7) Filling in the blanks together
The inside of the camp had space for one, not so much with two. Less so when one of the people had so much to lug around. Claire didn't feel comfortable leaving it outside with the Flower Boys, it seems she really is quite attached to it.
They did their best to clean the beast that the Flower Boys killed for meat, it has been a few days since they ate and had to at least try. There was also a stream not too far north that Skye could go to even at night if he was quick enough, so he filled her helmet up with water for the both of them.
While he was gone Claire started to prepare the place to light a fire, clearing away anything that would catch and digging a small pit to make sure it was controlled. She even went as far as to patch up holes in the walls with more sticks and branches to limit the light exposure and opened a small hole in the roof. Skye was amazed at the level of thought she put into things.
"So how did you get all that gear? All I got for a weapon was a hard warm stick."
He said in a joking way as he pointed to Thorn.
"I didn't have it all at first"
She said as continuing to stack the sticks in a teepee like fashion.
"When I first got here I had nothing at all and was instantly attacked. Up in the mountains there are a lot of skeletons that like to swing first and answer questions… we'll I guess they never got to that point."
She let out a light laugh, something she did a lot in the middle of her conversations.
"Guide appeared and was super apologetic like it was her fault, quickly getting me up to speed and telling me about everything. I was able to get out of the way and summon my sword. I used that poorly until I found a way to counter balance myself. Even got some enchanted tools and improved them with slivers!"
"Improved them? How do you do that?"
She replied eagerly
"It's easy! You just crush the slivers and direct where you want the essence to go. You've seen the numbers next to things right? That's how you increase that number, and once over 50, it improves and the next goal is higher! My Sword is already second rank, and I need 250 to improve it again."
Skye slowly turned his head to the direction of Dubs who was already leaving the camp muttering under his breath.
".... dont look at me you didn't fucking ask man"
Now that Claire was here with her guide that was actually worth a damn, maybe he could think about ways to ditch Dubs. He was lucky enough to find a better replacement out here in the forest.
She continued
"My Guide told me about breaking the slivers to become stronger, and how stronger creatures have bigger slivers called shards, and even orbs. She honestly is the friendliest person I've met. I was so disheartened when I found out my ability, I didn't know how I was going to make it work."
Skye looked over at Claire and noticed that without the shield and greatsword she was just a normal looking woman, a bit on the shorter side, a bit underfed, but most people on Earth were nowadays.
"My Guide helped me get out of the mountains, but the monsters never stopped coming. They were slow, but as you've seen, so am I. It was a very slow game of cat and mouse. But it let me gather a lot of slivers and get stronger before entering the forest. Speaking of which!"
She pulled out her pouch and emptied it, prompting Skye to do the same..
"We have slivers to absorb! Let's see…"
She did some quick math in her head and gave 7 to Skye and took 5 herself.
"That should be even. The first one was yours, then the group of ten we killed together, and lastly the one from this guy."
She pointed at the body of the monster they brought near their camp. After they attempted to clean it for meat they were going to drag it away from camp. At the moment they were both too hungry and tired to get the job done.
Skye looked down at the pile, trying to follow along as to why he had two more than her. You don't usually meet many people in the Dome who actually care about things being equal, so this was new to him. In fact if she tried to take 4 of his slivers for keeping him safe that would feel more like home.
"No no, that doesn't feel right. We're a team now, and we should split things equally. Here, take this one and we'll both have 6. That seems fair."
With his words her eyes met with his and she grasped his hands.
"Are you sure?? It's fair to me the other way around as well, it's okay you can have it."
Skye pulled his hand away slowly and said
"Yes that's perfectly fine, if we got them as a team we split them as a team."
She thanked him a few too many times for such a small gesture and they started to crack their slivers. This was the first time Sky has ever done this, so he didn't know what to expect. But if he had to ever guess what drugs felt like, this was pretty close. His body absorbed the essence of the world from the sliver and it flowed into his veins. He could feel it, even if it was slight, the energy that was being stored in every cell of his body as if they were breathing in for the first time.
Oh no, this can become addictive really quick can't it.
The thought quickly left his mind as he reached for the next, finishing them off in rapid succession. Flexing his hands he could feel his new strength in the tips of his fingers. He wanted to run wild and punch a tree or something, only stopping himself because it wouldn't really help his public imagine. He had friends with him now, and had to be a civilised human.
He finished off his pile of slivers too quickly to even think about improving Thorn, almost feeling guilty like he neglected his child.
"What happens when your gear or weapon gets stronger? Does it change?"
Claire mindfully recalled the information and said.
"It was a bit of a subtle change, but it did feel like it got sharper, and felt easier to use. Almost like it was working with me rather than against me. It's a bit hard to explain but it just felt like we got closer."
Skye had no idea what she was talking about, guessing this was something he would just have to experience for himself to truly understand some day. He nodded along with her explanation just to be polite, but not a single word made a lick so sense.
***
The food was almost done and the water was finally finished boiling after a short wait that felt like a lifetime to the starved. The meat was cut into chunks and pierced with a stick or layed on a rock next to the fire to cook, the smell filled the small campsite to the brim.
They took turns taking big gulps from the helmet and ate the food down quickly. They both were exhausted and smelled horrible but surprisingly, Skye found himself having… fun? He felt more free than he ever had before. The Steel Dome may be safer than the outside world but it was ruled under an iron thumb. Everyone is squeezed dry for all their worth and left to die.
There isn't much hope there, so maybe that was what he was feeling, not so much fun but the first taste of freedom. He was suddenly able to get stronger off the back of his own work, he could make his own decisions. He had a simple goal and a path forward, and now, he was gaining the strength to make it happen.
The two let some small talk flow as they ate while Skye kept this in the back of his mind. The conversation wouldn't get too deep tonight, they were both very tired and didn't have the mental capacity for it.
At least they knew that tomorrow, whatever that brings, they are not going to have to deal with alone at least.
—
Not everyone was able to lay down for sleep tonight. In the ruins of a stone castle a man was sitting with his back to the wall, illuminated by the glow of ruins on the floor. He had a scowl on his face as he looked up at the stars, muttering under his breath.
The glow would turn bright for a moment and a specter would appear in front of him and scream in pain reaching for the heavens before disappearing into the night. A few seconds would pass. It would happen again. Every time, the scowl on his face getting deeper and deeper.
"If these ghosts weren't dead I'd kill them all"
His quiet rant was interrupted by another ghostly scream, this time different, it seems like this one kept attacking and getting hurt, and has finally died. Letting a sliver fall to the ground at his feet.
He reached forward and grabbed it, shattering it in his hands, the flow of essence washed into him, flowing past his long hair and into his chest.
"This one better give me a gun that shoots ghosts or else it's another sleepless night."
He looked dead pan into the distance for a second, checking if he received anything. A slight smile spreading across his face.
"A sword isn't bad. I'll be the kind of priest that goes around slashing things. I like the sound of that."
He looked closely at the sword that was materalising into his hand.
"Or making it explode I guess?"
His smile morphed back into a scowl at the sound of another scream. It was going to be a long night.
—
The morning snuck up on the two of them, both too exhausted not to sleep. It felt more comforting with another human there for support as well. The two Flower Boys stood guard and their firing into the night only woke them up twice, causing both of them to spring into action. Skye was also able to spread his roots under the soil again, creating a spider web under them. He was unsure how long they were going to stay there, but he might as well prepare now.
The rest of the meat from last night was hung above the fire, left to dry in the smoke and was ready now, giving them something to have for breakfast. Grabbing a bit each and exchanging good mornings, they left the camp to embrace the sun.
In the clearing, two bodies of Flat Spider Cats could be seen blown apart, and blood trails leading into the forest for ones who seemed to get away. Like he suspected they were getting braver and getting closer to camp. Their fights last night have provided them with 7 more slivers each.
Skye walked over to the boys and gave them a pat to say good morning before taking the helmet and going off to get water. Claire would stay back and clear away the bodies to not attract bigger predators and collect the slivers.
Boiling water continually was a real pain but at least they had something to hold it now. Walking over to the stream Skye felt a spring in his step, he was fed and hydrated, but also his body felt stronger already. Like he could break out into a run there and back without having to rest, which doesn't sound too impressive, but the man wasn't an athlete.
He's always been bigger in the shoulders than most people his age, but not too many people in the Dome get enough food to build any proper muscle. The bodies were meant for working and that was about it.
Once he got to the stream he washed off the helmet and then his own body a bit, filled it full of water and returned to the camp a new man.
Claire was already there, looking over her gear and cleaning it off. There wasn't much more she could do with the tools they had. Skye called out to her
"So you only received the sword when you first got here? Not the armour or shield?"
She replied back without looking up
"Yeah I found the shield first, then the armour, I got two tools from the mountains. The fire starter and a needle that always points north. Unlike the sword I can't really improve this stuff sadly."
He placed the water on the fire and sat down next to her. They both took this time to break the slivers at hand. Skye wanted to be stronger and she just didn't want to be so slow, both things that would improve the more slivers they got. He took the water off the fire once it was boiling to cool down and spoke
"So we're meant to form a team to get out of here, from the looks of it we'll need 3 more people. You're a bit slow to travel too far from camp and I'm a bit soft to take on a hunting pack of Flat Spider Cats. That means I should probably leave in the morning and come back before it's too dark."
He paused to turn to his Flower Boys.
"They'll stay here to give you backup if anything happens, but mostly they'll help me find my way back here until I get more confident with the layout of the forest. I'm going to lay down some roots around the perimeter before I go, but I think no matter what we should start making this into our base of operation."
Claire was done messing around with her gear and chimed in.
"I've never been camping before, let alone built a base. The Fleet is always at sea, just a bunch of ships tied together, not really much room to pitch a tent."
She had a point, in fact Skye had never been camping either, this was all new to them. The deserts outside the Dome are hard to survive in unless you knew how, like the Raiders did, but even they had to try to steal from the Dome to survive.
"Maybe you can start clearing some of the trees around us with that big sword of yours, it's pretty solid right? Drag them to the centre and we can do something with them there? The farther we can see into the forest from the clearing the faster we can see danger if it approaches us too. A win win."
Claire thought about the suggestion for a second, looking around at the clearing and how big of a job this would be.
"I'm not sure how much I can get done while you're away but I can try to do a few and see how it goes. I'll start with the smaller ones and work my way up? I'm just glad to have something to do while you're away! I think I would lose my mind if I was just sitting around while you did all the exploring."
Her tone had a hint of laughter in it, lighting the mood. Skye felt bad giving her such a big job to do by herself, but with her abilities, she might be the only one who could.
Skye grabbed a bit of meat, said he'll get started, and walked to the centre of the clearing. Sitting down and placing his hand on the soil, he started to expand his roots into the soil and spread outwards.
He was unsure if he was just finally fed and rested, or if the power gained by the slivers helped out, but the roots seemed to expand faster than he expected. He realised that he could travel 30 meters at once if he spread 10 roots, or 300 meters if he just did one at a time. So he spent the next hour doing just that, expanding 300 meters in one direction, then turning and doing the same in another, until he reached out in a circle. Each root connected in the middle and twisted around to form a single root sticking out of the ground that Skye could reconnect to.
Wiping the dirt from his hand and taking the last bite of his dried meat, he grabbed Thorn and reattached his rope armour to himself and wrapped it around for protection, summoning his chest protector at the same time. He wanted to ask Claire if he could borrow her chest plate but seeing how weird she is about her gear, he thought it better not to.
She seemed friendly enough to let him take it, but had a sneaking suspicion she wouldn't actually want him to. It was nice to have a friend here now, or at least a friendly person, so he didn't want to ruin it so quickly.
He walked to the edge of the clearing and into the brush.
Alright, lets see what's out there