Unnamed Location, Earth Tǩóymos, Jan 10, 2011.
A distant boom startled me awake. For several moments, I lay on my new bed blinking sleep from my eyes. Then I groaned and stood. Explosions on a basically uninhabited world needed investigating, especially when you lived in a geologically active area. Even when the sun wasn't up yet and you'd had a long day of channeling your centuries old Viking heritage.
Stumbling out into the predawn gloom, I first looked towards the west, where the nearest fire mountain was. The horizon was clear there, without any trace of activity. Turning south, however, brought a dull orange glow into view. In the distance, barely visible through the mist and only just within my sightline, was the blazing peak of one of the volcanic islands off the coast. A low roar, like an ancient beast of legend – or an angry Lung – rolled over me as a fountain of red burst forth, reaching high into the dark sky.
Well, that could be annoying. And potentially dangerous, if part of the island were to collapse. Still, nothing I could do about it, beyond keeping an eye on it. Hopefully it wouldn't last too long, as I liked being able to sleep.
Letting out another groan, I slipped back into my shelter and grabbed a lantern I'd acquired the day before. Given my forced wakeful state, I might as well sort my ill-gotten gains and get them ready for use.
And make some tea. If I was up, I wanted to be
properly up, and tea would ensure that.
Grabbing my new camp stove and a small pot, I then drew several mug-fulls of water from a jug and poured it into the pot. After a little bit of fiddling, I had the stove lit and the water heating, at which point I dug out one of the tea boxes Contessa had left me. It was bagged tea, happily, so I wouldn't have to deal with loose leaves, even if it wouldn't be quite as good.
Snagging the steel mug I'd measured the water with, I carefully placed a tea bag within and filled it again and set it aside to steep. With that done, I pulled a packet of dehydrated eggs out of a pile of goods and emptied it into the remaining hot water. Not great, but it would be nice change from canned food all the time. Stirring the gooey substance with a spoon that'd been with the mug, I leaned back against the bedrock wall with a hum. I'd need to start clearing land for farming soon if I wanted to regain reliable access to proper food any time in the near future.
But not today. Today I was going to take a good long soak in the springs, go for a hike, and revel in the splendor of this beautiful new world of mine.
My eyes stung with salt as I took a bite of my eggs. What had I done to gain such favor from my goddess? A fresh start and the power to make good use of it, for me? I hadn't been particularly devout and it had taken Emma going to Cauldron to make me worth anything, so why…?
Melodious birdsong overcame the distant rumble of the eruption and the scent of fresh-brewed tea filled my noise. Taking the mug, I let out a breath. If what Mom had taught me was right, that was as good a sign as any that the Storm Hawk wanted me to stop moping. Sipping my tea, I pondered the idea.
And then almost coughed out the drink. Yorkshire Gold was apparently not a tea to be drunk straight. Good to know, even if I'd need to figure out what went with it. Honey usually worked. Swallowing, I returned to my musing.
***
"Oh
Winds this feels good!" I moaned as I settled into the most human-friendly of the hot springs. The waters were
just the right temperature and mineral composition, in
just the right shaped basin, to near instantly start soothing my various aches and pains. Sweet merciful Kyne, it was a luxury that beat out the lunch I'd had with the Dallon sisters.
"That settles it, I'm finding somewhere to properly venerate you. No more run-down city parks, this deserves someplace truly
great." As soon as the words had left my mouth, a breeze wafted the scent of a near-by cluster of brilliant pink flowers into my nose. I'd take a smell like the taste of peaches as a positive sign.
Another explosion reverberated through the air as the distant eruption continued to rage. I let out a sigh. That was getting on my nerves now, as it was damn near impossible to relax and enjoy the sounds of untamed forest when the stupid mountain kept putting on a fireworks display.
Leaning back against the mineral deposits of the basin, I gazed upwards at the clear blue sky, framed beautifully by the lush green tones of tropical leaves, themselves sprinkled with vibrant blossoms in a riot of different colors. Unlike the aural ambience, this was something not spoiled by the geological upheaval far to the south.
And I had no one to savor it with. Amy was still on Bet, and having a minor religious experience did squat to alleviate the basic human need to companionship. Pack animals like us never did well in isolation, and my contact with friendly people had only made the past year and a half weigh on me more. Tomorrow, I'd see about finding someone who could join me here immediately. Maybe another fresh Trigger, one with nowhere else to go. It was Brockton Bay, after all, and the local Nazi problem meant I could probably find
someone, likely Jewish or black.
I really didn't care, so long as they weren't assholes.
***
Emma had her powers by now, didn't she. If Cauldron had kept to their schedule for her, she'd have had taken her vial a couple days ago. The things that come to mind while hiking…
Shaking my head, I pushed through a stand of large ferns and froze. Before me was a cloven hillside, with a narrow passage between the two parts. Quickly deploying the drone I'd brought with me, I sent the device to check ahead, something stirring within me as I did so. This was important, somehow. And it was only about a mile north west of my base too.
Once I had the feed up, I watched intently as the scout hovered through the split terrain, likely sundered by the same quake that had uncovered the coal seam. My eyes then went wide as a turn brought a verdant grotto into view. Moss covered stone sown among bushes and ferns, with the occasional spring at irregular intervals across the football field-sized natural chamber, burbling as they released water onto gravel and cobble. Most importantly however, was the musical thrum of the morning breeze through cracks and fissures in the rock and across the opening that bisected the ceiling that had just become audible.
A smile growing on my lips, I dashed over to the passage and carefully made my way through into the chamber. Humming softly, I took in the unusual natural structure with a thoughtful gaze.
"Yeah, only one thing to call this place," I stated. "Kyne's Rest Grotto."
Speaking of planning ahead, I should
probably figure out where my starting farm would be. I wouldn't be clearing it today, but having a spot picked out would mean I could begin the work in the morning, rather than having to spend daylight on prep I could do now without hampering my day off.
Picking up a couple stones, I walked back to the entry point. There I paused for just long enough to stack the red-stained lumps of marble next to the opening before continuing on. That was the nice thing about the Cult of the Storm Hawk, no ceremony and the only ritual was the hunt, just action and contemplation of nature. The mere act of visiting the cave and leaving it unmarred was worship to Kyne.
***
Carefully picking my way through the mangrove-like trees covering the isthmus, I discarded the idea of using it as farmland. At least for the moment, as I could make equipment able to dig out the dense weave of roots in the soil at a later point. Similarly, the mainland bank was a poor choice due to having to navigate the mess. Fortunately there was a much more manageable strip of land at the base of the outcrop's slope suited for a large garden and would do until I at least had a path through the tangle.
Once I'd arrived back at my shelter, I quickly downed a couple of protein bars and a bottle of juice before collecting my water filtering apparatus and a ten-gallon storage barrel. Rain catchers would be more convenient, in the short term at least, but until I could build them or a plumbed purification plant the back country camping system would do.
Now, would I just steal the piping for that project, or wait until I could set up a fabricator to make quartz-lined composite pipes?
Setting up the portable pump and laying the tube in the tank, I made a small shrug. I could do both, stealing enough to rig up a simple water system that'd handle a few people to start with, and then upgrade everything once I had the resources to do so. As long as I laid the groundwork properly, I wouldn't have too much of an issue implementing improved infrastructure. Nodding once, I then took hold of the pump handle and got to work on filling the tank.
To occupy myself through the repetitive task at hand, I pulled up the data logs from my drones and began digging through them for items of interest. At the same time, I also set the drones themselves to scan for select biochemicals that would be useful to have. Like, for example, caffeine. Tea or something similar that could be sourced locally would be a major morale boost, as then I'd have a supply not dependent on finding a place that sold tea shrubs or keep a link to Bet to import it.
Pausing my pumping, I gently flexed my hand. Setting up a powered pump would be a good idea too. In fact, I had everything I needed now to make that hydropower generator I'd been planning on building. But getting that together would wait until the starter farm was seeded. I had quite awhile before any of my tech needed a top-up, and it would only take to get the farm done anyway.
***
Once the water tank was filled, I climbed onto the raft I'd built yesterday and grabbed the long branch that'd serve as a guide pole, then carefully pushed out into the Alexandria. There was a nice-looking beach out near the mouth of the estuary that had a stand of small fruit trees bearing something resembling blood oranges, but with a notable caffeine content in the leaves and fruits. The sand was also of interest, being startling rich in purple and violet amethyst. How that had happened, I hadn't the slightest clue, but it seemed like it'd be rather beautiful to see.
Riverine travel was a wonderful thing and I understood just why so many cultures had grown up around rivers now that I waterborne. Getting to the beach would have taken hours, if not much of the day should the terrain be difficult, if I'd walked, but poling downstream only took somewhere around forty-five minutes. Building the raft was so totally worth the sore muscles and headaches.
Carefully dragging the lashed log construct onto the glittering shore, I couldn't help but marvel at the natural wonder of the purple sand beach. It wasn't a huge one, only a couple hundred feet across, but it was
gorgeous. If it weren't for the fact that I wanted to play my off-world basing close to my chest, I'd probably fuck with PHO by posting some pictures of it. Their confusion would be glorious.
But I wouldn't. Doing that would just give away information I didn't want getting out right now. It'd hamper recruitment, but that was fine. Better to start off slow anyways, as that would give time to build up for a growing population.
Walking up the beach to the stand of trees, I double checked the sensor data on the fruits. Nothing was in great enough concentrations to be a concern, chirality issues weren't present, and a number appeared to be fully ripe. I carefully picked several, and then stopped.
"Probably better to wait until I'm back at base," I noted. "Best to try the local foodstuffs somewhere I can more easily handle any digestive issues."
Hopefully there wasn't any allergens or disruptive microbes in the things. That could be… less than pleasant.
Giving another look around, I turned back to where my raft sat. The beach was interesting, but really the only appeal currently was the novelty of amethyst sand and the fruits I'd just collected a sample of. Carefully pushing the wooden platform back into the water, I climbed on and, setting the small collection of fruit down, began poling my way back upriver.
***
Once the raft was secured on the shore, I made my way up to my shelter with my sampling of local produce and, after checking on the drones, split a fruit open. A sweet, tangy scent not dissimilar to orange wafted from the juicy interior, bringing a small smile to my lips. I… kind of missed orange juice, now that I thought about it. If this turned out alright, I might have a reasonable replacement. At the very least, it'd be something to fend off scurvy.
Savoring the smell for several moments longer, I finally took a bite of the pulpy contents. It… was honestly sort of disappointing really. Not as sweet as it smelled, fairly tough and chewy with fibrous pulp, and being somewhat light on taste. About what you'd expect from something that had never been cultivated for human enjoyment, honestly. Still, it was something edible and had potential.
The second bite, though, was somewhat better for some reason. Maybe because it was because I knew what to expect? Eh, it didn't really matter, that just meant I could finish the one I'd started and possibly not waste the others.
Ooooh! Maybe Amy'd like to try one! I could kit up and bring some over to Bet for her!
A giggle escaped as I finished off the fruit in my hand, leaving me with the pit. I tossed that and changed into my caping gear, grabbed my drones, and triggered the recall system after picking up the other three fruits.
***
Brockton Bay, Earth Bet, Jan 10, 2011.
"Heeeey…~ You wanna try one of these? They're great~"
The girl in front of me was not Amy. But she looked down, and a freckled brunette in need of a mood boost was a freckled brunette in need of a mood boost.
Why was she looking at me weird?
"Yeah, I'm not eating probably biotinkered fruit, especially if that's what you're high on," she said.
High? Nah… I don't do drugs… It's just an engery drink in an orange.
"Not high or on drugs? Girl, have you looked at yourself? Or noticed that you're slurring?"
Oh, did I say that out loud? Oops.
"Look, I might be wanting to find a team and get off the streets, but I'm not joining up with the
Merchants to do so. So please leave me alone."
"Merchants? They don't have an amethyst beach or caffeinated oranges, but
I do! I got better base too, better than any-un else in the Bay! And you're a cape? I could use some capes other than me!"
I then jumped back as the girl spat a glob of napalm at my feet.
"Well, that was rude!" It really was! I only had the one pair of boots that worked with my outfit.
"Yes, trying to set others on fire is rather impolite."
I spun around to face the new voice that had just spoken. There, standing on the street corner, was a Nazi. SS uniform and all.
"Oh fuck off Nazi. Go back to your Argentinian retirement home before someone realizes you wandered off.
I was trying to have an honest conversation with a cute pyro." Nodding to myself, I turned back toward the girl, only to have the pavement beneath me lift into the air.
Right, this was Brockton Bay. There were Nazis here that
weren't decrepit old relics leftover from World War Two… And they had superpowers. How did I go forgetting that?
"Careful with her Rune," SS Gasmask said. "Kaiser wants her on-board. Don't scare her off."
My lips twitched under my mask. A giggle slipped free, slowly morphing into a bout of manic laughter that had me doubling over and almost falling off the piece of sidewalk.
"Me? Joining up with
you? You're
Nazis, moron, and
that means peace was never an option!" My face hurt, and so did my ribs. Why was that funny again?
Sliding off the block of concrete, I drew my knife. "Now go fuck off and die in a stupid fight you have no chance of winning like good little enemies of our species."
Ugh, I was getting hungry and the fruits weren't particularly filling. Also, my head was starting to hurt. Weird.
Another blob of napalm shot past me, splattering on the sidewalk in front of SS Guy, forcing him back as his stupid grey cosplay costume was showed in droplets of burning liquid. Then the slab next to me shot back and shattered against a building as a shout of surprise came from behind me.
Glancing around, I almost immediately spotted a floating sheet of scrap metal above and to my left. Just visible over the edge of it was a hooded figure seemingly looking past me. One of the fruits was promptly hurled at what was probably Rune, impacting the apparently distracted Nazi's head with a satisfying 'spla-thunk' sound.
And then the evening was lit by a cold light that seemed to make the winter chill worse. From around the corner of the next block came two new capes, one clad in silver power armor and the other in a blue-and-gold high fantasy warrior-princess dress. The latter caught my immediate and
full attention.
"Well, now isn't it my lucky day! Government dogs to go with the fascist pigs butting in on me trying to help my fellow travelers," I drawled, eyes fixed on the redheaded girl I'd recognize
anywhere. "And I see you've managed to duck below even my low expectations by picking up a traitorous backstabbing bitch! Partnered with Shiny Boy the 'dashing knight' too! Trying to capture the fantasy romance energy, or just copying the Assault and Battery dynamic?"
Emma's mouth opened, but Gallant beat her to the punch. "Look, Hausōs, whatever your problems are, the Wards exist to
help young parahumans resolve them and settle into their powers. And I'm sure we can work out any issues you think you have with Zenith-"
"The psychotic bitch is why I have powers in the first place, dumbass," I snapped, cutting the hero off. "If it weren't for
her, I'd have had people to go to. So no, you
can't just 'work out'
her having destroyed my li-"
Ow. I moaned softly as I suddenly found myself on the ground, brigandine smoking slightly. A flash of that cold light had hit me square in the chest. Of
course Emma would attack me if I started trying to expose her like that, so
why did I do that? Then a pair of hands slipped under my shoulders and lifted. Oh, the pyro girl was still here. I carefully put my feet under me again, with the other girl's help.
"Kyne's Breath, you really
are a cop Red," I groaned. I think I might have a cracked rib. "Or at least you've got the brutality down pat."
"Don't you think we'd be better off getting out of here, not pissing off the trigger-happy Blaster further?" asked the pyro girl. Really need to get her name. Cape or otherwise.
"Good idea. And can I try my pitch again? I think I did wrong…" In fact, I'm not sure I even made an actual pitch at all. Was I even trying to recruit her?
Stumbling a little, I glanced at the girl. There was something familiar about her that I couldn't put a finger on, like I'd met her before. But that might be because she, like Amy, had lots of freckles and disheveled brown hair, though hers was almost as curly as mine. Yeah, it wasn't the best basis for recruiting, but between that feeling and the fact that she was apparently homeless too, I couldn't just leave her.
Oh, the Nazis seemed to have fled too, while the two Wards were arguing over whatever comms they had. We were in the clear for the moment.
"Let me think about it," she replied. "But I'm not doing drugs, at all."
Walking quickly, we slipped off into the rundown mall nearby. As Pyro Girl was quiet, I occupied myself with the drone feeds, keeping an eye out for tails either Wards or Empire. As awkward as trekking with someone who was deciding if they wanted to be around you was, especially after my earlier experience – awkward as it itself was – with the Dallon sisters, it was still nice to be with someone who was actually
considering being involved with what I was doing of their own choice. Amy wanting to join as an escape route didn't count, as much as I'd enjoyed the girl's company.
"Were you serious about having the best base?"
I turned to look at the girl next to me. "Yeah? I mean, it's currently a large shack little better than a lean-to, but the location's great and I've got plans to build something really nice as soon as I get the prep work done."
"And you said something about an amethyst beach?"
"Yeah, it's where I got those fruits." What had happened to the rest of them anyway?
"Right, staying away from that then, no matter how gorgeous that sounds. Any particular cause or goal?"
"Um, building a new life out of reach of this dying hellhole of a world and any known government? That's about all I've got."
Pyro stopped walking, and turned to stare at me. "You're based off a virgin Earth?! I was thinking you'd made a teleporter to some out of the way place in the Caribbean or something, not found a way to match Haywire!"
A wide grin grew on her face and she suddenly grabbed me into a hug. "I'm in! It doesn't matter if I have help build it, a new world without all the bullshit and bigotry it way too good to pass up."
Thank Kyne I'd decided to write a recall command for my drones earlier, because my arms were pinned. Also, on a different note, my cheeks felt like they were on fire.
A few moments later, the flying scanners alighted on the both of us, eliciting a surprised squeak from the girl who was still squashing me.
"Brace yourself," I said, almost gasping. "I'm not quite sure how others feel when I use this, but it's a bit of a jolt." Then, not giving time to respond, I activated the recall anchor.
***
Unnamed Location, Earth Tǩóymos, Jan 11, 2011.
A distant boom startled me awake. For several moments, I lay on my bed, wondering why this felt familiar. Though the weighted body pillow pressed against me was new.
Then it struck me that one, I was still wearing my armor, and two, the body pillow was a body, not a pillow. And the body was someone I… not
knew, but had seen somewhat regularly.
She was stirring too, probably because of the stupid volcano.
"Morning Emily. I must say, I wasn't expecting to recruit someone from Winslow," I said once she'd opened her eyes. The start was rather amusing, as was the massive blush that bloomed on her densely freckled face. Cute too, really.
Quickly rolling off of me, the older girl hastily put a less intimate distance between us before replying "And I honestly wouldn't have believed I'd be picked up by the designated targets Taylor. Or that I'd ever be woken up by a volcano," she paused, a concerned look appearing on her face. "Is that something we're needing to worry about? You didn't mention it last night…"
Groaning, I started removing my brigandine as I responded. "Nah, it's almost a hundred miles away. Dumb thing's just
loud, nothing more than maybe a bit of ashfall if the wind's blowing the right way."
I then grimaced. It was
humid today. Emily's blush, which had been slowly fading, came back in full force as I started changing. I just rolled my eyes. It's not like I was much to look at, even if one was into thin girls.
That I'd somehow wound up snagging two freckled brunette lesbians who didn't seem to agree was… odd. Eh, whatever.
"So," I said, both to distract from any stray trains of thought and to get things going. "Breakfast needs to be made, then we'll start clearing land for a small farm with the goal of having seeds in the ground by nightfall. I'm not sure how long that will take though, so if we have time, it'd be best to pop back to Bet for a quick food raid."
I gave a small shrug, then added "I hadn't been expecting to have anyone else this soon when I made my last run, so only grabbed enough to last me a couple weeks, and I guess, based on yesterday, that I need to take a closer look at the local plants before I can call them edible."
"Yes, food that gets you high isn't exactly a great idea," Emily snorted. "Since you're the boss here, I'll cook."
She then opened up the camp stove next to her and started gathering various packages from the store pile.
***
I smiled as flames washed across the brush covering the lowest terrace of the acropolis, Emily having taken one look at the vegetation and declared that burning it all would be easier than tearing it out. Taking a sip of tea, carefully laced with some of my limited supply of honey, I started sorting seed packets over a crude dirt sketch of the plots. Planting would be organized by light and water requirements, as well as by priority. The terrace, at about two-thirds of an acre, was large enough that it could supply maybe a quarter of out needs. Not great, but it was a start and could provide seasoning herbs once we had the primary fields on the mainland going.
I gave the dense forest an evaluating look. Maybe I could figure out how to cultivate
within it, instead of clear-cutting – or clear
burning, as the case may be – it. Some deforestation would be needed, both for lumber and space for less shade tolerant crops, but a managed ecosystem would be far healthier and more enjoyable than monoculture fields. Easier too, as there'd be less tearing up stumps and roots to do.
Softly humming a nameless tune I'd heard from Mom countless times, I vectored one of my drones into the trees with instructions to do a general scan. Sorting out what could be used and what couldn't would be helpful in taming the jungle into a reliable food supply.
A second was sent back to Amethyst Beach to get a more detailed look at the not-oranges, as I really wanted to find out just how I'd gotten high off eating them. The caffeine and Vitamin C in them made me reluctant to write them off if I could help it, but given the effect of eating just one? Whatever was in those things was strong enough that it wouldn't be worth putting aside the intoxicating nature for the sake of nutrition and wakefulness. Especially since I should be able to find other sources of both, so long as whatever it was wasn't a common compound on this world.
My final drone, I sent up as high as I could reasonably get it, to observe the weather. It wasn't a substitute for a constellation of satellites, or network of ground stations, but it'd give enough warning of a tsunami or storm for us to get to safety. I'd have to make a dedicated system once I'd gotten what I needed for that from Cauldron and Toybox. Which meant getting power up.
I glanced over the smoking ruin of foliage that had been the lower terrace. We could do that tomorrow, as I doubted we could finish this job before it would be too late in the day for anything but a quick raid or, if the ground wasn't cooperative, a nice soak in the hot spring.
Emily's face would probably catch fire if we did that…
Maybe I should try and talk Amy into bailing on New Wave quickly, then get both of them into the springs. A nice spa session would do the healer's stress levels good, and provide me with some… what am I even thinking here? Bad Taylor, no plotting to fluster your lesbians for entertainment.
Kyne save me from hormonal teenage girls, myself included.
Very deliberately redirecting my train of thought, I stood and made my way down to where Emily was immolating a stubborn shrub.
"Think you're almost done?" I asked, scanning the ashes and charcoal that would have to be cleaned up. Probably by way of mixing into the soil as fertilizer. "I've got the seeds ready, and all that's needed after that is to bring the tools down and actually get started."
