Strength to Accept the World

            WAS   this really happening ?  Was she really seeing this right ? Because she could be wrong ( not that she’s ever been wrong before ), but it most certainly looks like that woman’s strong-arming her way to a fresh pork dinner. If it were your average pig that would be one thing, but it’s a boar; one gleaming tusk is half that woman’s height !  … At least, it seemed to be. It was a little hard to tell with the boar defying physics like that. 

        ❛   Maybe I should leave her be. After all, a goddess gets along best with humans from a distance…   ❜

・‥…━━━☆ @feroxtigris​ : s.h.o.r.e.  

This place is a great vacation from that boring central island. There’s lots of trees to climb, water to swim in, and best of all, lots of animals to play with! The animals are the most fun part because after you’re done playing, you have a tasty meal too. Threo still hasn’t seen any of those dined-of-sours, but a big boar is fine too.

“Man, if I knew there was an island like this nearby, I would’ve come here a long time ago! This is way better than dealing with all those boring buildings and stuff!” says Threo, a wide grin on her face as she drags the boar’s carcass along with her. “Sure wish the Captain was here. She’d love this!”

"Hm, maybe she’d know the best thing to do after a good meal... Should I sleep it off? Or maybe it’s better to get some exercise so I don’t get too tired. Hm, I dunno...”

     “i’ve never seen an airship before so what you’re describing is strange to me as well. i’d like to see one some day if i can.” at the very least this city had opened the king up to seeing new things. it was a topic she had grown to be rather enthusiastic about and that mentality had been inspired by the nightly patrols she went on to make sure the streets were safe. “gravity. it’s the force that keeps us on the ground so we don’t float away. zero gravity means we’re allowed to float like you’re doing now.”

     she watched the girl turn around and around, taking all of her power not to reach out and correct her so she stayed at least somewhat still. but she had a sneaking suspicion that even if she succeeded without the girl getting mad she’d just end up spinning of her own accord regardless. she certainly struck artoria as a free spirit.

     “no parents… i don’t think that’s a rare circumstance.” it was unfortunate, but those words stung the woman more than threo likely would ever realize. because she hadn’t been a mother to her own daughter until after they’d both died, until they’d been summoned as servants. it was regrettable but when she was alive she had to act only for her kingdom to the point that she never revealed to even her own knights that she was a woman. “i didn’t really know my birth parents myself, but i digress…”

     “my daughter takes after me, so she’s very strong yes. she was a knight and one of the most talented warriors i’ve ever seen.” so talented that she was felled by mordred’s own attack during the battle of camlann. “i am artoria pendragon by the way. if it’s easier you can simply refer to me as lancer.”

“Man, it would be really nice to see an airship right now,” Threo sighs. “I could use it to get off of this dumb island. There’s barely even any cool monsters to fight so what’s the point of being here? At least the food is really yummy.”

Her eyes glaze over a little bit at the woman’s explanation of gravity, but she nods all the same. “Wow, I didn’t know that was a thing. I just figured this was some weird flying magic. You must be really smart to know stuff like that.”

This island’s full of new things that Threo struggles or doesn’t bother to try and understand, but there’s always lots of things happening, so at least it’s seldom dull. Plenty of places to explore, things to eat, there’s a big forest for hunting in the south...

She blinks a few times, catching the tail end of the woman’s sad statement. “Well, it’s not a big deal, right? I mean, look how strong I am! I’d never be this strong if I wasn’t raised in the jungle. When there’s no one to take care of you, you have to take care of yourself, and that makes you really strong!”

Reaching out, Threo gives the woman a comforting pat, but due to her current axis she can only reach her hip. “I guess there’s lots of ways to get strong, though. At least it all worked out, right?”

The name Artoria is easy enough to remember, but Threo’s eyes widen at the woman’s nickname. “Ooh, do you use a lance? One of my crewmates is the strongest spear user in the whole skies! Those are pretty much the same thing, right? I dunno, I use an axe. Hey, are you strong? We should fight later! That’s a really good way to get to know people!”

     she wasn’t sure on the schematics of eating food in zero gravity, but she likewise hadn’t seen any signs warning against it when she’d arrived in the first place so she didn’t think it right to comment on the fact that the stranger was stuffing her face in this environment. “airships? are they boats that can fly?” perhaps it was a strange question considering her best friend in the city was an interstellar space slime and this was probably a step below spaceship.

     “zero gravity magic might not be so difficult, but i think on a scale this large it would take a talented magus to execute.” at least by her world’s standards. a caster-class servant might have a simpler time doing it than a human mage however. 

     “do you come from a world familiar with magic?” despite the girl’s drifting around, artoria seemed to remain floating upright. “truthfully, you remind me a little of my d… daughter.” mannerisms and demeanor played a part there, and even the king was still unaccustomed to referring to mordred as such.

Threo nods, her hair shaking as it trails along the floor above her. She briefly recalls that not everyone in this city is familiar with such simple terms, and then forgets that fact just as quickly. “I mean, if you wanna think of it like that, I guess so,” she says, shrugging. “They do kinda look like boats, but boats are for water and airships are for the sky. This island doesn’t even have a port for airships though, it’s kinda weird if you ask me!”

The slow arc Threo finds herself travelling in causes her horns to catch on the ground for a moment, but with a push of her head she finds herself spinning in a new direction. “Grabity? Dunno what that is, but there’s lots of things I don’t know, so it’s fine.”

With a final bite, Threo finds her bag of astronaut ice cream gone, and so she tosses it over her shoulder with a sigh. “Yeah, I know magic. I mean, I don’t really know how to do it, but I know how it works. Is that not a thing in some places? Maybe someone told me that and I just forgot it,” she says, the concern vanishing off her face.

     “so where are all the strong sword wielders at? wanna spar? a duel? just don’t whine when i kick your butt!”

@feroxtigris​

     there was something very nostalgic about this interaction. while there was absolutely no resemblance to her daughter physically, this girl certainly bore a great deal of resemblance to mordred in both demeanor and how she carried herself. it was the overly casual and somewhat wild vibe she gave off. although artoria herself often had a hard enough time dealing with it when it came to mordred, there was no pre-existing relationship between her and this girl.

      even so, she’d approached her midst an event that presented a zero gravity scenario. she seemed to be playing alone even as the king floated down.

      “are you having an enjoyable time? being weightless is a rather peculiar feeling, i get a little anxious with my feet not on the ground.” so said the servant who could leap past the clouds on her horse.

Surely this is a school of magic wholly unknown to the skydoms at large. Some kind of strange weightlessness spell that lifted everyone off their feet and left them floating through the air. It’d taken some time for Threo to get used to it, but it was actually kind of fun. And there was even some yummy food to buy, too! The island wasn’t so bad, sometimes.

With her cheeks stuffed full of astronaut ice cream, whatever that was supposed to be, Threo tries her best to face the woman speaking to her. She grins, not bothering to swallow before answering.

“Really? I spend a lot of my time on airships, but this isn’t really the same. It’s almost like swimming, but harder! I bet it would be really fun to fight in a place like this! Though it would be kinda tough to get close enough to the other person...”

Adora isn’t further put off by the other woman’s personality– at least, not initially. If anything, Threo reminds Adora of Huntara, and the comparison was a little comforting in the face of such unfamiliarity. The talk of a forest full of monsters was also intriguing. She wondered how it might compare to the magical forests of Etheria. Adora smiled at the thought of training and exploring the area, but of course did not once think about how dangerous that might be in her currently weakened state.

“Wow, really? I’ll have to check it out then.” Car-thingies? Adora thought she knew what Threo was referring to; the technology of Spirale was different than the technology she was used to in both the horde and within the Rebellion. Was it different than the First Ones’ tech? Oh, if only Bow were here.

“I think I know what you mean. Those things are pretty…. unique.”

How might this woman react to space ships? Adora was curious, but, decided to keep that thought to herself for now. The hard pat on the back only confirmed how good of a decision that was, especially as Adora suppressed a startled cough at the way she was almost bowled over by Threo’s touch.

“Haha… thanks…”

Yeah, this woman was a lot like Huntara, Adora thought. The cat at her feet began to lay down, a gesture known as ‘loafing’, though Adora was unfamiliar with the term. She just thought it was a cute pose.

“Threo, then. I’m Adora. It’s, uh, nice to meet you. And I appreciate it– I don’t really get what’s going on here, or how I got here, but… it seems like a lot of people feel that way, huh?”

“Oh yeah, when I first saw one of those car thingies, I almost thought it was a monster! I was this close to beating it up, but I didn’t have my axe so it probably wouldn’t have worked. I’ve never seen anything like it on any of the islands I’ve been to, but this place doesn’t have airships, so whatever!”

Threo bounces from topic to topic without a hint of concern, moving from the monsters, the forest, her weapon, and to modes of transport without any regard for conversational flow. Thinking is for people who can’t swing a big weapon, after all.

“Adora!” she echoes. “That’s pretty easy to remember. But yeah, a lot of people are confused at first, but you get used to it. I’ve been here for a while so I know lots of stuff, like where to fight monsters, which store has the best cake, the best place to go swimming, where to find the Fox Village...”

She lists it all on her fingers, stopping when she runs out of interesting topics. All the important things she already listed, and all the boring stuff someone else can tell Adora. 

She grins again. “Anyways, happy to help! The crew that I come from, that’s like our whole deal. When you’re strong, you should use that strength to help people, right? Well I’m super strong so I gotta super help people.”

“ I didn’t know if you’d hurt me or not … “

Although the way he tells her that is slightly grouchy that grouchiness falls off as quick at it came. Back is the fairly expressionless expressionless child, fixing rifle far too large against his shoulder.

“ No…. I didn’t see anyone “, he answers after a moment of thinking. He didn’t recall seeing anyone at least, just himself.

“ I guess I could have missed someone but… “

He’s a bit curious though. She has a weapon and all so then she’s….

“ Are you a soldier? “

“Nah, I only hurt bad guys and monsters! That’s my whole thing!” Threo laughs, puffing out her chest. The kind of her crew’s whole thing, actually, it’s just that she’s really proud of how good she is at it.

“But it’s already done, so it’s fine. I won’t hurt you unless you shoot at me. So don’t do that, ’kay?” Children may not be very strong, but that doesn’t mean Threo isn’t willing to fight one if she has to.

Was her gut wrong? It’s usually right, she was really sure someone was tailing her. They’d be in for a rude surprise when Threo caught them, because she definitely didn’t pull any punches when it came to people like that. Furrowing her brow, Threo tries to gather her few brain cells in an attempt to come up with some kind of plan when the kid speaks again and throws her off track.

“Huh? Oh, no, I’m a skyfarer. I belong to a crew, not to any kingdom or anything.” And then she goes back to thinking as if there’s no further explanation needed.

“ I know that. “

He doesn’t know if she believes him. Maybe it’s because the gun  is too big for him that it might be a bit hard to. 

But…She’s not going to hurt him? Hyakunosuke swallows, hesitating a little but when she drops the axe, he lowers his weapon as well. The general rule is that when someone lowers the weapon you should also do that after all… Though you also shouldn’t point anyone with it anyway… 

She seems pretty angry. That’s kind of given.

“ …I wasn’t following you. “

As soon as the gun’s lowered, the animosity vanishes from Threo’s face, replaced with an easy smile. “See, isn’t that better? It’s way easier to talk when no one’s waving weapons around! Normally when people do that, I just crush ‘em, but you’re a kid so I’ll let that one slide.”

She’s not so good with children. They don’t even know how to do a lot of stuff, and they make easy prey for monsters and big animals. Worst of all, they’re not even strong so it’s no fun trying to fight with them or anything. Still, if Siete caught her being rude, he probably wouldn’t be very happy with her.

“Huh? You weren’t hunting me? Then why were you pointing a gun at me? I don’t start fights unless people deserve it, you know, that’s called reponsibility.”

The kid’s lucky he’s a kid. If it was an adult pointing a gun at Threo, she wouldn’t have hesitated. As it is, she hefts her axe back over her shoulder and tilts her head. “Well, if it wasn’t you, someone was following me. I was gonna say it was impressive that you were tracking me for so long, but if it wasn’t you then nevermind.”

It may be strange to others that she found a stroll through The Mistwood relaxing. Djeeta found it eventful, to fill in her homesickness, delving in the familiarity of missions that had routes threatened by monsters. As a plus, it kept her active aside from training with Hibiki. 

The ruckus of a loud beast running through the wood caught her attention, raising her guard in case it crossed her path. Slowly, as the sound fades, she relaxes and continues forward wondering if it was a predator or prey.

A familiar voice cut through her musing, raising her hopes that she would be reuniting with her friend. “Threo,” she calls and smiles wide, rushing to meet the Eternal halfway. “I didn’t know you were here either!”

Wait…strange? Raising a brow, Djeeta raises her arm slightly, turning her nose towards it and taking a sniff. “Do I smell bad?” she asks quietly, mostly to herself, although hoping that maybe Threo would explain further. She didn’t smell out of the ordinary. Maybe it was just from fighting in the Mistwood? 

She blinks at the mention of a monster, recalling the one from earlier. Could that be the one? “Oh, the one that bounded away? I thought it was strange it was running away that fast.” If Threo was involved then that did explain it.  

A corner of her lip turns upward, a twinkle in her eye from the spark of an idea. “Should we go find it? Then we can find out what it tastes like.” Taking a moment to pause and stretch, turning towards where she believed it ran off to, the blonde stretches. “Are you in?”

These reunions are nice. Of course people would be happy to see Threo again, she’s lots of fun. While Djeeta is the type of person to make new friends easily, old friends are nice to see too. When concern over her own scent knits Djeeta’s brow, Threo only laughs in response.

“I didn’t say bad, Djeeta! I just said different! I guess it’s been a while since I saw you, though. I bet you weren’t as sad as Siete, you know he doesn’t have a lot of friends.” Turning away, she sniffs the air a few times, searching for the acrid scent of that Denizen. They smell like they don’t belong in the forest, like they came from somewhere else that Threo doesn’t recognize. Unfortunately, that’s as far as her thoughts on the subject go.

She whirls around, a grin on her face as she leans in towards Djeeta. “You saw it? That makes it way easier, ‘cuz those things are hard to catch! It’s good that they got some monsters on this island though, otherwise I’d go crazy from boredom.”

Dropping to all fours, Threo shuffles in the direction that Djeeta faces, taking deep whiffs of the ground at her feet. She can smell the Denizen’s path, very faintly. What an odd monster.

Rising to her feet, Threo wipes dirt from her nose. “I should be asking you that question. After all, I found it first. But I think I already know the answer, right?”

Everything the other woman said was enough to make Adora’s head spin. She didn’t remember if she lived here or not? Wolves, boars? Good meals? Just who was this lady?

Adora chuckled awkwardly, unsure of what to do now.

“O-kayyyy.”

“What… outdoors? I haven’t seen any forests or anything…” She had only been on the island for less than a week, and still had yet to seen the majority of it.

When Adora took note of how the stray cat reacted to the other woman, she couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity. He clearly did not like her, what with his sudden recoil. Cats were strange, she thought, a total mystery. Taking in strays, was that a thing people did on this island? Adora wasn’t sure, but the cat did curl around her feet, doing so on the side that was not facing the other woman. Was he showing her affection, or using Adora as a human shield? She couldn’t tell.

Either way, Adora stayed low enough to give the cat head scratches with one hand, but tilted her head back towards Threo.

“I’m kinda… new here, so there’s a lot I haven’t figured out yet.”

Adora didn’t want to admit her own fault, but it was something she couldn’t help; she had been brought here against her will, so of course there was a lot she still needed to learn about Spirale.

Threo makes a poor welcoming committee, and she doesn’t attempt to hide her laughter at the other girl’s expense. “Wow, you must be pretty new, then! There’s a really big forest to the south of the city, it’s really fun to explore! People are scared because of all the monsters, but they’re not so tough, at least for me. I’m really strong.”

Drawing herself up to her less-than-impressive height, Threo gestures somewhere over her shoulder. “You gotta take the weird car thingies to get there, but you could stay there for a while if you want. It’s fun.”

Of course, Threo’s own definition of fun is vastly different from most. They’d rather stay inside and use those cell phone things, or watch the tello... the tolla... the screen with the pictures, or things like that. No one wants to go monster hunting with Threo. Lame.

“Well, don’t worry about it!” says Threo, stepping over to the girl. She gives her a hearty pat on the back before jabbing a thumb to her chest. “Even I got used to it in the end, and I’m not very smart! So I’m sure you’ll be okay.”

Despite her bravado, Threo can’t help but crane her head around to try and catch a glimpse of the cat. It’s not an unusual thing; plenty of animals tend to run away when they see her, the same way a human might flee from a strong monster. She’s used to it.

Shrugging, she straightens up again. “Anyways, you can call me Threo. I don’t know very much about things that aren’t food or fighting, but my Captain would get mad at me if I just left you here.”

The stallkeeper here was nice enough, he’d give him something to eat whenever he came here. Sometimes something small, sometimes something bigger and it was always good so he gladly accepted it.

Today there was someone there though. Walking around with a big ax on her. Hyakunosuke has a weapon too but it’s a big one. Far too big, hard to handle for a pair of small hands. She’s not going to hurt him right….? The child freezes as he hears her calling him out…. What should he do…? He doesn’t want to die….

But he steps out, holding up the weapon that he cant keep fully even.

“ …… “

Threo’s not so good with kids. They’re usually kind of weak, so they need to be cared for and that’s not really her strong suit. When the boy steps out from behind a corner, she just sighs. When she sees that he’s holding a gun at her, everything changes in an instant.

“Hey. That kind of thing’s dangerous, you know. You can’t just go pointing weapons at people unless you’re ready to fight,” she says in a low voice.

She’s been shot at before, but it’s been a long time since a bullet’s actually hit her. They’re pretty easy to dodge, once you get used to how they work, or if that fails her axe can usually deflect them. So on the whole, she’s not worried, but she still doesn’t like being threatened like this.

Unslinging her axe from over her shoulder, Threo lets the edge arc to the ground. It cracks the pavement, but her eyes don’t move from the kid across the street and his gun.

The problem came when her favorite food stall hadn’t been opened. Threo spent a few minutes standing around, shouting for the owner, but eventually she knew she had to give up. Unfortunately, her second favorite place to eat was also closed, as was the third. Now it was her problem.

As Threo trots through the city streets, she presses her hand to her chin. “Alright, who do I have to fight in order to get it all fixed?” she murmurs to herself. “I don’t really know what’s happening, so... should I just start challenging people until I find the right one? That might take a while...”

Her plan isn’t the only thing that takes time; Threo’s train of thought moves devastatingly slowly when it comes to actual thinking, and her pondering takes her down several streets before she finally turns around.

“I know you’re there!” she shouts. “I don’t like being followed, you know!”

It isn’t the first time someone’s tried to track Threo, and she doesn’t appreciate it. Maybe she can start her investigation by destroying whoever’s trailing her.

“Come out!” she calls, gripping her axe. “Or else I’ll come to you!”

            “Wait, really? You sure it was me? Huh.”

            …That’s strange. He’s pretty sure he remembered nothing about visiting a place called Spirale before. But as easily tricked as Threo was, it would be difficult for an impostor to use his identity. The reputation of being the strongest meant they are often undefeated, and a fellow Eternal would immediately notice if anyone’s skill was found to be severely lacking.

            Come to think of it, didn’t Djeeta talk like she was here for a long time as well? Despite never being absent for that long in the Grandcypher. Maybe this world is as weird as it gets.

            One thing was for sure though. He was certainly glad to have someone like her around! “Yeah, you could say that again! Not that we don’t see each other a lot, everyone in the Eternals being on the move and all, but not being able to see you guys whenever I got is just way too lonely! Terra is nice company, but sometimes she would retreat in her shell mid-sentence.”

            Alright, so maybe he was ragging her ear a bit too much at times. But he figured she would enjoy his company!

            “Hey, I’d save some for you if I could! But yeah, it was quite a time. Some of the Grandcypher crew are also stranded around and we all had to pitch in and help. Everyone got their powers back for a bit too, so we got to help much as we could.”

            Siete eyed the cake warily, knowing that thing isn’t gonna last any longer.  

Threo snorts for a moment, looking up at Siete. “C’mon, I’m not smart, but I’m not not that smart. Or... I’m not not not smart? Whatever, it was definitely you, it even smelled like you. I don’t know how you don’t remember being here.”

It’s hard to forget his dumb swimsuit, after all. If Threo were truly not not not not smart, she might’ve questioned it further, but given the man’s propensity for heading into danger, maybe he just got knocked on his head one too many times.

“It doesn’t really matter, though,” she says, shaking her head as she takes another bite of cake. “We’re both here now, and that’s what’s important, right? You were probably really lonely ‘cuz you don’t have many friends, but now you have me! You’re welcome!”

Blunt? Perhaps, but Threo does enjoy his company. Siete was one of the first people she’d met after she’d been been found in the jungle, so she was grateful for his kindheartedness, even if he was annoying at times.

Threo’s fork drops for a second time when she hears how much fun everyone had without her. “Stop, stop! You’re not making it any better!” she shouts. “This sucks, that sounds like it was a lot of fun! Fighting is one of my favorite things to do, you know that!”

Sighing, Threo simply reaches out for the remainder of the cake and shovels it into her mouth all at once. Anything to block out the sudden sting of betrayal she’s feeling.

    ❝   Hah— ?   ❞   TRUTHFULLY  , Mordred had been watching on because she thought they were trying to pick a fight. They’d been bumping into people for a while like some kind of bucking bull — or perhaps a fledgling wyvern. Once they finally punctured the fabric, though, her curiosity was only piqued further. Where did the shirt come from and why ? Burrito challenges were right up her alley — she should be all over it ! 

    ❝   I can’t take that — I haven’t conquered Sir Mondo’s challenge,   ❞   Mordred protests, unbothered by the mild collision; they might as well have been bumping into a mountain.   ❝   Where’d you get it ?  How big are the burritos ??   ❞ 

“Oh, that makes sense,” says Threo, nodding. “If you haven’t earned it yet, people might get the wrong idea.” Every movement of her body causes the shirt to billow around her like a second cape, despite her original cape having been lost somewhere amongst the burrito-bestowed fabric.

She turns around and points towards the Burrito Shack, the site of the so-called challenge. “I got it right over there. They were all really impressed, but it wasn’t that hard. I mean, my tummy’s still growling, but they gave me a some clothes just for eating! This place is pretty cool sometimes, huh? But the burrito's just one choice...”

The only problem, if it can be called that, is that the Burrito Hut is but one place on the road that challenges patrons to consume a giant food. The mondo burrito, the monster pizza, the giganto-burger, every one of them is another tasty meal with a piece of clothing and your photo on the wall waiting at the end.

      — ❝ Yeah. Admittedly, that’s where my mind first wandered to… Though honestly, I’d like to be better prepared to even traverse that area. You never know what could happen, after all, ❞