Chapter Text
A single person walked through the forest. Their face was obscured by the dull metal helmet they wore. It was dented and scratched, but still served its purpose well. Apart from the helmet, they dressed in simple traveler's garb and a long, ragged coat that, like the helmet, was worn but still serviceable.
The full moon's light could not reach through the thick canopy of trees, but still they walked on with certainty, picking themself over the roots and fallen branches, a goal clear in their steps.
They saw a glimmer in the corner of their vision and turned to look. A cluster of orange lights flitted through the trees, like a cluster of fireflies, they flitted around each other, gradually floating closer to where the person stood. Tiny motes of flame, burning bright orange in the night.
They held their hand out, and the fire danced around their fingers, then coalesced to sit in the palm of their hand. It brought warmth without burning, and a faint tingle.
"Been awhile, Z."
There was a flash and a pop, and a humanoid form now floated before them. Outlined in glowing orange, the top of its head aflame, its face showed only a skull, one presently stretched into a gleeful expression as the figure spread its arms out.
"Rust!" Zero lunged forward to catch them in a hug, then bounced back. Its feet ghosted over the ground, never quite touching it. "Heya! New body?"
"Not too new." Rust held one arm out, flexing it. "How've you been?"
"Fiiiine!" Zero locked his arms behind his back, floating along as Rust continued walking. "Been pretty boring lately. What've you been up to?" Rust chuckled.
"You hear about what happened in the Goldlands?"
"Uhhh kinda?" Zero rubbed one finger against his head, eyes narrowed in thought. "I DO remember the sky being red for days, coming from that area. I overheard some travelers saying something about…a big thing with a lotta people." He shrugged. "Some important guy died?"
"Something like that."
"Neat!"
Rust just hummed in response, then moved some foliage aside to peer through.
"Think we're getting close."
Zero nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, I can feel them."
A few meters more, and they could see a soft blue glow up ahead. Silently, Zero laced his fingers with Rust's, and the other shot him a smile before they continued on.
Soon, they could see the tree. A gnarled, old oak with a thick trunk, and many scars now healed over. Through the cracks, blue light seeped through, as though something was hidden within.
There was a corpse slumped over against the tree. Zero glided over, then peered down at it. It was dressed in rough garb, frayed at the edges, with a hood pulled over the entirety of its face. Instead of a right arm, there was only a decayed wound at the shoulder.
Zero raised one finger, then gave the corpse a single prod on the head. The corpse started, then looked up. Zero beamed and waved.
The corpse hurriedly got to its feet. It dusted itself off a bit, then turned back to Zero and opened its single arm out. Zero cheerfully leapt in to give it a hug, despite the way broken flesh shifted and old bones clicked. Rust meanwhile sidled over to the tree and knocked twice against the bark.
"Anyone home?"
The leaves above rustled. Then, a slim figure stepped out from the trunk as easily as one would walk through an open door. Blue and transparent, he fixed Rust with a stern look.
"Now, you know that wasn't necessary."
"Well, you weren't coming out." Rust twisted halfway around to raise a hand to the corpse, who had since released Zero. "Hey Armstrong. Still holding up?"
The corpse in response flashed a thumbs up, the hand of which then proceeded to detach and fall to the grass.
"Oh dear…" Doc knelt down and plucked it up. "Again? Ah well, give me your arm." Armstrong sheepishly held out the stump, which Doc took gingerly in his other hand. He brought the fallen hand back up to the wrist and a blue mist swirled around the area. When it faded, and Doc pulled away, the hand remained where it was. Armstrong flexed it, then nodded in thanks to Doc.
"I'm concerned how quickly it fell off again." Doc pondered. "I'm sure we could find you a fresher body somewhere-" Armstrong shook its head vigorously, wrapping its arms protectively around itself. "…Very well." Doc rubbed at his chin. "I must say, I've never heard of a vetala that was so protective of a particular corpse." Rust quirked a brow, the movement visible through the faint green outline on their helmet.
"How many vetala do you know?"
"More than you would think," Doc turned to face them. "I have lived a long time, Rust, and met many beings." He tilted his head towards them. "You as well, are quite a strange case of a tsukumogami."
Rust just shrugged.
"I'm a spirit possessing a helmet. You're a spirit possessing a tree. Armstrong is a spirit possessing a body. Why split hairs on it?"
"Well it's a little more complex than that," Doc protested. "For starters, I am not possessing my tree, I am…" He led off, then sighed and shook his head. "Oh, never mind. I sense Tesla will be here soon."
Soon enough, here came a short figure, tromping through the undergrowth, a lantern hanging at its hip. They were dressed in tough and serviceable clothing, with a fuzzy hat and a pair of goggles covering their eyes. Various knick-knacks, devices, and machinery hung off of them. They came to a stop, making the countless bits of metal jangle around them.
"Finally got here," they grumbled. "What a damn slog."
"Aww…" Zero propped its hands on its knees, peering down at them. "Did the poor dwarfy get lost coming outside their caves?"
Tesla tried to swat at it but it zipped away, giggling. They huffed and gave up, instead turning to the others.
"Ugh," Tesla wrinkled their nose at Rust. "What are you wearing?"
"A helmet," Rust answered. Tesla rolled their eyes.
"Don't give me that," it gestured down at Rust's body. "This one looks even worse than the last one."
"Hey!" Zero huffed as he swooped over to wrap a protective arm around Rust's shoulders. "It's a great body! Super nice!"
"Better than Armstrong's, I guess." Tesla peered over at it. "That arm finally fell off, huh?" Armstrong ducked its head, rubbing at the back of its neck. A vetala's possession of a corpse would slow some of the process of decay, but not all. For instance, its throat had long been rendered non-functional, but it got by well enough; this group at least seemed to always know what it wanted to say.
Tesla crossed their arms, scrutinizing it.
"Might be able to cobble something together," they mused. "Though I'd need some materials, and I'm definitely not finding any here. Ugh." They lifted their boots to examine the mud caked on them. "Can't we ever meet somewhere decent??"
"Doc's not exactly travel-friendly." Rust gestured to Doc, not the person, but the tree. "You gonna ask a dryad to leave their body?"
"I can also guarantee protection and privacy within the area," Doc added. Tesla just huffed again, and Rust shot Doc a knowing grin. Everyone knew for all the complaints, Tesla wasn't actually serious in their griping.
"Well," Rust began and shouldered off their pack. "Now that we're all here-" They produced a large sealed bottle. With a single twist of their wrist they popped the top off, then offered it out to Zero, who accepted it eagerly. It took a swing of the drink and proceeded to spit out a stream of fire. "Wooo!" He shot his hands into the air. "That's good stuff!"
"Well don't hog it," Tesla made a grabbing motion at the bottle. "And did it occur to you to bring cups?"
"Yeah," Rust answered, "but I licked each one beforehand."
"Awful," Tesla grunted before pulling a tin mug out of their bag, along with another bottle. "Luckily I brought my own, along with some actual good stuff."
Zero squealed and clapped its hands. Doc meanwhile hummed and tucked his hands behind his back.
"Well then, I suppose it's time to begin, then."
The five of them gathered under Doc's tree. Doc brought forth a bounty of fruits, nuts, and mushrooms. Armstrong pulled out from Doc's roots a bag of candies that it had stowed there earlier. Zero produced a bag of what appeared to be several kinds of travel rations. No one asked where he had gotten them. Together, sitting among the grass, lit by Zero's light and Doc's tree, they ate and drank and swapped stories of what was going on in the world.
"I knew that was you in the Goldlands," Tesla groused around some food. "The metal trade is fucked, because of you." Rust just laughed and knocked back another drink.
"A small price to pay for freedom. It'll even out eventually."
"Bah." Tesla waved them off. "Can't you do your stupid calling in a way that doesn't inconvenience everyone else?"
"Sure yeah let me just figure out how to disrupt society in a way that's less disruptive to society."
"You're such a weirdo."
"Doc did say I'm pretty weird." Rust raised one finger. "-As far as objects that gain sentience go, at least."
"Not too strange," Doc sighed and took a sip from his own cup. "It is not uncommon for spirits to be brought about from a strong will or purpose. Bonding together with a human is somewhat unusual, however."
"You're bonded to a tree."
"I'm not-" Doc sighed and shook his head. "Never mind."
"Don't dryads usually like, hang out in groups?" Tesla pointed at him. "They're always seen like, cavorting around in the forest, holding hands and laughing and stuff."
Doc huffed and crossed his arms.
"And I suppose all dwarves are bearded old men who drink ale and hammer at rocks all day?"
"Those are simpletons," Tesla answered dismissively.
Rust hummed in thought. "A friendly will o' wisp, an antisocial dryad, a host-seeking helmet, a protective vetala, and an egocentric dwarf." Rust chuckled and leaned back on one hand, ignoring Tesla's protests. "Guess we make a pretty weird gang."
"We should form a band," Zero announced. Rust snorted.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, like a traveling band!" It's eyes lit up and it began to burn brighter. "I love watching those! It always looks so fun!"
"Music is a good way to get a message out," Rust mused. Zero clapped his hands, nodding vigorously.
"Yeah! You can be the singer!"
"Ah, music?" Doc scratched his cheek. "I've dabbled in the past, but…" Zero jabbed a finger at him.
"You can play drums!" Doc blinked.
"Drums, really?"
"Yeah!" Zero pointed over at Armstrong, who was in the process of feeding some nuts to a rather courageous squirrel. "And Armstrong can play guitar!" Rust's mouth twitched upwards.
"With its one, detachable hand?"
"Tesla can make a new one! And they can play uhhh…" Its face scrunched up in thought and it snapped its fingers rapidly. "I've seen it before! It was another guitar, but lower?"
"A bass," Tesla provided.
"Yeah!"
"Uh-huh." Rust flicked a hand over at Zero. "And what would you do?"
Zero shot its hands into the air, orange lights sparking around it.
"Dance! And sing sometimes!"
"Sure."
"I'll sing! And make songs!" Zero leaned back until it flopped down onto the grass. "And I'll dance aaaaallllllll night long!"
"Sounds nice," Rust answered. Zero giggled.
The conversation turned to some other topic. Doc was predicting that the harvests might be tough this year, especially for gourds and corn. Tesla shared news of what was happening in the Dwarven territories, or at least what they could bother to catch wind of, locked away in their workshop. Armstrong didn't have much to share, but it listened along happily.
A band, huh?
It was a nice thought.
As the night stretched on, one after one, the members bedded down for the night. Eventually it was just Doc, resting against his tree, and Rust, sitting cross-legged on the grass. Zero had fallen asleep, its head warm and tingling on Rust's lap.
"What will you do now?" Doc asked. Rust tilted their head back, thinking.
"I might head south," they mused. His hand absentmindedly pet at Zero's flickering hair. "The rich bastards down there are getting way too big for their boots."
"Of course, of course." Doc tilted his head to one side. "I'm curious. Do you ever have the wish to just…live? Find a place to build a life, experience things besides fighting and strife?"
"It's my purpose," Rust answered. "It's what made me, and drives me onward. I can't imagine just living a quiet existence somewhere."
"Nothing has made you wish to settle down, to live life outside of your purpose?"
Rust looked down at Zero in their lap. Their expression softened.
"…Maybe a little."
Doc nodded, understanding flickering across his face.
"Maybe a little," he agreed.