(Fractalyst – In All Its Magnificence)
The fever that assaulted Ruby's body began to grow roots in her mind as well. She would wake up feeling hot and confused only to fall asleep, with the Huntress standing next to her, providing what care that had no effect whatsoever. Transitioning between reality and dreams further muddled her sense of direction, all while she kept hearing whispers about how hungry she was.
At one point she was brought to a land where the color red reigned supreme. There was nothing that could reliably tell her where she was. The sky was vast and dark, fused with the horizon in all directions. Her headache reminded her of her uncle's hangovers. She began to understand how he felt, though she could never properly explain why he would drink himself to sleep just to go through the cycle again the following day.
"Family…"
An Abrupt cry startled her. She looked around, spotting a glow from a nearby hollow. The loud scrunches and sloshes of the red dirt as she made her way to the source reminded her of raw meat that her father would prepare in the kitchen when making lunch. The memory increased her disgust for the place, even if it felt familiar and comforting.
"Hunger…"
The red chrysalis levitated inches above the ground, holding within itself pure light that seemed to drain the color out of the environment. Tendrils twitched and thrashed with each thump akin to a heartbeat. A wave of unease filled Ruby, something within herself telling that what stood before her was not part of her, but something with a mind of its own. Something that seemed to share her world. Ready to jump at the first sign of movement, Ruby decided to question it.
"Who are you?"
"…Hunger… family… son…"
A tendril flew in her direction. Ruby yelped and dropped down. The tendril flew over her head. Her mind began developing a link with the entity, telling her that it felt distressed and lost. Their feelings became as one for a brief moment before the connection was broken. Ruby gasped from the raw strength of the shared emotions. A single tear fell from her right eye.
"Father…! Father!"
"You… you are… a kid…?"
It kept repeating the same words over and over with increased vitriol that would soon be swapped with terror, followed by nostalgia and lament. Her body felt repulsed by the entity whenever she tried to come closer, fighting with all its might to keep her away. Nevertheless, she persisted, urged by an inexplicable pity. Ruby touched one of the tendrils with the tips of her fingers. A flood of alien memories began to unfold in her mind.
She saw a body that didn't belong to her, yet could feel the coldness of the metallic restraints that tied it to a bed. The head shook left and right as deep growls came from the throat. There was a deeply toxic animosity aimed at the men in blue and yellow suits that buzzed around the table with notes and devices. Her eyes wandered downward, at the arms. There was a needle stuck to the right arm, injecting some kind of liquid that felt like fire as it flew through the veins. The left one held a metallic bracer with a screen. It was put in a stasis so that it couldn't be used. The light on the ceiling blinded her from seeing details outside of the dome of light. The agony and the hatred stuck in her mind as a stream of foul curses were directed at people around herself. Though they were an unknown factor, she knew that they were bad.
The head suddenly turned left, staring at a glass wall, where she caught a glimpse of several figures in business suits. Among them, however, was a man that stuck out from the crowd. The top of its head was a bald patch of skin, but the sides were covered with messy hair, white as the lab coat it wore. One side of its face had scar tissue caused from some kind of a burn, yet the visage was unmistakably familiar, though she herself had no knowledge of it.
There was something wrong with the man in a lab coat. She caught a glimpse of his eyes and it spoke to her about a well of knowledge she couldn't even begin to comprehend. Whoever he was, this man seemed to be "in the know" of things, things thought lost or impossible, aware of the dark depths that were unavailable to many. Although this conclusion terrified her, it was nothing compared to the other thing she was able to catch in that gaze. She sensed how this individual saw things differently from a normal human being. If normal people from Remnant, this man would be from the moon. And he would be the enemy. In other words, his great intelligence was plagued by an even greater insanity. There was a word, a name for this tragic, yet incredibly threatening being, perhaps one of the greatest minds ever conceived by the human race; Hellingen.
Something clicked and she felt indescribable pain as a fever began to overtake the struggling body. A cry of fear and hurt exploded from the throat, eyes drifting at the dark ceiling above. Veins began to pop at the corners of her vision. Soon, everything was red…
Ruby gasped and fell on her back, crawling away with her hands and feet. Her face was wet with sweat that poured from her in large drops. The mental link and the sharing of memories gave her a sense of perspective that she wasn't sure she would like to know. A paradox was born. The inexplicable familiarity of a close friend clashed with the otherness of an alien being. The body in the vision felt hers, yet it was someone else's. That someone wasn't an unknown, but someone she was acquainted with, though the identity itself eluded her. On the other hand, the entity became less of a puzzle now. She understood it's desire.
"You… want to find the parent you lost, right?" she whispered after calming down. It suddenly became less threatening and more pitiful. Ruby hugged her knees and stared at the red sand and dirt, somewhat deaf to the pleas of the being.
"I lost a parent too, you know? I lost my mum."
"...Mother…"
She sighed.
"I sometimes catch myself waking up in the middle of the night with tears in my eyes. I always make sure that Yang or father are asleep, then I would go to the kitchen to get a glass of milk before going back to sleep."
"…"
"There are so many things I wish to tell her; how I graduated, how I met new people, the weapon I built… I know she would love to hear me speaking for hours. Yang always says how she was a good person and an even better listener." She chuckled, "Father would always say that she is in a happier place now, though I know he misses her, even more than I do."
Ruby became silent for a while. Unable to contain her emotions any longer, she began crying, expressing the sorrow in her soul for all the wasteland to hear. She didn't know what caused the sudden thinking of Summer Rose, though she suspected it had to do with the being's own memories. She was surprised to see a smaller tendril crawling close to her and wiping away a tear, before motioning to look up.
The cocoon bloomed into four petals, releasing the light from its shackles. It pulsated as it reformed itself into a shrunken crimson pearl. Mesmerized by the phenomenon, Ruby approached the pearl and let it drop on her palm. As her fingers coiled around the object, she could feel the connection once more. This time was different. Instead of being awkward and invasive, it felt warm and welcoming, as if her heart and soul tempered the being's chaotic spirit and infused it with her humanity, thus elevating its own existence. It no longer felt like a child throwing a tantrum. She felt like Summer and it was Ruby.
"...mother…"
"As long as you are with me, you have nothing to worry about. We will find your father, that I promise."
The world turned white and suddenly she found herself standing in front of a barn, her fever gone as a wave of energy filled her body with determination as she gained control over it. She heard Grimm in the vicinity, though her team was nowhere to be found.
"They must be worried sick about me. I have to find them!"
(Duke Nukem 3D – Plasma)
The drone had successfully carved a hole to the designated tunnel after some time. Jane landed on the soft soil, wrinkling his nose after winning the fight with the vomit-inducing fumes. The drone beeped and activated its flashlight function, forming a white circle in the sea of darkness. It turned several degrees left and flew deeper into the abyss.
"Brrr! It's a bit chilly down here…"
Careful not to stumble upon a rock, something that almost happened twice, Jaune followed the drone, taking extra care to identify the sounds and smells around him. He didn't like how his feet sank into the ground as if it were made of mud.
The drone reached the bottom and then headed forward, hitting a dimly lit foil, greenish yellow in color. Jaune tapped its slimy surface, trying to look for an opening. What he didn't expect to find was a mass of bulbous flesh stuck on the foil, something akin to a fat spider with one blinking red spot on its back. He yelped and jumped back, only to become more confused when the insect didn't budge.
"Is it stuck?..."
Cursing himself for whatever doom he would unleash, the blonde knight tiptoed closer and with one finger gently tapped the red spot, cringing in anticipation for the inevitable assault. The spider, upon touch, deflated, releasing a gas that melted the foil as it crawled into a dark corner. It then dawned on him that the obstacle on his path was actually a door.
"By the gods…"
The opening behind that door was an irregular oval space, maybe twelve meters high and fifteen wide, illuminated by insects resembling fireflies with bulb-shaped bodies that skittered and rested on the ceiling. The floor made of dirt and clay was littered with tiny holes and scratches left behind by hundreds of Sturgs. Another organic door stood down the tunnel. Encroaching further, with the drone now following him, Jaune came to an intersection with five tunnels, each large enough to accommodate an Atlesian mech.
He examined each tunnel carefully, but even with the light provided by the insects the tunnels were dark and appeared vacant. One thing he noticed after going for the middle tunnel was a hole of a cave near an alcove that served as a nesting site for a large spiral shell. He called Favos to inform him, to which he received an explanation. It was entirely possible that the hive was built near or even through an underground system of caves.
Strange, disjointed murmurs echoed within the hive's innards, suggesting unknown things scurrying about in the darkness of the intersecting caves, as well as endlessly dripping water and, once, as he descended down a muddy slide, a small river. All forms of life he had encountered so far felt so alien to him that he couldn't help but take photos of some of the bugs that wandered about. The only thing he was able to recognize were the squeaks of bats and mice that came from the walls. He decided to sit down in an alcove, near a small colony of glowing blue mushrooms with crab legs. Creepy and disgusting for the young knight, sure, but creepier still was a jade millipede coiled on the wall. It had two pairs of antennae tipped with polyps and the rest of his body peeked through a small hole in the wall. The thought that this organism was acting as some kind of telephone was quickly dismissed as bizarre, though he couldn't keep his eyes from dancing between it and his Scroll as he called Favos again.
"Hello, doc? I think I'm in."
"That's the tip of the iceberg, I'm afraid." The voice on the other side stated.
"I know, it's just… this place is giving me the creeps. Everything here seems to resemble a bug of one kind or another. But they all seem to ignore me."
"I see. Any Strugs?"
"None so far. There's a tunnel branching a few meters away from my alcove. It seems to be collapsed."
"Collapsed, you say? Can you bring the drone over there?"
"Sure."
He walked the drone to the pile of rocks that blocked the mentioned tunnel. Rivulets of green liquid leaked between the boulders. The tiny robot buzzed as a startled gasp came from the other side of the Scroll.
"Huntsman, can you find a way through?"
"Unfortunately no. These rocks are way too heavy for me to lift."
"Use the solution to make a hole and find a way around, please. We need to see what happened. And please make sure to take plenty of pictures. Details matter."
Jaune sighed as he carved another hole through the walls, having to endure another bout of disgusting fumes. Returning to the alcove to take some photos, Jaune waited for the robot to finish its job. It hummed a tune when the request was completed.
"Ugh… here we go."
He crouched on all fours and dragged his body through, following a faint green glow that came from the exit.
"What in the…"
A large oval room was teeming with colonies of head-sized bubbles, all of them shattered, flooding the place with a viscous fluid. A cluster of egg-shaped objects emanated green light. One side of the wall was utterly obliterated, leading to a darkened passageway that had none of the smoothness of the Sturg-made tunnels. The most distinctive feature, however, was the mix of odors that pervaded it. The smell of mud and wet was present, but the dominant ones where the whiffs of mold and the sickly sweet fetor that came from the liquid.
His Scroll buzzed.
"Hello?" Jaune replied, clutching his nose.
"This is both fascinating and horrifying. It's a shame I can't see a clearer picture through the drone."
"Any idea what might have happened here?"
"None. It is self-evident that this is a nest… or it used to be."
"Does it belong to the Sturgs?"
"It might be the nest of one of the many subspecies, yes."
"Why would they destroy their own nest though?"
"That is something we will have to discover ourselves… though I think I might have an explanation."
"Already?"
"Yes. See that hole in the wall?"
"Sure."
"Why would someone go through the pain of digging another path when there is already an established route? Unless –"
Jaune gasped faintly.
"Unless they were attacked."
"Correct. Unless they were attacked."
"Could it be the work of another camp?"
"Maybe. But the nearest camp is miles away from ours. In any case, take care of yourself. Whatever attacked them might still be down there."
"Will do, doc."
"Before you go, I'm detecting signals of a downed drone scout. Please find it."
"It's what I came here to do."
Thus Jaune began searching for the downed robot amidst the organic remains. His frustration grew as his hands sloshed through the sludge with no success in sight. It took a while for him to figure out that the robot wasn't present, meaning that he had to descend to the lower levels. He went through the hole and down the curvy tunnel, using his Scroll and Favos' drone for light. He dropped down a Sturg-made passageway.
What immediately struck him was the scarcity of light, as he could see some of the shining insects' corpses. An alcove to his right was populated with two mushrooms-with-legs as well as something resembling a brown cone with a lolling tongue. The objects hid a ruptured, tiny honeycomb wall. Out of impulse, he crouched and checked the darkness. He saw nothing, though he noted the presence of a sugary smell.
Before he continued his search, Jaune heard, among squeals and creaks that teased his ears, a soft buzz akin to white noise. He looked in the direction of the buzz, as did the drone, as it kept repeating itself. A faint purple light slowly grew in intensity around the corner way down the passageway.
"I must hide!"
He dashed for the alcove. After pushing the drone into the darkness behind the honeycomb wall, Jaune furiously expanded the hole for him to fit. The only sounds he could hear were his ragged breathing and the buzz that kept overwhelming everything else. He waited for the probable danger to pass with increasing anxiety.
The purple light grew in brightness, until it became so strong that it washed away the colors of the world, even after he closed his eyelids. Now the buzz became so unbearable that he had to shove fingers in his ears. Whatever it was, it quickly passed by and around the corner, increasing the distance without ever finding Jaune.
"What is even going on anymore?"
Deciding it would be a good idea to run in the opposite side, Jaune came upon a bridge suspended over a ravine flooded with a river. Alcoves dotted the walls, populated with more of those shiny insectoid fungi. He reached the door on the other side of the bridge. Its yellow foil was ruptured and torn in many places, with the resident spider-like being laying dead on the ground. Careful to avoid danger, he peeked through the holes and slashes into the hall beyond.
A dozen or so Sturg corpses were scattered everywhere. One left a dent in the wall as if it were thrown. A beetle-like Sturg had a white staff stuck in its back, while the lesser Sturgs were dismembered and their ichor splattered in large pools and streaks. There were no signs of life.
He stepped into the hall, gun and shield in hands. Now that he got a better look, he had seen black lines of soot between the corpses, walls and even the ceiling. It felt like someone had used a laser or something. Scavenging the place for clues, he found the drone he was looking for.
"Whoa…"
The drone stood at the entrance of the collapsed tunnel, near the remains of a humanoid Jaune had never seen before. Its abdomen and limbs were long and thin, just like its neck, all coated with white plates that resembled metal yet were as smooth as skin to the touch. Instead of a head, it possessed a ceramic white mask with two black holes for eyes and with no distinct features, despite bearing uncanny resemblance to a human. Jaune gulped, took a few photos and called the doctor.
"What in the Brothers' names is that?"
"Oh good. You don't know either." Jaune snarked.
"In all of my career, I had never seen anything like this. It looks…"
"…human?"
An uncomfortable silence fell over them, each trying to think of the implications.
"…Looks like a robot to me." Was Favos' scientific analysis.
"Whatever it is, it certainly has no problems killing a room full of these aliens."
"Hold on. It did what?"
Jaune led the drone to the place where he found the beetle Sturg killed with the polearm.
"Change of plans. I'm aborting this mission." the doctor blurted, "I'm contacting both your teammates and the soldiers."
"W-what?!" Jaune cried out, then slapped a hand over his mouth and looked around. "Why?"
"There might be more of those things down there with you. And if they had no problems killing off the Strugs, they sure won't take long in killing you too. Go back to the surface and wait for further instructions."
"I can't leave now! We might be on the verge of discovering something big!"
"That can wait after we've dealt with all the threats."
"If we wait for too long, these damn bugs will go around killing more people and devastate what little hope we have of finding their weaknesses."
"You are being overemotional."
"N-no, listen to me!" he let a long sigh, lowering his tone. "In these past few weeks I learned many things. One of them was to try finding the clues to the big picture because my own perception can deceive me. Think, doc. Let's make the assumption that it wasn't another camp that drove the Sturgs away. I have yet to see any signs of Faunus or human activity down here. Okay?"
"Okay…"
"Good…" he spun around and looked for any signs of life, "…This might sound crazy. Have there been any significant digging sites or similar things in the Agricultural District?"
"Not that I personally know of. The whole area is in charge of food production, so I doubt that someone would waste the arable land for that ordeal."
"Alright, hear me out, no matter how insane it might be. If we assume that no digging has ever been done in the district, then this must mean that the land beneath our camp is the same. This would mean that the Sturgs were the first to do some serious digging, right?"
"I… are you suggesting-"
"That thing must have killed these Sturgs, So I was thinking, what if they dug too deep and they stumbled upon one or more of them and now they are rampaging in these tunnels?"
Favos spoke after a brief silence.
"What you are thinking about sounds so outlandish that it might as well be a conspiracy theory. Are you even aware what you're implying, Mr Jaune? If it proves true, we will need to rewrite all history books in existence!"
"True or not, I don't have another explanation for what I'm seeing. I think I was close to meeting one alive before I came here, in one of the tunnels. I hid because I didn't want to be found. I'm not sure if I can beat one in combat. But I do know this; as soon as I'm done, we will have to bury it all. So please, don't report this to anyone or we might lose even more lives."
"And yours doesn't count?"
"I'm not as good as the others. Nothing would change if I were to die. Now excuse me."
"Wait, don't-"
Jaune ended the call and went to retrieve the data from the drone. He opened the special program in his Scroll, allowing him to download a hefty amount of files, transferring them all to the scientist's computer through the active drone. As he was busy holding the Scroll active until the process is complete, a powerful earthquake shook the entirety of the hive.
"Whoaa-aaaa!"
The ceiling began to crumble under the force of the ceaseless tremors. Jaune feared that he might buried alive as he watched boulders bigger than him fall and shatter to pieces. Another earthquake overwhelmed the first one, splitting the ground under his feet in erratic patterns. The Sturg corpses were swallowed by the expanding abyss, until it was Jaune's turn, being unable to retreat further on grab on to something.
Deep into the darkness he fell, until he struck a rock, bouncing all the way to the bottom; to the pool of fluorescent bright blue liquid. With his Aura halved, Jaune emerged and splashed his way to a nearby boulder, hugging it as if it were his life support. It took him a few minutes to spot crystal growths on its surface, each shining with a different color.
"…Huh?"
(Genshin Impact – Decayed in the Darkness)
His eyes watered as they rose up, trying to adjust to the light levels of his surroundings. Crystal formations the size of trees hung from the walls, carved paths and between colonies of destroyed cocoons, some bigger than him. Some had their brightness muddied by splashes of ichor, yet they radiated heat, cold and even moisture. The cocoon colonies were huddled close to the greatest specimens, sometimes even sharing the same hues.
"This is… Dust? Kinda reminds me of the lectures at Beacon… but what's it doing here?"
Unable to find the drone, and left with more questions than answers, Jaune grumbled as he reached a shore. He pulled out the slimy Scroll and cringed as he took pictures of the environment, making sure to catch both the cocoons and the Dust growths in the same picture.
"Great priorities, dumbass." he berated himself, "How about you find a way out first?"
Climbing was out of the question, as was calling for help due to the loss of signal. Frustration festering, the blonde knight wandered in search for an exit. Whoever made these eggs must have also made a way out; that was his reasoning.
The sheer amount of ravaged eggs and similar organic forms stunned him. There was a hidden perfection in each ruptured shell and torn skin. It was a slaughterhouse, perpetrated by, he believed, the same things that killed the Sturgs wherever he went. Just what kind of sin have these alien beings been judged for, that not even the defenseless were left alive. A new breed of disgust brew within Jaune. At least there was a reason for humanity's fight against the Strugs that threatened the kingdom. But what reason had these other things to hate these insects to the point of genocide?
A new kind of disgust brewed in the lonely soul; down here, far away from his friends and the rest of the world. It was the disgust towards life, for he failed to see the meaning in the silent graveyard as big as Beacon. Though the Sturgs were enemies, the massacre taught him to have respect for their species as a whole. Someone had sacrificed precious resources and what little time they had in this world to give the hive a hope for a future, only for it to be torn down within moments by someone who didn't put half of the total effort needed to make the nest. In a twisted way, they had met their Grimm. Was this what life amounted to? Pain and struggle that ends in death?
"The Brothers never cared for us, huh? Stupid fool. That's what you get for thinking they were the good guys… when the opposite is true."
Following one of the paths led him to a waterfall where he quenched his thirst. After taking a few more pictures, Jaune reached the entrance to a giant tunnel, illuminated by light blue Dust crystals, giving it the atmosphere of a fairytale. Aside the breeze that whistled in infrequent intervals, his footsteps where the only other sound that bounced off the moist-covered walls. Unsure of where he would end up, Jaune raised his shield while his other hand hovered over the holstered gun.
What he came across was the mangled corpse of a Sturg that made a Goliath look like a rat in comparison. The sight, coupled with a slip due to wet stone, made Jaune yelp in surprise and panic. He fell into a pond of a viscous substance, tinged in blue from the brightness that radiated from dozens of light blue Dust crystals that bloomed all over the immense chamber.
Six almond-shaped eyes stared lifelessly on a point above his head, belonging to a head melted into the neck that covered two thirds of his view. The spherical body behind it looked like it was blown apart by an outside force, one that managed to form a crater that extended for almost a mile upwards. Two chunks covered in fluorescent ichor lay on opposite walls. The only way forward was through the mouth full of razor-sharp, man-sized teeth, with tiny rivers of ichor leaking from dozens of external and internal cuts. Unable to restrain himself, Jaune vomited before entering into the mouth, using the Scroll as a light source while making sure to capture as many details as possible.
The other side of the chamber was drowned in Sturg gore, with some areas going halfway to his knees. Two large Sturgs with black carapace lay dead, surrounded by bodies of fallen humanoids, all of them identical to the one Jaune found earlier. Beyond the battlefield stood a dark hole surrounded by molten rock. A lone figure clad in white, purple and red armor knelt in front of it. It had abnormally thin limbs, though its palms and hawk-like feet were bigger than human's. Alien armor with a glowing red line that extended from the back to the head reflected light from the ambient. Two metallic contraptions hung from behind its shoulders, each branching into three smaller rods that projected a thin purple barrier between them, giving them the appearance of wings.
It spotted Jaune, rising slowly on its feet and lifting a greatsword with a purple energy blade. A metallic disc on its other hand split into five pieces that formed a larger shield with an extra layer in the form of a bright red barrier. It was obvious that it wanted to fight him.
The trip to the wall was uneventful for the most part. Not even the Grimm were much of a bother, seeing how their numbers thinned the closer he was to the city. Most encounters consisted either of groups of children or adults that paid him little to no mind. They were always eager to leave for the next location, talking about 'Grimm' this and 'Sturg' that; words that held no meaning to him. Few were instances where the strangers whispered about 'them'; the tall, dark-skinned humanoids with purple eyes.
They were the most intriguing aspect of the whole situation. No doubt they were outsiders; the appearance betrayed that fact. At first he thought they were connected with the black monsters that attacked him on sight. But after a few close encounters, that assumption was cast aside.
Something was off about them. When both parties would inevitably lock eyes, he would always find something deep and ancient within them; a consciousness that predated anything he ever knew. They succeeded in intimidating him, something that few individuals could.
Up until his first kill, there was a sense of unease that emanated from these mysterious creatures. The ability to teleport was ascribed to some quirky form of demonwork. A myriad of theories popped into his head during the fight. An idiot tried to tame one of them with sorcery with the hope of obtaining a minion that would do his dirty work, only to royally screw up and gift the whole race with eldritch powers. A group of refugees tried to find a safe haven from a threat that doomed their civilization and ended up in an even worse position, thus their horrendous forms. Maybe they were simply travelers looking for something.
He used his special rosary to trace any attempts at sorcery upon the specimen's frame. Nothing came up, adding to the frustration that accumulated throughout the day. The creature was smart and had attempted many strategies so that it could grapple him, failing each time. Likewise, his counterattacks were also futile endeavor, as the creature proved to have heightened senses. Heightened enough to teleport seconds before his blade came in contact with the skin, even when he was faster than usual.
But it was still a mortal creature. And like all mortal creatures, it also made a mistake, one that forfeited its life. He made a quick diagonal slash, cutting open its torso with a spray of purple blood. The creature fell on its knees and held its body, its jaw trembling with each breath. In its final moments, the eyes stared at a distant point, away from here and now. He ended its misery with a quick decapitation.
(Fallout – Vats of Goo)
Purple blood stained the green grass, giving it an alien hue under the light of day. The body twitched as it crashed, releasing its hold on the wound and letting the organs drop out freely. He stared at the body, making sure to take in every detail about it. Something was hidden in the depths of the stomach cavity, something green and smooth. Moving away bits of flesh with the tip of the sword, he tried to get a better view of the object.
Uneasiness turned into confusion and terror as the discovery began turning the gears in his mind. The object hidden within the corpse was a Transportation Stone, as was commonly known in his world. It used to be sold by travelling merchants bold enough to venture into the most dangerous places known to mankind. Legends and speculations accompanied these heavily priced artifacts; from them being pearls that the ocean itself would spit out on the land to them being hearts of ancient slain gods. The only thing known about them was their ability to teleport the user to the place where the Stone previously landed, often breaking in the process due to them being fragile and light as a feather. It was a convenient, albeit pricy, way of transporting someone without the use of demonwork, which would often result in disasters.
What was it doing in this world, inside this creature? He had found few more Transportation Stones in other worlds and he had never discovered their origin or whether or not was there a connection with his own world. And now, an answer seemed to slap him in the face, an answer he didn't understand.
"What is the meaning of this?"
He scooped the object out of the corpse and stashed it in his inventory. The purple flickering lights that dripped from the surface disappeared with it. He took a good look at the corpse, adjusted his hat and moved on, the mind reworking his understanding of reality.
Two more encounters went more or less the same way. He tried to observe their behavior but they would turn hostile the moment he looked at them. Two more Transportation Stones were gathered from corpses, with one being shattered due to him using a heavier attack to subdue a rather erratic specimen.
An abandoned orchard provided a safe place for repose, where he could gather his thoughts on all the recent events. Clearly those creatures were connected with more than one world, perhaps as travelers of some kind. But there was no clear way to determine their motive. In their neutral state, they did nothing but wander around and carry random objects. What he could glean from the groups of people he had met, those that called themselves 'Huntsmen', the things would gather in strange places and would pose a great threat if provoked. Many ended up crippled or dead before they could be slain. In some cases, the victims would be kidnapped, never to be seen again.
Definitely an interesting case, he thought, one that deserved additional investigation. Deciding that he would stay in this world a little longer than usual after dealing with the target, he climbed the tallest tree he could find and took a nap while waiting for nightfall. Only then he would scale the walls.