Spirit of Nature 5 - Iron Skin

Tattletale landed with a grunt, rolling to the side after falling through the endless void that seemed so much worse than Grue's power, a stream that pushed her down, rather than the pressure that made it hard to walk through. The silence was deafening.

For one moment it was like her power just gave up understanding anything, turning on and off in short bursts before stopping. Concerning - her power never turned off. There was a cold feeling on her arm accompanied by a phantom grip; it pulsed in time with the vanishing of her power, until eventually something shifted and her power remained on.

She didn't expect something to pull on her arm as she tried to roll, forcing her back again. Opening her eyes slightly, she found Weld on the floor, staring at the sky, his hand grasping her arm.

Her gaze followed his, and millions of stars stared back like an explosion of light. The cold feeling on her arm wasn't the worst thing, though, as a wind blew around them and made her shiver. Her power immediately gave her information that she didn't need, and absolutely no answer to where the fuck she was.

A large field, far from civilization, or at least, not visible. It was dark. A moonless night.

"Weld," she said slowly. The grip tightened at the sound of her voice. After a second his eyes widened and he let go, staring at his hand.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"Sorry," he said, picking himself off the floor and moving towards her before offering his hand. She shook her head, feeling cold enough already, and lifted herself off the ground, dusting dirt off her clothes. Weld looked around. Confused. Agitated. The metals that made up his body shifted slightly, the movement barely visible in the darkness. "Where are we?"

"No idea," she said, looking around. Empty fields were around them, green even in the dark. It was far too dark to make out details, though, and the moonlight just barely revealed a forest in the distance, if the shapes were actually trees. She continued at his glance. "Well, excuse me, princess Weld, but 'cold at night' isn't really that helpful in figuring out our location, even for my power."

Apparently that was the wrong answer. Weld got more agitated, a slight ripple visible over his skin before it vanished. Frowning. "What do you mean 'no idea'?"

"No idea," she repeated, shrugging and shaking her head. "My power doesn't tell me anything if I don't have enough details. The best I can tell you is that it's pretty fucking cold, and I'm freezing."

"This is your fault," he said, his eyes narrowed, glaring at her. She raised her hands in a placating gesture as he turned his body to fully face her. "You messed up with your stupid experiment. Fix this."

"I can't, okay?" she muttered, a cold feeling spreading in her gut. She didn't want to be stuck with him, but it would just be worse if he got angry. She had a knack for making people angry, but calming them down was another matter entirely. He didn't seem like someone who would get angry quickly, but they didn't need that right now. "Labyrinth and Scrub aren't here, if you didn't notice, but I'm pretty sure that… something happened. I can't remember it."

"I can," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Maybe it has something to do with my condition. The portal was ripped open by something, or someone. It attempted to grab Skitter, I think, and when she dodged out of the way, the portal widened."

Tattletale bit her lower lip, looking towards the distant forest. "Someone. You mean, it was a hand? Nothing else? Skin color maybe? Face peering from through the portal?"

"Yes. Maybe. I'm not sure about what it was." He shook his head. "When it got Skitter and pulled back, some others fell through, some managed to hold onto something. I grabbed you, you felt… warm when we landed in the portal. I could feel the temperature on my skin. What happened there?" he kept staring at his hand. She knew. It wasn't really a familiar feeling to him, it was new. The lack of memories made every new experience something special.

"Two things," she lifted two fingers, trying not to sound too nervous. The cold wind blew through the fields again, making her shiver and bend over a bit. She rubbed her hands together. "First, this was some long range Mover, and we are somewhere in… well, probably somewhere with less technology than we are used to. And no street lamps at all. I can barely see my hand, and can't get reception." She checked her phone. "Second, the portal disabled my power on the way here, so maybe it turned you to normal again and you reverted back when we were through."

"So this could… revert the changes?" he asked, looking less annoyed, placated... hopeful even? "Make us normal again?"

"Maybe?" Tattletale tried, he just shook his head.

"Don't get my hopes up and leave me hanging! I need a clear answer-"

Steps. Hoofs. Horses. She could hear someone approaching and turned her head. It wasn't very visible in the distance, but the sound was clear. They must have been trained to work in the dark, avoiding the use of any light-source. They came from the direction opposite of the forest. Weld heard it too and moved in front of her.

"I'm arresting you," he said. "So whatever happens, don't open your mouth."

"Force me, metal ma-" His hand slapped over her mouth immediately, becoming a binding that sealed her mouth shut, leaving her nose open to breathe. The steps became louder and Tattletale groaned angrily, standing behind him. It was cold.

It wasn't after too long that he could make out a group of men, five of them in armor and swords strapped to their hips, while two others who looked more like civilians followed after them. The armor of the men was different for each of them, but held a distinct pattern of some strange steel. It didn't look intimidating as much as it looked out of place even at a cape convention. The civilians had longer robes on, their frames definitively thinner and visibly weaker compared to the men with swords.

One of the men had a banner in his hands, and the strange image of a mouse with a shield was visible as a coat of arms. In his opinion, not a very intimidating symbol, but the confidence with which the men carried themselves was more than enough. Their apparent leader, the man riding at the front, had scars that were visible even from that distance, and the same coat of arms on the front of his chestplate.

When they were only ten meters away, they stopped their horses, dismounting and taking a few steps forward. The man in the front had his hand on the sword.

"I come in the name of the Emperor, and ask you this: Who are you, Fallen Star?"

Fallen star, Weld thought. They did fall from above, but did they actually fall from the sky? It shouldn't be possible for Tattletale to survive something like this.

"I'm Weld," he said. One of the men grabbed something from a bag slung around the horse. A torch. Within a few seconds the fire was ignited and illuminated the surroundings a bit better, the horses remained standing behind them and the men themselves took a step back when they saw Weld's form.

"I thought my eyes deceived me," the man with the torch said. "A spirit? Here? Where your kind is not prayed to?"

"Where is here?" Weld asked. Tattletale tapped him on the shoulder, but he ignored her. She seemed to be more agitated. He didn't react to the spirit comment, maybe it was just how the people around here called the Cases. But their English, though accented, seemed rather modern.

"On the mainland of the Empire," the man in the front said. "I am part of the Emperor's Guard, sent to investigate the fallen star that was visible from the city not far from here."

It was a quick reaction, Weld realized. They were barely here half an hour, though he couldn't see a city nearby, none of the bright lights he was so familiar with. It might have something to do with the fact that they were riding horses and using swords.

"What… Empire?"

Tattletale tried to shake him by his shoulder, waving her hands in front of his face. To his credit, he kept a straight face.

"He has never heard of Muridae?" one of the men asked the leader.

"It is not unheard of, the spirits have not been sighted in over four-hundred years. The Empire wasn't the Empire, at the time…"

Tattletale was violently slamming her fist on Weld's back while he patiently waited for the men to finish. They were authority and seemed pleasant enough. A bit of whispering later, the man at the front stepped up. It made sense, Tattletale realized. Men in armor? Sure, that's normal. But this? Her power explained what exactly was wrong with the entire picture, and Weld didn't even listen.

"Let us greet you, spirit Weld, know that you will find no temples of your sisters here, but our respect is honest," the leader said.

"Sisters?" he asked. Other Cases, maybe?

"Besi's daughters, of course, as they called themselves," one of the men next to the leader said. At Weld's clueless look, he continued: "Ifrit? Jeanne? Aeo-"

"Should we escort you and your… companion to the city?" the leader interrupted, ignoring his subordinate's confused rambling.

Weld glanced to Tattletale, her eyes were wide and she was still hitting his back. The bindings around her mouth vanished and she took a deep breath before shouting at his face.

"WE AREN'T ON EARTH BET ANYMORE!"

"What."

It wasn't a question. It was a realization. Muridae wasn't something he ever heard about, though it might have been because of his spotty memory. But if Tattletale said it was like this, it was improbable that she was lying, especially in her situation.

"Those men are serious, they think you are some kind of deity," she pointed at them, making them take a step back. "And there was no empire on our earth! Shit, we're done! Where the fu-"

The bindings came around her mouth again.

"She talks too much," Weld said. "Bring us to the city, we can talk on the way."

"Of course," the men nodded, moving towards their horses again. Weld followed, the binding pulling Tattletale along. After the bannerman extinguished the flame on the torch, they moved slowly towards west, and Weld clenched his fist, trying not to let his anger show. This was much worse than he expected, but there was a small spot of hope. Whatever happened in the portal, he was human for just one moment.

"I am Ivan," the leader introduced himself at last, still staring forward as the two capes followed him. "The Emperor will want to meet you, spirit Weld."

"I'm looking for some people," he said. "Other… spirits, maybe. People with strange powers."

"The spirits have long since vanished, you are the first in centuries!" the bannerman said.

"What are spirits, then?"

"The islands around worship them," Ivan said. "Children of gods, as they call them. The Empire doesn't disapprove of religion. However, some overzealous people might try to force their belief on others, which can lead to minor uprisings. We know that spirits are real, extraordinary people with powers unlike anything seen on earth, but we refuse to believe in their divinity."

"So they can also look human?"

"All do," Ivan laughed, before stopping himself. "Well, except for you. A body of iron, I know a lot of soldiers who would give an arm and a leg for that kind of strength."

Weld's face scrunched slightly, annoyed, disgusted, Tattletale realized. It was still way too cold, and he was forcing her to keep a pace she couldn't really keep up much longer. She noticed something about the men, but he wouldn't let her finish speaking.

Gods. Spirits. They actually believed what they said about the people with powers, despite claiming that they didn't believe in their divinity. So does that mean other capes were here? Four-hundred years ago? Impossible. Capes barely existed for a bit over 30 years on Bet. Did they exist even earlier here? Improbable. Aleph had capes too, though not that many, and they all appeared around the same time as on her world.

The rest of the walk was rather uneventful, until she really couldn't walk anymore. They could see the city they mentioned in the distance, huge flags with the coat of arms with that strange mouse visible at the gates. There were actual gates! Medieval kind of gates, guys in armor, where the fuck did they even land? She sat down and refused to move until Weld lifted her up and carried her. She thought he'd maybe remove the bindings slightly so she could warn him, but he didn't.

The men approached the gate slowly and called out.

"Men! Open the gates!" Ivan shouted. "And send a messenger to the capital! The spirits have returned, a man of metal was the fallen star!"

There were shouts from the inside, and the gate opened. They were wooden, but definitively thick and sturdy, now that she could see them opening. A few minutes later they could step in, slowly moving forward while the soldiers stationed inside stared at them. They were all armored, and well armed. Archers on the gates were keeping an eye on them, and Tattletale realized just a little too late what was going on.

She began hitting Weld again, and he dropped her unceremoniously. She showed him the finger before pointing towards her mouth, still shivering at the cold that didn't seem to end. The least they could have done was offering her a blanket or something.

"A trap!" she shouted, her voice hoarse. She must have caught a cold, dammit, and the entire thing could have been avoided! The moment she shouted, the archers aimed and the five men from before pulled out their swords, all directed towards them. Weld transformed his arms into blades. The metal would be bad for him, it could slow him down…

Tattletale coughed, grabbing her throat and mouth, trying to get the metallic taste out of it. Trying to pull herself off the floor didn't work, not with how her body was rebelling.. She was exhausted, freezing, and Weld was having a standoff.

"Not," she coughed. "Real. Mercenaries."

"Your companion is smart," Ivan said, his sword pointed at her. "I didn't expect two uneducated fools, spirits or not, to see through this ruse, but it was a bit quicker than I expected."

"Mercenaries?" Weld asked her. She nodded, her throat feeling slightly better.

"They worked as sellswords," she muttered. "The empire doesn't pay them enough, so they took over the city and pretend to be goody two-shoes soldiers."

"A bit too smart," Ivan sneered, stepping forward. "Another spirit, perhaps? I would love to sell you both, but it seems we can't let you live, little girl."

"You're going to need me," Tattletale told Weld. "If you ever-"

"Shut up," he hissed. "I know."

The gates behind them were still open. He transformed one of the arms back before slinging it around Tattletale and running away, making a shield to stop the arrows that hailed from above. The men behind him weren't much faster than him, and the gate would take some time to close. As he rushed through the gates, he could only see the continuing darkness of the night that was barely illuminated by the torches on the gates. But there wasn't any other option, and he ran towards the place they landed. A forest was nearby…

Weld wasn't the fastest, but he had no need for sleep, no tiredness could slow him down. So he ran, and the men followed after him. He transformed the shield back into a blade when the horses came, much quicker than him, and used them to cut into their legs when they got too close, sending the riders and their mounts into the dirt.

Tattletale groaned whenever he hit the ground too hard with his feet, sending pain through her body due to the shaking around. But this time she understood the necessity. From the way they sounded, these guys feared the Empire enough that they'd kill her rather than earn a large profit by selling her. The horses became less frequent, and after around forty-five minutes of running, they ended up at the edge of the forest, far enough from their pursuers.

He finally stopped, Tattletale sighed with relief as he put her down next to a tree, the bruises on her skin not as bad as what would have happened inside the city. Weld looked angry. At himself. At her. Too trustworthy. Too idealistic. Her throat itched, and she gave a slight cough.. It was too cold, her costume wasn't made for this kind of weather, and constant skin contact with him didn't help. Her body shivered and she sneezed involuntarily.

"Look," she said, her teeth gnashing. "I get that you fell for that, and we both know I could have warned you a bit earlier. You should trust me more. I'm a lot smarter than you... "

"Get to the point," he interrupted.

"...but we got another problem. Either I get some warmth, or I will die of hypothermia before I can be useful enough to get us out of this shitty situation."

He nodded, looking at one of the trees nearby. "I can get wood, if you know how to make a fire."

"I can try, shouldn't be too hard." She nodded, standing up and leaning against the tree. The ground was even colder. His arms narrowed and lengthened, turning into long, sharp blades. He moved them up, cutting with the blades to remove the branches from the trees, gathering twigs. It took a few minutes before Tattletale realized that the trees were pretty much the same as home. A few insects she saw were unfamiliar to her, but nothing too strange. It's not like she knew everything, despite how she behaved most of the time. But… another world.

It was exciting and terrifying at the same time, and if Weld's memory was correct, they weren't the only people who crashed here. After stacking the wood and gathering the materials she knew they'd need, she sat down and started an attempt to make fire, deeper in the forest to avoid being seen by the guys in case they came close.

She tried to ignite some dry leaves on a large stone like she saw on TV a lot of times, trying to spin a piece of wood quickly over it. It was a lot harder than she thought. Weld continued shaving up some wood with a knife he made from his hand, adding more. They were both unfamiliar with most of the process, but they tried their best.

"Can't you use your hand as a drill or something?" she asked, frustrated. "Heat this up like that?"

"..." Weld didn't make a noise and stared at his hand. It formed into a drill, but it was unmoving. "No."

"I am going to die here," she moaned, drawing her knees up to her face. She sneezed. "I'm going to die! You're to blame! I thought you were supposed to be a hero... and, wait!"

She took the stone from before and gave it to him, before pointing at his skin.

"Hit yourself!" she said, grinning widely.

"What?"

"Hit yourself, make sparks! You know, to make the fire, please?"

Weld sighed, putting his hand near the dry leaves that he gathered and smashed the stone down on it, sparks flew up. He hit it again, another few sparks. A third and a fourth time and the sparks finally landed on the dry leaves. It didn't work. A small glow appeared, and smoke rose, but it wasn't enough to actually be ignited.

They repeated it multiple times, adding wooden shavings and some dried grass that they could find. Weld didn't seem to mind the hits, and sparks flew again and again over the next few minutes until they finally managed to ignite it.

"Fuck yeah! Survival of the fittest!"

Weld actually made a noise that could have been a laughter, and looked away when she glared at him. She began blowing air at the small flame. It would be a long night.

When Tattletale woke up, the fire was still burning, new wood atop the burned one. Weld must have been gathering some the whole night and she felt a lot warmer. The sun too, was wonderfully warm on her skin, though her nose was clogged and she felt very thirsty.

"I found a river nearby," Weld said, making her jump slightly. He approached from behind, putting down a large leaf with some water. "I'm not sure if it is fresh water, but I figured your power would tell you."

She nodded, looking at it. Green light, and without hesitation she lifted the leaf up, taking a sip. Drinking felt hard and painful, but the soothing feeling of the water going down her throat came soon enough, making it worth it. A few seconds later, her stomach made itself known.

"I need some food," she muttered.

"Spoiled brat," he said, making her grin. A bit of humour couldn't hurt.

Lifting herself off the floor, she stretched and sighed loudly, her back cracking slightly and small bursts of pain reminding her of the hardness of the floor. This was too uncomfortable to sleep on. The forest looked a lot nicer in the day though, the leaves swaying slightly in the soft breeze and the sound of birds was almost enough to make her forget that she was dirty all over.

"I also spotted a village near the river," he said. "Maybe we can get you some clothes there, and some food."

"Thanks," she said, a hand on her belly. "Reminds me of why I hate camping."

"Let's get going then," he said, stomping at the fire to turn it off. "The man mentioned something about temples, right? I saw something like that in the village, or maybe a shrine. Had the statue of a girl with flaming hair on it."

"That could help," she said, walking behind him, hoping she could drink some more water from the river as soon as possible. "He mentioned shrines and temples, didn't he? Maybe we can use that to our advantage."

"You mean lie to people and take their stuff?"

"It would be more like a donation." She shrugged. "Either that, or we'll have to camp near enough wood every day, with me getting sicker by the day. I got a cold already, don't want to make it worse."

"Fine." He sighed. The floor was filled with wood and leaves, though the soft soil visible beneath it made it hard for her to walk. Weld also looked as if he had problems at first, until he shifted his legs into something that made the walk easier for him. The river was wide, very wide. She couldn't see a bridge nearby, but she didn't care. She rushed towards it and stuck her head in, washing her face and taking a large gulp of the wonderful liquid.

Water tasted like the sweetest wine when you were dying of thirst.

The village was visible, a large field behind it, apparently farmers. She could see a few people with something that looked like old fishing poles and nets standing in the river not far away, avoiding deep water. It wasn't a strong stream, but she didn't really want to ask Weld how well he could swim.

"Come on," he said, pulling her away from the water. "We need to find a way over there."

"You could throw me? No, stupid suggestion, sorry. I'm really hungry," she muttered. "Shall we ask the fishermen?"

"That might work."

They walked towards the fishermen, less than a hundred meter down the stream, before the men noticed them. One of them went to his knees, while another ran towards the village. The third one remained standing.

"A spirit!" the man on his knees said. "A spirit has descended! O, Adamkadmon, o Mamitu, you honor us…"

"Hey!" Tattletale shouted. "We need a way over there, is there a bridge?"

"Oh, yes, of course, down the stream, away from the village, you can't miss it," the standing man said. He looked younger than the kneeling one. The kneeling man immediately turned to the standing one and swiped at his legs. He fell into the water.

"Bow down!" the kneeling man shouted.

Gasping for air, the other man came out of the water on knees."Are you trying to kill me?"

"Crazy people," Tattletale said. "Lovely. After you."

Weld just walked further down the river, ignoring her antics. The temple was made in honor of the spirits, whatever they were. The man wasn't lying when he said that the religion wasn't disapproved off, but it didn't seem very widespread around here.

They reached the bridge after a bit of walking, the warm sun drying up most of the water she had in her hair, though it still felt damp. She stepped onto the small wooden bridge, walking over the river. A strategic placement. The only way to reach the village was that one bridge, and the river must be too deep for normal soldiers to swim through with their armor.

The moment they reached the other side, a dozen of villagers stood near the end of the bridge and bowed to them.

"O spirit," they intoned. Okay, only to Weld. "You honor us with your arrival, we humble ones have waited for four hundred years…"

"I am Tattletale." She stepped forward, spreading her arms wide as if presenting herself. "A spirit of knowledge!"

The villagers hesitated, their glances towards Weld, who felt more annoyed than anything. He just nodded to them, making them shout in joy.

"Two spirits!" one of the men shouted. "Prepare more for the feast! Bring them to the shrine! O honored spirits, please, let us welcome you to our village…"

"Did someone say 'feast'?" she asked.

Weld followed after her as the villagers led them to their home. The statue of the shrine had a soft smile on its lips.

And as if mirroring it, the villagers were friendly and polite. Despite himself, he found a small grin slipping on his face.