd rather die in a bed. I was walking the path slowly checking my footing after every step to make sure it wouldn't crumble away as I continued onward.
When I reached the bend that was jutting out of the mountain I was extra careful making sure that my back was to the mountain in case I fell. A section of the path crumbled underneath my right paw and I let it hang there for a second until continuing onward. When I finally turned the bend I saw a section of the once majestic town, it had been growing recently and along with that came new items like a very recent thing being guns.
I checked under my thick coat real quick to see mine, in its leather holster. I have to admit that without I would probably be dead after all lone merchants are a very common target for thugs and bandits. After my short musing about old times I continued on the now safer path at least I thought I was on the safer path.
I accidently walked close to the edge and it crumbled so I quickly grabbed the side and now I found my self hanging on the side of a mountain. I tried pulling myself up but the more I tried the more I felt the dirt and rock crumble beneath my weight so I did the worst thing possible, I panicked.
I started clawing at the edge to try and get myself up but that only made it crumble away and now I felt weightless falling to my death with an odd clarity but my mind raced with " I'm going to die". When I was sure I was about to hit the ground I heard a whoosh noise and I turned around in air to see a black portal open right in front of my eyes and I shouted one thing before I entered it " fuck"!
I awoke with a jolt and pain consuming most of my form, similarly to if you slept wrong in a bed but except it being in your joints it is everywhere. After a few moments I started to get up from the grass and dirt I have found myself laying face first on. After I got up I started to try and make sense of all this shenanigans after all it is not everyday that you fall from a drop that will kill you and be saved by a dark vortex.
"Just what the hell happened, I have seen a lot of crazy shit but a portal that so happened to have saved my life, now that is something that just should never happen. Well good thing I didn't get portal". My insides now started to hurt similarly to getting cramps in the legs but twice as bad and I started to vomit up what I had for a pitiful excuse for a breakfast on to the dirt at my feet as I held my sides.
" I spoke way to soon". After I have stopped puking and my insides stopped trying to crush itself I walked over to a tree and dropped my pack on the side of it. I then collapsed similarly how a dead body word while leaning on the tree. I sat there a little bit until I heard the sound of rushing water. I got up slowly and started limping over to the water leaving my pack and canteen seeing as the water should be just beyond the bushes.
When I got to the river I collapsed at the edge and saw my reflection while I was drinking greedily. My head was white along with a few light blue feathers on top slick back but unkempt with a few feathers loose, similarly to a sweaty alcoholic. My beak was dull yellow and fairly small compared to most male gryphons. My claws or talons wear yellow except for random spots of black on them near my wrist and palm.
When I finally stopped drinking and took a breath I decided to look into my eyes. they are a golden shade of yellow and they had a tired weary look to them. I noticed I was missing my ushanka fur cap." I must have dropped it when I fell of". I growled at myself and said out loud for the first time" Stupid idiot I should have stopped thinking about that stuff". I smacked the side of my head as I said that.
After a short time I got up from the side of the river and started walking back to my pack and hopefully my hat. I also started patting my claws all over my body checking in case I dropped anything else. When I got back to my pack I checked the small area for any signs of my cap and it was right next to all my vomit. I sighed and hoped that none of my vomit got on it.
After I have cleaned my cap I started making a fire grabbing dead or dry plants, and sticks to set it up and finally lighting it with a match. It was not nearly as cold as the mountains actually it was very warm out but I knew it would get cold when the sun disappeared. After what felt like an eternity that didn't help my self esteem issues the finally set and it was quite dark out.
So I started to grab my food out of my pack to eat something after my nudge with death. I stopped when I heard what sounded like panting and branches getting pushed out of the way. I forgot about my dinner and grabbed my revolver that was under my coat and pointed it at the direction of the noise. The noise got louder and eventually the thing making all the noise ran into my camp and I didn't quite know what I was seeing.
I saw what I could only identify as a hairless female monkey that was wearing a t shirt and long pants but was visibly covered in blood as it stained some parts of her brown long hair and basically most of her body. I looked at her with some concern as she was terrified beyond belief with a face that showed great fear and she was staring at me with said look.
I lowered the gun and slowly walked over to her but I stopped completely in my tracks as her eyes widened even more. So I brought my arms up around my head and said" Are you okay"? in a gentle tone. her reaction was not exactly what I was suspecting.
"A-a-are you a d-demon"? I looked at her and said" If I was a demon you would be dead and I wouldn't be talking".
That didn't get the effect I wanted as she fainted wear she was standing and I had to move quickly to catch her head. I slowly dragged her to a tree that was near my pack and where I was planning to sleep at so I could keep an eye on her. When she was leaning next to the tree I grabbed my blanket and draped it around her. I walked back over to my tree and ate a couple morsels of dried meat as my dinner. As I kept watch during the night I could only think of one thing.
" I am nowhere near home aren't I, well if I am nowhere near home Fuck you universe but also thank you if I'm not dead but if this is suppose to be hell, heaven or purgatory well yeah this is a sick joke."
It has been probably an hour since the Lady has ran into my camp. I have been thinking about what I should do with her when she wakes up after all I haven't seen anything like her before. Actually I'm not even sure if it is female but I got a feeling it is because all females I have known have Breasts and her voice was feminine so that is all I got to go on.
As I kept an eye on her my vision started going out of focus repeatedly and my eyes became heavy. I then started nodding off repeatedly with what possibly looked like someone repeatedly head banging with nothing. I kept that up for who knows long until I finally closed my eyes and let them stayed that way and I was whisked away to dream land.
5 Years ago Ponyville
I was sitting at a table that I had rented in the market of Ponyville with all that I'm willing to sell around me. Which was a couple of history books, wooden figurines, an assortment of gems, and some miscellaneous goods like kitchen utensils and clothes. And out of the pile I have sold less than what I have wanted and it is already mid-day to say I felt like I was wasting my time was kind of an understatement.
"What the hell have I been doing all day". I have talked to a couple of the local ponies but they didn't really know why I have been getting so little business. Since they did buy some stuff they were probably trying to help me and to get a few people to visit and so far it hasn't worked. I was about to start drinking some of the alcohol, specifically the scotch, I had stowed in my pack when someone interrupted me from my thoughts.
"Hey". The minute I heard the raspy feminine voice I looked up and saw a cyan, rainbow haired Pegasus in work out clothes look at me with an expecting face. Obviously wanting service I did what I usually say when I'm bored.
"Has something caught your eye mam". Judging by the look she was giving me I don't think she liked that response or my bored and annoyed tone.
"Do you have a problem with me". She emphasized by bringing her hands on my table. Not slamming but more like if you had wanted to place something down.
I looked up at her and said. "No I don't but if you haven't noticed business has been very slow for me all day". She looked at me confused but then she looked around and most likely saw the severe lack of other ponies near me and my stand.
She looked back and said. "Oh I didn't notice I guess I would feel like you if no one paid attention to me". She had a sad look so decided to try and start back on the right footing.
"Sorry about that why don't we restart my name is Jade". I held my claw up to shake her hand but she didn't and instead she was trying her best to stifle her laughter and she was failing miserably.
"J-Jade isn't that a girls name". The figurative dam she created broke and she laughing out loud clutching her stomach. I decided to look at her and keep on staring at her until she has stopped laughing.
"Yeah so what is your name". I said that to her after she has stopped.
"Rainbow dash the fastest Flyer in equestrian". She said that with a boast in the Air, all she needed was a back flip in the air and it would be complete. But due to how silly her name was I started laughing.
I started to hammering down on the table as I continued to laugh. That continued as my eye's watered I finally stopped and I heard her harrumph as I looked back up.
"So rainbow dash what do you want from my fine stand". I tried to say with a straight face. Her eyes widened due to some kind of realization.
She asked frantically. "Oh I wasn't looking to buy I was asking if you saw the fight earlier". She twiddled her fingers as she said this.
"No I haven't" I said as my tone got significantly more back to annoyed. She noticed this along with showing a defeated face and scanned my counter until her eyes lit up at one of the wooden figurines.
"Hey how much for that statue"? I looked at what she was pointing and saw a wooden tortoise figure. I picked it up and dropped it in her hand.
I said. "That is Five Bits please". She fumbled in the pocket of her hood and grabbed five of the golden coins and gave them to me.
I said. " A pleasure doing business with ya". She started to walk away but her ears stood up and she turned around.
She said. "You should probably put away that bottle and how old are you". I looked around me and saw what she was talking about. The bottle of scotch I was grabbing earlier was on the table.
I responded quickly" I'm 29".
"How the hell did I not notice grabbing it"? Her face had a smile as she continued to jog away leaving me in confusion. And before I new it the memory started to melt away and I felt a sharp discomfort on my neck.
When I opened my eyes I saw the women's brown eyes and a knife at my throat. I put my claws up slowly and told her in a very quiet voice.
"Hey why don't we talk about this". I hated myself for showing fear in it.
She continued to look at me with the knife to my throat as I kept my hands level with my head. I wasn't expecting to wake up to this after all my time with people that have fainted is normally due to huge blood loss and injury. Or they saw something they just couldn't believe, and my money is on the trauma of disbelief partially due to the fact she is still covered in dry blood and she was constantly shaking with erratic heavy breathing.
She asked me while she was heavily breathing" Why are you here"? Her voice had a somewhat threatening tinge to it but honestly everything is when you have your own knife at your throat.
I said to her in a trying to be calm voice" I-I don't have a clue". That was most likely what she wasn't expecting so she put more pressure on my throat and also kept on pushing my chest down.
She said in a annoyed tone" What do you mean you don't have a clue". I kept my hands up and shuffled very slightly to get comfortable and to make sure not almost all her weight was on my legs.
I said to her in the same tone as before" let me explain one moment I was on the side of a mountain following a path to a town, but I fell of said path and I notice a portal before I fell into it and now I'm here, and to be honest right about now I'm wishing I took the fall at least it would have broke my legs and I could still live but no I'm now probably going to die in a very not preferable way". I let my annoyance slip during my final rant. She looked at me like if you saw a old man claim he was dead and come back to life to spite his children's children.
She asked" How would have died if you had wings on you, are they just decoration"?
I said to her" Of course there not decoration and besides do you think you can fly when you are lugging that huge pack". I pointed to said pack that if on me would give me an extra fifty pounds and put my wings in a position that would make it impossible to fly with it on. She looked at the pack for a second that was behind her, so I decided to play my move.
I grabbed her hand that held the knife and shoved it toward her with the blade pointing at her. I got up from my sitting position and yanked the knife from her hands. She was now lying on the ground with a look of complete fear and at my mercy, but I didn't go up and move or anything I just stood there at my full height with my knife pointed at her.
I said to her" You should know that rule one of having someone at your mercy is to never look around". I did a one hand gesture while saying this.
She told me in fear" W-What a-are you going to d-do". She kept on stuttering and was once again breathing heavily. I stared at her for a little bit of time thinking of what I should do.
"She attacked me in my sleep but she is scared and is covered in blood probably survived the encounter of a possible "Demon" if that is what attacked her judging from her first words, and she doesn't look like a bandit after all what bandit wears just a shirt and pants."I offered my claw to her but she just looked away trembling.
"I'm offering you a hand up not to maul you". She looked back quickly and saw my claw gently lazily outstretched. She very slowly took it and I slowly helped pull her up. Her hands were soft and gentle similar to someone who hadn't worked a hard job, but now she was on her feet and still covered in blood, trembling, and newly added dirt.
She asked me" Why aren't you hurting me I put a blade to your throat". She looked at me with a very confused expression and I'm pretty sure everyone seeing this would have been equally confused.
"Because your just scared and you look like last night was a very bad for you". I muttered under my breath" And I might need a guide". I think she heard me but there was no obvious hint that she did.
"So do you want to tell me what happened last night or do you want to not look like a ghost, if you care more for looks there is a river there through those bushes". She seemed to take that a wrong direction and stiffened like a piece of wood.
I added very quickly along with scratching my head" I won't look at all just thought you wanted to not look like a horror book victim".
She seemed to understand it and was less rigid and started scooting backward through the branches. She then turned around and ran through the branches and I heard an audible splash.
"What the hell have I got myself into".
We were sitting next to the fire that I had reignited to dry of her clothes and I was looking toward the forest one way and I was hoping she was looking the other direction due to how awkward and embarrassing this must be to her. Good thing I gave her one of my blankets, one of my many blankets.
"Why is it so hot it's like an oven this isn't normal temperature for fall unless you live in a desert"?I grabbed on the collar of my coat and stretched it to let some air in but it never worked. So I decided to strike a conversation to pass the time and heat.
"So you want to talk about last night now since your cleaned up a little"?
She said in a dejected manner" I guess that could help a little".
"Ok begin wherever you want we got time".
"I was out here with a friend when it happened a beast popped out of nowhere and ran it's claws through him". She started choking a little bit after that and was obviously crying but continued.
"I then ran as fast as I could and I popped into you". She became very quiet, and she surprised me a little bit.
"So why did you not kill me other than that guide remark"?
"I uh I've been around a lot and seen many people some have been in similar situations and for me it is better to have friends than enemies". I was kind of surprised that she heard that but that was true so I asked a question.
"I want to ask you but was that guy special to you". I was nervous because she could either start balling her eyes out or force me to remain silent and I don't like making people cry, who doesn't.
She was very quiet but I heard it" He was my boyfriend". I instantly regretted asking that. Its bad enough knowing someone close died like that but it is going to break and scar her for years. And I heard the tears flow and they didn't stop for a while.
It was a good bit of time since she started crying so I decided to check on her clothes if they wear dry. Her now green shirt was mostly clean and dry but you can never really get blood stains out. I checked on her brown pants too which is better than the shirt in terms of laundry standards.
I said back to her near the fire" Your clothes are dry now if you want to leave we can leave whenever". Her response was fast.
"Yes we should leave just give me some privacy". After hearing that I stood up and walked toward the river which was to her right where she was sitting. I walked past the bushes and stared at the river for a unknown amount of time.
I heard her voice suddenly very loud" Hey I'm dressed you can stop staring into the river". I turned around quickly and saw her looking at me like I was dumb.
"Why are you looking at me like that and why so close"? She was literally an inch from me and looked annoyed.
"Because I've been trying to get your attention for a minute now". Now I looked dumb after all it is rare as hell for me to not notice anything like people and them yelling at me.
I gave a her a short response" Okay I will snuff the flames and were out of here". I walked toward the fire and started emptying my canteen over it. After the fire died down I disassembled the logs and went back to the river to get more water. She offered me the blanket back but I pushed it back toward her and told her to keep it.
I asked" So where and what is the name of the closest town"? She seemed to have just caught on that I have no clue where I am or the names of anything.
"Oh the closest town is Riverside and I live there so I can guide you and we just follow the river upstream if your asking". She seemed oddly happy while saying that but I didn't care all that much. I grabbed my pack after I filled my canteen and picked up any discarded items and walked the direction she came from last night.
I added quickly to that" We are going slightly into the forest to retrieve the body and you don't have say in that but you don't have to watch if you don't want to". I could hear her gasp from it and she asked a question.
"Why can't we get the guards to do it that Demon might still be out there". I answered back quickly.
"It might still be there but the guards have bigger things to worry about and besides you don't leave someone you care about behind living or dead". I looked back at her when I said that and she looked scared but there was a hint of determination under that scared demeanor.
"I understand and by the way what is your name mine is Sarah". A pretty name for a young woman.
"Mine is Jade and yes it's kind of ridiculous but that name is unisex no matter how much you argue". I heard her giggle a little bit but I didn't mind anything to help lift her spirits would help. After all we still need to get the body of a loved one before the animals devour it beyond recognition.
"Why is it so hot I feel like I'm in a sauna without steam".I have always hated warm weather but this is really starting to piss me off. I have been walking with her for a while not to long since the sun didn't look to be in position for midday and the heat wasn't completely unbearable. It did help that I was asking Sarah some questions to pass the time and again this heat.
I asked Sarah" So what is some interesting things in your town"? She was behind me so I couldn't tell what her face looked like but I did hear a "Hmmm" from behind.
"I don't really know after all I have lived there my entire life so why don't you talk about some places you've been and see what might be interesting". I nodded.
"Yeah that does seem good let's see, well my home is not nearly as hot as it is here for fall this place feels like an oven".
Sarah answered in a worried tone" Well sir it is technically summer right now and fall isn't due for another month". I visibly stiffen and stop walking.
She asks " Are you okay sir"? I didn't pay much mind because I'm currently trying to understand why the hell it is Summer when it was mid Fall. But It didn't hit me too much but what I asked next did. I turned around and grabbed a small pouch that was in one of my coat pockets and grabbed one of the few gold coins in it.
I asked her" Is this a common currency and Jade is fine we've known each other a good bit of time". She takes it from my claw and inspects the tiny gold coin. She bites down on it and inspects the now somewhat noticeable teeth marks and, she hands it back to me.
She then says" That is a gold coin you have it isn't common but it is worth more than copper and silver pieces, a lot more". I look at her in bewilderment I have been to many places but gold not being common is odd. But this proves it I am in a place I know little about.
I ask her hesitantly" How much could this one coin get me". She put her hand to her head and does the math in her head.
"If your looking at items it could get you wright wyvern and everything you need to raise one for a month, but for a room in an inn you could probably get to have one for a week if you skip the dinner they serve". I very visibly let my beak hang open and stare at nothing which unfortunately was actually staring at her.
"Your kind of scaring me, no you are scaring me can you stop". When I hadn't stop she slapped me and I finally got out of my stupor of utter disbelief.What I have can get me a lot of things but now I have to rethink all of the value of my stuff, that will take a long time".
"I'm going to hate the next few months". I say to no one except myself. I continue trudging onward until I finally realized I didn't know one of the examples she said.
I said to Sarah" Wait what is a Wright wyvern"? I looked back at her and she stared back at me like I was an idiot. She sighs and decides to tell me what they are.
"They are a bunch of flying lizards that look like dragons that deliver the mail around Medius". I looked back forward and continued to walk as I responded.
"So you have dragons delivering your mail and this land is called Medius". I heard her hum in acknowledgement. I added under breath" I'm so drinking when I get to an inn". The rest of the journey was in relative silence until we got to a clearing with a lot of blood and a lone body.
"You should not see this but you can so yeah it's your choice". She was silent when I dropped my pack and grabbed another one of my blankets and went over to check on the body. When I got there I kneeled over him and started examining him.
He had four holes in his stomach region and all of it was precise and clean through, no bear would have claws that big and patience or precision to do something like this. I looked around and patted down his jacket he was wearing and felt something in one of its pockets. I pulled it out and saw I small black box that would probably hold a ring, And when I opened it there was one and it looked simple but it was all I needed.
I uttered under my breath" Fuck this is really bad". I stayed that way for a bit until I heard her call.
"Are y-you almost done"? with that said I put the box in my coat, and started to wrap him up. I put his arms on his stomach and started to wrap him in it when he was wrapped up fairly well I picked him and held him bridal style. I walked over to her and told her to try and carry my pack while I carry him. We walked in absolute silence.
"Should I tell her she deserves to know, but she will be a mess for the entire walk. how about this I give it to her before my eventual departure she deserves to know just not right now".The walk continued for a while and all of it was in uncomfortable silence.
The sun was right above our heads when we saw the first building. It was mostly wood except for a few pieces of stone around the bottom and it also seemed to be part of a road. I stopped walking and told her to drop my pack and to go find a guard. I had to stand there for a good minute until she came back with a group of guards and they all gave wary glances at me.
I said" Here I hope you guys can take it from here". They nodded and I gave the body to one of the guards that had his hands outstretched.
I asked" Is there any place that I can stay for the night or whenever"? One of the guards possibly the leader of this group responded.
"Yes there is a inn called the Chipper mud skipper you can stay there if you want but we will come by to ask some questions got it". He pointed a finger at me but I didn't mind after all I'm in a really bad situation so yeah I was bound to get threatened in someway. He told me the directions to the inn and I went of without another word.
When I got to the inn and entered it there wasn't anyone at the counter so I rang the bell which happily had a sign that read" Ring bell for service". I waited for a little bit until a young yellow haired man walked out the back with overalls on.
He said in a fairly young voice" How can I help you"? I placed one of my gold coins on the counter.
"Get me a room and I don't care about anything else if you ask". He inspected the coin and did the same thing Sarah did.
He said slowly" Ok is it just a room and how long are you staying"?
"I don't know how long I will be here but I will pay how long I'm staying".
"Ok all I need is a name and you should be able to stay for five days just with this do you want change if you leave before then"?
I sigh and continue" No I don't and my name is Jade". He pulls out a book and wrote my name down and a number along side it. And then gave me a iron key with a string and attached paper with the number three on it.
"You will be in room three enjoy your stay". I walked off up stairs and just when I left I heard chuckling from down there. "Probably because of my name".
When I got to a door with the number three on it I entered the door and was welcomed with a small room with a bed, dresser and mirror, with a another door that probably led to a bathroom. I dropped my pack down along with my coat and started going through my pack for a bottle and a glass. When I found the items I opened the bottle of Scotch and started drinking it from the glass I got out alongside it.
My day continued like that for a while until I couldn't handle any more and I flopped on the bed and went to a quick sleep.
I opened my eyes at the sudden noise that has invaded my dream and also awoke me along with a massive headache that will probably not leave for a few hours. I was still laying on the bed from last night except now it looks like I have completely destroyed it with the blanket on the floor next to it and the pillows scattered around. There was also very light claw marks but that shouldn't be very noticeable, but my black feathers prove to be scattered around like they always do when I sleep more intoxicated than any man with a family would do. I looked at the window and whish I hadn't.
"FUCK MY EYE'S"! I shouted at the top that my dry throat could allow and subsequently covered my eyes the best I could. I also fell of what remained as a bed during my outburst which most likely caught the attention of anyone outside the door. I heard some voices outside the door but I stopped caring all that I was concerned about was getting some water and luckily my stuff was still in the corner of the room near the door.
I began crawling towards my pack when I noticed some more things in the room there was a few shards of glass near one of the walls and my bottle from last night was on the ground in the middle of the room. When I got to the pack I opened it and grabbed my canteen I immediately started downing the water as quick as possible. When I was almost half way done I heard a door be unlocked and opened. I looked at the doorway and noticed Sarah from yesterday but now wearing a white top and similar brown pants.
She spotted me and said" Are you okay I heard you shout not to long ago"? I stopped drinking for a moment to respond but my luck disappeared and I started coughing. She walked toward me a bit but I raised my claw to stop her.
When I stopped coughing I responded" I'm fine just need to drink". As I continued to drink the water the boy from the counter yesterday came in.
He asked" Is everything ok up here". His eyes seemingly grew when he saw the state that the room was in. Before he could begin to complain I started first.
"I will fix the room up before I leave and pay any damages so don't start screaming". That seemed to shut him up for a little bit.
He said before he left" I will hold you to that". Then he started walking out and most likely into the lobby and he left me alone with Sarah.
I decided to ask Sarah" Why are you here"? I looked at her expectantly but I didn't get what I wanted.
She asked" You drink don't you"? I look at her hoping this doesn't end badly.
"And what makes you say that". She then starts getting annoyed at me.
She put's her finger to her lip as she starts listing off" Well there is an empty bottle, glass shards, a wrecked bed, and you are shirtless in a corner drinking a lot of water".
"I'm not ready for this so early in the morning well not until my headache stops".I clutch my head to try and stem the tide of my headache but it didn't make a difference I was still unfocused. I decided to give her the answer she wants.
"Yeah I do and it's none of your dam business now why did you come over here"? She looked at in silence for a while probably thinking of why this kind gryphon was drinking him to sleep some nights or drinking in general. But she seemed to not focus on that topic and gave me an answer.
"I wanted to show you around town today for repaying you getting me back here safely". She seemed generally sympathetic so I decided to not stay angry at her.
"Ok I will take you up on that offer besides I need to give you something". I hope I don't regret this later. I grabbed the Black box from my coat and handed it over to her. She took it with a curious look in her face but I think she realized what it was before she began opening it.
"This was on him wasn't it". I simply nodded at her and she proceeded to open it. Her face turned from down to straight up crying in ten seconds flat. She collapsed next to me and I started helping her the only way I knew by holding her and just being there for her. She started crying into my chest making my fur and feathers wet but I didn't mind I just let her cry for a while longer to get it out of her system.
After what might be five minutes she stopped crying and she said" Thank you". I sat there with her for a minute after until I finally convinced myself that we need to get up.
"We should probably get going you still have to show me around and I can't stay here forever". She stood up and moved toward the door slowly. When she was at the door she stopped and waited for me to follow.
"I still need to get ready just close the door I will be out in a minute". She finally left and closed the door and with her gone I started to go to the door on the other side. When I opened it I was met with a stock standard bathroom with sink and toilet but no shower. After I was done in the bathroom doing the usual stuff I went to my pack and grab my coat. I went to the door as I was putting it on and grabbing my bag of now more valuable than my life coins and what was previously called Bits not like that was a dumb name.
When I exited the room I said" Ok where will this tour begin at"? But I noticed she wasn't here at all. Annoyed I went down the stairs and saw her talking to the reception boy. Something about the key she borrowed I didn't pay much attention as I continued walking down stairs. When I got down she hadn't noticed me so I sat in one of the chairs near the door without a care in the world.
Eventually she turned around and noticed me and said" When did you come down"?
"I came down when you were talking with him". After a brief pause I added" So when will the tour begin"? She seemed to think for a sec but quickly began.
"I think you should see the Help center then the post office and then it is mainly up to you". I looked at her and questioned why a help center but I didn't care it was her tour and I do want to see what a post office looks here.
I said" That seems okay and to add I would also like to see a few shops some clothing and other stores like nick knacks and antique shops".
Sarah began leading me outside and responded to my saying" I can understand clothing since you don't seem to wear a shirt or shoes, but why those other stores".
I sigh and added" Because I sell a variety of items I need to see what I can pick up and what they can take and I don't have intentions of getting new clothes yet I mainly want to sell some blankets and cloth". She seemed to stand attention more and look back at me with a questioning gaze.
"You were complaining about the heat yesterday you should get knew clothes and why are you selling them blankets"?
I sigh deeper and begin" Blankets are just fabric and I have way to many to count also I don't plan on spending much money while I'm here". Sarah finally got stopped questioning me and we walked all the way to the help center which did not look very friendly when we entered. There was no one here and the only thing that stood out was the chairs and the jail bar.
She began by waving her hand around" This is the help center here you can sign up and go around helping people if you do it you get money, I used to work here when I was younger". I look at her dumbfounded, this is not a friendly looking place.
"You kidding me right this seems like a place you go to talk with someone that is in jail". She looked at me like I was an idiot and it seemed someone else didn't like what I said earlier.
"Hey I can't help it that everyone sucks at interior decoration". A older sounding voice said from the bars. I look over there and stare intently at it.
I said" I'm going to the post office besides I don't have a need for money but thank you for telling me that". I turn to leave through the door but before I went I added" And to help you should probably remove the bars and put a painting up". With me being done with that place Sarah led me to the post office which indeed looked like a post office from the outside. But when you enter It looked more like a pet zoo than anything else or like that one house in Ponyville, but the name of the owner often escapes me.
Sarah began just like the help center" This is the post office and yeah that's it there's not really anything here other than mail and Wright wyverns". Speaking of wyverns a white one landed on my shoulder and coiled around my head. She did describe them well but there more like a snake with feathered wings and a round head. I tried getting the animal of my head but it would not budge and Sarah started giggling at my attempts for freedom of personal space.
"Oh it seems Sam likes you". I looked at the direction of the male voice and saw a dark skinned man behind a counter. He was also wearing a multi colored beanie probably for the hell of it.
I point at him and then to the lizard currently strangling me and said" Ok so can you get it off of me"?
He walked over to me and said" Sam get off of this guest". The wyvern obeyed but the owner added" And it is a he and his name is Sam".
I raise my claws in mock surrender" Ok I will call it a him and call him Sam so Sarah are we going". She nodded and now we where going down some random street near the help center when she noticed a clothing store. She led me into the store but I raised an eyebrow at what manned it. It looked like a squirrel but it at the same time wasn't, it had big huge ears, hands with tiny retractable claws, and had a tail that was long and thick near the base. I walked close to her, yeah I think her and to my better judgement kept on staring down at her. Her feet was also similar to a bunny but seemed to have wrappings around them.
She looked up at me with her Ruby colored eyes and said" Welcome to Riverside Haberdashery the only store in Riverside that sells top hats". I wasn't fazed that she waved at me actually I think I was frozen solid like if you put something in a ice box for three days straight. When my gaping beak and facial expression didn't shift the creature started to shrink down and start nervously giggling. She creped away from my gaze and moved to Sarah.
She asked Sarah" What is wrong with your friend". My eyes narrow to slits.
"I don't know he didn't behave like this when he saw me".
"So what is it and why is it staring at me out of everyone else in this shop"? Sarah didn't answer immediately instead she walked over to me and waved her hand in front of me, no movement. She poked my chest, no reaction. She tested touching and hitting me in all places but I never reacted until.
"Hey Ruby you might want to cover your ears". The now named creature called Ruby complied and almost immediately after Sarah kicked my lower half, no response. She was about to shrug her shoulders when the loudest yell in history rang out.
I yelled" MY FUCKING JEWELS"! At the top of my lungs almost to the point that glass started cracking. I fell on the floor holding any male creatures prized possession. I heard both the girls fell to the floor laughing.
"Why did you kick me there"? I ask with a wheezy and quiet voice.
I managed to make out from the laughter" Because you were staring at me". When I looked at the creature now known to me as Ruby I managed to make out that she was wearing blue shorts and a white top. I manage to stand up and give the girls a stare that if any gryphon, pony, unicorn, and Pegasus would run dig there own grave and commit suicide over it before I moved and inch. And the grave would be unmarked because I often gave this stare to swine and scum of the earth that do sick shit for a living.
"You are so lucky because I often give this stare to creatures that don't deserve to live but you two aren't that bad so yeah, now can you tell me what you are". She stood up and tried to lower her laughter but it didn't succeed for a few minutes.
Ruby started" I will start only when you tell me your name and what you are".
"Fine my name is Jade and I'm a gryphon that wants to sell items to the owner of this shop". She raised her ears a little bit at the name but didn't start laughing. She also raised at selling and her eyes shrunk quickly.
"I'm so sorry that happened I will do anything so I don't get fired please don't rat me out to my boss please have mercy". She spoke that very rapidly but I didn't really care, but I did learn she just worked the counter or floor.
I sigh and respond" I wont rat you out and besides you didn't kick my in my family jewels" I point to Sarah" Sarah did so yeah I'm going to get revenge or she owes me a favor". Ruby's features lightened up while Sarah's right eye began twitching a little bit.
I continued "So now you know me tell me more about what you are and yourself".
Ruby began more relaxed" Well I am what most people call a Jakkai, and we are a bunch of overly traditional whack jobs". I look at her and simply blink.
She continued" We are not all traditional mainly that village near Farun is and others similar, and fun fact we lay eggs". I didn't care about the egg part after all I hatched from one so I'm indifferent but I need to learn more about this places main religion to truly understand what she said about traditional whack jobs.
I look at Sarah and said" Your going to have to fill me in on traditions here and thank you for the talk". I look back to Ruby and put my claw out to her. she shook it and I began my next topic.
"Back to what I came here for can you talk to your boss and see if she might be interested in certain blankets and Fabrics I will come back tomorrow to confirm". I noticed the setting sun so I decided that was best and she nodded and we went on our way out of here. I told Sarah that she should take me back to the inn and she should go back to where ever she lived. As we were walking she decided to ask me a question that through me of guard.
"Do you think you have any weird or odd diseases on you". I raised and eyebrow and put my claw to my beak in thought.
"Judging how everything is going so far I shouldn't have anything out of the ordinary I will most likely just pass around the common cold from my world since I have no history of anything else and do you guys have magic"? She nodded and her hand produced a very small fire. I tried to whistle but failed horribly.
"Well since magic does exist nothing bad should happen but I should be more worried than you". She looks back at me in surprise to see my down face.
"I will have to deal with all your diseases with no magical aid at all so I'm going to have moments of pure agony at times but hopefully I will get through it". She looks at me with sympathy and I look at her as the sun disappears over the horizon almost taking my breath away at the sheer beauty of it all. After we stood there enjoying the sunset two moons appeared above our heads, one a ethereal green the other a almost pink red.
"Wow I never seen that before". She simply giggled at my child like wonderment but we continued onward back to the inn.
When we got back to the inn I we exchanged goodbyes but before she left I gave a hug from behind and said" Thank you for everything except for kicking me in the balls". I think her face turned pink but I wasn't sure so I'm going to except it as that. Without another word I walked to the inn and up to my room but noticed it was locked and I left my key there after a quick rummage through my pockets. I walked back down stairs to the counter boy.
"Hey um I need help getting into my room I seemed to have left my key in it". He turned around and with a face of annoyance walked around the counter, grab a key and walk upstairs to unlock the door.
I said" Thank you". To him before he slammed the door on me and left me alone in my room. I took off my coat and found the key on the dresser under my hat. I looked through my pack to get some Blankets for the talk with the shop owner and added the info of where the key is and to never forget it.
"Ok that is everything ready for tomorrow and".I looked at the bottles in my pack but I adverted my eyes and told my self not to drink.
"I actually want to dream tonight so no alcohol your not coming out to day and that should be it, good night to no one like it has been for about ten years".
I was in a clearing covered and snow. I looked down at my feet and saw a unicorn below me that was covered in deep cuts and blood. His cold soulless white eyes stared into my soul. I looked at my claws and they too were covered in blood. I screamed for a good amount of time until my dad ran over and held me tight.
He said in a soft caring voice" It's okay everything will be fine".
I responded" No It wont I killed him". I choked at the last part but my dad didn't care he just kept on rocking back and forth hoping to calm me down.
"Son he was a bad man that would have done horrible things, you saved us". I didn't respond I just closed my eyes and continued to cry on my dad's shoulder until I couldn't no more.
I jolted up in bed and opened my eyes. I was breathing heavily and sweating along with being hunched over staring at my claws. After a while I managed to control my breathing and stopped staring at my claws to look out the window. It was still dark out and It probably wont for another hour. I got out of the bed and walked to the bathroom and started washing my face with the faucet. When I looked in the mirror I saw myself but I looked like I went through my own personnel dream hell.
"Why do I still have that dream I should be over it now, like everyone else that had done similar".I eventually stopped admiring myself and left the room to get ready for the day. I fixed up the room before I went to bed so there was a distinct lack of glass and evidence toward me drinking.
When I went over to my coat that was on my pack I heard a growl and my stomach started hurting. I put a claw on my stomach I started to think why it was hurting. I came to a realization that I hadn't eaten anything yesterday.
I grabbed my coat and key and went into the hall not caring if it was light out or if people heard me. I walked down the stairs and noticed a different person behind the counter he was older and was growing a grey beard. I walked over to him, he noticed me in a heart beat but his face wasn't of anger or annoyance instead it was of admiration I think.
He asked in a aging, weathered voice" How my I help you"? Yep I have no idea why he has this mood.
"Do you serve Breakfast this early and if you do just make it simple". The man nodded with a smile and proceeded into the back with a smile. After a few minutes he came back with some bread and a plate of eggs. He handed them to me and didn't ask for anything.
"Um don't I owe you anything"? The old man waved me off and said" Don't worry about it the money from your room will cover it and besides you look like a nice person though your oddly demanding". I nodded and proceeded to sit down at a random table and much to my surprise the man decided to sit next to me.
I decided to question him" Why are you sitting next to me I thought I ticked off the people who work here". The man didn't answer immediately so I decided to start eating my breakfast with little care.
"I own this establishment and the only one that you may have angered was the Day boy but I don't quite take his words in judging people". I looked at him as he talked while still trying to eat.
"So can you tell me how I angered him"? The man nodded. "Man he nods too much".
"It mainly has to do with how he found your room in pretty bad condition". I choked a little bit but I continued to eat not letting anything stop me.
I asked "So is that the only reason"?
"No it also has to do with your attitude and your relationship with Sarah". I stopped eating and looked at him.
"What relationship, I don't have a relationship with anyone or her".
"Oh if you don't have one I guess I can understand but then why was she crying in the room". I looked down at my plate that had most of the food gone.
I looked at him and said" Her boyfriend died and I hid the ring from her so that she wouldn't delay our arrival into town and I showed her it yesterday I guess he was going to propose to her but now that will never happen". I said it in a saddened but emotionless tone.
"So that answers one rumor and did the guards ask you questions yet". I looked at him."What rumors".
I looked down and said" No I haven't spoken to them since I entered town and may I ask what rumors"? I was generally curious about these rumors.
"The rumors say a Demon is in town and that he brought one of his victims and brought a broken young women in town to gain trust but said women says that he isn't a Demon and that he's a nice fellow that didn't kill her boyfriend but helped her get back to town".
I said to the man" Yes that is true what Sarah said and how did you know her name"?
"This is a fairly small town and most people here know her along with her parents and now will know the truth". He brought his left hand out toward me and back to him. I looked around noticed the inn was empty, "Why did he do that"?
"I will spread the truth that you did good and you best be off if you want to avoid the Day boy". I got up from my seat and noticed through the front door that it was light out and I could hear people moving outside. I bid the man a good day and retreated to grab the blankets from my room. I was holding my blankets when I was coming down stairs and I noticed the man standing next to the door. I walked toward it and he opened it for me.
I said" Thanks". And proceeded to the Haberdashery at least I think that was it's name.
I walked through the street noticing how people stared at me or just didn't care to look at the man sized, bird and cat creature. When I hit the Haberdashery I started to try and open the door before a hand covered my claw and a followed it to see Sarah in similar clothes from yesterday or exact same. She blushed and I pulled my claw back when she retracted her hand. I gave her a signal to open the door when I noticed a furry blob out in the distance, walk towards us. I recognized that blob as Ruby so I started to wave at her with my free claw.
I asked Sarah when she opened the door for all of us" Why are you here"? She avoided the question a little bit before Ruby decided to answer me.
"She works here all the time and how are you doing you look tired". I look at Sarah for a sec when I got in the shop but I decided to just answer Ruby.
I answered her in a disinterested tone" I had a nightmare last night that is all and why didn't you tell me you worked here Sarah".
She flinched at this but exhaled and said in a defeated tone" You never asked and I personally never wanted you to know". She was going to say more before a male voice decided to break the conversation.
"Ah your there you guys are". I looked behind me to see a middle aged man that was wearing a fancy black vest, with white undershirt and brown pants along with black shoes. He also had brown hair and was clean shaved not like I cared about his facial hair. The man looked surprised and proceeded to look me from top and bottom.
He said" I'm guessing your the man Sarah and Ruby mentioned". I nodded and continued in a business tone.
"So what do you want and what are you willing to pay for it". The man took the blankets that I had and started to sift through them testing the material of them and checking the color.
After a few minutes of thinking the man came to an answer" I will by all of these from you for five copper pieces and ten silver pieces and what Sarah is about to through you". Before I could respond I had a white sheet over my head. I grabbed it and saw that it was a mostly white shirt with blue hemming at the bottom. It looked very comfortable and didn't look like it would be tight around me. I gave an eye at Sarah behind me.
I asked the man" Why did you add this to the deal"? Knowing almost fully what he was going to say.
"Sarah came by and said that you need some lighter clothing and that you plan on selling some items to me so I decided to add this to the deal you okay with it"? I sighed and approved of the transaction mainly not to dispute it and not to disappoint Sarah. He gave me the money and I kept the shirt that actually feels pretty nice, I guess I will try this on later.
I looked back at Sarah who had a smile on her face and said" You planned this didn't you".
"Yes I did and now you have no say in it". When she said that the man tossed a pouch of coins at me. I checked it and found he didn't cheat me.
Ruby walked over and said" Well he actually bought those I'm surprised". I looked at her and questioned.
"Why"? She scratched the back of her head.
"Well those blankets don't look to be made of a great material and I'm actually shocked he bought all of them from you for that much". I looked at her and my eyes narrow slightly.
"Why are you saying that"? Her eyes started darting toward the direction of Sarah and I look at her and she held her breath.
"Well now I know why I got apparently a good deal it was because someone is looking out for me". I keep on looking at her.
"So one part of your debt to me is gone". Her head lift up a bit." But you still owe me for getting you to town in one piece". Her head lowered again.
"Hey". I heard Ruby say so I looked at her and she looked somewhat ticked.
"She doesn't owe you anything you know that and besides I was planning on doing a get together tonight and I was inviting you". I continued to look at her but I'm curious about said "Get together".
"Ok fine I was pulling her leg a little bit and besides she's didn't need to do anything except for that one thing yesterday that will be repaid because no one likes getting hit there unless there weird as hell or insane". Sarah chuckled a little bit at my last remark.
"And besides I need to talk to some people I haven't held a conversation among friends or strangers in about I say a three months". They both looked surprised but they seemed to get it.
Ruby said" Ok we will get you during our break to show you the bath house because honestly you smell like a boar that decided to die from sweating to much". I looked at her confused until I sniffed my arm pit and I retracted quickly and regretted doing it.
I said" Yeah that will be nice, wait Bath house you mean that's why there isn't a shower of bath at the inn". They both nodded there heads.
"Well just perfect".
I was sitting in steaming water in the Bath house that I had to pay with my own money because the girls said they wouldn't pay for it. luckily it wasn't as bad as I thought it was I could get a private bath and honestly that's all I cared for. On my way here I asked if the bath would get clogged due to me having fur and feathers. As a response Ruby said something about a guy who cleaned and sheared his sheep to test if the drains could be clogged and probably just for the hell of it. After the place closed down for a few days apparently the drains have been made so that they wouldn't get clogged and now no more fear of it.
I cleaned my thin body of dirt and sweat that have accumulated in the week of traveling I did. My chest had white feathers like my head and neck but there was some black fur snuck around there and over the rest of my body. After I had officially dubbed myself as clean I got out of the bath and covered myself with a towel in case the place had some sly holes anywhere. I walked over to my clothes when I noticed that they looked cleaner and that there was a note that said they have been cleaned. I shrugged and hoped they didn't change anything about my coat. I put my pants on and put my new and only shirt on and kept my coat slung over my shoulder as I left the place. Now just need to wait till there off of work. That was until my tail decided to mess with me and curled around my right leg.
"I hate you too after all why do you think I wear pants that doesn't have a tail hole because I can't trust you in the open after all your like my hormones when I was younger, uncontrollable and completely hated".I laughed at my inward dialogue. Well I guess I will just stay at the inn and wait after all I have nothing better to do.
I was waiting in the lobby of the inn with my coat near me because I just can not move without a weapon, and in this case a knife. But I was sitting in one of the chairs next to the door waiting for Ruby and Sarah to get here because they never told me where the place is and that they could pick me up. The sun was setting when they both came through the door. When I looked at them Sarah was wearing the same clothes from this morning while Ruby had a yellow vest that almost looked like it was with the shirt.
I sat up and stretched along with speaking" So where are we heading for this possible date".
Ruby responded annoyed" Who said that this was a date"?
"No one but everyone on the outside will see it like that". They stared at my odd antics and eventually shrugged not bothering to know why.
"We are going to a small restaurant not big but they do have a bar in it". If I had ears they would have perked so instead my eyes grew. But with what they another question popped up in my head so I asked it.
"How old are you guys"? They both stopped and stared at me.
Ruby said" We will answer only if you tell us your age". I thought this over for a sec but I conceded after awhile.
"I'm thirty four years old". There jaws dropped but after a very pregnant pause they then told me there ages.
Ruby said" I'm eighteen".
Sarah said" I'm twenty". Her voice was quiet but I could hear her fine.
I said "I figured you'd guy's would be young but man this is awkward as hell". They agreed and we continued to our destination which was a place with a name I couldn't read a word of. Honestly the name just looked liked dashes and dots kind of like musical notes but then again I've never used sheet music. When we entered a waitress brought us to a empty table and we made our orders. I ordered fish while they got turkey based foods I think. Sarah also ordered a drink for herself from what I could guess from the bottle was alcohol.
As I stared at the bottle Ruby asked me something but I didn't pay attention until she brought her hand to my face.
"What was it like where you came from". I looked at her I pondered what to say until it hit me.
"Well where I'm from there are Dragons, adventure and most important of all happy endings". I played that up for a little bit until I dumped them with the cold truth." Just kidding that is every fantasy book where I live and I'm guessing here to but to tell you the truth it isn't to different except that so far there is considerably less greedy people and nobles". I growled slightly at noble.
Sarah asked" Why did you growl at noble"? I decided to give her an example of a noble most people hate from my world.
I started" Well in my world there is a so called Prince that is the equivalent of a whiny brat and he is the prince simply by title and I'm guessing holds no true power but his country is the biggest trade partner my country has, so much so that if they did leave us we would be economically fucked". I only picked up that much from it but if he came to power I feel sorry for the poor bastards. They flinched at my profanity but I continued.
"That is only what I have picked up I never got a full name just Blue Blood I think that's his name but yeah I'm kind of happy not to deal with or listen to politics". I lied my head down on my arms as I ended.
Ruby asked" Actually I was wondering this do you have a tail".
I answered uninterested" Yes".
"Then why don't I see it".
"Because It is an asshole that just loves curling around everything it can reach including my legs so I have it in my pants". They might have taken this the wrong way but they blushed and looked at my with wide eyes as they inched there heads back.
I groaned but continued" Well that must be horrible since you interpreted it the wrong way well yes I have a tail, what does it look like, it looks like a felines tail and that is all your getting besides the likely hood of you guys seeing it or anyone for that matter is nil to slim". I finished my rant just before we got our food. I ate my food in silence while Ruby and Sarah exchanged small talk not anything of importance but notable. While I was eating I figured I would ask some questions.
I asked" So Ruby what did you mean about a lot you guys being nut jobs". She looked at me but got what I was asking after a minute.
"Well do you need a full rundown or the basic for most peoples beliefs".
"I say the part that I know what I should fear and actually anything of importance".
She began her long as hell explanation" Well it is believed that there are three gods Gaia the queen of heaven, Syndel the ruler of hell, and Death which doesn't really specify his role but people say that he judges people and sends them where they should be. But it is said that Gaia Created heaven and her angels, while Syndel created hell and Demons, though Death didn't create anything at least people don't think so but they decided to create Meddius and all of us. And along with us they created twelve guardians that are said to actually exist if rumors are to be true, what they are escapes me but is that a good rundown"? She looked at Sarah who nodded with a smile while I looked at her with my jaw dropped.
I Asked" Are you pulling my leg"? She said no and now alcohol looked a lot more enticing. The rest of dinner was in relative silence. After dinner Ruby and Sarah left together but not without asking me something.
Ruby asked" I thought that shirt would barely fit you but now you look Really thin why is that".
I Responded under my breath" Because I travel a lot among other things but don't concern yourself with my size get Sarah home she can barely stand". Sarah was wobbling and was leaning on Ruby which was significantly smaller than her. Ruby nodded and began taking her home leaving me alone in the middle of the street. I looked up at the moons and sighed before beginning to track back to the inn.
"Tomorrow I'm grabbing a map and leaving but before I go I should probably tell Sarah to lay off the alcohol it wont help her in the long run but yeah time to head home and sleep".
It has been a few days since The Incident happened and I haven't bothered to eat in those days. Every time I close my eyes I see that man and his eyes borrowing into my own. But my dad keeps on telling me that it will be okay, but how can it be okay when I have blood on my claws at the age I am. I wont forgive myself until I know what type of person he was but I wont figure that out unless I go back there at the border.
I need to sleep, so tired...
I simply opened my eyes and looked at the wood ceiling. It was smooth but didn't look like it had a glossy sheen, I turned my head toward the window and saw there was dawn light coming through it.
"Rise and shine you have a day to talk to a possible drinker and to get to the next town... wait did I get a map"? I sat up and looked around the room for anything resembling parchment, not finding it in site I got up and looked through my pack and there wasn't any either.
"Crap I need to really stop thinking I have stuff that I don't". I closed my pack and got my coat and shirt that were thrown on the floor in a pile. I put them on along with my gun and knife.
I grabbed my pack, hat and key and left the room making sure it looked like it was when I entered. It looked exactly the same except for a few strands of hair and scratch marks on the bed frame. I closed the door and went down stairs and saw the old man from yesterday talking with the Day boy. I walked toward them and put the key down on the desk.
They looked at me and I said" Well here's the key I'm going now it has been a nice stay". I began to walk away before I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around and saw the old man.
He said" It was nice having you and don't forget about me, you here". I looked at his outstretched hand and I shook it.
"It was nice talking to someone now one question where can I get a map"? He handed me almost instantly a rolled up piece of parchment. I hesitantly grabbed it and opened to see roads and towns.
Before I could respond he said" Here I saw you around town and figured you might need this after all you don't seem to know your surroundings". He laughed a little and hit me on the back. I gave a nervous smile and told him.
"Thank you". I never had people look out for me for a long time it was very odd but I'm going to have to get used to this. I waved good bye and began my journey to look for Sarah's home. After I walked a couple feet down the street it donned on me that I have no clue where she lives.
"Oh great".
I was sitting outside the Haberdashery waiting for Sarah to get here. I waited for wait I can figure an hour before I noticed a familiar shape walking toward me. It was Ruby walking here in the same clothes as yesterday. She walked toward me with a curious expression.
Ruby asked" Why are you here so early"? I look at her from my sitting position which was at head height for her.
I asked" Have you seen Sarah this morning"? She gave a confused expression.
"Why do you have to see her"?
"I want to talk to her about last night and can I ask you something"?
"Um.. sure what do you want to know". She was hesitant to answer.
I asked Ruby" Has Sarah been drinking a lot more lately"? She pondered the question but didn't give me a straight answer.
"She drinks every so often but it isn't common for her to...Wait what is this about"? Well she finally caught on.
"I want to make sure she doesn't get into the situation I was in and still in and isn't she suppose to be here". I stared at her having my eyes stare into hers. she shuddered but gave me an answer.
Ruby said" I went to her home this morning but she wouldn't come out and no one would answer".
"Doesn't she have parents after all she isn't that old". She gave me a quick answer.
"Her parents are out of town and can you please stop staring your making me shiver". I stopped staring at her and stood up from the side of the street.
"Can you show me were she lives"? She backed away after noticing I stood up.
"Ok but if anything happens I'm pining it on you". She emphasized by pointing a hand at me. We began our walk there in silence and I preferred that, it let me think about what I was going to say and do. Ruby stopped in front of a simple looking two story house painted blue.
"This is where she lives and I'm staying right here to make sure you don't do anything that is un-called for". I shrugged not caring about her being there until I felt something sharp land on my back. I jumped slightly and turned to see her with an angry expression.
Ruby said" There is more of that if you hurt her". I rubbed my back and knocked on the door. There wasn't an answer. I tried a couple times but nothing happened, no noise, no nothing. Eventually I got tired of this and looked around the building and noticed a window at ground level. I looked around in case anybody would notice except for Ruby since she was inspecting my every move. When I saw no one I pulled out my knife.
Ruby asked" What are you do-". I interrupted her by thrusting my knife under the window and pushed it down causing the window to make a loud "CLINK" and it to open. Ruby stared at me as I opened it and I saw it lead into a hallway. I crawled through the window while ignoring Ruby's yells.
"What in the name of Gaia are you doing, do you want to get arrested". I look at her before I got my self fully inside the building and once I was fully in I let everything go.
I said" You stop shouting or I WILL have the guards on my ass and second I'm doing this for Sarah not for my whatever you think I'm breaking into a building for". She shut her mouth but her face still showed she was pissed and I figured I was going to get an earful at some point. I began walking away toward I set of stairs in the hall that was near a kitchen and dining room. I started slowly walking up the stairs, when I was half way I decided to start calling out.
"Sarah are you okay"! I didn't hear a response, which just made me more worried. When I hit the second floor I noticed a bottle in the hallway. I picked up the bottle and sniffed it a little.
"Yep figured it would be more of I don't know what it is but it's alcoholic and that is what currently matters". I noticed there was another down the hall I walked toward it and noticed another that was in front of a door. I walked toward the cracked door and I decided to look through the crack. I saw Sarah sitting at a desk, drinking with her head down. I then heard her sobbing.
With little care I opened the door the rest of the way. It creaked but I didn't care I walked into the room with Sarah in it but she didn't turn around.
I decided to speak" Sarah". She whipped her head around at lightning speed and she stared at me with tears in her eyes. Her face was beet red and her eyes looked almost like red orbs that thankfully didn't glow. She looked terrified at first but after she saw me she hit her wall and slid down it and sat there with her arms around her legs.
"Why are you here"? Her voice was quiet but I could still hear it fine. I picked up one of the bottles and held it out.
"Because of this". She just looked at me like an idiot.
"Well mainly why you shouldn't be drinking like you are now".
Sarah said" What does it mean to you, you drink too I don't know why but you do".
I said" If I tell you why will you lay off the drink". She just looked at me not giving an answer.
"Fine I'll tell you anyway". I sat down in front of her.
I Began my explanation" In my occupation you tend to travel a lot and I do all my traveling alone with no one except for the occasional passer by, that is one reason because I'm lonely and the second is because I'm lonely along with somethings I'd rather forget".
Sarah said" Why did you say lonely twice".
I sighed but explained" I gave up years ago about finding a partner and if you want to know yes I've never dated or married anyone in my life that is the partner I'm talking about".
She looked at me in disbelief but she asked" Why are you even telling me this". I put a claw on her head and gently pat it.
"Because you are currently in your room crying and drinking yourself into depression". She looked down and didn't look up.
Sarah said" I knew him most of my life we were friends for awhile, but eventually we decided to start dating and now it came to this". She started tearing up and I noticed she was holding the ring from a couple days ago.
"I'm sorry but it isn't good to stay in here you should talk to someone like Ruby and me but right now it's got to be Ruby". She looked up at me.
She asked" Why must it be Ruby"? She looked confused but I didn't blame her.
"I'm leaving town today and I won't be back for a while and besides I'm terrible at talking about loss". I kept my voice low and spoke with little emotion. I began to leave until she said.
"Why are you leaving and how did you get in here"? I looked back at her.
"Like I told you I'm terrible at talking about loss and besides all I want you to do is to lay off the alcohol and to not drink because of this". I turned back to leave while I added" He wouldn't want you to live like this".
Sarah put her head down as I left, but she didn't continue to cry, she instead thought about what to do next, at least I hope she was.
I was at the north road at the edge of town looking at my map to decide where to go from here.
"I could go straight to St. Curtis it is central but I don't want to make repeated stops, so I could go to this town called Weyville and head toward Port Dorade and go in a semi circle and if possible find a path through those mountains near St. Curtis".I decided to go with Weyville.
I went to the right of the north entrance and began the long walk to Weyville.
"lets just hope it cools down a little bit I've had enough of summer for one year".
Hello book or journal or whatever it seems I haven't updated you in a while so why don't I catch you up a little. It has been about ten years since I last updated you so that would put me at seventeen and like most teenagers I have more than a few problems. I have been going to libraries when my family decides to stop by and whenever I'm there reading or looking things up I see other kids studying to an almost insane degree. but there are a few that don't do that and socialize a bit and that's my topic for right now. I have had a few people come by and ask me what I'm studying for, I tell them that I'm not studying for anything and they look at me oddly. Then they start asking me questions like "do you go to school"? or "Do you have this teacher"? When I feel like I had enough questions I tell them that's enough and I move somewhere else but that is not where it ends.
Sometimes girls come by asking these questions and I freeze up like marble statue. I haven't interacted with other girls much in the past ten years but now its getting to me. Probably because I have all these god damn hormones and I unfortunately can't get my head out of the gutter sometimes. It doesn't help that some of them are honestly quite pretty and nice but I can't help but doubt them and wonder if they just want someone to buy them stuff or have a genuine relationship. But either way I can't stay in towns for long because of family and I just don't know how to be I don't know a dating type of person well either way this wraps it up. Huh I guess I won't ever get someone special at this rate.
I have been walking for several days and right now it was midday, I'm hot, angry, and I'm coughing, what a perfect combo. I took of my coat shortly after leaving Riverside and now its in my pack somewhere. I hacked for a minute next to a tree that I was leaning on. I have been following the road from the woods and hopefully I can stay like this all the way till town come up. I got of the tree that I was leaning on for support and continued walking for a few more minutes until it was interrupted by another cough.
"Fucking damn it stop making me cough you god damn throat".I let out my frustration by repeatedly insulting my situation. But unfortunately that wasn't my only illness, I felt unusually hot, my claws were shaking slightly, and my guts felt like they were being repeatedly gut punched. And all this added up to me being on unsteady feet for the past two days, but right now it felt worse since I now couldn't look straight.
I continued walking for the day until the sun descended behind the rolling hills of grass that was on my left. I looked to the forest to my right and continued into it for a few feet and I made camp at the edge. I put the logs in the shape similar to a box and I grabbed as much dead or discarded plant life as I could find and lit it on fire with a match. I didn't feel like it was very necessary but if there are predators the fire will hopefully ward them off. I ate a light dinner and laid down using my coat as a blanket. Shortly after I almost went to sleep I heard a wolf's howl and my eyes lit up like a Christmas tree.
I could barely get up to a sitting position but I managed to sit up after a minute of trying. I scanned the area around me for the rest of the night since the wolves never stopped howling.
When the sun came up I felt half dead. My throat was dry no matter how much I drank, my claws were shaking much worse, and my head was on fire the entire time. I destroyed camp and continued onward following the road for most of the day until I rather unfortunately tripped on something and fell face first into the dirt. I felt sore and when I put my claw to my beak there was blood.
"Fuck, just my luck". I muttered under my breath as I attempted to get up. My arms burned as I picked myself up but I managed to get up after a few more tries. I continued moving onward even as my vision started swimming slightly and my walking became erratic but eventually something claimed me that day. Whether it was the fever, the lack of sleep or a combination of everything else I fell on to the ground. I tried moving to continue onward but my muscles wouldn't work so I guess I accepted my fate or specifically my body made the decision but that didn't stop me from hating it even more.
My eyes closed as something was happening ahead I made a mentally curse"Fuck you to body".
I opened my eyes expecting to see darkness but instead saw a wood ceiling and a face, and might I add a face that I hate to see. The face of someone that seemed genuinely worried but I still hated that face it made me feel weak and pitiful. The man was middle aged, had a beard that seemed poorly cut and his eyes were blue but they also held experience behind them. The man got up and grabbed a small pot that had a cloth next to it and started wetting my face that also felt like it had a cloth on it. I decided to try and speak all that came was a dry terrible cough and significant pain in my throat.
The man said" Don't try and talk it will only make you cough more and make you feel more miserable". I obeyed his advise for now seeing as he was right and if he wanted to he could have left me for dead when he found me. After he was done messing with my face I started to try and sit up only to have him stop me with a single hand.
The man said" You shouldn't be trying to get up it will only make it worse". I didn't care, I just pulled his hand off and sat up with my back against the wood wall and decided to look around the room more. The room I'm in is similar to a standard bedroom with a dresser with mirror on top on one side, though I was surprised to a small bookcase filled with books varying from small to the size of dictionaries and thesaurus's.
I heard a grunt come from the man and I turned to see him holding out a glass to me and it also allowed me to get to see a night stand with a small candle that was lit. I took the glass from his hands and sniffed it a few times and saw there wasn't anything odd about it. So I drank it and gave it back to him and he put it back on the night stand. After that was done we observed each other for a bit and I noticed that his hair was snow white and was kind of messy. His clothes reminded me of a hunter, he wore a long sleeved green shirt, brown pants, and he had a belt or band on his chest with metal loops that could hold something if you had a strap with it. After observing him I decided to check my self and I noticed I was shirtless, I groaned.
"Great I'm shirtless in the house of the man that has most likely saved my life and which I now owe him a lot. I sat there in silence as he did a once over on me to see if he missed anything like a wound or something. The silence was starting to get to me a little so I decided to speak.
"I guess I owe you my life". He looked up at me with a skeptical look and nodded.
I sighed and brought my arms to my sides" Just perfect". He continued to look at me before he decided to speak more.
"You have a problem with me saving you"? His voice was kind of deep but not really but there was a hint of a exotic accent.
I sighed" No not really just I have problems with things like this". He noticed my reluctance and decided to pry.
"Why would you have a problem with this"? He kept his eyes on me not moving an inch.
"I don't like owing people stuff especially something like this and besides... I don't like being under someone's mercy".
"I...guess that's understandable". I kept an eye on him as he kneeled there in front of me staring into my soul. As we kept up the mutual inspecting of each other I realized I didn't have any of my stuff.
I said" Where's my stuff". He perked up at that and stood up.
"I have all your stuff...do you want to see it"? I glared at him and responded.
"Of course". I kept my face low and basically growled it out but he wasn't scared or intimidated he just walked away through a door.
"If this guy plays anything I'm going to rip his throat and feed his carcass to the hounds".The man eventually returned with my pack and shirt. He put them at the foot of the bed and I crawled over there and grabbed my shirt. I quickly put the shirt on not caring when the cloth fell but before I knew it the man pushed my down and put the cloth back on.
I asked him" Why the hell did you just do that".
"Because you need your rest and besides that's the only thing keeping your fever down". I decided to accept the cloth part but I could careless about the lay down part.
"I don't care about rest I want to go". I argued as I sat back up and tried to stand up but he put a hand on me and kept on putting me to the wall.
"You can barely fight against me pushing you why would you risk standing when you would most likely fall over". I kept on glaring at him and debated biting his hand but knowing anything he would probably pull a knife from somewhere and gut me. So I decided to play along only if he got me something.
Before I could say anything he asked me a question" Now what is your name". I looked at him and questioned why he would now ask that but I didn't dwell on it long.
"Get me a bottle with amber liquid in it with a glass from my pack and tell me your name then I will answer". The man didn't seem to bother negotiating because the next moment I had a bottle of scotch and a small glass.
"My name is Brock now what is your name demon". I filled my cup as he was talking and I looked at him when he said demon.
I sighed and began a rant" Why do some of you people assume I'm a demon because seriously a demon is a phantom that fucks with people not a furry, feathery, clawed creature and my names Jade". He looked at me skeptically for one second before he stood up and went over to the small book shelf and pulled one out. He then walked over, kneeled down, and flipped to a page with a drawing of a hairy creature with blank soulless eyes.
"This is what a commonly looks like and it does look a lot like you so this is not what you see as a demon and will you continue to deny being one". I kept on looking at it and I noticed it had horns on top, it had claws that couldn't exactly be used as hands, and it also had a tail that looked like it had a blade at the end. The image I might add was also all hand drawn and was black and white.
I took a sip and replied" Then if you knew I was a demon wouldn't you have I don't know KILLED ME AND USE MY COAT AS A BLANKET"! I shouted at Brock. He looked taken a back by my sudden outburst but gave me an answer.
"Because you looked remotely civilized". I bent my head down and with no regrets downed my drink and filled it again in a heartbeat. It was burning my stomach and wouldn't help later on but I didn't give crap, I was in for along day or night.
"That is the dumbest thing I have ever heard". I stared blankly at Brock.
He added as I continue to stare" I follow the wolf guardian Broxis does that help". I looked at him blankly as I continue to drink.
"You should know that I don't have a clue who Broxis is and how that matters in the slightest". He sighed and went back to the book shelf. He grabbed a muck thicker book and turned to a drawing of a spectral looking wolf that was blue and had glowing white eyes. There was also text on the page.
Brock said" You should probably read this". So with him handing it to me and me having nothing better to do I read it. And while I was reading mid way he left me alone. While I was reading it I said it in my head.
"Broxis the wolf guardian is one of the twelve guardians of Medius. We know little about him other than his statues or shrines are often in forgotten places due to the war between demons and angels. It is said that during the war some of the guardians chose sides and Broxis chose the side of Hell for unknown reasons. We currently don't know much about him in recent years or from the past, possibly due to most documents during that time are long forgotten, destroyed, or are simply illegible. I will continue my research on other guardians some with more attention than others but I need to find out if they do what they said they do. Minor side note that show in St. Curtis is most likely just an illusion there is no way a guardian would do that right? From the research journal of professor Howard".
I finished reading it and noticed how it was oddly a journal not what seemed like a legit textbook, this was just research that has been gathered but they weren't hard facts. I sighed and slowly closed the book and looked up to the wood ceiling.
"Even these so called guardians are illusive but apparently there was a war and some decided to choose sides so why the hell would some pick what I will dub as evil now and others side with good".I heard a door open and saw Brock come back into the room with a wooden bowl on a small tray. He set it down on the night stand and I noticed it was filled with soup. I looked at him oddly until I handed back the book to him.
Brock said" So now you understand". I noticed his accent got thicker in his voice and it made me lean back for a second but I quickly recovered.
"If you count not having any hard facts and given a very lack luster summary then you got a yes but if you meant full understanding no".
"Hahaha yeah when all the important stuff happens hundreds years ago almost everything is speculation except that it ended eventually". I looked at him oddly when he laughed, but I took more interest in the food since it was staring at me and I was hungry.
Brock seemed to notice and said" Yeah here I don't normally get guests often". He handed me the tray and I examined it. It was what I could tell just broth and there wasn't any odd smells or anything from it so I tasted it. I felt like my soul just escaped me.
"So you like it and it isn't poisoned honest". I looked back up at him and handed it back.
"Take it I'm not hungry". I continued to drink till my bottle reached half empty and I was sufficiently blurry eyed I set the drink down and asked him what time was it.
"it's almost dark out are you tired". I nodded to him and he left me alone and I took the time to rush over to my coat and pack to see if he touched anything. My pack wasn't missing anything but when I checked my coat my knife was gone but oddly he left the gun. but luckily I still had all my money and items to sell so I'm not dead in the water yet. I laid down in the bed and closed my eyes.
Sleep has always come hard unless I'm dead beat drunk or I'm more tired than a sailor, and right now I'm neither. I didn't feel safe in random places like this but I didn't exactly have a choice the minute I opened the bottle. But that wasn't the only thing, there was a lot of howling outside like an entire pack lives less than three miles away just decided to celebrate something due amount of howling. But after thinking I unknowingly fell asleep.
I awoke the instant the roosters started sounding the alarm. I quickly grabbed all my stuff and exited out the door to see Brock directly in front of me. And since I wasn't laying down I could tell that he was about two inches taller than me. I had to bend my neck to look into his eyes.
Brock decided to end the silence" So you want to leave already".
"Well no shit Sherlock".I decided to talk slightly more politely" Yes I want to be in Weyville by whenever but certainly in this month".
Brock seemed mildly surprised at this and let me through to the door that led outside. I opened it and noticed how everything looked like it got hit by paradise if that can explain it. Everything just seemed to glow and have this odd life to it while I felt dead inside like I usually do. I began walking but I was stopped by a yell.
"Hey your going to need this"! I looked back and saw Brock with a knife and leather holster for it correct that My knife. I quickly grabbed it but when I pulled it didn't budge that was until he told me something.
"Be careful in Weyville there is someone that might not like your existence". He let it go and I yanked the knife back toward me. But he wasn't finished talking.
Brock continued" If you truly want to continue you should be there in about a day...oh and good luck on your adventure". I left him after that and his honestly beautiful house. Or more specifically the garden because a man can appreciate good gardening.
I have continued walking the rest of that day until I hit a bunch of wooden fences that looked more like railings. And beyond those railings were goats either sticking there heads in it or grazing in the short grass doing whatever. Out of curiosity I decided to go to one of them and see if it would react if someone wanted to talk or other things. I leaned on the railing next to a goat and stayed there until the sun started to set and through that time the goat didn't react other than sniff me and occasionally try to see if I'm tasty. I didn't get any reaction I wanted or expected.
I decided to make my camp on the other side of the road even if I could see the lights of town I didn't know there exact distance and I had no clue if there was an inn so I took the safe bet. And besides there was a turtle or tortoise that's been following me for a while for what ever reason.
Once the fire was made I ate a small meal and decided to do something I haven't done for a very long time. I decided to write in my journal that I haven't updated in nearly a year. I had a bottle of ink next to me and a feather in my right claw and I began to write how I feel about whatever is happening.
"Well I never knew I would write in you again after all not much changes with me but whatever's happening now it sure beats whatever I wrote last time. I should start from the beginning I was going the normal route to Griffon Stone when I tripped and fell into a swirling vortex. And when I woke up I was in a forest that wasn't there a second ago I didn't realize It until that night that I wasn't home or in my world since I met a creature that I never saw before but keep on forgetting to ask what there called which that realization donned on me right this instant. But after misunderstandings we talked, I helped her and now I can call her a friend along with her friend. But that should be it for tonight I'm getting tired and I might update you whenever I feel it matters".
I closed my journal, put it away in one of my coat pockets and went to sleep not even thinking about what tomorrow will tell.
I awoke just as the world started lighting up and a certain turtle or tortoise probably will never know decided to wake me up by biting my claws. I sat up to see the shelled creature staring at me with a emotionless face, inches from my paws. I looked at the turtle before standing up and heading toward the waking town that was at the bottom of the hill. As I walked I kept on going through what I need.
"Ok I need more dried food, money, and a contact to get news. I also need to sell anything I don't feel necessary like all these blankets and some of these wooden figurines".I felt someone crash into me during my musings and looked down to see a child on his back holding his head. He looked at me just as he started getting up and looked at me with a hint of fear. I held my claw out but he didn't take it but instead looked at it in fear.
I asked" Are you okay". The kid yelped, quickly picked himself up and ran off kicking up dirt as he went.
"Wasn't expecting that".I looked at the kid as he ran away like he just pissed off hell itself. I shrugged and continued walking looking for something of familiarity but this place didn't seem to have anything to catch my attention it was just buildings. As I walked people kept on giving me glances and those glances kept on burning into me every time I stood still to take in my surroundings.
I eventually found what seemed to be a gathering area and I noticed a sign with a bunch of papers on it nailed to a central building. It must have been the notice board because when I read some of them informed me about jobs and others were announcements like uncle mark has passed away or... the guardians anniversary is today?
I picked up the paper and read it" Today is the anniversary that our beloved guardian has come to our small town and has protected us from bandits and dangerous creatures that try to destroy our way of life, today we celebrate his tenth year anniversary protecting our small town".I put the paper back where it was and continued walking in any direction not caring if I looked out of place or not since I'm already incredibly out of place.
The moment I hit the buildings at the edge I heard a whoosh noise, and I felt something stab into the back of my leg. I fell to the ground and I made a muffled scream as I clenched my beak shut. With blurry eyes and shaky claws I turned my self around and I saw that I had an arrow in the back of my leg, firmly in the middle of my leg, exactly wear my knee joint is.
"Fucking god motherfucking shit fuck". I kept cursing as I attempted to remove the arrow, the pain was blurring my vision and deafening my ears as I pulled the arrow out. When I felt the arrow was almost out I started hearing a voice, it was male but whatever the hell he was saying I sure didn't give a shit. The arrow finally came out and my leg was bleeding profusely probably because the arrow wasn't smooth but had two juts in it and was golden. The moment I stopped examining the arrow I saw an old man pull back a bow with the same arrow.
"Fuck". The moment he let go I dove to my right from my ground position. My right leg hurt like hell but It luckily was still moveable. The arrow hit right where my upper body used to be and embedded it self firmly in the ground, and the moment I laid my eyes on him I noticed his mouth was moving and I noticed the voice from early started back up. With nothing better to do I decided to insult the man.
"Hey stop talking like a fucking priest and say something a normal person will understand". He gave me a glare as he loaded another arrow.
He fired the arrow but luckily missed with me rolling a foot away from the spot he aimed. I could tell he was getting angry due to his repeated grumbles and the increasing intensity in his voice. He grabbed for another arrow in his quiver and loaded like an expert again.
I dodged that arrow similar to the others but it almost hit me by barely scraping my legs. I landed on the ground and with very little option I pulled out my revolver and aimed for his upper chest. He flinched momentarily but loaded another arrow the same way like all the others.
I shouted at the man" Hey stop this you shit". He fired the arrow again and I fired my gun just before moving. I felt pain again and it was at my side. I looked at my side and noticed a bloody gash, it also cut my shirt and started turning my new shirt red. I glanced at the man and noticed he was stunned even if I didn't see any damage.
I got up quickly but rather painfully as I put my weight on my injured leg. I ran away from the crazy man, while holding my injured left side and letting my right gun arm hang. I was limping and my vision was blurring probably due to pain or blood loss, I saw a few people look at me and gasp but I didn't care all I just wanted to do was leave this fucking town.
When I entered the field outside of town I started slowing down to a slow walk. My legs were killing me and my side didn't feel to hot either, when I pulled my claw from the wound my entire grasping side was covered in blood. My mind apparently wanted me to faint but I said no and stayed awake as I slowly put the pressure back on my wound. I walked to the fence that the goats stayed around and sat on the ground next to it.
I leaned on the fence as I checked my pack for my medicine kit. I grabbed a leather pocket pack or whatever it is and grabbed the bandages in it. I first wrapped my leg up and then took my shirt off to work on my side. When I was done with my side my stomach section was all wrapped up. The area with the gash was turning red but it should be fine.
"Who the fuck was that guy he didn't bat a fucking eye when he fired, he only flinched when I shot at him but that was it".I grabbed a drink from my pack and started drinking it slowly to deal with the pain. I kept holding my gun and checking if anyone was coming my way luckily no one was. a turtle walked up to me and looked at me like it was worried, I waved it off not wanting anything to get involved or hurt.
My eyes started getting heavy after I waved it of but it refused to leave me. I started getting angry at the turtle and I started swiping at it with my claws. It got the idea and started crawling away at an oddly fast speed for a turtle. I sighed as my eyes started closing no matter how hard I tried to stay awake I eventually fell unconscious.
"You should have never come here you homeless piece of shit". I felt a hard kick to my chest as I fell to the ground in the alley. I looked up to see a unicorn with a case of bad hair day above me. He had a knife in his right hand and he looked at me like I was nothing.
"You should really learn that no one gives a shit about you after all why would anyone want to talk to a man who can't hold a job". He kneeled down and pointed the tip at my throat."I'm going to enjoy making you disappear". He whispered that into my ear.
He started to plunge the blade in my throat but instead I slashed at his face with my claws. I hit his eye and he started screaming bloody murder before I began punching him in the face repeatedly. I was on top of him as I continued to hammer his face in. Eventually he started trying to stab my face but I grabbed that knife and stabbed him right in the throat. He gagged on his blood as his eyes went wide, and his movements became weak and desperate. He stopped moving, and I got off of him.
I said quietly to his corpse" People don't remember pieces of shit that harm others for profit or anything like that, you should have done better". And with that I walked away not caring to look back.
I bolted my eyes open to see a shadow over me. The man that attacked me was right in front of me staring at me and I was staring at him trying to figure out why he didn't just kill me and why he had wings. His head area also seemed to glow yellow, but his wings were almost his size and they were pure white. He wore a leather vest, white shirt and had a green sash under the vest with three pendants. He also wears a green bandana that hid pure white hair. He also looked like he didn't know what shaving was.
I pointed the gun as fast as I could at him until I noticed I didn't have my gun. I looked to my side to notice my gun laying an inch away from me. I went to grab it but my movement was silenced by a boot stomping on my claw and staying on it. I looked up at him and tried to claw him with my left claw, but every time I tried he would just move away from it like he practiced it a million times. Eventually I just stopped knowing I wouldn't hit him like this.
I looked at him and said" What the hell do you want". I was quiet but obviously very angry. He didn't seem to mind that I talked but what I wasn't expecting was an answer.
"I want to talk right now" He had a voice of an old man that has seen somethings but I didn't care much about that part.
"Why do you want to talk since you tried to kill me already". I talked with little emotion and didn't look him in the eye.
"I protect everyone in that town from demons and monsters but I'm curious about you".
"What are you curious about". He pointed at my gun and my bandaged chest.
He said" Why would a demon have something like that and those wounds should have started burning by now". I looked at him wondering why the wounds would be burning.
"Why would they burn"? He looked at me in shock.
"I hit you with holy arrows they should be hurting you well after they've been removed". I looked at him skeptically until I decided to do my normal response in this world thus far.
"I'm not a demon". I answered him calmly and straight in the eyes. He looked at me but pulled back in fear I think. After he pulled back I started getting up and I held my gun to my side.
"What will you do now"? He looked at me in shock. I pointed the gun at him and he flinched.
"I'm going to leave but first your name and what you are". He stepped back again but decided to answer me a second later.
"My name is Denevol and I'm an angel". I cocked my head at this and decided to not even bother. I picked up my stuff and walked in a direction.
Denevol shouted from behind" Where are you going"? I stopped for a second trying to find out my best move.
"I could head back to Riverside but I'm not used to staying at one location for an odd amount of time so I guess I will continue with original plan".I looked back at him and gave him my answer.
"I'm going to Port Dorade and I'm never coming back to this town again so you shouldn't have to worry about me harming these people". He looked at me mildly surprised but oddly understanding for whatever reason.
Denevol said" Ok but you make sure you never comeback here again or you wont be walking out". I began walking again before I heard a whistle and saw him pointing back toward town.
"The way to Port Dorade is that direction just don't enter town again". So with my odd meeting closed I began walking around town. As I walked I started reloading my gun, I opened the back of the cylinder and began spinning it to the case with a hole in it. I pushed the empty case out and put a bullet in its place. When I was far away from town I let my mind wonder.
"This is by far the oddest day I have ever had. The man tried to kill me then let me live and we had a conversation together, and that probably only happened due to my gun. But seriously how did I not meet my maker today since he could have bisected me before I woke up and hung me out to dry". I looked up at the darkening sky and thought of one last thing before I stopped for the night.
"Oh and there's apparently angels and they either badly or luckily don't have there normal stance of being the most perfect things in goddam existence".
I was in a tree in a small forest somewhere near the main road but it wasn't visible from here. I was crouched on a low hanging branch over looking a small clearing in the bushes. I was shirtless other than for the blood stained spots on my bandages, and I had my knife and gun out.
My jacket and pack is leaning near a tree somewhere nearby.
When I was traveling I ran out of food shortly after Weyville so I've been having to hunt and right now my prey or target is whatever the hell comes under my tree. After a few moments I noticed a bush rustling below me, I held my knife harder and I aimed my gun at the bush. A white rabbit slowly hopped into the clearing investigating flowers and other natural delicacies. I kept my sights on the rabbit at all times and when it stopped to start nibbling on a violet flower I decided to strike.
I dropped down on top of the rabbit to try and sink my knife into it but the rabbit moved to fast and I missed. The rabbit ran for a little more till I fired my gun and it tripped and couldn't get up. I walked over to the rabbit with my paws feeling sore along with my leg and side aching even more. It was breathing fast and it was on its side showing me a blood stained part of its fur. I crouched and put my claw near its breathing chest to feel its lightning fast heartbeat. I retracted my claw and as it stared at me with either pleading or innocent eyes, I plunged the single edges blade into its throat to silence it and give it a un agonizing death.
I thought "I could have done better a shot through the lungs or spine, hell the heart would have been best but my aim had to be off".I grabbed the rabbit carcass and walked back over to my stuff to skin the rabbit and eat it since I have nothing else. When I got back to my gear I dropped the rabbit and began making the fire. I didn't light the fire immediately I just set it up since I'm not going to need it until I get the rabbits fur cut off. I looked at the rabbit with my knife and slowly from the bottom to head start skinning it.
I started noticing masts shortly after I began traveling this morning and now I actually see the town. It looked like most other port town with multiple ships of different sizes and roles. Nothing really distinguished it other than that the town was the busiest town that I've come across in this world. That is if all the moving figures of different sizes are people then it is no questions asked. the town also seemed to be mostly port since a lot of ground near the coast seemed to be made out of wood.
I entered town after a few minutes feeling my wounds even after a few days still ached as I continued in. It was odd going into this town I felt off even though most might think I love these towns since it often has sailors with no language control and alcoholics that drink when they hit land. But honestly I don't like the lack of self control these people have but that kind of adds charm to places like these.
I walked through the town not noticing anyone as I walked to the ships. When I hit the docks I looked up to see a boat in front of me. The boat had hatches on the side but there wasn't anything sticking out like cannons or oars.
"Like what you see". I visibly jumped away from the voice and looked to see a under shell similar to turtles. I then looked up to see a face similar to a snapping turtle but green and blue with spikes at the back of it's head. It waved at me with its eyes closed, head nodding to the left.
"Did I just hear a turtle talk and am I seeing one right now walking on two legs and waving at me".I had my arms in front of my chest in a frightened manner as I leaned away. It opened it's eyes to see me and was somewhat concerned I think.
"You ever seen a Khamega before you um... landlubber I guess". I dropped my arms from my chest and began staring for an unknown amount of time. I was lost in my thoughts as I tried fathoming the fact that I'm talking to a giant turtle and I met a turtle back at Weyville that couldn't do what this... Khamega was doing at all. I noticed during my staring that it decided to put on a blue cap that looked like a captains hat.
The turtle was talking I think, and it waved it's hand in front of me slowly, I followed it with no issues. The Khamega then decided to pat my side with the gash that made me visibly cringe in pain and pull my out of my stupor or shock. It said" Well you seem to be ok now but why were you like that, first time seeing a Khamega before".
I responded to him slowly" Um yeah I've never seen a giant walking, talking turtle before and you kind of surprised me a little bit hope you don't take that badly". It laughed a little bit and patted me softly on the shoulder. I backed away slightly from the close contact.
"Huh it's fine I've met a few people who had a similar reaction now what brings you here". I thought about why I was here and found that I didn't have a great reason but that I could talk about that later with myself. Right now I wanted to know if it was a guy.
"I wanted to ask you something first are you a guy and what distinguishes your gender since I've met quite a few species and I have no books to avoid this question". I hated asking this awkward as hell question but I couldn't tell it's gender even though it kind of sounds like a guy. He looked at me for a second but luckily enlightened me.
"If you never seen or heard of us which I'm guessing so since your asking this I will tell you. I'm a guy and my name is Samuel and to answer your other question you can mainly tell by the fact that if we have or don't have spikes, females don't have spikes". He turned around to show me his mainly brown shell that had white spikes poking out of it and a anchor painted on with bright yellow paint. He turned back around and asked me" Now why are you staring at my ship".
"Not really sure it just kind of caught my eye". I began walking away from Samuel and his boat seeing as we probably don't need to talk more and I need to get my supplies so I can begin traveling whenever I can. I walked around the town looking at shops, homes, and anything else that might be important like posters and signs. People would just give me occasional glances as I walked the streets but eventually I found a trade shop.
I entered the trade shop noticing a distinct lack of souls around. I looked over to the counter that was to my left and noticed there wasn't anyone manning it. Shrugging I began walking around the shop collecting items I need like matches, food, and bandages. I also found a book called "Creatures of Medius" that I picked up since it was cheap and I lacked the knowledge of what was bad and what was death. I walked back over to the counter and placed all my items on the counter and rang the bell that was on it.
After a minute of waiting I began ringing it again until I was stopped by a shout" Hold your horses I'm coming". Then I saw a Khamega that looked greyer and seemingly older due to the wrinkles I'm seeing.
"Is this all"? He asked and I simply nodded in reply. He began counting everything and while he was doing that I started asking him a few questions.
"Hey is there a Inn or something nearby"? He looked at me a second but continued adding up. Eventually he finished and gave me an answer.
"There is one but it is currently filled and the total is five silver and three copper". I looked at him somewhat defeated and I paid the turtle then began collecting my items to begin storing in my pack. He looked at me as I put away all my items but stopped me when I began exiting.
"Hey your new in town right"? I looked back at him.
I replied" Its that obvious". He nodded and I sighed.
"Yeah it is and I don't remember a bird man living in town but yeah the Inn is closed due to everyone on the ships coming from the Dragon Archipelago and it is unlikely for any room to be open until about a week from now". I looked at him and nodded but decided to ask more questions.
"Where's the dragon archipelago um...sir"? He took notice at my pause but didn't think much of it.
"It is the main destination for most ships here in town so its easy to find and it is on every map". I looked through my pack to collect my map and noticed it didn't show anything like islands.
"My map doesn't have them". I showed it to the turtle and he looked at it for a moment before responding.
"Your map is about ten years old and it is a land map if you want a replacement it's free since if you have a out of date map you won't like the mountains if you go there".
"Yeah could I get one before I leave". He looked under the desk to pull out a map that showed a map of Medius in much greater detail. I picked it up and waved the Khamega good bye while I was examining the map. Which apparently had a place called Hill la Hill, I can only imagine the people started running out of names. I stopped in the middle of the street watching the sunset over the ocean.
"I wonder where I'm staying tonight since the inns full".I looked around town for a place that might seem comfortable but I didn't find anything that stood out. So I decided to take my search toward the docks to see if there might be someplace remotely comfortable that wasn't in the cargo hold of a ship. Eventually I found a wooden bench that was looking toward the ocean, unfortunately it was two feet away from the edge which didn't have a rail, But it was the only thing that could remotely keep me dry if it rained.
So reluctantly I put my items on the bench and sat down while taking my coat off. I looked at my shirt and saw that it had a big tear where I got shot at with the arrow and it was also stained with blood at that area. The blood stains were shaped like my claws and the gash area looked like a puddle.
"That won't be coming out anytime soon and I don't have anything to sew up the tear. Huh I guess I need to get a sewing kit next but I need to start making money again I haven't made a sale for two or is it three weeks. I don't have a clue after all every day just feels the same".I drooped my head and sat there for several minutes waiting for the moons to come out and shine.
My stomach growled shortly after the moons started appearing and I began settling there for tonight. I took awhile for me to fall asleep under the bench, but I eventually did fall asleep and I regretted the dream I got.
I was in a snow covered alley. I was in my jacket that I have still to this day though less worn and patchy, I was covering myself with it as much as possible since I was freezing to the bone out here. It was my first winter alone and my first as an adult you could say since I just turned twenty one but no celebration was made that night.
I was sitting there in the freezing cold trying to deal with it as much as I could until one of the doors in the alley opened to reveal a griffon lady wearing a equally as thick coat. She started beckoning me inside but I sat there pretending to not notice her as the wind began picking up. Eventually she came outside and yelled at me.
"What the hell are you doing out here do you want to die"! I didn't say anything I just made the shoo motion but she continued to hold her ground .
"I'm offering you shelter just take it for crying out loud"! I just sat there and waited for her to eventually leave but she didn't at all.
I finally responded to her" Just go back to your home I don't need it". I was quiet but she clearly heard me since she continued to argue with me.
"Don't need it look at yourself your shaking like crazy and I checked the temperature its like ten degrees out and it's just getting worse". She stopped talking and she was probably expecting an answer but none came. She eventually got fed up and tried to drag me to shelter but I didn't budge. I began started getting annoyed so I got up and began walking away from the alley and the women no matter how loud she shouted.
I opened my eyes to notice that it was still dark. So I begin crawling out from under the bench, when I was almost out I began picking myself up but I hit my back on the bench and I fell back down. I crawled out entirely this time and stood up to go check my items. After a few minutes rummaging through my pack I noted that I have everything.
I looked at my shirt that I took off last night and thought" I should clean this".I grabbed everything and began walking down the streets to any place that looked like the place they did the laundry but I couldn't find it after a few minutes so I decided to just head toward the outside of town. I began walking on sand for actually I think my first time. If you don't count that random sand you can find in clearings or in dojos. But real nothing but sandy ground, I hated how it shifted after each step I took.
I continued walking until the sun started rising and I decided to take in the sight. The sun reflected on the water not like a circle but a burning horizon that looked to be engulfed in flames. I stared at the sight for a little longer until I decided to continue walking. I walked until I could put a house in the port town in between two of my claws.
I went over to the edge of the water and began trying to get the blood stain out of my shirt. It took a long time but I managed to get rid of most of the color. Unfortunately the color decided to run and give my previously white shirt with blue hems into a very light pink shirt with blue hems. It also didn't help that my shirt was now soaked with salt water and even if I dried it there will still be salt on it and it may shrivel a inch.
"This will have to do for now, and damn I really liked this shirt".I carried the shirt on my shoulder as I began walking back toward the town and unfortunately now whenever I touched my chest my wounds would start burning like there on fire. It caused me to sharply inhale a couple times but it passed oddly quickly.
As I was walking back I noticed something on the beach that wasn't there before. I stopped a second and focused my vision on the lump that looked like the exact color of the rising sun. It seemingly shined a fiery orange as I walked toward it similarly like when you stalked prey or snuck past hostile groups. So I was basically leaning slightly backward with my left arm in front hanging, and my right in similar shape while also in air except on my right. I also had my right paw pointed right while my left was pointed forward. When I was about five meters away I got a better view of what it was.
It looked similar to a fish but it also looked like it had the top of a human if I read the book correctly last night. Where legs would probably be there was a large green fin that had two smaller fins laying down on it's back that were sea green at base but went to the same shade as most of the lower half. The upper body was mostly a very light shade of green to the point it was basically white, it also had another pair of fins that looked to be where arms should be on any other creature. It's top half judging from its back seemed to be a male figure, it's head had what seemed like hair but it didn't look like you could see individual strands. The ends were green while the top was white.
I stared at it for a couple of seconds to figure out why it was here after all I didn't see it at all on my way through."Why is there a aquatic creature on a beach and why didn't I see it while I was walking after all I paid attention to everything on the beach even the seashells that I know will never be worth anything".
I decided to poke it to see if it would stir and it did by one of its arm fins moving slightly. I stood back up and looked at the creature again, and honestly the creature didn't look like it could ever hope to survive on land. So with nothing better to do and another possible preventable death I started trying to pick it up.
I took off my coat and pack before I began to pick it up. I put one arm under the chest area and another under the tail fin and picked it up slowly. When I started picking it up I noticed it was actually face first in the ground which most likely means that it may have got swept ashore or it crawled onto land for whatever reason. I started feeling the sand that caked the creatures front and how annoying it was as I slowly hobbled into the ocean. When I was knee high I laid it on the surface of the water and I began slowly moving back when I felt something hold my shoulder. I was also unfortunately wincing due to my wounds since cuts and salt don't mix.
"Mr. can you turn around". It sounded like a little boy with the unfortunately grating that makes me hate talking to children. I turned around slowly to see the creature I just put down less than a second ago wake up and swimming with seemingly no problem.
"Do you know where I am"? I looked at the boy and gave the most emotionless response I could.
"Your just outside Port Dorade or this is still part of it but I found you lying in the sand and since you don't look like a land creature I thought it would be good to bring you back to water". The creature started looking around the water in every direction not caring about the total stranger it just talked to. The expression on its face reminded me of sometimes when I was younger when I somehow lost my parents and didn't know how to even begin finding them. I stood there in the water waiting for it to calm as the back of my knee stung repeatedly and with growing intensity.
Eventually It calmed down and I felt like going over to my pack to see if it remotely mentions talking fish people. It tried to stop me from leaving by repeatedly tugging me but all it did was waste time. When I finally got out and checked my pack I immediately grabbed a cloth and wiped myself down, even my paws since they were covered in sand. When I felt remotely clean I grabbed my book and skimmed through it to find a section called Merfolk. And it described the boy almost word to word though it added most don't believe they actually exist.
I put my book away and called to the kid" Hey come a little closer will you". The boy looked at me then looked everywhere else obviously contemplating whether to trust me or not. The boy moved a little closer to wear I put a blanket down and was sitting on with little eagerness to leave it.
"What's your name and do you know how you got here"? The boy thought for a few seconds but answered me clearly. "My name is Adrian and all I remember is a storm and arguing and waking up right now in front of you". I could tell from his face that he finally felt the weight of his scenario, he bit his lower lip to stop from crying which it did mostly other than a few drops that fell. But my only question right now is"What storm"?there wasn't one last night and everything is extremely clear out today.
I kept an eye on Adrian as he tried to keep his emotions in check, which kept on cracking repeatedly."I want to help him but I cant follow him, I wasn't meant for the ocean, hell I don't even fly and I'm content with that but I cant leave the coast".I put my head down as I thought but an idea came to mind, that might work or will crash and burn. I looked up at Adrian to see he stopped crying and was now keeping his head underwater which I felt wasn't doing anything to help other than not show.
"Hey I'm going to look around town for help want to tag along somehow". The boy lifted his head out of the water so only his eyes showed and he nodded before asking" What's your name mister"?
"It's Jade now let's go find your parents".
The sun was almost directly above by the time I got back to the ship that the Khamega, Samuel I think owned and questioned me about how I stared at it. And during the time back here I had to stick close to the edge so that Adrian could see and follow me. And now I'm waiting for him to turn up and with nothing better to do I decided to pull out a couple of carvings I had. Some of them are shaped like wolves while others looked like Discord, and any person of note. Hell I have a carving of a famous diplomat that helped civilians that got in the crossfire of conflicts and was generally a really helpful Gryphon. Adrian couldn't stop looking at them and luckily the dock was only like a foot from water so he could watch me examine them.
"Hey what's this and why does it look like a assortment of animals"? He was staring at a Discord statue I put there for him to look at and since then he's been asking many questions.
"I don't know why probably because he's apparently the god of chaos where I'm from". After a small amount of time a few people came by and bought a carving or two and every time I would also ask them if they've seen a couple looking for their kid but they always said "No".
I was almost ready to pack up everything and leave when the person I was looking for came by and stared at me and Adrian. I could guess what was going through his mind involved why the hell is this guy selling stuff in front of my boat or why the hell is he back. I noticed his eyes rest on Adrian as I kept an eye on him.
I asked him" Hey I might need your help". He looked at me for a second until I think he connected the dots and walked toward Adrian, who went back completely in the water possibly trying to hide himself.
He said" Hey little guy, let me introduce myself my name is Samuel and this right next to you is my ship, now what's your name"? Samuel leaned near the edge to take Adrian's fin for a hand shake. Adrian responded" Um may name is Adrian how are you mister"? I stared at the scene a few feet away not wanting to interfere.
After shaking each others hands or hand to fin Samuel turned to me and asked" So what's with the kid, didn't see him with you yesterday"?
"I found him on the beach this morning, I picked him up, dropped him in the water and the instant I did he woke up and began panicking. I asked him what's wrong and he told me that there was arguing and a storm came in. And judging by how he reacted tells me that he's lost and I can't find his parents". Samuel looked me over as I explained but found no real fault in my explanation other than the obvious.
"There wasn't a storm last night you know that"? I nodded to him and then he looked over at Adrian who was waiting and probably trying to tune out the conversation.
Samuel said to Adrian" Are you sure there was a storm last night"? Adrian looked up and tried recall everything as clearly as possible even though he was extremely nervous.
"I was with my mom and dad when they started arguing over something and shortly after they finished the water got extremely harsh, the currents got faster, and when we surfaced the waves were the size of buildings. I remember we went for a cave but I guess I hit my head on something and now I'm here". When Adrian was finished me and Samuel both looked at him. I made sure my face stayed the same empty void while Samuel looked at the boy with sympathy.
Samuel asked "Is that all that you remember happening". Adrian nodded glumly and looked down through the water." Well then unfortunately we cant do anything to help you unless you-". He was cut off by a verily loud cry the came from the sea and the next thing I knew two More Merfolk came at the boy and hugged him at lightning fast speed.
A feminine voice that sounded like a heavily concerned mother started shouting" Oh thank Gaia your all right I thought we would have never find you"! one of the two Merfolk looked like a little older than the boy while the one shouting and giving Adrian a death grip looked more feminine while looking around the same age as the older male." Guess that's his parents then so my job should be done". When they finished having a small reunion they looked at Samuel and Thanked him While they looked at me and had a rather unique reaction.
The mother shouted" Demon"! loud enough to require me to cover my ears. While I was dazed slightly the mother, father, and Adrian himself were no longer there. They more than likely were hiding in the water near but now I didn't care anymore, if they didn't want to thank me or even look at me for a second they didn't need me here. Samuel looked at me as I picked up everything and walked away at a steady pace back toward the main road out of town.
"If the parents don't want to talk or act remotely civilized toward me fine but you didn't need to shout and scatter like rats. But why did this actually hurt me just why"? My stomach felt like a bottomless pit along with my eyes that felt like they wanted to tear up. I continued walking until I was almost outside of town when Samuel decided to talk.
"Hey are you okay"? I looked around at him not even bothering to ask why he wanted to bother me. I couldn't care anymore and I didn't people to see me with even a hint of emotion, even if there only strangers.
I said" I'm fine and I don't remember giving you my name It's Jade. now leave me alone I don't want to see anyone". He looked at me oddly before shrugging and walking back into town. I turned back toward the road and began walking north not wanting to stay in Port Dorade for any longer.
When night time started to fall I set up camp under a tree and grabbed a bottle of scotch and began drinking it down with little care. I drank the amber liquid directly from the bottle and eventually fell asleep shortly after finishing a bottle. Hopefully tomorrow would be better and that I would have no issues in the next town.
I didn't have any dreams that night and I remembered one thing. I forgot to get a sewing kit.
It's been probably two days since I left Port Dorade in a unprepared state at least what I call unprepared, since I forgot to pick up a sewing kit and my shirt still has the slashes from the angel's arrows. But forget about the past, right now I was probably about half way to St. Curtis if my map was correct so that means I'm starting to hit the mountains. I looked around from my position on the road and noticed a wrecked carriage on the side of it.
"Why is there a random carriage with its top off here"?I walked cautiously over to it to examine the wreck, and noticed several burn marks all over it, along with the wooden wheels missing. When I got over there I put my claw on it and notice that it was still somewhat warm, along with the ashes crumbling off the moment I touched. I stood up and looked down the dirt road to notice two more carriages in similar condition not too far away, probably twenty meters apart.
I said "This ain't fucking good". I looked around quickly and sprinted to the forest edge and duck inside a bush as fast as I could. I moved cautiously for a while longer, staying in the forest to hopefully blend in and be significantly less obvious. I knew what must have attacked the carriages though I don't want to believe that this place had the same types of pieces of shit, though the evidence pointed to them existing and everything. I didn't notice any blood at the carriage I checked, though I was there for a total of ten seconds.
After about a mile of creeping through the trees and uneven terrain I heard commotion up ahead. I crept slowly to a tree and watched the group of two converse, not going anywhere. I was standing behind the tree since there was no use crouching and it gave me good sight on them. the group was a Human with a iron sword that looked like it was poorly made, there was also a female Jakkai that went to approximately the man stomach with a small knife.
The human said" Why do we always have keep a lookout it's not like anyone knows we're here".
The female glared at him" Of course you know since you always back talk the boss". I kept my eyes on them as they argued about why there on watch and judging by the fact they don't look like a traveling merchant couple, they had to be one other thing. "Bandits".The type of people I cant stand looking at.
As they continued arguing I crept slowly away and dropped my pack of at a tree that I marked with a cut shaped like a target cross. I kept my gun in its holster and I moved my knife holster to the back of my pants. I grabbed all the ammo I have on me left which accounted to three sets of seven shots, so not much. I proceeded back toward the two and now they were talking about the carriages from earlier.
The Human said" What exactly was in the wagon we snatched anyway". The Jakkai showed him a few coins.
"They had lots of junk in there, the only thing of value was there money and wheels pretty much". They were fucking bandits.
I kept quiet as I calmed down slowly and waited for them to go there separate ways. I was lucky that the Human needed to go to the bathroom and his partner didn't care where he went to go. So now the poor bastard was walking toward my direction and decided to go a little deeper in the woods and walked right past me.
When he just passed me not noticing my presence, I covered his mouth with my left claw and stabbed my knife quickly through his throat. He tried to scream but his attempts failed miserably with me covering his throat and the three inch knife I kept firmly held inside his throat. He stopped struggling barely a second after I plunged my knife in his throat and his arms slumped to his side dropping his sword in the process.
I dropped his corpse on the ground and proceeded to watch the Jakkai as she stood around the clearing. I noticed her beginning to get antsy so I grabbed one of my fired rounds and flicked it at a tree in her view. She noticed the gleaming brass metal and heard the ping noise with her ears as she noticed it almost immediately. She stood there looking around until she muttered something and walked toward where I threw it, before she got there she noticed the body immediately and put her dagger in front of her holding it with both hands. She walked cautiously to him while looking in every direction including up, but the minute she passed my cover on the other side of a extremely thick bush I grabbed her.
She yelped in a terrified girly way as I held her arm with the dagger and kept my claws over her mouth. I looked down at her since she was shorter than me and noticed she was scared beyond belief. Her eyes were almost bulging out and they slowly began tearing up. Seeing that face made me think of something I rarely ever did "If she tells me what I want to know she lives".
I kept my voice low" Tell me where the rest of you're friends are at and I will let you live, and anything important". She looked at me and I noticed that she stopped tearing up but was quite terrified. I hardened my grip on her hand as she continued shaking.
"I'm going to take my claw off and your going to tell me what I asked no screaming, and you will live". She didn't shout when I took my hand off and was actually calming down but I grabbed my knife with my right and kept it in view. It was still stained in the mans blood and she physically began shaking again.
"T-there a-at a cave hid-de out that direction, t-there are more than ten of us, a-and we have five prisoners, including something we never saw before". She seemed to be telling the truth and she pointed in the direction that made the most sense since they would most likely have there backs to there territory.
"Thank you and goodnight". I began shoving her head in to a tree. She said" Wha...". Before her head collided into the trunk of the tree and she was out cold. It wasn't entirely clean since now her nose was leaking blood and I did hear a satisfying crunch but she should be alive when she wakes up.
I looked in the direction she pointed and continued stalking in that direction keeping an eye on the trees, listening for voices, and just in general staying undetected. I hit the edge of a few trees surrounding a clearing and noticed five more guys in the clearing, three sitting down and having a chat while two kept on circling the clearing. In the clearing was a few tents that in this time of day most likely didn't have anyone in them, there was also a few rocks doted in the clearing that blocked sight from the three in middle which also included the tents that is if they could see through them. The men patrolling would past the rocks and not be in view of the main group.
"This is probably the dumbest thing I will ever do but poor me and not wanting people to suffer".I waited for a while to hopefully confirm people are in the cave which had a yawning entrance past the group huddled in the middle. After a few while of staying behind a tree and my legs tiring I heard a yell from the cave that sounded like any average person trying to scream for help. And shortly after that there was wail that wanted to physically assault my ears, the guards noticed it and started screaming in the tunnel for them to shut up including both of the perimeter guards.
While everyone was looking I quickly moved to the guard that was to the left of the main group. The moment I was right behind him I heard a "Huh" and I put my claw over his mouth and stabbed him in the throat, I ended up shoving the blade through his throat more opening up a gash in his throat making blood spray and made him start gurgling on his own blood. I moved him back into the trees with me hiding him on the other side of a tree. I looked at his waist and noticed he had the same crude sword as the last guy and I noticed this tree was here, It gave me quite a useful idea for a distraction.
I picked him up and when he was head height, I stabbed the iron sword through his head and into the tree. The blade entered the left side of his face through the jaw and pinned him to the tree almost at head height. His mouth was open and he stared at the group with cold eyes. The group and guard was still looking at the entrance not bothering to look anywhere else, I also cleaned my blade on his clothes.
After I was done I started skirting the edge of the clearing toward the right side of the cave. I kept my head low and I ended up hitting the right side of the cave entrance fairly quickly. Which was a sheer cliff so now I couldn't climb up to any over hangs I might have seen. I looked at the guard that was on my side looking into the forest but not toward the cliff at all not caring what was there.
I looked at the group in the middle and noticed most of them weren't looking in my direction so I began stalking toward the last perimeter guard which was walking back toward the front of the clearing. When I was about to rip his throat out I heard the guard yell" Do you guys know where Tom is".
One of the guards answered back" I don't know where he...Oh wait there he is". I stood behind a tree two feet from the guard that I was going to kill. I peeked out and noticed that all of the guards were looking toward where "Tom" hung from a blade implanted in a tree. The guards were giving scrutinizing looks at where the dead guard was and I took my chance.
I stalked behind the guard and grabbed his mouth as I began pulling him into the bushes. I stabbed him into the throat and pushed forward with my knife almost decapitating the man. his throat was slit almost half way as blood gushed out at a alarming wait, he was also gurgling on his pouring blood. I dropped him there and hid behind the tree and stared at the main group of two?
"Wait where's the third". I whispered with a hint of anger at not knowing where he was. I looked toward where "Tom" hung and saw a very startled man backing away from the tree. He backed away until he was almost to his friends when he yelled.
"Tom's dead"! All the men in the group drew there weapons, one man had a wooden axe while the others drew swords or knives. I stayed where is was keeping myself calm as I drew my gun and kept an eye on them. They were all looking around for me but none of them noticed my existence, though they noticed the other guy was.
One of them yelled" Hey where's Jerry at guys"! They looked where he was at last time but he wasn't there at all and they all grew nervous at the sight that there friend was gone. They muttered in low tones so I couldn't hear what they were saying but they all stood there ground looking like sentries now other than a bunch of friends singing around a camp fire. I stayed there waiting if any of them would move but none did so I pointed my gun at the one that discovered the death of Tom, I pulled back the hammer and fired.
The poor bastards head got blown out the other side as my arm kicked up from the recoil, it wasn't too heavy but significant as it pushed my gun up about an inch. One of the bandits stood there in complete shock as the one with the axe started running for a tree near my position. I couldn't hit the axe man, so I quickly put two shots in the shocked mans upper torso and put my sights on the axe man that was keeping behind a tree.
"Well it seems this isn't his first time in a battle".I kept my eyes at the tree the axe man was at while also glancing at the downed bandit. the downed bandit was squirming on the ground, clutching his wounds while also trying to crawl toward the axe man.
The axe man peaked his head out and I fired to have the round only embed itself in the tree. I kept my position waiting for him to peak again when I started hearing a fizzing sound coming from his direction. A moment later a fiery red orb came shooting from the axe mans tree, I ducked behind mine barely in time before it hit my tree and temporarily blocked my view with ash and embers.
I heard a roar just before a axe embedded it self in the tree inches away from my gun. I quickly stepped backward from the tree that was now missing the axe, though the man was right in front of me so simply he had the axe. He swung the axe down trying to embed it into my skull but missed when I moved to his left, though it didn't stop him from changing direction mid swing. The axe missed my chest barely but it didn't stop me from pulling out my knife and imbedding it into his left side, the knife stayed inside him as he staggered backwards into the burnt tree.
His back hit the tree with a loud thump and he slid down slightly as he regained his footing, but ultimately it wouldn't help. The moment he looked up his head got a bullet shot through the forehead. The man hit the wood yet still stood slightly so I put a bullet in the center of his chest. He didn't even try to keep standing as he fell to his right, staring with cold eyes.
I ripped the knife from his side and began reloading my gun one bullet at a time, luckily I still had two bullets left in it so I replaced the used ones and moved toward the cave. I heard hoarse coughing behind me so I looked behind me to see the crawling bandit from earlier laying down with his arm in my direction moving violently at each cough. I looked at him for a moment before I walked back to the axe next to the body and picked it up.
The downed man said to me as I walked over" Please d-don't... HACKlet me suffer". His voice was barely audible but I heard every word so I let him have one more moment. After what felt like a moment I heaved the axe up and brought it down on his head.
I said "Hopefully in the next life you wont make the same mistakes". I kept my voice low as I stood there for a second before looking at the cave.
I walked toward the cave quickly hoping that there weren't anyone else around to stop me. I stopped at the maw of the cave near the side, looking into it I noticed that it didn't go far and that it was well lit with torches and since it didn't go far I saw four people in chains behind a man using a white furred unicorn with a dark blue and light blue shaded hair as a human shield.
"Wait what why is she here in this hell hole"? I looked at her and noticed she was wearing a white button up and a pair of blue pants, she also had her violet glasses on though there wasn't a cocky smile instead it was a scared one. The man noticed me and put a oddly shaped blade that if anything was used for ritual sacrifice, and that was for practicality.
The man pointed the knife at me and shouted" Don't move any further or this demon mistress dies"! I stopped moving and the man grew a big grin. Though she didn't like that since she struggled a little bit which brought the knife closer to her neck.
The man shouted again" Hah now whos in control you animal"! I kept as calm as possible but his hostage gave me a look of "what the hell are you doing" or "follow my lead". Before I could figure out what exactly she meant She elbowed him in the stomach and ducked away from him even though he was still holding her. Taking my chance I aimed and shot at him three times, making sure to avoid his hostage.
Two of the bullets hit him in the chest and another made blood spurt out from the back of his head. It was safe to say he was dead and will not be coming back ever. The white unicorn looked at me while leaning on a wall, just before I walked closer to her and started shouting.
"Vinyl tell me how the hell did you get here right now"! I was looking at her with practical murder in my eyes even though I already murdered almost ten guys.
She shrugged and responded in her British or whatever accent" Are you talking about being in a den of bandits or here in general"? I could tell she wasn't really meaning to say it in those exact words but I didn't care.
I looked her in the eye waiting for an answer that I'm not even sure she knew exactly. After all I barely know why I'm here or why I'm doing anything in fact. This world was different but it was also similar with magic and multiple creatures and diverse people but that also made it different with the fact that I could be the only of my kind. I kept my thoughts of possible relationships under enough alcohol now I need to add the fact I may never have someone special even if I tried.
I shook all those thoughts and buried them so far in the back of my mind that my head started pounding, but It didn't bother me too much. I breathed out and looked into her red eyes since she now took off her glasses. She looked down and I noticed that there was a chain binding her legs together though it is far too long and would only snag on objects.
She looked me in the eye as she said" I will tell everything I know thus far if you get me unchained and everyone else". I looked behind me to notice the other people in the room, there was a older couple with grey hair and there was two other sets of male and female travelers. There was also a younger guy that wasn't paired with anyone but he seemed to know the others. I looked back to her and shook my head slowly.
"I was already planning it but first I need to know where the keys are". She pointed behind me toward the dead man in the cave.
"Of course its on the leaders person or this case corpse".I walked over to the man and noticed on his belt there was a loop of heavy metal keys. I picked up the keys and walked toward the group of people in the back of the cave, I noticed they were pressing closer to the back of the cave. When I was close to the young guy that had brown skin color and black hair, he kept his hands close to him and didn't put them out for me.
I said to him" You want me to unlock you or do you want to do it yourself". He didn't respond immediately but he eventually brought his hands closer to me. I tried three out of the ten or so keys on the chain before his right hand shackle made a loud click and opened up, I used the key his other hand and it did the same.
I looked at him and said" Hey can you unlock the rest of the shackles I want to keep an eye outside". The man nodded and I tossed the keys at him which he caught in his hands. As he began testing the keys I walked outside and kept watch for anything suspicious, which basically came down to seeing people or hearing twigs break. After a brief amount of time I started looking around the clearing to notice what I did earlier.
The tree that got hit by a fireball was still smoldering and embers came off of it at a slow rate. The I guess five men I took care of earlier were covered in blood and any warmth left in there eyes was gone.
"Wait didn't the Jakkai girl say there was more than ten".I looked around at all the bodies and I looked at the tents. There was around eight of them including if you count her so how many tents are there now. I looked at all the tents and noticed all the tents looked like they could house two people and that's with a tight fit. There was also only five tents and I didn't notice any of there personal belongings in there so the Jakkai from earlier was lying or over exaggerated due to fear and I wouldn't blame her for that. But ultimately It didn't help her and it sure didn't ward me off so I still need to keep the promise, not like I was going to go back on it anyways but it helps to keep back up plans.
With nothing better to do I walked over to the man still pinned to the tree and ripped out the sword suspending him. He fell to the ground immediately hitting his head on the ground with a noticeable lack of elegance, since I wasn't trying to slow the fall. I tossed the bloody sword toward the middle before I began dragging the man from his shoulders. I dragged him over toward the left side of the clearing and dropped him gently, while I closed his eyes.
I began doing this to the rest of the corpses in the clearing including the man that was bleeding to death but when I dropped the axe on him I guess it got stuck so I had to keep it in him. While I was doing this I looked into the tents and noticed a collection of items though the one closest to the cave had almost all the money they collected.
"I guess this was the boss's tent since this is way more money than I found at all the others".I guess it was odd for me right now to be doing this since I never fancied seeing myself working in the middle of nowhere moving dead bodies so that people felt slightly more comfortable. As I was moving the final body, Vinyl scratch walked outside the cave looking around only to notice me dragging a dead body. She didn't speak but judging from her hand over her mouth I guess she was trying not to puke or scream.
She stopped doing that after I dumped the body with the rest and walked over to her. Actually when I got there in front of her I noticed that she was taller than me by a few inches. "Yep I guess I might be considered a dwarf if a female unicorn is taller than me".I shook my head before I walked into the cave to see most of the people at the entrance, while the young man from earlier was examining the dead man.
All of the people skirted around me as I entered to drag the man with the rest of his associates. Though the young man kept on looking at him similarly like a kid poking grass with a stick, or anything in general. The man didn't even notice me when I was right behind him, though I have been given comments that I make no noise when I walk which might be obvious.
I said to him"He isn't going to stand up and walk away". The man reacted to me by bolting away from me a few inches and looking quite surprised.
The man said"Your so quiet its like a ghost had decided to possess you". What the hell did he just say, I make weird analogies but that was like dumb logic weird. My facial reaction was one of a gaping maw and raised eyebrows.
He said" Though judging by the fact that you managed to make a incredibly loud noise at the same time that you might not be totally like a ghost".
I spoke at him plainly but still gaping" Yeah that's what I do now why are you examining the very dead man".
"What aren't I somewhat aloud to learn a demons tricks". I stood there glaring at him.
"I'm not a demon and please I didn't shoot tiny metal objects at him with my hands, mouth or eyes so what's there to learn". He gave me a look of do you play me for a fool.
"I know you hit him from something in that weird stick with handle". He gave that sentence with an odd tone of trying to describe something that he couldn't describe.
"Yeah your not dumb so let me drag this guy off and hope we never talk again". I began dragging him away when he respected my wish though not all of them.
He talked to me as I dragged the dead man" You know Vinyl is trying to find her friend so could you not be so harsh". I stopped moving and looked at him. "Why was he bringing something up that doesn't matter to him and how does he know Vinyl".As I continued dragging him to the pile I noticed that most of the people are looking around the tents getting items out that the previous owners or they owned or would need.
"Does her friend play a violin, speak in a strange accent and is fairly uptight". The man stood straighter when I finished talking but didn't reply until I put the body down.
"How did you describe her so well"? I gave him a small glare but sighed and responded.
"I've met them both five years ago in a place they owned which was like a club and musical theater in one, huh even sold alcohol which is one of the reasons I entered". I remembered that day pretty well come to think of it probably cause there was a bunch of noble stiffs everywhere giving me a look of disgust.
The man said" Huh must have been pretty nice since when I first met them they talked about the place a lot". I gave glared at him while I kept my normal always there frown.
"Yeah they probably lived there most of their lives so they would know it but if your an outsider that is from a country that is commonly known to have a crime problem, you tend to hate the looks they give you". He gave me an odd look that was somewhat down trodden.
I said" Now do you want to tell me your name or do you want me to just say nobody and have you respond". He perked up at the realization and put out his hand.
"My name is James parker". I eyed the hand for a moment before I took it.
"Its Jade and we are not on last name basis, you get that when its important". He understood but gave me a worried look as we shook. After we stopped shaking I moved back toward the edge of the clearing and gave a look out. There was nothing but I still had the Jakkai alive back there and my pack so, I began moving in that direction.
"Wait"! I heard a yell behind me so I turned to see Vinyl with her hand on her hips and giving me a look that I did something wrong.
She continued" Where are you going"? I pointed in the direction and continued moving in it. This just irritated her more.
She said" Why are you going in that direction"? Her voice was holding back anger but there was a lot more annoyance than anger.
I said" I got to collect my stuff and if I bring someone back with me don't ask questions". Her ears raised and she started making the noise that every girl does when she thinks romance is involved.
She said" So will I meet the person"? There was an odd lace to it like seduction but more teasing. I got uncomfortable and left in that direction immediately.
As I was walking I kept to my own thoughts about why the hell Vinyl did that and the somewhat odd mood shifts, though she could have always been like this. Though I doubt it since the time I met her she was running the bar on break and generally having a great time, but I think she might have been a little bit drunk. No your either drunk or not drunk she was tipsy at the most since nothing sound slurred and she did everything well. But she seemed to not be one hundred percent there so yeah, she did have alcohol.
I got to the place where I met the forward lookouts and noticed nothing changed, not even insects were here. I walked over to the Jakkai to noticed she was still out cold. Shrugging I went over to the marked tree and picked up my pack which made my knees bend, and give me the familiar feeling that I felt safe, or whole I don't know but I felt better. I walked passed her again to see that she was stirring from unconsciousness.
I stopped, kicked her side with my paw and said" Hey it seems your waking up already". She slowly woke up and started lifting her self up slowly and while looking around. Her eyes locked on my face and she stiffened up trying not to move.
"Don't worry I keep promises and besides I have no qualms against you". She stood up looking at me like I was a madman.
"Why don't you have issues with me I helped with everything"! She practically yelled at me but I kept my cold demeanor.
"Well one thing you ratted them all out the moment I got my hands on you and second well I keep promises". She looked messed with her jaw and nose until I saw her eyes widen. She then started looking at her hands and they were shaking.
I whispered in her ear" There blood is also on your hands, and now you just have to learn what to do with your life". I started walking away avoiding the look she was giving me. When I was about to hit the trees I looked back to see her staring at me and then looking in every direction. She looked sad and scared but I have one thing left for her.
"There's going to be a bag with items back at what was your camp it will allow you to start over". I began walking away though before I could put my paw down I heard her shout.
"I can't exactly just start over but I will try and may I ask your name"! She sounded scared and small but she did sound generally honest.
I said "Its Jade and wait till everyone is gone till you get them I'm not a miracle worker". She did a polite bow and let me leave in peace.
I was back at the camp looking everything over making sure I got what the Jakkai needs to potentially start over. I generally don't know if she will but its the best shot she has for a good life so she doesn't have a choice, or at least one that was good. I had a sack with a blanket, two bits, and about three days of food. I also noticed that I'm down to a couple of gold coins left, though I didn't care since I often never truly ran out of money.
I moved near a tree in the clearing and marked it with a cross hair before I set the bag down. When I put the bag down I put a small wooden figure in it before I covered it with a piece of tent that the people disassembled. Speaking of them, there about ready to set off so I decided to walk over to them and generally just be there since I have nothing better to do.
"Why are you just standing there"? I looked over to my left to see Vinyl with a curious look on her face.
"Taking in the sights oh and I forgot does anyone have a spare sewing kit". I was nearly going to just stop but I remembered it just in time.
Vinyl looked at me confused but grew a smirk" I didn't know you sewed, why your hidden friend might love you for having feminine hobbies". I stopped breathing momentarily but managed to respond with little issue.
"No I need it because my shirts torn up". I emphasized by opening my coat a little bit for her to see the shirt and the condition it's in.
She said" Oh I guess that explains it but don't worry I will find your friend". She left but before she did, she gave me a knowing look and unfortunately for her there is nothing. She went off to talk to one of the people and I just kind of watched everything. From the birds chirping to the people packing up and just this odd peace when I look in to the forest. She came back with a sewing kit soon after and I took it graciously.
Vinyl said" Everyone is heading out now want to come"? She was asking me to follow them? Wow I never thought people would willingly invite me along during long travel but they wanted me too. I looked at them and saw a few hopeful glances but I ultimately didn't care to travel with them.
I said" No Jade the loner must stay alone in the title but I wish you luck in finding Octavia". Her eyes widened at what I said.
She responded quickly" How do you know"? She said it loudly but I kept calm.
"Your friend James told me and I hope you fix whatever made you too separate but first you need to go so get out of here I'll be leaving shortly". She nodded and hugged me. Her grip was weak but I'm generally wondering why she hugged me it's not like I did much.
She whispered" I will explain when we meat up again ok"? I nodded. The embrace ended shortly after It began and she walked over to the rest of the group of people and left while waving. They all actually waved at me as they left and I felt pride I think at the fact that I'm actually getting thanked.
I stood there for a little longer until I felt I've wasted enough time and left with a smile on my beak.
I stared at a stone statue that was in the middle of a giant canyon that seemed to have been craved out from the mountain. But when I put my claws on it, it felt like what a flowing river current would do to river banks which makes more sense than if it was carved out by hand. The statue though seemed to be the center of attention though the other people in the canyon didn't even look at it, unless they decided to look at the feather headed, homeless looking gryphon that was staring at a statue of what looked like a bee with red jeweled eyes. The statue also had writing engraved in it though I couldn't tell what it said other than it looked similar to that restaurant back in Riverside, the statue also looked like it was carved into a rock that was jutting from the ground since I couldn't see any sign that it was made somewhere else and moved here afterward.
"I wonder what guardian this is suppose to be if it is suppose to be one, hell they could have honored an oversized bee". I muttered that in my breath before dropping my pack and looking into the book I got from Port Dorade. I skimmed through the book looking for a giant bee but saw nothing, so I put it back in my pack and walked past it to go to the other side of the canyon.
When I walked to the exist I looked out and was awestruck, I saw a giant valley filled with green grass and flowers of many different colors that practically blanketed most of the valley. In the relative center of the valley was a giant tree with golden brown colored leaves that was massive, so massive in fact that it looked like the entire town was under it. To the side of the tree there was a few wooden buildings but it honestly didn't look hugely important compared to the tree and it looked out of place. This place looked straight out of a really expensive painting but no it was right here in front of me in all it's glory.
After a while of standing straight just taking in the view I began walking the path toward the tree. It was a dirt path like all the others but it looked like it was traveled on so much that it was completely flat, which it certainly felt like it under my paws that have trodden on so many rock covered paths and probably bled due to the traveling I did early on in my life but this had no rocks. There was nothing on the road as I continued to walk that is until I actually hit the town.
I looked at a sign that said "Welcome to Saint Curtis". Which was a normal wooden town sign other than the fact that it had a painting of a human and jakkai hugging each other. "That's the first time I've seen that on a welcome sign".The odd part wasn't the fact that the jakkai and human were hugging, it was how they were hugging and how it looked and even felt more like a loving embrace than a hug between pals, it also didn't help the human was male and the jakkai female. I decided to stop looking at it and began going into the town proper.
As I walked under the tree, the golden leaves from it began raining down like petals covering sections of the road as I continued walking and looking around at anything that seemed important. But looking out was kind of hard since this city is so...beautiful. It especially doesn't help when practically every building has some kind of flower or decoration that stuck out and grabbed my attention. Eventually I walked passed a few familiar faces from the bandits, I noticed them but it didn't register in my brain that they were there.
But my brain finally caught up to me when I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I jumped away from the hand that touched my right shoulder, and when I finally stopped being startled I looked at the person that touched me and saw Vinyl Scratch standing there trying not to laugh. "Why are you so quiet"! I yelled into her face but she just started laughing so much that she had to hold her stomach and began bending over.
When she started calming down after a long drawn out moment she said while gasping" H-how does some-one like y-you get scared by a single touch hahaha". She began laughing again but not as hard and my irritation only increased as she continued giggling like a teenager. "Why does every girl I meet giggle and laugh at me".I thought, while holding a claw to my forehead and sighing.
After another few moments of her laughing she finally began calming down and I looked around to see quite a few faces looking at us both, some with curiosity the rest with annoyance. When she finally stopped laughing I said" Come with me". And I grabbed the back of her collar when I moved past her toward a side street that looked fairly private and the it wasn't fully lit since the sun wasn't directly on it compared to main street. Vinyl began struggling to try and get herself free from my vice grip but failed, though that didn't stop her from complaining.
She shouted" Let me go you clawed feather head"! She wasn't shouting loud like the entire street could hear her but instead it was like everyone within fifty feet can hear her. So people did continue to look at us now more perplexed and when I looked back I saw that most of the people were either Jakkai or humans. I didn't let that info get to me though so I continued dragging her into the street until I was sure that no one could hear our conversation unless they decided to enter the side street.
I let her go and said" Be quiet you want the entire town to know that we might be undesirables". She stopped thrashing the moment I let go but her face was showing anger which was her face being scrunched up, though it softened a moment after I spoke, though it still held a glare.
She said" Why would we be undesirables in a town like this, and might I add you have a really good grip". I felt like that last part was suppose to be flirty, if I'm remembering how it goes but I genuinely felt more angry when she said that. My glare at her only hardened and we kept silent for an unknown amount of time for whatever reason. "Why the hell are we doing this, we need to find Octavia so they can be together and I can leave sooner".
I sighed and said" Why are we doing this Vinyl we need to find Octavia for Christ sakes". Her face visibly softened and her arms became uncrossed.
She stood there for a second before sighing and said" Yeah you're right why the hell am I even picking a fight with you, I need to find my partner". She shook her head while looking down during the last part but I decided to not press her.
I said to her" Yeah but look at how big this city is" I emphasized by opening my arms" It would be like finding a needle in a haystack that's as big as a house". She began clutching her hands now, showing anger since her hands also began shaking.
She replied in a voice that held anger" What are you going to just quit, since this seems so impossible" I was about to interrupt before she began again" Well I don't care if this might be impossible I will find her whether you help or not"! This unicorn mare did not look like vinyl at all to me. This mare seemed like a emotional, anger filled wreck that just wants to punch me compared to the incredibly relaxed, party animal I met almost five years ago.
After a while I was about to respond to her but when I looked up she was gone. So I was now alone in a unfamiliar city, Looking for a overly emotional party girl and a sophisticated musician that makes nice music. Wait nice music that is all instrumental not electronic and I'm in a beautiful town. So I should look for anything based around musicians then I could find her, but Vinyl is going to probably the hard part if she doesn't go to jail for whatever reason. "Why am I getting into more scenarios like this, since I never wanted to get into situations like this before. Well I guess coming here has done something, along with at least granting me decent people and somehow making me want to help them"?
I sighed and muttered" Well I need to know how I got here so I might as well ask how they got here, That is if they have a clue"? I left the side street back to the main street looking for any object of interest, like posters or people advertising with signs. So far though after walking past about fifty houses I saw no advertisements about music. Though I did see some street performers playing drums, or instruments like flutes and violins. And since I was looking for someone that played string instruments I walked toward all of them, and was disappointed every time. So now I was in the middle of the town sitting at the foot of the giant tree with golden brown leaves that have been falling steadily, feeling tired... yeah that's the word tired and disappointed.
I kept my eyes on the dirt ground to see all the leaves have practically blanketed the ground except for some spots that were bare. I had my pack off and on the ground, leaning on my right shoulder since I like keeping my possessions close. I looked around the plaza from my position to see quite a bit of people conversing and messing around, either laughing or shouting but luckily I didn't see any shoving which will lead to a fight from my experience. I kept on looking at the courtyard for quite a bit longer though to see if I can spot my target but it lead to nothing like everything else.
When I put my head down and sighed after checking the crowd again, I heard the crunch and shuffling of leaves coming toward me so I looked to my left... to see a child. Though this child didn't look like a human but did somewhat, but It looked more like a jakkai though he lacked a tail. The ears were still fairly big for his head and there was still the brown paws and clawed hands they had but he just looked off, like if you had a place and someone rotated a wood carving five degrees. Then again this kid was young so that could explain but it just felt odd since I've seen jakkais and I think I even see some kids in the crowd, but this green overall wearing kid with cream colored fur and brown hair, paws and hands just didn't fit.
I noticed I was staring at the kid so I looked in front of me before I said" What do you want"? in a tired manner. The kid backed away slightly But didn't run away immediately, which for me is good.
"Um what are you"? The kid said in a voice reminiscent of a young boy. I looked toward the kid to see him cover his face in fright when I moved my head fast.
"I'm a gryphon that's down on his luck, what about you... can I at least get a name"? The kid lowered his hands for me to see light blue eyes.
He rubbed his right arm as he said" I'm not allowed to talk to strangers about that but my name is Toby". An odd name for an odd kid.
"So Toby why did you walk over to me". Toby stood there for a couple moments thinking of a response hopefully.
"I wanted to see if you needed some company since you've been sitting there looking lonely". I looked at the kid perplexed but rubbed my face to get the expression off.
"Yeah I guess" I raised one claw "but only if your parents are okay with it". The kid frowned and ran off for a grand total of a minute at least to me, since I haven't seen a clock in the total of a month. But I remember time goes to a practical stand still when your doing nothing, or it will move at the speed of a bullet if you go into a relaxed or half dead state like sleeping or when staring at a really serene place. Eventually the kid returned with a smile on his face but no hop to his step.
"My mom said that I could keep you company". He then stood there to my left straight, not leaning but just straight.
"Um you want to sit next to me and while your doing that why don't you tell me about this place". I padded the ground to my left and he complied to my request. He told me a lot about St. Curtis, from why its called that and some of the goings on that happen in every town. But it was like how a kid would say it so, he said that a huge fire happened in the town back when the jakkai that lived here didn't get along with the humans that lived close by. All the humans didn't care about the jakkai homes catching fire but one human called Curtis ran to help them first and all the humans followed suit. Apparently Curtis was never found after the fire was destroyed so the humans and jakkais that were now getting along named the town after him.
He told it like it was a fairy tale with all the innocent kid stuff added to it but it did seem to be mostly true. Other than for the fact that they most likely found Curtis dead and they decided to honor his memory by naming the town after him, or he did just disappear. Well either way now he more than likely is dead since that story is quite old as he told me but it was how the town was founded.
Eventually a human women walked toward us with slight apprehension but looked kind of angry.
"Sorry I need to go". Toby stood up and walked toward the women who I can only think is his mother. She picked toby up when he got to her feet and I noticed he only got to her knees in height. She continued looking at me though with little is it fear or is she just glaring at me.
Eventually she stopped looking at me and said to toby" You told me you were going to talk to a performer not a" She looked back at me" I'm sorry what are you"?
"I'm a gryphon but everyone else I meet keeps on calling me a demon since I apparently look like one". She gave me a look of shock when she heard demon but calmed after a moment.
She looked at toby and said" Well at least your fine". They then began walking away but my mind suddenly caught up to me and I got up to ask her something.
"Hey mam one second I need to ask you something". She turned around to see me getting up from where I sat.
"Yes what is it"? She stood where she was keeping her attention firmly on me as I finally stood all the way up.
"Yeah I need to ask you is there a musician that looks like a walking horse with two legs, plays a string instrument, might seem lonely". She looked like she was thinking for a few seconds but gave me an answer fairly quickly.
"Yeah I heard about someone like that, they often end up playing down that street". She pointed down a street that was to my left. With little hesitation I picked up my pack and began moving toward the street.
I said while walking away" Thank you for the help". She waved back before putting her hand back onto toby and walked away. I continued walking down the street for a good bit of time since the sun started setting and my paws were beginning to tire. As I was about to sit down next to a bench I started to hear a violin coming from a little further down the street so I instantly bolted up right and began walking with increased speed and stride.
When the music sounded like it was being played almost next to me I looked to my left to see Octavia. She was playing a huge violin or bass, slowly making the music sound less enthusiastic and filled with energy. Her eyes were closed but from my memory that was definitely her, her mane was black but looked less groomed along with her grey fur, her clothes were just a plain white shirt and brown pants, but she kept the pink bow tie on. From what I remembered and heard of her she kept her bow tie on all the time, and the color of her fur stands out from my memory, but I remember her wearing outfits fit for the man with the most expensive taste, not what everyone else was wearing.
I let the song play till she was done as to not bother the other listeners and for me to enjoy it, it was actually really good to me though I have never been one for slow and somber though I can register good music when I hear it. There were several others listening to the music, most of them were young though a few adults stopped and listened till it ended, it was a mix of jakkai and humans like every other place I've seen. When the music started slowing down to almost nothing I noticed a hurt expression on Octavia's face and it stayed there until the giant violin stopped and her hand went limp to the side. When the music was done everyone began clapping and a couple of the adults put money in a black case that probably held the giant violin, the kids just continued to clap though one jakkai nervously creeped over to the case and put a copper coin in.
I kept my vision on the child but my view changed when I heard" Thank you". In a heavily accented voice that came from next to the kid. I looked and saw Octavia with a happy smile on her face though I could tell from her eyes that they were sad, I stayed there watching the child scamper off on all fours down the street, along with everyone that attended the small orchestra. I eventually looked back to see Octavia collecting the money from more than likely the day of playing, completely oblivious to my continued presence.
I slowly walked over to her and said" I never expected to see you play on the street". She looked up at me and looked back with a confused expression.
She said in a confused manor" I beg your pardon". She just looked at me oddly as if she's trying to figure out this feather brained stranger.
I said" Octavia you don't remember me the one gryphon that you dubbed as a disrespectful drunk, and then asked me to leave but vinyl said" no he's actually fun compared to all the nobles with sticks up their asses" and then you let me stay for five minutes". Her face stayed the same and then changed from realization, anger, confusion, and then is that relief. She visibly relaxed and exhaled a breath she must have been holding. I walked up in front of her only to be slapped, causing me to stumble back a few steps.
She said" That was for the disrespect you showed me back then but... it's good to see a familiar face". I rubbed my left cheek slowly as she sighed, and went back to putting back her giant violin.
I said" Is it a violin or a bass by the way"? I generally don't know much about instruments other than trumpets and horns.
She sighed in annoyance and said" A bass is what I'm using, a violin is much smaller and what is the real reason you came here since you seem to only go somewhere with an objective". She was visibly angry with me but she softened as the sentence went on.
"I came looking for you because of Vinyl and my own curiosity".
She responded immediately" What does vinyl want"! She said it with a higher tone than her quiet tone from earlier, her face also started scrunching up in irritation.
I said cautiously" She's worried for you since I don't know, she didn't say why you guys weren't together hell I only assumed you were here since this is one of the biggest towns on my map". I dropped my pack and pulled out the map that was on the top of everything. She looked at me still looked angry though her face lessened.
She stayed silent for a moment before saying" it's funny how your assumption is right but how and why are you here, and why are you getting involved with me and vinyl"? I was about to respond but the words never came but I stayed there while trying to figure out the reason why to somethings. But I haven't really been thinking a lot about what was happening more like I was just going with it, and I felt better about doing that though not much. I put the map back on top of the items in my pack.
I said to her with a sigh" I Don't know why I'm here in this world but I know you two could at least inform me of how you got here I guess that is why I'm getting involved"? I said it with very little enthusiasm a lot like a unsure child just doing something without thinking and having to explain it to someone. Her face of anger and frustration completely disappeared but she didn't respond for a few minutes as she silently packed up the rest of her instrument. She began walking toward a nearby wooden bench and sat on it patting the seat next to it, I took the hint and sat down putting my pack onto the ground to my left, while she put her case in front on the ground.
She said with confidence" I will tell you how we got here to the best of my ability, and you will tell me how you did...deal"? She brought her left hand at me and held it firmly in place next to me, and I slowly brought my right claw and shook her hand once with a firm grip.
I said" Deal but we got to find Vinyl first". I then began to stand up but Octavia grabbed my left claw and began pulling me back. I looked at her but she held her eyes down, not even budging.
I said" Let go Octavia we got to find her or I fear she might do something crazy". She snapped to look me in the face with a worried expression.
She said" Why is she ok"? I looked at her oddly but ignored asking why she was suddenly worried since last time I mentioned Vinyl she reacted with anger.
I said while rubbing the back of my head with my now free claw" I don't know she was erratic in the sense of emotions last time I saw her, one second she's teasing me the next she screams and looks like she wants to kill me". She looked at me with continued worry on her face.
She said" When was the last time you talked".
I sighed and said" I don't know but it was shortly after I entered town but this was happening back when I first saw her I think". Her ears rose in interest most likely.
"When did you to first meet and what was odd"? I scratched the back of my head in thought that looked like was beginning to get on her nerves.
I said" Probably four days ago I think but she kept on teasing me since I needed to see someone I left, but she just kept on like I know you have a romantic engagement kind of thing, I don't by the way if you ask". She began giggling a little bit which made me look at her with a glare.
Octavia said while flapping a hand" She does that to everyone, though who did you have to see and what place did you meet since it takes more than four days to get here from port Dorade". I kept a emotionless expression as I though of an answer that wasn't I killed a entire bandit camp and left only one of them alive. I was about to tell her the caravan Vinyl was riding had issues with a wheel but I suddenly felt a hand lay on my back and saw another landed on Octavia's, along with the sound of a rustling bush. I looked at the assailant quickly and punched him in the face, my claw hurt a little but the person ended up falling over and landed with a thud.
I turned around fully in my seat and saw James clutching his now bleeding nose, and muttering in pain along with some colorful language. I was kind of surprised in all honesty to see him here, behind me, and now with a bleeding nose and in a fair amount of pain. Though I'm honestly more confused with why he was following me and more importantly snuck up behind me and laid a hand on me thinking I wouldn't react negatively.
I looked at him and said" James don't do that again if you know what's good for you"! He stopped clutching his face to look at me with a angry glare though lost it's effect when more blood leaked out and he grasped his face again. I turned to look at Octavia who left the bench and was now standing behind the bench looking down at James.
She said In a low voice" James why are you here"? She extended an arm to him while he was in a sitting position, though he was leaned back so far it would seem he was laying but he was just in the middle of the process of sitting up. He took the hand graciously and stood up though stumbled a bit when he got on his feet, due to the head trauma. He glared at me through out the entire process.
James said" Thanks but seriously why did you punch me, OW"! He flinched and began clutching his nose again which was still bleeding pretty badly. I just continued to look at him while thinking"Seriously I didn't punch him that hard, though I don't tend to see the after math".
I shrugged and said" You snuck up on me and I don't like it when people do that so that is your warning". He just glared at me as I stood up with my arms crossed just staring at the kid.
He muttered" Yeah I guess I will". He sounded quite angry though I didn't really care, I just opened up my pack and found the medicine pouch. I opened it and teared off a small part of a bandage and handed it to him, he put it to his nose softly.
When I was about to open my mouth Octavia beat me to it" You want to put pressure on it like this". She grasped the bandage and put it harder onto his nose making him wince repeatedly. This was odd for me since I never took Octavia as a helper. To me she was a do what I say, not I will actually do it type of person. after I stopped thinking I noticed they both were staring at me.
I asked" What he snuck up on us". I shrugged but that only increased there staring. After a moment though Octavia walked up to me and stared at me, by looking slightly downward at me since she was an inch taller. Before I got to berate in my head how small I am, I felt my paw get stomped on. I screamed with a high pitch almost like a shrill bird call and started hopping on my left paw while keeping my right in the air, then I slipped with my atrocious footing and hit the dirt ground right shoulder first. I held and looked at my foot for a seconds before looking at them to notice they both had there hands over there ears, Octavia was also a comfortable distance away though I didn't care about that all I cared about was trying to handle the pain. I kept holding my breath and exhaling unsteadily every single breath I took, "Why the fuck does getting stomped feel like getting stabbed in the upper chest"?I kept on trying to subdue the pain and I eventually did, though that didn't stop from my paw feeling like it got crushed by a anvil.
I heard James say" On all that makes Gaia great that sounded like a banshee wail"! Though it certainly sounded unnatural for someone like me it was somewhat common since I'm a gryphon and subsequently part bird. So that means I could sometimes make bird calls, though they are always more like shrill screams than actual calls. I began sitting up slowly to see there expressions and I saw a frightened James and Octavia staring in the direction behind me.
I said" What are you looking at"? She didn't answer just began walking in the direction she was looking. I began to turn myself around to see Vinyl just staring back, her mane was a mess with strands of hair out of center and she was fidgeting in small bursts. She rubbed her arm slowly and looked down to her feet, as Octavia walked slowly to her in a pace similar to creeping. Eventually they just stood a few feet from each other and they both looked one and another over in complete silence. Eventually they both hugged and stayed that way for quite a while.
I looked at the two Mares hugging each other for a few seconds with a blank expression, I think since I honestly have no idea what I'm feeling right now. It felt like a sinking pit just decided to open in my chest and keep on going deeper the more I look at them both. I finally ripped my eyes from the scene to look at James who was also staring in a way akin to wasn't expecting that to happen than whatever the hell was on my face. He eventually noticed me not looking at anything except a purple flower.
James whispered to me" You okay, since your acting kind of odd"? I looked at him with my usual demeanor since I wasn't looking at something that I will never feel, since I'm not expecting to... "Bury the thought and burn anything that marks the area".I thought. I held my head a second and shook it to help get rid of those thoughts or to make them less obvious.
I looked at him and said" Yeah I'm fine just... wasn't expecting something like that, I was expecting a lot of yelling not that". I shifted my gaze back to the bed of flowers that I fell next to when I got stomped on the paw. There were flowers of all colors, whites, blues, hell even green was there and I didn't think a flower could have green petals.
I kept on observing the flowers as they started exchanging pleasantries like " Its good to see you". and" How you doing". I just kept my head down the entire exchange hoping not to draw attention to me and it worked for all the way until Vinyl asked about me.
Vinyl said" So why is Jade just staring at flowers". The look she was probably giving me might be along the lines of curious or confused, I don't know.
I remained staring at the flowers as James said" Octavia stomped on his foot and he began hopping around, fell and he's been looking at those flowers since you two hugged". I looked back at them to see Vinyl with a amused expression along with Octavia looking at me with an emotionless expression. I looked back at the flowers and began standing up using a hand to help push me back on both paws, the paw that got stomped on was still throbbing but barely enough to make me cringe.
I looked at James and said" It's Paw not foot and if you don't mind can you please tell me how the hell you got here"? I looked at Octavia and Vinyl and they both looked at each other for a few seconds and they nodded before looking at me.
Octavia then said" We will if you tell us how you got here first". They both looked at expecting my answer and I responded relatively quickly.
I said" Yeah, if you want to know I fell of a cliff into a black swirling vortex and poof I'm in a middle of a forest vomiting my guts out" I waited a few seconds before adding" That's all I know so tell me what happened to you two". They looked at each other again and began whispering in each others ears. I tilted my head at them but they stopped and Octavia stepped a foot forward.
She began" We were in our club when Vinyl apparently felt something odd so we decided to investigate and apparently when we got around the main foyer, a black vortex popped up and it deposited us on a beach". I looked at her seeking any sign of doubt or lie but no it was genuine, since her voice didn't break and she was slow with a bit of a somber tone. I thought for a few seconds and during that time I noticed Octavia stiffen slightly but it was more like since I didn't give an answer.
I said to Octavia" Thank you for the help but Vinyl what did it feel like"? I brought my attention to Vinyl with a curious expression. She thought for a while with her brow folding multiple times though she didn't look totally lost.
She said just as slowly but with a tone of confusion" I don't remember exactly but it felt like I should just go there like I belong". I looked at her for several seconds but closed my eyes and shook my head.
I muttered" Well that helps but doesn't at all, huh just perfect". I Shook my head more while sighing and slowly began walking away from the group of musicians, and assistant or fan if you look at James from a different angle. I thought about that for a few seconds but I dropped it and thought about what Vinyl and Octavia said.
"So the vortex popped up in there club and swallowed them, along with that vinyl had a feeling similar to being called to it". " I utterly hate what the hell got me here but I don't find myself worried at all, probably since I had nothing going on back home". I tightened my coat around me more feeling a gust of could air ruffle my head feathers." shouldn't it still be summer the wind doesn't start doing this till... fall". I stopped moving for a few seconds and began trying to remember how long I've been here. I went to Riverside which was in summer then I left and a week later ended up in Weyvale, then about a week and half I end up in Port Dorade, a day later I left and a week later I met Vinyl, and now about three days later I'm here. I've been here for a month and I finally felt fall show up.
I stood there just thinking of random stuff when I felt my shoulders had less weight than usual, I put my claw on my back to feel my pack but I didn't feel it. I stood there dumb for a grand total of a second before I ran back to Vinyl and Octavia. I ran to the bench and grabbed my pack before running off again, only giving a glance to Everyone there who looked at me with blank expressions. After running for a small amount of time I started slowing down to a brisk walk and eventually I sat down at a bench with the square I was in earlier today within view.
I looked through my pack when I sat down and I saw everything I had when I came to town. I sighed and relaxed into the bench as the evening started turning into night. The sky was mostly blocked due to the many branches over head but I could see the stars from small holes in the canopy that didn't get blocked by the other layers. The sky was mostly clear from what I could see and it was filled with stars that shined bright. I held a small but barely noticeable smile the entire time until I decided it was time to move.
I Stood up and began walking in the direction of an alley with a much smaller tree that was merely a stick with leaves and branches coming from the ground. I stood in the alley observing it and it was probably the best alley I've seen, there wasn't any garbage in the alley it was really just the tiny sapling and a few clumps of grass that decided to grow in the dirt. The buildings around it had no windows to allow anyone to look at the place and it was shaped kind of like a small clearing that remained out of sight from recent community activities. Which makes it a fairly good place to sleep since I don't feel like spending money right now and the inns probably cost more than what I have.
"Though I could have asked them if they wanted... no you don't need help, you got what you wanted now forget them". I put a claw to my head for a second and shook but the idea still stayed, and I loathed it. I sat down next to a wall around the back of the alley and took my pack off and began rummaging through it. I pulled out the blanket that I dubbed as mine which was dark blue, and also a bottle of scotch.
I took of my coat and opened the bottle before taking swigs from it about every second feeling the familiar warm liquid go down my throat and shortly after start affecting my brain. Though I could still see what was in front of me with little to no blur or sway, I could feel my overtly critical side start bashing its way through my mental barrier. I looked at my shirt and at the overtly obvious stitching that would make everyone mock it even if they never stitched before. It simply looked like a line of blue string that looked like its there to hold things together, which it was but who would no that other than me.
I then began thinking about how today gone." Why does everyone I meet either a child or a girl I mean seriously I haven't met a single person my own age unless the bow man and forest hermit if there mine but I don't plan on meeting them again at any point".I still remember the days when I was younger, and how much of an overly hopeful idiot I was. I did things that I look back upon that I loath, and they weren't harmful to anyone but I just wish I never did them, though I'm lucky that when I was almost an adult a started becoming more like I am today, though without the alcohol. I avoided interaction with other individuals, read an almost excessive amount sometimes and I guess just stopped giving a crap about everything.
I took another sip and muttered" I dubbed myself as a hopeless romantic at one point I think, saying I would never get someone to love...". I thought about my reaction to Octavia and Vinyl hugging and went back to my days of reading all the romance books I could find. " Why do I even still think about this nonsense, I'm too old and... why should I care".I let myself lay down fully on the ground using my jacket as a pillow.
I kept on drinking until the previously one third full bottle was empty and felt myself begin dozing off, now truly feeling the effect of the drink as my mind felt like it was beginning to start unraveling. I thought of some of the happier times when I was younger being utterly clueless and how I was oddly optimistic. And how I'm now a cynical asshole that wants something that he cant even hope to have. I closed my eyes and as I started falling into the black embrace, I remembered the day I hate the most, and the all to familiar screams that adorned it.
I ended up waking earlier than usual this morning in a cold sweat thinking the world was ending and everyone was dead. Though after the sun finally came out I managed to get those thoughts out of my mind. Today I had one plan and that was to sell my items and possibly pick some up since I'm not a factory and not a lot of people want wooden statuettes all the time. After a morning of selling a decent amount of items for once I began walking the streets looking for objects that caught my eye or items I might need.
After visiting a book store that was selling ink and a book called Loves Flame I then began browsing some trinket stores. I ended up going to a few stores that sold statuettes and subsequently bought them so that I could sell it to anyone that might want them or just keep them. I went to a store that was different than the others, and it sold a lot of crazy knifes, swords, axes, hell they even have spears and shields on display. I looked at many of the knifes and saw that most of them weren't decorated but there were still a fair bit with engravings and just crazy blades. Hell there was a knife that had a hilt with at the bottom had a dragon's mouth clasping a red gem, along with a blade that was serrated so much it looked like a saw.
"Hey you checked out that place in the mountains yet"? I looked in the direction and saw the store clerk talking to another human that reminded me far to much about bandits than I will ever like. I kept my attention on them as I began looking around for something practical though I wasn't planning on buying anything.
The man responded with a furious tone" I have sent so many people to look for your precious lost battlefield but no one comes back so you can shove your job into another idiots business". The man began stomping away and burst through the door and slammed it with enough force to shake the shelves near it. I kept on looking at the door but eventually stopped and walked over to the clerk.
I said to the clerk who was currently rummaging behind the counter" What was that all about"? I was pretty curious though I wasn't going to take the job at all, I was just interested.
The clerk eyed me with obvious detail and said" Why, do you want the job"? I folded my arms and eyed him for a few seconds.
I replied with" It depends, what are the details"? He eyed me also but it eventually waned.
He said in a accent reminiscent to gryphons that live much farther north than I was born, though the one thing I remember was that they loved saying crikey and mate as in friend not the other." I found a place in a book that said there was a battle in the mountains, but unlike most folk I studied and found out we practically searched those mountains high and low, do you got a map"? I pulled out the map and put it on the counter and opened it. He examined it for a few seconds and marked a area of the mountain range near the marked path that leads from St. Curtis to Riverside.
He continued" Except here though don't be fooled it might be near the path but no one takes any of the side roads do to cliffs and wild animals". I looked at the marked place which he marked with a small black X.
I said to him after I picked up my map" I will check it out though I'm not going to come back immediately if I live, you might see me back here some time next year". The man looked generally stunned for a few seconds but eventually gave a small bow.
He said" Thank you, but I must tell you that I'm going to want proof, swords, helmets, anything that might be worth anything in terms of weaponry and armor". I raised my eye at this and said" Why would you want weapons and armor"? I put my claws on his desk lightly and leaned toward him.
He responded seemingly unfazed" Mate I sell weapons and armor, and to improve my work sometimes you need to look at the past". I was surprised since he was true but I kept a straight face. I just kept on eyeing him before giving up and began walking away.
I muttered under my breath" He's a joke to effective weapons everywhere". I put my claw to my head and shook it lightly.
"What did you say". I turned toward him watching his eyebrow raised expression.
I said" I said I will get you something but when I get back your paying me". He nodded and I began walking outside the door to the busy street. I continued walking to the rest of the places I planned on visiting, like a general store selling traveling supplies, which I refilled all my food I needed.
I walked toward the town entrance and began exiting the town when the sun was high in the sky. I gave one final look back at the giant tree covered town and began walking toward the area marked. Then literally three paw steps later my stomach made a noise akin to a predators growl, I put my claw to my stomach as I continued walking.
"I really should have eaten by now". I grumbled under my breath.
"Wait did I just accept a job that could kill me, no one will miss me so yeah just go with it".
"Oh how I miss the mountains." I said as I stretched my arms out as I continued walking in the mountains, with nothing but a map and no trail or land marks to guide my way. I didn't know where I was going but I sure didn't care or at least didn't show it from my many bouts of silence and near constant thinking. I always wondered why when I'm in the high peaks of mountains away from people that I'm slightly more happy. It could be the cold air, the environment or simply because I liked the occasional snow fall that happened sometimes. Unfortunately it wasn't snowing but the chill in the air was ever present and the enclosed feeling I get in the mountains makes me feel safe oddly enough.
I woke up from my thinking and quickly began walking again as to not feel more like a happy five year old and start bouncing like a madman. I eventually ended up hitting a waterfall and I took out my canteen to collect water since I haven't found any water since I got here. The waterfall was in a small clearing that was on top of a cliff side which held a waterfall of its own, that led to a small river, that went to a lake nearby. After I kneeled next to the small waterfall, I began filling my near empty canteen as the near deafening patter of the waterfall continued unabated.
When my canteen was full I screwed the cap back on it and continued following the old trail I found from earlier. The trail was old because it was over grown with grass and trees to the point that it made it more like a wall of shrubs, but the fact that it looked like it led somewhere kept on making me think there use to be a trail, whether I'm right or not I just kept on following it. I walked around the bend of the mountain to see the trail open up into a road that could actually hope to fit a cart and a cliff on my left that was covered by trees and shrubs. I didn't have to go to the precarious edge to see that it was precarious, since the trees bended oddly and the shrubs were short, also it helps that when I saw a gap in the foliage that there was a gorgeous view... with a lack of floor.
I stopped looking at the cliff and began following the trail with more hustle as I saw the afternoon sun begin drifting down to the other side of the mountains making the shadows grow longer. I kept my eyes straight and focused on listening to make sure I didn't get stabbed or shot from an arrow. The trail continued to lead me deeper into the mountains and eventually I ended up entering an area with a bunch of over hangs above me. There was nothing man made on the overhangs but the trail suddenly grew a lot more interesting.
There was remnants of broken metallic equipment all over the trail, including what might have been a trebuchet except not made entirely of wood. "I guess I found the place but no armor just pieces of carts and other crap all over the place."I kept my eyes peeled on anything that looked like a weapon or piece of armor but from what I seen what remains of this equipment is the equivalent of ancient broken artifacts. The carts were barely visible from the near rotted away state the only thing that showed it was a cart was the rusted metal screws and the near gone wooden wheels that a companied them.
I kept an eye out as I continued to walk the path occasionally looking into a cart or examining the remains of objects but I didn't find anything in the small ravine. I eventually walked out of the ravine and found myself in a giant field that felt like it couldn't exist here, the mountains felt to cramped together to hold a field that previously sported an army. But I guess it still is since the field was covered in weapons and armor littering the battlefield in heaps like a junkyard. But it felt almost haunting looking at everything, I took a step forward and felt my paw hit something, smooth and solid along with it making a hollow wood noise. I looked down at the object to see a skull of what seemed to be a ferocious, snarling wolf, though it was twice as big and when I looked a helm laid next to it.
I said" What horrible creature died here?" I then began looking around more and saw skeletons of creatures that didn't look like some of the smaller skeletons. The smaller skeletons didn't look like an animal since they lacked the normal predatory features of claws and snouts and instead had a round skull with a flat face. After I stopped examining the corpses I picked up the helm from the wolf skull and spun it around multiple times to get a good feel for it.
I said" This helmets old" I pulled out my knife and struck it, it caved and now had a hole in it" And shitty of course it is its been in a open field for years gathering rust and being useless." I threw the helmet through the air and saw it sail for quite a distance towards a ruined tattered tent. I muttered" Well I guess its a good disk but that's useless anyways."
I looked at the faded blue and white tent and then at the desolate field before spotting a pole high in the air somewhere to the other side of the valley. I looked back at the tent and began moving toward it while keeping my distance from the bones of the long dead. After a few minutes of walking I was outside the tent and saw that not only the color was fading but the cloth was gathering uneven holes in it and rotting away like everything else in this place. I pushed the cloth out of my way to see one of the smaller skeletons in similar old rusted armor and a metal chest that looked oddly pristine in this decaying graveyard. I stepped around the skeleton and saw that it's chest armor had several holes in it like someone savagely attacked it.
When I stopped looking at the skeleton I turned around and went to the heavy iron chest that looked oddly pristine. It looked to be engraved with odd symbols and it looked to have specks of gold mixed in with the grey metal. "Huh these symbols are the same from that restaurant and probably somewhere else." I crouched as I traced a claw against the markings before standing up and grabbing the bars on the front lid. I expected it to be locked but instead it just flew open like it was light as a feather. Inside the ornate chest was a full head covering helmet and a piece of paper?
I picked up the paper and it read "To the brave fool who entered this eternal graveyard." I flipped it to the other side and it continued "Head to the other camp brave fool." I muttered under my breath "What the hell is this place, ancient paper shouldn't be legible." I sighed and put the paper back in the chest before picking up the helmet and examining it. The helmet felt odd in my claws, it was a light helm that completely covered the head except for the neck and the eyes, the eye's was just a hole for each, the helm completely covered the nose and mouth and the top curved to the back plate that was longer than the front. The helm could never fit one of those wolf like monsters but the inside of the helm was probably twice or three times as big as my claws. The helm was also about as thick as the length of my pinky.
I muttered "What type of person wore this slab of metal?" I held it out from me and stared into the eyeholes and I felt much punier and worthless than usual. I shook my feathery head and ruffled my light blue top feathers before putting the helmet to my side before heading to the other camp. I exited the tent to see the sky turning a light shade of yellow and the wind picking up slightly. I huffed and began marching the giant field of dead, avoiding the skeletons and weapons of the fallen with well done paw steps. After walking past a unholy amount of bodies I saw the red and black accented tent with a wooden pole pointing to the heavens.
I muttered" How the fuck are both these tents standing." The tent was bigger than the blue and white one but it also had the same rotting damage from the previous ones though some corners looked blacker than the rest. I entered the tent with little trepidation and was greeted with a similar chest and a much bigger skeleton in armor, the armor lacked damage other than its rusty and forgotten but the body was one of those huge wolf looking ones though it was different than those. It looked smaller than the others and its teeth was smaller though seemed much more numerous. I picked myself up and began walking to the metallic engraved chest, I opened it and I saw another piece of paper and instead of an helmet It contained a curved sword tucked within its sheath.
I picked up the paper and it read " You've found the treasure, so take it and avoid this futile dumb war." I looked at the sword for a few seconds and picked it up in both my claws. The sheath was wooden and it showed no signs of aging compared to this place, like the paper and the helmet. The string that's suppose to secure the weapon to your hip was replaced with a leather band and the hilt was designed with red and blue fabric. The wooden sheath was all black with no noticeable details, I unsheathed the sword slowly to see it was single edged and it lacked an ornate design.
I sheathed the blade and set it down to pick up the helmet before tying it to one of the loose strings of my pack, so now it would lazily hang on the back of my pack. I picked back up the sword and turned around to freeze up immediately, I saw a hulking blue ghostly creature clad in similar armor to the skeletal corpse at its feet. I stood there perfectly still as It turned around, not even noticing my presence as it put it's hulking blue transparent claws on a non existent object.
It grunted and said" Hmmm everything seems to be going as planned." It spoke in a deep voice similar to an old man though he lacked the wet fluid covered sound of most elderly men. I looked under where his claws was and saw old rotted wood pieces, I kept on looking at him not moving even after he looked from the unknown object at me for several moments it didn't react. The being looked vaguely like a lizard with scales on his face though all I could see was blue and no other color on him. I eventually unfroze and began creeping out of the tent giving me ample distance away from the ghostly entity.
"What was that?" I froze immediately and looked straight at him but he wasn't looking at me but instead the other side of the tent from me. I continued to creep out slowly but before I even put my next paw down, I saw something come from the entrance of the tent and jump on top of the spectral creature. I heard a very distinct yelp of surprise and then a horrifying gurgling noise as I stared as the other creature drove a knife right into the others neck. The assaulted specter was almost perfectly aligned to the bones and armor on the ground.
The assaulting specter stood up while wrenching the bade from the others neck, the being walked towards the exit of the tent while holding the knife behind his back. It stopped next to me as I was trying to get outside just before the folds and said in a male voice" One gone, two more to go." I couldn't see the beings face since it was hidden behind a metal mask that had a beak like structure toward the bottom. It walked out outside as I just stood there watching him and trying to figure out what the hell happened.
I exited the tent with my head down and muttered" The fuck is happening in this place." I looked up into the sky and saw dark clouds and heard thunder overhead, it also had a very vibrant dark orange in the sky. I also heard a very familiar howl from the other side of the field and I looked expecting shifting shadows but instead saw a blue glowing dog with white eyes. It stared at me and before I knew it the wolf began howling and the shadows began moving around the tree line on the other side.
I shouted" Oh fuck!" I began running the path behind me and kept on following the overgrown down hill path with little thought. "Why was there fucking blue specters and a glowing blue and white eyed dog that just looked at me and put a whole goddam pack on me, and its going to rain soon absolutely perfect."Then It down poured right on top of my god forsaken head.
I felt my lungs burn as I continued to run down the sloped path in the thunderstorm that came out of nowhere. It was a complete downpour that made the path ahead a giant mud pit, and it certainly didn't help that it was in the middle of night. It made trying to see forward nearly impossible if you weren't familiar to downpours and you didn't have a goddam huge amount of adrenaline pumping through your veins. I felt my legs continue to burn as I ran faster than I've done in my life, I didn't have a rhythm to my run since every few steps my leg would jut out and I would trip over my own feet.
I looked behind me to see nothing but I still felt there presence since wolves never really give up on easy pray and that glowing eyed creature more than likely wants me dead. I looked forward to see a collapsed tree ahead covering most of the trail, except a tiny bit under the tree. I dived onto the ground next to the tree and quickly began crawling under the tree to get to the other side. It felt like I was crawling through slime and it was absurdly cramped under it as I began scraping my claws against the ground to move faster. I managed to get out from under the tree and as I got out from under the tree I heard a very distinguishable growl about an inch from my head.
I backed up from the noise and saw a grey wolf on top of the tree growling at me in a pouncing position. I quickly reached for my revolver and as I started to aim the wolf pounced. It landed on top of me but I didn't land on my back, instead I began tumbling down a small cliff. I held my gun tight as me and the wolf continued to tumble down the cliff and as I continued to try and grab something with my free left claw. All I felt was hard dirt and a excruciating pain start in the claw and before I knew it, I felt my legs hit some hard ground and I fell face first into the muddy dirt at the bottom.
My legs felt like they were just forced to be bended in an angle they should never be bended at, causing me to make a screech. I grunted "Ohhh fuck that hurt!" I picked my head up and saw that my gun was about a foot away from my outstretched claw and that the wolf was picking itself up. I quickly stood myself up even though I felt my bruised back spasm and my injured legs trying to lock up as I picked up my revolver by the handle. The wolf turned toward me and the moment it started to lung I fired my gun that was aimed for its head. The wolf's face exploded with blood and bone as the wolf mid lunge went back to the dirt floor as it landed a foot away from me.
I stood there trying to catch my breath after falling from a several meter long drop and almost getting mauled by a wolf. I heard howling coming from the top of the drop and when I looked up I saw the blue glowing one from the field, staring at me with its white hollow eyes. I began stepping backwards away from it while also trying to ignore the growing aches all over me, it eventually decided to move forward willing to face the slope to catch me. It ran down the slope instead of taking it slow and I bolted the other direction, running through parts of bushes and losing my footing at random roots or over my own paws as I continued to run.
I ran into a small clearing and before I could attempt to dodge a wolf lunged from my right and pinned me on my back. I stopped the bite from hitting my throat with my left claw though that didn't stop him from biting down on it and shaking it to tear my goddam arm off. "Augh little shit!" I shouted as I began beating the wolf with the handle of my revolver, it whined and growled as I began swinging incessantly at it. One swing managed to knock the dog on its side and as it still clamped its jaws around my wrist, I pointed my revolver at the bottom of its head and pulled the goddam trigger.
The dog's jaw went loose and I pulled my ripped open arm from its mouth and tried to pick myself up with my still good arm. I limply lifted my left arm and saw that it was tore open and it was bleeding profusely, I grabbed my bandages from the first aid pack looped around a loop on my pack and slowly started to roll it around my wrist. I layered it twice and tightened it while I was grunting in pain. The bandages though were now soaked due to the downpour so I just dropped the roll onto the muddy ground.
After I was done I began moving this time at a brisk jog due to the pain that's throbbing in my arm and the rest of my body. I kept moving for what felt like hours as my vision kept on becoming more and more blurry, I kept on moving no matter what due to the wolves that are chasing me... "Where are they?"That thought kept on racing through my mind as I continued to moving straight until I found a dirt path going downward, so I took that and followed it for an undetermined amount of time. At least now the rain stopped but I'm still soaked to the bone and I actually began shivering, If I don't die tonight then these wolves are deplorably bad at killing an injured and dying creature.
I looked at my wrist and saw that the bandages were basically doing nothing at this point, they were so damp with water and blood that it was actually dripping watered down blood onto the muddy path. At least it should be if it isn't on my clothes because at this point I could barely see anything in the darkness.
After an undetermined amount of time I eventually walked to a small clearing with several broken down carriages all around it, except for a entrance with what looks like a gate created by two trees connecting to each other to make an arch. I began walking toward it since it was the only viable exit in this clearing that wasn't back towards the white glowing eyed dog and its pack. When I hit the center of the clearing I heard a low, resonating growl that made me stop in my tracks, and before long it slowly walked out from the side of the entrance.
The blue ethereal wolf with white glowing eyes stared at me with what I could only guess was leer, as it narrowed its eyes and one step at a time slowly walked till it guarded the exit like a faithful guard dog. I looked around me to also see multiple wolves slowly creep out of the carriages like phantoms crawling out of the shadows to steal the souls of children. I slowly reached for my knife with my left claw and pulled it out of its sheath, I kept my knife and subsequently my arm huddled close to my stomach not to different from where It was when I was walking.
I muttered "Yeah come at me you shits." I kept my back arched as I spread my paws and kept my revolver ready to shoot. I shouted "Yeah... yeah I sure as shit wont make it easy for you!" It was more than likely the gryphon pride showing its face at this point but I will not die in a fucking forest.
I turned my head and noticed a wolf sprinting toward me so I began turning only to have the dog move faster and nip me behind my right knee, causing me to fall onto the knee and as the dog moved back to lunge I quickly pointed my gun at the dog and fired. It yipped and fell over from a bullet hitting the side of it's ribcage and before I could get up from my couched position another wolf lunged at me and put me on my back. The wolf failed to bite me during the lunge, I quickly shot the wolf twice in the center chest but immediately I felt fangs dig into my right leg and a deep growl from there. With the dead wolf still on me I looked down my right side and fired my gun at the dog, only one bullet hit the dog but luckily it released its grip so I quickly pushed the carcass of to the side and stood up with minor shaking only to find a single dog in the clearing.
The wolf was bleeding from its left side as it laid on its right, wheezing like its being choked to death. I limped to the wolf a meter away and stared at it before aiming the gun and shooting it in the head. The only eye that was visible had a hole in it and it quickly welled up with blood to fill the hole. I began walking toward the blue ethereal wolf before I heard an angry growl behind me, I turned to see a wolf with rushing toward me in a straight line while barking like a man would scream curses. I pointed my gun and pulled the trigger but I only heard a clicking noise come from it. The gun was fucking empty so I chucked it at the wolf though it didn't come close to it. The wolf threw it self at me and grabbed my right arm as I spun and hit the ground.
I felt dazed as I ended up finding myself on top of the wolf as it gnawed at my arm and began scratching me with its hind legs wildly. I screamed at the wolf with a feral anger and rage as I brought my knife down on the wolfs chest, hearing the harsh almost guttural sounds of the serrated blade being stabbed and subsequently also being retracted from the flesh and fur of the wolf. My shouts are guttural and sounded more like a monstrous bird than a intelligent creature with emotions. My arm hurt like a stuck it in a fire as I continued to stab the wolf and I only stopped stabbing when the dog stopped whimpering.
"Augh huh..." I continued to pant as I slowly and unsteadily stood up from the now bloody and viscera strewn ground. I looked down at the cut open corpse and struggled to bend over to retract the blade from the dogs chest. After a second of struggle the knife broke free from the carcass causing me to fall on my back. After another struggle to get up I looked up and saw the ethereal wolf was gone, I moved toward the general direction of where I threw my gun and found it covered in mud."Shit hope no muds in the chamber."I wiped my claws over the weapon to get the mud off before opening the chamber and cycling it to check each round. It looked ok so as I walked through the gate out of this hell I began emptying the chamber and slowly began replacing the empty casings with bullets as I was both limping and my claws shook like crazy.
After all seven rounds are placed I closed the chamber and put the gun back in the holster as I continued to limp in a general direction even as I felt my vision blur and the aches turn into a burning misery that wished to bring me on my knees. After more time has passed my hearing felt like it was dulling and when I looked down at my chest I noticed that it was seeping blood and staining the shirt I openly cared for, I also felt my vision swim and I began losing my footing. I muttered "augh fuck the shh... pain dammit all." I managed to stay standing and from this point on I just looked straight only moved in that direction.
I noticed I came up to a new road as my vision started becoming less colorful and I started feeling exhaustion grip my body with its shadowy hands. I felt my world turn into a world filled with red and black and pure pain as I felt nothing but pain. I felt my back arch as I hit something so tremendously hard I felt nothing, could barely move and my vision might as well shouldn't exist. I could see the glow of whatever fucking hit me and every instinct in my broken body told me to at least mock the creature and also shoot it. I opened my mouth but it only caused me to start heaving and coughing up a thick red fluid. I very shakenly tried to reach for my gun and after an agonizing amount of time I picked it up and tried to aim it at the blur and felt everything in my arm lock up when I fired. It hurt to shoot my gun, it hurt to just keep my piss yellow eyes open as even when my arm was locking up I fired even more times until I just couldn't keep my eyes open.
I felt the world just slip into the ink of black not hearing another sound as I slowly faded into the darkness of my mind and felt the slow cold creep of death envelope me. I couldn't recognize anything in the world other than the fact that at some point I felt something warm touch me.