Chapter 6: Preparations
A small explosion of wooden splinters cascades the floor of the cave, the chips and dust joining the small but growing mounds of shards near the mouth of the cavern. Cursing under his breath and giving a defeated sigh, Joseph tossed the now broken spear prototype into the fire and retrieved a new one. He took up the same loosely structured position, readying another thrust at the cave wall. The new spear withstood several more jabs into the stone, eventually gouging a few inches before failing in spectacular fashion.
Sweating lightly at the exertion, he turned his attention to the last one momentarily before nodding to himself, satisfied with the results. “Looks like my negligence paid off for the spears, and if I had to say,” Joseph called out, examining a scrap of rubber-wood as he joined the two in the cave, the cool night air only barely acquainted with the concept of a breeze. The two Mantises sat some distance from the fire, wood shavings in front of them as they sculpted what remained of large logs, now much smaller than when they started.
“Two hours is going to be the sweet spot for the plates.” He continued, moving towards the Mantis family, tossing the splinters and scraps into the blazing yet controlled fire. Both of them were busy carving out hunks of rubber-wood into pieces of body armour, clicking back and forth occasionally as they conversed to pass the time while they worked. At a glance, Mama’s piece was quite ornate while Violet’s remained strictly to function, though he would worry himself with such details when everything was completed so as not to ruin the unveiling of their creations. He expected the mother’s work to be more detail oriented as she had far more experience with the medium but he couldn’t help but be excited to see how far Violet had come in just a few short weeks of practice. He averted his eyes as he voiced his findings.
“Any longer than that and it’s too brittle to withstand more than one hit. Good enough for kinetic vests, not really for wildlife defence. Less than that and it risks shattering your shells or my ribs as it flexes. So, we’ll have to try and keep it close to the middle.” The two listened attentively while applying what seemed to be finishing touches, silently chipping away at the last of their work.
“That being said, the first set should be good to go in maybe fifteen. We do those two, then we’re pretty much ready for the next part of the plan.” He concluded unceremoniously as he observed the set of armour in question.
The ‘plan’ they had agreed upon was mostly Joseph insisting that they do as much as they can to improve their defensive and offensive capability before they headed out of the cave. The two were very confused when he explained and sketched out the basic spear on the ground. Not entirely unexpected from creatures whose limbs far outperformed most if not all melee weapons they could potentially make, the concept of a pointy stick wouldn’t really do much for them after all. Armour, however, was accepted fairly readily once he pointed out that their shells were indeed sturdy, but it wouldn’t hurt to let something else take the punishment first and he himself couldn’t take much in the ‘claws and teeth’ department.
The whole plan had been an idea off-shoot of the meat hooks he designed after discovering the properties of the rubber-wood; The material hardened as exposed to high temperatures over longer periods of time. Much like tempering iron at the end of the forging process, minus the rapid cooling he had no way to test at the moment. Although much to his delight, the required heat output could be managed by a bright fire rather than a specialized forge. He didn’t have access to coal or coke yet so this was a welcome shortcut. Especially since he had no idea on how to make coke.
The armour proof-of-concept was completed after having Mama carve several squares of varying thickness and “tempering” them for various amounts of time, prompting him to subject them to various degrees of force to sate his curiosity. Several of those lay at the base of the fire, cuts and gouges of varying depths if not just cut in half.
The wood was fairly light for what it was so he figured a front and back piece tied on to his torso would weigh only slightly more than fifteen pounds or so, far from weightless but with about an inch of protection for his vitals he would be able to endure a bite or two from the locals. An added benefit to his rigorous testing was discovering that the wood did not ‘temper’ evenly, favouring the fire-exposed side for hardness before effecting the rest of the piece. This allowed for a durable exterior while maintaining some of the flexibility, likely meaning he could retain much of his own personal range of movement.
Violet was kind enough to help him find which combination would resist her blades the best and he figured that if it could survive her, it was good enough for the trip. Once the duration of temperament and thickness to maximize the benefits was determined, as much as their time crunch would reasonably allow, they had sculpted out a dummy set to test and found the desired results first try.
The spear, however, required some more active tempering. The spear head needed to be heated for almost four hours to gain the stability needed for a reliable piercing weapon but the shaft itself would sheer off after the first impact. The night of the second day found that the spear was to be heated for two hours, then left to cool before completing the tempering. A method born out of the item falling out of its makeshift holder as he was weaving more durable bags with the rubber-wood and processed wood that he swiftly dubbed ‘Ironwood’. The ironwood was being used as sturdy plates to hold materials more solidly while also woven into the bags as a whole to provide additional armour for the carrier as well as the items inside.
The bags had gone from looking like tribal attempts at copying modern rucksacks to a Mad Max apocalyptic theme, their scorched and ashen hues giving the bag the appearance of largely oversized honeycombs crafted from battered steel and lined with gold due to the leaves underneath. A bit gaudy for his tastes, but there was a certain flair to it that he found somewhat cathartic.
He sat by the fire once more, turning the carved wooden armour that he had cut to fit Violet’s slender frame so that it would temper evenly across the slight curvature. The other two were being made by the pair while he had been finalizing some tests to assure reliability. He was no artist, the piece being fairly barren compared to whatever Mama was making, but it was made with functionality in mind and should hopefully bear whatever managed to make it past him.
A lone howl pierced the night sky, slowly followed one by one until Joseph had counted seven calls. They were a lot closer than they had been yesterday, but as he still had to strain his ears slightly to hear them, he figured they were still a decent enough distance away.
“Those wolves are probably being chased out of their territory by that bear thing.” He sighed, stretching his legs out from his cross-legged sitting into a more comfortable arrangement. Laying his left leg fully out while his right was bent up to stop him from rolling back as he supported his weight on his left elbow, hand cupping his cheek. He stared out of the cave at the night sky, stars twinkling as galaxies and systems played out their ancient reflections of light, long from being representative of their current status. Some likely having been stars that burned out millennia ago, others being planets that have since become space faring. A passing thought had him wondering if he had perhaps watched Earth, long before humans could even dream of the stars. It wasn’t much use wondering; he had no frame of reference for his own constellations, less these. No real way of knowing where Earth was in this sky. Better to stay in the present.
“I’d say we’re safe tomorrow, but come the night after, we should be long gone. I'm not looking to be kibble and bits here.” He huffed a laugh as he flopped onto his back, tilting his head far back to look at the upside-down Mantises finish their armour sets.
He had briefly discussed maybe making some grieves or similar arm and leg protection but it took far too long to make and temper them, even if he did them in bulk and let his internal clock tell him when to remove each set. They only had so much room to set up rocks as stands for the pieces to lean against as they heated and doing sets for everyone just wasn’t going to finish before they had to go.
If they had time, he would have liked to create a shield to pair with his spear, but that too was out of the question now. He could spend a fair chunk of time tomorrow touching up his very amateur spear technique but balancing the shield training as well as the production time would leave him woefully unprepared with either. He could at least use the spear if he practised, no match for his hand to hand experience but also far less likely to get him killed against beings with unfamiliar anatomy. He abandoned the thought and focused his eyes, taking in the finished products of the two. He turned his head slightly to see what his purple companion had accomplished first.
“Ohhh, nice job Violet.” He swooned. The plate resting in front of her looked a lot like how pre-warp humans imagined power armour; crisp sharp lines and subtle curves accented the clumsier mistakes that gave it a battle worn look. Opting for a single piece with shoulder sections next to the neck hole rather than rely on any additional strapping. he knew would very much put the ‘warrior’ into ‘warrior mantis’. It would be perfect once tempered to give it a solid ‘Fallout’ vibe. The size was clearly meant for the taller and sturdier frame of her mother, as much as he would have liked to live his nostalgia for a bit. He had to admit though, it would only accentuate her mother’s natural intimidating appearance, which may have been the purpose. “Points for creative thinking, making your mom look more terrifying is a great way to not get bit.” he said, failing to fight out the laugh at a mental image of the wolves fleeing at the mere sight of Mama in power armour. Hell, he’d run too. Violet preened, happily accepting the complements and her mother clicked in playful annoyance.
Turning his attention to Mama’s creation, he felt his jaw slack. Would he have been upright; he would have doubted it remained attached. Intricate designs adorned the almost fantasy styled chest piece. Layered patterns forming somewhat tribal shapes with sharp edges and large sweeping strokes like that of a brush. The shadows from the fire made the piece look as if it were machined and polished by a top tier arms manufacture specializing in medieval combat that involved elves and dragons. Some patterns seemed to be very purposeful, only repeating every so often, and at odds with the otherwise perfectly symmetrical sculpture. Strangely enough it did not diminish the aesthetics at all and even made it feel even more professional.
“Holy fucking shit, Mama!” he gasped, rolling upright to view her work. “Why do I feel like that’s some max level magic artifact from D&D and why is it ‘me’ sized?”
His eyes widened for a moment as his brain tallied the sets and determined that he was the only one who would fit in it. His mental gears ground to a halt at the revelation before kicking into high gear in excitement.
“NO WAY. WHAT!?” He bounced to his feet like a child hearing Santa had visited, lunging to inspect it closer. His eyes wet slightly before he wiped them away with his wrist.
“How long were you... you must have started this as soon as I brought it up, right? Why? You know I would have been happy with whatever you gave me!” He stated, his fingers tracing the delicately detailed forms that continued even onto the parts that would not be visible from the outside. More symbols and reoccurring patterns at odd intervals linked together in diamond arrangements throughout. All displaying deliberate and expert craftsmanship. The two halves of the armour designed with tight, closely spaced and perfectly round holes in which he could lace some bindings through to secure it on him. The shoulder sections mirrored Violet’s design but split at the apex of the slope to allow more holes for bindings.
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Mama chittered lightly as she watched him shift how he was holding it to inspect every nook and cranny as his eyes sparkled. Violet, amused at his display, walked over to the fire to change out which armour piece that was in the process of tempering, replacing the set meant for her with the one she had crafted for her mother. Mama seemed confused at what he was referencing but mirrored her daughter's apparent amusement.
“Mama... it’s perfect... I... Thank you... very much.” Joseph squeaked out as he started to choke up from the gesture. This must have costed her every waking moment that he either wasn’t watching or was too caught up in his experiments over the past two days and nights. She had to have worked on the inside first so he wouldn’t see it early too.
A small guilt found its way to him as he looked at the piece he had made for Violet. A piece with the only beauty being that it had been sculpted away to the best of his ability to protect her as thoroughly as possible while not impeding her movements as much as possible. It was a simple design that had more in common with cuirass than something like what these two have made. He didn’t deserve this level of care; he hadn’t really done anything for them in all the time he’s been there. If anything, he had been a burden. They spent days making him something only designed to take damage and he had only spent an afternoon on them. Their care and thoughtfulness were painted in such considerate colours through their actions and all he did was the bare minimum.
He turned to raise his objection only to be faced with Mama lowering herself to sit in front of him, adjusting her movements to ease weight off her injured leg. Once comfortable, she leaned towards him, eliminating the remaining gap between them, then carefully rested her blades over his shoulders at the joint. He felt her allow them to lightly weigh on his frame against his back, her otherwise fearsome sharp appendages almost caressing him as they rested against him. Wordlessly, she pressed the top of her head to his forehead, leaving it to rest for a few moments.
He felt the warmth across his brow ease his anxiety as the fire behind them warmed his back, soft flows of wind flickering the light, illuminating the Mantis out of the corners of his vision. The sounds of Violet adjusting the armour along with the soft crackling of the flame the only sounds to break the silence of the long moment Mama held onto him, her breathing only slightly longer than his. Unsure of the significance of the new action, he allowed himself to rest onto her, closing his eyes and enjoying the contact for a while.
A louder pop emanated from the ember floor of their fire as Mama separated from him slightly, lowering her blades from his shoulders. The orange glow behind them gilded her in lavender tones that contrasted her natural blue in his shadow as she stepped back, the warmth of their strange embrace staying with him before gently fading. She gestured to the armour and fire before heading to her selected sleeping spot, lazily splaying her torso out and watching him, her breath getting longer and deeper as she seemed to fight off the much-accumulated need for sleep. He adjusted some rocks to accommodate the second set, perching them an even distance from the heat before stepping back to confirm it was done correctly.
Violet’s soft clacks approached him from the side, letting out a few soft clicks to gather his attention. Softly she gestured for him to come closer, letting him kneel down before repeating the strange ritual. It bore the same serenity as when performed by her mother, but instead of simply easing his anxiety, it fuelled his determination to ensure they reached their next shelter safely. Such tender moments shared between creatures born hundreds of thousands of light years apart, sparked only by kindness and their selfless act to save him from the brink of death on an unknown land.
Violet allowed the embrace to last a bit longer than her mother, pulling him in tighter before she released. The blades had not hurt him but he felt them press his skin, threatening to draw his blood were she to hug him tighter. He did not fear it. If any harm came to him at the hands of these two, it would be only by a complete accident. He returned the hug himself before allowing the child to separate, silently hoping that the same sense of ease be imparted to her.
Mama gave subdued clicks as they separated, the two conversing amongst each other as Violet joined her mother in preparing for bed. He wore a soft smile as he returned to the fire, maintaining a watchful eye on the two sets of armour so as to not ruin the hours of efforts of his new surrogate family. Their soft breaths growing to content purrs as the two fell asleep. He chuckled under his breath as he finished the last upgraded saddle bag for Violet, musing about how he would find those he would consider so important to him so far from earth.
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Stirring from his slumber, he could smell the last of their perishable food reserves cooking next to the fire. He stretched out, working a kink in his back that had formed overnight, likely from a prolonged unconscious cuddle with one of the pair. He lazily patted to either side, confirming that both had started their day, before he lazily opened one eye, blinking away tears that formed as he gave a deep yawn.
“G’mornin” He managed through a second yawn, sitting upright and stretching his shoulders behind him, feeling and hearing a few small pops. Rubbing one eye with the back of his hand, he groggily stumbled to his feet. The two Mantises clicked in acknowledgement, preparing any last-minute items that needed to be sorted or prepared. Mama set about preparing something to eat and Violet was working away at something he wasn’t focused enough to see.
“God, I would kill for an energy drink or a coffee.” The stumbling human navigated his way out of the cave some feet and picked a tree that offered decent enough support for him to lean up, relieving himself after confirming there was no witnesses. From the time it took to finish his morning bathroom trip and how difficult it was to stir himself awake, he figured he had spent quite a bit longer asleep than normal. That was fine, they were mostly packed up and ready when they went to sleep anyway. The shadows cast from the trees suggested it was about mid-day, which left him with about as much time as they needed to suit up and for him to get over his sleep induced fog.
Violet met him while on her way out from the cave, fresh tree shavings stuck to her blades. A quick glance past her showed a small pile of strips to be used as strapping and the like, results of processing what materials he would have to use before they left. The Mantis gestured to the pile, seemingly she came out to ask him to finish up with those but he was out longer than expected. Laughing at the concern she showed when he took a longer piss than expected woke him up the rest of the way, to which he patted the child on the head before grabbing some strips to twist into ropes.
They grabbed their meal while they worked, taking bites here and there while they performed final checks or donned their assigned gear. He spent some time snuffing out the fire until he couldn’t find any active embers before pouring a bit of water on it to extinguish any he missed.
Violet put on her saddle bags, a hand-me-down from Mama modified to fit her base. The pockets and important load bearing straps were either reinforced with ironwood or fresh bindings. The armour she wore was a single piece after Mama helped him carve the rough shape out of the centre of its log before he worked on the rest. It was secured in place by crossed straps over her shoulders, having been put on over her head meant that even if the straps were to fail, it wouldn’t move much before connecting with her base, unless pulled up again.
The armour was thinner under her arms to allow them to move more comfortably while at its thickest everywhere else to allow maximum protection without robbing her of her ability to defend herself. Joseph had no clue where the important organs were so he decided that all of it was critically important and matched the thickness for everything. He wouldn’t be too thrilled if the plate took a hit but if it had to, he wanted to be sure that it had a lot to go through before she was actually harmed. It was a pretty bland piece of kit but she seemed pleased none the less.
Mama for her part looked every bit as bad-ass as he thought she would, wearing a new saddlebag setup that included a top bag of sorts and her armour her daughter had made. The saddle bag pockets were much larger, taking advantage of the additional space her larger frame came with, as well as partitioned into four separate compartments each to allow them to carry their variety of items without worrying about things mixing in annoying ways. The top bag was based loosely on an old duffle bag his brother used occasionally and amounted to a thin but sturdy ironwood base the width of her own base, with a flexible wall of woven leaves that were reinforced and able to be tied off at the top should they discover something else edible or need to carry something unexpected. He tried his hands at making simple draw strings but the supports for the concept were too annoying to weave with how little time they had.
The mother's armour, now sporting a charred and lightly blackened coating from the heat treatment, multiplied her imposing figure. Although he was unsure if the Mantises had vitals in roughly the same locations or if it was a purely stylistic choice, the design matched exactly what he would have expected sci-fi classic ‘space marine bad-ass’ styled armour to look like minus any military insignia or ranking. A thick chest that protruded from the neckline at a steep angle before a wide radius brought it a little over half way back to the remaining thickness, the bottom of which formed a ‘V’ shape in front of her. Various nuances to the design edged towards EVA suits in his mind but still looked on-brand. Mama’s armour didn’t rely on straps as it was to be hauled on over top of her and to rest on her shoulders.
He cursed slightly at fully noticing his own design oversight as they wouldn’t require the same flexibility at their waist region as a human would, as well as not noting how flexible their shoulders could be, though Violet was too excited just wearing hers to notice anything amiss.
Joseph smiled with a resigning sigh as the two admired their own and each other's armour, the two chittering and clicking in excitement. Both taking turns in showing off the gear made for them before closely inspecting the fit and finish of the ones the other wore. Light taps on several areas returned satisfied reactions, while close inspection of their cargo arrangements involved nudges and jostles to ensure they would remained exactly where they needed to be. They looked like very enthusiastic armoured transport vehicles and the thought alone kept the smile plastered to his face.
Eventually they turned their attention to him, ending their inspections and prompting him to don his own gear. The bindings he needed to secure his armour had been fed through while he watched them so he simply hefted it up, securing it where needed. A bit heavier than anticipated, but he wasn’t expecting to do any extended running in it so it was fine for their purposes. Not that he couldn’t, mind you, it felt as if it had been vacuum-moulded to his body and didn’t allow any gaps that were not required. The natural flex of the material showed its value as he bent to pick up his single strap backpack, making him thankful he didn’t blindly torch all the items for maximum hardness.
The bag rested over his shoulder, supported by the armour, and added a fair bit more to his load. The form fitting nature of his gear spread the weight of it almost perfectly evenly across his back as the bag full of what amounted to emergency aid kits was secured on his person. Larger leaves wrapped an assortment of healroot, purple pain killer power, and some smoked jerky. Everything you needed to apply some first aid treatment on the road. His spear was attached to a quick-release knot on his bag to save him from carrying it constantly, but still readily accessible should the need arise.
Satisfied that nothing was going to let loose should things get rough, he took a moment to appraise his getup. The detailing he has worried about ruining in the tempering process still shined in the sunlight, not one iota of deformation present. The previous shadows that made it look machined now permanently etched onto its surface from the heat. The once shining silver wood gave way to now worn steel colours. The most precise carvings starting around the front of the shoulders and bordering the neck line were almost a painted quality of black, only betrayed by their embossed nature. The golden plant strap of his bag bore resemblance of the sash of royalty from diplomats the worlds over, solidifying the regal feel of the artworks engraved onto his chest. He felt like a king setting out to battle with his army to fight a wicked dragon.
He had to admit, Mama was one hell of a craftsman.
Everyone gathered the rest of their supplies, distributing them between the two saddle bag setups. Mama took the heavier items such as wood they had previously cut to size and the majority of their food. Whatever medical supplies they had after doing up the simplistic first aid kits were stored in its own pouch, neatly separated by leaf packaging. Keepsakes consisting of a few sculptures Violet had made and the single rock-worm Joseph had butchered were gingerly placed in the free slot remaining. Violet took enough food for them to eat along the way, saving them from having to unpack and repack Mama’s larger compartments unless the trip lasted longer than expected.
He had to admit; these guys could carry a load that even horses would refuse to pull. Yet here they were, walking around as if it was normal. Even Mama’s healing leg wasn’t overly bothered, laying at rest when standing and only remaining raised when she moved more than a few steps at a time.
The trip won’t do her leg any favours, but the leg won’t hurt the trip quite as much as he had feared. Still, better to keep the less optimistic estimate in mind so that if it does take an extra day to get there, it won’t feel like such a big deviation.
“Welp, I think that’s everything, guys.” He announced, eyes falling onto their home one last time. The cave sat before them, mouth maybe a foot or two taller than mama was. The back wall fairly shadowed from the afternoon sky, though still rather visible. The insides marred with outlines of future expansions and gouges the result of slightly too intensive physical games. Their sleeping spots lay at the back, marked by abandoned pillows and spots noticeably free from wanton dirt or dust where the row of displayed art had rested. A single fire pit, enlarged somewhat since his arrival, sit slightly off centre of the cave, surrounded by rocks that had sheltered it from wind and supported their armaments.
He remembered waking up here, scared and in pain. Mama nursing him back to health and Violet keeping him company. The dreams he had of making this place a better home for them when the prospects of finding a better shelter lay dim. A whole month of memories he held dear to him surfaced in his mind, small wet trails appearing on his cheek.
Violet broke up his small mourning by nuzzling his hand which he raised to her head, softly stroking her. Mama approached from his left, seemingly joining him in his remembrance, before leaning on him while letting a low purr emanate.
“I guess that’s it.” he admitted, separating himself from the family and shifting his gear. Sparing one more look at the place he had stayed before taking a deep breath.
“Let’s go, lots of distance to travel and I have plenty of terrible stand-up routines memorized to make you guys hate me the whole time.”