Grrkkn had often travelled to the southern border of the Mother Forest before, the routes were well worn in his memory like the deep carvings left on sacred pines by his ancestors. It was always exciting to see what the human traders brought this time, a time-honoured tradition since before the great fires. Various trinkets, tools and baubles in exchange for herbal tinctures and medicines, sometimes even with a particularly brave human present to share their history and culture, the most valuable resource of all. But there was something about the finality of this expedition that felt different. Sure, he was not exiled forever, but the world past the periphery of the Mother Forest’s embrace was so large and unknown that he could not even imagine it. There was every chance he may never find his way back to his tribe, when he passed the border where the spores grew thin and the trees gave way to comparatively lifeless plains he would walk a path none of his ancestors ever even attempted. Where the thick scent of spore and resin that had defined his life up until now would remain only in his memory.
Some of that scared him, but more than that fear was a constant buzzing of energy that had nothing to do with the ignited activity blazing in his core. To the humans they were returning to their own world… but to him, in a short few days, he was going to see a whole new one! It was really sinking in that yes, the human lands were no longer going to be a thing he pieced together from distant stories and artefacts, but a place where he lived and breathed and learned!
“Hey, uh, Gorekin? Are you alright, you are making some funny noises.” The human male, John, asked.
“I fine, no worry about me.” He brushed off the cub, despite of course the small human’s constant insistence he was anything but.
“Alright then…” John decided to respond, seeming to hesitate before landing on that answer. Grrkkn was thankful he did not push further, he wasn’t sure if he knew how to answer exactly.
The other two members of their little tribe were silent, almost eerily so. The strange green girl was… odd… but he figured it was down to how she was raised in a strange land far away from even where the other two were from. He was not entirely sure why but Cobalt had been acting strange though, from what he could tell, she had been like this since the new girl arrived. Ordinarily among the Forest Kin, this would indicate a sense of rivalry, but while he wasn’t the best at understanding human body language he was fairly certain that wasn’t, in fact, the case. What then? Perhaps he was overthinking matters, perhaps Cobalt was just hungry.
“So, we are one quarter-day from the forest boundary. After that point, I will relying on you. Where exactly go after then?” He decided to try asking Cobalt.
The tall human girl stiffened and briefly shifted colours to match those of the trees, before giving her response. “We’ll find my mother’s Sect, they should be our best chance at finding someone to support us during these times. Right now we are too weak to deal with the threat from the south, and chances are the Empire is already engaging in battle with that foe, but we may still be able to provide valuable information. Then we want to figure out what exactly was the technology that sent us up this far north, somehow it’s related to John’s arm. That ring on his finger there seems to be a key of some sort, and is able to suck stuff up into that weird place beyond the portal. I don’t know what’s going on with that, but somehow I think it’s related to why the Forest thought he was a machine at first.”
“How did the Forest think he was a machine? You are from the far south, right? And the Automatons are warring on the East, have they moved so far already?” The green girl asked.
The humans were silent, sharing looks at each other, as though telepathically communicating on the next course of action.
“Well, Faith, do you have any plans for where you are going after we leave the forest?” Cobalt asked first.
“Uh… I don’t know… I didn’t actually expect to ever come back from it. To be completely honest, I am just following you guys.” She answered.
“So in that case you are going to find out one way or another. I reckon it is best to get this cleared up sooner rather than later… and I suppose that goes for you too Gorekin.” John said, immediately peaking his interest.
Grabbing a dead tree and knocking it down before snapping it into smaller makeshift log seats, Grrkkn responded to the curious looks of the pups with a simple. “Sound like something we need sit down for.”
No argument popped up against that as he and Faith sat down quietly. John’s arm stretched strangely like a fungal vine as she moved, a sight he found most curious, especially with how the eyes and metal on it seemed to almost stretch too despite the seeming impossibility of it.
“So, John’s arm is a Relic from the Golden Age. We aren’t sure what it actually is, it seems to be some sort of cybernetic, but as you can probably tell Faith it’s also rather… fleshy.” Cobalt began.
“I’m trying not to think about it…” Faith sighed.
“Ooh! Where find!” Grrkkn asked enthusiastically.
“In some ruin somewhere, honestly I couldn’t tell you. It was just a job like any other, I got too deep in over my head, and found myself chased by a Screeching Swarm.” John answered before moving on. “Anyway, it started out helpful enough but sort of limited. You know, the sort of thing you expect from ancient relics from the old stories.”
“But?” Faith asked, picking up the implication.
“It uh… it changed…” John answered clumsily, struggling to find the words. “You know, it’s probably easier if I just show-”
“No.” Cobalt said firmly.
“But-” John tried to protest.
“No. There are other ways you suicidal, brainless idiot!” Cobalt snapped. “Look, his arm thingy started to think more. Do things it wasn’t meant to do. One time it ripped him apart from the inside, thank the Spirits it didn’t happen again!”
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He smelled a hint of shame and uncertainty from young John, and wondered if that was truly the case.
“Ripped him apart? But he seems fine now, does he regenerate quickly or-” Faith asked, clearly confused and a little concerned.
“Oh no, I am fairly sure it stitched me back together the same way it ripped its way out. Truth be told I can’t remember much about that… I still don’t really like to think about it.” John admitted. “Anyway, that’s not the thing. What we were actually concerned about telling you is, well, recently Artos here has been able to take over my body.”
Ah, Grrkkn thought. Yes, he could see how that could possibly be a problem.
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Faith didn’t know what she expected from her new motley crew, but the idea of someone saying that the Relic on their body could take control of them so nonchalantly was… clearly some form of ungodly. Though she could not pinpoint where exactly in the Holy Book it would say so, she was certain even the Prophet would have thought such things were more fit for fantasy than reality. What good God would let man be puppeted by their own creation after all, even after turning their back onto the world in allowing the Greatest War to cleanse the world of sinners?
Well, clearly this one.
There was, to be honest, no small amount of mild panic as she tried to claw the flesh-entwined machine off her face. The fact it could, apparently, tear John apart from the inside did not assuage her fears in the slightest, and she was only stopped with the reminder that even as the trees started to grow thin the air was still too toxic to breathe just yet. Not to mention, her efforts seemed to more irritate and scratch at her skin than make any real leeway with the makeshift mask. The pale and distinctly predatory woman, Cobalt, told her that she needn’t worry. That it was fairly obvious when the uncanny machine was in control rather than the human boy. And now that she was calmer she could be fairly confident she wasn’t lying about that.
After all, what sort of machine would simply tell you about what it can do unprompted? Had it been a nefarious body-snatching demon it would have had plenty of opportunity to burrow into her already, and she would be quite unable to resist indeed. By the providence of the Almighty that did not seem to be the case, and she could indeed breathe easy. At least for now.
That did not mean the rest of the trek out of the woods was without a certain… awkwardness. She had no idea where she was going on her pilgrimage now, and from what she had heard the journey of the human cultivator duo seemed to be righteous enough in nature, so she would follow them. But what of the demonic machine? Creatures of steel made in the mocking image of man, such that the Divine would turn their backs on creation for even a moment. To allow the final great cleansing, by fire rather than flood.
“Looks like the air is getting thin, we should be just about out of the forest, do you mind if I take off the mask so we can see if you can breathe or not Faith?” John asked, looking back towards her.
She tried not to seem too relieved and excited as she asked that, she wasn’t sure but it somehow felt rude. “Oh um… yes please!”
The slimy, fleshy and disconcertingly warm mask slid off her face, bunches of cables slithering like worms snapping back into place with interlocking, armoured metal plates. Now that it was shrunken the eyes dotting it seemed just that much more densely packed, each of them drilling into her soul something fierce. Instinctively Faith shuddered, it felt wrong just to look at. But the Blessings of the Golden Promise were said to have many forms, she had a feeling the eyes on it were not part of the original machine and rather a mutation from John, that was at least more comforting of an idea than the demonic artefact somehow being able to see her. She took a deep breath in, and felt a great relief when she did not feel her lungs catch alight. It was a curious thing indeed how fast the toxins of the Fruit of Life lose potency now that they are no longer in the heart of their influence, such she could only attribute to the grace of the Golden Promise.
“Are you alright?” John asked, clearly concerned. The beast-man Gorekin huffed in apparent agreement. She then realised, she probably had an odd expression on her face, didn’t she?
“I am quite alright, thank you for your concerns.” She assured her unexpected companions. “It just feels so good to finally feel the air and sun against my face, it almost makes me wonder why I ever… never mind…”
An ache blossomed in her heart looking up at the burning white orb in the sky. She believed still in the Golden Promise, at least she told herself that, but trying to say it aloud for some reason didn’t feel as sincere as it should have. Never in a thousand years could she go back home, traitor, deserter and heretic as she was. But now that her original plans to die in the unexplored lands of the far north have proven fruitless, what direction will her faith take now? Did the others even believe? She knew of the strange, warped scripture of the Empire and she doubted a ‘bigfoot’ as it were would know of the good word. She should attempt to save their souls, it was the right thing to do, but whenever she even contemplated it the words would die on her tongue. She needed to ensure her own piousness before preaching to others, was that not the word of the Prophet?
“Well, glad to hear. Thought tears meant bad, but think we just too close to spores.” Gorekin mused. “We at forest boundary now, this far as I can guide you. Short distance away is trading spot, each year when migration go south this where we meet local humans.”
“I remember, there should be a farm nearby. And the local village should have some Mustard Horses that can carry us further than our legs can ourselves… but I am not certain if they actually have any to spare. It seems it is difficult to raise even beasts so close to the Forest.” Faith explained.
“Well, it’s a start at least, this time you can lead the way Fai-” Cobalt began before abruptly stopping and sniffing at the air. “Can you smell that?”
Faith looked around in confusion, an expression shared by John. But Gorekin perked up as well and guided his nose southward. “Smoke, not wood smoke. Smell before, some human thing have, not sure what call.”
“It’s the burning of machine oil, quite a distance away actually, but in quantities great enough for me to notice. There’s something there as well that is familiar, but I am not sure…” Cobalt started to note down before making an apparent realisation. “The Toro Rojo?”
“Who?” Faith and Gorekin asked at once as John suddenly perked up with excitement.
“They made it this far north?” He asked.
“It’s a faint smell so I cannot be certain, we’d have to get closer to make sure.” Cobalt hummed. “We should be on our guard regardless, could also possibly be road bandits, though this close to the Northern Border it’s unlikely.”
“Who are you talking about?” Faith asked once again.
“Just some uh… friends we met in the south. They were fleeing the same warlord who- who destroyed the Lead Cave.” John answered solemnly. “I think we should check it out, worst-case scenario we are wrong and we can liberate some Red Star war bikes from a group of bandits, but you can part ways here if you want. I know that you were a bit… uncomfortable learning about Artos here.”
Faith felt at once the gap in history that separated her from the other humans in the group. The two were close, bonded by shared experiences and a cataclysm that would invariably weld their fates together. Here she felt a bit like an outsider looking in, still if she were to find her proper direction in this new odyssey of hers, her soul told her that her own fate would somehow be intertwined in their mess as well.
So she shook her head firmly. “I have agreed to follow you and your cause. I won’t falter so easily this time.”