Sachihiro

I’m not sure whether its cause it’s just the two of us or maybe my new guide is better at this than the last one but by the previous standards this trip is a pleasure. There is no chance for orientation and it’s not like we teleport away appearing elsewhere by some inexplicable magic. On the contrary we do a lot of walking, a lot of it.

‘’You hungry yet?’’ I ask, I’m not even sure for the how maniest time but it still amazes me that we haven’t eaten since we set out yet neither of us are hungry or thirsty.

Our feet crunching on the strange sands are the only audible sounds besides the occasional wind and what I call the gaze of the sun.

Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.

Í’m ignored again likely because he is tired of the question or tired of not being tired. I look back at our tracks stretching back into perpetuality, the only variety in this ocean of unusual yellow sand we’ve found ourselves transversing. In all directions as far as the eyes can see is nothing but sky and sand, even the wind is rare here though the air isn’t stale.

‘’Where are we anyways?’’ I ask catching up to Toura’s long strides with a handful of sand flowing like water between my fingers.

He ignores me again. Eyes forward, his pace increasing slightly forcing me to catch-up and maintain pace, I really don’t want to make the mistake of being stranded here however that works.

*

We walk, the days are long on Gaia. I never realised how painfully long 100 hour days really are because I’ve never spent all of them doing the same monotonous activity. It’s dark now and I can’t see my nose in front of my face which shouldn’t matter with the advantage of my other senses but all I get from my awareness are my immediate surroundings. I can keep track of Toura brooding few steps ahead of me, even blind though the constant crunch as we walk would make him difficult to lose track of as still it’s as quiet as a cursed grave site here.

We walk, we don’t get tired, we don’t get hungry, we don’t get thirsty. I don’t understand why or how but I follow like the blind man I am, doubts plaguing me as I have no idea how this man is keeping track of direction no where on Gaia we are, if we’re even still on Gaia. There is nothing I can do besides kill him though if he is leading me astray, I’ve fantasized about twelve ways of killing him quickly, six if he is any good with that staff.

I mean we could literally be walking around in circles and I wouldn’t even realise at this point, well maybe when my awareness passed over my tracks again I’d have to stab my guide through the spine, then what though?

I realise the crunching has stopped, strange how I had gotten so used to that sound that it played itself out in my mind a few more times before t dawned on me that I can no longer hear it. I bend and ustrap my sandals storing them away before catching up to the headstrong Toura. The ground is yielding but rough, coarse and slightly cold at my feet. We have definitely made some progress from the monotonous mind numbing sameness we’ve been transversing these two days through this wasteland.

*

I watch people’s silhouette’s fly past as Toura and I walk through an area populated by strange people with multi coloured skins. Most of them are completely oblivious of our presence as we are here now and gone a moment later already having covered great distances, but some of the red and blue skinned people keep track of us somehow until we are out of each other’s sights. Now that I there are trees, hills, landmarks to keep track of I’m realising how fast we’ve been moving and I’m having a difficult time believing my senses.

Trying to keep track of landmarks and the like is useless as even the tallest mountain that should be visible from days away is left far behind in a matter of hours, it like we’re flying over the land.

*

Om

Grabbing grasses are exploding out the ground with sharp thorns forming around the ankles of the tide of rushing bull-dozers coming our way but just as quickly they are ripped out of the ground. Steel arrows skid off dozer hides scrapping off body hairs but otherwise having no noticeable effect except pissing off the head bull stomping towards us with 16 tons of destructive mass. Wickedly sharp shards of ice appear before the bull with the crackling sound of the air protesting but they break with snaps crumbling under the hoofs of the stomping herd.

Bird to my left starts running towards the outcrop of rocks protruding from the ground like a pointing finger, Silicone goes right at incredible speed, a puff of circular dust waves created at his feet with every step while remaining completely quiet and covering ground quickly. Arrows zoom over our heads faster than I care to follow pissing off the herd more so they don’t think much and see what we have in store for them. Hopefully this will be over quickly.

I run past Alcor‘s fortified position from which he creates his ice shards and other inconveniences for the herd of blood thirsty beasts, taunting . I’m now the centre of attention of the herd of dozers, my pace increases and I hear the creaking of an old twisting tree as I run without loosing my breath with every step solid and explosive but still I may as well be running in water with how quickly they’ve gain on me.

I dive into the man sized portal that pops at my feet as the head bull gains on me. I’m through and rolling out of the way even as the tusked head of the huge creature comes through cutting all in its path for 50 metres with the one shot kill all ability they have. Shooorrrrr... dust covers everything as the ground is gored at least 30 centimetres deeply by the head-bull’s attack that would have left nothing made of flesh still intact in its path.

But the beast was traped headfirst in the portal only big enough for its head which closed keeping the head away from the rest of it’s body. There is a sizzling sound of shearing flesh as Mizar tries to close the portal with everything he has.

{ROAR/Wail}

The thing’s sonic attack rings our ears, leaving me disoriented and stumbling back grabbing my stone hammer’s head from between my shoulders for strength. Feeling nauseated and dizzy I call up an Imagine moving forward for the attack. 'I am a giant with unimaginable strength, I carry a weapon forged by the gods, I crush all that challenge me to paste'.

[Clack.]

'I have no equals, I am a step above all others, it isn’t even their faults'.

[Clank.]

It isn’t even strength that I use to overcome my puzzles though I have that aplenty, no. Most creatures just don’t know their own power using only a fraction of what they have access to and even that they use so inefficiently.

[Cluck.]

The falling of my hammer on my foe is destructive, even against these creatures known for their ridiculous physical resilience I am an inevitable force of nature,

[Scrunch.]

Bones break finally, fluids leak from it’s flower-like ears.

[Thump.]

The bull’s head separates from it’s body as Mizar’s portal finally closes around the beast’s neck. I sigh releasing the Image and the Rage that accompanies it, stumbling back I find myself supported by the soft but powerful hand of Mizar on my back.

‘’You alright?’’ She asks with those captivating dark orbs for eyes gazing unwaveringly on me.

‘’’Fine, how are the others doing?’’ I ask uncorking my gourd and downing the faul restorative concoction.

‘’They should have it easy now that we’ve taken the head,’’ she says her gaze already getting distant so she can gaze at how the others are fairing some 5km’s away where the stampede is still occuring.

She nods to herself having confirmed her assessment and those dark orbs are set on me again, a stroke my stone hammer with my left hand as light as I would a child. My breaths deep and long as I wait for the potion to kick in; dirt, blood and mire are splattered all over me, she smiles.

‘’If you keep looking at me like that someone will suspect,’’ I say coolly coming back to myself with my Rage Self receding.

‘’You are a fool is you thing the Emperor doesn’t already know about us Lover,’’ she says with a smirk.

I grunt, I’m not worried about the emperor, that’s too far above my league to even worry about. I shake my head and take a deep breath, ‘’It is Ursa Major I worry about currently.’’ Dangerous these Celestian Royals, very dangerous.

‘’Father will understand, mother will make him see. Come, let’s go help the others, we’ll collect the head later.’’

A cold black twisting sucking sizzling thing opens before us and she jumps through without a second thought, already able to see on the other side clearly. All I see is darkness but I jump in after, having followed her on these missions for years now.