#hxdrostorm

[euphemere]

🌷🌷🌷🌷 say nice things about Richter

Streets well up with people like ocean tide. The harvests turn out plenty and the town’s market floods. The noise of trade and life is akin a song.

D listens to it from a distance. Comfortable seclusion of the roof some house. He does not belong among the festivities, and the sight makes his chest feel lighter than he will ever admit.

“Wallachia knows this peace because a man like you lives."

A hoarse voice laughs in turn. Not for long though! Not in this line of work.

[euphemere]

hxdrostorm

Richter vc: these foreigners just keep getting weirder and weirder

He is not moving from the tree shade.

[euphemere]

@hxdrostorm | starter for Richter | I apologize for the size of this thing in advance, please do not feel pressured to match this ridiculous length

D fell along with his horse. He slipped, where the edges of the cliffs and the edges of reality escaped from under the thundering galop of DLX04 limbs, the vortex of thick fog swallowed him, hurled him forward with a force too strong to resist.

The afterimages of his target spilled as if dust catching in his eyes. He no longer could keep track of the monstrosity he pursued or confirm the direction he headed. Pale hands only wrapped tighter around leather reins, body leaned against the creaking mechanic horseback. He let the storm push him forward.

"D! This is-!!"

He fell into the cold waters of an ocean - its waves flowing against any understanding of gravity, and then the sky split open under him as if another deeper ocean swallowed him, a burning dance of stars welcomed his silhouette, then disappeared behind glistening images. Familiar and foreign alike, and some as ancient as the ancient ancestor. Each breath another vision of another place, another skull splitting roar.

D unsheathed his sword off his back.. The silver-white blade clattered against the gusts of wind in his steel grip. Fingertips even whiter, trapping the hilt in a steady hold.

A creak of thunder collapsed onto him. Sizzling lightning bolt kissed the sharp steel. D readied himself. The whirling rippling space was cut with a hot blinding swing

He could no longer see where.

He fell.

---

The horizon was that of a night slowly easing into a morning. A light breeze unraveled in the distance, uncharacteristically hot and carrying a noise of something that should not sound as alive as it did. It broke branches off the trees and frightened birds from the thick crowns of leaves.

And something flashed there on the horizon. Like a maw of the heavens presenting a row of teeth, clouds ruffled and circled around it, becoming stained an unnatural hue of violet.

---

At last D collapsed into the earth.

The ground dented under his weight. His face smeared against sand and dirt and wet grass and silence rang in his ears until the machinery of his horse creaked behind him.

“Get a grip D, you have lost them”

He could no longer feel the presence of his target. A curse hissed between his teeth, and he forced himself up near instantly. What met his adjusting gaze was a thick expanse of meadows that would not be able to thrive on the Central Frontier where his chase began. Yet how far off-course was he thrown eluded him.

“I need directions…” He admitted, bending down to the tall grasses to fish out his sword (it took longer than expected, and he could not find his hat nor his scarf anywhere anymore.)

“You are in the North now it seems. Look at you! Getting hurled like a bag of-”

D stopped listening. He turned his attention to what was left of his horse. To his surprise the central computer replacing the animal’s brain operated without issue. It were the hinges and mechanisms of the metallic legs that suffered most from the fall. They would not sustain his weight, but they could be fixed. The new models were built like tanks, he concluded.

“Oi, don’t ignore me, there is a farming community not far from here.”

“Which way?”

He watched his hand turn to the side, pointing out a direction. From the distance he could make out inviting shapes of a trodden path, a promise of easy travels. ( D himself had no need to shelter himself, ideally he would continue his hunt, but he did need to fix his horse or purchase a new one) He collected his scattered things, secured the reins against his belt and walked.

By the time a property appeared in sight, the sun was already climbing atop the lightblue sky. The light warmed D’s back beyond what he would call comfortable. No traces of the earlier swarm of clouds could be found. Alas, D paused only when he found himself in front of the borders of the farmland that barred the path.

A Solid wall of rock stretched in both directions, interrupted only by a simple wooden gate at the center. Both the height of the walls and the structure of the gate struck D as a peculiar choice. It would not stop anything from entering.

He observed the enclosure for a while longer, looking for traps, laser devices or hidden gunmen - of which he found none. He touched the cold rock, and then swung the gate open. (It was not an illusion either)

It was nothing more but a clean, rich land. None of the Frontier’s calamities must have reached the place in a very long time.

With those thoughts, D headed inside - straight towards the farmhouse.