Chapter 5: Volcanic Valley Slide (A Variation of the Misty Mountain Hop)
"Utterly bullshit," I mutter as I trudge out into the sunlight, the bustle and noise of a city sounding like a comforting caress in comparison to the occasional disconcerting burble when the (underwater) train was speeding along to our current location.
I caught sight of the Colony Maker in the corner of my eye, but I swear that her blank gaze was judging me. Fuck you. You don't get to judge me and my fear of being in open water, you've never nearly been drowned.
The port of Dragon Empire was not what I was expecting.
Rather than a craggy land with a few sparse stalls or lean-tos, it resembled a resort town with people of all sorts of species bustling hither and thither some of them inspecting wares and others hawking them. There were shops and stalls, as well as apartment buildings in the main part of town. They ranged from what would fit a normal human to even dragon sized buildings, which is pretty impressive if you consider the physics of it…
Huh.
Expected more fire and volcanos.
I blame Overlord.
Moving on, we needed information about how to get to Nouvelle's territory and how long it would take. Walking might be an option, but I'm fairly sure that the Dragon Empire's about the same size as Russia, if not larger, so screw walking that much.
Making my way over to one of the stalls, the Colony Maker hovering a little bit behind me, I give the (human) man behind the counter a smile as I start, "Hey, I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"
"Of course, of course! By the looks of it, you just came in from the train? Quite the ride, I've heard, of course, it's not for me, too deep underwater!" The man laughs, well at least he's a jolly one, and someone who understands my own issues with the train.
I nod a bit before gesturing to the Star-vader, and ask, "Thanks, you see, my sister and I are heading to our parents' place on the other side of the Empire and were thinking about stopping in Nouvelle's territory to pray for some protection. We've been lucky so far, but with how close we've gotten to the Star-vaders… well, maybe some divine protection won't hurt."
"Ah, I see, you're on one of the convoys leaving from the main square?" I nod quickly as he says that and he continues on, "Well, if you're looking for offerings, I have these carvings that dropped out of a strange wormhole some time ago, no one has been able to to identify them but they're quite interesting."
He gestured to some carvings on the shelf, depicting some odd looking creatures. Four of them looked like they had shells on them that could close to make them look like an animal of some sort, those being a rooster, a shelled crustacean, a bull, or… a whale of some sort? The other two almost caused me to choke, because no matter how I looked at them, they were the mascot Pokémon for Sun and Moon, oh my god, how did this happen?
Ignoring my urge to burst out laughing, I asked, "How much for the lion and bat looking ones?"
"Hmm, how about Thirty-five Credits for both of them?" He answered after some thought, I nodded and rifled through my pockets for the wallet I'd… appropriated, pulling out slips of thin plastic that apparently were the currency of this world, and counted out the amount he'd asked for. With that, he passed me the carvings as I pushed the credits towards him, finalizing the deal.
Thanking the man again, we made our way to what appeared to be the main square based off the number of people congregating there, as well as the number of trucks and vans parked there. Strolling about a bit, marveling at the sheer diversity present, I smile.
"Time to find us a ride, yeah?" I ask aloud, swivelling to give the Colony Maker a grin.
The only answer I got was a curt nod and an impassive stare.
She… still needs to work on faking emotions.
{~}{~}
Time passes surprisingly quickly when all you can really do is eat, sleep, watch the scenery passing by at surprising speeds, and talk to someone that won't respond.
It's been about five days since we first hopped aboard the convoy, but thankfully for my sanity, the end (of the first half) was at hand!
The convoy was slowing to a halt, the sight of a massive Greco-Roman looking temple looming over most everything in the scenery.
Tripping out of the truck as it finally stops, I nearly eat dirt in my joy to be outside, but that's fine. The Colony Maker simply strides quietly behind me, pausing as I recover before following me as I move to explore the various stalls and groupings outside the temple.
There's a number of refreshment booths, even a small café, as well as a number of buskers performing their acts where they had space. As I pass by a dragonman doing a fire dancing display, he fumbles one of the batons he's lit, the fire on the ends winking out (magic?) as it falls through the air.
Instincts born of my previous job flare up, and I snatch the tumbling rod out of the air before it can hit the ground. Heat stabs through my palm even as my fingers close around the bar, I quickly hand it back to the performer and wave away his thanks, hurrying away to a relatively deserted area.
"Fuck!"
It took a lot to keep from shouting that in the middle of the crowd, but away from the majority, I feel comfortable enough to cuss and shake my hand, blinking away the pain from what is probably a new burn on this body. I turn, and the Colony Maker is there, silently watching me as I pause and stare at my hand.
It had hurt, burned immediately on contact.
It was weird, in a way. I guess I had always doubted that I had actually been on Cray, a dream of it maybe, but to actually there.
I doubt therefore I am, and all that.
But Jesus take the wheel, did that burn like the fire I fell into when I was ten, it burned too real for my tastes of escapism.
