Chapter 1: Purpose
"There's only one thing in this world for certain: We're all just wandering until we find our purpose."
Warm.
That was the first sensation the wild Robinquill felt.
He opened his eyes to see the warmth coming from the sun's morning rays, which shone between the trees.
The Robinquill sat up and stretched, then looked around to find himself tucked away underneath the partial shade of a tree. He nodded in satisfaction, confirming he was in the same forest he had fallen asleep in—specifically, the Cinnamoth Forest. It was one of the few places where a Robinquill such as himself could safely sleep out in the open... usually.
He shook himself awake before patting the ground, feeling for the familiar wooden handle of a bow. Not every Pal used weapons, but for Robinquills, having a bow was practically standard. Not to say he was standard.
Yes, he might've walked like a Robinquill, knew the same moves as a Robinquill, and slept like a Robinquill. But he was different from the rest. He could communicate with humans.
Every Pal could communicate with humans in their own unique way. Some used special methods catered to their race specifically, like dreams. Others were lucky enough to be born with telepathy. But him? He could speak and understand the various human languages.
He isn't sure when he gained the ability. Honestly, he thinks he was born with it. All he knew was that he could understand any human, regardless of which native tongue they spoke. It took him years to figure out that humans spoke in more than one common language.
Being able to interact and speak with humans as if he were one himself has granted him a better understanding of their species as a whole—more so than most Pals get. As a result, he's come to hate them a little less. Well, he never hated them to begin with. Not all of them, anyway.
As he's learned, there are good humans, like the friendly merchants and the occasional poor sap who washes up on Palpagos. Then there were bad humans, like The Syndicate. He shivered at the thought of them.
Finally, after sitting under the tree for what was probably a long time, the Robinquill stood up and began walking. He didn't have a destination in mind, nor did he know what direction he was headed in. He just walked.
That's how his days usually went. He'd wake up, aimlessly walk around for a few hours, find food, fight an aggressive Pal or human if the situation called for it, and then find a cozy spot to sleep in. After that, the whole thing would repeat the next day. It wasn't a bad routine, really. There was always something to do, aside from surviving. Though, as much as he liked his routine, he couldn't help but feel it was...empty.
He started feeling it about a year ago. Suddenly, he was no longer content with his day-to-day lifestyle. The quiet rustling nature and the distant sounds of Pals no longer brought him a sense of comfort. The occasional battle, even if it were life and death, no longer felt as thrilling as before. Worst of all, he constantly felt like something was missing. Something important. But he could never determine what.
He pondered it hard, and he came to the conclusion that maybe it was because he lacked motivation. Unlike his fellow Pals, who just did whatever they needed to survive, humans usually had more in mind than just surviving.
In his time observing them, he's come to learn humans were ambitious creatures. Some of them had dreams. Others had goals, some of which were to escape Palpagos Island. Even the bad humans had some sort of endgame that pushed them forward—At least, that's what he assumed.
Purpose is what kept a human pushing onward. Was that what he was missing? Purpose? If so, where would he even find—"Ay! Ay! C'mon. We's told ya we've got nothin!"
A voice broke out through the treeline, snapping the Robinquill away from his thoughts. Immediately, he crouched. That was a human who just spoke. But from where?
He cautiously tiptoed towards the source of the noise, keeping himself hidden amongst the forest's foliage.
The Robinquill peeked from behind a tree, spotting a group of humans within a clearing. There were seven in total.
Five of them were unmistakably syndicate thugs. Their black attire and the glowing red eyes from their masks gave them away. Four of them wielded heavy wooden clubs while the fifth one, who was in the middle, had nothing—no doubt, the fifth one was the captain of this small group.
The other two humans were... something else. Clearly not with the syndicate, if their clothes were anything to go by. They looked as though a pack of direhowls had jumped them.
One wore a pale collared cloth shirt, which was slightly torn, with a brown strap wrapped around their stomach. For leggings, they wore dirty brown pants that were cut off just before the knee by leather boots. They also had brown armbands around their wrists, though the left one was notably missing.
The other human wore a similar uniform to the first. The only difference was that their brown pants were torn rather than their shirt, their armbands were completely missing, and their leather boots were in complete tatters.
Judging by their physiques, both were male—approximately five feet and eight inches tall. Like their clothes, the two men looked alike. They had palish skin, dull gray eyes, and brown-colored hair. That was where their similarities ended.
The man with the torn shirt had a slender build with slight muscle. He almost looked scrawny compared to everyone else. It didn't help that he had a baby face and a bowl-cut hairstyle.
The other man with the torn pants was much more muscular than his lookalike. He had bulky arms, a neatly shaped face, and a messy head of hair. Despite his hair being all over the place, his forehead was still quite... noticeable.
The Robinquill pried his eyes away from the man's forehead and focused on the situation. He soon realized the five syndicate thugs had the two other men cornered against a cliff wall.
"We won't ask again," the middle thug said, his voice deep and incredibly distorted from the mask. "Where are you hiding your Pals?"
The younger-looking man was about to step up, but the other stuck his hand out, standing between the young man and the thug. "How many times do we gots to tell ya? We don't know where our mateys be at!" the man said in a raised voice, it being the same one the Robinquill heard earlier.
There was a pause in the conversation, then the middle thug gestured to the others with a nod of his head. "Round 'em up." Immediately, the four club-wielding thugs closed in on the two men.
Both raised their fists, readying themselves for a fight, but the one with the messy hair continued putting himself in between the syndicate thugs and the slender man. There was no question as to who the protective one of the duo was.
Normally, these types of conflicts were not the Robinquill's concern. He had other things to worry about than what humans did to each other. But he felt an unshakable urge to help these men out—It was almost painful to ignore.
Oh, what the heck. Any excuse to kill a few syndicate members was a good one.
The Robinquill raised his bow, still hiding behind the trees. A thug raised his club, about to swing on the bulkier of the two men. Then, he fired a shot of concentrated energy directly into the thug, boring a sizeable hole through their chest. They fell to the ground, dropping their club.
The sudden attack caught everyone by surprise, and the remaining thugs hastily backed away from the two men, thinking they had done something.
While they were disoriented, the Robinquill waved his hand and sent two arcs of pressurized wind at two other thugs. The wind cut through their heads like butter, and their bodies dropped to the forest floor with a thud.
The last two syndicate thugs finally realized what was happening and whipped around to the forest. Seeing as he used up the element of surprise, the Robinquill stepped out into the clearing, revealing himself to the remaining four humans.
"It's a Pal! Get it!" The weaponless thug shouted and pointed at the Robinquill, to which the other thug responded by charging at him with their club raised high.
The thug jumped and delivered an overhead swing, which the Robinqull blocked with his bow. Before the thug could follow up with another attack, they were grabbed by the collar of their shirt and flipped over. While they were down, the Robinquill fired another shot of concentrated energy into the thug's skull, killing them instantly.
He turned to the last thug, about to deal with them as he had with all the others, but to his surprise, the bulkier of the two men acted first.
The syndicate thug had directed all their attention onto the Robinquill, so they didn't see or hear the man grab one of the wooden clubs their comrades had dropped. Seconds later, the man bashed the thug's head in with the club, knocking them out in one hit.
After the thug was dealt with, the man turned to the Robinquill and charged without warning.
This sudden action shocked and confused the Robinquill, but instead of defending himself, he put his bow down and raised both hands. "Hey! I just saved you!"
The man stumbled during his charge, coming to a stop. "Dear Neptune. It talks!" He exclaimed, then stepped back from the Robinquill.
Honestly, he should've expected this reaction. Assuming they were new to Palpagos Island, which seemed to be the case, then it made sense that the man felt threatened. It probably didn't help that the Robinquill was slightly taller than both men, being six feet tall. Still, he felt the reaction was a bit dramatic. The man had to have come across other Pals before him. Surely the Robinquill wasn't the most "out of place" looking one.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. So just put the club down." The Robinquill lowered his hands, only for the man to raise the club.
"Silence, ye devil spawn! I'll send ya back to the depths from which you came!"
Before the messy-haired man could advance on the Robinquill, the scrawny man placed a hand on his shoulder and yanked him back. "The hell you doin' Nick?"
The messy-haired man, Nick, stumbled back, then looked at the scrawny man, confused. "What it look like I'm doin'? I'm defendin' us!"
"You blind? Or did ye already forget what that thing did to these men?!"
The Robinquill's eyelids lowered halfway. Sure, he didn't necessarily have a name, but he was much more than a 'thing.' For Pete's sake, he saved them!
The scrawny man pushed Nick further back, forcing him to lower the club. "Ya never were good for negotiatin'. Just sit back, I'll handle it..." He said uncertainly, yet with confidence. Slowly, the scrawny man approached the Robinquill. "So... ye can talk?"
The Robinquill placed a hand on his hip and nodded. "That's right, and I'll reiterate again, I'm not here to hurt you."
"That's comforting." The man responded with an awkward smile, indicating he didn't really believe the Robinquill's words. "Listen, whatever you are, we don't want no trouble. Alright? We're just lookin' for our crew."
The Robinquill eyed the man up and down before speaking. "You're acting like you've never seen a Robinquill before. Let alone a Pal."
The man perked up. "A Pal? Is... Is that what ya are?" The Robinquill nodded, a bit confused. The man then looked over at one of the deceased syndicate thugs. "That man kept asking us where our Pals were..." He looked back at the Robinquill, a look of realization appearing in his eyes. "I thought he was talkin' bout our mates."
Oh, don't tell me... The Robinquill realized that the two men were acting like they'd never seen a Pal because they had literally never seen one until now. "Oh..." He expected that they just washed up on the island, but he didn't expect them to wander so far inland without encountering even one Pal.
The Robinquill didn't know much about the outside world, but from his many experiences with humans, he deduced that Pals did not exist beyond Palpagos Island. Assuming they really didn't encounter a Pal until now, their shocked behavior was reasonable.
The Robinquill decided to excuse their previous actions and dialogue. "Okay, let's just start over." He picked up his bow, resulting in Nick tightening his grasp around the club. "What are your names?"
The man hesitated in answering the question, but after seeing the Robinquill was genuinely not a threat, he eased up a little. "The name's Samuel Wilson." Samuel then gestured to Nick. "And the caveman holdin' the club is me brother, Nicolas."
"Oi!" Nicolas came up beside Samuel, only to ruffle up his hair.
They're brothers? Guess that explains why they look alike. Thought the Robinquill.
Samuel lightly pushed his brother away before turning his attention back to the Robinquill. "You said yer name was Robinquill?"
The Robinquill cringed in response. "Well, that's what I'm called. But that's not my name."
Samuel raised a brow in confusion. "Okay... Well then, what is it?"
The Robinquill shrugged. "Don't have one." Samuel and Nicolas gave each other an odd look in response.
Before Samuel could respond, Nicolas blurted out a response. "Well, I's like the name Robin. It fits ye, don't ya think?"
The Robinquill jolted in surprise. Never before had a human ever bothered to take time out of their day to give him a name. They were always just content with referring to him by his species. "Robin..." The Robinquill repeated. It was simple, and honestly, didn't have much thought behind it. Regardless, he found the name quite enjoyable. He had no mouth to express this, but his eyes told it all. "I love it! Thank you, Nicolas."
Nicolas smirked. "Heh, just call me Nick."
Samuel eyed his brother suspiciously. "You were just threatening to crack this thing's...er...Robin's head open; now you're suddenly buddy-buddy with 'em?"
Nicolas wrapped an arm around Samuel. "Sure am! After all, this fella here just saved us. The least I's can do is be cordial." Samuel sighed and rolled his eyes.
Robin chuckled at the brothers before switching topics. "So, you two really aren't from around here?"
Samuel removed his brother's arm from around him. "That depends, what's here?"
"Palpagos Island." The two brothers looked like they had no clue what Robin was talking about. "I thought so. I guess that means your ship crashed."
Nicolas jolted. "How'd ya know we came on a ship?"
Samuel lightly punched Nicolas's shoulder. "It's an island, ya buffoon. What? Ye think someone is just gonna swim here?" He shook his head, ignoring his brother's stupidity and looking back at Robin. "Though, ye don't look all too surprised that we washed up here."
Robin shook his head. "You aren't the first humans to come to this island. I doubt you'll be the last. They always come in search of this place. I don't know why, but I do know they always end up stranded."
"See, that be the thing. We ain't come lookin' for this place. We just accompanied the captain. Which reminds me, our crew! We came with others. Could they be here too?"
Robin rubbed the back of his head. "Well, considering you two are here, it's not strange to assume they are as well. Though, I don't know how you guys managed to get all the way over here."
Nicolas tilted his head. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Usually, those stranded end up in the Plateau of Beginnings. You guys are kinda far from there."
"Huh. Well, we woke up in this forest a short while ago. Right?" Samuel turned to Nicolas, who nodded in confirmation.
Somebody must've moved them. But who? Robin thought, not thinking any Pal or Human would have a worthwhile reason to do that to these two men.
"In any case, yer suggestin' that our crew might be at this Plateau of Beginnings, yeah?" Samuel questioned, to which Robin nodded. "Could ye point us in the direction?" Robin did as told and pointed left. Both brothers turned, seeing the vast expanse that was Cinnamoth Forest. Looks of uncertainty spread on their faces. "Uh... On second thought, could ya show us the way?"
Robin thought about the proposal. He had no reason to help these two more than he already had. But he also had no real reason to deny them, either. First impressions aside, they didn't seem like bad people, nor were they trying to force him to do anything, which was rare. Plus, he didn't really have anything better to do. Perhaps helping them would fill the void of meaninglessness Robin felt in his life, even if only temporarily. Besides, if they were to encounter another more aggressive Pal on their way, he doubted they'd last long; He'd prefer it if they stayed alive. He already went out of his way to save them, so he'd rather it not be for nothing.
"Sure. I don't see why not!" Robin eagerly agreed, much to the relief of both brothers, who exhaled a breath he didn't even know they held. "It's a long walk, so we better get moving." Robin turned and walked in the direction he pointed to earlier. Nicolas and Samuel gave each other one last look before following somewhat close behind.