The group riding forth in the forest didn’t as much as meet a singular beast, hungry for their spoil. Some did look, ever so carefully, through the dense foliage but back off right away, intimidated by the might of the riders.
Tsuki was pleasantly surprised with how calm everything was and caught herself inspecting her new allies. Even if this might only be a temporary alliance, it was better than nothing.
Luk, the man who had attacked her, was inquiring about the capital with the eagles with multiple legs. She despised the kind of man he was, yet saw in him someone who cared for his own people. Although she would never see him in a good light, she wasn’t so blind as to not see the good points in others. The only exception was the Kapa-soji riding in the back. It was the same creature that threw tomatoes at her while she was traveling. She honestly thought she was dead at that time and couldn’t let go of that fear. True, it didn’t have any bad intentions, it was too simple-minded for those, but her fear was now similar to how some people are scared of a small fluffy dog because of a past experience.
Back then, she was surprised that a certain lady, she didn’t know the name of, helped her. That person looked like a hardened veteran who fought many battles with their life on the line and had harsh eyes, trained to assess any possible danger, with her. The kid following her didn’t look her own at all and she might only be acting as his guardian. In this, Tsuki found a possible weakness that could be used – not that she intended to do so and manipulate the lady. It was just… for Tsuki whom neither had parents nor siblings, seeing them like this made her jealous a bit.
She did have someone a while back, so far back that memory can be seen as imagination. He was an old fisherman who would at times give her a few fish out of pity. Nothing more than someone ready to part with his catch: not family, not a friend, and mostly just a stranger. With the girl's memories coming back slowly, her interaction with this man was the only one fading more by the hour like a block of clay degrading until only dust remained; the past bygone as it burned to naught and all that remains are the ash similar to his hair always in disarray.
This was the reason she became so attached to Alice. That girl, as sick as she was, was always by her side like the family she always wanted to have…
Chasing the bad thought away, she looked forward to where small fires were warming a few carriages of which sobs and laments were the only music. It took them a while, but they were finally back to the long convoy of survivors.
✿✿✿
Of salty breezes and azure waves, both in the past and future like promised vows. But a small boat over tidal rage with a lone captain lacking any crew with above her a sky of stars. Blue eyes like the sea looked up as the stars cried birds of white flying at incandescent speed.
Captain no more, the sea had revolted. Now, her body infused with salt forevermore. Her heavy eyelids closed until she saw but dark like her long hair.
Her heart stopped yet her body danced in the algae: the traitor of the Gale wasn’t so easily allowed to die. In this abyss of blue and salt, she started walking like she had done so many times before for there was a place she had to go as she had gone to so many times before.
Little Atargatis, they cried; neither her name nor her role this fate was. She had to go deeper into the abyss, all the way into the heart of Achernar for a moon bright like the sun was waiting behind a mirror of tears.
Little _____ cried pearls of salt while falling and falling with her sobs the only melody to accompany her.
Clemency of nostalgia
Do you remember the summers?
By a cold river all together.
The white clouds were missing;
we all found there a sunny joy.
Father would look for fish to feed us well,
sister was everywhere playing with birds,
mother would sing us song and watch over us,
and we...we drew our dreams in the sand…
Do you remember the following summer?
The gray clouds were in mass.
On the road traveling for clovers,
the night came and we smelled of grass.
Remind me of our time in the sun.
where sister would run around with our two dogs,
where mother would sit by the old tree to read a book,
and where we...we painted our memories on some leaves…
Do you remember our next summer?
Down the cobble path that led to our new home.
The pastry shop of old Utro was on our right
on the left was the little bookstore of miss Noch
What song did the birds used to play?
How old were we at that time?
Mother would visit us at work between her meetings,
and we...we wrote our aspirations on the sidewalk.
Do you remember our last summer?
a small hut made of birch by the sea,
the seagulls at our doorstep,
and the sea breeze in our hair.
Do you remember our summers?
where we sang our hope in the wind,
and carved our happiness in firewood.
because I can only remember the winters…
ꙮ
Somewhere else in the forest, another group of riders was making their way toward a decrepit building. They had unashamedly called their mounts night-mare. Those mounts weren’t even related to horses at all…which made it worse.
A woman riding upon a parrot made from the twisted bodies of naked girls hit her mount which spoke her worry in her steed, “Our lord, for them to have woken up… something wrong must have happened.”
“Then we’ll bash their skull till things are right!” responded a giant being so emancipated that their gender couldn’t be identified even if they were naked. Only her voice hinted that they were female. Three bony sets of arms wielded tridents and swords and were decorated with many bracelets that crackled at their every movement. While she moved, her foot never touched the ground. Instead, starving people with sewn mouths crawled forward and acted like a moving carpet.
Finally, an old woman responded, “You shan’t do such. The Lord of Dreams is wise and stronger in their awakened form. They know not who we are as they are. You forget your dreams once awake; so they are.”
This elderly woman was riding a carriage pulled by two large crows. Nothing too strange. She could be best described as an old ugly witch wearing nothing but rags. Although she looked weak and could have been snapped in half easily by the emancipated giant, the other two respected the old lady.
The riders disembarked to enter the ruined house where a rift of broken glass was waiting for them. Unbeknownst to them, a beast of dreams was observing them from the sky. A dragon, like no other; made from a collective of dreams regarding dragons. From those who never saw such a beast to those who barely survived one, the Jabberwocky was looking down from the clouds, and riding him was an empty armor controlled by a youthful soul…
❀
Tsuki had finally managed to escape the horde of people thanking her for the food she brought. At first, she was boastful but quickly got tired of the swarm. She was simply overwhelmed by them. After all, she didn’t have much experience with large groups of humans… She never felt like one of them; she wasn’t. And added to the sentiment of exclusion were the opinions that others had of her which was like a poison she was forced to drink. Fear mixed with respect: this was what she discerned the most of. Some were angry while others were happy. Human emotions were too wild and unpredictable for the little shepherd who used to live among sheep for most of her life. And this was scary for her.
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Reattaching her own arm, she entered a carriage that was made just for her group. Inside, she found herself alone and heaved a sigh of relief. Fi was gone helping the wounded, the two brothers were last seen salivating while helping with the carving of the large carcass, and Vergeltung was kidnapped by a group of kids, not that the cat seemed to be against such treatment.
There were a bunch of colorful pillows and blankets inside the carriage, all gifts Tsuki received after saying she wanted a good rest above gold for a reward. Looking at the mountain of fluffiness in front of her, she regretted not asking for any jewels or money.
Tok Tok Tok
Just when she was about to make her own little nest, someone came knocking at the carriage’s door. She didn’t want anyone in and more so the one outside. She remained there thinking without making a sound until Hoomaikai said, “It's me.”
Tsuki did know it was Hoomaikai and Hoomaikai also knew this fact before talking. The young shepherd was simply scared of letting the other in since she knew for certain who she really was. A minute and then two went by before Tsuki opened the door. Hoomaikai was gone and in her place was a plate of boiled vegetables with some overcooked meat of Paundraka. No one wanted to risk eating the meat any other way to not risk falling sick.
“…” Tsuki looked inside the forest where some of the vegetation had been walked upon. It made a small path that led behind a large tree. “Come…” she said. Nothing came and she said once more to come inside, “Maikai… Come. You can sleep inside. Unless you want to sleep in a crowded place.”
At this, a dark skin girl with teary red eyes showed herself from behind the tree. Tsuki left the carriage to help her inside. It took a while since Hoomaikai’s leg was broken.
“You ate?” Asked Tsuki.
The wounded girl shook her head to the side in response. Once inside, Hoomaikai was surprised by the heaps of pillows and duvets. But her surprise was cut short as she was pushed onto the soft ground. This had been something she expected but dreaded. Tsuki had all the right to hate her for she was the cause of many people dying and now that Tsuki had managed to discover her real identity…
Hoomaikai simply closed her eyes, expecting a hit of some kind that never came. Tsuki had a lot of resentment for this great sorceress but couldn’t really hate her. After all, she had done pretty well in protecting people with how cursed their old world was. Humanity had completely collapsed with their village being the largest still standing. Any kind of cattle that could be bred for food went extinct many years back with only birds still alive since they could easily escape any threat. Nothing could be grown because of the acidic rain while any fishery was impossible due to the polluted sea of which life only remained in the deepest parts.
Even if the sorceress had to act as the cruelest ruler, touch upon the most forbidden of magics, and pursue the vilest method, she still managed to keep people alive. Be it necromancy, body modification, corruption, demonic pacts, sacrifices, artificial humans, organs factories, or any other method used, they allowed people to live and hope.
Tsuki did want to hit this reborn sorceress to vent all the pain she suffered. But she couldn’t.
Once she managed to calm herself down, she saw how scared and vulnerable Hoomaikai was. It pained her. This great and cruel sorceress was also a victim with too great a responsibility… Maybe if Tsuki hadn’t lost her memory, she would have been able to help her and avoid the worst…
Not knowing what to really do, Tsuki got on her knees and hugged Hoomaikai whose eyes opened wide in surprise at the sudden warmth. She tried to push Tsuki away, but this was impossible with her lone arm. "Sorry… and thanks," whispered Tsuki.
Hoomaikai practically lost all strength in her body as tears rolled down her tired cheeks while letting out soft cries. They stayed like this until the food grew cold.
❀
The sun was starting to rise up in the dark sky and the task of carving wasn't completed. Since it was dangerous to carry festering meat, it was decided that the convoy would only move once everything was packed.
The poor mage who was able to create golems was being overworked. Still, it wasn’t something he was against, and wanted to be of use. The only complaint people had was the form of his golems: they were simply crude and creepy. The only one that was made correctly was the one Tsuki and Hoomaikai were eating inside. Or more precisely, where Tsuki was feeding Hoomaikai.
Tsuki was so tired that she was starting to feel dizzy. Her head spun left and right while her new tail which she wasn’t able to control was moving on its own. She tried to swat it away after finding it annoying but ended up dropping some food on the ground. Hoomaikai was forced to stop the girl from eating it right off like an animal. Tsuki, angry, lunged at her which caused the mountain of pillows and blankets to fall on them. Inside the wooly comfort, Tsuki fell asleep.
Strangely enough, this wasn’t the first time they slept together. While she was still Kanga, she was greatly stressed from all her responsibilities and developed nightmares that would constantly wake her up. Tsuki who had almost never dreamed was simply curious and seeing someone in useless pain would offer to watch over Kanga in exchange for some books and such.
Before closing her eyes, Hoomaikai caressed the girl’s head, a smile on her face as she thought about the past. Back then, when Alice and Tsuki fell to their death, she wanted to end it all. Her people were slowly dying anyway: there was no future in sight. That was until a masked person gave her an offer. If she gave up on that cursed world, she would be allowed to go wherever she wished for. She didn’t need to think about it… In exchange, she couldn’t reveal her past like saying what her name was. It was fine even if someone figured out her identity themselves since she couldn’t stop someone from thinking, after all. And there were always beings observing them from the outside which would make the condition otherwise impossible.
❀
In the end, the two girls slept for the entire day. With the sun waning slowly, Hoomaikai’s scream instantly put Tsuki on high alert. The two girls weren’t alone, and a large tiger was looking at them. Sparks started to dance around the fully awake Hoomaikai.
The beast growled in response, but a pillow came crashing onto its face while Hoomaikai was pulled back down to the fortress of pillows. “Not now, you two,” snarled Tsuki who had her head in her hands because of a painful headache. “Alambusha, go get us some food and be of use,” she added.
Hoomaikai turned to the girl that had just pulled her and became flustered. Tsuki, whose dress was made from magic and petals, was covering herself with a blanket since she couldn’t keep the spell functional while sleeping. Her arms were visible with the left having very few flowers compared to before: the tiger being the king of yellow she had summoned after waking up from a nightmare.
Crack!
The tiger had just left the carriage by breaking the door; a few petals remained where it once sat. A sense of dread washed over Hoomaikai when thinking about the panic that would be created with a loose tiger. She didn’t know how it appeared in the first place and would add it to the list of things she needed to ask Tsuki.
Tsuki felt a sort of tug at her heart when Hoomaikai left to deal with the current mess. “That dream…” she whispered. She has been having more and more dreams since coming to this world. It was something she wasn’t used to. Some were just her past memories while the one she just had was a simple nightmare.
She grumbled before getting up herself. The first thing she wanted to do was to record the nightmare. Like before, she took out a gray book from her bag and removed from it the strips of paper she couldn’t read----That she couldn’t read until now…
Tok Tok Tok
“TSUKI!” screamed Hoomaikai. “Get out! Something is wrong with everyone!”
ꙮ
The three riders from before were all thrown to the ground because of an explosion from within the decrepit house. Wisps of wind began appearing in the surroundings while lush greenery grew rapidly.
The old lady got on her knees and begged the one who had attacked them, “Please, great Lord of Dreams. People are suffering as you are now. We ask you to be kind and sleep once more for our heroes require your blessing.”
A stronger gust of wind lifted them up before slamming them to the ground. Following this, a large sword was created from the earth and pierced the heart of the emancipated giant. The giant didn’t die, instead, it was one of her minions that crumbled to dust to regenerate her heart.
As the dust settled, the Lord of Dreams showed itself. It was the same woman who had appeared above Paundraka’s corpse for a brief moment. One of the oldest being in existence. With this woman awakening, existence itself was starting to remember Green Gale, the greatest country to have ever been, and with this remembrance came the horror of the Gale.
“Your heroes…,” said the lord. She was angry beyond words. This word ‘hero’ was something she despised being uttered for she never met someone that could wear this title truthfully. “THEY AREN’T WORTHY!”
And so, the most revered knight of the Gale spoke, and her power of dream washed over the entire world putting all living beings not related to the Gale to sleep. In an instant, millions of lives were lost because of the location they fell into a deep slumber.
Multiple rifts appeared around the woman of which mythical frogs the size of horses came out. “Your heroes are no better than the frogs of Boyne,” she said.
The moment she was about to leave, a large dragon landed in front of her from which a knight in black armor disembarked. “The name’s Alphonse. I come to you to offer my services in exchange for not interfering with some people.”
*
Gupta’s report of the week.
Hungry, Gupta started exploring the surroundings of the temple. During exploration, Gupta found some wild vegetables. They have a strong and earthy taste.
Gupta was attacked while investigating the walls. Something escaped. Research related to the wall stopped for now.
Needing medicine, Gupta started removing the rubble blocking the medical wing of the temple. His progress is slow due to a lack of equipment. He is using rags to stop the bleeding for now.
Mission: reach the medical wing and make it usable.
Resources needed: 50 units of wood. Lockpicking tools.
Research: 55% sludge. 5% walls (paused).
Map explored: 5%