Chapter 1: Winchester Terra Sackett and The Sackett Amalgamation
"It is up to you to make the first step" - Ozpin from RWBY
"Hey! Wake up!" called out young male's voice. I only rolled over a bit, snoring with my hat covering my eyes. There was then a hard tap on my leg.
"Whaaat?...." I complained sleepily with a hint of annoyance, looking up at a tan stallion with a slick black mane and tail, wearing his leather cowboy outfit. My much older cousin, Iron Works Sackett, sighs as he looks at me. "You know sleeping on the couch will not get you far" He said with a slight concern. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and sat up, giving way to a stretch routine: stretching out my human arms, shoulders, and neck, then some stretching out my pony legs, flanks, and midsection, with my tail fluttering a bit to the wind.
My name is Winchester Terra Sackett. I'm a type of satyr, pony satyr to be specific. My coat is a sandy tan, with my hair and tail having a dirty blonde color. My mother's an Equine Sackett, Gaia Sackett, and my father's a Human Sackett, Samuel 'Colt' Sackett. It's a common trait for the Equine Sacketts to have something close to a tan or light brown coat, like the Human Sacketts mostly having more of a light brown or brown hair.
But there is a high amount of variety among the common tan-ish brown family members. Each man, stallion, woman, mare, child and foal learn their strong talents and help out around the town. The majority of the town is settled by the Sackett Family out of Stable Vault 50 the town is built on. The town's name is Sackett Amalgamation. It's a bit of a mouthful, but it does have an explanation. Sackett is obvious due to the large amount of the Sackett Family living there, but Amalgamation means a mixture or hybrid. Hybrid is true, as there is a good amount of satyrs living in this town. The explanation is actually fairly easy if you understand what Stable Vault's true objectives were.
Humans and Ponies have gotten their relationships even before the disaster 200 years ago. As far as we know, or at least was recovered, a strange event somehow made two worlds connect by some kind of portal, and cross-breeding started a little later. But in our situation, our two Sackett families slowly met and coincidences were found, including survival skills and long family heritage. Stable/Valut-Tec saw this strange similarities, and the Sackett family members were selected for Stable Vault 50. Most expected it to go wrong, but in the end, the Sackett Family became one and the satyr children were evidence of this among the human and pony descendants.
This town is now 50 years old, now holding a few stores, a couple of restaurants, two workshops, and a few clusters of homes, the whole town holding about 1000 residents. Humans and ponies lived together along with the various satyrs. I say various because it's not just ponies. Buffalo and changlings are also present with their own satyrs, yet how they survive the disasters is unknown.
Back to my stretching routine, I finish up by wiping my shirt and pants then my jacket. Iron spoke up as I continue to brushing my hat. "So why were you sleeping, Terra?" He asks.
"Today's my day off, remember? I wanted to rest outside, because it's a nice mix of cool air and sunny day." I told him as I wore my hat on, my distinct blue eyes looking at him.
"Your day off?" He stood there taking a moment to think. "Oh that's right! Today's your eighteenth birthday!"
I simply nod with my arms crossed. Every Sackett's eighteenth birthday is special, as a second "Coming of Age" celebration, the first being the thirteenth birthday. Once a Sackett is eighteen, they have to make a life decision of staying or leaving within a year. I have already chosen mine: I wanted to make my own homestead outside of this town. I do plan on starting on making more resources turn my home into a starting point for a new town. The only question is.... where will I be able to do so? It's a dangerous gamble, but I'm willing to take it, whether or not I have followers or friends along the way. But I know I am going to make it due to my training and survival skills.
All Sacketts were trained to do three things: To fight, To fire a gun, and to know your religions well, all in the common goal of survival. Most Sacketts have a great understanding of the gun at the age of 10 and can help hunt for food, defend the town, or as self-defense when gathering. It would be around that same age that Sackett children and foals start to learn how to do wrestling and fist fighting. There are rumors made by those outside of town that a single Sackett man can fight even when outnumbered. Quite a few have made a name outside and inside of town, and I believe I would be next.
"Something wrong?" Iron asks. I had not notice it myself, but I was drifting off and looking at the horizon.
"Oh sorry, I guess I was thinking" I responded, shaking my head a bit.
"What were you thinking? Are you worried? Maybe the thoughts of the dangers outside the safe walls making you have weak knees?" He teased a bit. Other than having a great ability of iron and steel smithing and smelting, he's also a bit of teasing horse.
"No, you silly stallion...." I smiled a bit punching his shoulder, "I was rethinking about my plans."
"Heh, that's a good sign" Iron said nodding, putting a hand on my right shoulder "That means you are checking off your list to be prepared"
That last part is true. If you don't plan and prepare yourself for your journey, you are opening yourself to more trouble, prone to unexpected events, and waste more resources than you really need, especially food, water, and time. Plan for the necessities then make the luxuries for later, and you'll have a better start than others.
"Now, let's get you home" Iron said "I'm sure most of the family wants to celebrate our filly into a mare"
"Girl to woman in human talk" I giggled a bit
Iron chuckles a bit as well, as we left the hangout (Sunrise Relaxation Bar - "A quiet way of drinking"). Many of the citizens gave me a "Good luck!" Or "Happy Birthday!" as we passed by. Everyone knows each other in this town. Even if you don't know their names, they will know familiar characters by personality and look.
We soon approach the west side of the town, which mostly has makeshift houses, apartments, and some larger extended family housing. I used to live in the extended housing with many other of the Sacketts, until I was 15. I was pressing for a room of my own, but there was no vacant rooms in the house. So my parents bought a very small house right next to the housing, leaving me to pay them back however I could, which was my first responsibility of resource management, meaning a budget on bottlecaps. Bottlecaps is the currency since paper money and electrical transactions are not possible and useless after the nuclear disaster. Why bottlecaps is a bit of a mystery to me.
As we approach the second Sackett housing, the inside of the house seems to be very dark. I sighed as I came in, I assumed the light bulbs went out again. After wiping my hooves on the rug, I flipped the light switch to make sure the lights are working right. What came instead as the lights turned on, was a chorus of "Surprise!!" as my parents and many of my family and friends were waiting for me. It was a surprise. There were many of my favorite family members and an impressive feast set on a few sets of long tables, along with a small amount of colorful decorations.
"Happy Birthday, my little girl" My father said as he ruffles my hair, "I'm proud you have made it this far!"
I chuckled a bit as I re-adjust my hat back on. I was interrupted by a bear hug from my mother. I can feel her coat as she whispers in my ear "I'm proud of you, my little Winchester". I felt some tears from her eyes. Feeling obligated, I gave the hug back with the same strength, and lifting her up just a bit. My mother gave a false grunt but then laughs midway. "That's my little filly!" She said as I put her down.
A lot of my guests are my family members, but that never made the party any less fun. Some of them are not around as much, being travelers, merchants, and reasonable hired guns. Some are more familiar, being riflemen, store owners, farmers, and my friends. Out of all this, there is a tradition on the eighteenth birthday in the Sackett family that one guest will always be there, started since the town started. In the middle of the party, my mother came over and whispered in my ear "Buffalo's waiting for you". My smile faded a bit, but I nod and excused myself.
Blunt-Skin "Buffalo" Sackett is half buffalo and half pony, and one of the oldest relatives in the Sackett family. Scratch that, he's now the oldest due to the disaster event. Buffalo Sackett was one of the few that survived the radiation, but at a cost of becoming a ghoul. Ghouls are ponies or people that are scarred and damaged by radiation but are still living. Whether the radiation would turn them into mindless cannibals or not, it is still a sight to behold to see a relative outliving others, other than the obvious sight. Buffalo helped build Sacket Amalgamation, and holds a strong connection to the spirits from his buffalo heritage. He has the ability to see into the future, though you can pick either a fortune that may give you good luck, or a prediction that may help prepare you or understand your future.
My mother left me in that room. It was quiet and dark, the only light is a small fire in the middle of the room under a chimney. Buffalo was wearing a chief's headpiece, full of feathers, and a rough leather outfit. He sat there, looking at the fire until I approached the fire and sat down across from him. It was then he looked up with his golden-brown eyes, and gave a small smile from his grotesque face. "Hello, young Terra." He said, his voice sounding very hoarse
"Hi, Chief Buffalo" I responded back with the same small smile. Even though he's a ghoul, he still give of a very warm grandfather impression.
Buffalo brought out a couple of handmade smoke pipes and passes one of them to me. The designs on it has a Winchester rifle on it, with wind lines going out and around the gun. It was beautifully hand carved. Even though we Sacketts rarely smoke, having a handmade smoke pipe is truly a gift from Buffalo. I thanked him for it and complemented the design, by which he nods back. "I figured that you may need a bit of a stress reliever when working on your homestead." He said as he fills his pipe with tobacco. Even though we don't smoke as much, tobacco is still a good commodity to sell, and it is not filled with chemicals as I heard from the pre-disaster days. I took some and filled my pipe up as well.
As I said, smoking was rare for the Sacketts, mainly when we stop to think about the current situation when we have the luxury to do so. This is one of those situations, as I carefully smoked my pipe, Buffalo doing the same. It is more contemplating on what will happen within a year, and planning on what do to then, like what are the challenges of starting a homestead and how am I going to prepare and react.
After a few minutes of smoking, Buffalo finaly spoke. "So tell me young one. What would you like to have?" I knew exactly what he meant.
"I'd like to have a prediction. Not on where the homestead should be place, but more about the people or ponies I'll meet. Maybe just one?" I asked. I do not need much, but I could get lucky and may find a soulmate. You know, girl/mare things.
Buffalo took a puff of smoke and looked at the fire. He then closes his eyes, and chants in a language not heard in over 200 years. He did this chant for about a couple minutes as I relaxed. He claps his hands, signalling that is his finished. "Your new home..... you'll meet a man...... and you two will realize........ how strong the family bond of the Sackett family will be...." He looked at her "In the end, he will be the one to save your home, sadly..." He finished.
'Sadly?' I thought to myself. 'That does not sound good for whoever that might be.... He did not say it was a significant other, but.... for him to say "family bond", it could mean a family member.'
Buffalo can tell I was thinking about his prediction. He puts a hand on my shoulder "Do not fret too much, Young Terra. You have much ahead of you. It is not good for the mind and body to focus too much one prediction" He wisely said. I nod and smile at his comment. I came around and gave him a hug. He was a bit surprised on that, but he warmly gave the hug back.
It's going to be a long journey, with many challenges and problems, but with also triumph and friendships. As far as I know: when one Sackett is in trouble, many will come to help their fellow Sackett in need, as our family bond runs thick in our blood.
