Order in the junkyard

Rebecca was trying her best to keep a brave face on things as they rode the bus to the junkyard on the outskirts of town. The discussion with John in the aftermath of the battle and… the other thing… had already been awkward before she’d blurted out the fact that she’d spied on his previous gathering expeditions. Now, she was just hoping he didn’t view her as some kind of crazed stalker - after all, what had she done so far? Spied on him, accosted him on the bus and insisted he meet with her in private, and then the next time they’d met she’d practically **** him to…

Blushing and staring forcibly at a spot on the back of the seat in front of her, she shifted her weight slightly. That was something at least - she’d been able to retrieve her bag from behind a bush once they’d finished in the Barrier and duck into the public bathrooms to change so she wasn’t sitting in damp underwear. Yet another victory for over-preparing, although admittedly she’d expected to need to change due to being covered in blood from fighting the forces of evil not from… She bit her lip and risked a guilty glance at the man sitting next to her. He really wasn’t the kind of guy she’d have usually gone for, but there was something about that nerdish insecurity, and somehow he seemed more attractive than when they’d first met… That was probably just the afterglow talking, though.

John was equally lost in his own thoughts as the bus pulled up at a red light. The day had gone completely off the rails from the moment he’d run into the herbihogs, and he desperately wanted a moment to collect himself and catch his breath. But how could he do that, when the attractive woman sitting next to him had been so eager to move past what they’d done and just carry on fighting together? She’d not noticed the junior hogs he’d dispatched turning to dust, thankfully, so that was one thing less to worry about, but the entire situation still felt wildly out of hand.

At least he’d managed to piece together what had happened to her from the details on his Observe, once he’d started thinking things through clearly. It seemed Gaia’s blessing did something that boosted the horniness of whoever it was applied to, alongside any buffs that it granted. He was pretty sure it wasn’t mind control - Rebecca had seemed more than willing to just deal with the problem herself before she’d taken him up on his stumbled offer of help - but either way, he’d decided for the time being that his ability to call blessings was going to be ‘unreliable’. Which might actually be true, as he got the distinct impression that Gaia wasn’t usually in the habit of throwing power around directly like that.

Either way, no horny-inducing blessings for what was coming next. He’d explained it to his companion as him struggling with mana, as well as not wanting to overly pester the deity for more powerful blessings, which she thankfully seemed to have accepted. Despite losing his ability to power her up, Rebecca didn’t seem to have any issues dragging him to the bus stop after showing him an area within the park Barrier where magical wood could be harvested. Neither of them had any tools for cutting timber currently as she didn’t want to blunt her sword, but John had made a note of the place and figured he could purchase an axe on the way back from the junkyard. It wouldn’t take long to cut enough to complete his Quest, and if he’d already got the metal sorted, then that’d be everything bar the icon done.

Rebecca’s voice caused him to wake from his reverie. “Sorry, what was that?” he asked as the bus pulled up to their stop, the two of them rising to leave.

“I said, I think you should speak to the Warden. She’s stern, but if you’re sincere in your faith in the Lady, then she might be able to help. At the very least, we can probably assist you in making an icon of the Lady for your shrine.” The brunette shrugged as she stepped down onto the pavement. “Spreading the faith is officially part of our duties, even if it’s one we don’t usually have time for in between dealing with… rogue elements.”

John made a mental note to find out exactly what the young warrior woman considered to be rogue elements, as it felt like exactly the kind of thing that ‘worshiper of a chaos god’ might fall under, as far as labels went. Getting too involved with this Order seemed like a bad idea; however, how to politely avoid getting close especially after what he and Rebecca had done remained a problem he had yet to solve. “The Warden?” he asked, more for something to say than anything else as he glanced around in search of somewhere out of the way to enter the junkyard Barrier.

Rebecca pushed past him, walking with purpose into the junkyard and behind a pile of scrapped farm machinery. When John rounded the corner after her, she’d vanished; glancing around for a moment to make sure no-one was watching, he followed her lead and entered the Barrier. Inside, the woman was busily retrieving her equipment from her pack, bent over and frowning at an excessively tightened strap that held her sword in place. As John re-joined her, she answered his question without looking up from her work. “The Warden is the… well, she’s technically the leader of the Order, but mostly everyone listens to Lord Brighton while she’s still under his mentoring.”

Rebecca had insisted on carrying her gear herself, even when John had demonstrated storing and retrieving his own weapon - despite taking a risk by showing off his Inventory, she’d remained adamant that she look after her own things. He couldn’t blame her really - they were still relatively new acquaintances, despite everything. As she strapped her shield to her arm once more, Rebecca frowned. “I’m surprised the Lady didn’t arrange things so that you met the Warden rather than me - it’s not like Moira doesn’t go to the academy too. But, I guess the Lady moves in mysterious ways…”

John was about to reply when the sound of metal on metal echoed from the outskirts of the junkyard. Straightening, Rebecca gave her sword an experimental swing. “How many spells can you fire off? That stick won’t do much against anything that’ll get you the metal you need,” she asked, carefully lifting and stretching each leg in turn.

Checking his mana, John frowned, mentally calculating his regeneration with what was left of his breakfast buff quickly. “I was drained pretty dry dealing with the herbihogs; with the time we spent after the fight and then the bus ride… four? Maybe five, if we take long enough. That’s assuming I just stick to the bolts and don’t try and invoke a blessing. Like I said earlier, if I ask again, it probably won’t work, but if it does, I assume it’ll take more out of me than normal.” He hefted his staff, glancing at the piles of metal all around. “I can probably get a limited blessing on myself to enhance this to the point it’s usable, but that’ll be it.”

Rebecca sighed and shook her head. “Better if you just run distraction. Don’t swing so hard you break your stick, but try and get the attention of whatever we’re fighting and leave the killing blow to me. Junk trolls are pretty easy to hunt if you can ambush them. Let’s go.” Turning, she strode confidently off in the direction that the metallic sounds had been coming from.

They’d only been walking for a minute or two, picking their way carefully through the piles of scrap and debris that spilled beyond the mundane junkyard before they encountered their first foe. A sword appeared from nowhere in front of John, the flat of the blade blocking his way as his companion gave a series of hand gestures, then seeing his puzzled expression shook her head before grabbing his shoulder and pulling him back the way they’d come. Once they were crouched behind the ruins of an industrial tumble-dryer, she gestured in the direction they’d been walking and spoke in a curt whisper.

“Junk troll. Sounds like a young one, shouldn’t be too hard of a fight. You go in first, I’ll swing around and jump it from the side when it turns to follow you.” Rebecca’s voice was quiet but authoritative - but there was a hint of insecurity in her eyes as she laid out the plan. John nodded to reassure her; while she might be a novice as far as she was concerned, his companion was clearly more experienced with fighting the trolls, and if she thought this was a battle they could take, he’d follow her advice and strategy.

The guiding bolt slammed into the side of the troll a moment later, John moving while the projectile was in flight. This was the first time he’d seen one of the metallic monsters alive and in combat, and he wasn’t taking any chances as he crossed the open area between trash piles where the beast appeared to have been eating an old radiator. A good thing too, the troll whirled with a surprising amount of speed for a creature of its size and threw the remains of its meal at the spot where he’d been standing.

Tangled metal crashed into the dirt behind him as John ran, his feet skidding on the loose gravel that made up the floor of this part of the junkyard. The beast gave a roar - he’d not bothered with an Observe, relying on Rebecca’s estimation, so had no idea as to how strong it was - and began to lumber after him, long arms grabbing at the debris piled all around to send a stream of makeshift projectiles towards the fleeing cleric who was rapidly starting to wish he could get just one flight from a monster that took place on a solid surface.

Rebecca waited where she’d scrambled up the back of one of the larger piles, watching as John ducked and dodged the incoming missiles with far more agility than she’d expected him to possess. In line with their plan, he turned, half running, half sliding between what looked like the remains of a van and where part of an old boat was protruding from the base of the pile she was resting on.

The troll’s arm grabbed the boat as it turned, the beast’s weight and strength causing the pile to shift uneasily beneath her. Taking a breath, Rebecca waited a heartbeat, then sprang forward as the pile began to slide sideways, landing neatly on the back of the beast. Her sword flickered from side to side, the Order-forged edge cutting cleanly through metal and core alike before their foe stumbled and collapsed to the ground.

As the pile tumbled over behind them, Rebecca rode the monster to the floor, stood and dusted off her uniform, then frowned. “That was much easier than fighting them alone. You alright, John?” Leaning on his staff and panting from his exertion, John gave her a thumbs up - before stumbling over on the gravel, grateful that he’d not lost his balance during the brief fight. Reaching her, he glanced down at the corpse of the troll, before bending and starting to harvest metal. After all, that was the reason they’d come to the junkyard in the first place.