The sun began its set as evening’s twilight faded, the blue-sky disappearing as all the stars clawed their way out from behind its shadow. Another day was ending for the beleaguered Huckleberry Dutchy; that realm of so many…many berries.
Unlike many of the countless realms through which they had passed, the Huckleberry Dutchy was by no means a small realm.
It was a rather moderately large realm—for the standards of these lands, at least. Despite its title being a ‘dutchy’, it was more tantamount to a kingdom and would require more than two full days of continuous travel to pass from one end to the other. Hence why, unofficially, it was often called the ‘Great Huckleberry Dutchy’.
Huckleberry was the center of the central realms, even though it was…not…literally at the center of the central realms—it was, in fact, rather westwards and somewhat closer to the central coast than near the actual center of this moderately sized continent.
Huckleberry, indeed, was large enough to have a more…varied environment and topography despite still being relatively uniform. It was somewhat more bumpy and with more sprinkles of mountains. It bordered to the south, in fact, an actual mountain range—the so-locally-called ‘Central Mountains’.
Likewise, it was with far more woodlands than the north or even for the standards of other central realms. In fact, despite the duchy’s relatively great size for what it was, a significant chunk of Huckleberry’s dominion was occupied by the so-locally-called ‘Grand Forest of Huckleberry’, a gargantuan sprawling forest—the largest in the continent—that occupied the heart of Huckleberry and was the source of local superstitions.
Huckleberry was essentially a realm that was established around that great forest and apparently exerted little authority over it.
Of course, many of these rather…specific factoids…Antica only knew of because Novea had so…explained them, both at their journey’s start and…throughout it. Though, Antica already knew…many of the geographical and environmental details…well before that point… After all, this was the locality she had…operated in…and the Remnant was not without its reconnaissance; though, detailed terrestrial survey had…still been underway before…that ambush…suddenly happened…
Truly, so baffling, it was, how so many eyes had been watching yet remained so blind—or rather, they had not been blind, they simply did not see…correctly, so to speak.
Indeed… Antica continued to repeat these mundane factoids in her head over and over, just to keep her mind distracted…from not just…that ambush etched into her being, but also…the visible consequences.
For the past year and more, the Huckleberry Dutchy was embroiled in a civil war between the rebellious Elderberry Alliance and the vassals loyal to the Duke in Grandberry. Although this conflict was described as fluctuating between hot escalation and bitter frozenness, the devastation brought about was evident, nevertheless.
As they approached closer and closer to the arbitrarily ordained boundaries which separated Huckleberry from all the other realms, improvised convoys of the fleeing displaced and the sights of their squalorish camps increased in frequency. If not such things directly, then…the remains of such things.
Pillaged. Ransacked. Raided. Butchered. Much like that which she had witnessed days prior.
Indeed, it appeared that such ‘border clearances’ mattered little when in face of a fleeing mass of the desperate and hapless. But consequently, neighboring realms did not particularly take kindly to nor care for these sorts of trespassers, thus she had been told. After all, those fleeing masses of the desperate could turn to banditry—many have turned to banditry—, thus she had been told. They were easy prey for the predacious of sorts and kinds, thus she had been told.
Goblins, ‘greenies’, brigands, renegades, or even the realms’ own force of arms. Quite frankly, despite all that which Novea had said about goblins before, Antica could not see the difference between the remains of…a goblin ambush and that done by men. There was no difference to her.
And as more and more such sights were encountered and spotted, Antica could not help…but blame herself each and every time.
Indeed, as she recalled from Novea’s beginning explanation, the war in Huckleberry, even though it was caused by…‘decades-worth of long-spanning tensions and problems’, formally began on what the locals called… ‘the Night of Stars’ Fury’, that night when the so-called ‘Goddess of the Stars’ battled with the so-called ‘God of Earth’.
During that night of carnage and its aftermath, the local realms around had panicked and rapidly mobilized their own, ultimately encircling the entire area in effect. She knew this already, of course, since she had been there; she remembered what her…other sentinels had documented.
But… it was during that night when so many of Huckleberry’s realms were so distracted by that event… that Elderberry and its alliance had launched their rebellion. It was because of…events which had directly involved her…that the conflict was given the perfect opportunity to begin.
And…despite having been told such things more than a week ago prior…at this journey’s beginning, only now…was she starting to truly ponder it, contemplate it, comprehend it.
Antica sighed for the nth time this day as she withdrew her gazing sight; now facing those who sat in front, her eyes had closed shut as if they had never been open.
So stupid, indeed, how she seemed to have been…relatively fine throughout the majority of this journey, but now that…they were so close to one insignificant denizen ‘realm’… That locality where it all had…begun… Indeed, her mind could not stop ringing and ringing like a broken bell with those images and pops.
Night. It was night, much like that day. Silence. It was silent, besides those nightly sounds, and that of clopping hooves and turning wheels. Blue was dozed off and asleep. Novea…even though it hardly seemed so…was also dozed off in kind.
Novea, at least, was seeming significantly better than before, no longer complaining of those cramps and ‘bleed’ and such; her mood seemed more…her usual, whatever that was supposed to mean given she had been donning her stern Raven persona without pause.
Antica breathed, in and out, taking in the cold nightly air. Oh, how she so preferred this air. She even lowered her facemask so that she could…feel and sense… experience… this air in detail. For whatever reason, this nightly air eased her mind… Unease that, despite feeling, she could not…comprehend; so foggy, despite still being there.
“Alright, check coming up” Red announced from the front.
Hearing his voice, Antica immediately raised her facemask back up.
“Huh?” Novea blurted, her mind returning from its dozing spell; “Oh, finally… That was slower than preferable.”
“Yeah, yeah… Least you got transported. Anyway, there’re men coming up, so keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking, got it?” Red stated.
“Of course.” Novea acknowledged, before turning her mask-obscured eyes to Antica who sat on the bench opposite to her. “So, we are finally arriving… Much to do, much to do…” her breaths mumbled aloud, breaking character somewhat.
« Síc videtùr » Antica replied.
“ ‘Seec weedhedhoor’… ‘So it seems’, huh?” Red repeated.
Novea immediately turned her head; “You can understand her?” she interrogated.
“Shitty butchered Trinitarian’s still Trinitarian… Anyway, be quiet” he replied before…telling.
« … » Right… Antica had nearly forgotten…that denizen’s apparent comprehension. And his ears were not ones which were absent minded. She was going to need to watch her tongue around that one… Ugh.
-|-
A wooden post of sorts, one which split the road in two with its gate. Five…guards of sorts were stationed, each having a lamp of sorts dangling from their figures to provide light, though one—a sergeant—was holding the lamp in hand.
The sergeant approached the now halted wagon, yet his eyes…and that of his fellows…were hardly focusing on the driver or even passengers of this…wagon… Not at all, in fact.
“Gods… Is that a unicorn?” the approaching sergeant blurted, sentiment echoed by the breaths of his men.
“Oh, Gods’ sacred, here we go…” Red’s muttering breaths whispered, before his eyes glared into the guard. “Yeah, yeah… It’s a unicorn, don’t pay mind to it” he stated, before shoving his Guild card into the sergeant’s hand; “Just do your job…”
“Hm.” the sergeant mumbled, before he began to inspect the ever-distinct documentation card now in his hand, using the lamp to help read.
Red continued to eye this guard and the four others… A rather small detachment, and they seemed…far more armed and armored than what he was expecting of any of the beleaguered realms of Huckleberry… Indeed, the emblazoned heraldic device said it all, these were men of the Petty Dutchy of Oatfield…the realm they were still in—the petty duke’s direct own, in fact.
“Adventurers, aye?” thus finally remarked the sergeant.
“Yeah.” Red simply acknowledged; “Me and my partner, party of two… Card says it all”.
The sergeant scratched his forehead, before walking towards the wagon proper, peering into it and its contents. “Hmm… Sleeping mage, Bronze-rank badge… And two… Wait, are you two…”—he leaned in closer, the lamp shining in greater detail—“…Ravens?”
Novea simply waved a gentle hello.
“Yeah, you’ve got eyes.” Red bluntly replied; “We’ve been hired to transport them; that’s all I can say”.
“Exhausted eyes…” the sergeant frankly remarked, retracting his peer and returning back to Red.
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Red glared into him; “This ain’t an ordinary clearance check; you haven’t asked for a pass once… You’re not Outerberry’s retinues or militia, so what’s with the dinky post?” he somewhat standoffishly asked.
“Impeccable observations, adventurer… We are obviously the personal retinues of the petty duke of Oatfield” the sergeant so replied in kind; “Now, allow me to make my own impeccable observation: you are a Copper-ranked adventurer, and your partner is Bronze-ranked… What are you two doing with a unicorn?” he interrogated.
Red ughingly sighed; “Long story, and not your concern” he bluntly answered.
“Considering that the Rejinards had crushed there way through multiple realms just to teach a lesson to Tinkleberry over a unicorn dispute, I would say this does concern us” the sergeant retorted; “And I cannot possibly conceive of how you two could have possibly acquired something this expensive…”
“Besides thievery” another guard, approaching, interposed.
“Gods’ sacred toilet…” Red nearly growled… He could tell they were starting to get…ideas. “Listen here, pal, I know what’s entering your head and let me tell you right now: it ain’t worth it, trust me… I ain’t just Coppy, I used to be Diamond” he stated sternly. “Now, I’ve got the right clearances for both Oatfield and Outerberry, so just let us through…”
Yet the sergeant looked back at his four men…who began to surround the wagon. “Tell us how you got the unicorn, or we will have to…confiscate it…” the sergeant stated, his free hand drifting towards his sheathed sword; the value of that unicorn made him not care about the Raven aboard.
Red began to grumble and growl, his hand finding itself gravitating to his curvy-bladed polearm behind… “Trust me, pals, you really do not want to be trying anything…” His voice became more…threatening.
Novea sighed, having been rather attentive to the situation at hand. Immediately, she stood up and hopped right passed Antica and out of the wagon from its edge.
Suddenly, the sergeant heard the sound of a flick as a coin made way to him through the air. He promptly caught it… Shiny…pristine… similar to silver, yet fundamentally and unmistakably different…
“…platinum?” the sergeant blurted, nearly stunned, his occupied hands unable to rub his eyes to check for deception.
“Yes.” Novea simply stated, her stillness blending in with night’s shadow; “Take it to a Temple of Commerce or bank, exchange it for golds or silvers, and divide it amongst yourselves…” she specified. The Bureau was always prepared for many…expense-related potentialities, suffice it to say.
Sergeant nodded away, the other guards…frozen.
“Now may we pass?” Novea asked.
The sergeant…looked at the unicorn, then at the platinum coin in hand… By no means comparable to the value of that unicorn, but he knew best to not push Fortune’s ever-conditional luck.
He exhaled; “Well, if you Ravens are given the coin for such…expenses, then this must be beyond us… Fine, you may pass” he acquiesced, waving to the other four who…relaxed. “For all intents and purposes, you were never here. We didn’t see even a fly pass through…” he added.
Novea slightly smirked from behind her mask; “You know what a birdy wants best…” she said; “Though, you must also know what else we want…”
“Of course… What do you want to know?” the sergeant inquired.
“What the personal men of Oatfield are doing here, and the general conditions of things beyond this post” Novea replied.
The sergeant sighed; “Well, many of the border realms of Huckleberry are without any eyes, both Grandberry and Elderberry have levied for all men-at-arms and even militias, so now we have to do their job… No thanks to the mass of fleeing souls… We can’t stop them, but we can at least control their entry” he answered.
Another guard stepped forward; “Not to mention those forsaken greenies… Goblins, orcs, even ogres… All of those filth, they smell the blood and have been migrating in droves to and from Huckleberry… Then there are renegades and bandits too…”
“We are just one tiny post among many… Though, we aren’t stupid enough to cross into Huckleberry’s domain” the sergeant stated.
“Though, at the rate things are going, the petty duke may just order us to…” another guard stepped forward.
Novea nodded; “Yeah… Oatfield has seen better days, that is certain…” she remarked. “So…things seem to be escalating again… Well, anyway, you have my thanks…” she respectfully said before…moving around the wagon and hopping right back onto her prior spot.
The sergeant simply waved in reply, as the wooden gates opened.
Red grumbled somewhat; “Funny, real funny…” he muttered aloud, unthankfully thankful for her intervention.
Thus, the wagon moved forward and passed through the Oatfielder checkpoint, making way until approaching a small yet pronounced creek… A thin creek which separated here from there. With a single cross, thus…it was so: after much delay, they had finally entered the Huckleberry Dutchy—the ‘Borderland of Outerberry’, to be precise.
Realizations being made with the final turn of the wheel, the final decisive clop of that hoof, everything inside Antica…so abruptly and so arbitrarily…went numb, flattening.
Though, they would not travel much longer. The unicorn simply refused to. Thus, their night ended as Red decided to sleep in his usual cramped spot…in the wagon’s crowded back.
Antica, however, would remain awake; she had suddenly forgotten how to sleep, it seemed.
----------------------------------------
-|||-
A fresh new day, and a new fresh rising sun. The wagon was back on the road, yet none of them were awake—besides Novea and Antica; one having slept some hours, the other having not slept at all. The unicorn had recontinued its travel on its own.
Red…passed out…gradually grumbled himself awake. His eyes opening, he stared up into the clear blue-sky up high… realizing instantly that they were, in fact, moving. He lanced himself right up in rather the snap.
“Oh, what the fuck?!” he blurted aloud, waking Blue up, as he swiftly moved himself onto his driving spot.
“Huh?! What is happening?!” Blue asked in rather the waking spook, grabbing hold of her staff… before…realizing quickly… “Oh, he is moving on his own again, eh? Haha” she calmed, giggling.
Red flicked and tugged the unicorn’s equine harness of sorts, redirecting off-road and onto the side, pausing the journey. He sighed as he quickly eyed around… “Where the fuck did you take us this time?” he interrogated aloud, unamused.
“Neigh.” the unicorn…so uttered…before puffing in equine noises.
“We are still in Outerberry. He was wandering in circles, I think” Novea stated from behind.
Immediately, Red’s scowling attention snapped itself behind, glaring right at her; “Great, you were awake this entire time but didn’t bother to wake me up as soon as he began to wander on his own?!”
Novea simply stared; “I did not think you wanted to be awakened, you seemed fatigued… Besides, it was unnecessary for you to be awake when I was, and I was keeping watch” she replied.
Red let out a scoffing sigh; “Right, because I can trust a Gods’ fucked Raven to stick around and not run away when shit happens” he standoffishly rebuked.
This sudden remark…perhaps had stung deeper into Novea than…she wanted. It took a bit longer than usual to…muster a reply. “Well, we are paying you good coin… You could at least trust us a little” she said.
Red scoffed again; “Trust is earned, Bureau-bug, not bought, you know that” he standoffishly replied.
Blue began to grumble; “Hrm… Red, are we going to need to have a talk again?” she stated, her piercing eyes felt by his spine.
Red grumbled in kind as his posture lowered; “Yeah, yeah… sorry” he apologized, though only to Blue, before going silent.
“Sorry about him, he is not normally this…excessively…” she was attempting to apologize.
Yet…
“I almost feel bad for you, having to be in a party with him… Failed adventurer perpetually locked to Copper, so you have to carry the quest-weight, and he’s an ugly-hearted man…” Novea, still stung, more blurted…than replied with…intent.
Blue’s once empathic and apologetic stare abruptly turned…rather cold and sour. She hated hearing such words so…constantly heard. “Never mind.” She stopped talking, retracting in a hmph.
Novea immediately…noticed this shift in tone; she tilted her head in a faint stare.
“And we are not just a party… We are partners… I know him more than you possibly could, so do not act as if I do not know him…” Blue so defensively and…coldly added.
“…” Novea stared, before looking away. “Oh…” Indeed, it was rather the insult to bad-mouth another lady’s partner, most especially while in their presence—at least, when their partnership was…stable and cordial.
Novea was perceptive and socially attuned; it was obvious to her what these two were to each other, yet…she had still blurted those words anyway, breaking her character. It was uncalled for, but…she had said such, nevertheless. She felt stung and wanted to sting back, though…she had perhaps done so at the wrong person.
Antica, of course, remained silent as she simply heard everything happen, only able to infer from their voices, and the quite the much she was able to infer from their voices. She could tell that Novea had crossed some level of socially taboo sort of boundary which caused Blue’s sudden shift to more hostile affect.
It was like observing denizens in a more naturalistic environment with her lack of direct participation.
Though, it was becoming rather…dull deep down within to just sit and be silent, unable to even make remarks in her primary tongue because of a certain…listening pair of ears.
« Est tam stultissimù… » her breaths blurted; this was so stupid…
“Tell me about it…” Red, ears having heard, muttered in kind.
An awkward silence ensued as the unicorn continued to make its way down the road.
Novea…eventually calmed her…stung nerves. She ahemed; “I apologize for my…for what I said, Blue, that was…completely out of my…line” she…apologized with a rather sincere voice.
Blue, not necessarily expecting this, turned; “Huh?”
Though, Novea had shifted her attention to the still grumpy man at the wagon’s front. “So, we have arrived. You said that you wanted us to help with ‘business’? What is this ‘business’? We obviously have done nothing on the way, so it is clearly here” she inquired and remarked.
“Hm. So, you actually plan on sticking to that, then?” Red frankly asked.
Yet what should have been an easy reply, Novea…stalled in… Indeed, they were finally in Huckleberry, and…they were late on schedule already…
She looked at Antica, revaluating… cogitating in mind… She turned back to Red; “Well… You said that…if we…did not help, you would toss us into the first town, which would be Outerberry… To be honest, that might be preferable for us…since…we have been delayed long enough…” she finally replied.
“Ah, fucking knew it… Ravens and Bureau birds, always two faces and two mouths…” he so scoffingly remarked.
“Your temperament has not necessarily helped, Dragon Slayer” Novea frankly stated.
“Mehuh…” Red’s breaths simply breathed. Though, despite what his stubborn pride was unwilling to admit, he…did want their help, especially considering what happened…the last quest he had done… Blue had nearly too close of a call.
Though, such was only half of the picture… Red also had other…things simmering in his mind. Indeed, he had not spent this travel of theirs completely mindless.
Red sighed; “Whatever Gods’ fucked thing it is you need to do here must be important, given those top-eggs in the Bureau gave you a lot of coin with a lot of purchasing power…” thus he began to speak; “If you were given golds and platinum, then you must’ve had a fancy ride too… So…what happened to it?”
Novea…tilted her head, caught by surprise; “Huh?”
“Don’t huh me—if this is so important, what the fuck were you doing in Sparklewater without a ride?” he so bluntly asked; “Something obviously happened, no other reason your types would come begging to a Guild hall” he added.
Novea…remained quiet…
Blue looked at Novea; “Surprised? Might not seem so, but that meathead is actually quite the thinker—knowledgeable too” she suddenly remarked; she could not help but smirk with pride.
Novea sighed; “…we lost our horse; I will leave it at that.” she…admitted.
“Lost your horsy in Sparklewater, huh? Now you want to wander around alone in Huckleberry, an even more Demon-fucked land? Ravens are ‘scary’, but half of it is a superstitious bluff—you won’t last when orcs start raping you” he so…bluntly stated, brazenly so.
Blue’s proud smirk dropped, eyeing Red from behind with…disappointment; “…really?”
“What are you attempting arrive to?” Novea asked, voice now colder.
Red ahemed; “My point is: you help us, we help you; that’s how it works” he stated.
Hmm… Novea, being ever the shadowy operative, was starting to…see between the lines, so to speak. “What are you actually attempting to play, Red?” she interrogated.
“Lady, I don’t know. I’m an idiot who just wants to quest. I ain’t playing anything, and neither are you… You’re a pawn just like I was” he replied, his voice…brushing things off…
Yet now Novea was starting to feel…challenged in some kind of a clandestine way, as if his words were trying to weave threads around her. “Fine, I will bite. What do you want?”
“I already said what I wanted, if you were paying attention” he bluntly replied.
“You don’t want help with your ‘business’, you want something else; it’s obvious” Novea replied in kind.
“Lady, I don’t know what I want besides questing” Red reiterated.
“Fine. If you truly want our help in your quest, then you will have it. Tell us the details.” Novea finally acquiesced.
“Direct commissioning, not a Guild quest—got sent a letter. Monster infested cave clearance, village is dealing with growl-hound problems” Red answered.
“And where is the location?” Novea asked.
“Birdy, where in all these Gods’ fucked realms do you think we’re heading to right now?” Red so bluntly answered.