private A Temporal Odyssey

[Zhooves 843]

As they wandered into the jungle, his hears poked up and he looked around as there were some extra rustling around them. Not too soon after, he heard another noise uncommon to him, and not a second later an arrow had flown past Chronos' head.

 

Looking up, he caught a glimpse of something.

"There was something big that moved over there..." he said, facing in the general direction the arrow had come from.

"What happened?" Midnatt asked, looking around "En pil - an arrow or something just flew past us." North replied, giving her a pat on the back with a wing. "Now that made me feel safe..."

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Sterling jumped happily when Blue Note agreed to learn some tricks. Sterling rushed out of the cabin door and headed towards the outside, urging Blue Note onward with him. 

 

"C'mon Blue Note! Let's learn some sword fighting today!" Sterling's suspicions against Blue Note were still there, but at the same time, she was already more friendly than all the ponies he met at the University. Maybe she was different... Maybe she was...

"Okay," Blue Note said with a hint of uncertainty. There really was no telling what was waiting for them outside. "Where are we going to practice?" She still felt uneasy being so far away from the others, especially because she suspected both she and Sterling were more academic than physical in their strengths. Not that she couldn't take care of herself, but defending herself against thugs was much different than defending herself against some of the strongest magic in Equestria. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling kept on running until he reached the island's shores. He just noticed that Blue Note was far behind him, forcing him to wait for her. Once she arrived, Sterling replied to Blue Note,

 

"Well we can practice here! Shall we start with some basics?" Sterling gave Blue Note a sheepish smile, hoping to get things started. Hopefully they wouldn't be ambushed by natives and the like while they were practicing by the ship.

Edited July 6, 2014 by Sterling Crimson

[Steel Accord 6,660]

As they wandered into the jungle, his hears poked up and he looked around as there were some extra rustling around them. Not too soon after, he heard another noise uncommon to him, and not a second later an arrow had flown past Chronos' head.

 

Looking up, he caught a glimpse of something.

"There was something big that moved over there..." he said, facing in the general direction the arrow had come from.

"What happened?" Midnatt asked, looking around "En pil - an arrow or something just flew past us." North replied, giving her a pat on the back with a wing. "Now that made me feel safe..."

@@Zhooves, 

 

Steel nodded. 

 

"If there's one thing that can reveal the hidden foe in this shadowed mire, it is your senses my friend. Your brother has a gift, Midnight, many a time North has guided us by ear or sharp sight. The Truesight, the lantern that adorns his flank does not deceive."

Edited July 6, 2014 by Steel Accord

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Blue Note was panting a little when she finally caught up with Sterling. She wanted to complain about how hot this island was, but thought better of it. "You're fast," she said. She paused a beat. "Basics seem like a reasonable start." She had to know how to use a weapon, even if she (hopefully) never needed it. She had already decided that she preferred magic spells, despite never having touched a weapon. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

When Blue Note had finally caught up with Sterling, it was for him to teach what he knew to Blue Note. He took out the dagger that Steel had given him on his first adventure... It was so that he could defend him and his beloved against all enemies... It saddened him to see that he couldn't protect Evening from even the smallest of microbes... Sterling sighed when he took out his dagger, but he knew he needed to have some faith in Manehattan's medical department. Having shook his head from his fears, he calmly stretched his hoof to show Blue Note his dagger and then began to teach,

 

"The first thing to know about a weapon is how to hold it. So as you can see, here's how I hold it. It's so that you don't easily lose it when you start fighting. Who knows? A smart ninja could fool any of us and take the dagger mid-fight." Sterling then positioned his hoof to show her how to hold the dagger before offering his dagger to her so she could give it a go. 

[Zhooves 843]

Steel nodded. 

 

"If there's one thing that can reveal the hidden foe in this shadowed mire, it is your senses my friend. Your brother has a gift, Midnight, many a time North has guided us by ear or sharp sight. The Truesight, the lantern that adorns his flank does not deceive."

"Aye, thank ye..." he said, seeming somewhat flattered, before his face turned to an almost surprised look.

"There be something on me flank?" he said looking behind him. "Nothing... I am confused now..." he finished, tilting his head a bit.

"There be no way that you get your mark before me..." Midnatt said, almost giggling before turning to Steel.

"And ja, I know he can be bit of an animal... My ears and eyes are good as well, but not living in the dark like he, they have not become as sharp, especially in the dark."

[Umbral Noir 1,556]

@@Steel Accord

@@Pripyat Pony

@@Zhooves

@@Wayzer

 

DJ nodded. "You're right, Steel. North's eyesight is phenomenal in the darkest of places; a truly great ability! It will e useful to us here!" Turning to Clover, he asked, "Any idea where he's fled to? Or where he's hiding? We'd better find him soon, as I don't know how many surprises we can survive!"

 

Looking about, he still couldn't see anything. Maybe the shadowy attacker had fled? If so, they had to find him again...

 

-------

 

Chronos was rocking back and forth on the ground, muttering "There's no place like home. There's no place like home..." He wished he knew how to fight, and how to be braver. If he was, he might not be lying on the ground, an he could seem so calm and collects like DJ and his friends were. If only...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

Blue Note steadied her shaking hoof before taking the dagger. She hoped he hadn't noticed. "Like this?" she asked. The position was awkward for her. She tried to move her hoof forward. Her grip was not solid, so the dagger started slipping to the ground. She picked it back up with her magic. "Maybe I should levitate it instead," she said. "Levitation is so much easier." Her magic was not suited to the blade, however, and she found it difficult to keep it steady. It was a shaking a little. 

 

"That's not good," she said. She wanted to gently set it on the ground, instead it dropped rapidly. She scrambled backwards to get out of the way, losing her hold on it. It fell blade first into the sand before her. "That was a bit close," Blue Note said. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling could see that Blue Note was struggling to hold his dagger with much composure, just like how he struggled when he first saw a dagger. When she tried to levitate it, the dagger simply fell to the ground after a struggle. Sterling shook his head when she tried to use magic.

 

"Magic doesn't work with weapons. You need the grip that comes from your hooves." Sterling replied calmly. He then motioned for Blue Note to try again, and would then go through the rest of the very basics of holding and using a dagger soon after... Hopefully, he could get it done quickly because he needed to go into the jungle and find his friends...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

"Really?" Blue Note asked. "I suppose I remember reading that when I was back in school." Her memories of reading textbooks late at night were hazy, but her diligent note-taking had led some things to stick, albeit a little late. It all happened so quickly, and she had been so nervous. Still, she should have remembered sooner. At least the floodgates of her memory had opened back up. "Magic is such a versatile energy though. There are a few cases of magical weapon users, though to our knowledge completely historic. I think that it would be fascinating to find one. Magicians would love to study somepony like that. It's so enigmatic how they managed it." Blue Note realized she starting to ramble, and cut herself off. Music and magic were the to two topics she could never quite shut up about.

 

"Right, so, like this?" she asked. The grip was still awkward, but it was firmer this time. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling nodded when Blue Note mentioned that magic was a versatile energy. He often wished that he could utilize magic better. He never really got the hang of it as a colt. Perhaps he should see if he could get pointers from her sometime... After all, she seemed to know a ton of magic given her rambling about it. She rambled so much that Sterling didn't even know when to cut her off! But he shook his head and remembered... He didn't know whether she was really to be trusted. So far, things were looking good, but he had to be on his guard, since she was from Manehattan's University... At the same time, Blue Note was holding the dagger much better now, and now they were getting to business...

 

Sterling and Blue Note continued their training, which didn't last longer than an hour... Sterling didn't know too much other than the basics of defense. Once training was over, Sterling nodded at Blue Note and said,

 

"Well that's what I've learned from Steel. You can learn a lot more from him if you want. Now, we've got to get going... Do we have everything?" Sterling then checked his bags to see whether he got his herbs, water, and food. Looks like he got everything, so he closed his bag and then looked at Blue Note, hoping that she was ready.

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

"Okay," Blue Note said. Training with Sterling had been all right, though she still felt inadequate. Perhaps Steel would be able to help her more, though the prospect of being trained by somepony so much more skilled than her was intimidating. She pushed those thought away, no need to worry about that now. 

 

Blue Note checked her bag. Giant bottles of water, some of her snacks, two sheets of a paper and pen, and her plastic clarinet, everything essential to life for her. "Yep, ready to go. Where do we start?"

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling was pleased that Blue Note too was ready for the jungle adventure to begin, although he wished he didn't have to do this in the first place. But it was time to begin, and there was no turning back... Sterling noticed what seemed like an opening into the forest to his right and with a dirt path roughly laid out for them. Sterling pointed at the opening into the forest and spoke assertively,

 

"Well I say we go in that way! I mean, the opening's the best way we've got!" Sterling then jogged into the forest, motioning for Blue Note to come along...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

"All right, seems logical to me," she said. A path was better than dodging tree branches. She trotted along after him. "So I suppose we'll just have to keep an ear out for the others," she said. The jungle was full of interesting sounds that she was unaccustomed to hearing. Blue Note's mind started to wander to writing a piece about the jungle. What instrumentation should she use? She started humming a little, but caught herself. She should be focusing; there would be plenty of time for writing about the jungle later.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Sterling trudged through the jungles with Blue Note by his side. Once again, his mind wavered to Evening, wishing that it was Evening instead of Blue Note who was going with him alone into the jungles. It would have been a very romantic day despite being frightful. At least he had a pony he truly loved to be a shining knight to... Now he was separated forcibly from her... and now he had to help another mare... He was so focused on Evening that he didn't notice Blue Note happily humming as the two ventured deeper into the jungle, hoping that they would find their friends rather than their foes...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note was a bit relieved when she found the walk through the juggle boring. No creatures had tried to jump out and eat her, which was her main concern. Sterling was quiet, almost like he was somewhere else. Blue Note found herself humming again. If only she could stop and writing this melody down... And maybe tap out a percussion part. But she knew that she had to keep moving. The path seemed to go on forever, and there was no guarantee they would find anypony. Everything was tinged with uncertainty. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling was still deep in his thoughts about Evening, when suddenly, out of nowhere! A python that was about as long as Sterling jumped up and snarled at Sterling! Sterling quickly jumped away from the python and backed himself away as far as he could! He remained frozen, placing his front hoof to block Blue Note from moving any further... He could feel himself beginning to sweat at the fangs that stretched for 2 inches and its green eyes that reminded him of the Changelings that tried to take over Canterlot... It had a scaly skin that alternated between red and yellow stripes, as if to show its fury to all the world...

 

"B-B-B-B-B-Blue Note... RUN!!!!!!" Sterling shouted as he began to move away from the python faster and faster...

Edited July 7, 2014 by Sterling Crimson

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

"Ah!" Blue Note screamed. Instinctively, she shot her trusted stun spell at it. She was not sure what effect it would have the python, but she was not about to stick around and make observations. Leave that to the professionals. She turned around and followed after Sterling, barely keeping up behind him. She was tired from all the walking, and bag weighed heavily on her, but adrenaline and sense of self-preservation kept her going.

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

The python was thankfully stunned by Blue Note's stun spell, but Sterling was still running away from the python as fast as he could! He hated snakes! Out of all the animals in the world he hated the most, he hated snakes! The jungle was very kind to him up to that point. Now he had to be careful for the rest of his time here... Who knows what terrors lurked in the jungles... 

 

Eventually, Sterling could see what looked like a remote village in the middle of the jungle... There were wooden huts everywhere and he could see zebras trotting around doing their chores and some foals playing with some coconut balls. He wondered whether this was a safe village or not or whether they should be staying where they were...

 

"Blue... what do you make of this village? Should we enter?" Sterling asked with intrigue...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@Sterling Crimson

 

"Blue Note," she said. "It prefer Blue Note; my name is not Blue." She was used to correctly ponies on her name, and could manage a brisk, cordial correction. It was a peculiarity that most ponies were able to accept, despite their bafflement. Blue was too much of a pointed reminder for her. 

 

"As far as the village goes, this would probably be the place," she said. "We're not being attacked for standing outside, so we must not be entirely unwelcome."

[Inactive01 5,299]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling shrugged slightly when Blue Note mentioned that she wanted to called Blue Note at all times. It was a weird quirk for him, but at the same time, if she wanted it that way, so be it. Sterling then nodded at Blue Note's astute observation about the village. They certainly seemed friendly enough, and no pony wanted to attack them by any means. Sterling then asked for confirmation, because he didn't want to regret his decision...

 

"Well I don't want to make this a bad move... are we sure we want to move in Blue Note?"

[lincolnshirepony 527]

@lincolnshirepony

 

Sterling shrugged slightly when Blue Note mentioned that she wanted to called Blue Note at all times. It was a weird quirk for him, but at the same time, if she wanted it that way, so be it. Sterling then nodded at Blue Note's astute observation about the village. They certainly seemed friendly enough, and no pony wanted to attack them by any means. Sterling then asked for confirmation, because he didn't want to regret his decision...

 

"Well I don't want to make this a bad move... are we sure we want to move in Blue Note?"

This was a lot a pressure. She did not want to make a bad decision either, but the path had ended, and she did not know where else to go. Some zebras were looking at them, loitering in the entrance. A village had been what they were setting out for after all. "I don't know what else there is to do, other than turn back or go off the path." She did not necessarily say that they should move in, but the other options appealed less to her, especially after that python encounter. 

[Commander Bubbles 1,343]

@@Sterling Crimson

@@Steel Accord

@@Pripyat Pony

@@lincolnshirepony

@@Wayzer

@@Zhooves

 

The strange entity nearly impaled their newfound friend, missing him by mere inches. But before Red could try to drive his knife into the creature, he was gone!

"Damned!" Red cursed, "Where'd he go?"

Red kept his knife in hoof in a fighting stance, scanning the forest for their target. He stepped lightly, taking care not to make too much noise.

"I can't see anything here," he complained, turning to DJ, "So if you do say North has superb vision, now's the time to put your theory into play."

[Wayzer 1,418]

NightStrike was trotting deeper into the forest. The warning shot from before didn't seem to have that much of an impact on their morale. He wasn't actually planning to seriously harm any of them. NightStrike wasn't a pony for needless killing out of his contract, and even though he was an assassin that didn't mean he enjoyed killng others.

 

As he trotted there an idea sprung into his mind. They where in the jungle now anyways so why not try to make use of his knowledge of different animal species. They might prove to be an invaluable ally to him.