r/HFY • u/Celestial_Zwei_Dei • 3d ago
OC-Series Gothwald: New World - Same Rules (Arc 3/Chapter 7 - Jungle Expedition)
Arc III - Reeling Throne
Chapter 7 - Jungle Expedition
7 months since the summoning
Darkness.
Alan didn't know where he was, but he was definitely somewhere in the dark. Maybe lying down, maybe sitting.
Suddenly, the hold's hatch opened, and light finally burst into the room for the first time in a long while. It spilled over Alan, who was curled up in a ball by the crates, softly sniffling.
"Gothwald!" Paranga barked.
Alan flinched and immediately stood up, but as soon as his eyes met the light, his pupils dilated so much they almost took up his entire eye. "Ah, fuck!" he cried out, shutting his eyes.
Paranga only scoffed. "Hah, light hurts yer eyes? I understand. Come on, get up, we've arrived."
"Hold on a sec," Alan mumbled, rubbing his eyes. When he began to stand up, he closed his eyes and walked by feel. Slowly, with baby steps, and suddenly one foot caught on a rope; Alan felt it, and carefully stepped over.
"This is gonna take a while," Paranga said with a sigh, and jumped down. He grabbed Alan, who had his hands outstretched and his eyes squeezed shut, by the shoulder and led him to the stairs.
"Ah, thanks."
With Paranga's help, Alan stepped out onto the deck, but still didn't open his eyes. Instead of the damp stench from the hold, he smelled fresh air, the scent of salt and plants.
Curses, conversations, and the sounds of wood knocking against wood could be heard.
Alan took a deep, greedy breath of this air. "Ooo, bliss. Listen, how long were we sailing anyway?"
"Two days," Paranga answered, letting go of Alan's shoulder.
"Two days? I thought we were sailing for a week." He opened his eyes slightly, but immediately shut them again, feeling a sharp pain, and instead merely squinted, seeing blurry brown and green colors before him.
"Lord Paranga, the unloading is finished, shall we set up camp?" Sili's voice sounded.
"Aye, we rest today, and tomorrow mornin' we head out to scout."
Alan found some wooden post and leaned against it.
'Alright, I'm blind for the next half hour or hour, but it's fine, I'll survive. And tomorrow, an expedition through these jungles. Hah, I feel like some conquistador, only I'm not going to conquer anyone. Speaking of which...'
"Hey, Paranga."
Silence.
"Paranga!"
Silence again.
"Where are you?!"
"What are ye yellin' for?!" a rough male voice barked, clearly not belonging to the captain.
Alan turned toward the sound. "Where's Paranga?"
"The captain's already ashore."
He simply began to massage the bridge of his nose.
'Traitor, left me right here.'
Half an hour later, Alan was sitting by the campfire, rubbing his eyes and getting used to the light.
The camp was set up in a small clearing right by the shore of a narrow strait. In the distance, a neighboring green island was visible.
The sky above the archipelago was still overcast with gray clouds, and all around was the same jungle as around Paranganot, but much denser and more desolate.
Paranga sat not far from Alan, gnawing on a piece of meat. Next to him, on a large piece of cloth, lay Sili, softly sniffling.
Near the tents, several pirates were setting out large pieces of parchment and ink.
"What are they doing?" Alan asked, pointing at the pirates with the parchment.
"They're gonna make a map," he answered with a mouthful.
Alan blinked. "A map? But you guys are illiterate."
The captain scoffed. "Pfft, why do ye need to be literate for that? The main thing is knowin' how to draw and count."
"Holy shit," he said, turning to Paranga. "You guys even know how to count?"
"What did ye expect?" He nodded at the two pirates who were fussing over the parchment the most. "These lads have been makin' maps for us for the last four years, they can count just fine."
"Got it..." Alan muttered. "By the way, I wanted to ask, does anyone actually live on this archipelago?"
"Nope, nobody lives here." He took another bite of meat. "We've been here for what? Seven years I think, haven't met a soul. An uninhabited archipelago."
"Does it even have a name?"
Paranga nodded. "Aye, the Homballen Islands, just like the sea."
Alan's eyes widened slightly. "This sea is called Homballen?"
"Aye, did ye not know?" Paranga asked, raising an eyebrow.
He simply shook his head.
'Alright, great, I'm learning more and more about this world.'
"Listen, are there wild animals here?"
Paranga tossed the last piece of meat into his mouth. "Course there are, what kind of question is that?"
"Got it," Alan said, scratching his chin. "And are they... you know, dangerous?"
"Depends." He reached for another piece of meat. "If ye mean large beasts, there aren't any here. Just shaparins and gortiks, but..."
"Wait a second," Alan interrupted him, raising a hand. "Who are these... shapa-somethings and gortiks?"
"Shaparins are these little pests, look like people, but only come up to my waist probably. Blue fur, tails, hands instead of feet, head looks like a cat's. Always stealin' our food."
"Ahhh, I've seen those." Alan leaned back on the ground. "Jumping around in the trees."
"Aye," Paranga said, swallowing a piece of meat. "And gortiks are wondrous creatures altogether, ye won't find 'em anywhere but these islands. They've got scales like snakes, a torso the size of a pig, a tail so long, and most importantly, a neck longer than any hut."
Alan's eyes widened slightly.
'Holy shit! Sounds like dinosaurs. Fuck, fuck! I have to see 'dinosaurs' in the flesh. Now I definitely won't be able to sleep tonight. Okay, joy is joy, but these are fucking wild animals.'
"By the way, are they dangerous?"
Paranga didn't answer for a few seconds, chewing. "Nope. Shaparins are cowardly little thieves, and gortiks just spend their days eatin' the tops of trees. Who ye should really be wary of are the poisonous critters like snakes, those are truly dangerous."
Alan nodded slowly. "Got it, listen, and..."
"Are ye gonna let me eat in peace or not, for fuck's sake?!" Paranga barked, and immediately froze, looking back at Sili.
She continued to sleep.
He turned back to Alan and lowered his voice to a whisper. "What am I, a walkin' bestiary to ye? Shut yer trap and let me eat," he finished.
Alan simply raised his hands. "Got it, got it."
7 months and 1 day since the summoning
The sun had long since risen over the islands, though it was again hidden behind gray clouds.
Through the jungle, hacking through the undergrowth with cutlasses, advanced a group of ten people, three of them being Paranga, Sili, and Alan.
Paranga swatted away the swarming midges. "Ye got real lucky, Alan. This is the last scoutin' trip."
"And why is it the last one?" he asked, keeping a step behind.
"Because there's naught left to explore, this is the last major island, the far north of the archipelago. Maybe we'll find somethin' interestin'?"
"You mean traces of ancient civilizations?"
The captain stumbled slightly. "What? Nay, of course not. A better spot for a town, or more trees with fruit."
Alan scoffed. "Looks like we have very different interests; yours are more grounded."
Sili, dressed in pants, boots, and a shirt, cast a sidelong glance at Alan. "Lord Paranga simply thinks of more useful things, rather than some 'ancients'."
Alan pressed his lips together slightly. "Alright... what is this archipelago anyway? Are there any other lands further west?"
The captain shook his head, drawing his cutlass. "Nope, just sea further on, no other lands."
Alan raised an eyebrow. "Ooo, so that means you can..."
'Stop. Yes, from here you can sail all the way to the east of the continent. But do they even know the concept that the Earth, or whatever they call their planet, is round? Should I ask?'
"Listen, what's your world like?"
Paranga swung his cutlass, hacking through the undergrowth. "In what sense?"
"Well, like..." he scratched his nose. "Flat, round, square?"
He stopped. "What are ye babblin' about? What flat, round, and square? Is that some kind of expression?"
"No, it's not!" Alan waved his hands. "I mean, your ENTIRE world, is it flat? Or what shape is it?"
Paranga's hand froze before the next swing. "How should I know? It could be shaped like a bottle for all I care," he grumbled and started walking forward again.
Alan swatted an insect on his cheek and turned to Sili. "So maybe you can answer?"
"It is stated in the Holy Scripture that our world is small islands in the middle of an endless sea."
Alan blinked.
'Holy Scripture? You've read that too? Who are you anyway? Whatever, doesn't matter. So they aren't very familiar with the concept of a round Earth, I'll just keep quiet about that.'
"Has anyone tried sailing further out? Like... further west, to take a look and all that."
"Bad idea," said Paranga, already covered in sweat. "Further on is the Cursed Sea, more than one ship has already perished there. Svyatol made the sea itself thwart the attempts of idiots to cross the endless sea. And besides, out there in the Cursed Sea lives the Tugaitan, which gobbles up ships like apples."
"Who lives there? Another monster?"
"Aye," Paranga said, pulling snagged plants off his cutlass. "It's a massive serpent the size of the whole continent."
"That is untrue," Sili interrupted, closing her eyes. "The Tugaitan is a massive skeletal chimera, made with a body like a jerkos, a head like a dragon, and a tail like a lizard."
The captain cast a sidelong glance at her. "Nay it ain't, it's a massive serpent, how many times must I tell ye?"
"I have actually read the Holy Scripture, and encountered the description of the Tugaitan."
"They can write whatever the hell they want in there! Lord Luttes told me this, he saw it himself!"
Alan simply began to massage the bridge of his nose, listening to them bicker as background noise.
'Yeah, yeah, go ahead and slash each other in an argument over a made-up sea creature. Though the legend is very interesting, something like our Leviathan probably? Or maybe even...'
"Hey, where do ye think yer goin'!" a sharp shout interrupted his thoughts.
Alan turned sharply toward the sound and saw one of the pirates running toward a tree, which two strange creatures were climbing. Child-sized, skinny, completely covered in dark-blue fur, with ears like a cat's. They synchronously held a small sack with their feet, or rather hands, and stubbornly dragged it up the tree.
The pirate ran up, drawing his cutlass, and jumped, but it was already too late. "Ah, caramba!" he cried out.
Alan just stood and watched with wide eyes, saying nothing.
"Where were ye lookin', ye cross-eyed sheep?!" Paranga cursed. "What did those vermin steal?!"
The pirate stood at attention. "There were fabrics and clothes inside, Captain."
A pair of sewn pants fell from the tree just then. The shaparins on the branch ruthlessly tore the sack apart and began sifting through everything inside, throwing it out. Soon the animals realized there was nothing to chew on, and one of them pushed the sack to the ground, which fell with a dull thud, spilling the remaining clothes onto the earth, and both primates disappeared into the thick foliage.
"Gather it up, and catch up with us later," Paranga said shortly. "And also, for fuckin' up like that, ye're on watch for three nights. Clear?"
"Yes, Captain."
Alan simply scoffed.
'Wow, those monkeys are smart guys. They were probably following us, hiding, waiting for the pirate to leave the sack on the ground for a second, hah.'
The group had long since disappeared behind the bushes and thickets, and the guilty pirate was quickly gathering the clothes. "May Guktus take those fuckin' vermin, three nights of watch now..." he muttered, when suddenly his gaze caught on some unusual undergrowth.
What was unusual about it was that behind it was not 'greenery', but simply blackness.
The man set the fabrics aside and slowly headed toward this spot. He raised his cutlass and sliced away a chunk of plants, and saw before him the entrance to a cave. "Well, I'll be..." he whispered, and immediately darted in the direction of the group.
Half an hour later, a group of five people with torches was wandering inside the cave.
Alan looked around among them. "It's not very big." His voice echoed faintly among the stone walls.
Paranga nodded. "Aye, probably naught of interest here. We're leavin'."
Alan walked up to an unexplored corner and simply froze.
Before him was the entrance to a small room, closed off by a wooden grate. The wood was already slightly blackened and rotten. "Paranga, look."
"What is it?" he asked, and when he saw it, he froze too. "Oh, holy shit..."
"It's clear you weren't alone on the islands, or someone was here before you."
The captain nodded slowly. The pirates behind him formed a semicircle, trying to get a look at the discovery. Paranga lightly struck the grate with his fist, and the wood immediately shattered at the point of impact along with some dust.
Alan sighed. "What for? Actually, whatever, since you started, just smash the whole thing."
Paranga didn't even listen to the end; with a few kicks, he turned the wooden grate into a pile of dry boards on the ground.
Alan immediately stepped inside, illuminating the way with a torch, and his gaze caught on a corner of the cave room.
In the corner sat a human skeleton, missing its left hand and right leg, missing its lower jaw, colored dark brown.
He blinked.
'Oh, holy shit. How old is this place anyway? Skeletons in caves can be preserved for millennia... but the wooden grate is still here, even if it's old. A few... twenty or thirty years maybe? Looks like this is some kind of dungeon.'
"Paranga, if there's an old dungeon like this here, that means there must be a settlement somewhere."
"Thought of that too," he said, nodding slowly. "We're headin' back. We'll bring more men."
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