****************
Wyatt Graves
I am welcomed by a bright light and a splitting headache as I wake up on a moving wagon. My head sits on a simple pillow of spare clothes, and Otto sits beside me. The man notices my wakefulness almost instantly. The first thing I hear as I open my eyes is him calling me stupid.
"You tried to fight him? Are you braindead? Why did you think you'd even stand a chance? Dumbass…"
Otto shakes his head as he looks out around the wagon, observing the surroundings, which have significantly changed. Slowly the sand seems to be disappearing into bits of grass. Here or there, small green shrubs grow as I sit up and look around, noticing just how stark the change is.
I turn to Otto.
"What happened? How long was I out for?"
Otto snorts in laughter as he points at my head.
"Check your head; you were out for almost a week. If Johnny wasn't so good, you'd be dead right now. Can't believe you tried to duel him, at range nonetheless."
I run my hand along the side of my head, and I feel a deep indent on the left side of my head that is soft and goes along the whole side of my head like a gutter. I check the right side, and there is one there too.
Still confused about what happened, I try to get more details.
"What happened? Did he shoot me in the head?"
Once again, Otto laughs, but he turns and faces me this time.
"No, he didn't shoot you in the head. He shot along the side of your head and then the other. He gave you a massive concussion from the impact along the side of your head and knocked you out instantly. How dumb are you? You know he's many times more powerful than you, right? Both in experience and Sigil."
My fingers stick to the gutter-like scars on the sides of my head. I thought I stood a chance. He wasn't that strong in the fight against Hura, right? Why didn't he do any of that to the demon? He would have died so much easier that way.
I try to explain myself to Otto, but he cuts me off halfway.
"I thought I could win because he didn't do much—"
"Against the Demon Of Storms? Yeah. The demon was quite the foil to our Gunfighter. He could sense bullets from afar, easily block, and even redirect bullets. Johnny had to be super careful not to hurt anyone with the raging winds all around. Have you tried shooting in the middle of a hurricane?"
I look down at my dirty hand as I begin to see his logic. Hura was simply a perfect counter against someone like Johnny. Had he possessed almost any other skillset, the demon would have died to the Gunfighter without any casualties. That I'm sure of now. I'm also sure that Johnny could kill me in a heartbeat. His hands genuinely are one of the fastest things in the world, not to mention the bullets that leave his Downpour.
But it doesn't always have to be that way. I'm improving every day. One day, it'll become a possibility that he can no longer kill me instantly. Then, it'll become a maybe if he can kill me at all. Eventually, it might even reach where it is the other way around entirely. How strong would I have to be for that?
I'd have to be incredibly fast, so much faster than him, no? Wait… Maybe not. Alexos had the counter against speed, even if I hated how he did it. He stopped Marion in his tracks with a single word. I don't think I can do that, but maybe I can do something similar with chains?
I've been learning quite a bit from both Otto and the First's book, and I've learned the power of combined skills or Quilts. And I've seen it firsthand from Marion, who was said to be excellent at combining his wealth of skills. He was able to resist Alexos' illusions simply due to his wide variety of skills, and he almost got Alexos, if only the Phantom Pain couldn't just paralyze people with words. Maybe… just maybe, within my potential arsenal lies something that could give me a victory over Johnny.
Probably not now, but I can see it being a guarantee in the future.
I sit up and move over to the side of the wagon next to Blake, who has been quiet this whole time. She glances at me with a small smile as she returns to her book. Otto harumphs because I don't reply to him, and I'm too distracted.
"Whatever. Just only talk to me when you need me. Won't take care of you next time you get knocked the fuck out."
I only roughly listen to him as my brain starts to move in ideas. I just give him a quick sorry as I get lost in my thoughts. I've been so focused on learning new individual skills that I've never considered combining my old ones. But first, I need to know how to. Start simple.
Real simple.
I flow the Ether for Sneak and Physical Strengthening simultaneously, directing both to my feet specifically. When they reach, however, all that happens is the dampening of the sound my feet make against the wagon and increased foot stability and strength. Nothing else.
I have to be missing something.
The next thing I try to do is combine the Ether as it exits my core and enters my body, but that doesn't work either. All it does is scramble it all up and leave a sting in my chest where they combined. Luckily, the Ether strain seems to have fizzled out and healed while I was out.
After that, I try combining the Ether at the feet, where I want them to quilt together and synergize. Ether only really shows what skill it will become by how you move it in the focused area, so this one will hopefully work more. Otto said it works like vibrations and sound, whatever that entails. All I know is that loud sounds grow louder together sometimes and, other times, cancel each other out.
This new idea seems to be in the right direction, but the Ether still scrambles after a short second of interweaving, leaving behind another sting. I hold onto this idea because of the small success and work further toward stabilizing the weave.
Hours rapidly fly past as I sit still, playing with my Ether, but eventually, the scrambles of Ether leave behind enough residual damage that I'm forced to stop. My feet pulsate in terrible pain like I spent an entire day doing nothing but walking barefoot in the woods.
I had hoped to make progress doing this for so long, but all that I ended up doing was making the weave of two skills last for half a second. In that short amount of time, which I only managed once, I couldn't even notice what the combination did.
Because of this, I have to stop practicing, and when I look around, I once again see that the environment has changed. It is now roughly half and half between sand and grass. The grass must be the sign that we are getting closer to Sinscreak, although I thought the place was supposed to be a marshland, not a grassland.
It doesn't matter much, though. I'm sure I'll learn more about it by traveling through it.
Blake is still reading her book, which seems to be all that she brought with her. In the corner of the cabin is her bag that has tomes literally falling out of it. I grow curious as to what she's reading as that seems to be all that she does.
"Whatcha reading?"
The woman with a buzzcut and a short-sleeved robe turns her attention away from the book. She turns her face to me but doesn't look directly at me.
"It's… uh… it's a book about tunnels. I wanted to learn to make one if I ever needed to."
My eyebrows squint as her words leak a lot of information. How did she get this book, and why would she need to make a tunnel? We only learned about possibly needing one after we spoke to Alonzo. Did she know previously?
"When did you get that book? Did you know about us potentially having to dig downward?"
She shakes her head frantically as her face goes beet red. The woman tries to explain herself but mostly just stutters.
"Nnnno… I-I-I didn't. I–I–I—I borrowed it."
She still isn't making much sense.
"From who?"
"From Alonzo."
My face goes wide as I realize she spoke to him while I was unconscious. Why?
"Why did you speak to that madman? How could you? You know all those undead he's made."
She kind of squirms in her seat as she barely manages to eke out an answer.
"I—I just wanted t–t–to learn. People normally don't give girls books, even if they can read."
Understanding finally reaches me as I see her massive pile of books. She must carry as many as she can or keep everything she reads because it's hard to get more. I know that reading is not all that common, but is it really that bad? Can girls not usually learn to read? I thought it was just a rarity in general.
I feel bad now for calling her out on it. She didn't talk to that crazy guy for anything other than to read a book, and Alonzo didn't seem to be one to discriminate. He seems to hate everyone equally.
I try to recover my mean assumptions and leave the conversation as I'm starting to feel a bit awkward myself.
"Damn. I'm sorry. I didn't know it was like that. Well, I guess I'll let you get back to your tunnels and stuff."
She just nods mutely with that face still wholly red.
I turn around awkwardly and return to practicing with my Ether, but this time I try to learn Reach. It is a different location entirely, my arm, so it shouldn't be affected by the previous practice.
While I sit and put my focus into my arm, I see Johnny dozing off in the corner of my eye. Looks like the man does sleep. I think it's the first time I spotted him falling asleep since I met him. The man is always doing something. Even when we're on the road like this, heading long distances, he's the one watching out and taking care of any threats.
I pick up the blanket put over me while I was unconscious and drape it over the man, and I take his spot at the head of the wagon with the undead horses. A driver isn't needed as Alonzo controls the undead horses, but leaving the wagon without a driver doesn't feel right.
Once there, I finally truly start trying to complete even a single use of Reach with the subtle snores of Johnny in the back of my senses.
The mini explosions of Ether within the arm to expand it are risky. If I mess up just a little bit, I'm forced to take a break from the damage that lingers. But I do feel that this technique of Ether control is versatile and can be used for more than just extending my arm. Though it is still limited to within my muscles, it uses my body to detonate. And while a bomb coming from my arm sounds cool in theory, it would be disastrous in reality.
Hours pass rapidly, and before I know it, it's morning. Johnny wakes up and gives me a subtle nod of thanks. Some progress has been made on my Ether, but I'm sore all over and return to my spot in the wagon for rest.
I take out another one of Heath's sleep aids and fall asleep before I can even get comfortable on the floor of the wagon.
**********
Days pass in this manner; I practice Ether until I can't anymore, then go to bed. All the while, we move closer to our destination, and the dunes entirely disappear. The sand is replaced by muddy bushes as the grass slowly gets wetter and wetter. Insects buzz, and sparrows caw signaling the come of an entirely different world.
We're all forced to get out of the wagons around the one-month mark of leaving Rustbank. No one's happy about walking through a swamp, but we must. The wagons can't make it through the deep mud, not to mention the almost entirely submerged sections.
We do, however, get some good news from Alonzo as we depart our rides and leave them hidden behind some dogwood trees and place some marks to find them again. He tells us that Laughing Reeds should not be that far and provides a bit of advice free of charge.
"We've come quite far, and it'll only be a few more days until we reach the area we need to. It's quite close, just a bit more to the southwest, but travel in Sinscreak is difficult. If you've never been to Sinscreak before, be careful in the mud and water. Snakes and crocs are everywhere. Tie a pair of socks tight around your boots to keep anything from slithering or crawling in. We're going to be moving slowly and carefully from here on out. Eyes peeled and feet light."
I take his advice seriously, as Blake does the same. She is from this region, after all. She must know almost everything about this place. I've learned little pieces here and there just from talking to her, like how she cut her hair so that nothing venomous would get lost in it and potentially kill her.
Most people in Sinscreak do similar things and wear simple but protective clothing, as well as having very little hair to prevent any crawlies or small serpents from getting them without their notice.
I wince a little bit as I start to step in the squelching mud. The feeling is uncomfortable and will surely slow us down should there be a chase or something. I try to ignore the awkward wetness and copy what Blake does. I wish I could copy Alonzo as he makes his undead carry him safely, but I cannot. I have to brave the marsh.
And I do this by following right behind Blake. She constantly looks around, both at the ground and at the branches of the trees near us. I do the same and look for anything that may be dangerous. Spiders, snakes, beetles, and even the butterflies and moths here are venomous.
This is one of the few places in the world where it doesn't matter all that much if you have a Sigil or not unless it is Soldier or Freak. The venom from these creatures can put just about anyone down if you're bitten by the wrong one or if you bite the wrong one. Not to mention that many of these things have Sigils of their own.
Our progress slows to a crawl as we move a tenth of what we did on the wagons through the wetlands. I hope that this place is as close as Alonzo says it is.
While my thoughts drift a bit from the surroundings, something jumps toward me, and Blake reacts before I do. A whip of a black-tainted bandage comes and smacks the frog lunging toward me. Blake catches the thing with her bandage and yanks it back to her.
Blake then mentors me on Sinscreak, and I notice that while doing so, she doesn't stutter or mumble at all.
"You need to be alert, Wyatt. This is a Poison Bullet Frog. They shoot at prey and stab into them like a bullet to kill them with their poison. Keep your eyes open. Also, in this place, never go close to open water or wide areas of dryness."
I nod thanks to her and proceed to keep myself from getting distracted.
Because of the focus required to prevent myself from getting envenomed, I cannot continue my practice with Ether even the slightest. I leave it off at a reasonably good place. I could concentrate and keep the mixture of Sneak and Physical Strengthening for almost a full second. In that short second, I could see the future of the combination and know what to look forward to.
It could both silence my footsteps and make me walk incredibly lightly, preventing indentation in the wood beneath me from my weight. I preemptively named it Lightfoot, but I'll have to see how it works when it is fully completed. It might be able to help me move more quickly as well as quietly. Some progress was also made on learning Reach, but most of it was how best to not hurt myself with the miniature explosions. Even with the guidance of Otto, it's not easy at all to learn. I wonder how long it took the two of Marion and Otto to make it.
After a few hours of rapt focus and killing the odd few critters that jump out at us, Blake doing most of it, we reach an area suitable for a break. A small clearing exists with fallen logs, and Blake spends a few minutes ensuring it's safe before we all rest.
She clears out the log of the few serpents inside, pulling them out with her bandages and killing them with a concurrent stream of black and green Ether. It must be a Sigil skill from her Sigil that combines Sexton and Abbot.
And so, we all take a break in the middle of Sinscreak, but just as we start to get comfortable, footsteps resound in the mud from where we came from. A single pair of squelching feet tap toward us.