ExFic 2: Dionysus Forest

Katrina awoke to the sunlight streaming down from the canopy and the smell of maple syrup, cinnamon, and oatmeal wafting on the breeze. She was momentarily confused before the feeling of a backpack under her head reminded her that she had left the village last night. She sat up and stretched before opening her makeshift pillow and digging around for something to eat.

“I’m making oatmeal, you know,” Rion said stirring the pot on the campfire in front of him. “And it’s almost done.”

“I know,” Katrina replied cheerfully as she found some dried apricots and ate a few. “But I’m really hungry. Where’s Wearwolf?”

“Eh, probably hunting,” answered Rion with a shrug. “You know how wolves are.”

Katrina looked over at Jaime. Rion’s twin sister was still snoozing away, curled up at the base of a tree. Katrina felt she was improperly dressed for a multi-day trek through the woods with that long skirt of hers. Still, that was no excuse for sleeping in, so she stood up, wedged a foot beneath Jaime’s sleeping form, and flipped her over. Jaime awoke with a start, scrambled for her backpack, and hunched over her belongings in a futile attempt to protect them from imaginary brigands.

“Good morning,” Katrina greeted in a cheery, sing-song voice.

“’Morning,” Jaime replied, more annoyed than anything else once she got a handle on the situation.

“Good afternoon is more like it,” Wearwolf said as he trotted out of the brush. That clear voice that seemed to bypass Katrina’s ears and register directly in her brain somehow seemed clearer than ever in the bright woods. Although Rion and Jaime weren’t privy to his side of the conversation, they could tell when Katrina was listening to him. “Were you planning on sleeping the entire day and traveling under the cover of darkness?”

“Nah, not really,” Katrina replied. She put the apricots away and began searching her long, black hair for tangled leaves and dirt. “I hadn’t really planned on anything, now that I think about it. I just walked until I was too tired to walk. I’ll probably do that today and tomorrow, too.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Rion chuckled. He ladled out some of the oatmeal into bowls and handed one to his sister.

“So, where have you been?” Katrina asked, giving Wearwolf a quizzical look. “Out hunting?”

“Something like that,” Wearwolf replied. “I was actually trying to find my old pack mates before we were out of howling range.”

“Cool,” Katrina said as straightened out and stretched a bit more. She looked up at the sun and allowed her face to soak up the rays.

“You’re awfully chipper this morning,” Jaime noted, blowing on her oatmeal. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen you this genuinely cheerful for a couple years now.”

“She’s happy she gets to spend so much more time with me,” Rion bragged as he handed Katrina a bowl.

“It’s just such a beautiful day, is all,” Katrina replied, taking in the many shades of green and brown and blue and whatever other colors happened to fall within her line of sight. “I feel like I’m finally taking control over my life, you know? I ain’t gonna let nuttin’ tie me down or tell me what to do. Not until I get to the academy, of course, but I’m getting a step closer to my dreams all the time, you know?”

“Quite,” Wearwolf confirmed. “Katrina, do you have any idea where we’re going?”

“Not overall, no,” Katrina admitted. “But I’m pretty sure this is the way to the next town. From there we’ll probably get a map and ask for directions or something.”

“Good plan,” Jaime commented.

“Are you sure it is wise to proceed without a clear sense of direction?” Werewolf inquired.

“I don’t know about wise,” Katrina replied. “But I’m sure it’s gonna be a whole lot more fun.”

They soon finished breakfast and set out on their way. As they marched, the twittering of birds wafted overhead as the birds flittered from branch to branch in the euphoric ecstasy of their inherent birdlyness. With every step the ground underfoot was to Katrina as the wind that keeps birds aloft, rising up to push her steadily onward into the great, blue yonder. Avoiding branches and climbing over logs was like swooping and diving along the air currents, rising to new heights and soaring back down gleefully. The birds soon landed in their nests and regurgitated their morning meal into the mouths of their young, which was not an experience Katrina was sharing and would, quite frankly, rather avoid.

Katrina grabbed a low-hanging branch, hoisted herself up, and stood on it, gazing out into the distance. She couldn’t see anything other than trees at this height, so she climbed higher. She went higher and higher until she ran out of supporting branches and shimmied up the rest of the trunk. Once her head was above the canopy, she gazed over the vast sea of timber, trees as far as the eye can see, and looked for distinctive landmarks. Behind her, to the southwest, was Dionysus Village, the town she grew up in. Just a little beyond that were the tree-covered hills that concealed the Dionysus Terra Engine, one of several massive machines that were said to have transformed a red, barren world into the lush landscape that lay before her. It was hard to believe that just a handful of generations ago, life on this planet was debatable at best.

She looked northward. Practically on the horizon were mountains that faded into the blue sky. There was one that stood out among the rest, reaching higher into space and practically disappearing into it. Neo Olympus Mons. It had to be. Roger had pointed it out to her before. The highest point on Ares. Home of the Chimera Knights.

When she was a child, Katrina would take every opportunity to climb the tallest tree she could find and just stare at the mountain. She would dream of going there and being among those she considered gods and one day be a god herself. She would stand alongside her comrades and do all those things she heard stories about, fighting evil and protecting the innocent and stuff. And now she was going there, and all she had to do was walk to the horizon.

“Katrina!” Wearwolf called up from below. “What do you see up there?”

Katrina looked back down. As if punishing her for allowing her attention to wander from its most prominent feature, the ground shook heavily as if someone had shoved the entire continent across a hardwood floor and the twig she was holding onto snapped like a small branch. She fell a few feet and grabbed onto another branch farther down. This branch wasn’t feeling terribly supportive either and creaked in protest. Figuring it was going to break anyway, Katrina swung off that branch, missed the branch she was aiming for, plummeted for a long while before she opened her eyes and realized she was hanging by the strap of her backpack from a branch that was slightly more than a man’s height from the ground.

“Katrina, are you injured?” Wearwolf inquired.

“Just my pride,” Katrina replied. “My palms sting a little, though.”

“You need any help?” Rion offered, almost laughing.

“Nah, I’m cool,” Katrina answered. As she reached for the branch she hanging from, the shift in weight caused her strap to slip off and she landed in a heap on the ground. She got back up and shook the dirt and leaves from her hair. “I’m fine, I’m just a little… Man, whose idea was it to put the ground here?”

Katrina toppled onto her butt and waiting for the stars to stop orbiting her head.

“Guys?” Katrina asked, clutching her head between her hands. Her friends rushed to her side and helped her stay upright.

“Aw, man, are you alright?” Rion asked.

“I dunno, how are my eyes?” Katrina asked. “Do they look alright?”

“Look at me, look at me,” Jaime urged while moving Katrina’s hands off her head. She pulled a penlight from her pocket and shined it her eyes, one at a time. “Yeah, I think you’re good. How many fingers am I holding up?”

Katrina looked at the hand in front of her face and ventured, “Four?”

“Katrina, what’s going on?” Wearwolf asked.

“Good, good,” Jaime replied. “What’s the capital of Yankovic?”

“What is this all about, Katrina?” Wearwolf asked.

“Harvey,” Katrina answered. “And Wearwolf wants to know what’s going on.”

“Does he understand English?” Rion asked.

“Well enough, I think,” Katrina replied.

“We’re just making sure Katrina doesn’t have a concussion,” Jaime explained. “If her perception’s all screwed up and she can’t answer simple questions, then she might have brain damage. She seems fine so far, though. Just one more test, though…”

Jaime reached into her backpack and pulled out a baggie full of treats. She proffered one to Katrina and asked, “Want an almond cluster?”

“Gimme!” Katrina exclaimed, practically leaping on the cluster. Jaime was able to let go of it before Katrina bit her fingers off.

“Yeah, she’s fine,” Rion noted.

“That was a most unusual occurrence,” Wearwolf cited with an anxiousness to his voice that Katrina never heard before. “I never felt the ground shake like that.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that ‘quake?” Katrina translated through a mouthful of almonds. “We don’t usually get those around here.”

“Maybe the Terra Engine had a brief malfunction?” Rion offered. “A glitch in the matrix?”

“I certainly hope not,” Jaime replied. “It doesn’t happen often, but it’s never a good sign. Remember New Atlanta? Their Terra Engine malfunctioned one night and the entire city was underwater by dawn. This whole region could be a lava field by noon tomorrow.”

“Maybe we should head back,” Rion said uncertainly. “I mean, our folks must be worried about us enough without the threat of an impending apocalypse hovering over them. What do you think, Katrina? … Katrina?”

Katrina was already on her feet and marching off into the wilderness. At the sound of her own name being repeated, she stopped and looked back at her friends with an intent look in her eyes.

“You guys can head back if you wanna,” Katrina said evenly. There was a restrained sadness in her voice, as if she was trying to convince herself of her following words as much as anyone else. “But I’ve never been this far out of town before and come Hell or high water, I’m not turning back now.”

There was a long moment where they just stood there, staring at each other as birds twittered overhead. Even Wearwolf had yet to follow Katrina. Eventually, silently, Katrina turned forward and marched off and everyone fell into step behind her.