Arriving in Cliff felt like a relief, after how dangerous the Tidal Caves had been. Teepo walked around a bit, staying well clear of the edge of the cliff that the town was presumably named after, curiously noting that noone had bothered making a guardrail for the narrow mountain path running through the village. Also of interest were the mixed people he saw, ranging from Manillo halfbreeds to a talking bug and frog the size of a large dog. The village ultimately was little more than a few grottos carved out in the cliffside though, to Teepo's disappointment. Then, as he walked around trying to find anything else of interest, as he entered one of the grottoes he was interrupted.
"What's a little boy like you doing here alone?" A gruff voice asked from behind Teepo.
"What do you want?" Teepo answered as he spun around and saw what looked like the creature he had seen a statue of in Urkan Tapa, albeit a bit smaller.
"Nothing much, I'm just curious about you, especially as you decided to drop in unannounced into my dwelling. There's very rarely people from outside, especially so with young children."
"Geez, I wonder why. There is by no means a cave on the way here where most travelers probably drown or something. Still, none of your business old man."
"I don't particularly trust my neighbours either, so I also wanted to make sure that you are here of your own free will, and isn't here because of some unsavory business." The man idly stretched his leathery wings a bit exaggeratedly, as if to express him being bored.
"Really." Teepo said skeptically.
"Well, trust me or not, doesn't really matter anyway." The man let out a small sigh, then continued. "If you are here by your own, then why? Cliff really isn't the place for people with somewhere to be."
"Well, do you think I would be here right now if I felt had somewhere to be?" Teepo snapped back.
"Perhaps not. Even so, you are young. Who's to say you won't find a place you belong yet?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever. I can leave if that's what you want me to do. Wasn't planning on staying here for long anyway. This town is even more of a backwater than fricking Mcneil village." Teepo spat on the ground demonstratively.
"Good. Would be a waste of a young life to idle away here. Although, if you still are wandering the world aimlessly in 50 years or so, then by all means feel free to stay here. I doubt you will find something you want to do with your life if you haven't already found it at that point. Well, not like you'll live much longer after that."
"Yeah, because a wrinkly guy like you is gonna be alive at that point." Teepo snorted.
"Oh, trust me, I'll likely live much, much longer than that." The man chuckled bitterly.
"Really. How old are you then?"
"400 years or so."
"Yeah, no, I know a lie when I hear one."
"Believe what you will."
"Well, if you're really that old then tell me about the ancient dragons" Teepo said in a challenging tone.
The man slowly raised one eyebrow, and then slowly raised the other eyebrow.
"Why do you ask?" The man finally said with a grim expression.
"Checking your age, if you really are like 400 years old you should have seen dragons when they still were around."
"True. Or I could just tell you what I have read in some history book. How would you be able to tell the difference?"
Teepo thankfully had the presence of mind to not blurt out that he was a real, live, member of the brood himself. "I couldn't." He instead answered with a quietened voice.
"That's what I thought." The man visibly detensed as he answered.
A still rather tense silence followed. Teepo thought about commenting on how the dragons seemingly was such a sensitive topic to the other man, but decided not to. A few more minutes and Teepo started getting impatient again.
"So are you just gonna waste my entire day talking in circles or what? Even if you got all the time one could want, I would prefer to get going, even if I don't know where to go."
"Heh, off you go then." The man's expression softened a bit. "But I will say this: You won't find an unbiased source of information on the brood, no matter how hard you look around. As long as I'm alive at least." His expression hardened again as he continued.
"What do you mean?" Teepo's face tightened.
"Exactly what I said. Now, didn't you say you wanted to get going? Shoo."
"Yes, but…" Teepo trailed off as the man exited the cave, and pulled a drapery over the entrance, signaling that the conversation was over.
Teepo after contemplating for a few seconds opted to rush after the man, but as he got outside the man was nowhere to be seen.
"Well, that was something. Sure would be nice if he could speak straight. Looks like he won't talk now, but maybe later he will. If I haven't decided to move on from this dump before then. I'll go set up camp outside of town for now." Teepo decided after standing around for a bit.
Teepo's plan to talk to the man again failed, simply because Teepo didn't manage to find him. Even after repeatedly barging into the cave that Teepo assumed was his home, Teepo still didn't see him even once. After a few days Teepo was sitting alone at a campfire a bit outside the village, thinking aloud over whether to move on, his patience steadily running thin.
"Damn, sure wish I was that good at disappearing into nowhere. Sure would come in handy."
"Welp, if I can't find him, then I just can't." Teepo shook his head.
"I don't have anything I have to do, so I could just hang out here until I find him."
"Ok, who am I kidding? I'm just about to leave, I don't have the patience to twiddle my thumbs for who knows how long."
"Maybe I'll find someone else that has knowledge about the brood."
"Since when am I that curious about finding out more about the brood? Ew, when did I become a nerd?" Teepo said semi-sarcastically, knowing that the himself of a few months ago would have laughed at him now for being so concerned with trying to learn what was essentially history.
"Guess it just came out of nowhere when that man seemed like he may have had some info."
"Eh, nothing wrong with trying to learn more about the brood. It's something to do at least." Teepo shrugged and got up.
"And if I learn more about the brood, then maybe I'll learn how to transform into some even stronger forms. Can't go wrong with more strength, right?" Teepo went over to the campfire and put it out.
"All that is in the future though, I should think of what I should do now."
"Actually, speaking of transforming. If I wanted to go take revenge on Mcneil I have the power now. A group of hired slackers won't do jack against me burning his mansion down." A small, twisted grin broke out on Teepo's face, but then rather quickly died down.
"….Meh. I'm not really feeling the need for revenge that much right now. And traveling back there would take a few weeks, I can't be arsed to do that at the drop of a hat. But it is nice to have the option at least." Teepo lied down on the ground and let out a whistle.
"Welp, time to get to sleep I guess."
Teepo slept peacefully for a few hours. Then, the unwanted woman in his dreams appeared again, after having been absent for the last week or so. She repeated what she had earlier with the same silky tone:
"My… Teepo. Hopelessly lost in the world. I can show you the path which is best for you, and the world. Accept the wisdom and mercy that I can grant to you, unlike the rest of the brood."
This time however, Teepo was able to speak.
"Who the frick are you, and why the frick do you stalk me in my dreams!?" He spat out.
"… I am watching you, because you hold a power that could become too big for the world." She spoke with the same serene monotone as always.
"What do you mean with power too big for the world? If you have seen me battle lately you know I almost got slaughtered by some monsters in a cave! Go watch those instead!"
"… May as that be, you have a potential power, which the wild animals do not."
"If you are talking about me being part of the brood, then yeah, maybe, but does it look like I have a clue what to do develop my abilities?!"
"… Even so, you have not merely awakened as a whelp, but progressed into the second stage as well."
"Second stage?" Teepo stated with notable confusion.
"... Long, long ago the power of the brood was earned through ritual combat, where the dragon clansman would unlock a set of forms of equal power, if they were victorious. That is where you would be at, as you are now." The woman decided to explain after a bit of contemplation.
"… But that is not important. The important part is you have grown relatively strong, and will grow stronger still. Therefore I have a proposal." She continued after a little pause.
"Go ahead." Teepo reluctantly answered.
"...Join me, and watch over the world to ensure it remains peaceful, and ensure that the desert remains at bay."
"Join you how? A peaceful world sounds alright, but what do you mean with the desert?"
"… This small part of the world, which is the only part you know, is flourishing with life."
"… But across the ocean, the land is covered by a desert, where nothing lives, and nothing can survive."
"Really? There is land somewhere out there? You have seen it?" Teepo asked in disbelief.
"...It is indeed so, my Teepo."
"Well, what's the harm then if the desert is on the other side of the ocean?"
"...Given enough time, not even the vast ocean is enough to keep the desert at bay. And then, even this small corner of the world that is flourishing with life, will be suffocated by the sands."
"Sounds bad I guess. Still, if it that takes long, I will have been dead and hopefully buried for a long time when that happens. Why should I care?"
"...Because even if you're dead, there still will be other people alive. You would agree that you don't want everyone to die whenever it happens, right?"
"What do you know, lady?" Teepo muttered under his breath. "Ok, fine, but why can't you go bother someone else?
"...Because you're part of the brood."
"And how does that help with stopping a desert spread, and oh yeah, how am I supposed to really help to stop the desert if I will be dead within a few decades?"
"...Great power, like that of the brood, has many ways of using it. As far as your lifespan is concerned, don't worry. There's technology on the other side of the ocean, which will make that irrelevant."
"I'm supposed to believe that?"
"...I assume you are aware of the machines that wash up on the shores of your world?"
"Yes."
"...Those come across the ocean, and are only an insignificant representation of the machines that can be found there. Lengthening lifespan won't be an issue."
There were once again a few minutes of silence from both ends, then the woman resumed.
"...Do you accept or not?"
"I see what you're saying. But I still want some kind of reward for doing that work if I were to do that. What can you offer me?" Teepo put on his best shit-eating Manillo grin.
"...You'll get to see your brothers again."
A few seconds of silence followed. Then Teepo erupted.
"RYU AND REI ARE DEAD! DON' T LIE TO ME YOU STUPID HAG!
"...But di-"
"WHY SHOULD I TRUST ANYTHING YOU SAY IF YOU ARE GONNA LIE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT!
"…But do-
"NO BUTS! TAKE YOUR LIES ELSEWHERE AND GET THE HELL OUT OF MY MIND, YOU FRICKING STALKER!
A few moments later Teepo woke up.
"AND STAY AWAY YOU STUPID HAG!" Teepo continued yelling as he woke up.
"DO- Oh. I'm awake now." Teepo looked around, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"Hopefully noone heard that."
"Still though, who even is that lying bastard." Teepo growled between clenched teeth.
A sudden thought struck Teepo.
"Wait, if she started appearing after I visited Angel Tower, is she god?" Teepo said with some fear in his voice.
"God sure is a little twit in that case. Why do the Urkans even worship her?"
"Wait, can she see me while I'm awake as well? Gotta watch what I say in that case." Teepo said with rising anxiety.
"Hope I didn't piss her off too much, even if she deserves it. I don't want god angry at me. Seems like something that would get you in trouble." His voice quieted as he spoke.
Teepo sat quietly and stared off into the distance for a bit, not thinking anything in particular.
"Eh, what's done is done. Probably doesn't matter too much if I insult her more with how I already yelled at her. Hope she stays away." He finally thought after a bit.
"Well, doesn't really make much of a difference if she stays away or not. Just gotta ignore everything she says if she comes back. Should be easy enough."
"Yeah, I'm not getting back to sleep after that. Let's blow this joint, and then I figure out the rest later."
Teepo was understandably not in the mood for going through the Tidal Caves again. He didn't want to take his chances trying to fly around in his somewhat newly acquired dragon form and risk crashing into the sea either, so the only option he had left was to do some good old fashioned mountain hiking. Which didn't exactly excite him either, but he figured it could be interesting to check out some mountains which were more or less glossed over on the maps he had. That's what he told himself to motivate himself anyway.
A quick, very reluctant, trip back into Cliff to stock up on supplies later he was ready to head off into the mountains to the north of Cliff, separating it from the rest of the Rhapala region. The mountains were the first uncharted territory Teepo had ever traveled through. As such, there were no roads either, which meant the hike upwards was pretty steadily tiring. The slow pace he had to keep due to that meant reaching what he thought to be about the halfway point took a few days on it's own. Thankfully the local monster fauna wasn't too threatening, consisting of lizardmen similar to some he had run into once at the foot of Mt Zublo, some orcs, and some gongers. He had one close call with a large green and purple monster resembling a dodo, but he managed to run away.
"Would be kinda funny to go back to Urkan Tapa and claim that their god has shown herself to me. And that I then told her to piss off." Teepo thought to himself as he walked, and let out a chuckle.
"I don't feel the need to be attacked by a mob or being forced into being a priest or something though."
"What else to do though? I have really been about everywhere on this continent, unless I want to head off into that mountain range east of Urkan Tapa."
"Nah, that mountain range is way bigger than this one, and hauling myself up these mountains is already annoying enough."
"I'm not sure if people even live there. I have never heard about anyone living there, and there aren't any roads going there."
"With my luck I those mountains are barren enough that I would probably run out of food if I tried crossing them, and then I'd really be stuck between a rock and a hard place."
"Well, maybe if I ever learn how to transform into a dragon that has wings that are actually usable for flight, then maybe. Otherwise I have better things to be doing than starving myself."
"Don't think anything interesting has happened anywhere in this part of the world since that volcano erupted. Or anywhere at all for that matter." He snorted.
"Oh wait. I forgot about Parch. Eh, could go there. Probably just another shitty village in the middle of nowhere like Cliff, but it's somewhere to go that I haven't been to."
"Although that probably means more mountain hiking." Teepo grimaced.
"Right, let's get down from here first and then think later."
The way down was more of the same for the first part, albeit being downhill made the hiking less tiring. Teepo once went into a cave off to the side that piqued his curiosity, but quickly left after seeing the cave stop with a narrow pit that he couldn't see the bottom of even after tossing a lit torch down it, and hearing what sounded like the distant echo of throbbing flesh from the pit. A few days later Teepo had climbed down to the foot of the mountain range. Still not being decided between travelling to Wyndia or Parch, he chose to simply go to Rhapala for now, needing to restock on supplies after having traveled through the scarce mountain range.
Having a road felt like a luxury after the mountain hiking, so before Teepo knew it he was back in Rhapala, the one notable thing happening on the way there was Teepo noticing that the passport he had stole had expired, to which he shrugged, leaving that as an issue for later. He went down to the harbor to check on the boat situation, and concluded that either the boat was still broken or hadn't come back yet, feeling grateful that his earlier boat journey had gone smoothly. He also noted that the love quarrel he had seen earlier seemed to have resolved in the time he had been gone, although the weak-looking guy who surprisingly seemed to have come out on top was looking rather beat up, with his head bandaged and his arm in a cast. The lighthouse was also back on, but other than that nothing else had happened.
Teepo then realized he should probably try to ask around on how to get a passport for crossing the Wyndian border, in case that became relevant, as stealing a passport every time he wanted to cross the border was hardly sustainable. It turned out to simply be a matter of filling in some paperwork at the portier's guild, much unlike the royal audience that was seemingly required when getting a passport in Wyndia, based on what Teepo had heard. Teepo could read, albeit not well enough to fully understand the overly formal language in the passport form. Thankfully the guild secretary apparently wasn't busy at the moment, and helped Teepo do the paperwork.
A few truths, lies, and made up half-truths about his personal info later and Teepo strolled out whistling with a new passport in hand. After then stocking up on provisions and making sure that there were no boats going to Parch he was still undecided on where to go next, so he opted to just flip a coin, quietly noting to himself that he hopefully won't be doing that all too often. He decided for heads to back to Wyndia, and tails to go to Parch. He flipped the coin, and…. tails. He sighed, and second guessed himself a bit, as is customary after flipping a coin, but then shook his head and told himself to just get on with it.
The road between Rhapala and the mountains near Parch was unremarkable, unchanged since Teepo last traveled through the area. This was the first area he was visiting again after a decent span of time had passed on this journey however, and Teepo noted, with a not small amount of glee, how much weaker the local monsters felt compared to when he had first encountered some of them.
The mountains near Parch were also much easier to traverse, so much so that it left Teepo wondering why noone had bothered to build a road. That question was answered when Teepo reached the village, which somehow looked even less impressive than Cliff had. Cliff at least had had some people with interesting visible traits, and some kind of cool grottoes. Parch to Teepo's eyes looked like it was created from the same mold as Mcneil village, but had just been dumped by the sea instead of in a large forest. At least there was no large manor presumably containing a greedy mayor to be seen, or some nagging lumberjack living close by.
Teepo walked around for a few hours, and concluded that there really was nothing to see here, and that it was doubtful there would be anyone interesting to talk to. Or well, maybe the mayor would be interesting to talk to, if nothing else to compare him to Mcneil, as the mayor here seemed less greedy. Not too surprisingly, the mayor of the tiny town was currently not busy with anything. So Teepo just strolled into his house.
"Good god, since when do we have tourists here?" The mayor sighed as Teepo entered.
"How do you know I don't have business here?"
"Didn't know the fricking guild hires children nowadays. Or are you one of those lunatics looking for the legendary mariner? Or do you want to buy some fish? Otherwise I don't see what you could have to do here. Shouldn't a child like you have something better to do than talking with some old man? The mayor gave Teepo the evil eye.
"Legendary mariner?" Teepo asked, having never heard the term before.
"Forget about that, unless you like ancient myths about sailors that don't have a single grain of truth to them." The mayor said with a look on his face as if he had said too much.
Teepo was about to object but then stilled his tongue, deciding he already had enough ancient crap with lacking information to worry about.
"Not like you would tell me anyway." He decided to snark back a bit at least.
"Well, you aren't dumb at least." The mayor snorted.
"However, even if I'm not busy I would prefer to not yak with some tourist all day. Bye." The mayor made a motion to a man who had been standing there silently, who then proceed to escort Teepo out of the room.
"Are all mayors just crappy people one way or another or what?" Teepo yelled at the door, and then walked away to the edge of the village.
"I almost want to rob him out of spite, but Rei would have kicked me out if I ever robbed someone out of spite alone while I still lived with him and Ryu, so I won't." Teepo sighed with a mix of frustration and wistfulness.
"Welp. I'm out. Don't think that I have any reason to come back here ever."
"Time to head back to Wyndia I guess. Maybe Wyndia will seem nicer now that I have been to way too many tiny villages lately." Teepo shook his head.
"Welp, if I ever want to live in some tiny village in the middle of nowhere, Cliff is the best option I guess. Bar is under the floor on that though." Teepo muttered to himself as he left, once again headed for the open road.
Author's note: Chapter really should just have been called 'Teepo gives 1 star Yelp reviews to some villages' lol.