Futuristic Heralds of Change

[Solirus]

A Rude Awakening

The air was dry, placed far from the lake caused the common humidity to cease and in turn feel dryer in comparison. The room was light up by two ceremonial candles nailed to the walls with wrappings and symbols engraved on each respectively. The sloppy nailing of the candles had caused small fractures to the walls tempting the dust to trickle down ever so slightly. The floor was scattered and littered with piles of papers each containing notes or creative drawings of crystals and mechanical monsters dirtied up by the falling dust. The room seemed like a prison with a singular door leading outside, yet the room housed desks and chairs and even tools and materials commonly used for weaving, some more clearly used and worn than others messily tossed in the floor alongside the papers.

At the end of the room was there a hammock each side nailed carefully to the wall in contrast to the candles who seemed more hastily pined to the wall. In the hammock did Ziya rest, a Moth woman of cursed skin, assigned to the room from previous and repeated sins, a woman looked down upon with pity and disgust by many of her fellows.

A loud repeated bang was heard on the door as it threatened to fly right off. "Wake up Ziya!" a voice exclaimed following the knocks, "Your presence is requested by the Elders, you have five minutes to prepare or we'll drag you to them ourselves!" The voice ordered in a clearly irritated and aggravated tone. It was early in the morning, the sun barely having risen, the most annoying time for Ziya to open her eyes.

Juju ​

 

[Juju]

The winds were hot and dry, hissing like some enormous serpent. Sand bit against her bare arms, sticking into her black fur until it was coated in a tawny crust. Even with her hood pulled down over her eyes, the sand stung in her vision.

Was it night or day? The pillars of sand all around made it hard to tell. It was as if the sky itself had been swallowed up by this sandstorm. All she could do was keep walking forward, arms blocking her face, her wings pressed tightly against her back.

Despite the howling wind, a roar could be heard. Was I behind or in front? She turned in place, helplessly lost. Where was it coming from? She stumbled towards the sound.

Another crash, this time closer. She looked up in time to see two glowing lights appear in the sand, like the eyes of some giant beast. ​

---

Ziya awoke with a start, falling out of her hammock and onto the clay floor with a thud. She rubbed her bleary eyes, "Ack! I'm up, I'm up!"

She curled up on the floor, still tired. The floor's chill spread through her thin nightgown. Outside her window the sun was only just rising. It was far too early for weaving duty! Soon her mind and her ears started to reconnect.

"The elders? Eh? But I didn't get caught doing anything recently… did I?" She muttered, racking her brain for some sort of excuse. It didn't work out too well when she had no idea what she did wrong in the first place.

A bang on the door and the threat of being dragged out got her moving. "OK OK! I'm getting dressed! I'm naked now! Don't you dare come in, or you'll be the one doing penance!"

In truth, she was quickly hiding her most recent drawings and crude maps of the surrounding area. At least, the most she could see before she had been caught. Once the most sensitive papers had been hidden under her mattress, she quickly pulled on her clothing. She made sure her glowy-stone was secure and grabbed her bag, then opened the door with a swing.

"Ready!" She stretched and gave a huge yawn, "It's so early… couldn't this wait until later?"
Solirus

 

[Solirus]

As the door swung open a powerful breeze struck Ziya's face, giving her chills as the sun had yet to truly warm the land. The guard stood a few steps back from the door, she wore a wooden and sturdy armor, painted white and yellow and decorated with symbols, emblems, and feathers, greatly contrasting the light red fur of the guard. She also carried the staple weapon of the Elder's guards, a staff with a lantern attached at the end, serving as a ceremonial relic first and a blunt weapon second. The guard herself wore a mask, yet even behind the mask could Ziya sense irritation and displeasure at the sight and sound of Ziya.

"Follow" The guard stated simply as she turned around and started walking towards the rest of the village.

Ziya followed along travelling through one of the many paths in the village. With each step did Ziya pass through more and more huts, most people already waking up, it was common for the villagers to wake up early in the morning when the sun barely showed itself and went to bed when the sun was but moments away from hiding itself once more. To be awake at night was seen as dangerous and to wake up late was seen as foolish for wasting the gift of bountiful light.

Most villagers opted to look away from Ziya, yet those who decided to watch, had faces of displeasure or pity. Yet for as much as they looked the guard did not slow down or speed up and simply kept marching with Ziya right behind her.

Ziya could tell when they were approaching the hut of elders, villagers were switched with guards who stared forward, unmoving, the ground they walked was also better built, more stable, and cleaner, a great display of care was shown in the environment, and soon enough did both arrive at the entrance of the hut of elders. The two guards standing side by side at the entrance raised clothing serving as an entrance and the guard who brought Ziya stepped aside, "Enter" The guard said.

From outside could Ziya see the inside of the Hut, each single elder sitting on their personally woven carpets in a half circle, each donning their own ceremonial clothing. The room was filled with torches almost making it brighter than the outside yet still bearable to see. In front of the half circle was there a white carpet for Ziya to sit on, and facing Directly towards the shaman who held a rather serious expression.

Juju ​

 

[Juju]

“Yeah, yeah, I’m following…” Ziya yawned, lagging behind the guard in a form of silent protest to the early morning summoning.

The stares of the villagers -- or more accurately, the lack thereof -- had long lost its effect. Just when it did, she could not say. It had been very difficult at first, but after a hundred hard stares and a thousand avoided conversations, she had little choice but to accept it. Eventually, it’s significance had watered down.

Had it gotten easier? She wondered this as she walked towards the elders hut. She was certainly better at hiding her shame, or ignoring looks of contempt, but even if she convinced herself she didn’t care there was always a little snag. Whether it was sadness or anger, she never could quite decide.

Ziya gave the guard a sarcastic wave goodbye before heading into the hut. She blinked a few times, her eyes stinging from the blazing light before adjusting. All the elders were here, it seemed. Not a good sign.

She sat down on the carpet and cut right to the chase, “I don’t know what they’ve told you, but I didn’t do it. You have no proof, plus I’ve got an alibi this time.”

Honestly, she had no idea what was going on, she just assumed it was something she had been caught with. She searched her memories. Did she say the wrong thing? Was it because she hid Qren's weaving ring earlier? Then again, she had been making a few drawings, but she had hid them better this time.

 

[Solirus]

The remarks thrown out by Ziya garnered confused looks by some of the elders looking at each other and whispering, one of the elders even reaching out, pulling out a little handbook and writing something down before putting it away. The moment the shaman raised his hand the rest of the elders went quiet their expressions returning to colder one's.

Lowering has hand did the shaman begin to talk, "You are not here to atone for the mischief and misconduct you are likely committing, but instead you have been summoned for a necessity. Since your birth has your soul been tainted with the vile touch of darkness, yet even then did we treat you like every other child with love and care, yet at a certain age did the taint become apparent as you moved to commit several sins not only at your own choice but we may believe that out of your own desire and pleasure... something that has many of the villagers concerned. We have tried a more indirect method to set you onto the right path, but time and time again it seems that option has fallen in vain, thus do we move to a more direct method, to cleanse your soul from the taint" The village shaman explained thoroughly expressing some disappointment in his voice, yet weirdly excited. The shaman picked up his staff hidden behind him and with the butt of it hit the ground, a singular guard entering the hut with a wooden bowl.

The guard moved slowly and respectfully in the presence of the elders placing the bowl carefully in front of Ziya then bowing to the elders and leaving the room. The bowl itself had a cyan liquid almost florescent in nature.

The Shaman extended his staff pointing at the bowl, "Drink" the shaman calmly said as he put away his staff waiting patiently for Ziya to act while raising his head to nod at the guards prompting them to leave the hut.

Juju ​

 

[Juju]

"Oh." Ziya blinked back surprise, expecting this to just be another chastisement for something she had done. That was always the case, to the point that her primary social interactions came from the lovely conversations held in the elder's hut. In the early days she had done it on purpose, just to make people talk to her, but now it was just an annoyance more than anything.

Now, talk about her 'touch of darkness' was nothing new to her, yet something about the way the shaman spoke felt a little... off. Ziya glanced to the side, noticing the guards leaving. She peered down at the bowl of mysterious fluid, her curious mind and sense of self-preservation at odds.

"So... uh, what is this, exactly?" she picked the bowl up and gingerly tilted it, swishing the liquid a bit. She gave it a curious sniff, and recoiled almost imediately with a cough. "Ugh, smells disgusting. You know, if you wanted to poison me, there are a lot better methods than this..."

She gave a nervous laugh.
Solirus

 

[Solirus]

Silence slowly filled the room as some of the elders began looking at each other, the elder furthest to the right and the one responsible for the medicine of the tribe spoke up, "the drink, is a spiritual medicine meant to slowly cleanse away the darkness, we hope today will go well and you'll be given the medicine regularly." The elder finished explaining. The shaman who had remained still rapidly turned his gaze onto the elder who had spoken, coldly and seriously. The elder was caught surprised and quickly lowered their head in a fashion of shame.

The rest of the elders once more stopped their movement and moved their gaze towards Ziya as the Shaman slowly turned his head to Ziya, "Drink" the shaman spoke once more, his eyes almost appearing lifeless. "It is for your own good" The shaman continued, his voice and expression showing no signs of emotion.

Juju ​

 

[Juju]

"Couldn't you have least made it smell a little better? It probably tastes like rotten cabbage too..." while Ziya tried to make light of the situation, the tension in the room was obvious. They were always so serious, but today was something else. It made the fur of her nape stand on end.

"Yeah, yeah, for my betterment I'm sure. You said that about the last thousand times. What if I don't want to drink it? Hmm?" she said this with a deflated cheekiness, knowing the answer.

There was no refusing this. If she tried to run, they'd just grab her and bring her back. If she refused, they wouldn't hesitate to force it down her throat. All the talk of her well-being, and the supposed need to cure her was nothing but a facade to cover up their own fears. Asking her to drink it was some cruel imitation of free will.

When it all boiled down, she had no say in the matter. Better to drink it then have it forced into her.

She held up the bowl, eyes watering from the fumes. Her mouth began to water, her stomach churning. This was not going to be pleasant. Ziya glanced at the elders, frowning for a moment as she gathered her willpower. If anything, she wouldn't let them shake her.

"Cheers!" she smiled brightly, holding up the bowl like a festival drink. Tilting it back, she closed her eyes and chugged it. Surprisingly, it went down sweet. Almost too sweet. It was only when she was finished that she detected a bitter aftertaste. Whatever that meant.

After the last of it was gone, she wiping her mouth with the back of a hand. " Wasn't so bad...but I don't feel that different though. Maybe next time, yeah?"
Solirus

 

[Solirus]

Nothing seemed to happen once Ziya finished drinking, her skin felt slightly tingled and he throat sore, yet it wasn't anything to worry about. The blandness of the moment left the hut in awkward silence, the right most elder who had spoken up previously pulled out a notebook, a somewhat relieved expression in their faces as they quickly began writing down what seemed to happen.

The silence was slowly broken by elders beginning to discuss, yet the shaman didn't seem to move, his eyes fixated wholly on Ziya, waiting.

It felt like a fire slowly burning in her stomach, an agonizing pain which forced Ziya's body to contract in retaliation, the pain burned and slowly crept up to her throat soon forcing her to uncontrollably begin coughing, the elders recoiled in shock at the sudden change in tone and the young one in pain, the right most elder dropped their journal and rushed to Ziya, "Take deep breaths Ziya!" the elder placed two of their fingers next to ziya's neck to check for heartbeats, Ziya's heart was working like it had never worked before, it was beating too quickly.

The Elder frantically shouted, "Please we need to help her, someone bring me my supplies!" most elders remained still and shocked, yet a few began to move ordering the guards to bring medical supplies.

Ziya's pain slowly crept to every part of her body like a hungry fire and in an instant Ziya was engulfed in a blinding white flame scaring the elder who ran back to grab whatever water they could find, tossing it at Ziya, yet the water did nothing to stop the flames.

Ziya's vision would slowly begin fading into black, the last thing she would witness would be her body being eaten by flames and the emotionless glare of the shaman.

Then, there was nothing, no pain, no sound, no light.

Juju ​

 

[Juju]

When you're so far from being considered an elder, and raised in a village hidden away from most danger, the concept of death was a thought scarcely on Ziya's mind. When her lungs refused to work, and the heat gripped her, she thought of death. Was this how she died?

Flames erupted all over her. After she had burned herself on a holy lamp and accidentally started a fire as a child, she had a grown a fear of flames. Specifically, large ones. Small lamps and sparks had no affect, but as soon as it surpassed a bonfire, a deep fear gripped her. Now she was a bonfire, and she couldn't even scream.

Everything faded; the elders, the shaman, the hut, even her own sense of reality. It was blissful for a time, until she found herself in a dark expanse, like the inside of a cave. Some water could even be felt underfoot, cool still around her ankles. Compared to the heat and blinding flames, the endless dark was a welcome comfort.

"Is this death?" She said to no one, walking forward. Extending her arms, she tried to make sense of her surroundings. There was nothing to see or hear, but most importantly there was no pain.

She tried to remember the religious prayers for lost souls, but she could never remember them proper. Then again, maybe this was where all the cursed dark-touched went. Alone in the dark...

 

[Solirus]

Moving in no particular direction Ziya could slowly feel the cold of the water crawling up through her senses. Each step she took was followed by a splash rivaling the maddening silence that dominated this darkness. After a few minutes of ceaseless walking did Ziya begin to hear an abnormality, at first it was faint, yet with each step did Ziya hear an off beat splash of water, which sound could be hear right behind her growing louder and louder.

Juju ​

 

[Juju]

Ziya noticed the off-beat splashes and stopped suddenly in her tracks, checking to see if the steps were nothing but an echo. Independently of her steps, the strange splashes continued. Turning around, she squinted towards the splashes, as if that would do anything. They stopped. Interesting.

Curious, she walked towards the place she had heard the splash and found it was replaced by the sound of flowing water. In the distance, she could just barely make out a glimmer of light. "Finally!"

She took off at a run towards the glimmer, only to find the water growing deeper with every step. Soon it was up to her waist, then her shoulders, until it was too deep to stand in. A smile crept on her face. "I may be dead, but I'm still a great swimmer. You're not getting away that easy, Spark!"

After all the adventures into the lake, swimming had become easier than flying. In a way, it was just a different sort of flight. She swam out towards the light, confident in her ability to reach it, when the strangest thing happened. The glow seemed to remember gravity and sunk beneath the waves.

"Hey, get back here!" Ziya said, taking a few deep breaths in preparation of a plunge. After a great gulp of air, she dived down into the inky depth.

The lake beside her village was quite deep, usually taking several minutes to get to the bottom. Holding one's breath for this long was no easy feat, but that was not taking into account the way back up. By her estimate, she should have already reached the bottom... which meant this lake was even deeper than the one at home.

Still, the sparkling light sunk ever down. She frowned, knowing she had to return, but refusing to turn back when she was so close. Despite the better logic, she continued to swim after the light until her lungs began to burn and her arms grew tired.

Was there no end to this? If she didn't turn back she'd surely drown. Could you drown in the afterlife? It certainly felt like it.

Just when she had reached her limit, a finger touched the light. It was smooth and cool, like the metal of the sleeping-beast at the bottom of the lake. It was stuck firmly in place, but Ziya refused to come so far for nothing. Wrapping all four of her hands around the light, she tugged onto it with all her might.

 

[Solirus]

With all her might did Ziya rip the spark off, recoiling her back from the force required. Finally holding the spark in her hands she could almost forget she was drowning, thus in the moment she held it, the spark slowly fizzled out and from the surface the spark was ripped off from did a vortex of blinding light swirl in, dragging Ziya deeper and deeper. The currents of the vortex however didn't threaten to rip Ziya to pieces, in fact they felt more like careful yet powerful waves carrying her somewhere.

Soon enough she could feel the air filling up her lungs and the light dimming down, she could feel the floor she lay on, smooth wood. Upon opening her eyes and looking around she would see more clearly that the sky reflected and shimmered like that of the lake in her tribe, and she herself stood on a large branch connected to a Monstrously sized tree of light oak and blue leaves. Looking down could she see the surface the tree and it's roots sat upon were like that of the sky.

As Ziya slowly regained more of her senses she could begin to notice small little wisps of lights darting around her playfully. The wisps chirped happily before formig a trail with each other trying to lead Ziya to the edge of the branch she stood on and in the distance could a figure be made out.

Juju ​

 

[jmann]

Darwine Blacke: Harvy’s Pub

On an old stool propped up by three rifle barrels screwed into the bottom sat Darwin Blacke, with one eye on the door and the other on three dice clutched between metal fingers. Darwin wore weather-resistant black and red jumpsuit with a mobile power cell implanted into his metal breastplate. His undercut brown hair was slicked back with greasy oil. His face was clean-shaven and much cleaner than the rest of his body, owing to the blocky headgear now tied to his belt. His navy-blue eyes scanned between the bullet holes in the tin walls, watching for anyone. He couldn’t be too careful in Sarato, not after Duke Kender-dick had stolen everything from him.

Harvy’s Pub was a dive bar in every sense of the word. The drinks were cheap and the only light shone through a cracked glass sunroof and the bullet holes in the walls. Darwin had his legs outstretched on the hard stone floor, stained with booze, blood, and grime. Hot, dry wind blew through the holes, carrying sand to be swept up by the youngest of the Harvy family.

“Roll em already!” growled the burly man sitting across from him.
“Oh, stop ya moping, mate," Darwin scoffed, turning back to his opponent. The metal endoskeleton of his hand clicked as he rolled the dice and threw them down, careful to scatter them near the edge of the rusted oil drum they played on. One die bounced off and clattered to the floor near the other man.
“Blast, will ya get that? Me leg ain’t what it used to be.” Darwin chuckled, knocking his knuckle against his wooden left thigh. His lower prosthetic was nowhere near as good as his right arm, it was built centuries ago and the rusted joints proved it.
The man bent over to pick up the die, his shirt untucking slightly. Just as Darwin had suspected, there was a repurposed flare gun tucked into his pants. Darwin had no intention of screwing the guy over, but at least now he knew not to. There were many ways to cool a man down, but the best way was to make him think twice about starting anything… Brutes hated thinking once, let alone twice.
“Man ever tell you about the time I clapped a Hound?”
His opponent paused and leaned back up, forgetting all about the die.
“Bullshit,” he spat.
“Nah, fam. No joke, I found their weakness,” he tapped his temple sagely, “man was walking home, and I bumped into this bloke rounding a corner. Must’ve been going home too, had the full get-up but his gun was on his back. He starts barkin’ on about some disrespect tax, so you know what I do?”

The man raised an eyebrow.

“I says, says I, ‘Fuck you and your fucking tax’, and — you know their little tube thing, yeah? The atmofilter, innit? Well, I grabbed it in my good hand,” Darwin held up a clenched left fist, “and squeezed. He starts fightin’ and carryin’ on, so I get my other hand,” Darwin held up a clenched right cybernetic fist, “and I bash him under the arm. Now, he clocked me good with his pistol, but I just kept wailing on him under his arm, cos they got no armour there, yeah? Now, this little fucker’s starting to lose his fight, so I wrestle him down on the ground until I’m sitting on his back with the bloody atmofilter still in my hand! Not two minutes go by and he’s done for. That’s how it’s done, bruv, choke em an’ they drop.”
The man squinted, eyeing Darwin’s arm carefully. Darwin opened and closed his fist, exposing the soft mesh of his palm and the metal plating coating the back of his hand.

---

Solirus

 

[Solirus]

Unexpected Arrivals

The pub fell mostly silent, those who had been previously chatting had shut up, eavesdropping into what Darwin had just said. None had decided to turn to face Darwin or even given any motion towards him. After the awkward pause did people begin to chat once more. The man facing Darwin looked annoyed, showing only a slight bit of worry in his attempt of a cold expression. "heh, looks like ye caught the looks of all in ere. Well then..." the man moved back down to quickly grab the die, placing it back on the table and leaning slightly towards Darwin, "words don't scare me ya-" before being allowed to finished, the door to the pub was violently opened.

The one who entered was robbed and concealed in a black cloak, the man looked pale and in his robes kept a large object covered. From what could be seen the man appeared old and wounded as he limped across the pub, making his way to where the bartender stood, a newcomer who would work in place of Harvey when he was busy. The old man slowly approached, both his arms concealed with one carrying the hidden object. From his other hand did the man pull out a crude looking firearm pinting it straight at the bartender causing them to drop any drinks, "now now... sir please you don't have to shoot" the bartender responded nervously.

The old man stared coldly and slowly moved to the other side of the counter carefully sitting down while still pointing his gun at the bartended, "I ain't... here" the old man struggled to say. The bartender confused and nervous slowly began to work again, a grave tension being added to the pub. After a few minutes of nothing happening several footsteps were heard outside rushing towards the pub. Through the door did a squadron of troopers enter, the personal military of Sarato, who while not even a fraction of elite as the Hounds, troopers numbered great in number with many willing and unwilling volunteers, many being lowlifes.

The squadron consisted of only 5 members, common for a patrol through the edges of the city. The man in front was the leader of the group with an insignia placed on his hat. The soldier held the gun tightly the rest of the squadron following behind him before relaxing a slight bit once entering and looking around. His face shifted from worried to calm, "Ya'll fine lads seen a cloaked man passing by? Man's was shot but somehow stopped his bleeding, I'm sure one of yall would've seen em." The leader was met with no response, yet the mood of the pub couldn't return to normal until the troopers would leave. The leader appeared frustrated but shifted his face once more to calm one, he held the body of the gun in one hand and with the other he placed his hand onto the shoulder of the man sitting next to Darwin, "Good citizen, might you be able to give us sum answers?" the leader asked, has hand swatted away by the gambler.

"Piss off an' stop wasting my time" the gambler responded irritated. The leader's calm finally broke and holding his weapon with both hands he slammed the butt of it into the gamblers face, violently knocking him out as his head bumped into the table and slid off into the ground, "IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU PEOPLE OUR JOB IS SO DAMN DIFFICULT!" The leader shouted, one of the other members of the squadron getting closer to whisper in his ear. The leaders face turned quickly to face the bartender who was very subtly squinting one of his eyes in the direction where the old man had hidden. The leader properly grabbed his weapon and gave out hand signs, lining up wht squadron to all face the counter while the leader very slowly walked forwards.

Oddly enough the troopers didn't seem to recognize Darwin, perhaps they seemed like a newer bunch, as they had also seemed to ignore everyone else, aiming their weapons to where the old man stood.

jmann ​

 

[Juju]

For some reason, Ziya didn't panic whenever the currents swept her away. Maybe it was her lack of oxygen, or perhaps the beautiful lights, but she felt strangely safe as she sunk downwards. A giant smile crept up onto her face, her eyes drinking in the mesmerizing glow of the lights. She reached out a hand and tried to catch a few, only for them to move just out of reach. Eventually there were too many to count and what began as a small swarm now became a tunnel of light.

'Is this the afterlife?' she wondered, thinking back to the shamans and elders. So much for her 'curse' preventing her from moving on to the afterlife.

Forgetting that she was underwater, she laughed. It was a mistake, but surprisingly no water came to fill her lungs. As the lights dimmed the water seemed to vanish and she could breath once again. She gasped for air, coughing a few times from how quickly she was breathing. Her eyes slowly recovered from the lights and were quick to notice the sky which was not a sky. It was almost like...

"A bubble?" she pondered aloud, rising to her feet. Dusting herself off, she looked around to find that she was standing on an enormous tree-thing. Unlike the palms of the oasis, it had multiple branches, like an enormous desert bush. The leaves were so plentiful too, and in a colour she had never even imagined. "Oh... I need to make a sketch."

Ziya reached out to pluck a leaf when a wisp of light playfully danced around her head. "Hello there!"

She tried to catch it, only for it to dash away and wait just out of reach. Once again, she tried to grab it only for it to move at the last second. More could be seen, all drifting in the same direction, as if to lead her. She tilted her head and walked with them, noticing a figure at the end of the branch. A person!

"Helloooo! Wow, are you a ghost?" She called out, waving energetically. "Wait... I'm a ghost. Am I a ghost? Eh..."

Shrugging, she flew with the wisps and landed behind the figure. "Hey there, I'm Ziya! Are you a dead person too? Oh, oh! A spirit guide! Are you going to tell me all my sins, because if that's the case I have to say that at most half of it was my fault."

 

[Solirus]

The figure at the end of the branch lifted their head, catching the sound of Ziya's voice. When Ziya had finally walked close enough the figure turned around slowly, revealing a humanoid figure with peculiar clothing, a book held in one hand, and an unmoving face which gave off a feeling of content and relief. "My child of dark, how glad am I to see you here and safe." The figure spoke calmly yet joyfully, "You need not worry, you are no ghost and I am no guide of spirits, and while I may read out your sins, you are here because of your virtues."

The little wisps around the figure darted and danced around in excitement, "Yet, you must be wondering who am I then and what your purpose here is." The figure continued, "Oh great light, revealer of truth, and sanctuary unbreaking, may you guide us to salvation and grant us protection evermore" The figure stated in a squeaky and high pitched voice used by Ziya when she was told many times to repeat that same line.

In a sudden movement did the figure open wide their arms and from their back did grand shining wings of white spring forth blinding the environment for a single moment, the wisps uncontrollably danced around The Light in pure joy and excitement, before finally the Light lowered their arms, their pose returning to a more calm one, "now my child, speak your mind and do not be afraid, for there is nothing to fear"

Juju ​

 

[jmann]

Darwin Blacke: Harvy’s Pub

Darwin Blacke had caught a brief view of the stranger’s gun. It was a crude replica of an older model pistol, yet it was completely custom. No authority could have traced its design, and it wouldn’t be found on any regular market. This stranger was involved in very dark dealings. The paramilitary that barged in after were in a league of their own. The mutts in uniform all carried automatic rifles, but what put Darwin the most on edge was their lack of trigger discipline. They were all too green and inexperienced to see the danger of their finger pressed lightly on the trigger.

As the leader gave his pompous request, Darwin was silently panicking. He knew he needed to leave and he needed to do it without being seen. He tried to slide his small pot of gambling winnings over, before his opponent grabbed his hand, pinning it to the drum. The loud thud of his meaty hand slapping Darwin’s hand caught the leader’s attention. The leader approached and asked about the stranger again, to which the man not-so-politely declined. Darwin launched out of his chair as the butt of the leader’s gun drove the man’s head into the drum. On his feet, Darwin revealed his lean build that only highlighted him coming in at 5’8” with heels.
He didn’t say anything, careful not to spit the string of insults that came to mind. Darwin quietly lowered to the ground, keeping out of sight from the leader. When the soldiers turned lined up into a firing squad, Darwin squatted down and pulled the gun from the unconscious man’s waistband. It was mostly wooden, besides the iron chamber and barrel. The tiny serial number burned into the wooden grip marked it as cheap salvage from a standard model flare gun, easily found with the right connections.
Darwin analysed the room. The stranger was holding the bartender at gunpoint from under the bar. The mutts in uniform were lined up to shred the stranger at the slightest misstep. If anybody moved, somebody died, but at that point it was impossible to tell who that would be. The wall behind the bartender was lined with bottles filled with all manner of alcohols and distilled spirits. A firefight here could send the whole building up in flames if they weren’t careful. The door was left wide open, and Darwin knew he could easily slip out and avoid all this, and every instinct told him to head for the door. But a pang in his stomach kept him crouched behind the drum. He hated that feeling; it often led to him losing money, or in one case, an arm and a leg.
Darwin knew if he could distract the gunman long enough for the bartender to get away, maybe the firefight would only be an execution. Darwin pulled the work boot off the unconscious man next to him and rolled across the floor towards the side end of the bar. With one hand still clutching the pistol, he threw the boot up and knocked the top shelf of liquor off-balance, sending it crashing down over the gunman. The gunman would have recoiled, protecting themselves from the shattering glass. In that moment, Darwin struck. He rolled over the bar and landed on his ass in front of the gunman, gun outstretched and pointed directly into the man’s face.
“Easy, bruv. I got itchy fingers, yeah?”
He was bleeding from a deep gash in his arm, a long shard poking out. It was bad, but Darwin had seen people survive worse. The man’s shock quickly dropped and turned to rage, Darwin could see his seething hatred building up in his eyes. Darwin broke eye contact for a moment and looked up, seeing the line of mutts now eyeing him. He held up his free hand to show he was no danger.
“Drop the gun!” the closest mutt barked, staring at his weapon.
“Got a gun, too, don’t he?” Darwin said back, glancing between the gunman and the trooper. The gunman was still holding the object close. Whatever it was, it was worth dying for, so Darwin obviously needed it.
“I said… drop it!” the trooper took a step closer, jutting his rifle towards Darwin.
“I got this, bruv,” Darwin was getting nervous as he reached with his other hand for the object. The man began to twitch as he got closer. Darwin’s finger flexed and tightened on the trigger as everything became more tense.
“Drop the gun now!”
Darwin kept glancing between them. The trooper was getting closer and his grip was getting shakier. The gunman was getting jumpier. Darwin reached forward and ripped back the cloak, causing whatever object to drop. He didn’t see it before the trooper barked another order. Darwin glanced away just for a second. The gunman lunged. He bent his wrist down. Darwin didn’t know where to look. He went with his first instinct.
“FUCK.” Darwin shouted in a blur of panic as he pulled the trigger.

 

[Solirus]

A clicking sound was heard when the trigger was pulled and with a short delay, a blazing hot projectile was launched from the flare, digging deep into the man's stomach, setting ablaze the cloak, in a split second did time seem to slow down, and did the gunman's recoil in pain, as the flare dug deep into his skin. The gunman's eyes light up with a brilliant red light, his skin, swelling boiling up, all over and in his last seconds did the light in his eyes fade entirely and his rage turned to utter terror.

Darwin saw as the gunman erupted into a shining light before violently exploding, blinding him and engulfing the entire pub into flames. Yet from the flames Darwin felt nothing and soon when he'd open his eyes again, the gunman that laid in front of him was no more, the bartender collapsed to the ground as a charred corpse, the texture of his skin pitch black as coal. Soon Darwin would notice the rest of his surroundings, the wooden tables burnt to ash, and the rest of the people inside of the pub reduced to naught but charcoal. Yet when Darwin would look at himself, he remained unharmed, untouched only the stench of burnt flesh entering his nostrils. In front of him, over where the gunman once stood, was a an object of metal, scrap crudely melded together, an unsettling sight, and in the center, a symbol shinned with the same color as the gunmans eyes did for a split second. The closer Darwin got to the object, the brighter the symbol would become.

jmann ​

 

[jmann]

Darwin Blacke: Harvy’s Pub

Darwin Blacke stared out at the horror before him. It was too much to focus on any one thing. The charred body beside him. The pieces of skin and bone hanging from the rafters and dripping down Darwin’s clothes. The waste of ash that was once a decent pub. The gaping hole that had exploded out of the ceiling and wall, bending and burning the tin structure. He heard nothing but the faint ringing in his ears. Darwin could pretend not to see what was before him, but there was no ignoring the smell. The room stank of charred meat and coal, the air was thick with particles of burnt flesh.

What the fuck had he done.

How was it that Darwin was unharmed, yet the rest of the pub was charcoal? He didn’t even really know why he’d done it. He didn’t mean to shoot the man, and he never would have if that fucking trooper wasn’t shouting so much. Too late now.
‘Rule Number Five of Wasteland Survival: Keep Moving Forward’ Darwin reminded himself. He needed to keep moving. He couldn’t stay. If he stayed, someone would come, and he would be charged. Even if he *was* guilty, he needed to leave.
It took Darwin another minute to gather the courage to even move his eyes. He didn’t want to look at anything, but he had to. That fucking object was still there, perfectly unharmed. Bent scrap and welded steel. A symbol on the front glowed brighter as Darwin reached for it. Proximity LEDs were nothing strange, but this didn’t look like a normal light fixture. Darwin grabbed a hold of the object anyway. If he killed a dozen people for this thing, he was going to keep it. It was warm to the touch, and only had a little human soot on it. Darwin was sick to his stomach as he picked himself up. It was nearing sunset, if he was going to move, he needed to do so now. There was an abandoned mining depot a days walk west. Nobody would look for him there.
He didn’t even think of supplies or transport, Darwin simply tucked the object under his fake right arm, brushed the glass out of his cloak, and began walking.

A few minutes in, Darwin’s arm was going numb, but he kept walking anyway. The darkness and chill night air had set in, yet the object was still uncomfortably warm. The sand was starting to catch in Darwin‘s throat, and the light was almost gone. With his free hand, Darwin pulled on his filtration mask and began to twist the knob on the side. As he twisted, the colour of the lens changed drastically, and the combination of lenses and refraction amplified how much Darwin could see. After a short moment, Darwin had found the perfect setting and he could see everything as clearly as midday.

At an hour, he almost missed the soft impact behind him. He spun around and saw the object laying on the ground… next to his right arm. Darwin almost screamed, if it wasn’t for a thick liquid blocking his throat. He broke down coughing, almost unable to breathe. He reached down for his arm but as he picked it up, his hand drooped off his wrist like melting cheese, snapping and falling back to the ground. Darwin tried to scream again, but his throat was blocked even more. He could feel something warm in his chest. Darwin looked down at his body slowly dripping, his clothes becoming loose as pieces fell away and splattered to the sand. His vision was getting blurry. Darwin tried punching himself to vomit with the stump but went right through, creating a fucking hole in his stomach. His good leg gave way and began to melt into a puddle. Darwin was in tears, or at least he thought they were his tears. He could feel his nose sliding down into his mouth, but had no way to cough it out of his mask. He reached for his throat, it was no good. Lying on the cool sands, Darwin could feel every part of his body slowly melting and falling away. His hips dropped away first, and his wooden leg rolled down the sand dune. Then, his vision went, as his eyes seeped out of their sockets and ran down his face like thick tears.

For all intents and purposes, Darwin Blacke was dead.

 

[Solirus]

Darwin could feel and see nothing, yet he could think, was this death, was his mind forever to drift through the drift with thought alone? Such thoughts would be saved later for his senses quickly rushed back to him as he felt the ground beneath him radiate an uncomfortable warmth an the air grazing his face felt near freezing. When Darwin opened his eyes he would see himself laying down quickly noting he was wearing everything, prosthetics and all, yet there ended the similarities, the floor was akin to molten metal yet not a fraction as dangerous. The sky had been changed to a greyish blue color with not clouds or anything as a matter of fact. In the plains of molten metal, large spikes had sprung forth, tall and unmoving.

Upon closer inspection to his surrounding, Darwin would notice footprint eerily similar to his own embedded deep into the ground leading to a small hill facing what seemed to be a mountain of gargantuan proportions, something unlike Darwin had ever seen. Then once more did the chilling wind blow almost pushing Darwin to follow the path laid before him.

jmann ​

 

[jmann]

Darwin Blacke: ???

Darwin Blacke nearly hacked up a lung when he returned to the land of the living. He clutched his throat and coughed like all his organs were caught in his throat. To him, it all felt so real. The melting, the orb… the pub? His head pounded something awful. Yet through the pain and choking, he could feel the ground pulsing and rhythmically shifting. The warm red surface was like a solid ocean of lava with gargantuan spikes of solid metal in the distance.

Footprints led away from him, one was like a boot, the other was shaped almost like a bootprint but was noticeably different. It was the print of his own wooden leg. Nothing here made any sense. Had he been walking backwards? What even was this place? The orb was gone, good riddance. Darwin knew he must have been dreaming. It felt real, but it just couldn’t be. He slapped himself across the face and left a sharp pain in his cheek. That was real, or at least, he dreamt it as feeling real? If he was in a dream, he would just need to follow along until he woke up or died. Neither sounded fun, but it was what he had to do. The footsteps led across the waves of molten churning metal, up a winding path of a colossal mountain. From here, Darwin had to lean back to even fathom the top of it.

Darwin began to follow in his own footsteps, clutching his right shoulder. The rocky path was easier to walk on than the moving metal, yet the steep incline may have been a problem. The hydraulics in his leg began to play up again. Every step was either so stiff that he had to pull his leg forward by force, or the hydraulics kicked in so quickly that he lost his balance and almost tripped. That was how he made his way through the world, and not even this dream could be an escape from the perpetual limp Darwin had picked up.

The climb was rough but climbed he did. Darwin continued up and up the path, pushed higher by an unnaturally cool breeze. Whatever was at the top of this mountain, he knew needed it.

---

Solirus

 

[Solirus]

Awoken

Reaching the finale of the mountain Darwin was faced with a crude metallic lever jammed directly into the center of the top. Without a thought Darwin moved towards the lever, what other reason had he been lured to the top if not to actually do something. With utmost confidence Darwin positioned himself and with all his strength began to pull the lever. The lever did not budge yet he felt a cracking sound resonate within the lever itself, he could feel he was making progress yet he couldn't exactly see it. Letting go of the lever Darwin stepped back inspecting the lever again before dashing forward and aggressively kicking the lever with his good leg.

Pain stung his leg yet it wasn't for naught has the lever once proud and tall was now but halfway down to the bottom. The end was in sight and without hesitating a single moment, Darwin placed his entire bodyweight on the lever slowly pushing it all the way down. As the lever touched the ground, the very platform Darwin stood on begun to shake, the stone around him cracking and shattering and in pure instinct to survive did Darwin run from the top recklessly making his way down the mountain eventually causing him to tumble and fall, rolling doing he rough and unforgiving mountain he had just spent much of his energy climbing.

Darwin could feel the warm touch of the metallic ground once more and quickly recovering he witnessed as that same metallic ground rose like a wave and carried Darwin far from the danger of the crumbling mountain. As the pieces of the mountain fell one by one a Glow slowly leaked from the cracks and once he wave of metal placed Darwin far enough did the remnants of the mountain explode into dust revealing a Titan of metal with radiating that same glow that the gunman and orb did.



The ground began to feel warmer and the air began to freeze ever more quickly as the sights of the titan snapped towards Darwin, inspecting him intently. After a few seconds of awkward silence the titan spoke, their voice echoing deeply accross the freezing winds, "Finally, someone worth my time and blessing" The titan said talking to itself.

jmann ​

 

[jmann]

Darwin Blacke: ???

Darwin Blacke shouted all manner of profanities as he was lifted away from the exploding mountain. However, the creature within was much more frightening. A churning metal man radiating a strange light Darwin immediately recognised. It was the same glow from the gunman’s eyes. He had forgotten about it, guessing it was a trick of the light. There was no doubt now, these were connected. Darwin could tell someone sizing him up, he could feel the frigid wind gathering around him, creeping through his jumpsuit. Then its booming voice echoed out, yet it wasn’t talking to Darwin. It was at that moment he remembered he was dreaming.

“Oi!” Darwin shouted over the wind at the titan, trying to grab its real attention, “Whose ends you coming to, big man?”
Darwin stood tall, leaning on his good leg as the prosthetic threatened to buckle. He tried to imagine a weapon in his hand, but the dream didn't budge. Darwin made eye contact with the bubbling molten metal. Despite the twinge of fear deep in his heart, he shouted out again.
“You got a name, blud?”

 

[Solirus]

The wasteland of metal fell into silence after Darwin utter his words. The titan remained unmoving, surprised yet his appearance showing no other emotion. With a quick and brute movement did the titan jam his right hand into the very ground shaking the foundation. The metal floor rapidly increased in temperature as the Titan drew forth a stream of liquid metal still pouring into the ground beneath. With the other arm did the titan bring forth freezing winds forming the formless stream of metal into something akin to a lance.

The titan raised the lance and wound it up aiming it straight to Darwin before throwing it with gargantuan strength piercing the wind before finally striking the ground. The lance crashed with an awful sound of metal scraping and an explosion unlike anything Darwin had heard before dwarfing even the sound of point blank firearms. Yet Darwin still stood firm and alive, the lance only remaining a few meters away from him, utterly dwarfing him in size.

The Titan returned its arms back and cackled with an uncomfortable glee, steam and vapor leaving it's metallic body. Finally its laughing seized and the titans attention was once more drawn to Darwin, "Good, even in face of such might you do not succumb to praise or pleads, yet I shall bear none more of your Prattling lest you confuse this place for a mere dream" The Titan explained its booming voice echoing still as the floor grew colder and the air warmer, "You are here because I deem you fit for a greater purpose and a greater purpose you shall serve if you accept of course, I do not doubt you will accept for should you refuse you shall become part of the foundation of my kingdom." The Titan explained, a small pedestal ascending from the ground with the same symbol the orb had carried engraved to the side, "Bear my mark and my blessings will be yours"

jmann ​