Archive of Our Own ^beta

The street was filled with small lantern outside the houses, dimming light in a city that was always ready for the Sun to rise up again in the morning.

The usual guards that keep checked Olin's house, the traitor for those in Meridian that has conspired with Eclipse to overthrown the Sun King, was temporary absent due to an important meeting with a marvellous woman.

Of course, that meeting was a set - up.

Nothing that Hannibal couldn't handle, yet it took a while to convince that stubborn guard to leave his place with the "no one would be there anyway", softly whispered in that guard's ear by one of Hannibal's ally.

That night the road was clear for him, no one would've noticed anyway since at night there is usually no one in the upper level of the city. Only servants, guards and men on their way for a beer at the local tavern.

The World might've been on the verge of the falling, but nothing could keep a man away from his beer stein; especially if those men were part of the Oseram vanguard of the city.

The door of Olin's house was open for him and finally, Hannibal could take a look of the intern. Of course, he was aware of the investigations lead by the mysterious Nora girl and the captain of the vanguard, but for the look of the inside seems like nothing was taken anyway. Hannibal almost chuckled at the thought of this guard, certainly intelligent, but not smart enough to recognise something very valuable when is in front of them.

Hannibal was counting on it, on the stupidity of the Carja guards.

The light was still working Luckily for him, made it more easy to see the huge hole in the floor that lead to a secret basement. Hannibal knew that should be a first place to look but choose to go upstairs, reaching for the family bedroom in search for a hiding place secretly placed.

Olin wasn't a strong willed man.

He and Hannibal had done some research together, working in the ancient world to know more about the machines and what had caused the mysterious change on them. He overheard some Nora travelling calling this particular event with "derangement", a quite appropriate name for what it represents. One step at a time and not in a hurry he reaches the bedroom, there was light and of course some elegant and rich furniture made with the most famous carpenter in the city.

Upstairs he found the room, clean and tidy despite the chaos and the search for some piece of clues could start.

Hannibal was aware that Olin, despite not being a strong man, he's more than able to hide his secrets very well. The locked door downstairs, now completely broken, was more than a proof of that.

Arms linked behind his back, Hannibal looks at the room, at the light of the candle holder at the ceiling while pondering on the spare time he has and where he could find some clues for his research.

His eyes got fascinated on the portrait of Olin's family, a fine piece of art on a red tapestry painted for a special occasion with oil from the machine.

Hannibal could recognise their faces since he knows them, formally at least, he took some steps towards to look at it more carefully.

The guards and the vanguard already set this place up, looking everywhere in the basement, but what if ...?

Hannibal thoughts wandering while he looks at the tapestry.

"Couldn't it be so simple?"

He mutters to himself alone reach out his hand to touch the painting, moving it only for a moment.

Then nothing.

There was nothing behind it.

No strange things in the wall, nothing behind the tapestry. Nothing.

Hannibal sighs both from disappointment and relief, he didn't like when things are too simple and from Olin, in the end, he expects something more wrote down on a complicated glyph code.

That was the only thing that could save Olin in his eyes, aside for being a traitor and all this stuff that means nothing in the end.

Hannibal saw himself as a researcher of the truth, a man who studied all the history book in hope to find some answers to his questions.

He looks at his left, at the fireplace made with brick, certainly, he leaves it there to make the room more comfortable, yes, but why putting it aside a small sofa and under a tapestry with a family portrait.

He bent down with his knees, eyes looking at all the things and thanking the Sun that the fire was already turned off. Re-enact a dead fire would've taken a lot of time, time that Hannibal doesn't have in his hands right now. He calculated a more or less than fifteen minutes, before the return of the guard.

Amber eyes are roaming to the wall made of stones, looking for any sign of ... well, whatever, that could lead to a secret diary, or even better.

Hannibal extended his hand reaching for the chimney, fingertips tracing the edge while he feels something on the tip of them. It was like a smoothed button, something that will work only with pressure.

He didn't hesitate, no reasons for doing it at this point; he reached too high to turn back.

A small "click" and the sound of something open resound in the close environment of the fireplace. Fingers start to roam in the same place, sure that there could be something there and ... he found it.

It was hiding in a leather cloth inside a small space, protected and secure by curious eyes. Hannibal couldn't contain the smug smile that stretches his lips, while his eyes finally saw the present he was looking for.

The Nora girl, while inspecting the place, found the proof of Olin's betrayal and nothing more. A small piece of the diary, but that ... that was something else entirely. They were notes of the Ancient World, every piece of information he found and maybe something about the device the Eclipse gave him. The Focus.

Hannibal was very interested in that, now more than ever, with the current state of the World the passing years would have a good use of that kind of thing. Ancient device with a great access to the knowledge of the past.

That is what is has hoping, eyes glimmering with hope and anticipation. Hannibal hides the diary inside a pocket in his trousers, then he left Olin's home right before the guard came back.

At home, Hannibal would've contacted his "friends" who helped him get the guard busy, first, and as for the last thing, he would definitely start to search for one of this Focus in the ancient ruins.

The Eclipse, the corruption, the Shadow Carja and the derangement. All of this is pointing in one direction, a war was inevitable and the wind already rising from the ground smell of blood and oil.

Meridian was so quiet that night, he could see the sky clearly and the moon itself illuminates all the sky.

Sometimes he wonders how they have their legends and cult, how they were aware of certain stuff about the Metal World when the Ancient were all dead. Based on his study, there something clearly off and with that book, he will discover everything he needs in order to understand that World of ours much better.

He was curious about what was going to happen, and Hannibal wouldn't miss something that lit his curiosity.

It took a while for Will to be able to steal a boat from the Shadow Carja post, Blazon Arch, the guards were pretty strict but at a certain point, they just got distracted by the sound of explosion because a drunken man just decided it will be fun to attack the nearby machine.

Will had just rolled his eyes at that, "when someone is stupid,  there is no cure".

The lake was calm and the journey quiet, he almost forgot how pleasant it was to travel on such brilliant surface. Brin never took him too much away from his home, but when Will had the time he does explore the area and learn all by himself. 

He didn't regret it though, it was far more important than anything else and with that Will learn the most important lesson of all: you can rely on no one, in the wild you are completely alone and if you are not ready human or machines will come and kill you.

There is no safe territory in the World anymore.

The war between the Carja has created some pressure in areas like Blazon Arch and Brightmarket, the city at the border with the lake and main gate to the Forbidden Land.

Will was cautious during his travel on the lake, keeping his body down and his bow ready to fight. He heard some machines cries nearby clearly that was a Snapmaw's area, Will wasn't equipped to fight that monster with that huge jaws that could destroy a Sawtooth as nothing, without mentioning his freezing power.

No, he keeps repeating in his head, it was better to avoid a direct fight with them if he values his life as a precious thing, and it was.

The city of Blazon Arch was so different from Meridian, few people and small sound but there are life and colour everywhere his eyes look. He knows he stands out, his blue clothes and the machine cables that emits blue light right under the skin. The fabric and the plaques leave the arms free, definitely not a warm Banuk cloth but Will never saw the frozen heights of the mountains after Brin take him away from Ban-Ur. Will notice some people, probably Carja traveller and other outlanders that cross the city to buy things without worrying too much about the tithe to the Court of Meridian. Most of them, probably selling at the Black Market and having an exchange with their "enemy", the Shadow Carja, but Will didn't care at that moment. Brin was his priority, or at least found some information and see if he had passed through this place.

He said about his idea about going into the forbidden West, but he couldn't be so sure. Brin has the tendency to change his mind, without focusing too much on small details - probably the poison inside the "blood" Brin drinks had got into his mind more deeply than himself can admit. Will was worried, in his mind was still vivid the day he drank blood, as usual, just to almost die in his own bed pale and trembling, sweat drops all over his faces and body. Will remember the terror, but it was somehow accepting the moment and mentally prepare to end the suffering of the man who raises him. That thought was well kept in his mind like the secret of life itself making Will wondering about a good perception of life. Will shake his head, moving the curly head a little bit and decide to try asking some rug merchant first. He spotted a wood shelter deposit, or store with some weapons exposed for the clients, there was a man with a more complicated texture on his body and a thick moustache. 

Oseram. Didn't even think too much about it, there was a certain thing with that people and Will enjoy their company. They were honest, direct and appreciate hard work. When still was a child, first reaching the city he manages to become friends with one of them. It was a child like him, came to visit some parents before going back to the Claim, but still, Will, remember her name. Beverly.

She was strong willed, determined and with beautiful black hair and a smug smile usually covered in dirt.

"I have the most fantastic set of bows and arrows, even a trap launcher, come on guys!" said the man outside his shop, inviting new clients and trying to tempt the people that were entering the city right now. Will was reaching for the Oseram merchant, ready to buy his information with some machine parts stuck inside his bag. "Only for today a discount for the special arrows! You, young traveller ... !"

The man finally got Will’s attention by looking directly in his blue eyes, clear as only a sky could be.

“Are you interested in something? You seem a fine warrior, I can make you a special price for these blasting arrows. No machine would be able to resist such powers!” he said with proud confidence, eyes glimmering with expectation and anticipation.

“I’m not interested in new weapons, however, I would like to buy from you some pieces of information”.

The man looked confused, or so Will has thought, but I was for a few second before he spots something inside Will’s bag.

It was a machine “heart”, more exactly, a thunderjaws heart that he got from that huge machine in one of his last hunting in the wild. It was hard for Will, it took all the patience needed to set traps that will be caught the giant and ferocious beast.  He almost got killed, but he didn’t care too much.

He was a Banuk after all, challenges are what they’re looking for every day. That was the common thinking, so Will adequate to it.

Will noticed the merchant looking for the rare piece inside is a glittering bag full of metal parts, so he decided to play accordingly and satisfy the greed of the man in front of him.

“I’m looking for a man, a Banuk, like me, he’s dressed like a shaman and probably are freaking people out with some apocalyptic words.”

Finish his explanation he brought out some lens, another more common machine part, gathered from striders and watchers. Will had no intentions on giving up his most precious part, which he would use to get a safe passage to other lands.

“I’m not asking for free, of course, I will pay you”.

“Oh yes, of course! Well, now that I think about it … I saw a strange man around the area not so long ago”.

The merchant said, two fingers rubbing his raw beard trying to recollect something he lost his head. Will was impatient, not up to tolerate a merchant like him to play games with him. 

“Where is he now?” Will ask, clenching his fist before punching the man in the face. He was so annoying. 

“I don’t know exactly, he was very strange and said something about a Mesa not so far from it. You will see it with no problem, is right outside BrightMarket if you keep the left, however … “

“The area is full of machines, dangerous type, am I correct?” Will said, interrupting the merchant. Will already saw where this thing was going, obviously, Brin would’ve been attracted to this kind of places. Before leaving he was blabbing about stop using the blood of machines.

He said he saw too much, too many stories of the past and he couldn’t accept more of the future this mysterious entity has ready for them. Yet, Will knows that you can’t stop this kind of routine so easily as it seems. 

The merchant nodded, his fake smile on his lips while trying to convince the Banuk warrior in front of him.

“Yes, precisely, more exactly stalkers.”

Will let out a small laugh because of course, it has to be the most problematic machine of their times. He doesn’t particularly like them.

A machine that uses a mysterious invisible power to attack people who cross their land full of signal mines. Brin had shown him how to avoid them, of course, but you can’t be too cautious with them and Will breathe a sigh of relief when he realises he had a far more powerful arrow in his bag. It should be enough to keep them at bay, in order to reach for Brin.

"Are you sure is at this Mesa?"

The man, smiling fakely, keep nodding and left Will with no other choice but to pay the merchant so that he may proceed on the road. He gives the Oseram merchant all the lens he gathered from striders and watchers for a total of five, then he was going to his road outside Brightmarket.

He was no fool.

The man looked very suspicious and Will be preparing himself, clearly was a trap but he wouldn't forgive himself for not have tried it when he had the chance to.

The closest forest nearby the market was pretty much emptied at that point of the day, the only people that pass by was some traveller and hunter of the machines looking for pieces to sell at the black market.

Will didn't know that area too well, in fact, he was never in that part of the World. 

The forest was looming on him, like a giant with long arms stretched towards the sky and covered it. There were few sounds, small sounds of animals that roaming the forest in search of food and nothing more.

Will doesn't particularly like stalkers, a machine that can become invisible so while you can' see them they saw you, perfectly, and they are tricky to hunt down.

He was moving with quiet caution, looking carefully around him and then Will remember one of the Brin's lesson about the wild. 

"Never look with your eyes, they can trick you at the worst of the moment. Look with your mind, listen to the sounds around you and breathe deeply. Listen the crying of the machines we hunt, but never ... NEVER ... Look with your eyes open".

Will close his eyes then, clearing his view for a second and then moving on his left to hide on a bush of tall grass nearby. It was high enough to hide him, shield him right on time because he heard it; the metallic sound of a machine.

It was small, like something dropping the ground with a heavy consistency and a "click" sound.

A reaction bomb.

It was not far away from Will, emitting a red light and ready to send a signal right when someone passes by.

It was a trap set by the stalkers, clearly hiding from sight nearby, but he must avoid it or the travel will be much shorter than he intended.

An arrow would've been enough to destroy the signal trap, but at the same time, Will wasn't very happy about the idea of wasting one of them. So he looks around him, hands on the ground searching for a stone that he could throw out. Didn't take too much to find it, and with one smooth movement hit the target.

Right that a terrible screeching sound starts, a red light ignite the area and an arrow of light pierce the sky. Will cover his ears, hiding in the tall grass and prepare his bow while looking around with small movement to avoid the beast.

Then, he heard it.

Small steps, metallic and smooth sound and if he looks closely something was wrong in the area where the signal was placed. It was all blurry and inside it, a slender figure was more recognisable in the shade of the sun while the surface catches the ray of the sun.

It was not like facing a thunderjaw, huge and dangerous, but Will wasn't ready to underestimate that enemy in front of him. For a moment, the stalker became visible and Will be finally able to saw his body.

Slender as he thought different from another machine, the body looked more organic than the rest and he can finally saw all the deadly weapons he carried. They have a set of three visual sensors on each side of their head, arranged in a triangular configuration for a better view of the area. Each of a Stalker's four feet is equipped with three claws. Atop its back, at the base of its long, slender neck and between its shoulders, is what it look like a dangerous weapon. 

Will thought he should hit that first with a piercing arrow, without that it would be more easy to take them down.

A creek, a small branch got broken and a drop of sweat start to going down his back.

He remembers then. A stalker never ever hunts alone. They are always ... two of them.

Holding his breath he turns to his right, in the direction he heard the sound and the last thing Will had seen was the red light of the eyes before the beast attack him on the shoulder with a single shot.

He was fast, rolling on the ground and avoid the hit while the hands gripping at his bow.

A trap.

That explains why there was no more signal trap around him. They spotted Will's presence before, and the signal, indeed, was a very good plan to ambush any intruder of their land. The man was right after all, but Will was also right about the man. This is a trap. If they kill him, then the only thing the merchant must do is to reach out to his dead body and take what he wants and desire.

However, Will didn't have time to think about such things at the moment.

The moment he stood up, one of the stalkers, the closer one, made a jump showing off a pair of claws. Will put a hand on his back, reaching for his spear that he placed between himself and the machine. He was lucky, one second later and he would've been dead meat.

A spear was made part of the most strong tree and machine for the pointy end, Will, however, had decided to put a special extra on it. Lighting power, from one of his prey, and now he can test it. 

With a strong and smooth movement, before the beast could react, Will made a roll with the spear and throw the stalker away from him for a second before he went on his camouflage mode.  Smiling proudly, he looks at the beast unable to activate his shield because, in the movement, he hit with the spear and now is on short circuit.

"Sorry, can't let you pull a trick on me again," Will said, talking to the machines that seem, somehow, understanding. He was ready to strike when something fast hit his leg, near the knees make him bend on the ground with a low growl. A red stain starts to form around the scratches while another shot coming, from a different angle again barely giving time to avoid it.

Will harden the grip on his spear.

It was now or never, with a smooth movement he throws the spear to hit the first stalker he damaged while the second one was still hiding in the shadow. 

A crackling and metallic sound was all Will hears before the blue light of the machine goes out.

He didn't forget about the other one though, this is why, after threw out his spear, he quickly prepare the bow while a drop of sweat running down his temple. Will knows he didn't have the time to prepare the arrows as much as he would, and the lingering pain in his legs was still there.  Clenching his teeth bearing with the tearing pain he turns back, stretching the rope of the arrows right under his chin. One breath in, on out.

He released the grip and let the arrow follow a path but the machine was faster and avoid it, smoothly and elegant while a low sound emerged from it. Will quickly draw another arrow, but before he places it on the bow a spear emerged from the woods and smashed the stalker's body on the ground with terrible and loud noise that would clearly draw some glinthawks to feast the dead body.

Will didn't release the grip on his bow, ready to fight a bandit with every force left within him.

From a secure place, at the end of the road, a man appeared wearing a leather Carja outfit with red and gold all over the place. His bow and arrows on his back, hair almost silver like arranged in a manly bun. Ready to strike, Will prepare his arrows while the mysterious saviour looks at him with an annoyed look.

"Is this how you repay your saviour?" the man questioning him, ignoring the arrow pointing straight at his head. Will didn't flinch, nor react to the clearly verbal provocation. "I heard Banuk were savages, but I thought you would be smarter than that."

The irritation grew inside Will while the man finally reaches for his spear, one foot on top of the dead machine and he took it out before looking at him one more time. He still looks annoyed by the situation, yet Will could sense something behind it. It was in his dark eyes.

Possibility.

"Who the hell are you?" was all Will could ask, still feeling the pain of the stalkers shot on his legs and the heaviness of his own bow while stretching it.

"Who?" the man looking at him, still pondering while approaching with a slow pace. "Who is but the form following the function of what and what I am is a man intrigued by a possibility".

Will sneering at him, not believing a single word he said while showing him the teeth and his temperament. "I don't ... believe you", he said with a low mocking tone. "You were just curious to see how would I react in a stressful situation".

The man stopped, taken aback by Will's word. 

They were true, in fact, he was following him since he left Brightmarket after overhearing the conversations with Fernund the sly merchant that was about to set up to steal all the parts the Banuk had gathered. 

Will slowly lay down his bow. If the man wished his death, then he would've already act but a hunch inside made him think there is something underneath. Will was curious as well now, while he let his blue eyes looking at the traits of the mysterious carja. From the longs at the cheekbones that looks so sharp.

"I suppose an apology would be more appropriate now", the man said, bowing a bit his head while Will let out a relieved sigh.