Boredom

The sun was high, the birds were singing… and there were no demons to kill.

Therefore a bored Reaver was left to her own devices, walking down a vaguely familiar dirt road in the middle of bum fuck nowhere. There wasn’t much to do in this world for a Reaver seeing as she appeared to be the only one. And she sure as hell wasn’t going back to that bar. Sure she made some new friends, but she couldn’t remember half of what happened that night and the other half she remembered making a fool of herself and the headache she got from recovering from the booze.

That was fun and all, but not again so soon.

So the boredom continued until Rai found herself at a fence with rows upon rows of plants behind it. She recognized this as a garden but she couldn’t help but notice one of the plants had fresh blooms on it.Ever curious she easily hopped the fence, pays careful mind only to step between rows to avoid ruining the garden and sits in the grass by this plant.

Flowers were a rarity in Dis, so the many blooms and flowers in this third of the garden was impressive to the horseman. Rai’s sight sadly couldn’t comprehend color, but that wasn’t what always drove her to flowers. She strokes a finger over the soft yellow bloom, smiling to herself at the rather unique texture of flower petals. She did also find the smell nice. No one in Dis smelt nice at all so managing to find anything this didn’t reek of piss and sweat was a relief.

Then she notices one budding bloom moving… Upon reaching for it she discovered another thing she had yet to encounter. And that was a bee.

Ow She huffs quietly, pulling her stung finger back as the offended fuzzball flies away leaving her back to staring into the garden again.

Cebra was busy cleaning out the chicken coop, an unpleasant task cleaning out feathers and chicken shit. One of the slow days where he had nothing but chores to do, he was in some simple work clothing today not looking to go anywhere. He finished up and headed back to his house, even chore-wise it was a light day. Losing two dairy cows lightened his work load not that he counted that as a plus. It was during a shower when a sensor went of in his head. There was someone on his property and he wasn't expecting visitors.

Cebra had the option of bringing the defensive guns online, but there was no reason to be so hasty. Could just be some kids who got brave or didn't know any better. Around town just entering someone's property was rude enough. Cebra however had secrets and rather dangerous elements to his property that he made sure to protect with lethal force. It was well known and a respected rule that no one sets foot on the cyborgs land uninvited.

He left the shower wrapping a towel around his waist quickly and grabbed the twelve gauge as a precaution as he left his house. He systematically sweeps his way to the flower garden checking corners. It's then that he comes upon the supposed "intruder". Cebra cocks his brow as he lowers his weapon, shortly followed by an exasperated but relieved sigh. "Rai? What are you doing around here? Another one of your hunts?"

The reaver was thoroughly distracted by the many flowers and smells. Free time was a luxury she was not at all used to. She finds herself laying over in the soft grass, enjoying the many flowers and small animals running through them.

She perks as a familiar voice catches her attention as she sit’s back up. Last time she’d hopped a fence like that she’d gotten hit in the head hard enough to knock her out. And lo-and-behold she was in the same place she had been shot in and the same man who shot her was here.

Rai pulls a stray blade of grass from her horns. “Not today. I actually haven't seen a demon around here in two days.” Rai almost seemed shocked, but to her two days was a huge time gap for a hunt. The work in dis was basically constant.

“I was sort of, I guess looking for trouble. But then I found a flower garden.” She shrugs before standing. “I’ve never seen so many in one place.”

Cebra still found the claim of demons to be ridiculous, but far be it from him to question someone's religious convictions. In the end she seemed like a level headed gal for the most part, her choice of fashion could be considered unique if not for the great amount of metas that have odd outfits. "Looking for trouble in this world will usually get that and more." He says as he unloads his weapons and goes to place it in his pocket. "So you like flow... Er right pants. Sorry about this, just hopped out of the shower."

It's not like he was nude, but he certainly felt a little indecent. "Listen why dont you come inside for a minute while I get dressed, unless you'd prefer to stay here." Though he didn't say it Cebra was pleased Rai came by, he was still curious about many things. Chiefest of which was just what she was going to do while she was here. Having a dimensional traveler just wander about looking for mutants or "demons" to kill could be a very chaotic element around Cebra's home town. He didn't want to go as far as to spy on her, but he would keep an eye on her once in a while.

But this was also an opportunity for him to make a friend that wasn't a hick or an accomplice in some activity. And if he was being perfectly honest with himself then he'd have to admit she was cute with her Goth princess look.

"Apparently it gets me far less trouble that I'm used to." Rai admits. "At home the fighting is basically constant and if there isn't something to kill, there's something needing hunting or a base needing to be stormed." She still remembered having to deploy at the storming of Ignatious's castle. Many reavers lost their lives as the demon lord mounted huge basins of molten silver upon his castle walls. She was lucky to be in one of the later groups so by the time she reached the gates the basins were basically empty. That was relatively recent history to her as this occurred last year.

Her eyes move to the ground a bit, reverting back to her normal behavior of being adverse to making any kind of notion that she might be an unruly reaver. Rai then remembers most of the ‘rules’ seemed to not apply here and this time actually made eye contact with Cebra for more than a thirty second increment. A full thirty one seconds before she caved and averted once again. “Pants? Oh. Um.” She shifts awkwardly. “I actually can’t really see the fact that you might be underdressed.”

She pauses tentatively before deciding against fully explaining what that meant and just wanted to cut out the awkward tension. Talking to people was not at all a thing she was used to. “Um, yeah, I can come in.” Rai blinks as if reassuring herself she was allowed in the house more than actually announcing she planned to come in.

She follows Cebra into the house, looking around at all the things as rigidly as she usually did before finding herself on the couch. She waits until she thinks Cebra isn’t in the room again before quietly ‘tipping’ over to the side as if to enjoy the welcome softness she wasn’t at all used to.

Cebra was unsure what to make of what she was saying, but it sounded like where she came from was a rather conflict ridden place. Cebra was familiar with warfare, though his experience was slightly different. He took note of the fact she may have some ocular condition that inhibits her sight or something. It didn't take him long to throw on a decent tartan shirt, some well kept jeans, and a pair of running shoes. From around the corner atop the stairway he spotted Rai on his couch, she seemed to make herself quite at home. Cebra could be welcoming to the right people, there was a quiet sort of calm to her he could appreciate. He made his way downstairs wallet in his right pocket and keys in the other. "Feeling tired so early? Or are you strictly a nocturnal hunter?" He smiled teasing the girl.

Cebra's pick up sat outside in the dirt laneway leading to his house, save for a little dirt on the tires and sides it looked brand new without a scratch on it. A necessary thing since getting into town was an hour and a half walk along a mostly dirt road broken up by sections of cut stone road.

Rai stiffly pops back up as she hears Cebra returning. She couldn’t help that she enjoyed soft things. She’d just got caught being comfortable. “Oh, um. I actually don’t sleep or feel tired. I just um… was enjoying your couch.” She admits. If a corpse could blush.

She stands awkwardly looking to the floor again before following Cebra outside. Her eyes fell upon the weirdest thing she’d ever seen in her life. Was that a horse’s cart? It had wheels so she assumed that’s how that worked. “Oh, um, need help hitching horses to it?” She asked, looking for the barn where the cart horses would usually be. Although she’d never seen anyone using a horse drawn cart here. Was that weird for here?

“Sorry, this world is still. weird.”

"Doesn't sleep or feel tired. Interesting" He thought to himself. He also though that if she were ever to fall asleep it might be the most frightening experience in her life. To know your brain just automatically shuts off, better not get into that. "Horses? So that's how you still get around where you're from? I mean... We still use horses some places for work but no, not with this." Cebra unlocks the doors with his keys and walks up to the white and green pick up, he opens the passenger side and waves Rai over." It's called an automobile... Because it's automatic and mobile, basically a machine that works like a transport. Uses the old bones of birds as fuel." The last part said with some jest.

"Well you don't sleep, but how about some decent food? There are a few decent places around here to eat."

“Sometimes that’s how people get around if they can afford a horse. The occasional ox, ass or mule works as well. Problem being they’re difficult to keep alive.” Rai shrugs, remembering livestock duty. Ugh. Nothing she hated more than having to watch someone else’s stock and keep the swooping hoards at bay as they grazed. Even under the most watchful eye it was inevitable at least a few calves or lambs would get flown off. “That’s why most every town is at most a half a days walk away.”

Escort duty was another story. She didn’t really mind helping out caravans getting from one place to the other as much. The only real problem was if the traveling party was clergy who insisted on traveling long stretches at a time regardless of how dangerous it was. Usually they took a fleet of white cloaks to protect them but on occasion a black cloak would have to fill in and sometimes Rai was the unlucky substitute who had to endure the abuse of the priests.

The horsewoman couldn’t help but tilt her head in visible confusion, yet simultaneous interest at Cebra’s explanation as to how automobiles work. “Big old birds, or many old birds?” Her english seemed to fail her a bit there as her grammar split. She then had a realization. “So like lantern oil? Except the horseless cart moves off it instead of fueling the wick?” She asks as she gets into the truck with Cebra. She did have at least a basic knowledge of what oil was, but she didn’t know what drilling for oil was. In her mind oil was made from the fat of large monsters felled by the reavers and refined by the collectors. “So does that mean your world does have collectors?”

“I can eat, even if I don’t need to. But I won’t do alcohol for a while again. I’m also learning your world as a lot of things in terms of food that mine doesn’t. I learned what a lemon was three days ago. And something called ‘Kay-so’” Her pronunciation of queso was atrocious buuut, she was still working on it.

Cebra thought for a moment as he eased into his seat and slid the key into the ignition. He never had to answer questions like this before about the basic functions of the world, even he had to admit fossil fuels were an odd idea when you get down to it. "Well um you see our world is quite old. Sixty five billion years ago there existed these giant creatures we called dinosaurs, they died off in some kind of great extinction event. It's a very long story but basically over time their buried bones turned into oil that humanity converted to fuel and other things."

Cebra didn't quite know what she meant by collectors but he gave it his best shot to understand. "I'm not sure if you'd call the people who get the oil collectors. Job structure is very... complex here." Cebra turned the key and the engine roared to life, he put on his belt and shut the door." Cebra chuckled hearing her pronounce those foods "Oh really? Who taught you about those things?" He drove down the lane slow at first, conscious of his new passengers potential shock of how this truck might work.

The drive along the dirt road was a little bumpy in some sections but mostly smooth. They passed by many cabin and farm houses spaced very far apart, thick pine and oak woods lined the sides past the ditches. Every once in a while a squirrel or bird would fly from one tree to another. Sometimes they'd pass by one of the towns folk who would kindly wave at Cebra and Rai.

“Dis is also old. However our history isn’t really available to anyone who isn’t clergy.” Rai explains, trying to remember what she knew of Dis’s history but that wasn’t really regularly available to reavers. “History was written in these giant scrolls books kept under the Cappella Sistina. If Dis had dinosaurs any record of them would probably be written there, but it’s not impossible to think Dis would also possibly have oil too? Perhaps it just hasn’t been found yet?.”

Rai begins to realize she’d overheard some people talking about possibly going to something called the ‘sistine chapel’ for some sort of a vacation. Did Cappella Sistina exist here as well? If so, then why did some landmarks exist in both dimensions but not others?

Rai stops for a minute taking note of the people waving at the truck as they moved. She slowly but surely goes to mimic the gesture. She’d seen humans wave at each other before… but never at her. However the question on why some monuments from Dis were still in this dimension and why others weren’t was itching at her again. What could just asking about it hurt?

“Hey, Um, Cebra. Does this dimension still have Cappella Sistina? I overheard some people talking about a ‘sistine chapel’ here.” The devil woman was trying to figure out a good method to put what she was thinking into words. But she just couldn’t figure out how. “If I am from a completely different world from you, why are pieces of my world present in yours too?”


The reaver visibly stiffens a bit as the truck starts to move, there was no initial sway she was used to from being in a cart, but she eventually calmed. Cebra didn’t seem to be in any sort of concern so neither should she be? “You have collectors that only specialize in one resource here?” That seemed incredibly inefficient to her. “Humans in Dis have jobs as well. Collectors are a class of… art-i-factors… Atrifeecers?” Rai’s english was failing her for a second as she stopped for a moment to think. “Artificers. People who build and construct things. They get their materials from the monsters we leave behind. But other than that most people are farmers or herdsmen. The occasional crafter. If they’re born into good families they can work for the church but other than that, that’s about it.”

Life in Dis wasn’t much at all, live a short scared life, maybe have children that live and die young.

Her attention however was brought back to the present and this dimension. “Oh, I learned it from Dianne and a few new people I met. I was actually allowed in a bar.” Rai seemed a bit overly shocked with the fact she was allowed not only in homes but businesses. “Anyhow, A woman named Aria taught me what a lemon was, Dianne taught me what Kay-so was and Kitty taught me how to drink a lot really fast… I won’t be doing that last one again.”

These were a lot of questions for Cebra to answer, and despite his breadth of knowledge even he couldn't answer everything. "The Sistine chapel? Yes I believe that's somewhere on another continent, Rome in Italy. I dont understand much more than you how a place can exist in two worlds at once, beyond my current understanding sorry."

When Rai mentioned Aria Cebra's eyes grew wide and attentive, he couldn't believe it. It cant be some coincidence and she met a completely different Aria could it? Cebra's shoulders tensed up considerably as he tried to choose his next words carefully. "You met a girl named Aria? Interesting... I dont suppose she was a kind of abrasive girl? Colored hair and a pension for fighting?" He wasn't sure what he could do about it even if Rai and Aria had met besides hope Aria wouldn't do something troublesome.

They had started to come closer to the town as the groupings of houses started to get tighter. There were a few convenience stores along the way as well as a few abandoned buildings. Any vehicle passed along the way looked like it was owned by a hard worker, none in perfect shape but still good to go. Some were derelict though and either junk in driveways or by the side of the road.

“It’s alright, I honestly don’t know much about home myself.” Rai had to admit. Although part of her wondered about the ‘other continent’... where was she? She was aware that a place called Qualid existed but no human dared go south of Venice. Did the worm spit her out in no man’s land? Or was it not noman’s land here? Or was she in the americas she’d heard about so much? That place was also no man’s land and according to some old wives tales that was where the majority of the demons came from, although Rai heavily doubted that.

However she did stop her line of thought as Cebra suddenly became interested in her night out. She blinks realizing she might be in some form of trouble here. Reavers were not supposed to set foot in bars, much less participate in a night of shananiganery.

“Um. Not able to tell what color her hair is. But she was very nice. In a very odd way.” If she were honest she was still trying to tell if half of what Aria said was an insult or jest. “I could absolutely see her getting into a fist fight with someone though.” Her voice was getting a bit quieter as she begins to get more visibly nervous about the questioning.

“I um. Did I do something wrong?” Rai chose the ‘feign ignorance’ card. Sometimes that got zealous Reavers out of trouble if they found a more merciful enforcer.

Cebra was at a rare loss for words, of course Aria would find some way in this to complicate things. Cebra couldn't possibly know Rai was playing dumb with him regardless of his detective skills. He fixed his expression into smile and waved the situation off playing a little dumb himself "Nah it's not a problem, just surprised you happened to run into her. Aria and I..." He chose his words carefully here "Have history together." Since he hadn't heard of any major disturbances lately involving psionics he assumed she was behaving for now. He quickly shifted his attention back to Rai. "So you got to go out to your first bar here, must have been a fun night. We have two bars in Tuckburg but they're nothing like the ones in the city. Not a lot of bright flashing lights and loud music."

They pulled into town as the road became well kept stone. There were some structures made of a more modern design like gas stations and the bank however the vast majority of buildings were made of lumber and carved slate stone bricks. A lot of quaint little Ma and Pa shops with few large chain stores save for some coffee shops and fast food places. The sky began to cloud over with thick grey duvets ready to pour rain, the following SNAP! BOOM! brought the promise of a fierce storm soon from behind the mountains in the distance.

The terrain of the town wasn't flat like the road in as the exit on the other side of town also split into a valley and other farms. Townsfolk went about their day at the hardworking but friendly way they always did, occasionally turning to look at Cebra's well known truck and waving.

Rai blinked for a second, realizing that feigning ignorance actually worked. “Oh… well you should come with us next time.” Rai shrugs seeming to have no idea ‘history’ didn’t always mean pleasant pastimes. Tone had been lost in translation, rather she had assumed this had meant they were friends. “I um… don’t remember half the night. My head still kind of hurts. I don’t think I will be drinking ‘tee-kill-a’ again for awhile. But I would like to go again eventually.” Rai moans, trying desperately to remember all the things her and her new friends had gotten into. She was honestly scared to remember, what if she did something incredibly bad?

Her attention got pulled put the window at the rolling groans of thunder. Rain in dis was bad news, with it came darkness followed by hoards of monsters. Last thing she wanted was to get caught out in that. But Cebra seemed totally content. So should she also be content?

“So… where are we going?” She asks, suddenly realizing she has no idea where Cebra was taking her in this strange horseless wagon. She couldn’t help the curiosity of where they were going and why? She probably should have asked that before she got in the car but too late now.