revivalproject | Beyond the Boundaries

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Beyond the Boundaries

WHO: Dustin, Felwinter and Link
WHERE: Westward, ho!
WHAT: Felwinter finds himself in...interesting company as he finally sets out for a long put off expedition beyond Temba's city limits.
WHEN: Later this month
WARNINGS: N/A

Organic beings needed preparations, supplies, for a trip. Felwinter remembered these things when he contacted Dustin. 'Star roof', probably wasn't much of a message, but he knew Dustin would understand. He left a more detailed message there, penned and folded under a rock: 'I plan to set out in five days' time. If you wish to join me then pack accordingly and comm your confirmation. Several days out and then back, unless we find any reason to extend our venture. If you have anyone you trust to come along, then so be it.'

He wondered if he was being too generous.

Link would once again find himself under much scrutiny by the helmet-wearing warlord. This time they're at least not on a rooftop, but the mood is probably very much the same. Again, there are questions, and again, Felwinter isn't certain where to even begin. Or rather, he knows what to ask, but he has a feeling that he's better off not knowing. That unseen gaze shifts to Dustin with the impending sense of a query and yet none forthcoming.

And then finally, Felwinter turns, shouldering his pack as he starts on towards the city's outskirts, pausing to cast an expectant look at the two as it seems he's going to accept this extra company after all.

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Felwinter might be taking the slower pace of their companions into account. Link does not.

Both of Link's traveling companions will soon realise that Link is active as they move through the landscape. He's constantly running ahead or to the side, to look at whatever has caught his interest. Sometimes he's climbing tall trees, getting a look at what's around them. Sometimes he's picking up small bundles of herbs that he finds. Sometimes he's picking up rocks, looking to see if there's anything underneath.

(Alas, he finds no koroks under the rocks. A few beetles, though.)

Fortunately though, Link doesn't ever forget about his companions entirely. He never stays too far, and always wondering back to where they are to walk for a while. At least until the next distraction.

Good enough, then. Satisfied, Dustin lets the discussion drop, focusing all of his attention on the task.

And so they continue in silence for quite some time. None of the group appear to be talkers, and Dustin isn't at all disappointed by this; he actually appreciates the companionable silence as they all do their jobs, without the grating interruptions of small talk or other distracting nonsense. It's kind of pleasant, even.

...Until a couple hours of straight walking later. Felwinter is a literal machine and Link seems to have the fitness of one, but Dustin is a miserably unfit seventeen-year-old with the constitution of a wet piece of bread. He's breathing hard and his shins are burning, and although he refuses to complain about it, he's starting to noticeably fall behind.

The quiet is actually nice. Felwinter's been stuck with other traveling companions before, if on rare occasions. Particularly he recalls Gryphon-11, a chatty Exo that made him question himself as to why he wasn't nearly as animated or had any such urge to small talk.

How Link has so much energy to spare is beyond him, but he's not too much of a nuisance and hasn't found any trouble, so the Exo is fine letting him be.

It's Felspring who notifies him of their lagging party member. The warlord slows to a stop, turning to glance over his shoulder as Dustin tries to catch up.

It takes longer for Link to realise someone is lagging. Mainly because Link was off running ahead, climbing trees to get a look at the landscape ahead.

It’s only when he heads back to the others that he realises they’re further behind than Link was expecting. He stops. Looks at them a moment.

Dustin’s stamina is really bad, isn’t it? Even worse than Link’s has been after waking up in the Shrine of Resurrection.

Fortunately, he saw something that can help nearby. So Link runs off - again - before reappearing later with a handful of berries that he holds out to Dustin.

“Naro berries,” he says. “For stamina.”

It takes a moment of Dustin's gaze methodically scanning his surroundings for him to realize that Felwinter has come to a stop, and a couple seconds longer to determine that this is because of him. His face, already flushed from exertion, somehow manages to turn redder.

Felwinter doesn't even have to say anything. "I can keep going," Dustin puffs, limping right past him - only to have Link intercept several steps later. He stumbles to a halt with a flustered scowl.

"...You're sure?" Dustin narrows his eyes at the offending handful of small, blue berries. He's familiar with them from the 'Dictionary,' but without the Agriculture data point, he's never quite trusted his ability to tell wild plants apart to forage for himself. These are no different. "How can you tell?"

"Forcing yourself will not do you any favors for the journey ahead. If you feel you must rest, then we will rest," Felwinter says, even as he watches Dustin continue past him.

He looks to Link when he returns with berries. Not having the Agriculture data point himself, he isn't sure what the Hylian brings, but can only assume that it's what Link's picked up if he can provide a name. He walks over to where the two are, glancing between the two before he steps a bit farther to continue to watch their surroundings as they work out the validity of these berries.

How can he tell? Well, there was the knowledge from the datapoint, there in Link's mind. It told him what the berries were, what they could do.

But there was only one way to really tell.

Link takes a few of the berries. Shoves them into his own mouth. And then runs in circles around both Dustin and Felwinter just to demonstrate.

When he comes to a stop again, he holds out the berries once more.

"...Or we can rest," he adds. If less enthusiastically than he offered the berries; Link would much prefer to keep going than rest. Especially since he just ate two berries.

Well, that's one way to do it. He supposes Link could just be a tremendous idiot that shoved some unknown berries in his mouth and may or may not suffer the consequences later, but at least it they're still close to the city, Felwinter can probably fly them back, and it won't be Dustin's fault.

Once Link offers the berries again, Dustin frowns, swipes them out of his hand, and pops a couple of them himself. They certainly taste how their entry describes, but 'slightly sweet' isn't much to go off of when talking about a fruit; the rejuvenation effect, on the other hand, is a lot more pronounced. Immediately some of the heat leaves his legs, as well as other muscles that he hadn't even been thinking about. Is it actually providing energy for them or just numbing the pain? He supposes he'll find that out once it wears off.

"Not resting," Dustin affirms, carefully placing the remaining berries into a small, drawstring bag tied to his hip, specifically meant for travel rations (a handful of dried baconroom at the bottom won't suffer from being in contact with other food). "These are working, and there's too much daylight left. Not wasting any more time on this."

And Dustin starts walking again, brushing past Link with a furrowed look on his lowered face. He really doesn't enjoy having so much attention put on him like this.

To be fair, Link's demonstration doesn't really prove much considering that he'd already been running and climbing around. Felwinter isn't sure he's convinced that the berries actually do anything for Dustin, but as the young man pushes off to continue, the warlord merely shrugs. If the boy looks to be flagging, he'll just toss him over a bony shoulder. He lets them both start ahead of him, bringing up the rear, continuing to mark off their way every so often.

Between the general attentiveness of Dustin and Felwinter, and Link's more specific attunement to the flora around them, they soon enough begin to notice the shift in the greenery of their surroundings as they go further along. Things are different here, more flush with plant-life, as though there'd been some invisible boundary keeping them from fully stretching out their metaphorical arms. Greenery thrives out here, like a completely different world.

Link humms in agreement, glad that they aren't resting after all. Which means, of course, that Link soon returns to his usual mode of running off to look at anything and everything that strikes his fancy.

He notices the change in plant life - his new expertise in the local flora helping him notice and identify what's around him. He doesn't know why, but it's clear that they're seeing much more variety.

Variety which he brings back to the other two, in the form of handful of different - the early arrivals for spring. One pretty blue flower he's already tucked behind one ear, as a nice little bit of decoration.

"Different plants out here," he says, as he offers the rest of the flowers to Dustin and Felwinter. Maybe they'd like some too? To put behind their own ears, or wherever else they'd like.

Dustin continues ahead, quietly satisfied that he isn't getting any further protests, but also now deeply self-conscious about showing weakness again. The effects of the Naro berries come and go, Dustin's legs begin to ache again; this time, though, he just pops another fruit and some baconroom jerky, washes it down with water, and stubbornly refuses to let his feet drag in the dirt. He is not holding up this expedition.

While he's so focused on keeping pace, however, Dustin does miss the subtle transition from the near-city to wild ecosystem around him, at least until Link points it out. Dustin blinks at the flowers thrust in front of him.

"...I don't recognize those," he says, sounding genuinely surprised. Sure the plants have started to look more lively, but they've still stuck to the same, familiar species present in Temba that Dustin remembers, both from physical observation and the 'Dictionary.' This is something totally new.

Curiously, Dustin plucks several of the flowers away from Link, holding them delicately in one hand while he reaches around for his backpack with the other. After a bit of fumbling, he manages to procure a bound notebook - a cherished commodity, considering the rarity of paper, that he used an entire replicator ration on - which he opens to a predetermined page, carefully lines the flowers up, and then presses and rebinds the notebook closed.

Felwinter looks back at the others from where he'd paused once against to make a few lines on the trunk of a tree. Replacing his knife, he rejoins the two, looking at the flowers Link presents.

He isn't sure what he's supposed to do with flowers, but he nevertheless takes them with care. It's such a simple gesture but there have been very few things the warlord has ever been given.

"The wilderness has become...fuller," he observes, lifting his gaze. "There seems no real reason for such a transition. I wonder how much of a radius that covers..."

Link makes a soft sound of acknowledgement, looking pleased that both of them liked the flowers. Not that he's surprised, of course. Who doesn't like flowers?

As for Felwinter's comment about the change, Link shrugs. The agriculture datapoint has given him a lot of additional knowledge, but he doesn't know everything.

"They probably don't like to grow near Temba." For whatever reason that was. With plants, it could be a lot of things.

Dustin arcs an eyebrow at Link's idea, but stifles any snide thoughts about it before they escape into the open. Might not actually be too far off, he considers with a sniff.

"...A theory," Dustin posits tentatively, stuffing his notebook into one of his more accessible coat pockets. "The non-native plant life introduced to Temba and Sh'Ka could be affecting the overall growth of plants in and around the cities. The local ecosystem does react to them differently, in general."

Felwinter doesn't have any handy notebooks to store flowers so a pocket will have to do. He doesn't scoff at Link's suggestion. There's a lot they don't know about the place, and the wildlife itself has mostly kept its distance save for the occasional creatures.

"Hm," he muses as Dustin puts forth his theory. "A reasonable possibility that just further underlines the question of why everything is as it is to begin with. Someone had gone out of their way to transplant two communities on a foreign planet."

Link frowns. Dustin and Felwinter are talking like this is all old news - but to Link, it's all new.

"The plants at Temba are from...somewhere else?" Link had assumed they were all local. Sometimes strange, yes. But local.

Dustin nods, both to Link and Felwinter.

"That seems to be the case," he explains. "The majority of plant life in Temba had a severe reaction to the storm last summer, and the areas that were affected the least were where the Funfronds were focusing their efforts on 'adjusting' the soil composition. They mentioned that the plants that need treatment like this aren't from Agra 10, so, it follows that they must be from elsewhere."

Simple. Dustin meanders in his stubborn walk forward towards a small thicket of bushes, noting now how he doesn't recognize the flowers and tiny berries growing on it, either. He plucks an example of both for safekeeping.

"Makes sense if you consider colonization efforts, though," he continues, turning his head to glance at Felwinter out of the corner of his eye. "Particularly for a species like the Graq. They likely weren't brought here on their own accord, so transplanting them into an environment as closely related to their original home as possible would make that process less traumatic for them."

"Ah... It makes sense now. That wild overgrowth?" Felwinter looks between the two. That had been quite an annoyance, tiring to cull. He remembers the mural that he and Dustin had puzzled over. Funfronds... "Did they have anything else to say?"

He starts to walk ahead of them again, not particularly fast nor far as he studied the terrain more carefully.

"But we don't know how long the Graq had been present in Sh'Ka nor what happened to them, and only the Agrii seem to be convinced that this is their homeworld and express a desire to come back to it."

And this is the point where Link gets a bit...lost.

He's still new to this place. And he has no idea what the 'Graq' are. Has never heard of any of this history of colonisation, of how and why the Agrii ended up displaced from their home.

But rather than ask questions about who and what Dustin and Felwinter are talking about, Link just stays silent. He just looks between the two as they talk, listening closely even if he's missing a lot of the context.

Link, at least, is used to missing context.

With Link keeping to himself, Dustin focuses his efforts on addressing Felwinter's questions. "Yes," he answers. "...A lot, actually. Followed up with the Barrys, too. I should..."

...Probably have told him earlier, is what Dustin thinks. Felwinter had been there when they confirmed that the little sapient plants were an integral part of Agra 10's history, and while Dustin is still quite anxious about disseminating critical information in the open, the Exo is definitely on his short list of people who ought to know for that reason alone.

But he keeps his thoughts on the matter to himself. "...Talk about it later," Dustin mumbles, looking a bit embarrassed as he sweeps a hand though his hair. "When we stop for camp. Need to catch my breath."

This isn't a lie or an attempt at a diversion - Dustin's done a lot of talking in the past few minutes, and while the Naro berries have definitely helped, they're still only just about allowing him to keep pace. He sounds noticeably breathless.

Felwinter seems fine with this, giving a nod. He continues along, although Link's obvious confusion does not go overlooked.

"...there are many unknowns to this world. The Agrii were not the only ones here, and there is a possibility that this was not their original homeworld. The other city, Sh'Ka, shows signs of habitation by a different species than the Agrii, called the Graq.

"Where they have gone or why anyone had even brought them here is among the many things we still do not know of this place."

He points ahead. "The forest seems to start to clear. If you can hold out a little longer, Dustin." Although from how the kid sounds, he might just go offer him his back to hang on to.

The Graq? Another name, that Link doesn't have the context for. Though it seems that deeper explanations might be coming soon.

To Felwinter, Link nods. "Trees are thinning." They'll be able to make camp soon, he's sure.

Which means, of course - soon it'll be time to eat. And on that note, Link better go make sure he's got everything he needs to make dinner.

So once again, Link runs off - this time, to pick up some herbs and game.

"Yeah, yeah," Dustin mutters, once again bristling under the increased fussing from Felwinter. "I'm fine."

He is, of course, not fine. They've been walking for most of the day now - a period of time where Dustin would have taken several catnaps and eaten twice as many calories while going about his business - and no amount of stamina-enhancing berries is going to completely negate that fact. He is bone weary, walking forward now more for the promise of finally getting to sit down and eat something substantial once they reach this mythical clearing in the near distance.

Felwinter isn't seeing it as fussing. He's not even aware at how annoyed Dustin is about it. He makes subtle adjustments to his pace just so he doesn't outdistance the teenager. At this point it seems there's no telling Link what to do, but at least if there's any trouble, then the other should be able to notify them if he didn't just tackle it himself. Somehow Felwinter doesn't think that possibility too far for the intrepid hoarder.

The woods thin out as anticipated, perhaps not soon enough but all the same the woods give way to open skies and an expanse of field dotted with shrubbery. Felwinter stops at its edge, looking out at this new landscape. After being in a city surrounded by woods for so long, seeing anything else is almost strange.

He looks for Link, casting a glance at Dustin and then skywards as he tries to gauge the hours of daylight they have left. And perhaps any foreign bodies that might just happen to be there waiting to fall.

"We'll stop here," he says. He's reluctant to be out in an open field, so he opts that they stay just at the wood's edge, between the two transitioning spaces.

Link shows up soon enough, with an assorted selection of herbs and root vegetables he's found in one hand. In the other hand, he holds up a dead creature - some kind of marsupial-like creature with arrows still sticking out of its body.

"For dinner!" he announces, visibly cheery in a way he often doesn't emote. And then he starts setting out his little travelling cooking kit, getting the fire going, and getting started on cooking. He's not cooked this particular animal before, so he's going to have to experiment a little - but thankfully, the Agriculture datapoint also helps him know what plants he can use, and how.

Over the next half an hour or so, Link will frequently hum to himself as he cooks them all a nice meat stew.

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