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kentuckywrites · 2 years

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Imperium 3: Chapter 2

Novus dies incipit. (The new day begins.)

“Starr okay?! What happen?!”

Vanala was by Starr’s side in an instant as soon as he woke. He tried to control his breathing, deep inhales and exhales through his mouth, but the fear was still there, the fear was just as strong. Vanala put one of her wings on his knee, and her touch was just enough to bring him out of despair. Nevertheless, tears still stung at the corners of his eyes, wildly unfocused and darting around to make sure he was still in his tent.

“Bad dream? Scary monster in tent? Talk to Vanala,” Vanala begged, “Starr look as if he’s seen ghost!”

“We…nightmare,” Starr shivered, tucking into himself. He felt naked without the mask, resting on the log mere feet from his reach. He couldn’t bring himself to take it. “Bad nightmare.”

“Talk it through with Vanala,” She plopped herself down next to him, her little legs just barely poking out from underneath her body, “Best way to work through scary things.”

Starr almost didn’t respond. He was too pained to admit that this methodology terrified him, but there was a sense of urgency that was involved. The more he collected himself, the more he realized that Vanala should know. She was there, tumbling through a tormented sky, chased down by a…what even were those things? They weren’t Miran creatures, he’d remember that. But wouldn’t he remember if they weren’t, too? Or…

Do you? Remember them?

Gods above…

“You were there,” Starr explained slowly, carefully, “You were falling out of the sky with someone else. You…there were two giant creatures following you. One was like a snake, the other like a bird -”

“Starr dreamed of Vanala coming to Mira.” She breathed, “Froyoyo told tale many times, but Vanala never mentioned other who fell with her…”

“Were those the two yggraliths? Syri…”

“Syriahnydra and Corvhesperikon. Two yggraliths that nearly killed Vanala. Corvie spoke to Starr in dream, sounds like.”

“What does it mean? Why would we dream of this?” Starr asked, desperate. The images were still flashing in his mind, so vivid and lifelike that it was hard to believe he wasn’t actually there. His fear permeated through his body, and like a disease, Vanala soon mirrored his expression. The weight of the dream was setting in, its implications.

“Vanala thinks she knows,” She told him, “But cannot say for certain unless Vanala checks.”

“Checks what?”

“Both yggraliths die in fight with Froyoyo and Vanala. Remains still here, on Cocytios. Corvie’s body easier to locate than Syri’s. Vanala would go to confirm body is still there.”

“Let us go with you,” Starr offered before he could fully think about what he was saying, “If it is not there, then you will need all the help you can get.”

Vanala opened her mouth, likely about to argue, but she gave a frustrated sigh. “Not want to put Starr in danger if Corvie is alive. Very dangerous yggralith.”

“That is precisely the reason we mean to join you,” He urged, “Would it not be dangerous for you to go alone? If not us, then at least bring Froyoyo -”

“Someone say Froyoyo’s name?”

Speak of the devil. Starr tilted his head up as Vanala whipped around, and there was Froyoyo, peeking his head out of the tent flap. In one of his wings was a stack of branches, freshly cut. Starr thought he saw a familiar tuft of pink and white fur poking out of the stack - Sprinkle Sprinkle always did like to pick the strangest hiding spots - but he said nothing to reveal the littlepon’s location.

“Good morning, hubbypon! Vanala just checking on Starr. He had bad nightmare,” She explained, letting out a few nervous laughs at the end.

Froyoyo cast his glance between the two, squinting as he tried to get a read on them both. Starr tried to smile, though it was a pained thing, strengthened by the pain he already felt. Froyoyo didn’t look one bit convinced by either of their acts, and Starr thought for certain that he’d probe into the situation more. But instead, the Heropon smiled back, readjusting his grip on the wood.

“Have Tutito make Starr tea. Tea make things better. And grab thermonana too, Parpapa brought in good bunch during gathering this morning,” He said, “Froyoyo going to put wood down, then go scout for ether crystals. Low on fire crystals.”

“Always low on fire crystals,” Vanala chuckled, “Caravan in cold continent after all, should not be surprising. Though…no more fire crystals near hot spring right next to caravan?”

Froyoyo shook his head. “Have to go to northeast ring for fire crystals until crystals replenish next to spring. Tried to teach Rockoroad and Banan to mine, but Rockoroad very violent. Took more than needed, and just ran through last of what he got.”

“Right,” Vanala remembered the incident, as did Starr. Funny how Froyoyo mentioned that Banan was there, yet he didn’t make so much as a peep when Rockoroad was flinging crystals left and right. That littlepon was an odd one, that was for sure.

Froyoyo let the tent flap go, feeling the conversation was said and done, and walked further away until Starr couldn’t hear his footsteps in the snow. Once he was sure he was far enough away, he turned back to Vanala, who immediately hissed, “Froyoyo going close to where body is. Ether crystals grow on northeast ring, and body is just slightly south.”

“Should we go with him?” Starr pondered, “We can say we want to help with his efforts, and then make sure the body is still there at the same time.”

“Yes yes yes! Perfect idea,” Vanala cheered, “Though hubbypon may question motives…Vanala and Starr just lie! Perfect excuse, perfect plan. Starr so smart!”

She jumped up, raising one of her hands, and Starr promptly gave her a small but cute high-five. The compliment made him blush; had he ever been called smart before? Did she really mean that?

I never considered myself smart, at least. I mean…everyone else was smarter. Simple as that.

You were plenty smart. You just had other strengths that people tended to focus on more.

I…I guess. I just wish I could be smarter. Maybe then…

Starr shook that inner conversation out of his mind, snapping back to reality. He realized that Vanala was heading for the tent’s exit, likely so she could track down Froyoyo and announce their plans to join him. He grabbed his mask, sliding it over his face and adjusting the skull’s snout so that he could see out of the eye sockets. What creature had this once belonged to? He wasn’t supposed to be able to tell, he thought - the littlepon had decorated it with paint and even whittled the horns down shorter to alleviate its weight. It was a comfortable fit, and at this point, Starr couldn’t exist without it.

He exited the tent, squinting in the Cocytios sun, powerful and blinding. It was a clear day, naught a cloud to be seen, but that meant the snow looked even whiter and brighter than before. Many of the Desserta Caravan’s members were already out and about, making preparations for the day ahead. Love and excitement and anticipation dominated the land, and contagious as it was, Starr smiled at the sight.

It was easy enough to spot Vanala bouncing towards Froyoyo, and Starr nearly went to follow. But of course, his mere presence had alerted one of the littlepon, and he was soon gazing down at Pecana. He was the oldest of the nine littlepon, a fluffy brown Nopon with welcoming chocolate colored eyes. Starr shouldn’t have been surprised to see him - this was Pecana’s daily routine, saying good morning to everyone he came across - and yet, with his goal and his worries so deeply rooted in his psyche, he ended up startled.

“Good morning Starr!” Pecana cheered, then quickly picked up on Starr’s mood and shifted slightly. “Is friend Starr okay? Looks paler than normal…”

“Unfortunately, we had a bad nightmare,” He told him half of the truth, “We are a little shaken from it.”

“Oh no!! Nightmares bad, nightmares bad indeed!” Pecana fussed, “Lelemon have bad nightmares sometimes. Best thing with Lelemon’s nightmares is tea and blankets! Pecana will go fetch both for Starr, stay here!”

And before Starr could stop him, Pecana darted off, likely going to track down Tutito for that tea. He sighed, continuing forth towards Vanala and Froyoyo. By that point they’d managed to start talking to each other, and by the time Starr reached them, Froyoyo had just turned away, heading down towards a group of tents and a log pile. Starr watched carefully, waiting for the moment that Froyoyo got out of earshot. One more step should suffice -

“Hubbypon welcomes company for journey. Had no questions about it,” Vanala relayed the information before he could even ask about it, “Hubbypon want to leave in next half hour. Enough time to make preparations and grab supplies.”

“Perfect,” Starr mused, “We shall grab snacks. We should be home before nightfall, no?”

Vanala thought on it for a moment. “Sounds reasonable. Yes yes, before nightfall. Be quick with - WHAT IS SPRINKLE SPRINKLE DOING UP THERE -”

She bolted towards one of the tents, and perched on top was a rather proud Sprinkle Sprinkle, wings tucked into his body like a bird. He hardly registered his mother’s concerns, fluffing out as a little gust of wind washed over the caravan. Starr rolled his eyes. He’d be down eventually to cause more chaos. For now, this was a rather tame spectacle. And for now, he couldn’t get caught up in the littlepons’ antics. There was work to be done.

Preparations went smoothly, and Starr volunteered to carry the sack of supplies with him. After all, Froyoyo had his broadsword to carry, and Vanala had offered to hold the bag that would house the fire crystals once they’d made it to their destination. Starr and Vanala had also made sure to put their ether gauntlets on before they left. Using water ether was still intimidating, but Vanala reassured Starr that the gauntlets would help. They were a focus, she called them in the beginning, an object that was easier to concentrate willpower into. From the few times he’d used them in routine defense missions, he liked how they felt. They were snug, but not tight.

Almost like my gloves!

Yeah, those looked weird. A lot of human armor looks weird, honestly.

I…I guess that is just human style? I never really questioned it myself.

I can tell. If you had, then you would not be wearing shiny leather jeans into a combat zone.

Oh come on, those were excellent pants, they brought out my -

“Shut UP,” Starr hissed beneath his breath. Fortunately, Vanala and Froyoyo didn’t hear this outburst. They’d gotten far enough away from the caravan now, moving past the waterfall and following the river downstream to the northeast. The water closest to the land had frozen over, but some patches of running water still remained, especially in the waterfall itself. In the light, the river shone like diamonds, and every indigen that flocked to its banks would eventually walk away enriched by its life. Admittedly, the waterfall was one of Starr’s favorite locations, and one of Vanala’s favorite spots to take him for training. He observed a group of caribears making their way closer to the water, and one made eye contact with him. Starr smiled, nodded. The bear blinked slowly, a sign of understanding, before dipping its head to drink from the river.

The water was treating them nicely, all things considered. Though some patches of snow were deeper than others, Vanala and Froyoyo managed to push through. Starr almost thought to pick them up at one particularly bad stretch, but decided against it. Froyoyo would’ve chopped his head clean off if he’d tried to help. They took a break two hours in, munching on some of the thermonanas in relative silence as Froyoyo kept watch on their surroundings, and soon enough they were back on the road again.

It was only when Starr saw the ring in the distance that he knew they were close. Even from this far away, there were gleams of red crystals, growing out of the wreckage in all different directions. The ring itself wasn’t nearly as big as those in Oblivia, but considering it was buried in both ground and snow, there was the possibility of it being larger than it appeared.

Starr looked up at the sun, its position in the sky. He harbored that it was midday, that they’d made better time than he was expecting. Looking back at the ring, he squinted. Vanala and Froyoyo had continued on down the slope, heading for the ring. But just off to the right, more rings emerged from the ground, nearly as large as the mechanical wreckage. He’d seen the bones of this deceased creature before, they were quite hard to miss. That wasn’t what drew his attention, however, and the very thing he spotted made his blood go cold.

“Vanala, Froyoyo, wait!” He called out, and the two Nopon stopped in their tracks to turn, to look back up at him. Once he had their attention, he pointed at the bones - and at the man-made vehicles and humanoid figures surrounding it. “Those look like humans.”

Froyoyo scowled, holding a wing over his eyes to shield the sun and get a better look down the hill. “What flesh trees doing all the way out here?”

“And what flesh trees doing at Corvie’s grave…” Vanala mused. “Curious, very curious. Hubbypon, Vanala wants to investigate.”

A statement so sure, that any doubts Froyoyo wanted to voice died the moment she spoke. But his silence still said everything they needed to hear, his expression still said everything he felt. The human saying that eyes were the windows to the soul suddenly made more sense to Starr than it ever had to Pongo or Mira.

Starr saw an opportunity, catching on to Vanala’s plan moments after her declaration, and he stepped forward, the snow crunching resolutely under his boots. “We will accompany her. You can start collecting the crystals as we investigate, and we shall return to you shortly.”

“...Be careful,” Froyoyo sighed, reaching his wing out to touch Vanala’s cheek. “Vanala and Froyoyo not know how dangerous these flesh trees are. Trust Vanala’s judgment.”

Vanala leaned into his wing, humming contentedly. Starr had learned in his time with the caravan that this was the equivalent of a kiss on the cheek, an action so delicate and loving and cherished. There was a time where he wished that he had someone there with him, someone he loved, so he could give that same show of affection. And, perhaps, he could experience one in return…

I do not know if anyone would have wanted to do that with me.

L’Cirufe would have.

Would he? He would be angry at how long we have left him for. He would want nothing to do with either of us.

No. Stop. He still loves you despite everything.

Would he…would he love this? What we are, right now?

Starr growled a curse under his breath, silencing both voices in his mind. How dare he question Starr’s existence like that, how dare he refer to him as “this” as if he were some kind of beast, untamed and unwanted and completely irrelevant? Who did Pongo think he was? Nothing but a piece of a whole, he’d be broken without him, fragmented and useless. L’Cirufe wouldn’t love that husk of a hero. He’d love Starr, because like this, he was complete, he was reborn. He was everything Pongo wished he could’ve been.

Or…no. No, was he kidding himself? Where did this bout of confidence come from, all of a sudden? Was he really reborn, or was he a broken vase put together with cheap glue, one threat away from shattering all over again? What was this solution, if not a permanent one? When would he be useless to them, when would they move on?

Starr held his breath, squeezed his eyes shut. Perhaps that would stop the tears.

“Starr doing that thing again.”

Starr opened his eyes to find Vanala staring up at him, a patient gaze and saddened smile. Froyoyo was not by her side, and one look over the horizon told Starr that he’d started towards the ring. He even had on Vanala’s empty pouch, the one she’d brought for the crystal collection. She must’ve given it to him when he was…preoccupied.

“Sorry,” Starr mumbled, “We did not mean to get distracted.”

“No apology needed. Vanala just making sure Starr’s okay. Is Starr okay?”

No.

“Yes.” The lie was smooth, smooth enough to convince himself that it was the truth. “Are you ready?”

Vanala swallowed, her fur fluffing out with nervous energy. “Have no room to be scared. Vanala ready to go.”

Starr nodded, and the two began their descent down the hill. The closer they got to the bones, the more he could pick out the humanoid figures, the vehicles and Skells that they’d driven to get to this point. Many of them were near the bones, holding various tools and equipment. Starr couldn’t help but tap into some of Pongo’s memories - what would they be doing here? Of course, it was curiosity, a need to understand, that brought them here. Humanity had explored five of the Miran continents already. It was only sensical that they’d eventually find Cocytios, and perhaps one day, they’d find the other continents strewn about the planet. Exploration was one of humanity’s greatest motivations, after all.

Yes, all of it made perfect sense…but why did it fill Starr with such dread? Why did he want to turn back already, even though he and Vanala hadn’t even interacted with these humans yet? It was too late to turn back now, considering how close they were. And this close, some humans had already noticed their presence. Some had their weapons drawn, guns, pistols, swords, shields, psycho launchers, javelins, shit shit shit Starr didn’t want to be here anymore this was a mistake oh gods above -

“Vanala, right?”

Oh no.

Vanala had hopped up to the nearest humans while Starr stood, frozen in place, staring, watching, waiting. One of the ones that stepped up to greet her was familiar, donning red and purple armor. Her white hair glistened in the sunlight, feathered delicately above honeyed skin. Who…okay, this was someone that Pongo must’ve known. That had to be it, right?

Elma. She…I cannot let her see us like this. It would hurt her.

“Vanala recognizes flesh tree! Friend is Elma!” Vanala waddled up to her without a care in the world. “What Elma doing here? Why humans interested in bones?”

“We’ve slowly been conducting an expedition around Cocytios,” Elma explained, “We happened upon these remains a week ago but didn’t have the proper technology with us in order to analyze it. Considering how far the ribcage stretches, this could be one of the largest indigens we’ve ever cataloged.”

“Not indigen native to Mira. Yggralith remains,” Vanala corrected her somberly, “Vanala happy humans take interest, but dangerous here, very dangerous.”

“A yggralith?” She raised an eyebrow, “Like the one trapped in Sylvalum?”

“Vanala not know anything about yggralith there, but if yggralith in Sylvalum is alive, very bad news!”

“Luckily, it’s no longer causing any serious problems. That being said…it’s rather unusual for a planet to be host to two yggraliths, living or deceased -”

“Three! One dead in ocean.”

“Three?!” Elma was dumbfounded, now kneeling to meet Vanala’s gaze. Her voice went lower, almost too low for Starr to hear due to his distance. “How has Mira survived three yggraliths…there’s definitely something strange about this planet.”

“Can’t say planet is too strange - Vanala encountered weirder before!”

“Pardon?”

“Now Vanala should be going! Hubbypon harvesting ether crystals and went on ahead. Should get back to him before complaints start.”

She quickly turned and headed back towards Starr, who nearly followed after her. However, as Elma stood up, she locked eyes with him - fuck, shit. Every part of his body turned to ice, unable to move. What was he supposed to do?

“Vanala? Who’s this?” She asked, head tilting ever so slightly.

Vanala piped up, “This friend Starr! Has been helping caravan lots lately.”

No. No, why did Vanala have to say that?! Elma knew his name, she had to remember it from when he - when he was a monster, a wretched Ganglion creation to serve as a weapon and nothing more, he had attacked her and Lin and Solstice and Nessa, gods above he’d hurt them all, he couldn’t do this, he thought he’d be able to push this down and ignore all the bubbling feelings inside his chest but that was impossible when everything, everything was his fault -

“Nice to meet you, Starr.” Elma said, and in that moment, Starr knew that she knew. “I’ll let you and Vanala get back to work.”

A grin, a nod, and she had turned away to address the other humans standing by. None of the others questioned him, none of the others took an ounce of interest. They had their mission, and Starr and Vanala had theirs. Still, something in his heart grew sad, a longing he hadn’t experienced before. Did Elma actually know? Was he being paranoid? Why, why was he so scared that she’d recognize him as Pongo, why did he want to maintain that distance?

Confused, frightened at his inability to answer his own questions, Starr kept standing there until Vanala reached a wing out to grab his hand.

“Vanala and Starr should go.”

“Were we foolish, to think this would help us?”

It was a whisper, a question he couldn’t stop himself from asking. Vanala went to respond, likely an answer regarding his dream and coming to visit the gravesite, but the implications and deeper meaning soon sank in. She sighed, and Starr felt like he was being pitied, and his stomach churned as it thawed out from the ice of Elma’s encounter.

“Vanala not sure who Starr was before. Vanala can only say that short time with Starr has been good. Starr growing as person every day. If being away from flesh trees continues to help Starr heal, so be it.”

For a moment, Starr thought that Vanala was privy to Pongo and Mira, their fusion into one soul, one mind, one body. But that last sentence gave the impression that she didn’t, and he couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. There had been too many close calls today, too many. Already he could feel the stress transforming into fatigue, and they still had a long journey back home after collecting the ether crystals. He had to stay vigilant, stay on guard.

…But he was allowed to feel these things. He was allowed to be vulnerable. Pongo would’ve bottled this up and pushed it aside to rot and fester. Starr was not Pongo, he was not Mira, and he would not make either of their mistakes.

“Thank you, Vanala. Now, we should rejoin Froyoyo,” Starr pivoted around, taking a few small steps anticipating Vanala’s agreement, “He might require our height for the crystal harvesting.”

“Froyoyo will find way! Always does,” Vanala chuckled, following after Starr quickly, “Though extra height always helps. Nopon so tiny compared to flesh trees!”

“Small but mighty,” He countered. “That is a human saying, we believe.”

“Good saying! Vanala might steal it.”

“...Is it possible to steal a saying?...”

“That saying too. Means Vanala likes it and might use it!”

“Oh! That makes sense.”

Thankfully, their conversation was jovial enough to distract Starr the entire way back to the ring, and even all the way back to the caravan once Froyoyo had collected a satisfactory amount of ether crystals. But during their ascent over the snow-covered hill, Starr snuck a glance back at Corvhesperikon’s gravesite, at the humans surrounding its fragmented form. He quickly regretted his decision and picked up the pace when he realized Elma was watching him.

At first, Elma was surprised that no one had questioned how she’d “discovered” a new continent. Maybe they recognized her status as a Reclaimer and figured her pension for exploring was responsible. Truth be told, she had ulterior motives for returning to Cocytios beyond the thrill of new discoveries, motives she couldn’t readily explain to anyone besides Lin.

Nessa had vanished. That on its own was enough to warrant a search, but on top of that, Pongo hadn’t returned. Surely a year was long enough for the planet to rebuild his body, no? So she created an expedition under the guise of simply exploring, putting down a very sparse amount of data probes. The skeleton upon their entry into the continent just happened to be a nice surprise. Funny, how she and Lin hadn’t noticed it before when they were with Nessa.

Vanala’s visit was also a surprise. Elma gathered that they were still a decent ways off from the caravan’s home base, so the reunion was the cherry on top of their journey so far. But then, there was the human with her. Starr, Vanala called him. He hadn’t spoken a single world and looked like a deer in the headlights once he saw Elma. His hair was longer, braided, and it was hard to see underneath his skull mask, but…

Elma didn’t press it, not then, not there. But as the night overtook the day, as BLADEs settled into their tents after a long day of work, she started forming a plan. She knew the way to the caravan - even if she didn’t, Starr and Vanala left tracks in the snow, and she could follow those. She had to know. She had to. She stayed awake in her tent, reconfiguring her dual guns and polishing her swords in case she encountered any hostile indigens on the road. When she could no longer hear any signs of life outside, Elma stood herself up, took one step towards the tent’s entrance.

That was when the ground shook, and a piercing bright light enveloped her vision. All she heard before the unconscious took her was a deafening roar, coming from just outside, and the sickening crunch of bones as they rose from the snow.

#xenoblade x #Imperium 3: Chapter 2 #y'all thought I'd write an imperium without elma? think again #this is set in canon after all #I just put a lot of ocs in it fkjdhjk #anyways obligatory hug starr moment #and obligatory be afraid for the next chapter warning

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