Chapter Text
The world’s deadliest jungle, the Bellowing Wilds, it is not a place one would ever expect to find romance and love, but you somehow did. This is the story of how you met him. How you met Jack, and how you two managed to hit it off and fall in love.
After several days of traveling from the last settlement, you began to lose hope of ever finding another slice of civilization, but you came across it. The fine little town of Bundariko. The place where you found love.
A pretty barren place, but just fine by hell-jungle standards. A store, an inn, some houses. Pretty standard fare, really. As someone with as much experience as you, this place felt all too familiar, despite never even coming across it before, only seeing it on some maps. Entering the settlement, you could see just the fading embers of the beautiful tawny sunset over the jungle canopy at the edge of town.
Weary from travel, you chose to go straight to the inn, catch a bite to eat and find a bed to sleep in for the night. Entering the inn, you noticed a few people spread out among the tables and booths, drinking and conversing. Standard tavern stuff, really. Approaching the bar, you meet the innkeeper.
“Hey there, traveler, looking for a room? I’ve got a few for rent. 1 Gold Piece per night.” said the dwarven barkeep.
“Thanks. I’ll take one for two nights.” you said, handing over a few coins to the man. “Anything interesting going on in town?”
“Not particularly. We’re a pretty dull village. Jack over there is looking for an adventurer or two to help him explore some ruins outside of town. Needs a retinue of guards to keep him safe. Little milquetoast can’t swing a sword.” replied the dwarf.
“Ah. I guess I’ll have a chat with him tomorrow if I can. I’m just looking for some food and rest tonight. By the way, got any stew?”
“Do I? Hah! Six silver for a bowl, friend. Hope it isn’t too expensive.”
“Shit. Here, it’s yours.” you said, handing over even more coinage to the man.
“Oh, I nearly forgot. I’m the Mayor here. The name’s Stout.” said the dwarf, handing you your bowl and your room key.
“Ah. I’m y/n, but that’s not overly important. I’ll be out of here in a few days I think.”
You took your bowl, sitting in a booth nestled nicely in a far corner of the bar, quietly eating before heading up to your room for the night. The night passed quite uneventfully, as most nights often did before you met Jack.
Waking up the following morning, you redressed yourself and headed downstairs to pay for another most likely overpriced meal before meeting this “Jack” fellow.
“Good morning Stout, what’s on the menu for this morning?” you asked.
“Krenshar Bacon, goose eggs, and a slice of bread.” said Stout with a smile. “Four Silver for a plate.”
“Alright. Here’s your money.”
You took a seat at the bar to wait for your food, and while waiting you felt a hand, a very sweaty hand place itself on your shoulder.
“H-Hi there. I’m Ohio Jack.” said the man, taking a seat on the stool next to you.
“Nice to meet you, Ohio.”
“Jack. Just call me Jack, okay?” said the man, his face turning a rather bright red, his voice trembling with each word that escaped his mouth.
Upon your first look, this was a very out-of-place man. In The Wilds, you met a fair number of interesting characters, but none quite so foreign. His scarlet shirt and ill-fitting ochre vest indicated a man who was still quite green to the region’s dangers, but wanted to present himself as the opposite. His pince-nez glasses spoke as if an essay were written about his studiousness, and his hat with little gold horns glued onto the band also spoke of his geekiness. Even if it weren’t for his appearance, his mannerisms were quite obviously nervous and less than comfortable.
“Heh, whatever. Stout told me you were looking for an adventurer to be your escort to some ruins nearby? What’s the pay gonna be, big man? Gold? Artifacts? I don’t exactly work on pity.”
“I-I’m gonna pay you! I need you to keep me safe from the machines the foreclaimers left inside that ruin. If they activate, then they’ll end up tearing me up and making me into mincemeat. I’m gonna pay you good. You’ll get some gold, and you can keep whatever treasure you find, after I inspect it for any archaeological value. Are we clear on that?”
“Crystal clear.”
“Great. You’ve got some good equipment already, I’d assume, right? That does make supplying you a non-issue, right?” said the man, anxious sweat running down his bushy eyebrows and his scruffy, poorly shaven stubble.
“I guess so. I’ve been at this for a while. I’ve got my sword, my armor, and some potions and general dungeon delving equipment.”
“Wonderful. So, can I really count on you to help me out?”
“Sure thing.”
“Alright.”
About that time, Stout came back from the kitchen with two plates of food, one for you and one for Jack, Jack’s plate coming with at least twice as much bacon as yours did.
“Making friends already, y/n?”
“I guess. Moreso finding gainful employment with this dork.”
“I resent that.” said Jack, taking his fork and beginning to eat his meal. “Hey Stout, you er- you forgot my milk.”
“Did I? My apologies, Jack, I’ll go pour you a glass.”
“A milk drinker? Sheesh. Didn’t think you could get more pathetic.”
A deafening silence emanated from Jack. He was no longer sweating bullets. At this point, the jungle morning heat mixed with the social anxiety had him sweating cannonballs.
“Relax, I’m just needling you, man. Don’t sweat it.”
Eating your meals together, you noticed another, rather inconsequential detail about Jack. He ate his bacon with a downright ravenous fervor, but he ate his eggs and bread with a much more tempered speed. He also seemed to gulp down his milk like it was going to curdle if he didn’t. It seemed as though he would chew and gulp, chew and gulp, chew and gulp.
“You a big meat guy?” you asked.
“Hrf- Y-yeah I like meat. It’s the best food group.” he said between loud chews and bites, “Gotta keep my strength up, climbing and exploring those ruins is a very strenuous job.”
After finishing eating, Jack took out a small vermilion handkerchief from his pants pocket and wiped away the grease, sweat and crumbs from his face and hands before getting up.
“So, you ready to take on the ruins? I’ll pay you thirty gold here and now, and then I can lead you to ‘em and I can do my research and we can make a day out of it, eh?” he said, smiling.
“I guess so.” you said. “Let me go to my room, make sure I’ve got my equipment and I’ll meet you out here.”
“Great.”
Little did you know, meeting up with Jack like this, it seemed as though it was fated to be. It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship full of wholesome cuddles, snuggles, and kisses.
After getting all of your gear sorted out in your pack, you met Jack downstairs, ready to face the world together. Well, maybe not the world, just that ruin. Facing the world would come a while later yet, when you and Jack began feeling things for each other.
Trekking through the Jungle was second nature to you, but for Jack, he was sweating even more than he usually did, and you’d often have to wait for him to catch up or you’d end up having to go back and help him.
“Ah shit, you gotta wait up for me! I don’t do too well in the jungle!” yelled Jack from some twenty feet behind you.
“I know! You’re such a damn slowpoke!”
“I can’t help it! I have to keep the map safe and dry! We’re about a mile away I think, we can’t miss it!”
“Alright, let’s get on with it then, Jack, we don’t got all day!”
After another two hours of walking in the jungles, you and Jack finally made your way to the ruins. A gigantic stone pyramid, covered in moss and foliage, a true testament to both the power, and the age of the bygone Foreclaimers.
“As far as I know, this place was a research facility primarily dedicated to their death machines and soul-based magic.”
“Ah… Death machines and soul magic, sounds like a friday night for an adventurer.”
“Aaannyways… Let’s see if we can find our way inside.”
The two of you approached the massive pyramid, going around all sides of it. Its isolated little spot in the middle of the jungle, a small layer of swampy, murky mud and water coating the ground, warmed by the open skies above. As you approached the sides, you found a small ventilation shaft, some thirty feet up the pyramid.
“Hey Jack! I found a ventilation shaft! We’ll have to crawl through here.”
“That’s great! Give me a sec to get up there and we’ll go in!
The two of you managed to fit into the small, carved out ventilation shaft. It was tight, not a lot of air, and You and Jack were so close together it wasn’t even funny. After a few minutes of traveling slowly through the vent, you came across a small room with tables, bookshelves and lab equipment covered in dust littered all across it.
Jumping down from the vent, you planted yourself down on the ground, and almost immediately, Jack jumped down, falling on top of you.
“I-I-I I’m so sorry! Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry” said Jack, hurriedly getting up and extending his hand out to help you up.
“It’s fine. Thanks for falling on me, dork.”
“I-I’m tryna’ be nice, y/n.”
Jack walked over to a desk in the corner of the room. On the desk were all manner of documents, strewn about very haphazardly, in the center was a small, gold and silver box with all manner of runic linings leading to an empty crystal-shaped indentation in the center of one side of the cube.
“interestin’. It’s a cubic form of storage powered by a crystal. I’m gonna need to find the crystal to get this thing open. It’s gotta be somewhere in this facility, right?”
“I mean, only naturally.”
“if we can make our way through the facility and find that crystal, we can open the box. I’m sure that there’s somethin’ of value in it.”
“That, or. Hear me out… A bunch of glittery stickers.”
“Don’t be daft! That’s something I’d store in a box. In any case. I think this could be an archaeological jackpot!”
“Nice pun.”
“S-shut up.”
As the two of you leave the room, you enter a large, open room, with large glass cylinders spread out across the facility, each one containing a Foreclaimer mecha-raptor. The floors across the building are occasionally marked by ancient blood stains and claw marks upon the floors and walls.
“Sheesh. What did they do here?”
“The Foreclaimers were a deeply callous race of people who used souls and the power of the sun to fuel their crystals, and they used souls to create and experiment with these death machines. It’s fascinating, but deeply terrifying. This facility was used for research on these things. Be glad we didn’t find one dedicated to vivisection.”
“These bastards practiced vivisection?”
“Yeah… Gruesome stuff.”
“Shit.”
As the two of you roamed the open area, you all came across another large door, leading into a small test room with a cracked glass window pane looking towards what appeared to be an ancient test chamber. Inside were several skeletal remains, as well as a now de-powered mecha-raptor, laying against the wall opposite the glass.
“Looks like the foreclaimers running this chamber had to shut it down due to the aggressiveness of their little pet.” said Jack, taking a small notebook out of his left ass pocket and a quill out of his right.
“Taking notes on unethical experimentation?”
“Y-Yes? I’m an “expert” on Foreclaimer stuff. I need to document these ruins, in all of their unholy ‘glory.’ I’m a scholar, not a philosopher. I need to document what I think was occuring here, do a sketch of some of the things I see, so that I can show it to Tex and show him I’m not as useless as he thinks I am.”
“Tex?”
“My employer. The proverbial bigger fish. I’m basically his foot slave half the time, always goin’ out n’ going to ruins while he sits in the lab at home all cushy.”
“Ah.”
As Jack took notes, you explored around the room, looking on the desk, you could tell that there had definitely been a hurried effort to clear the desk, perhaps trying to find something on it perhaps? It had been over a thousand years, so you had no real idea, but you could guess though. You also noticed, in the wall to the side, there was a small piece of the wall sticking out.
“Hey Jack, reckon it’s safe to try and pull on this thing hanging out of the wall?”
“Uh… What? Lemme see…”
Setting his journal down, Jack walked over to the piece of stone hanging out of the wall. Rolling up his sleeves up to his shoulders, revealing an intricate tattoo on his left arm, as well as even more body hair, he pulled down the piece hanging out of the wall, revealing an intricately lined and glowing runic plate with a bright yellow crystal in the center.
“Well I’ll be a monkey’s uncle, it’s the crystal we’re lookin’ for! I wonder if it’ll be safe to take it out… Ah to hell with it, I’ll just take it out.” said Jack, throwing caution to the wind and taking the crystal like a greedy little gremlin.
With the removal of the crystal, the runes glow faded, and the sound of the glass tubes in the main hall slowly raising radiated into the room. As you stood there, you heard the whirring of the mecha-raptor in the test chamber starting up. Turning over, you saw it, glowing eyes and core, slowly get up before lunging at the window, trying to break the glass and get in.
“W-We need to go!” screamed Jack, starting to run into the main hall.
Forced to run after him to protect him, you follow him into the main chamber, surrounded by these mecha-raptors, each one marked with cold, uncaring, glowing eyes.
“Jack, follow me!” you said, grabbing him by the sweaty hand and dragging him towards the room you began in.
As the two of you ran, you had to use your sword in one hand to try and deflect any lunges toward either of you. Feeling the heartbeat in your head and the vibrations of your blood as you ran, you felt that all familiar tension of adventure. The spice of your life, really. Jack on the other hand did not seem to be enjoying the thrill, and was most likely trying to piss his pants out of fear.
“Get me out of here!” screamed Jack, panic raising in his already anxious voice.
Making your way into the initial test chamber, you immediately rushed to climb up the wall and back into the vent. Behind you, Jack clung to your leg as you got into the vent, screaming as you crawled in.
“Don’t let me get mauled!” he screamed.
Once you got into the shaft, you heard the metal claws tapping against the stone floor enter the room, accompanied by Jack screaming even louder. With just your ankle sticking out of the vent, Jack scurried up the wall, scrambling almost like a rat, gripping your ankle for dear life. Following this, you heard a series of very rapid metal slicing noises, and a loud scream of pain from Jack. You hurried your way through the vent with Jack behind you.
“I am bleeding! Oh Gods, oh Gods, I’m gonna die. I am gonna die.”
“Quit your whining, we just need to get through the vent. Then I’ll inspect the damage and get you a healing potion. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”
“I am bleeding like a barrel of ale got punctured back here! I-I’m startin’ to feel a little woozy.”
Just before Jack passed out, you two got through the vent, and you had to carry him down to the base of the pyramid. His right leg had been severely cut. His pant leg had been torn to shreds and stained with blood, running down to his boots. You rolled up his ruined pant leg and began to inspect the wound. Five grievous wounds, cut quite deep, like razors had been dug into his flesh.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got a healing potion.” You said, taking a bottle of red liquid out of your backpack and opening it.
You poured the liquid onto Jack’s wounds and began to rub them tenderly, Jack whimpering as you did so. As the liquid oozed into the fresh wounds, the cuts began to heal and scab over, then the scabs fading into properly healed skin with minimal scarring, a faint yellow glow occurring as the wounds closed.
“There. All better. Told you you weren’t gonna die.”
“I-I. Thank you.” said Jack, looking up at you and smiling, a few tears running down his eyes and cheeks as he did.
“Oh shit! I left my stuff in there!”