Into the Wild Green Yonder

The crisp morning air carried the sort of natural smell that John had a hard time putting into words. But while he couldn’t describe it in any appreciable way, he could safely say he preferred it to the scents of urban life. There was no scent of car exhaust to burn his nose and no garbage waiting to be picked up to spoil the air. The fresh air left him feeling energized in a way he hadn’t felt since he was a kid.

Soft footsteps approached John and he turned to see a smiling Verida, her tail swishing behind her. She opted to clothe herself like she was going hiking: a pair of denim jeans, a flannel shirt and hiking boots. He wasn’t entirely sure where she got the idea for it or would have seen those clothes to replicate.

“Good morning!” she cheerfully said.

“Morning,” John echoed. “Everyone else should be coming through soon.”

“Any reason you’re here before them?” the goddess asked curiously.

“Felt like it was the right thing to do,” John answered. “Figured that if I’m going to be a leader, I should be the first here. Plus, there are a lot of people at home and all of us running around getting ready was a bit much.”

Verida nodded, but a pensive look crossed her face.

“I wasn’t aware you were made the leader,” Verida said. “I assumed Vivian was since you’re operating under the name she set up.”

John awkwardly scratched the nape of his neck. “I mean, in terms of the business stuff, yeah, Vivian’s in charge. I don’t know anything about that. But, going out into the field? Only Aeolia has more experience than me, and she’s more interested in the fighting part than the leading part. But, like a lot of things, we haven’t really talked about division of labor and duties and stuff like that.”

“You really enjoy just going with the flow, don’t you?” Verida remarked, her smile returning.

“Never really was the most organised person,” John admitted. “Or driven to achieve anything. Getting thrown into the deep end didn’t give me the option to just drag my feet.”

Verida looked at John with an intense stare.

“You could have just walked away, correct?” the goddess asked.

“I wasn’t just going to let Aeolia go off alone into what could have been another attack,” John protested Verida’s assertion, growing a bit heated.

Verida's smile grew brighter. “Then I think you give yourself too little credit. I can imagine a lot of people in your position trying to hide and avoid getting picked up once more by the predation of the Abyss. Instead, you found the courage to walk this path when it was the most obscured and fraught with potential ****. That tells me you have a core of incredible integrity, even if it was buried and needed something horrible to uncover.”

John’s anger dissipated quickly as Verida’s words washed over him and he felt a blush begin to work its way across his face.

“You know, you’re not the first person to suggest that me stepping up was out of the ordinary,” John said, rubbing his arm awkwardly. “Not sure if I like the idea that I’m some untested destined hero. Feels like it’s way too big a thing for someone like me.”

Verida’s smile became softer, warmer and she said, “I don’t want to imply you are, but not many have Gaia’s power intertwined with their’s. Perhaps you weren’t set to walk any particular path, but I think you were given the choice to do so. Aren’t the main characters in video games meant to be the ones that impact their setting the most? Perhaps your powers taking on their flavor isn’t just because of your preference for them but because they give you the chance to really change the world.”

“Not helping that feeling of having some great destiny on my shoulders.” John dryly chuckled. “But I see where you’re going. And it really makes our winging things worse.”

“I don’t see why you can’t iron things out while you work on gaining allies,” the goddess suggested. “Seems the best place for it.”

“Best place for what?” Vivian asked as she stepped through the waypoint, adjusting the hiking backpack she had purchased the night before. Even with John’s assertion that they could take things like food and water in his inventory, the redhead had insisted they carry at least one pack with extra.

“Actually sitting down and figuring out who does what business wise,” John answered, glad to be moving away from talk of destiny. “We really haven’t decided who’s leading things and what not. Like, I know you’ve got all the actual business stuff on lock, but when we’re out in the field like today, who’s calling the shot?”

“I suppose we have been playing that by ear, haven’t we?” Vivian muttered. “And most of the time, we’ve been following yours and Aeolia’s suggestions when in combat. So it would be one of you two.”

“Heard my name. What’s up?” Aeolia asked as she flew over, casually landing on Vivian’s shoulder.

“We’re trying to figure out who should be calling the shots when we’re out in the field,” the redhead quickly explained. “Like in an official capacity.”

“Ah, like a rank thing?” Aeolia asked. When Vivian and John nodded, she continued, “John can have it. I’m good at attacking things, but not so hot with the tactic stuff. Plus, you’ve got Observe. Ultimate cheat code right there.”

“Can’t argue with that,” John admitted. “I’ll try not to steer us into a **** trap.”

“You haven’t led us off a cliff yet, so I think we’ll be fine,” Aeolia joked. “Today ain’t different from running a barrier and we’ve done enough of them to know how to do things. We won’t let you down, sir.”

Aeolia saluted, drawing laughter from John and Vivian.

“Don’t think you need to go that far,” John said. “We’re not that formal.”

“Plus, I think there are rules about sleeping with your superiors,” Vivian remarked.

“Fuck those rules,” Aeolia said with a laugh. “We make the rules now.”

“And power has gone to her head,” Senka commented as she and Anita appeared, her vessel held in one hand. “What rules are we making up?”

“Mostly how we’re going to divvy up responsibility in both the business and on the field,” Vivian explained. “Aeolia and I think John should make decisions in the field, for example.”

“Well, I have no problem with that,” Senka said.

“Me neither!” Anita excitedly added, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

“Why are we so loud in the morning?” Beth complained as she trudged onto the scene, followed by Kiera.

“Because someone needs to wake you up,” Aeolia jibed. “Might as well be a group effort.”

Beth stuck her tongue out at her then yawned. “Too out of it to argue.”

“Did you have any of Brenda’s coffee?” Anita asked as she bounded over to Beth. “It was super tasty and it woke me right up!”

“Had some. Not everyone is perked up the same way,” Beth grumbled.

“Oh,” Anita softly exclaimed. “Do you want me to try to make some perky spores? I think I can manage that.”

“I-I don’t think it’s the right time f-for experimentation,” Kiera spoke up.

“Yeah, let’s save that for later,” John cut in. “It’ll be great if you can do that, but it would be better to see if you can in a safer setting. Just in case there are side effects.”

The idea that her powers could cause them harm even when she was aiming for a beneficial effect caused Anita’s expression to twist into one of horror. “That could happen?”

“We don’t know,” Vivian answered, gently placing a hand on the gnoshroom’s shoulder. “Medicines, even magical ones, can have side effects. A stimulant like what you were suggesting could cause a steep drop of energy once it wears off. Which would be a bad thing to find out in the wild.”

Anita’s eyes widened as she looked down at her hands.

“I didn’t know there was so much that could happen,” she said in a whispered tone.

“Your magic is pretty new,” Vivian said. “And we were more focused on other things yesterday to see what your change brought about, beyond the ability to talk and look humanoid.”

“If we’re not too burned out after exploring, we can do some experimenting later,” John offered. “Observing the spores you can make without applying them first should display any side effects or drawbacks.”

Anita nodded her head. “Okay. So what should I do if we get attacked?”

“Um, well, if it comes down to it, throw out whatever spores you can to protect yourself,” John answered, not expecting Anita to jump right to the worst case scenario. “I think we’ll have enough firepower to deal with anything we find out there.”

He looked over to Verida. “There isn’t anything out there that we don’t know about, right?”

“Every animal here is one related to the ones that drank the sap of the world tree before my manifestation,” Verida said. “I can say that some have grown in ability beyond what those seeds possessed, but none to my perception have become too much for us to scare off or best if needed.”

“So as long as we travel with vigilance, we should be fine,” Senka surmised.

The goddess nodded.

“Sounds like I didn't need to bring as much as I did then,” Estelle’s voice sang out as she walked over to them from the entry point. John wasn't sure if a simple t-shirt, cargo shorts and hiking boots went with her usual purple witch hat, but he wasn't going to say anything about it, not when the backpack she wore was far more intriguing.

“Better to be safe than sorry,” Vivian sagely remarked. “I’m going to assume some of what you’ve brought are weapons of some kind.”

“Well, one or two would be considered weapons,” the witch said. “I wasn’t sure just how you’d take us blasting any critters that might attack us, Verida, so I figured grabbing the more defensive tools would be better.”

“I wouldn't hold it against any of you if killing had to be done,” the goddess stated in a serious tone. “If something attacks, you have every right to kill it before it kills you. Though, I would like to keep such deaths as minimal as possible. Even though magic, both mine and Gaia’s, have ensured a stable population of everything, I’d like for nature to take its course as best it can for a few generations.”

“Then I’m glad I packed a lot of my insta-wall compound,” Estelle smugly said as she hefted her bag off her shoulders and placed it on the ground. She unzipped one of the outside pouches and dipped her arm in, far deeper than the outside would suggest, then pulled out a round flask filled with a thick, grey solution. One John didn’t hesitate to throw an Observe at.

Insta-Wall Solution
Uncommon
Estelle Morgan’s variation on a long established recipe for quick drying alchemical cement. Said modifications allow her limited control of the substance before it hardens, allowing her to shape it to her needs. Sadly, it only works for her.

“Pretty cool, right?” the witch asked with an excited grin. “Still not sure how I could make it work for other people, beyond just telling them my brewing secret, but that’s coven talk so that’s a no go.”

“Still, it makes for a good means to block any attacking animal, or trap it,” Vivian said. “I assume you have a dissolving agent?”

Estelle’s beaming smile dimmed slightly. “Um, yeah, but it’s not quite at the same level. It takes some time to work through.”

“That might be a good thing if we come across an angry bear or something,” Beth remarked. “But no one mention this to Lynn. She will not care that it’s some witch secret.”

“Lynn?” Estelle asked, cocking her head to one side. Anita mirrored the witch's confused expression, down to the tilt of her head.

“My sister,” Beth explained in a pained voice, “and an alchemist. The only time I’ve seen her not act ‘professionally’ is when she got the chance to bother some more experienced dude. She was really trying to get him to spill some secret techniques.”

“That sounds a lot more like the version of your sister that threw acid at me when we met,” John said.

“Why was Beth’s sister throwing acid at you?” Anita asked.

“Long story. She was pretty stressed out and running on like no sleep and super coffee,” Beth answered. “We’re all good now. Actually, I’m a bit surprised she hasn’t really called to check in on me.”

“Sounds like she’s coming around to trusting you,” Vivian said.

“Or she thinks we’ll keep you out of trouble,” Aeolia remarked with a grin.

“Did you forget we ended up scattered in a slime infested sewer not long after we met?” Vivian asked. “I think us being a tempering factor went out the door around then.”

“Going out into the wild to look for a good place to mine isn’t exactly what Lynn would have wanted me to do either,” Beth grinned, “but I’m going to do it anyway. We’re all set to go, right?”

“Can’t think of anything we’re missing,” John said. “Teri shot us a message that the elders had something for her to do today, so she’s not coming.”

A sense of disappointment settled on everyone over their absent companion. It felt a bit wrong to go exploring what was essentially Teri’s home without her, but she assured them that it was better than pissing off Vrexty and increasing tension needlessly.

Shaking off the bad vibes, John continued, “So, are we ready to head out?”