The day had grown warm, the sun had not quite broken up the cloud cover but was heating the ruins all the same. Cyclone walked slowly, picking his steps carefully. His ankle felt a lot better though from the fall the other day, but he was reluctant to push it. The restless buck knew he should probably go rest it more, but he had already laid around all day the day before and was much too bored to spend another day in a grass nest hiding from the lurking ruins. Ever since he had visited the Grandfather he had felt a new edge to his already wild nature, a way to focus it into good.
As he wandered, he thought back to using his ability the day he stomped on that grumpy rat. Granted the stomping may have made him more grumpy. It had made him feel so ALIVE to summon mist from the very earth of Vykeli. How else could he use his gifts? The ruins were an absolute wreckage, he knew they needed to help. Mulling over thoughts, he still kept a wary ear tuned for danger. It had been a sharp learning curve that the ruins were NOT a friendly or safe place to be. Cyclone's thoughts turned to the huge prints he had seen in the damp earth yesterday. Great hoof toed claw things? What made a print like that?? The noul buck had not been back to Homewood since the discovery and resurrection of the Bone Crushers, so did not know what they were called or what he was up against.
As if summoned to life by the very thought of potential enemies, a pointed brown face with twitching whiskers and beady red eyes poked out of a crevice in a mostly crumbled ruined building. Dodger blinked at the gross light of the day, then narrowed his eyes at the gray cow he spotted. Always turning up, why was he still here??
"Hello Pony, delivering me a meal?" He said in his rough voice, then leered at the approaching noul buck.
Cyclone barely slowed, also narrowing his eyes at the rat. He was growing quite accustomed to the shady creature bedeviling his explorations in the ruins. It was clear the rat had some sort of ulterior motives, he always seemed to be spying on him? The noul just wasn't sure what Dodger's end game really was here. Oh well, guess I'm going to find out eventually, I can play the game too.
"Hi rat." Cyclone said amicably, as he actually did not mind the company and still felt a little bad about stomping the rat's tail before. But only slightly. "How's your tail doing?"
Dodger harumphed indignantly and pulled his head back into the crevice he was hiding in without another word. He was still nursing the bruises on his tail and was pretty unhappy about it. Dumb pony.
Cyclone lowered his head to peer into the crevice. "What are you doing in there anyway?" He was answered by shuffling and scraping sounds as the rat rummaged through things. It appeared to be some sort of den filled with bits and bobs and strange Other things. What a pack rat. Cyclone hated being boxed in, he loved a free life out in the open; he wanted to see the stars, feel the rain, bask in the sun. The cluttered hidey holes of the rat were the least comfortable things he could even imagine.
"Not your concern, stilt legs." The rat muttered from the dark space. He backed out, fur ruffled and dusty, and pulled a tattered rope thing. A chunk of metal clanked down over the crevice, effectively closing it off from any outsiders. He shook off the dust then peered up at the noulicorn again.Cyclone had to admit that was kind of cool... like a trap door or something? The rat seemed to come up with interesting things, he had lived around the ruins his whole life and was very much a collector of Other garbage and knowledge. They really couldn't be more different, he thought.
"Planning on ruining my foraging again I see," Dodger grumbled, pretending to be annoyed.
"Hey. I was just strolling along you popped your filthy face out here and interrupted my walk " Cyclone returned, rolling his eyes. He swished his tail and started walking away as if he would be going on alone.
"Uh huh. As if you had not seen me go in here yesterday," Dodger smacked a paw on the metal door and then waddled after the noulicorn. "You are a pain in the a** pony." He muttered.
"What even is a 'Pony'? You call me that all the time you slow witted creature. I am a noulicorn you know." Cyclone said a bit haughtily, glancing sideways at the rat coming up beside him. He heard Dodger raspily chuckle as he shook his head.
"An old creature, the Others liked them. Saw in pictures in some of these places. Big dumb cows with lots of hair on their heads and butts, like you. " Dodger grinned. He was actually very well read, he had learned very young from his scavenger mother about many OTher things, including how to puzzle their symbols into words.
Cyclone was growing a little indignant, he was no Other creature! "And what is a 'cow' then?" He asked, but thought maybe he did not want to know. The rat stopped and rummaged around in a small pouch he often wore strapped around his body when he went scavenging. Cyclone stopped too, waiting curiously at this abrupt pause. Dodger hmmed and muttered, then finally found the trinket he was searching for.
Holding up the tiny round object made of hard Other material proudly, "COW!" he said, lifting it to the noulicorn to see. Cyclone tilted his head. It was a very round creature, heavily weathered but still distinctly white and grayish black splotches... and very fat! Snorting indignantly, he caused the little trinket to fly out of Dodgers paw, and bounce on the dirt.
"HEY." The rat grumbled, grabbing up its prize. "Don't be tossing your ancestors around like that!" He wheezed with laughter as he tucked the cow figure back in his pouch safely away from the buck's stamping hoof.
"I am not related to cow, thank you!" Cyclone said, looking around at the Other ruins. They were in the midst of one of the worst areas with trash everywhere, broken and ruined buildings, and unidentifiable wreckage as far as he could see. He wondered about these Others and their cow and their pony."I am not related to any of their types of creatures." He added in disgust,"Look at this place, they made such a mess. Not MY ancestors!"
Dodger also looked around, the shrugged. "Dunno, I like it." He said casually, and he really did. The ruins had always been his home, the Others were fascinating. He liked it here, well except for the dangerous parts.
Cyclone frowned and closed his eyes. He envisioned the land as it may have been, green and lush, with no horrid metal buildings and unnatural materials that never go back to the earth. The gift of the Grandfather was stirring in him, he longed to fix the hurt that had happened here but knew he did not possess the power needed. Focusing on the budding energy in himself, he sensed the wind rise around them a little. The sky started to cloud up.
"Uh...Pony?....Cyclone?" Dodger looked up, the clouds were gathering above them strangely, not like normal weather. He flattened his ears and wrinkled his nose as a drop fell and splattered on his head. The noulicorn was not listening though he was ...doing that weird magic thing again.
Cyclone concentrated deeper and called to the winds, the land, the sky, the Grandfather. His blood thrummed as he called for a Drizzle, raindrops started splattering around him sporadically. He could feel the earth soak up the healing of this gift and he sighed, not realizing he had been holding his breath. Blinking, he looked around at the cloud cover and drops he had caused. He wished it was more, he wanted to summon a whole storm to wash the land of the Others. It only made him want to practice more and strengthen his gift.
"Damit!" Dodger hissed and waddled quickly into the brush to get out of the rain. He cursed and muttered as he sat watching the noulicorn stand in the light rain, enjoying it like some crazy wild thing. He did not really understand the powers Cyclone was discovering, though he had been told about the noulicorn and that they had abilities. So far he did have to admit they were fascinating and he wondered how far they might grow in time.
Tired, Cyclone stood and enjoyed the misty droplets as they fizzled out his anger about the Others and the ruins. Perhaps in time, he could do more good. Today he would continue his exploration with the rat though, it couldn't hurt to learn about the ruins and the rats and Others while he also learned his power.
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