Oscar was riding volt in the Legume’s small cobbled yard when Albert and Alfred showed up moaning about ostriches; and wanting to know if there was any quick way to befriend the–at times–violent creatures.
Oscar had been the owner of one for half a day; so he told them all he knew: “They like apples,”
That fact made Albert light up like a winter light, since at least he had that in common with the giant birds, while Alfred mostly looked annoyed at the news–even though it should help their project work out alright. It was a pretty obvious route to go, once Oscar had pointed it out, even if perhaps not every ostrich's belly was alike.
It was certainly true that Oscar’s mount seemed to never have had such quality fruits before, so this was now their best bet. “Hm, the only other tidbit I’ve got is that they see really well, but can’t hear or smell for shit. So you might want to avoid any shiny things; my guy nearly pecked the shit out of a lady walking past wearing a sparkly brooch on her also pretty sparkly shawl; I had to really tell him off before he would stop hyperfocusing,”
Luckily the two looked at eachother and found no jewellery, so it didn’t appear like that was the thing which had gotten them in trouble; but then they both spotted their polished belt buckles. Better safe than sorry, some rope will have to do next time.
Oscar left the two brewing partners to their own devices and headed out for the lake by riding his ostrich openly on the city streets. He’d spent the entire morning and early afternoon getting used to the strange gait of his mount. I really need to get you a name, hm.
Livia had refused to perform her compulsory role of name-provider, and so Oscar was left on his own; at least his brother was no damn help. Like really, come the hell on, who would name their ostrich ‘Big Bird’... Fuck’s sake, even I can do better. Hmm, maybe Ostro Chan, hah. Or maybe just Richard...?
Oscar decided he’d work on it.
They weren’t exactly turning every head on the street, but the ostrich was probably the largest non-evolved specimen most of the people had seen, so he was still drawing attention, despite how the city had a great variety of draft animals and mounts out in the streets every day. And his creature was damned fast at that, but also manoeuvred expertly; and those spurs on its legs did not look like a joke–far from it–so most people made sure to give them room.
Oscar had only ridden the horses for shorter bits during their travels so far, but this was strange enough that the different experiences could barely be compared. He had both feet to the sides of the tall neck; and he was sitting so incredibly high up, nearly two full metres in the air.
But mounting was still so easy; when he needed to get back up it lowered itself to the ground as if the legs were foldable springs.
And his shield covered a huge portion of its body if you compared it to trying to protect a horse; not to mention how you barely lost kicking power, and certainly not agility.
Oscar was in love. He really couldn’t wait to master their symbiosis in combat; even if the list of things to work on was starting to add up. There would be plenty of time once they got properly settled.
Sten and Harold were already training together with Kalle when Oscar arrived to the lake's beach; they’d all had plenty to work on for the morning on their own.
Apparently Kalle was hard at work preparing his next ritual working and learning to do more and more advanced summonings, and it seemed this time the purpose was to expand his own toolbox rather than find more plants for Harold. 'About time' was about the extent of what needed to be said, if you asked Oscar's view.
Sten meanwhile had his own new Skills to work on, now that he’d finally caught up to the first capstone which the others achieved weeks ago.
And Roldy was trying to incorporate his [Ray of Disarray] into his style, which he still needed to both charge for several seconds–and launch from both hands–to come anywhere near its full, fatally disorienting power. Apparently the plan was to first learn to send it faster, and only work on making it last longer once that was achieved to a sufficient degree.
They ended up spending that afternoon sparring, and trying to dislodge Oscar from his mount; which was easy work after the ostrich got tired of their games and stopped trying so hard to protect its rider in accordance with its ingrained style just to play along with their training; apparently it had a limit, and did not at all enjoy fighting multiple opponents.
Harold could communicate with the creature; although it was far from talkative, at least it let them know that much; Feathers and wet sand do not mix; there’s a reason the sand gets left behind when they run–fighting in it was apparently deeply moronic.
It was the longest sentiment the damn feathery thing had expressed all day. Are all bird’s this sassy?
The [Druid] couldn’t wait for Algernon to meet with their newest companion. Wonder where he might have gone.
Their bond at least let him know the little guy was alright.
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Livia had a busy day, but she made sure to conserve a portion of her energy for tonight. Going so far as taking a catnap after dinner and drinking a cup of tea after, just to make sure she was at her best.
It felt a bit silly that she was getting this nervous; she had no real reason for it. Other than so much hinging on Redd to remain the reassuring presence they all–the [Guild]–needed.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Although on some level Livia wished she could be the one providing that, but there was no substituting experience and the wisdom of a long life well lived.
And she knew if she wanted to earn those attributes earlier then she certainly needed someone to learn from.
She could think of no one better. If she could fuse him with Margaret then that might have been perfect.
When she woke up and got back in full form, and once Redd showed back up at the Legume after having gone around town to visit with old buddies during the day, Livia pounced and went at him with the deeper facts of their being fired off like guns blazing.
It was the only way she knew how to do this; spill it all forth in a flood and hope they did not treat her like a crazy person, or even worse, like an imaginative child.
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Redd received the news like a field of daisies receives a comet. He never questioned Livia’s sincerity for one second.
Not that he reacted badly, per say. Except perhaps internally, if complete honesty was required. He sat quiet for nearly half an hour once she stopped talking; making Livia increasingly nervous with the tension.
In the end he still needed clarification to make sure he understood. “You are sent here, from our descendants, because in the end, we do not make it… Is that correct, Livia? That our ancient people dies alone then; that is how it ends after how we struggled, and for how long?”
I knew we had lost some of our strength, but to think it never returns.
Livia had told him her estimates for how much time had passed between hers and his. “You are thinking of it all wrong. I know you don’t have a lot of those kinds of stories here; but time travel can change the future of things in innumerable ways. We used to say all it takes is the wings of a butterfly; we even named it the Butterfly Effect.”
Redd was back to looking stunned, and disheartened. Livia was regretting doing this on her own, without the others for support. But it could be worse, at least he was listening.
“By them sending people back here of course the future has changed, how could it not? Would you have acted exactly the same had I never showed up, would the people around you, in turn?” That simple sequence of events spun out, and if all this was indeed real... Then that certainly gave him things to consider, and Livia saw the wheels start turning. “And I am not alone either, okay? They sent more people. We’re not all young, they might have even sent people with military experience, but we’ll need to find them,”
Redd looked hopeful at that, but only for a second. “Did you not arrive here in the wilderness, are you sure they could have survived like you, if they had nothing and faced predators? Have you met any?”
That at least made Livia feel grateful she’d saved this conversation until after meeting Margaret. “I have, yes. Here in Dormata in fact, someone who happened to be from my hometown, as luck would have it. I think that says something positive for our odds, if there was only two of us then the chances of her being the other one would be even lower,” But Livia mostly wanted them back on track. “Our work is important; I can understand if your first inclination is to notify the military and try to convince everybody of the danger; but it’s hundreds of years away, and we don’t know the exact years with any sort of certainty. Unless we’re tremendously influential then we’ll have a very hard time being believed, and there isn’t much we can do to sway minds yet anyway. People are already struggling to survive and fighting to live another year, let alone another decade. We need to specialize and raise the standards of everyone’s ambitions, and quickly too. I’m talking about really building something unique that can change things.”
And that’s when she let him know what her and Mr Beard had agreed was her best course of action in the end, with the skillset she had available to her. Building something to promote a [Guild] trying to revive business as a vital concept, and primary choice for people’s Classes. Soft power.
As things stood Mr Beard estimated that less than 10% of Humanity’s current Classes were of a strictly civilian nature. Livia was convinced that needed to change. Not to lessen their defensive power; but ultimately to increase it.
Over the course of the evening she managed to convince Redd of that too. To a degree.
Salcret was one of the few places where the balance was skewed a lot further from the military side; but they were unique in that as far as Redd knew, and personally he’d always considered it a sort of weakness of theirs, a sign that they preferred a comfortable life to a high level one.
Livia’s perspective helped him see how having proper civilian leadership could have changed matters just as much, had it been applied at a larger scale.
The world she came from; that Humanity had apparently built far away upon a time, it was a breathtaking idea to a frontiersman [Farmer] who had bled to earn the right to live every day of his life, and to earn that right for his children and community.
But Livia could tell Redd would need more time, and that words alone would not be enough to change how he thought of the way forward, which would be needed–so he could convince others in turn.
Although one thing was clearer than ever after their meeting: Redd was all in, in regards to the [Guild].
He just wasn’t sure yet how to cope with this change in Humanity’s status, and what he felt the future might hold.
In the end he surprised Livia with where his thoughts were going; but she was relieved he wanted to learn more first and foremost.
Redd requested a meeting with Margaret.