Note(s): Hi. Now: Go on. Read the story.
If any text is messed up, blame the site. It ate words I guess.
Chapter 2-1:1
The girl opened the door and made her way into the hallway.
The wooden floors and blank walls were blank as she crept forwards. It took the girl a moment to be struck by how the darkened passage stretched onwards eventually shrouding itself in an unseeable inky blackness.
She paused, a feeling of dread weighing itself on her as she tried —and failed— to perceive anything through the pitch. The air around her was quiet, almost unnaturally so, and yet she could feel a draft flowing past her from somewhere down the hall.
Warily, she gazed over her shoulder to where she'd come from, finding it too had been shrouded in more of the same impenetrable darkness. A shiver ran through the girl as it seemed to follow, almost in step, behind her.
With little choice, her feet once again began to shuffle forwards, subtle creaks in the floorboards beneath accompanied her soft steps.
A little further on and she noticed a small waist high table nestled against the right wall. Most of the objects on it were various forms of pottery or silverware of varying qualities; nothing of any real worth except for possibly the small settee situated next to it. The upholstery of the 'seat-for-one' was especially ugly, but looked somehow inviting.
She ran a tentative hand over the armrest, comforted by its softness.
A slow yawn rose and escaped from her lips. Though she tried to wave it away, she felt herself drawn to sit in the piece of furniture.
She tried to resist, but found escaping the urge was impossible, and before she knew it she was slumping into the seat.
The girl could almost feel it conform to her figure as she sunk into it. Her head leaned back against the cushion, soft yet firm, and let her eyes drift closed.
A smell filled her senses. It was different. Earthy… Almost musty…
For some reason her body began to feel achy. Not to mention a dull throbbing of a headache to go along with it.
Sounds of nearby hushed conversations could be heard, coupled with the occasional chirps of bugs and animals.
Her eyes creaked open, groaning as she did, the task much harder than she'd expected it to be. She was greeted with a familiar boy's face hovering in the center of her vision, his golden eyes wide like saucers.
"Rex?" she muttered, holding her head, the boy's expression softening with relief as she spoke.
"Rex, how did you—?" She tried righting herself only to be met by a scratchy mat of white and charred black fur mashing itself into her face. She found her half open mouth practically stuffed with its gagging fibers as the mass let out a content purr. It didn't help either that his fur smelled strongly of char.
"Dromarch— Agh! Hey..." Nia grumbled, still spitting out the Blade's burnt hairs. "Get... off…!" She subtly pushed his furry body out of her face.
Taking the hint, the Blade backed off resting back on to his hind legs. "Apologies, my lady. I couldn't help myself..." He apologized with a quick bow, the relief in his voice more than evident.
"It's ok. I'm just as happy to see you as well." She smiled and leaned forwards into him, her body still aching, and hugged his neck taking care to avoid the burnt patches of his pelt.
The two let the moment come, settle, and eventually pass, separating as she patted behind his ears.
Nia turned back to Rex, finding the boy kneeling only a little bit away, a dumb grin smeared across his lips. Behind him, a fair distance away, she spotted the red-headed Aegis standing, watching them quietly with her hands laced within one another at her stomach.
The mysterious girl was just as she'd remembered from aboard The Ark.
For a moment their gazes met, before the Aegis abruptly averted hers.
She warily eyed the distanced girl.
"We were worried you wouldn't wake up." Rex spoke up, worn looking but still quite chipper. "How do you feel?"
"I feel like crap…" She grumbled, massaging her arms and legs. "But I think I'm alright."
"Yeah… you were looking pretty rough there for a while." He smiled. "Dromarch was with you the entire time. He just couldn't stop worrying."
"Did he now?" She said, looking to her Blade with a knowing grin. Dromarch meanwhile bowed his head sheepishly.
Her eyes traced back towards Rex noticing an array of bruises, scratches, and cuts maring his skin. Though she tried her best to ignore it, she lingered on the exposed glowing cross-shaped emerald core crystal nestled beneath the center of his collar bone.
Internally, she swallowed, and forced herself to look away and do a once over of herself, finding herself to be in a similar state with her own yellow jumpsuit sporting a few tears in the sleeves and legs.
She'd have to take a needle and thread to it later…
It didn't help either that her gloves had been ripped at the tips, with mud encrusting itself the tops of them.
Wait... mud?
She gazed around at their surroundings.
The Gormotti found herself in a small clearing within a foggy forested marshland to be exact. One that was home to enormously large trees which climbed high, higher than any right to be, into the air above, their winding and twisting branches spreading out and hiding the sky with a dense canopy. Only slivers of light reached down through the foliage and pervasive blanket of fog glowing faintly upon their skin.
Unfortunately, the almost picturesque scenery was interrupted with a deep and wide gouge dug through the center of the area. Where the gouge ended, conveniently at the edge of the clearing, a pile of collapsed trees were stacked, various scatterings of ammunition and a large spear or two nearly twice her size littered everywhere. To top it all off, the kicked up ground was stained an unnatural deep purple.
For some reason, a messy squirming sensation began to bother her stomach.
"Rex: " Her brow creased, "What happened?"
"Uh well… I'm not too sure where we are myself." He answered truthfully, looking to the crimson-haired girl as quietly she approached and knelt with them. "When I saw you get flung over the side of The Ark I kinda… just… moved. Y'know?"
She searched her memory, her thoughts still somewhat of a jumbled mess. "I do remember someone catching me… That was you?"
"Y-yeah, that was me alright." He let out a low chuckle, self-consciously scratching the back of his head. "So yeah, I caught you and we were stuck. We were going to get overrun by the ship Malos and that Jin guy were using. That's when Gramps swooped in and pulled us out of there. He even was able to get Pyra and Dromarch as well!"
"And we could've avoided this all if you'd just listened to me!" A small —for lack of a better description— fuzzy creature exclaimed with a high-pitched shrill yet gravelly voice, appearing from behind Rex's shoulder.
Nia's eyes bulged out of her head, nearly jumping a full foot backwards."R-rex what the heck is that thing!" She yelped, pointing a finger at the thing.
Rex blinked at her mystified, before he lit up. "Oh! This is just Gramps." He explained, taking the small creature from over his shoulder with both hands, "See?" holding it out to her like it was a toy. "He's a lot smaller now… But he's the same as he ever was."
Smaller? Wait, so the Titan that attacked the Monoceros That was —or rather— this is his...
Rex's words from the day prior echoed back to her.
"Think bigger."
"And thankfully so! I thought you'd still be screaming and crying your eyes out if I hadn't said something." The apparent 'Gramps' chided, crossing its small limbs.
The boy nearly choked. "Ack- Hey! You don't have to bring that up!" He hurriedly turned 'Gramps' around toward him. " We thought you were dead! All that blood… You were giving this big farewell speech... You even faded— turned into little ether bits!"
"And I told you not to cry!" 'Gramps' responded somewhat indignant. "But you were just beside yourself! What was I supposed to say? That I would avoid certain death and be able to revert back to a larval form?"
"Yes!" Rex belted, his voice rising an octave or so. "You were!"
Nia watched the animated exchange between Rex and the 'Gramps' creature unfold, her eyes squinting more and more as it carried on. The creature reminded her of a stuffed animal, It almost didn't look real: soft downy white fur, small pink undeveloped wings on its back, a tiny horn protruding from its head, small pucker of a mouth, cutely wagging tail, and a coin-sized light blue glowing core crystal on its chest.
"Nia?" Rex spoke her name suddenly.
She blinked, coming back to reality to realize they were both looking at her again. She quickly realized her eyes had nowhere to escape to, and so eventually they fell on 'Gramps'.
As she did, the now 'mini'-Titan wiggled its small webbed ears at her and blinked, cocking its head.
Nia grimaced, barely able to stomach the inherently cute gesture. Quickly, she looked to Rex for some sort of answer to find he'd also mimicked the pose.
The Gormotti opened her mouth to breach the obvious question on her mind, but the words sank back down and she instead shook her head, grumbling a low, "Nevermind..."
Rex and Gramps exchanged questioning looks between one another.
"You can tell the full story later." She grunted, wobbling as she tried to stand up. The aches of her body, still a solid reminder of recent events.
"Nia? Hold on. Let me help you." Rex offered, starting to get up, which she refused with a wave of her hand as she managed to finally get to her feet.
"I'm fine now, I told you this already. Furthermore, do we even know where we are?" She asked the three sitting on the ground in front of her, growing more critical as they gave a collective shrug between one another.
"If I may: " Dromarch broached, turning her attention to him, " My lady, Sir Rex was rather worried about your condition. It was him that elected to stay with you till you awoke."
She glanced at Rex, recognizing a meek smile directed toward her. Failing to suppress it, she let a half-hearted smile one of her own slip. Typical for a kid like him.
"Young lady, I think I do have something I would like to add." Gramps piped up. "I couldn't see well since it was early morning and I was fighting to stay conscious, but before we crashed I could tell we were descending downwards."
Nia crossed her arms, her smile falling again as she contemplated the information. "Hmm... Alright, that's fine. Thank you." She nodded gratefully, letting her arms fall. "I'm going to go take a look around then. Dromarch: can you make sure these three don't wander off— Maybe check up on their wounds?"
Her Blade nodded obediently just as Rex was trying to get to his feet.
"Nia, hold on I'm coming with!"
The Gormotti's outstretched hand to stop him in his tracks. He looked uneasily from her hand toward her face. "I'm just going to go to the edge of the clearing to take a look around a little. That's it."
Rex swallowed, reluctantly digesting her words.
"Seriously, you're acting like a lost child. I'm ok, alright?" She reassured him backhandedly. "Focus on yourself for a little bit while I do this."
He frowned looking a little hurt, as— without another word —she turned and began trudging to the edge of the clearing. The loamy dirt yielded slightly to her weight while the patches of lush grass slipped small droplets of water onto her muddied boots. All the while, the ever rising trees high above seemed to tower that much more now.
The Gormotti stopped short of the clearing's edge. The flora and fauna up close was thick and overgrown, blocking any sight beyond. Creating a path forward would be difficult…
Her brow creased, scanning where they might be able to cut through; that is until something caught her eyes.
It was a small shrub with spade shaped leaves- A fairly common looking plant that would be quickly dismissed by the less observant were it not for the dustings of what looked like white powder in the creases of the cuticles of the leaves.
"This is…?" She mumbled, taking some of the powder and rubbing it between her pointer finger and thumb.
It took her only moment to recognize the distinctly pungent yet familiarly cutting sour smell filling her nostrils. "Vinegar leaf." A small smile creeped onto her lips. It was nice to find something she could recognize so quickly, growing here.
But then... where was 'here'? There was a nagging feeling in the back of her skull. Like the answer should've been obvious.
Still without much of an idea of what to do, she turned her attention to the nearby pile of collapsed trees and discarded ammunition.
Her eyes drifted to the trees themselves, an idea occurring to her. The nagging feeling still present, she held her lips tightly together and approached the scene, keenly aware the rest of the group's eyes were on her at the moment.
At first glance the trees themselves didn't look out of the ordinary; they looked like any other tree you'd see. Tall, strong, and more than likely to be incredibly old.
She knelt down and peered at their cracked and split bases. Instead of rings, she found that the trunk appeared to be made of a bunch of jumbled pieces. She ran a hand over it, causing a few more loose pieces to fall out and onto the ground.
Confused, she picked up one of the pieces. Oddly enough, it seemed to retain its shape from where it fell out. Experimentally, she returned the chip to the trunk, finding that it fit perfectly. Just like a puzzle.
"Puzzle wood…" She muttered under her breath.
No sooner had she said it that the nagging feeling became full blown. It made sense now. Gormott. There was no doubt of it.
"My lady?"
Nia nearly whirled on the spot to find a questioning Dromarch looking back at her.
They exchanged looks between one another before she did her best to recover as smoothly as she could. "Er… Sorry. What is it Dromarch?"
"I was going to ask if my lady had found something," He cleared his throat justly, "but it appears my question may've already been answered."
She averted her gaze at the statement, noticing both the Aegis and Rex quietly ogling them from afar, the pair quickly looking elsewhere when they saw her watching them.
Nia squinted slightly at them, eventually returning her attention to her Blade. "Right, but before that though…" She motioned discreetly in the pair's direction, "how are they doing?"
"They both seem a little worn down right now. Likely because of recent events." The Blade hummed clinically. "Most of their wounds seem to be superficial at worst, but miraculously they both seem to be quite healthy. Though there is one thing that does somewhat concern me for their conditions..."
Nia grew pensive. "It is about that core crystal on the kid's chest?"
Dromarch gave a half nod. "Yes. Or rather, I believe that is part of it..."
"Alright." She nodded, pursing her lips. "We can talk more later, then."
Her Blade nodded in agreeance, before he prompted her with his initial question again. Though a little hesitant, she explained her findings to him.
"I see… At least, we'll be in familiar territories then." The Blade queried once her explanation had concluded.
"Yeah." The Gormotti girl grumbled, gazing in Rex's direction again.
The boy and the Aegis looked to be conversing quietly amongst themselves, more than likely out of boredom. She couldn't blame them; they'd probably been waiting on her for a while now, and that wasn't even counting her being passed out for who knows how long.
"So, what will our next course of action be, my lady?" Dromarch asked.
She blinked, and looked to her Blade, finding him sending an expectant look her way.
Nia huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "I guess we've delayed it long enough..." She admitted, digging the tip of her boot into the soft dirt. "Come on."
The mud beneath slopped and gurgled beneath Rex's footfalls as they trekked onwards. Nia led their quintet with Dromarch following closely at her side, while he and Pyra followed closely behind. Meanwhile, Gramps had taken up residence inside his helmet which he'd clipped to his back.
He thumbed the hilt of his trusty but worn makeshift sword clipped to his backside, happy to have found it still attached to himself when he first awoke. The other sword, the one he'd found and used with Pyra to fight Malos, he'd slung over his shoulder by jury-rigging some of his outfit's belts as a sling.
In fact, they'd managed to save most of the items they'd brought along onto the Ark and during the ensuing fighting as well. Namely, their weapons and what small supplies they brought with them.
While quite a stroke of luck on their parts, the supplies they did salvage were not entirely that useful for situations such as theirs. These items included: a large ball of yarn, a compact box with a clamshell design filled with sewing needles of various sizes, and a pack of meat preserves containing a dozen small meat patties inside ready to be enjoyed at any time.
The meat preserves had been a last minute addition on his part, having bought them the day before they'd left, in case he got hungry. He didn't get time to question Nia about the needles and yarn, as the moment he showed them to her she snatched and pocketed them without even a word.
All in all: it wasn't much. But at least having something was a lot better than nothing at all.
Their surroundings had turned from mostly dark but occasionally brightened by a stray beam of sunlight here or there to just dark and murky quite a while ago with the canopy of leaves becoming a ceiling of twisted crossing knotted roots.
While he was happy to see his newly-made friend up and moving again, he couldn't help but wonder if she was truly alright especially with how roughed up she appeared to be: The tears in her jumpsuit, scattered dark bruises shining across her skin, her beige hair singed at its edges...
To her credit, she was still throwing a half hearted insult his way, or commenting on his childish behavior. It gave him some comfort to see that, but a part of him still couldn't help but worry for his friend's wellbeing.
And it didn't help that she'd been really quiet as they walked. He knew the reason why, of course.
And to be fair, it was a pretty good reason too.
Where the clearing seemed remote but somehow safe, the now dark, hazy marshland they plodded through was almost labyrinthian, with a patchy fog obscuring the way forwards in a hazy grayness while closely packed behemoth-like trees squeezed them tightly.
The going was rough, and without her guidance and focus they probably would've gotten turned around long ago.
Incidentally, she had told him that they were called 'Puzzle Wood'. Apparently, unlike the simple rings all the trees back home had, the insides of these trees' trunks were arranged with little pieces inside forming what looked like a puzzle. Add to this that their growth rates were beyond extraordinary, growing 1/16th of a ped yearly, and that they were only indigenous to Gormott due to how much moisture was needed for them to grow— and you had one heck of a tree.
Rex had never really taken much notice or time to ponder the many different trees in existence before, mainly because there was no need to. But now... as he passed these ones and dared to gaze upward to follow their trunks up to the woody roof above…
He wondered if perhaps starting now wasn't such a bad idea.
… … ...
Another step, another splort from the ground below. Something flickered in the left most corner of his vision. Rex turned his head to follow it, finding a small dark shape darting onto one of the nearby tree trunks.
Squinting at it, he could recognize a small dark form with four legs, its beady eyes trained on them intently. Nia had told him these were called Serpentine Lizards: mainly recognizable for their dark slimy pitted scales similar to that of other serpents. They were mostly harmless, only eating things smaller than themselves.
And this one had to be the twentieth one he'd seen so far.
Come to think of it, they had either been squeezing their way through the cramped trees, picking through ankle deep mud, or stopping to rest interchangeably for a while now.
Of course, there were always signs of a way out as well.
There had been a rare instance or two where the fog cleared as they passed by hazy vistas, which provided a view of massive voids of open air plummeting down into the Cloud Sea roiling and flowing far far below. While breathtaking to see, they were also a little comforting as well, they provided a view of the harsh foggy light spewing from beyond, likely where the Gormott Titan ended and only the open air lay beyond.
But even with these morale boosts, their scenery had changed very little still. Now they had begun slogging through a more swampy part of the marshlands, with ankle high waters splashing and swirling with every step they took.
Though he'd been able to keep it to himself for a while now, he was getting impatient.
"So, how far do you think we'll have to walk?" Rex asked, the water getting just a little deeper now.
"Dunno, we're just looking for something man-made right now." Nia replied loosely, another one of her boots squishing into the wet mud. "If we are where I think we are, then we might find some old paths or something we can use for guidance."
"Huh." He replied with a short huff.
"Are you getting tired, Sir Rex?" Dromarch asked, warily turning his head back towards him.
The boy shook his head, stretching his arms upwards behind his head as they marched on. "Just wondering if we're ever going to get out of this place."
"We're not lost, if that's what you're getting at." Nia responded snapily, not bothering to slow her pace. "You noticed those fruits right? The ones that glow?" The Gormotti girl pointed to a trio of the fruits growing higher up on one of the puzzle wood trees they passed.
"Yeah? What about them?" He asked, arching a brow.
"Those don't naturally grow from these trees. They're actually from the hardy fruit bearing vines that climb up the trunks. Thing is, they aren't normally found in darker places as they need a larger amount of sunlight to glow, or even grow for that matter."
"Alright that makes some sense, so how did they— oh!" He audibly gaped, upon realizing her point. "So some people placed those around probably to act as markers to follow!"
"Exactly." Nia concurred. "We've been following them for a bit now, so we're bound to find a path or something that leads us out of here."
Rex smiled to himself, relieved. He even noticed Pyra, immediately to his right, quietly mirroring his expression as well.
Before he could celebrate his mental deduction any longer as they walked, the muffled sound of distant water crashing and falling came into earshot.
"You hear that?" Nia asked openly, stopping in her tracks.
"Yeah..." He muttered, listening a little longer, keeping in mind the water pooling where his foot ended and his calf started.
"Probably some type of stream or waterfall, but those don't usually end up coming through areas of the Titan like this..." The Gormotti girl seemed conflicted about something as her arms crossed and she gazed down into the liquid beneath them. "But it's probably where a lot of this water might've come from."
"Is the water usually drinkable?" Gramps asked, popping out from the helmet and over his shoulder. "I'm pretty parched myself, and I'm not sure how long it has been since we all had a drink."
The moment he heard this Rex became aptly aware of how dry his own lips were. Realizing this, he pulled a canteen from his belt he'd kept handy for just such an occasion. To his own disappointment though, he couldn't even hear a tinkle come from inside the container as he shook it.
Nia must've realized as well as he noticed her lips rubbed against one another; A thought clearly rolling about in her mind. Meanwhile, Rex licked his lips thirstily, trying his best to not seem too eager.
Finally, she nodded. "Yeah, I guess we can give it a go. Maybe clean ourselves up a bit too..." She said, warily looking in the direction of the noise. "Steams and waterfalls— if they are flowing fast enough —usually leave anything dirty at the bottom of the riverbeds leading into them."
A happy sigh had nearly escaped his lips before she quickly turned back to them. "The thing is, we don't want to be stuck deep in a place like this when it gets dark."
"Getting lost in the darkness would be a bit of a bother..." Gramps admitted, resting himself on Rex's shoulder.
"Not only that, but there's the wildlife as well." Nia followed up.
"How do you mean?" Rex asked innocently. "All we've seen is some small lizards, or the occasional fist sized bug.."
Nia eyed him warily. "That's what you'd usually find during the day, but nocturnal life here is a different story entirely."
"'Different'?" He asked, cocking a brow
She sighed, crossing her arms again. "I'd rather us be in a place with more light and security when night comes— And it's not that I'm not saying we don't get water —I'd just rather all of us be aware of what we're doing before we stray off for some water."
"The young lady makes a good case, Rex—" Gramps pointed out, "if not a bit blunt with her words..." murmuring the latter half.
Rex swallowed nervously, digesting the implications. "Alright, I see your meaning. Sorry..."
Her features softened at his admittance, her mouth falling into a stretched grimace. "Listen," She rubbed her arm self-consciously, " I already didn't feel amazing when we started walking, and now, after hours of walking, I'm more than a bit tired right now."
His brow arched just a tad. She didn't seem like she was tired when he looked at her, but…
Her shoulders were slouched, back bent forward slightly, a layer of sweat had plastered her bangs to her forehead. To complete the look, there were rips and tears in her outfit with boots so caked in mud you'd be forgiven for thinking they were made of the stuff.
A pang of guilt shot through him, his jaw reactively setting itself.
"I don't know how you're feeling, but if we push too hard on a detour we'd be helpless when nightfall comes." She huffed, letting her words sink in for a moment. "I just want us to be aware of the risks we're taking here in doing that."
Her sudden honesty and empathy toward their situation, and him for that matter, surprised him somewhat considering how tight lipped she'd been until now. That probably meant she was being serious with him.
While he considered this, a thought popped up in the back of his head.
Nia had been the one to take the brunt force of a cannon blast, saving his and Pyra's lives in the process. Not to mention all the running and fighting beforehand… Even someone like a Driver would be winded after that, nevermind trekking through a swampy mazey forest the very next day.
He'd not thought much of it, but shouldn't he be fatigued as well? Of course, he'd been through a lot as well. Having been brought back to life, subsequently fought for his life—
"Rex?"
He blinked, coming out of his train of thought to find Pyra giving him a questioning look.
"Rex, Nia is asking if you would be alright with making camp after we gather water."
"Oh! Uh- yeah! That's fine with me, as long as it's safe." He managed, giving a still waiting Nia a quick nod.
The Gormotti girl's face was wary, as she returned a nod of her own. "Good. Fine, then lets get some water and see if there's a place we can settle here won't get us all killed."
With that, the group pivoted and began trudging toward their new aim of both gathering water and hopefully finding shelter for the long night ahead..
… … …
The crashing of the falls was deafening, and the air was filled with a chilling mist as the trees finally parted before them.
"Wow..." Rex gaped, taking the misty scene in.
A massive wall of clear water roiled before them, dumping itself into the far end of an immense plunge pool, practically prying apart the land of any growth or trees with its strong current.
Experimentally, he sniffed at the air: it might've just been the mist, but somehow the air smelled somewhat metallic.
"This would be our waterfall, I presume?" Dromarch asked.
"Didn't see any other ones around here." Nia answered dryly, taking a kneeling position. "Give me a few minutes and let me make sure we don't run into anything especially hungry, alright?"
He and Pyra both nodded, taking a few steps back and hunkering down to give the Gormotti girl room to observe while Dromarch crept beside her to assist.
While they waited, Rex's eyes traveled up the falls to their peak. Despite the less than comfortable temperature and dank conditions, the water almost seemed to sparkle as it flowed.
If that water wasn't clean, then it definitely had to at least be drinkable.
"Don't see stuff like this in Leftheria..." He quietly mused, mesmerized by the scene.
Rex glanced at Pyra, finding her observing the same scene with a similar amount of interest.
Was she just as fascinated by the sight as he was?
It wasn't until Pyra gave him a curious look that he realized he'd been staring. "Is something wrong Rex?" she asked, head tilting a little.
"O-oh! No! I was just wondering where you think all this water is coming from, is all." He managed, quickly rubbing at his mouth to expertly hide it while averting himself to cover up his embarrassment.
She blinked once, then again, showing no recognition of his awkwardness, before bringing a contemplative finger to her chin. "Um… I would have to say it's probably a water source from somewhere else on the titan— like a lake or maybe a natural spring nearby."
"Huh… Yeah, that's probably it." He muttered, doing his best to overcome his own discomfort as he looked to the plunge pool and the river that followed.
Watching it flow through the eroded land, he could still pick out some patches of long grass poking through the water's surface coupled with gnarled tree roots bending upwards then dipping down into the water again. There was even a bulbous rock or four sticking out of the water.
Yep, definitely not something you'd find in Leftheria. Not even the places he'd visited with Gramps while they'd been salvaging around Goldmouth could even remotely compare.
He was definitely a long way from home.
Thankfully for him, he didn't have to stare very long as Nia stood up with a satisfied look. "I think we're good. Let's get going."
And, just like that, all of them were clambering up the bank toward the base of the waterfall. Because of the raging river, they had to skirt both the treeline and the steep downward angle that accompanied it. Yet again, Nia kept a close eye on them all, directing where they all stepped so they didn't stumble, crash, and then get carried off in the water.
The rush of the river so close to his feet kept Rex watching his every step. In fact, he was so busy watching where he stepped that he notice Dromarch firmly parked in his path.
"W-whoa!" He yelped, crashing over the large feline like a ragdoll. He'd half expected the Blade to crumple under his weight, but instead he was slammed hard in the chest by the Blade's immovable back.
"Sir Rex, my apologies!" Dromarch quickly apologized, raising his voice over the roar of the falls; Rex, meanwhile, had almost comically slipped off the Blade's back and landed rear-first onto the muddy dirt below.
"It's fine," he groaned, loud as he could, idly rubbing at his now throbbing ribs, "just didn't see you, is all..."
He'd only been sitting there for a few seconds when Pyra's face filled his vision as she hunched down.
"Are you ok, Rex?" She asked, concern marking her features while she strained her soft voice over the resounding falls.
"Ah… yeah. I'm good, just took a tumble" He smiled. "I'll be up in a minute!"
Saying this, he'd continued his own ministrations on his sore ribs to surprisingly no avail. Even when he eventually got to his feet, he could still feel the slow thumps of pain resonating across his chest.
Perhaps Pyra could tell this as well, because her face had not lightened one bit even as he stood. He'd have to be careful till he could figure all this—
Something small and yet incredibly powerful grabbed his ear and tugged it back.
"REX." The voice was unmistakably Gramps, and sounding rather shaken. "While I appreciate you loaning me your helmet to sit in: PLEASE be more careful."
He quickly nodded, hoping to save his ear from further harm, quickly finding it surrendered back to him.
His face reddened, ribs still sore, ear feeling stretched, and Pyra trying her best to put on a reassuring smile despite his own rapidly falling one; Nia now quickly approached, an impatient hand on her hip.
"Are you done?" She asked, briefly glancing at him, "I'd rather us not tarry here for too long," gesturing to the water tumbling nearby. "So if we could please: do what we need to here and move along?"
"Y-yeah sorry..." He nodded, quietly trying to decide which part was more sore: his ribs, ear, or pride.
… … …
It took both organization and cooperation on all their parts due to the fall's strong current, but eventually they managed to gather enough water from it. Now, with the hard part done, they began to clean themselves up.
"Ahh…" Rex exhaled satisfyingly, as he splashed his face, the cold water removing what felt like a solid layer of sweat grime off. Not satisfied with just one go, he splashed himself once more, rubbing away any grease and dirt that might've remained. Though his chest still hurt somewhat, the refreshing feel of the water was thankfully soothing it away. "Much better." He smiled to himself, focusing back on their rag tag group.
Dromarch was busy alternating between shaking any water out of his coat and softly licking the blackened bits clean, the damaged fur strands falling out to soon be replaced.
Meanwhile, Pyra had already finished cleaning herself, using a wetted piece of cloth she'd borrowed from him to dab at and wipe any dirt off herself. It was hard to miss how thorough she was when it came to her face.
So hard to miss, in fact, he had to hastily splash his face once again.
Gramps, in the meantime, was now enjoying a nice wash from Pyra. Having already finished with herself, she slowly poured water from her cupped hands over onto him as he scrubbed himself, looking particularly delighted in being able to enjoy scratching himself in particular areas for the first time in what was likely a very long time.
While Rex did his best to avoid cracking up at the sight, it only became unbearable when Pyra, without prompting, began massaging the top of Gramp's little head with the pads of her fingers. A satisfied smile played on her lips as the small furry creature seemed to almost wiggle on the tip of her finger. And the worst part was Ol' Gramps was enjoying WAY MORE than he should've.
Steeling himself, he smacked a hand over his barely restrained smile, and following some much needed stifled exhales, he managed to pull himself together.
That only left Nia, who'd taken it upon herself to perform guard duty for the short time they were spending there. She'd taken up a post leaning against a tree a little further away from the falls, eyes shifting every so often.
Just one look at her and it was easy to tell that she'd not cleaned up or even hydrated yet, evidenced by the dirt and sweat still plastering parts of her yellow outfit and muddying her beige hair. It wasn't a pleasant look.
Even if it was necessary for their safety, according to her, it didn't seem right to him that their guide, protector, and his newly made friend not be given time to take care of herself; even with all the dangers she described.
His mouth screwed up into a frown.
Nope, it didn't sit right with him. Running herself into the ground on all of their accounts, if that's how he believed it to be, wasn't right all.
He gathered himself, took a deep breath then exhaled and began his approach.
"Hey, Nia?"
Her bronze eyes flashed over to him, bright and almost wild in the shaded light. He swallowed self-consciously and continued. "You should get some water and clean up, I can keep watch if you want."
"I was going to have Dromarch take over whenever he's finished." She replied shortly, quickly returning her attention to their surroundings.
"Oh." He answered dumbly, working up a rebuttal. "Well is there something I can do? I mean you've done a lot already, isn't there something I can do to make it up?"
Nia's gaze hardened on him, mouth pulling itself tighter as she considered his offer for a moment. "I would rather you not get yourself killed again." Her tone trained, but tired. "If that would be so much to ask."
The statement caught him off 'd not spoken about the Ark or what had happened at all. Which was fair, as it was a loaded topic.
But to tell him not to die after working with her the entire day, and even saving her life before all that… It felt like a slap in the face.
A flare of irritation boiled over within himself and his mouth curled into frown of disdain. Before he could stop himself, a charged string of words came out of his mouth. "Are you blaming me for what your friends did?"
He immediately regretted opening his mouth as the Gormotti girl nearly jumped off the tree at him, her body straightening stiff, eyes rapidly widening. "No! Never! Rex what are you—!?" Nia cut herself off. Realizing what she had said, she shut her eyes, exhaled, and pinched the bridge of her nose while her head dipped.
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!" He quickly apologized, and quite messily. "I just… I just want to be of some help here somehow! That's… That's all." He pettered off, his words having little effect on the girl as his hands balled into fists.
The poor girl looked like she was fighting back some choice words as well, and here he'd just opened up a can of worms on her. Not to mention that she looked like he opened said can and dumped it on her head as well.
Good going Rex. You and your big mouth. You idiot! You moron!
Eventually, she took a deep breath and raised her head. "Rex." Her voice was carefully measured. "I'm sorry. What I said wasn't right, and I didn't mean for it to be taken that way."
Then how was I supposed to take it? He asked himself, his mouth forming into a tight line as her response washed over him.
She was very careful with her words now, doing her best to appeal to him. "I know you've been through a lot, and you want nothing more than to help right now, but if we're going to get out of here I just need you to trust me for the moment. Dromarch and I've got this."
"I know all that, but..." He sighed, letting his balled hands fall to his sides, allowing his previous frustration to slowly drain. "You've done so much already, there must be some way I can help! It's not something I can just ignore, I owe you too much already."
Nia frowned unevenly, obviously not entirely thrilled with his insistence. Eventually, she sighed and held her dirty forehead. "Tomorrow," She grumbled, just loud enough for him to hear over the crash of the falls.
"Tomorrow?" He parroted.
Her face came back into view with something akin to a smirk. "Tomorrow, you and me." Her smirk grew unpleasantly wide. "We're going to do some training so you can properly wield and channel that Blade of yours."
"Oh!"
"At the crack of dawn." She added.
"Oh." He repeated, much less enthused this time.
"My lady?" A different, but equally familiar voice cut in.
They both practically spun to find a inquisitive Dromarch standing a few steps away from them.
"Dromarch." Nia greeted casually, nearly making Rex do a double take at her change in demeanor. "I'm guessing you're done then?"
The Blade nodded politely. "Apologies for making you wait."
She smiled warmly. "No worries, just make sure nothing sneaks up on us while I get cleaned up, and then we'll leave."
"Of course." He replied with a short dignified bow as she passed by.
Rex continued to shrewdly watch her as she walked and knelt by the bank of the river, dumbfounded, as she innocently pulled off her white gloves, revealing the dainty hands hidden beneath.
She began to splash herself to clean her face and hair, like their interaction had never happened.
He didn't know if should feel confused, angry, or just more confused. In the end, he decided to go with just being more confused and tired. With a defeated huff followed by a shake of his head, he planted himself right on the spot, right next to the ever watchful Dromarch, and watched the river.
"Hello Sir Rex, will you be keeping me company?" The tiger asked amiably, keeping his attention to their surroundings.
"I guess…" He puffed, doing one more glance over his shoulder at Nia. She was finishing with her face and was bringing wetted hands through her hair, pulling out bits of dirt while straightening any out of place strands.
Feeling eyes looking at him, he caught Gramps and Pyra watching him quizzically before returning to their own business. Rex frowned; if this was their way of protecting his self-confidence they were doing just an amazing job of it…
He returned his gaze to the river, watching as the run of water created sporadic bubbles quickly carrying them off downstream past a pair of bulbous stones clustering together beside other debris sitting in the flow.
Despite the rush of the nearby falls, it felt oddly calm here, despite the potential dangers Nia had warned of, but calm nonetheless.
Rex closed his eyes and let his mind wander, in what must have been the first time in a while. For some reason his mind kept focusing on those bubbles. When he thought about it; he was a lot like those bubbles: just being carried along into things he had no control of, or a way to avoid. Such was life; or at least his seemed to be at the moment...
"Sir Rex? If I may, could I speak to you about something? This will only take a moment." Dromarch asked gingerly.
"Mmm?" His eyes fluttered open. "Oh, yeah. Go ahead."
"Thank you." The Blade was still warily observing their surroundings as he continued. "It's about my lady— Mistress Nia, if you'd prefer."
Rex cocked a brow. 'Mistress', huh? Probably an idiosyncrasy of his.
"Try not to be too hard on her." Dromarch asked conscientiously. "She may not say, but my lady is trying to do the best she can for the moment."
Rex felt an uncomfortable weight on his chest. Of course the Blade had heard it, and probably so had Pyra and Gramps. If he was being honest, who of them could have not heard him and Nia bicker? Another blow to his self image; tally them up and he's getting real close to hitting that strikethrough.
He offered a crooked smile, shoulders falling forward a bit. "I'm not trying to be a bother, for her especially; I'm just a bit frustrated, is all."
"I could assume as much, from what I heard of that little spat." The tiger offered what Rex assumed equated to a smile.
"Do you think I'm in trouble with her?" He asked tentatively. "Apparently, she's going to be giving me Blade lessons in the morning…"
The Blade was silent for a moment. "No… I don't think so." Rex didn't miss the hint of uncertainty in his voice. "If she were angry, then I fear things would've gotten much louder."
"Duly noted." Rex replied, trying his best to see the good in the Blade's words as he got to his feet. "I'm going to see how Pyra and Gramps are doing, thank you Dromarch."
"My pleasure, Sir Rex; thank you for listening."
"Anytime." He smiled, giving the Blade and the river one last look.
The river was the same as it was when they'd first arrived, nothing had changed. A particularly big bubble gurgled up among the flow and was swept downstream. He followed it as it bounced off a bulbous rock and was— hold on.
His brow wrinkling itself did not go unnoticed.
"Sir Rex, what's wrong?" Dromarch asked, quickly noticing his bothered expression.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but…
"Dromarch, tell me:" He pointed, "Was there more than one rock over there before? Or was it just me?"
"Was there?" The Blade pondered aloud, cautiously observing the spot as well. "Now that you mention it… There may have been…"
Rex's lips pursed troublingly. Dromarch, as a precaution, slowly began backing away from the bank of the river without letting his eyes leave it.
"Should I tell the others?" He asked, his hand carefully reaching for his makeshift sword.
"If we do, then our possible predator may act unpredictably. More than likely they're probably focused on us specifically, and not the rest of the group because we're the furthest ones away. With that in mind, we'd rather have a predator we can predict than one that acts wildly; and, if it's a false alarm, then we'll avoid causing panic this way as well."
"Makes sense." He scanned the river for any more anomalies, fingering the release for his weapon.
Tensely, they watched and waited… Until…
"Sir Rex, to my right." He prompted cautiously. "See them?"
Rex flicked the release with his thumb and his weapon came loose, though he didn't dare extend it yet. Inching himself ever so, he craned his head to where the Blade had indicated. The two bulbous stones sat next one another just like he'd seen them earlier. Up close, they looked to be naturally dark and reflective.
Perhaps the rocks were sitting on top of their predator?
They were positioned such that the Blade was closest, making him it's likely intended target. If that was so, then all he needed to do was ready himself and stab and kill whatever it was.
His arm was already bringing the weapon forwards slowly, his free hand firmly grasping the grip.
Rex half glanced at Dromarch, making a subtle gesture with his weapon now directed outward and poised to extend; the other nodded, ready to strike on his move.
He inhaled slowly, then exhaled. Cautiously, his finger went for the trigger to engage and extend his weapon.
His finger was pressing down on the trigger when the rocks seemed to 'blink'. A film covered both rocks then quickly retracted, revealing two inky black pupils staring back at the both of them.
Author's Note(s): Hey there. Thanks for reading, or if you are a returning reader.
Leave some feedback if you want to, I'd appreciate it.
Special thanks to LearnTheRopes for betaing and helping edit this.