Chapter Text
Rivulet climbed out of the tunnel that led from the remains of the iterator Looks To The Moon, followed by his friend and companion, Spearmaster. Spearmaster was a dark purple slugcat, quiet and unnoticeable minus the white spots along the length of their tail. That and the fact that they had no mouth.
Rivulet stood a bit shorter than them, still quite tall, a bright blue slugcat with pink gills along the side of his face. As Spearmaster was conditioned and designed to complete a quest long forgotten, so too was Rivulet made for a quest. One he had just managed to complete. As he waved Spearmaster along, the two of them took to the water, moving quickly to avoid any predators of the deep.
It didn't take long for them to find the remaining food they needed, Rivulet with only a couple of bluefruits, and Spearmaster with a jetsquid they managed to get nutrients from. From there, the two of them quickly ran to the nearest shelter, used to the short cycles they had been given, though these had been getting longer, a fact that hung over both of them as some looming threat.
Regardless, they swiftly moved into the shelter and waited for the hatch to close before Spearmaster sat down, using the tip of a spear to start scratching into the ground, though Rivulet didn’t know what of yet. Rivulet himself curled up next to Spearmaster, laying his head on the other Slugcat’s thigh. Rivulet started talking.
“So it seems now we need to go on another quest, to find out what's going on, and maybe get some resources for Moon, saying they're in a good enough condition to share. If all goes right, we should be in and out in not too many cycles. Especially if they keep getting longer.” *But where do we go?* Spearmaster asked, signing with their hands and general demeanor since they had no mouth with which to voice their question.
Thankfully, Rivulet was well versed enough in scavsign, the language Spearmaster was using, to understand what they were saying at any given time. “Moon said that if we head to the west, and rather than following the path down, if we head upwards, we'll find a mountain off in the distance. From there, we should be able to see them. And we have a pearl with all the needed information, so all we have to worry about is the travel.” Rivulet said, patting his chest, where within his crop lay a pearl that Moon had coded to express all the needed information once they reached their goal. She had also given it to Rivulet to avoid another situation with Spearmaster, like had happened with her brother Five Pebbles. Spearmaster was appreciative of that.
As the two of them finished their conversation and curled up together, wrapping tightly into the warmth of each other, they were quick to drift off, the weight of their problems drifting away and leaving them unbothered as they rested. This went on, with their peaceful sleep, until the sounds of the hatch opening had woken them up. They were both quick to wake up, having gotten into the rhythm of moving as quickly as possible to maximize how much time they had available to get to the next shelter safely. No words were really spoken, and they didn’t need to be. The duo knew what they needed to do, and acted to get it done without hesitation. However, as they climbed out of the shelter and were left to face the weather of the ocean, they both got hit by how cold it was. The wind seemed to pass straight through them, leaving them both shivering in moments. Rivulet nodded, and they quickly moved along, from island to island, until they could trace their way back to the shore that rode along the side of the ancient city located under the massive superstructure of Five Pebbles. Climbing through an access shaft, they dodged monster kelp and made their way up into the city. Thankfully, Rivulet had managed to eat some neurons when visiting the iterator above, and emanated a glow that helped light their way.
At any point when they looked up, they could see the clouds covering the sky as usual, but green flashes would shoot through, lightning from the superstructure above that would give the city slight colorations, letting them see the things that crawled in the darkness around them. They found their way out onto a bridge, dilapidated and broken down, with not much stability, though it would definitely hold them as they went across. As they crossed, they saw a glow from the other side, a lantern that was held by a wandering scavenger. It was a gray scavenger, with bright, massive yellow eyes, and fairly large antlers. It leaned back when it saw them, showing fear. Rivulet and Spearmaster both knew what to do when the two of them met and interacted with Scavengers. Rivulet got down on his belly, remaining as small and non-threatening as possible, while Spearmaster pushed hard, causing a spear-like bone to push out of one of the holes in their tail. The scavenger saw this, and felt less scared, thinking that this seemed familiar. Once Spearmaster pulled the spear out, they waved to come over, and said in scavsign *Do come, we are friends.* This seemed to calm the scavenger, as someone knowing and using the language of wide communication that scavengers made with other creatures, especially so fluently, meant that they were most likely friends. The scavenger moved closer, waving *Hello, I am Rover, do you want assistance?* Spearmaster responded with a yes, and explained their general goal, and the area they needed to get to. Rivulet didn’t speak Scavsign, but knew it well enough to understand what was being said. As the conversation went on, he slowly stood up, not wanting to be threatening, but also being tired of laying down on the uncomfortable stone.
*Yes, I can show you the quickest way through here, and my friend has some useful things that you may want to take with you, saying you can pay for it of course.*Rover said. Spearmaster nodded, and the two slugcats followed the scavenger into a nearby building with massive rooms, lit up only by Rivulet’s glow, and the somewhat brighter glow of the lantern, spreading long, tall shadows across the walls and surroundings. This had an intense effect, making them feel like they were being towered over by all the shadows looking down on them. Rover and Spearmaster were able to put off the feeling, but it seemed to follow Rivulet closely, as he was in the back of the marching line. It was too similar to his experience inside Five Pebbles, with all the high, tight tunnels, making him feel small and insignificant. He also thought about the threats that he had faced in there, and wondered if any of them had managed to climb down to the city below.
Shaking his head, he kept walking as they made their way through some pipes and rooms, scaring off the creepy crawlies with their combined light. Eventually, they found themselves on another bridge, this one reached from out of the walls, tendrils coming out to meet him and bring him in.
They crossed further through an area flooded by the rain above, creating a small lake they had to cross. Thankfully, it seemed Rover had a small raft, and Rivulet was more than willing to hop in the water and push it along, wanting to do something to push his feelings away. Reaching the other side, Rover tied a piece of vine to some rebar sticking out of the ground, clearly having used this route often. He then led them onto another bridge, this one seeming to be more stable than the last. A few more pipes, and they all ended up on a ledge, covered by a cliff wall behind it. There was another scavenger, this one with deep red fur and smaller antlers, but a decent beard. Rover walked up to them, and the two bumped horns before turning to face the slugcats. *Welcome, I am Stockpile, what would you like to trade this cycle?* The new scavenger asked. Spearmaster responded *We don’t have anything physical, but would like to trade information if you would be okay with that.* Stockpile tilted his head. *And what information would you want? Tell me, and give me the information you have to trade, and I will tell you something of fair value.*
Spearmaster nodded, turning to Rivulet, signalling for him to explain what they knew. Rivulet cleared his throat and said “We need to know of a way to get further west, and somewhat north too. Preferably we would like to avoid the farm arrays if possible, because we need to be very quick.” Stockpile nodded, thinking for a moment, then asked *And what do you have to trade for it?*
There was a pause, a hesitation, then Rivulet said “The rot that has been assailing you is going to stop showing up, at least for the most part. Because of something that is hard to express, Five Pebbles will no longer be flushing it out into the Garbage Wastes, nor will his rain be as sudden or intense. It may take a bit of time to become noticeable, but it's true. If you can find Moon and ask her, she can confirm, and can explain better than I ever could. But before that, you will notice it.”
Rover and Stockpile looked at the blue, glowing slugcat, saying and doing nothing for a solid minute. When they started moving, Rover asked *Is this true? Is the rot going to disappear?* Spearmaster added in *Maybe not completely, nothing can be said for the rot already there, but there will be no new rot being added, unless there is another source of it that we do not know about.*
Stockpile thought about this, nodded, then tapped Rover on the shoulder. The two of them discussed for a moment, then Rover said *I will show you the quickest way to where you want to go, follow me. And let's be quick, for it will be a while until the next shelter, and the rain may show up soon.*
Rivulet and Spearmaster nodded, and followed the scavenger as they moved back to the path they had taken before. From here, they ran quickly to a nearby karma gate, a large mechanical thing that worked in the same way as the shelters they all used. However, this was designed to separate areas and people, and sensed something about a person, either allowing or denying them passage. When it allowed passage, such as now, a gate shut behind them, locking them into a small room, within which water would pour from above onto some red hot metal below, heating it up and creating steam. Spearmaster always loved this, though Rivulet could do without it. He felt the water was too cold, against the hot steam in the air. Once it was done cycling water for some purpose they did not understand, the gate in front of them would open, allowing them access forward. Through this mechanism, they found themselves in the Garbage Wastes, a massive field of debris that was full of threats both big and small. The three traveled for a while longer, until they found another two scavengers who Rover signed to. After some communication, the two slugcats were traded off to the two new scavengers, Pathfinder and Aplomb, who led the two slugcats as safely as they could through the rough terrain.
At one point as they went, they found themselves on one side of a pit, with walls on each side, and a massive red centipede at the bottom, just kind of lounging about. Unfortunately, there were walls they couldn’t scale on either side, so they had to backtrack to find another way. Eventually they found themselves at a scavenger toll gate, a wide, flat area of land that the scavengers had taken over. These could be identified most notably by the giant skull found on a pike that mimicked their own faces. This skull was decorated with pearls hung from strings going down from its giant, majestic horns. Rivulet and Spearmaster were tense as they were led through. Normally, it’s suicide to try passing through a toll without giving something to trade, as the scavengers who watch the toll would try to get revenge for ignoring them, but with their guides, the two slugcats were allowed passage through this time for free. They knew that it was a one time offer though, and if they wanted to stay on good terms with the scavengers, they would have to make sure to pay going forward.
They were taken further down the path, now heading more north. Aplomb explained that the two were going to have to go down a more dangerous, less used path if they wanted to get to the northwest quickly. Spearmaster nodded, and Rivulet stretched a bit, ready for a good run. Looking off in the distance, Rivulet swore he could see the tip of the mountain that they needed to go to.
They had a long journey ahead of them.