Raven's Tale II

- I didn't expect you to come up with such an idea - said Ku as they were riding north, towards the Kalataniia - This motor-something vehicle is amazing. It's indeed much faster than levi-truck, though it lacks a roof.

Raven was the one driving, wearing a leather jacket and worker trousers on which he put protectors in several places. Kumi was sitting behind him, having a similar set of clothing though put on top of her usual stuff.

The vehicle turned out to have many useful functions, one of which made it possible to switch between two and four-wheel mode, where both modes affected speed and comfort of the ride. While Raven preferred to ride as fast as possible, his companion wanted to travel in comfort - though it sounded quite abstract given their first meeting and how rough this girl could be.

- It's motorcycle, not some motor.

- Yeah, yeah. I got that. Still, it would be nice if it had some roof - Ku continued talking - I'm not saying that to complain or anything, just mentioning because we will soon be leaving this dry region and it's likely there'll be rains later on. Unless it has some gadget to avoid rain?

Crow sighed. They could hear each other really well, because aside from the sounds coming from the wheels and suspension, this advanced motorcycle was completely silent.

- Didn't find anything like that yet - he said - These two modes were quite easy to figure out, but it has way too many switches to learn in a short amount of time. We both wouldn't like to get stuck in the middle of nowhere because we started pressing everything.

Ku pouted.

- But it's how my tribe often goes about! Though, when you put it that way, it really sounds stupid to try that outside of workshop.

- I'm really amazed you are still in one piece if it's how you usually do things - Raven pointed that out without hesitation - How do you guys manage to survive when you are not with your folks?

Ku shrugged.

- I mean, Ba'ji Ridou rarely live away from their groups. Once they leave for good, their ancestry doesn't change, but those in the tribe will no longer treat them as their own. Sure, there were times when people returned after years, and re-joined the community, but clans are rather strict, you know - she sighed - What I'm trying to say is, Ba'ji Ridou who is away from the clan for a long time starts to behave like outsiders. You know, it's like the saying "when you in Anneternia, do as Anneternians do".

Raven turned around, with his eyebrows raised.

- Somehow, I find it hard to believe for you to adjust easily.

- Look at the road, that's scary when you're doing that! And you'd be surprised by how good I am outside of home. You wouldn't guess I'm from Ba'ji Ridou.

- Aside from these specific fashion sense of yours, right?

Kumi hit him in the back.

- And what's that supposed to mean? Do I look bad?

Raven shook his head.

- You are quite pretty, but these clothes make you appear quite an eccentric.

The girl did not reply, obviously because his words made her blush.

They were on the road only for couple of hours. However, due to passing through quite a problematic region, it was not a good idea to make many stops until they get somewhere with climate not as harsh as on this wasteland.

Raven was still new to this world, so he had to spend every single free moment on learning, whether it was about culture or the world's structure itself.

Despite managing to leave the Enretei Plains on board of Globe Runner, they were still in the country-sized area known as No Man's Land. While this region did not have official ownership, it was commonly referred to as Ba'ji Ridou's backyard. Aside from Enretei Plains it comprised of Quartz Desert and Red Plateau, and the latter was the place they were passing through right now.

According to Ku, despite being quite a boring place, Enretei Plains were reach enough in the food and water, and safe to travel through with not much concern, but both Quartz Desert and Red Plateau were a different case.

In case of Quartz Desert, there was enormous heat during the day, and freezing cold in the night, with nothing in-between. If that was not enough to demotivate, one could hardly come upon drinkable water deposits and there were almost no edible plants and finding animals to hunt was really hard.

Red Plateau, on the other hand, had drinkable water in numerous places as well as food sources, but it came with many other dangers of different kinds, of which the biggest one was terrain which could play dangerous tricks. Kumi even said that it is more important to watch the ground than worry about bandits.

Quartz Desert was located northwest from Enretei Plains, while Red Plateau was northeast from there. Knowing that Kalataniia was in northwest part of Soko continent, the shortest route there would lead through Quartz Desert. However, despite the route being shortest there, Raven and Kumi agreed to choose the longer route through Red Plateau, because it was simply a safer choice - one with water for drinking and fueling the motorcycle, and having food sources if the needed any.

So far, the ground was even and stable enough to ride safely on top of it, but - following Ku's warnings - Raven remained cautious while driving. Information he had about the area was the very reason why he continued to rely on four-wheel mode from the very moment they entered the plateau.

As the suns started to set, Raven and Ku were looking for a spot to spend the night.

- It would be best if we could find some caverns in the area - Ku said, using old-looking spyglass to check out the surroundings - You can rarely find a spot with enough trees to make a cover on this plateau.

- I get it's not your first time here? - Raven asked, also looking around for a place to stay.

Kumi nodded.

- That's true, Ba'ji Ridou are nomadic after all. Not that I know these parts that well though. When we find a good place for excavation, we tend to settle temporary, and this place was not of much interest to us recently.

- But you are sure there are caverns around?

- Definitely. I remember seeing plenty of them last time we were around.

They barely managed to find one, when it already started to get dark.

Ku had some pocket lights she placed around to produce enough light for them to not get hurt by tripping over something and falling.

- It's quite spacious - Raven said as he looked around after moving the motorcycle inside - I hope it doesn't go too deep. I'd rather not have some bear come from inside after we secure the entrance?

- What's bear? - Kumi asked in return.

At first, Crow looked at her as if she was crazy, but then he remembered it was no longer his world.

- It's an animal, or an animalent, as you call them here.

He then elaborated what kind of animals bears were.

- Oh, I get it - Ku said after Raven told her more - We do have similar creatures, though I didn't hear anything about them living in caverns. We call them Ursar, and others were saying these are pretty dangerous, but you rarely get to see them outside of forests and mountains.

- So, since you are from Ba'ji Ridou, you got to sleep in such places often?

- Not really. We usually set camps and often use vehicles to sleep in. If we took a levi-truck, I'd likely decide to sleep inside of it than here. Still, there were times I had no other choice but to choose such place.

- Well, for me it's the very first time. I did a great deal of outdoors camping, but it was always tents at least, never such a thing like cavern.

- You didn't lose much then - Ku smiled as she started looking around, after fixing the last light - It gets cold at night around here so we'd better set up some fire already.

Before getting in, they managed to gather a plenty of brushwood. Kumi had a device similar to lighters Raven knew from his world, so starting the fire was a piece of cake.

- Ok, I'll secure the entrance then - Raven offered - You can take care of cooking some food.

It took him quite a long time to finish - by the time he got back, Ku already managed to finish cooking.

- Here - she passed him a bowl of stew - I hope it tastes well.

- It's pretty good actually - Crow said after tasting the food a bit - What kind of stew is that?

- You wouldn't know even if I told you. I doubt you had this kind of animalents back in your world.

- You might be right, but I will never know unless you tell me a bit more.

It turned out the meat came from a ragbakka - based on description Ku gave, these were something similar to rabbits in Raven's world. While he knew what rabbits were, Crow never actually tasted one, so he wondered if the taste would have been the same despite these creatures coming from different worlds.

They spent a longer while talking about their respective worlds, though Kumi talked a bit more about hers because of Raven wanting to learn as much as possible.

Despite having some concerns about safety, and chances of wild creatures attacking them, nothing of the sort happened - the night passed awfully quiet, and both of them woke up at sunrise fully rested.

According to map they had with them, they managed to pass about one-third of the distance, so two-thirds were still left. Taking into account what Silus told them, it seemed like it will be possible to reach the goal about a day earlier - if current pace could be kept, of course.

For the next day, ride was quite peaceful - from time to time, Ku spotted some dangerous predators, but with their motorcycle's speed, it was a piece of cake to run away without worries. However, a sudden quake nearly made Raven lose control over the machine.

- What the... - he stopped in the open, carefully watching the ground - So this place has earthquakes?

- You mean the shakes? Yes, they are a common thing in the area. I told you that the ground tend to be unstable here.

Crow looked at her, visibly confused.

- It's not about ground being unstable, but earthquakes causing the ground to break. It's much worse than ground being simply unstable.

- Isn't that the same thing?

- It's not. Unstable ground is when you... I don't know, you mine the resources underground and the ground falls apart, or there was a lot of rain causing a landslide...

Ku shrugged.

- Well, that's how everyone describes this thing. Maybe in your world you treat this thing differently?

Raven sighed. She was obviously right, and he was the silly one here to think they would understand this thing the same as the person from a more advanced world - or rather, world where this kind of thing was common knowledge.

- Sorry about that, I'm still thinking about everything as if I were back in my old world.

- Still you seem to know this phenomenon, so I guess you have an idea what's going on around here, and it's actually good.

- To some extent. After learning about it, I'm not really happy about choosing this route.

Shaking stopped for now, but Crow remembered his previous world, and - if things were similar around here - there was a high chance more was to come. He explained to Ku what he knew about the earthquakes, and she confirmed his worries were sound - there were numerous geological faults in the area. Nevertheless, going back now was pointless, so - while anxious - he decided to move on forward.

Following several hours of ride - fortunately, without being affected by tremors - they came upon a big obstacle, one none of them expected. At first, Raven did not recognize what it was, but as they approached, he immediately stopped the motorcycle and took out the map.

There should not be such thing on the route they chose, but here it was - a huge rift, big enough for them to be unable to see where it ends.

- Maybe the ground collapsed just a bit? - Kumi said, as if saying a wish.

- Wanna take a closer look? I don't think it's safe to do that though.

- I guess we have no other choice than to continue driving alongside in Kalataniia's direction.

- Seems like it. Going north is not an option, but west or north-west should be somehow possible.

He turned the motorcycle and started heading west for now, keeping a safe distance from the rift - and safe meant to him far enough to just see its edge.

It was still around the noon, based on the suns position, when the another round of earthquakes started. Raven immediately accelerated and started driving farther from the rift. Unfortunately, what happened next was unavoidable no matter how much he tried. The tremor was hard enough to cause an enormous rupture in the ground, in which Raven and Ku got caught.

Both were screaming like crazy as motorcycle started dropping and it seemed as if they were done, but suddenly the vehicle stopped, and started hovering in the air, dozens of meters above the bottom of the new rift.

- What did you do? - Ku asked a while later, after she finally regained her breath - I'm not seeing things, right?

Crow started looking at the controls' screen and noticed something that was not appearing there before - a blinking sign, one of these he did not try pressing before.

- I believe this one is used for this function - he said to Kumi, pointing at the sign - It somehow triggered on its own and saved us. The problem is, I have no idea how exactly this thing works. I'd rather not try guessing what to press in this kind of situation, but we need to find a way to get out of this place.

- Let's calm down and think - Ku suggested - We can slowly figure it out, I'm sure.

Raven closed eyes for a moment and took a deep breath - it was his usual ritual for calming down during matches. Afterwards, he delicately turned the handlebar, and the motorcycle started turning.

- Ok, so turning works as before - he concluded, and tried accelerating - And moving forward too, but what about going up and down? Hm, what if...? - Raven recalled he found something weird about left handle, and started turning it - It works!

Having figured out how to control this new mode, Crow made the motorcycle ascen above the rift and reach a potentially stable ground, where they landed. Once they did, both get off of the machine - Kumi sat down on the ground, letting out a sigh of relief.

- That surely was something crazy - she said, smiling slightly - This will make one hell out of story.

- You no say? I almost pissed my pants back there. I should've checked it more carefully before we left. Maybe then I would know it could fly.

- Well, what matters now is that we are still alive.

Raven nodded and started checking the machine.

- I wonder if we could use it to fly over this bigger rift we were trying to drive around.

Ku shrugged.

- It's hard to say if we don't know what kind of concept it relies on.

- Then what, you suggest we continue riding along the rift's edge?

- I'm not sure how reliable is this vehicle, but if it managed to get us out of there, maybe passing the bigger one is also possible. The thing is, we cannot be sure. We could check it in practice, but if we do and it fails, we either die or continue follow the path from the inside of the rift. While I'd not like to die, I'm quite curious about what's there in the depths.

Face Raven made when he looked at her suggested he considered Ku's way of thinking in this context to be insane - to put it lightly. Still, this gave Crow a rough idea of how dangerous such an option was. However, possibility of taking a shortcut and using this amazing machine was surely tempting.

- What if we find a spot where there is a difference between the land elevation on two sides of the rift and attempt to jump over it, using this mode to pass through? - after giving it a longer thought, he shared his idea.

- Now that you've mentioned it, I recall someone told me about peoplee gliding above rifts, so it may be doable.

They talked it through and agreed to take a shot at it should they find the place matching the "requirements", that is - difference in elevation and narrower part of the rift.

With that in mind, they resumed heading alongside the edge, west and northwest depending on which direction the rift allowed. Tremors continued to happen from time to time, but with new mode discovered, they could easily avoid danger. However, the problem was the longer they continued driving alongside the edge the bigger chance they might have ended up without shelter for the night.

As the suns started to set, Ku pointed at a spot she noticed - there was a place they needed. Both of them took deep breaths and Raven started accelerating. Once the vehicle reached the edge, he swapped the mode and they started gliding above the rift - this went smoother than both though and, a moment later, they landed safely on the other side of the rift. Both of them shouted happily once motorcycle touched the ground, celebrating.

Area they arrived at had much more green than the other side of the rift. There was even a copse several hundred meters away, where Kumi suggested Raven to go as it could be used as a cover and a place to build a small shelter in.

While Ku stated she preferred to find a cavern or a cave while staying outdoors, she also had a lot of experience in living in tents, of which she brought one of the enough size to provide a place to sleep for both of them. Still, Kumi did not consider a simple tent to be safe enough when moving without a bigger group, she chose the spot where they could easily hide between the trees and make the tent less visible.

Main reason for keeping the tent hidden and secure were wild animals, or animalents as people in this world called them. Though this was the case, they could not forget about potential bandits, and - since they had to rely on fire for heating themselves in the night, and fire was expected to produce smoke - traps that would signalize the danger at least were a must. Ku was also really skillful in that regard, getting the work done real fast.

- Looks like we saved a bit of time again - Raven mentioned as they sat by the fire - We should be able to get there much sooner.

- Hold your horses - Ku said - We might be on the other side of the rift, but you never know what may happen around here. Let's proceed cautiously. Until know, we were in the area which is known to give travelers a lot of trouble, because of natural phenomena, but from this on we need to be much more wary of other people.

- You mean bandits?

- Bandits, ruffians, deserters - Kumi started counting - Nature Church, Cult of Metal. And I could give you even more possible groups. This area doesn't get attention from most of countries, and that's why there's a lot of outlaws around.

- Well, I guess that's what these traps are for.

- That's right. Though, it doesn't mean we should drop our defenses. I think we should take turns resting.

- I have no problem with that.

Raven chose to stay up first, while Ku went to sleep.

When sitting by the fire, he could not hear sounds other than fire cracking and Kumi's breathing through the sleep. Crow tried to remember when was the last time he could feel this kind of silence in his life, but was unable to. Even back when he went camping, such peace would not be possible.

A lot of stuff happened since he arrived in this world, even though it was only couple of days. His current goal was to find a way of going back home, but somehow - Raven did enjoy the time he spent here so far. Still, deep inside - he knew he needed to go back.

Looking at Ku, he wondered how his life would have been if he was born in this very world. Comparing to Crow's Earth, this place felt much cleaner, fresher and wondrous - having both vehicles and magic, it seemed like an interesting place to be. However, back on Earth, even though he had no family, there were people he was worried about, and they were most likely worrying about him.

As he sat like this, contemplating, a new sound from the outside reached his ears.