Thistles of Circumstance - Equestrian Rain

This is a collaboration fic between myself and a friend. Each chapter will alternate between my character and his from their perspective. Updates weekly. Tuesday being my chapter and Thursday being his. We're putting out the first two chapters to begin with so you can get a feel for the characters and our writing styles. Be sure to point out any flaws etc. so we can fix 'em and let us know what you think!

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Breathe.

Focus.

Look with more than just your eyes.

I recalled the lessons of my old master as I lined up my shot.

Never did quite understand that one, I get that you have to use your other senses and such to get a good feel for your environment before making a move but... He could’ve phrased it better

I was perched in a somewhat precarious position between a tree and a cliff edge. It looked kinda cool, but it was pretty uncomfortable. Clad in black my hair tied back underneath my hood and face hidden by my mask. It wasn't really necessity just a habit. Also my mask currently smelled like lavender. Don't ask. Up to this moment I had been eying up the clearing below just waiting.

“Just go up there and wait for the signal” I mimicked in a sarcastic tone “You’ll know it when you see it~”.

My partner, Silver, was a damn good mage but he was also an arrogant one. If we didn’t make such an effective team I probably would have killed him years ago. Aright maybe not but I keep telling myself that to make it easier to listen to him. Not that I didn’t like the guy, on the contrary we’re good friends. But gods if that smartass attitude of his doesn't irritate me. He always acted like he knew everything. Worst part about that is I honestly believe he did.

We’re out here in the middle of this forest for a mark. You see we’re bounty hunters. Dimension hopping bounty hunters at that. We hop around a lot because once we’ve been in a dimension for long enough, we tend to piss off the locals by being... well by being too good at what we do. When that happens we dimension hop. It sounds easy but I’m assured it’s not. Apparently it’s a ‘high level and complex spell’ and I ‘wouldn’t understand the intricacies of the arcane arts’. Damn mage.

It was quite a pretty place honestly. Trees grew everywhere, each one a luscious green. We seem to have arrived at a good time for sightseeing, the sun reflected off the dew covered leaves making the forest literally sparkle.

It seemed to be the peak of spring; you could feel that slight chill in the air. Perfect. In the clearing below lay a small lake of sorts. The water was a beautiful shade of blue its reflections rippling in the light. Scattered flowers lay about, likely weeds really, akin to a dandelion. They look nice but no one really grows them on purpose. All in all it was a peaceful scene.

Y’know, minus the hulking monstrosity that was currently fucking it up.

The beast was roughly ten feet tall. Humanoid.  Its skin was a kind of pasty greyish white, it almost looked sick. Spikes coming out of its shoulders, not sure if it was armour or natural, though the only other clothing it was wearing was a loin cloth so I’m guessing natural.

I’d expected to see a makeshift club in its clutches, but no. A giant claymore lay next to it. At least its guard is down, makes my job easier. I thought. This thing is a complete terror, been ransacking the farmsteads on the outskirts of the kingdom. The locals claim they did nothing to incite this beasts incursion into their lands but to be honest I doubt it's here for kicks. Frankly I don't care.  The lord had placed a nice bounty on its head and I intend to collect.

To be honest, our lives aren’t glamorous. In fact they’re downright dangerous but we don’t really have much of a choice.  We both have our reasons for running away from our original universe. Actually they’re the same reason.

I’m adamant it was his fault though; he just can’t leave well enough alone sometimes. But I digress.

"Dee" I said, calling for my magical construct.

Dee appeared in a small ball of, actually nothing. It's like he just comes out of the darkness its quite impressive. Dee took the form of a black monarch butterfly, I didn't chose that form its apparently something that he takes from his masters mind during binding.

Turning to him I said "Gimmie an analysis", Dee complied.

Silver made him for me as a birthday present. His function was analytical in nature but he was a sassy little shit. I think Silver did that to annoy me. Jokes on him though, he annoys the shit out of Silver more than he does me. Poetry in motion.

"Creature matches the locals decryptions of a sub species of ogre known as 'Ogrim', Its weapon would not have been forged by locals, far too big, this suggests it has some form of society, one at least capable of metal working, possibly more nearby" Dee paused for a moment.

"Carnivorous"

The creature had been sitting in the middle of the clearing, eating what looked to be a cow. Oh no cow! Poor cow, I would have named it Bessie.Dee continued,

"Strength comes from its upper body, weak point appears to be... its neck. How conventional, if not a little boring, you're a lucky one today"

As a final note Dee added "It's also quite large"

"Yes thank you Dee..." He really could annoy me but he's handy.

"No problem sir" He replied, annoyingly chipper.

I dismissed him with a nod and he faded back into nothingness.

I’d been perched between this tree and cliff for close to an hour now just watching this thing enjoy its lunch. Even its eating habits are grotesque. Taking large slobbering mouthfuls, chewing for minutes at a time. No wonder it's not finished yet.  All the better, since Silver seemed keen on taking his own damn time. Whatever he’s gonna do, it’s probably elaborate and overly complicated. I wonder what this ‘signal’ is gonna be.

No sooner had I thought it, I saw it. I think everyone within a 3 mile radius saw it. Hell Bessie probably saw it and she was DEAD!

Out from the brush directly in front of the Ogrim shot a brilliant beam of light. It struck it square in the chest, as the Ogrim recoiled in surprise and probably pain, that didn’t look particularly fun. I was about to make my move when another beam shot out from behind it. The Ogrim was shunted forward, pushing it into the first beam, evidently not to its particular liking as it let out a roar that could shatter windows. I’m not even kidding that thing had some bass to it.

Two more from either side of the creature made contact, pinning it in place. That wasn’t the end of it though, the 4 beams split at their points of contact forming a ring. The ring then tightened around the creature, pinning its arms at its sides.

Letting out another roar, the creature struggled against its confines. It clearly wasn’t happy.

'I think that was the signal. It’s certainly flashy eno-' My thoughts were interrupted by a final flash from the forest. The bolt shot up into the air and exploded in a brilliant white.

“I’m going to kill him, I'm going to kill that, then I’m killing him.”

Hovering in the air in the wake of the flash was simply the word ‘Signal!’

I quickly took aim and loosed my arrow. Leaping from my position I drew my sword and plummeted towards the mark. The arrow made contact with the things left eye. I allowed myself a moment of smugness before the creature turned to me, after all that was a damned good shot, looking up and exposing its neck.

One swing and it was over, the creatures head was rendered from its shoulders. Landing with a dull thud and rolling away, I quickly got to my feet, momentum still carrying me, and turned to face the headless Ogrim , skidding to a halt.

It slumped in its position. Dead. That went... a little too smoothly. The beams of lights faded and the binding with them. The creature fell over, its head a few feet from it. Shortly after there was a rustling from the bushes behind me.

“Ah so you DID notice the signal, good”

Silver strode out, confident as always and that smug grin on his face.

Oh right, I need to kill him.

“Silver I’ve enjoyed our friendship but I’m afraid I am going to have to kill you now, good bye"

And with that, I stabbed him in the chest.

Silver dissolved into confetti. An illusion spell, Figures. He knows what he did.

“I thought about snowflakes, but I felt more in a partying mood if you know what I mean. Why the hostility? I thought you’d appreciate a nice obvious signal!” You could TASTE the sarcasm. It tasted like purple.

The real Silver strode out of the bushes as I sheathed my sword.

“Oh hah hah... One of these days I really will kill you” I didn’t mean it but that’s just how our friendship worked. It’s a constant back of forth of jokes and insults and death threats. The last one is mostly from me though.

Silver looked around. His singed white hair and beard always makes me laugh. His magical experiments tend to have... explosive results. It happens often enough that it pretty much looks that way all the time. He was a bit taller than me standing at 6 foot. His green eyes always gave the impression that he was planning something and he usually was. His robes were the colour of sarcasm. That is to say purple. Can't say he doesn't stand out from the rest.

He spoke “We should collect the head, get our bounty and skip this dimension” his tone was serious and I knew exactly why.

“Agreed” Pulling back my hood and my mask I followed his line of sight to a patch of bushes to the east. Resting my hand on my swords hilt I turn back to Silver.

“How many?” I asked scanning the area around us.

“Too many” he replied “Forget the head we’re leaving” He spread his arms “I’m opening the portal, cover me” he clapped his hands together and held them there, a look of concentration across his face.

Now I’m not one for magic, however I do have two particular skills that are almost as good: Sigil evocation, and hand sign energy manipulation.

Neither are like spell based magic where you’re required to manipulate mana in some complex pattern and then release it out in the form you chose.

Sigil evocation requires you to draw out a specific pattern, then charge it with mana and poof! Instant spell.  These are great since you can draw them on paper and pull them out at a moment’s notice and don't require complex mana control. You just can’t have too many variants on you at once, else you’ll have a hard time discerning one from the other. Unless you're incredibly organized.

Hand sign energy manipulation, or sigh weaving for short, is a popular art among ninjas since they’re easy to deploy in battle and emit no actual energy until they’re cast. Silent and undetectable until it's too late. They require no mana and you can have a great deal of variance with these but their uses are limited to offensive and personal modification. I.e. a fireball or stimulating your muscles to increase your reflexes or your ability to jump / land easier. Unless you get creative. And by creative I mean downright stupid, Needless to say I have some creative techniques at my disposal.

An advanced used of weaving can actually skip the whole weaving part for basic spells like the afore mentioned muscle stimulation, allowing for quick use at a moment’s notice.

The present situation called for something a little flashier though. I always keep one sigil pre-drawn for emergencies. Pulling the scroll from the loop on my belt I laid it on the ground in front of me and slammed my palm into it.

“You know, you don’t need to be so forceful it’s a sigil not a horse” Silver jibed

"Not now Sil'" I warned. "Jokes later, portal now"

I wasn’t in the mood for his games. What should have been a victory and a good meal later had turned into a battle situation. Charging the sigil, the diagram  rapidly expanded outward.  Upon reaching the size I was comfortable with I twisted my hand clockwise and a bubble started to form, rising from the edge of the now expanded sigil. Good timing too, no sooner had it raised past my eye level than had three arrows struck the barrier. That was a little too close. With that thought I poured more mana into the sigil and the bubble quickly finished forming. We we’re safe, for now.

Funny thing about sigils is that they’re actually quite tricky in their application. Some require a constant stream of power, whilst others, which I had dubbed flash spells, needed only the minimum required mana to activate and then it was done.

This one was the former; I was stuck like this until Silver could get the portal open. Problem was under these circumstances I’d limited the amount of magic he could access from the world meaning he had to fuel the spell entirely on his own mana supply. He could do it but it was going to take time. Again not really a problem, apart from my mana pool being rather limited. in fact it was pretty poor. I might have to improvise.

"Dee" I called. Dee appeared again settling on my shoulder. "With my mana, how long do I have before the shield collapses?"

For all his sarcasm Dee knew when things were serious, Silver could learn from him.

"The strength of this sigil will drain it completely in about 5 minutes"

I nodded

"No way to boost the duration at all?"

"None"

Not good.

I looked over to Silver who was completely silent, unmoving. Concentrating on the spell meaning I couldn’t ask him how long he actually needed to open the portal.

Four men emerged from the bushes, the leader of which I recognized instantly. “Brutus. I should have known” I spat. There's no love between us, he was the best bounty hunter around, all the big scores were left for him out of respect or fear. Which is probably why he took offense when we came along and started plucking his prizes right out from under him. We've exchanged words, some more harsh than others, but we've never fought. I have no idea what he's capable of.

I was about to call him out on his little sneak attack but seeing as it's my preferred method of doing things I held my tongue. “What do you want?” I asked. I’d honestly rather NOT talk to him but I need to stall for time. The group strode up to the barrier and stopped a few feet short of its boundaries.

Brutus was a...larger fellow who made no effort to hide it. His shirtless body, balding black hair and bulging gut made him kinda hard to miss in a crowd. His two handed war hammer  was held in his right hand and laid across his shoulders like some sort of toy. I’ll say this for the man, he’s got some strength.

He Laughed. “Ha! Ain’t it obvious? I’m here to claim my bounty and kill you two pests in the process. And it looks like you’ve already taken care of the Ogrim for me, thanks for that”

If I could spit through this barrier I’d definitely have done it by now. I glanced at his lackeys, Hooded but obviously archers,

"Dee"

He quickly complied "None of the group's members possess any magical abilities"

Dee's analysis abilities were astounding at times, he had assessed the situation and deemed telepathy the best form of contact.

No magical talent among them good, they can’t break this barrier then. I thought.

I could take them. I’d quickly dispatch his scrawny men and then him. He’s big and physically stronger, but I was certainly faster. Only problem was Silver, he’d be defenseless. I can’t take that risk. Gotta wait for an opportunity then take them out quickly.

“Come on and make this easy on me, lower this barrier, if not...” he raised his war hammer, still in one hand. Still impressed by the way, but I still hate his face. He slammed it against the barrier, causing it to ripple. I winced at that. What? I felt that I thought. How the hell did I feel that? Whatever that’s not important. What IS important is I apparently have less time to get rid of them.

I racked my brain for a way out.

"Dee. Options. Now."

Dee paused for a moment, he had an idea but I don't think he liked it one bit.

"Overcharge the sigil enough to destabilise it"

Good idea actually. But there was a problem.

"Dee I don't have that kind of mana control"

"No but I do"

And like that I understood his plan. That's why he was sat on my shoulder. He was a clever one. I'd had a suspicion that he could see everything I did when he wasn't summoned, this basically confirmed it. He planned to manipulate the mainstream in my arm.

Now overcharging a sigil is obviously dangerous, however the risk varies depending on the sigil in question. A fireball sigil would literally explode, not unlike Silvers experiments, where as a shield one. Well that would explode too. Sigils seem to explode a lot. However instead of flat out overcharging it, If I put just enough mana into it whilst simultaneously changing its frequency It would destabilise it. Producing a disastrous effect when struck.

Brutus raised his hammer again and spoke “Now I’m gonna count to three before I start pounding this shield of yours into nothing, and then do the same to you”

I glared at him in response

“ONE”

I felt a jolt in my arm, Dee had established his link.

“TWO”

I lifted my hand form the sigil paper so only my fingertips were touching it

“THREE”

Brutus swung his hammer, with BOTH of his hands. Just before it hit the barrier I lowered my hand again, striking the sigil paper with my palm and releasing the mana burst. The barrier visibly started to crack and waver, Brutus smiled, but not for long. Now for the fun part.

Mentally I said, 'Sorry Sil' can't afford to take any chances. They need to die. '

As Brutus struck the barrier it exploded outwards in a devastating shockwave, his war hammer was wrenched from his grip, smashing into the face of one of his goons.

Dee quickly took his leave.

One down. Now free of the sigil paper I sprang forward throwing two knives at his remaining men. One pierced the throat of the man on the right. It pierced his jugular vein and he collapsed to the ground in gurgling pile, clutching his neck.

Two down

The other went straight through the eye of the other and into his brain. Death was instant as he joined his comrades on the ground.

Three down

My foot hit the ground as I stood before Brutus, before he could react I brought my knee straight up, leaping upwards and hitting him square on the chin. He didn’t fall but it forced him backwards.

Determined not to let him get his bearings I threw my remaining knife at him and as soon as my feet hit the ground I charged. He blocked the knife with his arm, blood seeping out of the wound. He didn’t even look like he felt it, just tossed it away like it was nothing. This didn't look like an easy fight to win. No matter I didn’t need to beat him, just keep him busy. Aiming low I attempted to sweep out his legs, the key was to keep him off balance.

This promptly backfired. I made contact alright, hitting his ankle with a resounding thud. He didn’t budge.  What the hell was this guy made of?!

Brutus smirked and brought his free leg up for a kick to the chest. I was thrown backwards, the wind knocked out of me. This man was insanely strong. Brutus laughed as he stalked towards me. If I kept this up, it wasn’t going to end well. I looked over to Silver, his arms still spread wide, same as  before. However the air in front of him was starting to warp and bend.

Silver was in his own world of complex mana manipulation and calculation. The rupturing of the barrier had allowed him access to the worlds ambient magic. All worlds had this, that he knew of, and it was great for larger spells if you knew how to draw on it. The addition of the world magic had forced him to recalculate his mana input and distribution. By the time the portal was finished he knew that either I or my opponent would be dead. The latter would be preferable.

Good, any minute now we’ll be home free. Question is how do I delay this monster long enough? I looked around for something to use to my advantage. There was nothing but 3 small corpses, and one LARGE one, The Ogrim we’d slain only moments before this ass showed up. Not much I can do with that. Its sword was also laying nearby, shame it's not my size. For a crude looking weapon it had a certain charm to it.

Ok first things first, I had to push Brutus back. He was getting too close to Sil'. I had an idea.

Rising to my feet I stared him directly in the face, causing him to stop. I tightened my silver hair in its ponytail and pulled it fully out of the back of my shirt. Ironic that I should have the silver hair considering.

Brutus stood there bemused "Nice hair goldy locks”

Oh come on, I'm not even blonde I thought.

He started plucking his war hammer from the skull of unfortunate goon number 1. It seemed to be stuck? A man of his strength would have no problem separating steel from grey matter. His plan was somewhat obvious. But I played along. I could use it to my advantage.

I took a powerful first step and bounded forward charging right at him, weaving three hand signs. The signs for ‘Dense’, ‘air’ and ‘force’. Three quick hand movements and I brought my arms to chest level, pulling my elbows back.

Brutus sprung his less than subtle trap and swung his war hammer in a horizontal arc. I ducked under it, taking the final step forward and thrusting both hands into his chest. For a moment nothing happened, then a pressure bubble in front of my hands burst, you could see his skin rippling from the impact. Frankly it was a disturbing sight. The force of it threw him back a good 200 metres straight into a tree. Made one hell of an impact and, I kid you not, he went right through it! Any normal man would have died. This was however obviously no normal man, still I allowed myself the victory,

“Too many” I scoffed. “This is what you call too many? Pfft”

I walked back to Silver, keeping an eye on the forest where Brutus had disappeared into. As I got there Silver thrust his arms outwards and the air in front of him tore apart in a yellow flash, a portal now stood before us. It looked like he'd literally just tore a hole in space time. Kinda badass but I'd never admit that.

Turning around he saw what remained Brutus’ ‘friends’ and gave me a disappointed look.

"Quill... was killing them necessary?"

"Yes" I replied with total certainty. I had no other way without compromising his safety at that time.

“Also. Too many? Come on man have some faith!” Ignoring the fact that I didn’t actually kill Brutus, just knocked the wind out of him for a minute.

“That’s not what I me-” I cut him off

“Ah ah ahh you can’t take it back now! Face it I overcame what you wanted to run from”

“As I recall you agreed we should leave” He retorted.

He was right but I’d never admit that to his face

“I said nothing of the sort!”

Silver was about to argue when he was interrupted again, but this time not by me.

“YOUR LITTLE TRICKS WON’T WORK ON ME BOYS”

Ahh shit. Brutus recovered quicker than I thought and he sounded piiiiiissed. Standing atop the corpse of the creature he held his war hammer in one hand and the Ogrim head in the other.

“YOUR HEADS WILL SIT ON MY MANTLE RIGHT NEXT TO HIS!"

A large creature emerged from the forest behind Brutus, then another and another. Oh. Too many, it made sense now.

Apparently he drowned the sound of its approach out with his yelling. This other Ogrim was looking a lot more pissed off than Brutus. It was looking at him, more specifically the head he was holding.

“I’M GOING TO BEAT YOU TWO TO WITHIN AN INCH OF YOUR LIVES THEN MAKE YOU WATCH AS THE OTHER SLOWLY BLEEDS TO DE-“ his colourful threat was cut short as the Ogrim behind him struck him with its club at an alarming speed. Brutus was nothing but a smear on the side of its weapon now. It walked over to the body of the headless Ogrim and let out a roar. It almost sounded...sad? I felt no guilt or regret. I did however have the urge to leave.

I turned to Silver.

“So Sil’, Portal?”

Silver looked at me with an amused look.

“Yes Quill. Portal”.

We jumped through and the portal closed behind us.

I never know where we’ll end up next.