Shrrp…
Shrrrp…
The sound of gentle waters lapping against something caressed my ears. It was a soothing sound. The air felt cold and wet, and the distant hush of waves rolled in like the breath of the ocean itself. Each one lulled me, as if a gentle massage, to sleep.
The cries of birds came from the distance, still gentle and calming. At least, for others it might’ve been. The sense of something approaching me made my eyes snap open just in time to catch shadows flick across a moonless sky. They had four wings, and flew at an unnatural pace.
I shifted, confusion hitting me like a warhammer. The last of my sleepiness faded away. Where- where was I? Kidnapped in my sleep? That couldn’t be right. No way someone could take me without at least waking me. They’d have to be insanely skilled to get away with it, not to mention Kali’s ward.
Then what was this? The night air felt uncannily thick. Not exactly cold, but heavy, like it carried something unspeakable. The sea stretched out all around me, dark and seemingly endless. Fog rolled off its surface, hiding shadows in the distance. Some of them lurched around just out of view.
There was a gentle wind too, blowing over the black ocean. It stirred the fog as if to hide its unsettling nature. Occasionally, a bird cried, sounding similar to a seagull. All of the ambient noise tried and failed to overpower the calm hush of the tide pulling itself along the dark waters.
I couldn’t see where the water met the sky—they merged into a seamless shadow far beyond the foggy horizon. The world felt larger- vaster than it should’ve. Or maybe I was just smaller?
I stared out into the fog, eyeing the shapes of other islands in the distance. For the briefest of moments, I had the strange feeling that something out there stared back. Not quite threatening, but… aware. Watching. The kind of feeling that made a peaceful night expectant, like the calm that came just before something stirred in the dark.
I stayed rooted to the spot, twisting my head this way and that. The bleak ocean- it was undeniably eerie under the gentle facade. An ominous feeling rolled off of it just like the fog. The scenery would feel right at home with a deep base and slow, creeping plucks of a harp. The entire place fell right into the uncanny valley. I couldn’t quite place what was wrong, but something was wrong.
The waves moved deliberately. It was like the ocean itself breathed—slow and deep. Too deep. The pattern was too consistent. The gentle laps occurred with a tempo, one that wasn’t off by even a beat. It was… unsettling. It lacked the chaos I’d associate with a natural body of water.
In the distance a leviathan shape moved through the fog. Considering how unsettling the ocean was? It had courage greater than a lion to be moving around there… or was one of the dangers my instincts warned against. The shadow shifted in the darkness, seemingly staring right at me. Then it moved, ambling away without a care.
The island I stood on- no, calling it that was disservice. It was closer to a small altar, sticking out of the deep waters like a mountain peak through clouds. The stones were cracked and broken. Once ornate pillars lifted up to support nothing. Rubble lay scattered around and rusty bloodstains covered the surrounding surfaces.
Weapons stuck up out of the stone work by the dozens. Broke spear shafts dripping with blood joined alongside chipped blades impaled into the cracked stones below. Warhammera lay sprawled out, scythes leaned against the pillars, and a shattered bow lay in pieces.
Gold inlays of diamonds and stripes covered the surroundings, but they were faint as if rubbed away by several millennia. The diamonds and stripes sent a bad feeling down my spine. Anything that reminded me of him always did.
In a word? Desolate. The whole pace felt empty and barren. A broken altar in the middle of a black ocean wasn’t anywhere I’d been to before either. The fact that I recognized the architecture from Serhymn? It made everything feel all the worse.
A pressure built up in my chest, one that I hadn’t felt in a while. I squeezed my eyes shut… did I- did I go back?
[Nighteye sleepily rubs her eyes… what’s going on?]
I let out a breath. So you’re here too? Any ideas? I stood up-
My legs slipped out from under me as I failed to distribute my weight properly, sending me slamming back down onto the broken stonework. I slammed hard, taken by surprise. My head bounced against the ground, rattling my small brain.
My tail flicked in annoyance. Back to my black cat form, it seemed. Was this a dream then? But I was never in Dream Stride’s form when dreaming in the past? How was it activated? Whose dream was I even in?
[Nighteye throws a dictionary at your head. Whose dream are WE in.]
Right, sorry, sorry… Any ideas, my faithful star? Any bright input on our current situation? Any moonlight to guide my path? Any… sorry. I’ll stop there.
[Nighteye shakes her head. It’s not your dream, otherwise she wouldn’t be here with you.]
[Nighteye draws out a diagram. The only way she could be in a dream like this was through your Trait.]
So it was Dream Stride after all, yep? Did someone creep into my bed and it activated by accident? No- that wasn't right. This place didn’t look like a dream. There were no colored and uncolored areas where everything became distorted and noticeably surreal. I mean, this place was surreal, just not in the same way. The saturation looked consistent throughout.
[The moon glints off of something shiny.]
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Guiding Moonlight activated several times in a row, silver lights shining from all over the place. They were distant though, out beyond the fog. Some even lay below, submerged beneath the eerie ocean. The dim lights fiercely fought through the incredible darkness to be seen. The ones under the water were sinking deeper and deeper with each passing moment like the black ocean was bottomless.
Wherever here was, it was a treasure trove. Not quite what I wanted to know, though. And it didn’t matter if this place was a treasure trove if it was all just a dream-
[Nighteye objects. Certain objects could lurk in a dream, ripe for the taking. The OS worked here, anyway, so you could probably bind some stuff to it.]
Yep? Well, that still didn’t help me much. No way I wanted to risk swimming across the creeping waters. I pushed myself unstably to my paws. Especially not since I could barely walk as a cat, let alone swim. Besides, even if this was just a dream, the waters gave me a very real, very life-threatening vibe.
[Nighteye snickers. You’d look cute trying, kitten.]
Don’t call me that! It was already bad enough I was stuck as a stupid-
[Nighteye’s eyes glint dangerously. Go on. Finish that statement?]
Oh wow, I could use the OS stuff here? With a thought, Ebonshroud flowed out of my skin, creating a layer over my black fur. It didn’t have the usual connection that I felt with the substance though. Weird. Almost like it wasn’t real?
Wait, if I was here all because of my Trait… I could deactivate it, yep?
??
I bolted upright, nearly falling off of my bed. Nivia looked up at me in worry. Phew, back in Bastion. I’m alright, little one. I softly petted her head. My mind drifted back to that odd place.
No idea what that was, but… well, if I wanted to get out across the waters there, I’d have to get a Skill to let me fly or otherwise move through the sky. A few came to mind. I wasn’t sure if they’d be worth snagging on the off-chance I ever went back to that creepy ocean again, though.
I could always make a boat out of Ebonshroud, of course, but being near the dark waters there was… not the best idea? The birds looked fine when they flew over me, at least, so flying was probably a bit safer. And much more maneuverable should the worse happen.
I sat back in bed, staring at the dark ceiling of my room. Sleep eluded me, banished by the happenings of the night.
— — —
I didn’t end up going back to sleep. I stepped out of the back of a cab, yawning lightly. I joined a mass of people just outside the Twisted Noodle. It’d been several days since the rift, and nothing much happened. Lucia was busy with prep, and I-
Boom!
In the distance, a massive explosion went off. A roar followed a beat later, seeming to breach the skies. Sounded like… Saltwharf? Maybe? Super far to the north. The warships throughout the skies shifted, drawn to the source.
No alarms went off, though. Wasn’t close enough to start evacuating this area. Even still, there was tension amongst the crowd. Something capable of making a roar loud enough to be heard from the complete other side of Bastion must’ve been quite big and nasty.
The Twisted Noodle was just the same as the last time. The owner had the TV on Bastion News. “… Anarch, Monstro, attacking. The third ranked S-Class Warden, Dredge, answered the call for help. He represents Arc System’s stalwart support of Bastion. If you’re in the area, get to a dedicated bunker-”
The TV flicked off. The rabbitkin behind the counter snorted coldly. “Stalwart support? More like purse-pinching greed.”
The moss clad golem manning the grill grumbled and a deep earthen sound filling the Twisted Noodle. It glanced at the rabbitkin and slowly shook its head, seemingly depressed with its lot in life.
”I know that… no need to tell me.” The owner sighed, leaning on the counter. “Customer! Welcome in! What can I get for you?”
“Clover.”
“Oh…” The stone golem rumbled behind the rabbitkin. “Ah! That’s right! You came in here the other day with the little miss, didn't you? Go on back. Same spot.”
”…” I nodded to the man and moved on through the back door.
Heavy rock music blasted me once more, making my eardrums rings. The Mythek was far more aware than the last time. She put down her tools and rolled over to the stereo system in a dolly chair, flipping it off. “Ah! Moon! Um- the boss isn’t with you?”
”…” I shook my head.
“No matter.” She may of said that, but some of her energy visibly drained away. With a wave of her hand, a weapon popped out of nowhere and dropped onto her work table. “Check it out. I was a bit worried since it was a low-tier Fragment, but it turned out pretty good.”
It was… a sniper rifle? Maybe? Its barrel was weird though. Unlike a normal barrel, it ended in a sharp wooden spike like a spear. There was no actual hollow barrel. Spikes poked out of the ‘haft’, slowly moving in and out like the weapon was breathing. Kinda intimidating?
I ran a hand over the receiver. Unlike the wooden barrel, it was made from what looked like dark green, nearly black leaves. They were folded over intricately, almost like scale-mail. They also, oddly, felt super soft under my fingers.
Regardless of how it turned out, there was no denying Clover knew what she was doing in the artistic department. The heavy sniper even had her bunny insignia on it in several spots, though it didn’t detract from the weapon’s form. They were mostly hidden, blending in with the rest of the sniper.
[Thorn’s Defiance]
[“The Thorn Briar stood tall, last of the Great Hedge Knights to fall.”]
[Thorn’s Defiance(Rabbyte) - A sniper made with the intent to protect just as much as harm.
-
Fire a Thorn Grasp
-
Fire a Thorn Weave]
“Rabbyte?” I asked the small Mythek.
”Yes?” She titled her head to the side, lop-ears flapping around. So cute. Reminded me of Nivia. “Oh! Are you asking because of the item? Rabbyte is my alias.”
A rabbit kin named Rabbyte… it fit, if nothing else. I picked up the sniper rifle, feeling its weight in my hands. It wasn’t very heavy. Maybe since it was made out of seemingly wood and leaves? Looked really cool though.
I motioned to the gun. “…?”
Clover had a look of anticipation on her face. “Do you want to test it? There’s an evacuation order several blocks from here, creating a Darkzone. Could pop in and test it out? I think it’s just Feeble. A bunch of rifts bursted all at once.”
”…!” That was convenient. Then again, Feeble rifts were literally everywhere. It wasn’t much of a surprise a few went uncleared. Especially if lightning struck in an odd spot. Although not every lightning strike opened a rift, what with the requirements of high etheric pressure and all that, assuming a thirty-second did?
According to BAM, this planet was struck by lightning a hundred times a second, or about eight 8.6 million times a day. That equaled out to around a quarter of a million rifts opening all over the planet every day, depending on the Etheric Pressure. Places like Bastion with naturally high pressure? Far more rifts than elsewhere.
“Nice! I think it’s a hundred Nytes per marked corpse on top of the cores. Not too bad for F-rank.” The rabbitkin moved for her armory and rapidly dug through it. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in a fight. I might be a bit rusty…”
”’S fine. I’ll protect.” They were only Feeble monsters anyway. Shouldn’t be too much of an issue even if the weapon was a bit weak. Still, I should be careful. Urban settings had far more angles to watch out for. My carelessness wouldn’t result in another injury.
“That’s a relief.” Clover snagged a weird cylinder thing with a handle and tossed it onto the table. She then put on a full set of what looked like power armor. It was a lighter style, with rabbit icons all over it. It even had rabbit ears sticking up from its full helmet like antennas. She was still shorter than me.
Power armor always looked so cool. Reminded me of the steam mechs from back home, though much, much smaller. Bastion’s technological capabilities were leaps and bounds beyond what we had. It made me wonder what could’ve been if things went differently back then.
“Ready to roll?” Her voice came from a speaker, sounding slightly modulated. Two blinking dots on her helmets darted around like eyes. “Oh! Just call me Rabbyte in official settings… Do you mind if I record this?”
I was already recorded once before as Moon, so it wouldn’t be too much of an issue, yep? I shook my head. “...”
Clover grabbed one last item from the armory and tossed it out. A small bipedal bunny dropped to the ground and hopped around us. It held a camera almost as large as it was like some kind of film director. Definitely a custom built Mascot. Should I get one of those?
[Nighteye cheers excitedly. Get a cat one!]
Haah… with what money, my dear star? We were broke, if you recalled. I still had a pretty heft debt to Pursius weighing on my shoulders too. Not like I could just go fork over tens of thousands of Nytes to Teotl Reforged and get a Mascot… at least, not now. Maybe in the future?
Rabbyte hopped lightly to the door, drawing my attention. “Alright! Let's rock!”