Kyto, as soon as he woke up, wanted to go and work on the generator and boiler; Tabs had to convince him to look around the house properly before he did. They spent the morning revisiting each of the rooms and working through everything that was there. The house had been left as though a family had gone out for the day and never returned. In the kitchen area, they could see a couple of discarded mugs and plates left on the side by the sink. There had been faded, hole-ridden, mouldy clothes left on a line in the utility room, and one of the machines in there had more clothes inside it, which had turned into a solid lump of mixed material.
The bedrooms upstairs still had their occupants' items that Kyto imagined they had used the day they had left. A book had been left on a bedside table placed down to keep its page. The book had suffered damp at some point, and he could not determine what it was about. The office area, though, was a different place entirely. Although many of the books were fictional and heralded no knowledge, there were other books there that he could hopefully read to increase his knowledge. Unfortunately, many suffered from dampness and mould over the years of abandonment, but several were still readable. There were a few books on scientific subjects and, to Kyto’s delight, two on engineering. He had gently removed each book from the shelf as though they were made of the finest porcelain and may fall apart any second.
It was apparent that the house had stood abandoned over the seasons, and condensation had ruined many more perishable items. Most of the furnishings were faded, worn and mouldy, but a couple had stood the test of time in a much better condition. They found various sealed clear plastic bags of clothes in one of the larger bedrooms with an adjoining bathroom. Tabs had pulled them all out onto the bed in the room, and Kyto had slit one of them open with his knife. The clothes stored in them were in decent condition and protected by whatever means the plastic seals had provided. Considering that the house did not appear to have been entered since before the Falling, Kyto was amazed at their condition. Clothes were made in several townships, but none were manufactured like these. The stitching looked almost perfect, as if the best tailor had completed it, not that some of the clothes made today were not of a decent standard. They just did not have the same look or feel as the material they found.
They even had a fresh smell, which Kyto could not understand. After sifting through everything they found, they managed to source some new items. Tabs found two more pairs of bottoms, two further-sleeved tops, and another pair of boots and canvas-style shoes. Kyto, although the clothes he found were slightly large for him, had found some more cargo pants of a style he did not recognise and several tops that he could wear, and both had found thick winter jackets and bottoms. They had also found some backpacks, two of which were an upgrade to the one Kyto owned, larger and having more pockets.
After they had searched every inch of the house, Kyto had checked the chimney out from the previous night. He could not get onto the roof by an easy means to look down it, but he could vaguely see daylight on looking up. They had lit a small fire, and when Tabs went outside and saw the smoke coming out of the chimney, they were both overjoyed. Kyto had checked the stoves in the kitchen area, but they were gas-fed looking at the piping, and there was no way he could get it to work without a gas supply. Between the pair, they had set up a cooking area just down from the rear porch by gathering some stones from the river at the end of the clearing. Kyto even fashioned a tripod that could hold his cooking pot over it. They had also gathered wood for the fires inside. Tabs had found an old axe in the garage, so they knew they could chop firewood and heat the house.
Kyto then began working in the outbuilding while Tabs had started arranging things inside. She had pulled the best of the furniture into the main room, which ran from the front to the back of the property, and gave them views of the large tree and the clearings. She had carried out the same task in the double bedroom that looked out over the rear of the property. She had created what had to be the most comfortable space she could imagine since her initial captivity. Even when she had lived at the homestead with her mother and sister, they had never had plush furnishings. Everything had been practical in its use.
Kyto had to ask Tabs for help several times, removing some bulkier items from the machinery to clean them and replace them again. Tabs would always ask Kyto what everything was used for, and he would happily tell her. He loved sharing his knowledge with her and trying to teach her. She did not understand most of what he said and how the items worked but enthusiastically listened to him.
On the third day, Tabs had been out in the rear clearing looking at all the various flora and fauna and was amazed at how much she remembered her foraging days. She had queried Kyto about the skill trees on her display, and he had spent time advising her on how they seemed to work. He was no expert, but most of his knowledge seemed to trigger what he had hoped. He understood various methods of improving specific skills but was unsure what started some skills in the first place. Several he knew had come from all the tinkering he carried out, but mainly, his knowledge gain had come from books. Tabs had surprised him when she explained that she had botany, mycology, herbology, and foraging skills. Kyto could only assume that she had advanced them before the skill trees were triggered due to her activities before coming of age. Tabs did not fully understand what he meant by this, and he was only guessing how she had the skills at the levels she did, considering that she had not been able to complete any foraging since her coming of age.
Tabs had started to forage in the close woods in the afternoon when she heard the grumbling sound of an engine. ‘Shit’, she thought and ran back out into the clearing. She looked over to the house and saw Kyto jumping up and down, shouting. He saw Tabs coming out of the wood and sprinted across the clearing to her.
“It works, it fucking works.” He shouted as he approached her. He ran straight up to her, picking her up and spinning her around with a look of jubilation on his face. Tabs was taken by complete surprise and just looked at him in shock.
He placed her back down, grinning, and said, “I think we have lighting. I need to go and check in the house”. And he sprinted back off to the house.
Tabs followed him, walking over. Her ankle was getting better, but it was not up to running on it. It had continually been improving in colour on her display and now had the first signs of approaching a light-yellow colour, which was the best it had ever shown before the injury. She hoped it would continue to green as the remainder of her outline was starting, too.
Kyto was whooping with joy when she reached the house. The generator was working, and he had run around the house, turning light switches on. Most of the bulbs had blown over the time they had remained dormant, but several worked, and he had moved them to the main room downstairs and the bedroom that Tabs had cleared out. Tabs also had a massive grin and could not stop herself from joining in with Kyto’s whooping. This was the happiest she had felt in such a long time.
Day four brought the most significant and precious finding for Tabs. Kyto had been rummaging through the discarded items in the garage and outbuilding, looking for some materials he could use to create a seal on the boiler, when he had come across a small hacksaw. The blade was rusted but still serviceable, and he spent several hours working on Tab’s collar until he could eventually cut through it. The raw emotion that Tabs had felt at its removal was immense, and Tabs had spent most of that day in tears of joy at the last vestiges of her slavery being discarded.
On day five, Kyto managed to seal the boiler correctly and get it working. The problem was that the water pump would not work, and Kyto could not seem to fix it. This meant that even though the boiler worked, they could not provide heat to the house. They had initially thought the house had a water supply as the taps had eventually started to run brown sludgy water after leaving them running. Still, Kyto had discovered that this was because there was a water tank fed from the river. The problem was that once the remains of what had once been water had run through the pipes, the tank was not refilling. He had discovered that the pump that fed the tank and the boiler were frozen and did not work, and when he inspected them both, he found that they were beyond any repairs that he could carry out. This had frustrated him, but with the stream down the end of the clearing, it was not too much of a problem to fetch buckets of water as they needed them. Kyto had thought he might be able to work out some sort of pump eventually and get it to the property more easily. With no water supply, though, they could not have heating even with the oil boiler working. They had even built a more permanent cooking area outside using mesh from an old wire fence as a grill. They had more than enough wood for fuel from the surrounding woodland and spent time heating water on the upstairs bedroom fire to fill one of the baths. That had been a luxury that they had both enjoyed. They took turns having a bath, and Tabs didn’t think Kyto would ever get back out. He spent so long in there.
They knew the surrounding area was full of Wild Ones as they heard them calling throughout the day and night, but nothing yet had shown itself to be dangerous. They had witnessed Wild Ones who did visit the front clearing to graze. They always stopped and observed them to make sure, but nothing even approached the building.
On day six, Kyto had spent some time building and setting up some snares in the overgrown areas by the woods. He was not 100% sure whether he was doing it correctly as he was not skilled in hunting or trapping, but he hoped he could catch some Earlopper. They were small creatures with large round ears. They were speedy Wild Ones and fed on berries. He used to see them on the farm when he was a boy. Jasper would take him out and set up snares, and they could be made into a lovely stew if he could catch any. He still remembered Nanna showing him how to butcher them and remove all the inedible parts.
They had gotten into a routine without realising it. Kyto went out every morning and evening to check the snares and reset them, as they often appeared to have been triggered, but he had still not caught anything.
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Tabs spent much time foraging and sorting through what she had collected. Certain elements, she knew, should not be eaten whole and had to be prepared in a certain way.
Tabs had told Kyto about staying here much longer, and he was starting to warm up to the idea. He liked being on the move, but the fact they had found such a tranquil and well-supplied location was a rarity.
They had found their piece of heaven.
∆∆∆
The Wild One had been watching them from the woods. It had come and gone over the past couple of nights and watched the creatures by the house. It had decided tonight, though, that it would visit them. It didn’t know what they were. It had never seen anything like them, but they looked pretty tasty. The Wild One half-scuttled and slithered across the open field from the woods and approached the porch at the front of the house. It was nearly eighteen feet long and had four stubby legs that looked ridiculous in comparison to the size of its body, but the way it moved, it used its body and tail as much as its legs. Its skin was scaled and changed colour, allowing it to camouflage in virtually any surrounding. It had a head about a foot wide, tapered down to a narrower snout, and jaws filled with teeth shaped like a saw. Its bite was potent when it gripped its prey, as it could move its lower jaw backwards and forwards, cutting through flesh and bone before swallowing chunks of its game. It would occasionally swallow prey whole if they were not too large, as its jaw could dislocate, and its mouth could open very wide if needed. If it did that, though, it lost its power in its bite, so it only ever used that ability when in a safe place with incapacitated prey.
It reached the rear porch of the property. It pushed its snout against the back door and did not move. It had seen the creatures move it this way and could not understand why. The bottom of the door was made of a transparent material, and it pushed against it, and there was a cracking sound as it gave way and broke. It slowly moved forward, climbing and slithering through the gap, its thick hide protecting it from the sharp fragments remaining in the frame. It froze as it entered the building but could not hear any sound. It opened its jaws slightly and tasted the air with its tongue. It could sense the creatures above it, so it went through the building. It moved up the stairs, silently blending into the worn, dark wooden colour of the staircase. It reached the landing and saw a soft glow under the door. It moved to the doorway and cautiously pushed it open. The door creaked slightly, and it froze. It could see the two creatures curled up next to each other on a bed, neither making a sound nor moving at the door creaking. It moved to within striking distance of them, opening its mouth.
Its tongue flicked out at lightning speed, lancing across the dimly lit room. It caught one of the creatures around its leg with its barbed tongue and yanked it towards its mouth.
Kyto screamed in pain as he was dragged roughly off the bed. His leg was burning from whatever had grabbed him; it felt like a hundred tiny needles had punctured his skin at once. He tried to see what had attacked him, and in his state of disorientation, he could not see anything apart from a set of jaws which he was being dragged towards. Panic-stricken, he started to try and hit and kick out at what must be a tongue wrapped around his leg that was slowly pulling him towards the rows of teeth he could see in its mouth.
Tabs awoke in a panic and sat bolt upright, trying to understand what was happening. Something had grabbed Kyto and was dragging him towards it. She leapt off the bed, looking for something to use to attack it. The first thing to hand was a stool by a dressing table. She picked it up and moved around the end of the bed. She could not see a body clearly in the light from the dimmed table lamp in the bedroom, which appeared blurred. The only visible sign was the inside of its mouth. She launched the stool at the mouth of the Wild One. As the stool reached its jaws, it released its tongue from Kyto, and they snapped down with such force that the stool was splintered. It turned its head and hissed at Tabs, opening its mouth and flicking its tongue towards her.
She dove sideways by the far side of the bed, and the tongue flicked against empty air where she had been standing a second earlier. Kyto was crying out in pain, and she could see that his leg was bleeding. She stooped down and picked up the nearest item at hand, her boots, and hurled them at the Wild One. It slithered sideways out of the way and then started moving towards her. It streaked forward at an unnatural speed for its size around the side of the bed, and Tabs just managed to jump on top of the bed before its jaws snapped shut. She could see nothing else to use to attack the beast, so she pulled the blanket off the bed and threw herself at it.
The Wild One was confused, ‘Creatures do not attack me. They run or die, and not many can outrun me. This one was annoying.' The other one wasn’t going anywhere. It knew that its venom would set in soon and would paralyse it. The creature then surprised it even more. It was trying to attack it. 'Nothing attacked it, it was the apex hunter, and nothing could harm it.'
Tabs landed on top of the beast with the blanket covering its head. It started to writhe and twist underneath her, but she wasn’t going to let go. She wrapped her arms and legs around its body as best as possible and reached forward with the blanket, trying to wrap it around its jaws. Her blood was coursing through her veins, and her breathing was coming in gasps as she struggled to hold the Wild One’s jaws closed. She held on as tight as she could with her arms holding the blanket in place. She could feel it trying to open its jaw but could not with the pressure Tabs exerted around it. Tabs was not weak, but this Wild One was powerful. She instinctively knew she had to keep its jaws closed.
It squirmed under her and rolled, and she held on for dear life as it took her with it. The wind was knocked from her as it flicked itself over by its tail. She was determined not to let go but could already feel the burning in her muscles from trying to hold onto the writhing Wild One. She thought this thing had just attacked the man she cared for, ‘wait, what, I do yes’. The steel and determination she suddenly felt renewed her strength, and her body was flooded with an unwavering sense of power as her display was triggered.
Your endurance has reached level 15.
Through sheer determination and the will to survive, you have triggered the hidden skill of Last Stand. This skill allows you to double your brawling and defensive capabilities through resounding fortitude for a limited time. Special requirements – the skill may only be used once daily, and after it wears off, it will exhaust the user.
Tabs grabbed the end of the blanket, pulled it as tight as she could around its head, and managed to get it to the other side, where she gradually worked it to tie the ends together. Eventually, she succeeded as she started to feel the strength wavering in her body. She slowly released her arms from around its head. The Wild One continued to thrash around, and she jumped onto the bed out of the way, but it could no longer open its jaws. The thing's head was covered by the blanket apart from one eye, and now that it was tied off, it could do nothing with its jaws or tongue to harm her. Tabs glanced at Kyto and saw he was not moving.
It was so angry that it could not open its mouth. Whatever the creature had done, it could not bite or use its venom. It started to slither and push backwards with its legs across the room, passing the now unconscious form of the other creature. ‘I just want to eat.’ it thought. The animal on the bed started to come at it again, this time with a wild-eyed frenzy. It had seen creatures panic but never attack it like this. The creature bent down and picked up the remains of the object it had thrown at it before and went to strike it.
‘It should not do that.’ It wasn’t sure what to do; it had never lost a fight before and had never considered losing, never mind having to retreat. It mulled it over fleetingly before deciding it better had. It flicked its tail around with such force that it hit the creature and sent it flying across the room. It then turned and returned as fast as it could outside.
Its tail caught Tabs in the midriff. She felt like a tree had just hit her. She flew backwards against the wall, cracking her head and slid to the floor. Stars appeared in her eyes, and her display was triggered.
Tail strike hits you, causing blunt force trauma and 30% damage.
Tab's outline went dark yellow as her whole body suffered from the impact of the wall, and her ankle turned red again. ‘Shit, that hurt.’ She saw the beast scuttling out of the doorway. She got up, wincing in pain, and moved to Kyto. His eyes were closed, but she could hear him breathing. She painfully dragged him up onto the bed, every muscle in her body screaming at her with the effort and her ankle burning again in pain. She then went to the leading lights and turned them on. The brightness from the bulb overhead made her blink, and it took her a few seconds to see clearly. She looked at his leg, and it was covered in tiny puncture wounds. She went into the bathroom, grabbed a cloth and a bucket of water, and cleaned the worst of the blood away from the wounds. Even though it had looked nasty, the wounds themselves were just small puncture wounds. She could see tiny black rings around each wound. She thought it must have been venomous and dragged Kyto further up the bed so his head rested on a pillow.
She didn’t want to leave him but had to check on the Wild One. She grabbed her boots from where she had flung them, pulled them on as best as possible over her swollen ankle again, and hobbled out the door. Her whole body ached, and the burning in her muscles was unlike anything she had felt before as she went down the stairs, stopping in the front room to grab a metal bar they had been using at the fireplace. The Wild One was crossing the field at the rear of the property. It was shaking its head from side to side, frantically trying to loosen the blanket from around its jaws. She wasn’t going to let it go and staggered towards it.
It heard the creature's groans before it saw it. It was attacking it again! It was in shock. It didn’t know what to do. It took another swipe at the creature with its tail but missed it, and it swung an object down at it. It tried to move out of the way but wasn’t quite quick enough. It felt the object strike and felt pain in its front leg. It went to put weight on it and slither away, but the creature had injured its leg, and it dragged uselessly by its side, hampering its movement. The creature swung at it again, and it could not move fast enough. The Wild One can last remember the object, striking it on its head before falling unconscious.
Tabs had hit the beast with all the strength she could muster. She knew that only the last elements of adrenaline pumping through her veins were keeping her going. She felt exhausted. She caught one of its legs with her first strike, triggering her display, and heard a crack.
Hit Gatorthon for 15% damage.
It tried to move out of the way but could not move fast enough as she struck down with the metal bar on the top of its head.
Hit Gatorthon for 10% damage, incapacitating it.
The Wild One stopped moving and became still. She stood back from it, gasping for breath, and her heart racing. She gave it another two substantial blows to the head and then drove the metal bar down into its skull before collapsing at its side.
Hit Gatorthon for 10% damage.
Hit Gatorthon for 10% damage.
A critical piercing hit caused to Gatorthon for 60% damage.
Gatorthon dies.
She had to get back to the house to check on Kyto. Tabs slowly forced herself to stand and staggered back to the house. She dragged herself up the stairs to the bedroom, closing and locking the bedroom door behind her and eventually collapsing on the bed next to Kyto. She rested her hand on his forehead, and it was cold and clammy, but she had no strength left and, within moments, lost consciousness at his side.