With the Bastion being at the mercy of the weather for a time, the sole survivors of the Calamity stumble upon a strange new land across the Boundless Sea.
Bastion Crossover
"It was quite a time ago since we first set sail with the winds. The Kid, a person whom I call a friend, made the decision for us of what was to be done with this floating sanctuary. I expected him to set things right and make things go back to the way they were before the Calamity.
Boy was I ever wrong...
The Evacuation protocol had us travelling for quite a time. We traveled for weeks with just the company of ourselves. Not once did we ever expect to end up in a land populated by sentient ponies though. The times are just becoming stranger and stranger it seems..."
Now, I suppose you're wondering, "what could possibly happen to us from there after the Calamity," right? Well... look where we are now, that would be the answer to your question.
...
You’ve already met me, Zia, Zulf, and the Kid, when we all first came here on that "floating island" which we call the Bastion.
...
The Kid may have a name, much like you or I, but I still refer to him by what he still is: just a kid. You can sit and stay while the day is still young if you’d like, I can tell you of how we came to this land and of how we ended up where we are now.
...
Now... it all began a little over a month ago when we first sailed into The Boundless Sea to the Northwest, leaving Caelondia to places unknown....
It was still just the four of us around that time. We still had the mementos the Kid had collected from all over Caelondia, reminding us of the times that once were, and provided a little bit of research into our culture’s past. We also had the creatures that the Kid had found as well - the ones that shy friend of yours are looking after - they provided the company none of us could for each other every now and again.
I still remember those days over the sea... nothing but the birds and sea to stir us from our own thoughts.
The Kid sat idly on the rims of the Bastion, his legs hanging over the side as he watched the shores of Caelondia starting fade at the edge of the horizon.
Their new journey had just begun it seemed.
Rucks had told him and the rest of the group that they were going to travel to wherever the winds would take them, across The Boundless Sea, and into the beyond. Sure, he’d mentioned that there was civilization beyond the great body of water, but none of them knew for certain on where to find it. They lacked the most basic of charts that could help them navigate or gauge their distance across to them.
Though as much as it was the fault of Zulf who’d done his best to sabotage the Bastion quite a while ago, he was now with them to the end from here on. He himself had long since forgiven the poor guy, knowing that he’d been acting on impulse and raw emotion when he discovered the truth. Even if he was distancing himself from the rest of them from the guilt of his actions, despite of what he’d done, they were the only ones willing to take him back.
Caelondia...
Their home, now annihilated because of the Calamity; its people, all but gone... ashen statues were what remained of them, caught in the midst of living their lives...
They never saw it coming...
More than often since it happened, he’d always come back to that very same thought, of what was lost there... of what could’ve been, and of the life he’d lived there.
A mason: his first job, one that was both tough and honest. He’d worked as one on the Rippling Walls for five years at first; the structure, a border to Caelondia itself, and The Wild Unknowns. He learned of how to build during his time there, and of how to break.
The job itself, was for his mother. Frail and ill, he’d sent what he earned to her, hoping to support her for as long as possible as he was her only son... but then one day, she was gone just like that. Death had taken her without him knowing, and the money which he’d been sending to her was now in someone else's possession. He’d signed up for another term on the walls then. There was no longer a reason for him to stay in the city.
Through his choice, his skills, and tenacity for going in for a second term, he soon gained the attention of the Marshalls, a group which he’d sought to join after his time on the Walls were done. They let him in without question once it was time, and soon after, allowed him to go on solo patrols into the Wild Unknowns. They’d trusted him to go further than any man ever did... and that’s what saved him.
He was never around when the Calamity struck, but he definitely witnessed the land tear itself asunder because of it...
He’d hastened his return to Caelondia then, wondering if anyone else had survived. His greeting was the sight of the once lively pioneering city now lying in rubble and ruin. His goal was clear then: he had to head to the Bastion, it was the one place everyone agreed to go when things went south.
...And in the end, it turned out that just the four of them survived that fateful day, including most of the Ura.
He’d lost everything that day when the Calamity struck, even if there wasn’t much else to lose... He was already distant to many of the people there, primarily remaining independent from the rest of the world, often relying on himself as a means of staying alive. Having inherited his mother’s unusual white hair didn’t help him much either, it only brought about unnecessary attention his way which furthered his distancing from society.
Having left his mother some time before he was born, he’d never got the chance to see his father growing up either. As it was, somewhere on one of the many floating isles now making up Caelondia, his ashen remains were there… somewhere, hidden amongst the many others. As somber as the thought was, he’d taken solace in the fact that his mother had told him he was much like his father: hardworking, and honest.
But in the end, even after all he’d been through to get the Bastion running, a question always seemed to beg at his thoughts... was it all really worth it?
He could’ve fixed the Calamity. He could’ve turned back the clock and made things go back to the way they were, of when everyone else was alive and well. Things could’ve been back to what they were of him living his life as a part of the Marshalls...
...but who was to say that the Calamity wouldn’t happen again?
If the Bastion could indeed set things back to a bygone time, what’s to say the outcome would be any different in the end? The Mancers could bring about their devastation again with the Calamity, and history would repeat itself over and over until the very end of time if it were true. The demise of their people would be eternal... over and over it would replay.
It was a simple inevitability to choose Evacuation over Restoration. Restoring Caelondia to its former glory would be something that’d only last for perhaps a few weeks, months, or years at best. Eventually, something would have to change to make him choose Evacuation instead.
Sighing heavily beneath his breath, he set aside the thoughts to the very back of his mind. Zia told him the past was something to not to be caught up in, it’d only fuel a life of regret if he kept coming back to it.
“Never forget it,” she’d said back then, “but don’t center your life around past mistakes and old memories, you have to move on and worry about the present - of who you are now, that’s more important.”
And yet here he was, getting lost in such somber memories...
Rousing him from his thoughts, he felt something small brush up against his side. Averting his attention to the source, he spotted the Squirt he’d found in the Workman’s Ward staring up at him. The little guy always seemed to have a stronger liking to him than anyone else after he brought it back in that ragged hood.
They were as simple as they come, the Windbags. A Squirt was just the early stages of one, but it was unknown if this little guy was raised back in Windbag Ranch itself, or was growing up in the Squirt’s Steps of the Ward.
A Gasfella would be its next and middle stage. Hardworkers is what they were. They were the brawn behind most of the cores found throughout Caelondia and of the once many structures that made up Caelondia, including the Rippling Walls themselves.
A Scumbag would be its last. Being a collection of bloated waste material, they dealt with the city’s trash, eating it and storing it for transportation to either the city’s Scrapyard, or to the Grady Incinerator.
It’d be quite a time before it’d age into a Gasfella though, at least a dozen years or so at best. Still, at this point in its life, there was no denying how adorable they looked with the slight glimmer of happiness evident in their eyes. It was something contagious, mainly to a soul such as his own.
His features softened as the hints of a smile formed on his face. Reaching over, he stroked the top of its head to provide the attention it so sought from him.
In response, the little guy emitted a lone tone whine and spun in place, its eyes quickly narrowing upon finishing. It was just enough so its edges would be raised, showing a sense of happiness about it just from the look in its eyes.
"It'll be quite some time before we see land again, you know," a voice from behind spoke, aged and wise.
Turning to meet the voice, he saw Rucks standing some ways behind him, leaning on his cane as he stared unto the horizon. He looked more thoughtful than ever at that moment.
Aged eyes then met his.
“I don’t resent you for the choice you made, Kid. I may have been the one who dreamt this whole place up, but you’re the one who made it true - you did all the heavy lifting to get this thing going.” His attention then became focused on the vanishing shores of Caelondia. “Still, I wonder what could’ve been... if things actually went back to they way they were before, you know?”
He heard Rucks let out a heavy sigh as he held his head low. “It makes sense though that we should just move on; no sense living in the past if you’re certain that you can’t change it, right?”
He nodded in affirmation to Rucks’ observation and gazed back in the direction of Caelondia, watching the many distant isles of land bob and waver in place in its skies.
He then felt a hand place itself onto his shoulder.
“C’mon, Kid. I know you’ve already done a lot for all of us here on the Bastion, but it’ll be awhile until we do come across land. Best keep yourself busy ‘till then.” The hand left his shoulder and soon enough, Rucks’ footsteps became distant into the background behind him.
Flying blind…
There was no absolute way to tell for certain how long they’d be at sea. But now was a better time than any to do some reforging with some of his weapons, and of dishing out some repairs to some of the buildings in the meantime.
He patted the Squirt beside him on the head and pulled himself away from the ledge, brushing the dirt and grass off his clothing as he stood back up. Giving one last look towards Caelondia, the weighted thought of all the lives that were lost there came back to him briefly.
He’d never forget its people’s faces and the lives they’d lived. He was among the last legacy of hardworking and honest Caelondians, now officially holding those traits to his namesake. There would’ve been many who were more suited for this than he, but fate had brought him down along this path.
And so along this path he'd travel. There was no one else for the job, and it was a burden that was left solely for him. He was the last true Caelondian to survive.
Kid's cooking wasn't half bad if I remember correctly, pretty decent in comparison to the rest of us for just starting out. Zia had taught him all there was to know about the basics of cooking, preparation and the like. But when it came down to it afterwards, Kid was a fast learner, pretty good cook as well.
The next few weeks passed by pretty slow for us after that. Zulf had taken to spending most of his time trying to plot our course with the winds. Using the recently updated maps of Caelondia, he began sketching himself a new map on a larger piece of parchment he found, once that detailed our path across The Boundless Sea. He had a good idea of where we could end up with us just following the winds.
Zie spent many a time gazing wistfully back towards Caelondida... or, in whichever direction she thought it was in. She didn’t pick up her guitar much, rarely sang either; it was only once during out time at sea did she ever sing though. It was about a week into our trip by then. The song she played was the very same one she'd played when the kid found her.
The kid spent most of his time thinking and sitting alone on the edge of the Bastion. Most of the actions he’d done were possibly coming back to him now, likely the things he’d done in the Tazal Terminals and the elimination of a fair number of the creatures from the Wild Unknowns.
I tried to keep him busy during those weeks at sea, I wanted to keep his mind off of those kinds of things until he was older. He’d be able to understand things then, but he was and still is, just a Kid.
Me? Well... I spent most of my time trying to fix up an old brass pocket watch I found lying around on the Bastion. I also took some of my time to look after the Bastion too, making sure things were running in their prime and nothing was happening to the monument. Nothing ever did happen to it though and I never really ended up fixing the watch neither.
Olak knows how we ended up here though... Mighta' been some kinda magic that brought us here or something like that; perhaps we ended up travelling a lot farther than we initially thought. But in the end, the winds were what ultimately brought us here to your land.
Zulf managed to stress himself out several times though just trying to plot out our course. He had some sleepless nights here and there while he was trying to accurately trace our course, didn't really help him much with what frustration was mounting from the work. Only made the job more stressful on him. He was a bit short-fused during those weeks.
We had some other form of company arrive on our floating vessel just a few days in too; Albatrosses and Seagulls. They became a welcome sight for a time. Some of them were often skittish on our approach and would fly off when we came too close. Some grew the courage to steal food right out of our hands when it was there.
They quickly outgrew their welcome.
We never hurt any of them though, the Kid had used his Musket time and time again to scare off most of them when they started to become a bit of a pest, plus there was the matter of cleaning up most of the droppings they left in their wake. We had to step up with keeping them away then.
It was only half ways into our third week when we came across land. To be specific, we came across the uncharted continent which we now know as Equestria.
The shores were a welcome sight. Sure, we never really grew tired of the Sea, but we all wanted to set ourselves on solid ground that wasn't floating miles above the sea. Didn't feel natural on the Bastion as much as anyone would’ve believed.
Zulf was the one to point it all out to us when he spotted the distant shapes of land looming over the horizon while using that old spyglass. He couldn't believe his eyes for a time, saying it was a possibly mirage or something like that. He trailed off as he began explaining that it wasn't right, it would’ve taken a lot longer until we reached land.
We didn't believe him either for a time. Once we took all took a look through the spyglass though, we were surprised as he was when we seen the faint greenery lining the distant shores.
Kid was busy in the forge tending to some of his gear when we saw it, so I sent Zia to inform him.
Zia had come into the forge a little over forty minutes ago, notifying him of the situation at hand. An unknown land lay ahead at the edge of the horizon, too far away at the moment for the naked eye to see, but close enough for them to see its shores.
"An hour," she’d said, “one hour until we can see the them more clearly."
He had been busy modifying another War Machete when she came in, basing it off the original one he often had sitting off to the side. It was a tough job for sure, trying to make every little change to it the same as the original, but he prevailed for the most part, getting most of the modifications in already and sharpening the blade to near perfection.
The forge hadn't seen much use since they left Caelondia since he never saw combat for almost three weeks. The anvils had collected large amounts of dust during that time, and the fire pit for molding metal had actually gone cold, with not a single trace of heat left behind amongst the many coals. Only recently he had taken to reusing it to pass the time, and right now was a matter of convenience. Best to be prepared for anything from here on.
Then the time had come.
Zia opened the door to the forge, notifying him that they were in range to get a good look at the land. He nodded and set his Machete down onto a workbench sitting off in a far corner of the room.
He followed after Zia shortly after and was eventually standing with the rest of them near the Skyway, which didn’t see much use anymore either. He and the rest of them watched in quiet awe as the shores of the new land came into view; trees had covered a majority of the coast, further down it held a river which broke through a gap between the trees. Further up the shoreline yielded a lesser amount of trees, with one sandy beach dotting the coast.
"I don't recognize any of the lands geography. It doesn't match any of the known continents with settlements," Zulf spoke as he slowly shook his head. From just looking at him, he could tell Zulf was showing signs of mounting frustration. "There's no telling where the winds actually took us during these few weeks, as I even had difficulty tracking our course!"
"Nature's like that, each day is never the same when you're in her company," Rucks replied simply as he leaned on his cane, calm as ever. "We found land though, that's something we probably would never find on our own, and we have Mother Nature to thank for that."
"Do you think there's people settled somewhere inland?" Zia asked to both Zulf and Rucks, a bit curious of the matter.
"It's possible," Zulf replied with a sigh. Crossing his arms, he continued, "like I said, this land doesn't share the same resemblance to any of the known settled continents, so perhaps there may be a town or port somewhere along the coast at the very least if we're lucky. If not, then we're most likely on our own..."
We spent a bit off time chatting there for a while. Kid remained quiet throughout the whole thing and was just scanning the coast, same with Zia after getting answers to a few more questions.
Zulf had taken to going back into this tent and began mapping what areas of the land that were visible following the discovery. I can't say he was much of an artist, but I can say his maps were the best we had then.
When I checked up on him some time later, I found him lying on the ground, passed out with the quill still clutched in his hand. Turned out his work finally got the better of him.
When I came back outside after taking a quick look over his map, I noticed Zia and the Kid conversing for a time, both of them watching the land as it slowly came closer. Well... Zia was doing the talking for the most part, Kid just sat and listened to what she had to say.
With them busy, I’d taken to doing a quick check up on the weather, just to see if things would remain calm all the way through.
I happened to notice something highly unusual as we neared land; the weather was behaving a lot funnier the closer we came. The seas behind us had that natural calmness about them, just the waves rocking about from the wind. The water though, seemed to becoming more still as we got closer to the shores. The winds seemed to be dying as well, and yet behind us, the waters seemed as rough as they could be.
I didn't know what to consider at the time since I had no knowledge as to why it was happening, but I knew for certain that we wouldn't get far into land as we initially would've expected.
When we finally did hit land and I knew we could go no further, I brought the whole situation up. Kid immediately volunteered to scout the lands below to determine if it was safe, see if he could find any reason as to why it was happening. We didn't object.
"You sure about this, Kid?" Rucks asked as he stood in the arsenal's doorway, watching the Kid get his gear together. "You’ve already ventured all across Caelondia and went through the Tazal Terminals just to get this Bastion up and running, and yet here you are wanting to head out for more in a place that's entirely different."
With him volunteering for the journey below he had to get a specific type of loadout together. The dense flora meant he had to choose something that would be right for the job of being in close quarters and wouldn't get caught on something if he swung it, that being his War Machete. The blade was perfectly suited for cutting through almost anything as demonstrated by the blade quite a time ago; it could carve up a boulder with ease given a bit of time.
Next came the choice of his Breaker's Bow. It was only a precaution for taking it with him since there may be opportunities where he could come across a foe he won't like going up against face to face, if he were to ever encounter such a foe at all. As such, bringing the bow was more out of precaution than necessity.
"I guess there's really no deterring you then once you have your mind set to it I guess..." He heard Rucks sigh, "we'll wait for you outside." The room brightened as Rucks' silhouette no longer stood in the doorway.
After a bit of time passed, he finished gathering his equipment and was ready to head down below. His machete sat comfortably in a sheath lining the left side of his waist, the width of such almost reaching his thigh; his Breaker's Bow along with its arrows were strung across his back with the arrows sitting in a cloth quiver, both easily within reaching distance.
Now, he was ready.
Stepping out into the sunlight, he saw Rucks and the rest of them chatting near the Skyway once more. Their conversation died down somewhat as he neared them. He noticed Rucks raise an eyebrow as he got closer, noticing a lack of a certain shield being with him.
"Think you can handle yourself out there with just those, Kid?" Rucks asked as he seen the light arsenal the Kid was packing.
He nodded in response.
"Just don't get too far ahead of yourself, there's no telling what kinda dangers might be lying in wait for you down there." Rucks looked over to Zia and nodded, "as a precaution, I asked Zia to dig through the distillery, see if she could find any health or black tonics lying around. Turns out this was the only one left."
The Kid looked over to Zia who held a small sack of something in one hand, and a single cyan colored vial in the other.
"I also baked you some bread too in case you get hungry down there." She brought the items a bit closer to him and offered a smile.
"Thank you," he responded quietly, nodding his head slightly with a soft smile of his own as he took the items. He tied the sack to his belt and put the vial in a pouch along the back-right side of his waist. He then looked over to Zulf, seeing if he had anything to say.
His attention appeared to be fixated on something else entirely as he noticed him staring off into the horizon, looking a bit forlorn for the moment. Soon realizing that the Kid was looking at him, he broke from his trance and met the Kid’s gaze. “I’m afraid I’m not quite finished mapping the local areas currently. You’ll have to rely on your own sense of direction for the time being until I can finishing mapping this region.”
"Just remember Kid, you still have the City Crest with you," Rucks added, placing a hand on his shoulder. "If you think you'll end up getting lost down there, either look up and you'll see us, or follow to where the crest takes you. It'll lead you back to where the Bastion is, or where it might be anyways.
"We also tied a rope to the old Skyway here; goes all the way down to the surface," Rucks pointed to a length of rope attached to the Skyway, the other end of which hung beyond the edge of the Bastion. "Just be careful on your way down though, one nasty fall from this high up and you'll be done for."
The Kid nodded his head walked over to the rope and secured himself to it. Giving a few light tugs to see if the rope was indeed secure, he then began scaling over the edge of the Bastion.
"Stay safe," Zia muttered as she watched him disappear beyond the edge.
Zulf and I had a bit of a disagreement afterwards on whether it was right for just letting him go down there on his own. He brought up the point that the winds would likely return before he’d get back and that we could just continue on into land.
I told him that the Kid needed a bit of space for a while, he may have been cooped up there with the rest of us for a time, but he’d done things that he never felt proud of, especially in the Tazal Terminals. He needed the time to himself down there.
The Kid hit the earth with a harsh thump, landing face first into the earth as he did many times before. Slowly, with a pained groan, he peeled himself out from the dirt, feeling dazed from the impact.
He'd long since grown accustomed to the Skyway dropping him some thirty feet above each area, often falling from higher heights in the off chance he was unlucky. The misfortune kinda grew on him the more it happened, though such a habit forced him to down his health tonics at an alarming rate.
Thankfully, he decided to lessen the drop by about ten feet this time, reducing it to a mere twenty foot drop. It didn't hurt any less however, but he was thankfully spared some of the more severe injuries from such a fall.
As he pulled himself from the dirt, he felt bits and pieces of the earth detach themselves from him, landing back onto the soil beneath him. Sitting himself upright, he happened to notice the faint imprint of his form being indented into the soul. There was even a slot where the hilt of his blade had pierced through too.
He chuckled softly at the sight. Such a thing had never happened to him before; Caelondia’s dirt only got stronger from the Calamity, making it feel like you were treading on stone instead of dirt.
After finally pulling the rest of himself from his crater, and getting himself comfortable, he took the chance to examine the world around him; to see what there was to see.
All around him, from what he could feel from the environment alone, was the remarkable feeling of calmness stemming from the surrounding area. There was the serene sound of several birds chirping to one another in a sing-song tone in some of the trees nearby, there was even the occasional chitters of smaller animals as well heard nearby too.
It all was so tame...
That feeling he’d always had in the Wild Unknowns, of being stalked by the predators of the land, and of others lying in wait for him. Peckers, Lunkheads, Pincushions... there was none of that here.
It was surprising; a stark change on what he’d long since gotten used to in Caelondia.
So calm...
Following the source of the rope in the sky high above, he spotted the Bastion sitting clearly amongst what few clouds there were. He noted the spot it held in the open air, despite the fact it was the only landmass capable of floating in the skies. It was a bit of a pointless thing to note, but depending on how long he’d be down here, it was important to make note of it anyways in case anything happened.
He brought his attention back to the forest around him, scanning the area in the hopes of looking for a viable through the woods. To his slight avail, there wasn’t, but that wasn’t going to stop him at all. With no path evident, he chose a direction which he was certain to be west, and began forging a path of his own through the treeline.
With the Kid down on the surface traveling to who knows where, we were left on the Bastion to our own devices. With it being the middle of the afternoon, there wasn't a whole lot that could be done. The Bastion had nothing wrong with it, as I made sure of time and time again, and there was still no gust of winds that were strong enough to push us along.
Zia was busy checking the food stores down in the Distillery, seeing what she could cook up later on. She may have never touched her harp much throughout our trip, but she definitely became a much better cook than any of us. She was quite the prideful one when it came to serving us a good meal.
Zulf went back to scouring the land some time after the Kid left, seeing what could be used as landmarks on that map of his. He stood close to the edge, scanning the horizon, skyline, and terrain with that spyglass. He made sure nothing escaped his view.
He stopped every now and again though, either taking a quick break, or using that time to continue sketching his map. Not once did he ever mention a city being a spotted since there wasn't any for him to see at that time.
Me? Well, I went to back to working on that old pocket watch I mentioned before. Didn't make much progress, but I got the thing ticking. I just needed to figure how to fix the mechanisms inside it so the hands would start moving again, from there I'd just need to wind it and it'd be in working condition for me to use. Shame I never got around to fixing it up though...
It was about an hour later, sometime before the evening would roll around when Zulf spotted something interesting on the skyline. There was something coming our way, or...a whole lot of things coming our way to be exact. Turns out our arrival didn't exactly go unnoticed as we managed to catch the attention of some of the land's occupants. The Bastion ain't really a hard thing to miss when it's the only landmass floating in the sky.
Zulf slowly pulled the spyglass down and away from his eye, leaving his mouth hanging agape as he made several futile attempts to express his own astonishment at what he had just seen. Through just a simple scan at the edge of the horizon, he had seen something that was once the talk of old world fables, that being horses with wings. But what he had seen was nothing of the sort, it wasn't fake. It was real, and it was coming towards the Bastion.
He had seen at least a dozen of them, maybe two, of those winged horses, all of which ranged in a plethora of colors ranging from the darker scales of the color spectrum, to the brightest of colors from head to hoof. Even stranger, the manes atop their heads were colored either to match their coats, or to compliment its colors. What perplexed him to the greatest deal though was that some were were wearing hats and goggles.
...Goggles for Pyth's sake!
The overload at seeing something as confusing as that almost caused his brain to go into a complete shutdown while he tried to comprehend the information, but he pulled himself away from the sight before such a thing could happen. Right now, there was the issue of those things coming this way, and there was no way to tell if they had hostile intentions or if they wanted to see the strange anomaly that stood in their sky.
He had to do something...anything just to show them they mean business and they won't be pushed around if it came down to it.
He quickly folded the spyglass back together and stuffed it into one of his coat's many pockets. He then whirled around, away from the edge and sought out to find Rucks. Knowing him with his habits as of recent, he was likely back in the forge working at that old pocket watch of his.
As he raced over to the building a short distance away, he bumped into the Squirt who happened to come across his path at the improper moment. The little Windbag spun around violently in place as Zulf ran by him, leaving the poor thing to its plight as it collapsed into the dirt with a soft thump.
And sure enough, as he neared the forge, out came Rucks.
Noticing the frantic pace at which he was traveling in, Rucks stopped in his tracks outside the building, awaiting his approach. As he quickly neared the aged man, he quickly pulled the spyglass out from his pocket and practically shoved the thing in his chest. "Look towards the skyline to the Northwest, we have some company headed our way. You wouldn't believe me if I told you what's coming, so it's best to look for yourself," he quickly stated before running off towards the Arsenal.
He left Rucks standing there in a mild state of confusion, an eyebrow cocked as he looked over the spyglass in his hands. He didn't know if he his lack of sleep finally caused him to snap, or if he was being serious. Either way, he would see for himself.
Zulf then burst through the Arsenal's door, intent on finding something worth using that would show they meant business of their own too. His thoughts were keen on choosing something that didn't look too menacing, nor looked too primitive and cheap. A Machete? No no, a bit too intimidating and I would have to get extremely close to use it. A Pike...? No. A Musket? No, thing only has one shot to fire before I have to reload.
He then stopped as he neared the far left end of the weapon rack. There he found the perfect weapon for him to heft for a while: the Kid's Cael Hammer; a tool turned weapon from when he once worked as a mason on the Rippling Walls. Zulf smiled as he held the weapon with both of his hands, letting the larger square end face outwards. "Perfect."
With a fire of determination sparking behind his eyes, he stormed out from the armory. From there he noticed Zia and Rucks standing at the entrance of the Distillery, the Anklegator, Pecker and the rest of the creatures remaining off to the side next to them, minus the Mechanical Bull of Pyth, which was nowhere to be seen with them.
With the hammer in hand, he rushed over towards them, planting himself a ways ahead of them as to act as a human barricade in case things went south. From there, he waited...
As the sound of many beating wings came closer and closer, he forced a scowl to become etched onto his face and spaced his feet apart from one another as to show a bit of a combat stance. He may not have been trained to fight like many of the Ura, but he still had the fighting spirit which many of them had.
And at last, they appeared.
One by one, the winged horses appeared over the side of the Bastion, rising a few feet above the dirt before landing with a soft clop of their hooves. They all seemed to be looking over the Bastion with, surprisingly, a mixture of awe and amazement, completely ignoring him with the hammer which he held.
Zulf softened his stance and expression as he watched the situation unfold before him. He was a bit confused and amazed himself as he stared at them with the same curiosity they shared with the Bastion. By just looking at their faces he could see the arrays of emotion they were expressing, emotions that a human such as he, Rucks, or Zia would be capable of. The body language and facial movements...
It was all the same.
Zulf let the hammer loosen up in his hand and with a soft thump, let the larger end hit the ground below. The small thump seemed to catch the attention of pretty much all of them, as he then felt the eyes of many upon him. The silence wasn't one that was tense, but more-so a silence that required the attention of many; their attention.
Zulf cleared his throat and loosened his coat's collar, wanting to provide himself a bit more air than what was normally required. Something like this was a bit of a long shot, but with what he had learned already, there may be a chance he could communicate with them if they spoke their language. The same for them with him, Rucks and Zia.
With us still dealing with a situation of our own back on the Bastion, Kid was still busy exploring the woods below. He didn’t have far too much to say about it when he eventually got back to us, said it was rather serene for the most part. Peckers, Lunkheads, Wallflowers; said there was none of that down there too, just him and the local wildlife.
The Kid stopped in his tracks for the moment beside a tree, feeling a bit tired from his trek. He was certain he had been walking for quite a time now, likely an hour or so. He didn't encounter much during that time, just a bunch of animals that were more afraid of him than he was of them. Still, there were no similarities between this forest and the Wild Unknowns; It lacked that certain hostile nature about it, replacing it with a more welcoming feeling overall.
The animals were wary of his approach though. When either he or they would come close, while eyeing him with curiosity, some maintained a skittish nature about them and either flew deeper into the forest, or scampered into the brush. The rest remained careful and stayed well clear of his path, but still continued to follow him.
He felt good walking here though. It was quiet, serene, and most importantly, it was safe. He didn't feel much of a need to keep his guard up here as he did back around Caelondia, not once either did he have to even bring his hand near the machete. Still, he remained cautious of the area due to the forest's surprising density.
With a deep sigh, he swung his quiver of arrows and Breaker's Bow off his back and out in front of him. He dropped the two items to the earth with a small clatter, startling some of the more closer animals. He then twisted himself around and rested his back up against the bark of the tree, sliding down against it until he met with the earth.
His walk left his legs feeling a bit tired, along with some exhaustion setting in. He may not have felt entirely famished, but he knew it couldn't hurt to have a small snack during his break just to recover what strength he may have lost in his venture through the woods.
Grabbing the sack that was attached to his waist, he untied it from his belt and set it on his lap, unraveling the string to reveal its contents. A small loaf, no larger than twice the size of his hand was within. Surprisingly, it was completely intact, not flattened in the slightest from his prior fall. He didn't know whether to thank a higher power for not spoiling him of his meal, or to thank Zia for making such a tough loaf of bread.
Still, a snack was a snack.
He tore into the loaf, breaking roughly a quarter of it off and letting the rest sit out in the open. Some of the local wildlife seemed to take notice of him and his meal though. He noticed them watching him from the edge of the brush and trees with some looking on with more hunger than curiosity..
He didn't think much of it, but maybe he was just an oddity to them. Perhaps he was the first of his kind to ever set foot in this land, if the wildlife taking an interest in him were any indication, it was probable, but at the same time not certain either. He would have to ask either Zulf, or Rucks later on to see if there was ever any mention of a land such as this in those old world books they once dug their heads into.
A short time later once he was almost finished his snack, he felt a slight couple of sight tugs on the leg of his pants. Being a bit puzzled at the strange occurrence, he directed his attention to the source where he was immediately met with small pleading eyes.
A small brown rodent with a brush-like tail, along with a similar looking companion were exchanging looks between him and what remained of his snack in his hands. The look the two critters gave him reminded him of the same one the Squirt would give back on the Bastion when it sought attention, except they weren't seeking his attention but a meal directly from his hands. Knowing well enough he had about three quarters of the loaf left, more than enough for himself in the times ahead, he broke the small piece of bread in his hands into two near minuscule halves and offered them to the critters.
Both of them reeled back slightly in response to his outstretching hand, keeping a wary distance from him for a time. Eventually, they made a move, slowly inching closer and closer to his hand. They gave a couple of light sniffs of his fingers as they got close, then the bread itself for a time. After a moment, they both gently plucked the pieces from his hand, sniffing it again for a second time before they both took a small bite of the bread.
He heard them both exchange a few small chitters with one another before they scampered off to the edge of the clearing with the bread in tow, happy with their newly found meal.
He couldn't help but to let off a small smile at the sight of the critters. A small warmth in his chest made itself known as he let the deed sink in. Even though it was a small deed done for the benefit of them, it felt nice to be good even if it was in the smallest of ways.
Knowing that enough of his time was spent eating, he quickly wrapped up what was left of his bread and tied it back to his belt. He then pushed himself up from the dirt, using the tree behind him as support, and stood back up from the dirt, outstretching his arms in a wide arc and straightening his legs beneath him. After his limbs felt more loosened up than they did before, he picked up his bow and arrows beside him and swung them across his back once more.
With his gear all accounted for and him ready to move on he proceeded back on the path he had chosen before, moving deeper into the forest.
It was some time later when a peculiar noise woke him from the musings of his thoughts. The distant sound of many strong wings beating against the winds met his ears when he happened to emerge into a small clearing for but a brief moment. The sound itself was almost unnoticeable over the many small beating wings that surrounded him, but he only happened to hear it by chance.
Looking up to trace the source of the noise, he spotted many faint silhouettes of what looked like large birds flying just above the clouds. Wanting to get a better look at them he squinted his eyes until they were half shut, relying on his slightly sharpened vision to get a more clear look.
With what clouds that were dotting the sky, they provided some necessary cover for the birds, making them hard to distinguish. The only trait he managed to see when they appeared was that they all were a variety of colors from the spectrum and that their form was unusual to say the least. Their bodies looked a bit longer in comparison to a bird and from what he could glimpse of their wingspan from down below, they were quite small for a bird.
Twisting his body around to take a look at the Bastion behind him, he realized that the birds were plotting a course towards it. It was possible that they were looking for either a place to rest or roost, and the Bastion fit just that. He just hoped that Zulf would be able to scare them off with the musket before they'd leave their mark on everything. He absolutely did not want to clean the Bastion again.
Despite a popular belief from the old world, bird droppings don't wash out away as easily as one would think.
As he watched the birds along their flight path, another sound met his ears. Something familiar, reminding him of the busier days in Caelondia before the Calamity. Directing his attention to the path ahead, he heard the faint clattering of a cart's wooden frame rattling against itself. He deduced it was likely having a rough ride over some form of a bumpy road, possibly a traveler or merchant on their way.
This was perhaps a land that was settled after all by the initial looks of things, but he couldn't get his hopes too high. There was still a chance the people of the land might be underdeveloped, and their extended interaction with them might complicate things for their future.
Spying one last glance to the birds high above, he seen that they were much closer to their destination but seemed to slow down on their approach. He passed off the observation as them just getting ready to land in some of the more complicated spots in the Bastion.
He let out a sigh as he looked at the path ahead. So it seemed he would have to be cleaning out a bunch of nests when he got back. He let the thought slip into the recesses of his mind, letting it remain well clear of the front of his thoughts as right now there was something more important up ahead.
Without much occupying his thoughts now, aside from going back to the occasional thought of the future in store for his group, he continued on the path he set for himself. The idea of coming across someone as solitary as this person was a bit of a godsend for him, he likely would've ended up wandering in the forest for hours on end before anything would come up. Perhaps this person knew the lay of the land better than he, hopefully letting him hitch a ride to town too if there was one either nearby or some ways away.
The clattering gradually increased in volume and intensity as he neared the source. He pondered the thought of what could be done to offer assistance to the individual ahead traveling in the woods. As it was, he likely wouldn't be getting a free ride.
A short moment later, his train of thought was derailed as the sharp noise of what sounded like wood snapping met his ears. This was immediately followed by the sound of the cart rumbling fiercely against the terrain it was facing, the noise causing some of the wildlife to flee in his direction. Then came the sound of a woman screaming.
The sheer volume at which the woman was screaming at caused a great disturbance in both the woods ahead and behind him. More animals emerged from the brush and began running away from the source of the scream; taking a look back, his entourage had left him too to flee in the opposite direction as well.
Realizing that there was trouble and possibly a life at stake, he set off on the path once more, sprinting through the forest this time instead. He darted, weaved, and leapt through and over the many obstacles that came across his path, running in between trees and the brush, and jumping over the many roots that he managed to catch a glimpse of.
He stopped suddenly in his tracks as he heard the scream fill the forest even louder this time, fear and terror evident behind it this time. He then realized that the sound of the cart rumbling had disappeared, leaving the scream by itself to fill in the gap. Within a few short seconds, the scream quickly cut out and was overwhelmed by the sound of wood smashing against the earth.
With a life now at stake, he sprinted through the forest for the second time that day, repeating the same process of weaving through the forest. Soon enough, he emerged into a sunlit, grassy clearing.
A cliff face was dead ahead of him upon his entry to the area, plateauing at the top by the looks of it. Along the center of the cliff was a path jutting out and along the cliff, leading up along the face and bending with it as it curved inward towards the top, and going down it along the left until it met with the earth. He then brought his attention to its base, scanning for the wreckage of the cart and hoped that the woman wasn't in far too much trouble.
Further along his right, towards where the path climbed higher along the cliff, he saw the wreckage. Dozens of strange and familiar looking flowers were scattered throughout the area, creating a trail that increased in amount the closer they came to the mangled wreck of the cart.
With the him being unable to see the woman who was screaming, it was likely that she was on the other side of the wreck, remaining relatively hidden from his view. With a short sprint, he rapidly cleared the distance between him and the cart, his footsteps remaining relatively quiet against the grass. As he neared the wreck, he heard the faint whimpers of the woman crying to herself on the other side of the cart.
He took a step towards the cart. There was a noticeable snap that filled the air as he applied the weight onto his right foot, crushing a flower beneath it. The noise was just enough noise to cut through the silence and alert the woman to his presence.
"I-is somepony there? P-please, help me. I can't...I can't move my legs." A voice spoke from the other side, pained and near the point of cracking. There was silence for a brief moment. "H-hello?"
With careful steps, he circled around the left side of the cart, following the woman's voice beyond it...only to see something he never would've expected, not in this lifetime, not ever.
Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes. He held the air in for a brief moment and slowly let it out, hoping that his eyes weren't deceiving him and that he was indeed seeing something that was not a hallucination.
Opening his eyes, he began watching in silent awe at the horse lying against the earth before him. In comparison, it was noticeably smaller than any average sized horse he had seen back in Caelondia, even if they were few in the streets and outlying roads when he saw them, this one was definitely smaller.
It did have some of the similarities of a horse however, albeit this one had smoother and less pronounced features. Its fur was colored something abnormal too, a slightly dark colored olive, and atop its head and jutting out from behind was its mane and tail. Both of which were rather disheveled and visibly messy bits of grass fitting it with its semi-light brown hair. There were a few tell tale signs that at one point or another that its mane was actually somewhat stylized as there were a couple of bobby pins visible in its mane.
Though most of its body was covered by a dark brown cloak, darker patches of brown were visible on the parts that weren't torn open. Blood was slowly pooling out on the rims of the sections where the cloak was torn open. It was a good thing that it was wearing the cloak too otherwise the extent of what bleeding there was would've been a lot worse, it was hard to tell though whether the fabric on it was thick enough to prevent bleeding for much longer.
The small horse seemed to be examining him too, sharing that same amount of awe he was expressing towards it. It looked like it completely forgot the situation it was currently in and looked at him with a wide variety of emotions detailed on its face, primarily bewilderment, shock, and surprise. The three were most evident thanks to its jaw which hung agape and the widened eyes which were transfixed on his every move.
