Fantasy Kaizoic: Earth Reborn

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo noticed Rufus’s insistence, and took a glance at the sky to try and figure out the time. To his surprise, it had been more then just a few hours since he started, and he realized he was probably horribly late to meet up with Rufus. Enough so for the man in question to be looking for him. He wasn’t one to cut off a conversation so abruptly, but it was probably a good time to leave.

“Okay then. Good luck.” He said, heading towards the door. “Thanks for the scrolls.”

He walked out of the building, gently closing the door behind him. Walking down the steps, he greeted Rufus with a casual, 2 fingered salute.
“Rufus! It’s been so long.” He wisecracked.

 

[Da Doofus]

The light-brown haired man rolled his eyes.
"Got Crina a job preparing the town for the holidays. Seasonal gig, but a job." He gestured to a wooden box strapped to a backpack tied around his shoulders.
"This is what we're delivering. Goes to some guy named Bazin at the trading post." He explained, and flipped out a rolled up map. "The midget was nice enough to give directions through the jungle;
'Eaten couriers means bad business' he said." Rufus scowled and handed Kairo the map. "You hang onto it, that way I don't have to keep glancing around on the roads."

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Uhh. Okay.” He said, taking the map in his hands. Rufus seemed awfully ready to go. Maybe Kairo did spend too much time at the library. “Was he nice enough to give us some way of getting there. Ya know, besides walking.”

 

[Da Doofus]

"I asked, and he says mounts aren't practical around here." He sighed. "Gave me some scent cover oil and said walking was safest." He held up a bottle of viscous liquid. "Apparently it's only nuisance animals we'd have to worry about, mounts would draw bigger attention."

 

[Chai_T3a]

“Well...this is gonna be fun.” He sighed, rubbing his temple. From the map, it seemed it would be a lot of walking to get there. Like a hike, except much longer and deadlier. If only they had a highway leading straight to the trading post. Maybe a nice car to go along with it.

“He better pay us well.”

 

[Da Doofus]

"We get a delivery fee there and a partial payment when we get back since we got new threads." Rufus pointed at their new clothing. "Lousy deal, but we can probably get a lay of the land there. It's by that big canyon apparently."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo nodded. It really wasn’t much. But at least they’d be getting something out of this. “How long you reckon this is going to take us?” He said. “Don’t want to be out on the roads at night, you get me?”

 

[Da Doofus]

"There are shelters made out of fallen trees Vindav use along the way." Rufus pointed to the map. "They're marked so we have stops along the way. Should take use two days to get there and back."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo looked down at the map again, quickly locating the first one of these shelters Rufus talked about. It seemed they could probably reach it before nightfall today. But it still seemed like a horribly daunting task. He felt ill equipped for such a long journey, but with what how little they had monetarily, there wasn’t much he could do.

“Not to sound picky or anything, but we got the essentials right? Food, water, medicine...uh, something to make a fire?” He continued to list stuff, clearing thinking way to much into this.

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus patted his backpack.
"Crina got us some jerky and a few water containers from the Vindav. Don't ask me what the meat's from, I can't pronounce it."

 

[Chai_T3a]

"Let's just call it mystery meat." He joked. There wasn't much to complain about though, considering something was always better than nothing.

 

[Da Doofus]

Rufus grimaced. "Please let's not. I was in a town on a job once. Total slum. This guy was selling 'mystery meat' and folk were getting sick.

Turns out he . . . Well there weren't any livestock around if you catch my drift." He rubbed his neck.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo's eyes widened when he realized what he meant by that. His stomach seemed to get a bit queazy pretty quickly.
"Yeah, you're right. Maybe let's not call it that." He cringed. "Let's just go."

 

[Da Doofus]

The two departed from Drafisl out the alternate gate and continued along a makeshift road with a thick canopy of titanic trees above them. The dim light of the dead leaf covefed undergrowth was gloomy at first, but the sounds of unknown birds and the sparkles of sunlight from high above almost breathed a mystical life into the jungle.
Rufus swatted away an insect and admired their surroundings. They had been traveling over an hour now.

"It really is pretty." He commented. "Still weird how it doesn't feel tropical, you know? Humid, but not hot."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo had been equally amazed. Now that the two of them weren't either dying from exhaustion or running for their lives. He finally had the chance to really take in his surroundings, and he was liking what he saw. Occasionally, he'd remember the name of a plant he passed by, or tried to imagine what the chirping birds looked like. Things he wouldn't have been able to do if he didn't read through those scrolls.

His thought process was broken by the sound of Rufus's voice. He nodded in response. "Probably better that way though, last thing I'd want is to be walking through a hot, stinking jungle." He said, looking up into the trees. "You ever seen a jungle before all this?"

 

[Da Doofus]

"Once on a job in Asia." Rufus unfastened his belt and out came a limp piece of metal that quickly shifted into a solid blade. "I had to find this wrecked airship from the Rebellion and snag its power supply. It was some black market crime boss trying to build his own big mech to try and wipe out another gang or something." He began chopping away blocking vines and huge leaves shrouding the path. "He flew me in the Indonesian islands for the meeting so this mercenary war was isolated from actual people so I figured 'Hell, he's paying me to help these guys kill each other. Why not?'
Was not as comfortable a temperature and there was an Emergence Point spouting huge crab things that made landing a boat a bitch."

 

[Chai_T3a]

"...Oh." He answered. Of course it was something cool. He was half expecting for the man to say something like that, but it was still unexpected every time he did. Rufus really was something else, especially when it came to being a complete badass.

"And I thought this was a crazy adventure." He laughed. "Walking down a road does not compare at all."

 

[Da Doofus]

"Well this is new to me." He replied, slicing away vegetation. "I'm used to knowing what's gonna try and eat me. Knowing-" another hack at a hanging branch. "What's out there." He kicked away the limb with a huff. "This trip here makes me anxious, just because of not knowing."

 

[Chai_T3a]

“We’re on the same boat then.” Kairo said, following closely behind, map in hand. “I don’t think I was ever meant for surviving in the wild.” He admitted, a tree branch brushing past his arm as he walked. “Either that, or its because I’ve never really had to.”

 

[Da Doofus]

"The second one." Rufus answered on his behalf. "You can survive if you ain't being stupid about it."

Another sound reached their ears that rumbled over the songs of the birds. Water rushing over stone and it sounded like it was of a powerful current.

"River up ahead." Rufus pointed out. "Check the map and see if it leads to the canyon."

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo hesitated, but smiled. A bit relieved at Rufus's insurance. Even if he wasn't that sure if he was meant for this kind of stuff, he was sure that he could properly interpret a map. Looking down at the thing, he quickly located the river. On the map, it was drawn as a rough line, with small etches of waves signalling water.

"We just need to follow the current." Kairo said, showing Rufus the map. "It should lead us pretty close to the canyon." He traced the river with his index finger, showing that it lead close to their destination. "We could catch some fish for dinner too."

 

[Da Doofus]

"Alright." Rufus nodded, moving ahead. "Stay close and keep an eye out for anything moving." He warned, chopping away enough until the path was clear. His blade was returned to it's circular sheath around his belt and his hand was close to his gun.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo nodded. He wasn't sure why Rufus had gotten so defensive all of a sudden, but he followed his lead anyway. Rufus was the one with the experience, and Kairo had no problem trusting his judgement. Grabbing his knife out of his sheath, he kept on guard. Without his rifle he felt very under equipped, but there wasn't much he could do about that.

 

[Da Doofus]

After a few minutes of walking upon the jungle floor, they reached an opening in the path to reveal a flowing river with a thick canopy above. Falling leaves and the shade of the trees kept the water dark but the sparing rays of light made the mirky river sparkle.
The river flowed on through the jungle with muddy shores to act as naturally formed guides.

 

[Chai_T3a]

Kairo marvelled at the sight. The river and it’s surroundings looked like something from a fairy tale. He walked over to the river, putting one hand in. The water flowed smoothly and effortlessly through his fingers.
“It’s cold.” He commented, taking his hand out.