Chapter 3: One-way ticket to the end
The rushing torrent was a bit foreboding for the sniper, he had seen even the heftiest and mightiest of men he had ever encountered in his life be overtaken by rapids of even waist-deep water. He scrounged the ground for a decent rock to chuck into the water. To test how quick the water was flowing, the splash needed to be overtaken in a certain timeframe. Of course it looked a certain way on the surface, truth be told he doesn't have anything to gauge the speed of the undercurrent, which would actually hinder his defensive and offensive abilities. Not to mention, the river itself would delay him precious time and speed.
In finding a smooth stone, he peers at it, cleaning it off a tiny bit. He pockets it for the moment, scrounging up another one, a rough rock which he just throws into the water. The splash disappeared relatively quickly, "Noted, choose a shallower patch of the rapids" he said, prodding the bottom of the rapids with the butt of his rifle, testing the depth. With all of this heavy equipment and a whole person on his back, he couldn't afford to be swept off his feet. For sure, either him or the Angel would drown. Probably both would drown if he got swept from his feet.
He glanced towards and started to scavenge dead and fallen limbs and other such items found on the forest floor at this instance, sure, he was under tree cover, but the odd few leaves and branches he collected from just meandering through the forest undergrowth would be attached to his cape and not his helmet He applies these attachments to his helmet as he exposes himself more, cautious of both his footing and the skies. He begins to bravely cross the shin-high water, inching across as the cold water brushes past his legs. He unslings his rifle and levels it in a low ready.
He shuffled his feet slowly across the bottom of the river, getting about two-thirds of the way across before he kicked the inside of his steel-toed boots by punting a sturdy boulder underwater. He had incredibly resisted his instinct to hunch over and soothe the stinging sensation in his boots, knowing how that would be a horribly stupid decision. He nearly loses his footing when moving past that boulder, thankfully he caught himself by stomping his foot down on the other side of it. 'Opa, nearly had a swift end to this whole adventure.' he reminded himself, 'The shore is not that far, I can make it' thinking while braving the final leg of this river.
It is late afternoon when he gazes up towards the sheer incline before him. "Chyort, it's been decades since I last rock-climbed. . . Do I still have it?" he asked himself as he broached the rockwall. He tentatively tested each rock he grabbed and stepped on. "I should've slipped on my spikes, too late to go back down. Bush going up." he called up, clambering up the cliff face with muddied boots and damp lower clothes. It is not four meters off the ground when his muscles start to ache and pain. His core and grip strength prevails for the first twenty meters up, but his pace slows as he has to fight to catch his breath.
"Ya know. . Never thought I'd ever curse myself for traveling light on any of my incursions to that village. . . Now huff I regret not forcing myself to be over encumbered as I traveled. ." he vented his frustrations aloud, thinking becoming too taxing on his limited strength to even do in this moment, "Lazy son of BITCH!" His body ached and pained further into the ascent. Truthfully he was miserable at this moment as his limbs could tear off at any moment, "Normally I could climb this in less than an hour and a half, but this is taking a while. Where did I go so wrong? Was it weight training? Routine? Oh fuck, I forgot to stretch before doing this physically taxing task. . shit. Well I'm gonna be feeling this all week." he sighed, realizing his critical mistake.
The mercenary really began to realize the many things he took for granted from his past. "Maybe I should bypass Zeppingu altogether to track back to that long abandoned 'Central Command' base I had back in the day. . . Hmm, perhaps the few remaining prototypes can serve as worthy transport. . . I still will have to gather Mana potions –and I neglected to check the prices of such potions–fuck." The sniper reached the peaks of the valley, looking around at the surroundings, having ducked slightly over the peak.
Compared to the map and what he's heard, there was supposed to be a small village. A 'Small Village' was supposed to consist of at most a hundred people. What met his eyes in the distance was more akin to that of a walled city. The map was at least 70 years old and at most 80. He nodded in acknowledgement of the settlement's, compliments to the mayor and the policies applied to the city. "I can easily get in. Although my documents are old, there will inevitably exist even more remote and hidden villages, even on the edges of these locales." He said, giving himself a small break before thinking on a way down that doesn't drain all his stamina.
He stared down his bayonet sheath. His head was empty even though unconsciously he was debating over potentially destroying his bayonet for a quick way down. "No, that's dumb" he spoke to himself. . . "–Well this cliff is not a sheer one, I might be able to" –His instincts told him he was being leered at, "NO TIME TO THINK, I GOTTA GO!" He equipped the gas mask flailing off the side and hastily put it on, as well as mounting the bayonet on his rifle, sprinting down the slope quickly, adrenaline coursing through his veins as his senses accurately predicted an imminent attack.
There was a crash behind him and a groan of pain from a harpy. It was a regular harpy, 'thank god', He thought, having jumped forward down the slope and getting a good glimpse of the monster girl now currently targeting him. He couldn't linger on that thought now as he was barreling down the slope at unprecedented speed and the base of the slope now probably anywhere between NOW and a minute from colliding with the speeding sniper.
"OH SHIT" he shouted, getting low and starting to slide on his side, hoping friction could slow him so he could roll off all of this energy. He was scraping the hell out of his leg as he left a trail of dust in his wake He wasted no time as he broke his fall and dove into the bushes before the dust could settled and quickly added more shrubs and twigs and fallen leaves to his headgear and cloak, quickly scurrying in a low crouched sprint. 'Harpies are people first and foremost, it's only the time of year for this one, she can't help it.' He reminded himself as he ran off with the cover of foliage. His rifle was in his arms in case he really needed to defend himself, still feeling bad for the Harpy in his mind.
'I hope you find a wonderful husband friend, It just can't be me' He wished upon that Harpy, sprinting off in the direction of that settlement. After what felt like an hour of sprinting, Alexiye got lower and began to crawl on his hands and knees, his bag preventing him from crawling on his stomach. He feared the Harpy was still around and very much still searching for him, himself not eager to be turned into a husband quite yet. 'Besides, such things are best when love is in mind, and it takes time to actually cultivate love, like a plant, you must seed the fertile grounds of your heart and share an indescribable bond between caretaker and the budding flower of love.' He thought in his mind, now wondering upon the Shrine Maiden who once pursued him devotedly for a time.
The same woman who was the reason he had to erect a stave so that she couldn't find him and so that she could move on. He wondered how she was doing and if she had found someone better, someone more mature. . "Can't think about the past now. I'm on a one-way trip to destruction. I can't let emotion get between me and my objective" he said, forcing his emotions back into their respective bottles. He sighed deeply, ignoring the numbness he's for the most part used to. . or that could also be his entire body screaming that it hates him at himself.
The Sun began to set over the horizon, by now he was wearily meandering in the direction of the settlement, having mindlessly trekked from the foothills of that ridge for the past few hours. By now, he knew the Harpy stopped her advance on him as he witnessed her fly away from the area. Really, aside from the excitement of the early morning and the Harpy encounter, the past 16 or so hours were mindless, boring. Humming the theme of his boredom, his whistle fills the forest with life, for some odd reason. His head bobs back and forth from each side, unable to sing the lyrics, but vividly remembering the guitars and the homely feeling song, longing to go home.
"Then again. . . what would be waiting for me at home? An empty estate? Nameless land? . ." he sighed again, "after this incursion. Then I'll think about it further." He unmounts his bayonet from his rifle and slings the rifle over his shoulder. He checks his gear and straps the Gas mask on tightly, forming a better seal. "I've heard stories of Alrunes and those of that family and although they were all but confirmed in the valley, I'm not exactly following a trail here" he said, muffled by the mask, "Filter should be good for the next two days because It's just filtering smells and not actual chemicals" he added. He really was difficult to spot from the undergrowth, having had many pieces of the shrubs, sticks, and fallen leaves join his cloak and helmet covering.
Standing tall he could easily be mistaken for a Bush Mimic or a Dryad possibly. He glanced around as it got dimmer, looking for a clearing to use for a camp. He knew that he needed to rest. Food can wait until tomorrow, fatigue could impair his judgment, should his ability to critically think be compromised, this adventure would be short and he might end up a slave. In the dim illumination of the twilight hours of dusk, he does indeed spot a clearing.
He cautiously approaches it, a hand over his bayonet in case this clearing was an Alrunes' clearing. 'No giant flower, oh this is a pond area during the rainy season, Now I understand why it's a clearing' he picks a few of the twigs from his makeshift ghillie and starts to build himself a fire, something small and one that doesn't cause smoke or embers. He unsheathed his bayonet and began to shave off kindlings as well as strip the bark off the sticks to make it easier to catch fire. Most of the trees around him did not do a good job at catching alight because they had too much water in them, the twigs were different, as some were in varying stages of drying due to the fact they were naturally dropped from the trees dead.
There was a decent amount of kindling in the base of the firepit he had carved out of the center of the clearing using his bayonet as a trowel. He didn't want to unpack about three-quarters of his equipment to dig out his entrenching tool only to put it back into the pack and then pack the rest of the contents of his bag. Wiping and cleaning off his bayonet, he grabbed the flint he always keeps handy and does quite a few strikes against it, trying to catch the kindling alight.
By the seventh strike, he blew into the kindling as the sparks came to a rest, fanning more air into the weak fire as it grew in intensity slowly. Alexiye found himself a location to lay down and did so on his side, throwing his cloak over himself and adjusting his helmet to cover his face, using his hand as a pillow. Just like that, he fell asleep with a gas mask on and all. He kept partial consciousness in case he was snuck up on. With his helmet echoing things too, it'd be easier to wake up if needed.
He failed in keeping out of deep sleep, but luckily wasn't disturbed. He woke up after sunrise and he quickly freaked out, looking around and feeling his equipment and then patting his back to check on the angel. Nothing felt tempered with, but he had to make sure first. He undid the bandoliers and laid the angel flat, checking over her and making sure she was fine. He nodded to himself once he confirmed she was fine. He thought back to his past, conjuring up his memories on taking care of those in a coma, be it medically induced or otherwise.
He voted to massage the angel, using this time to let her "stretch" and relax. He observed his surroundings as well now that daylight illuminated a lot of it. An eye over his shoulder as he massaged the cooped up angel was necessary as she did have a very bright glow. He paused as he got to her wing roots.
"Wait, how would one go about caring for wings?" As if on hearing that, her wings flapped and stretched, unfortunately blowing ashes to the wind which covered his fogged up gas mask goggles. "SHIT" he said, trying to rub off ash from the lenses. He managed to be able to barely see out of them after clearing his view, but it still wasn't much, "Son of BITCH I gotta clean this deliberately, can't half-ass this." When he angrily looked back at the angel, she had already folded her wings. "Ot vyysuki. . ." he said, clenching a fist and resisting the urge to beat the shit out of the angel. Luckily for her, his self control was unparalleled. More machine than a man. He sighed, feeling his frustrations ebb into a numbness he felt all over his body.
He rebundled the angel back onto his back and cleaned up the sight. Spreading the ashes amongst the outskirts of the clearing, returning the energy back to the soil for other plants to use and regrow. He shook off what ash he could before venturing out into the woods, his filter probably dramatically ruined by ash clogging it. He noticed barely any difference, himself, breathing, but this could easily be something that it takes looking at before one could determine if it's gonna be less useful or not.
The brush clung to him as he passed, such is how a ghillie should be to him, so it more naturally blends in with the scenery. He glanced around lowering his slung rifle to his shoulder, he could potentially encounter people in the brush, especially as he got closer to the settlement, be it highwaymen or adventurers.
The vegetation slowly cleared and he mounted a bayonet in the time that had passed. He wandered relaxed for the most part, having dropped his hood for better hearing and so people would recognize him as a human rather than some form of dryad. As there came regular paths and trails, he pondered if he should remove the gas mask now, having already been through the areas thought to be inhabited by Alrunes.
He took a good look around before removing the gas mask and taking a deep breath. "Fresh air! Oh man, that mask was stuffy." he said, stretching a bit as he meandered along. He heard the bushes rustle and he immediately raised his rifle and pointed his bayonet at the brush. Out poked the head of a female adventurer slowly chasing after one of the small, harmless monsters. She didn't even pay attention to him, or hadn't seen him yet.
He knelt as he was in the way of the monster and let it come into his arms. This is when she stumbled back in shock, "Calm yourself, I'm no Dryad nor Alrune." Alexiye said calmly, "You should have someone chase them into another. They seek others in order to prey upon their kindness to keep them safe." He explained to the girl, who was now getting up. "O-oh, thank you, sir" she responded to him, still a little bit shocked, "Here, I assume you have a quest involving these monsters. I wish you luck with them."
"Oh, thank you. . ." She accepted this monster and put it with two others in a carrier box on her back.
"I'll get going now" He said, starting to walk away. . .
He could still feel her staring at him.
"-If you have something else to say, might as well say it" -he said, still walking on
"I'm sorry, it's just. . . I'm curious why you got so much. ."
"It just wasn't my day" he sighed, "I had a quest but I'm deciding to give up on it, too risky with Harpies trying to swoop down upon me."
"O-oh my. . ." she paused, "I-I'm sorry, I am just still taken aback by you. ."
"You know." he said, turning to face her with a sympathetic face, "I don't blame you, I realize what I look like. Quite frankly, I would be shocked, too."
She nodded her head, "your quest? Was it just for those four?" Alexiye asked
"Oh, no, I need a few more before it's complete, thanks for reminding me!" she seemingly snapped out of her daze, rushing off.
Alexiye shook his head and resumed his walk towards the settlement. "Not far now, I'll ask around and it'll be obvious I'm new to town." he said, glancing through the trees an imposing wall. "Now, the real question is where the gate is." he said, approaching the wall through the brush, until reaching the clearing to be a visual buffer for those on the wall. He gazed up, and then looked around the area, looking for specific protrusions, trying to visually identify the gate without having to ask first.
The wall was too high to even attempt to look further than what he could see along the side, finding nothing else to do, he called up the wall, "Ho there! I'm new to town, is the gate to the east or the west?" He shouted, hoping some guard could hear him. Fortunately, one looked over and called back down, "South!" was shouted down, "Graeti" he shouted a traditional endearing 'thank you' up the wall. He made his way south, having been told where the gate to enter was.
He removed the Bayonet and re-holstered everything. He remembered for a minute, 'wait. . . don't I have to be searched? Chyort, I might not be able to enter the town legally if so.' He thought as the gate came into view, he hung close by the brush as he got a visual on the gate and its operations. He waited a bit, checked his things and most importantly, gathered his identification things, especially his Adventuring Guild Papers. He personally checked over them and brushed himself off before approaching the gate.
It seemed like they didn't search people, five individuals came in and they only searched over the cargo of a carriage. He walked up openly and the guard went from nonchalantly bickering amongst each other to going into professional mode as Alexiye came over. "Morning people I-" Alexiye's stomach grumbled and he looked down in shock- "Holy crap, that's the loudest I've ever heard you grumble" he spoke to his own stomach as the guards laughed, "-Anyways, here's my Identification papers and guild card" he said, handing those over to the guard.
Author's Note
Merry Holidays people! Tis' I, Soryuz! I bring gift of new Chapter for this story! This is where good news ends, depending on how you look at it. I have effectively caught up in where I have written, so It's gonna be at least a month before the next chapter comes out. Truth be told, Chapter 4 is already written. . . It, however, is not in a state that can shown in the light of day because GOD FORBID I write English in a legible manner despite it being my native language. Regardless, I am looking towards a release date of Chapter 4 on January 20th (2024). It'll give me plenty of time to look over Chapter 4, Start (and maybe complete) Chapter 5, and sometime between those two, Release the Prologue of a new project here on Fanfiction "A Ghost's Stories: Of the Fog and War". This project is the other Fanfiction work that I have previously mentioned wanting to give to the world, wish me luck in that particular Fandom. Anyways, Happy Christmas, Drink Responsibly on New Year's, Happy New Year! and may Vodka be with you.
-Sincerely, Soryuz