Fallout Equestria: Newshire

Fallout Equestria: Newshire

By Quinton Johnson

Chapter 7: Sssome. Thi-ing. New!

“You're lucky, you know? You've got no idea what it's like to have a sister constantly looking over your shoulder!"

*¤* (¤) ^¤^

A few days ago, in the Waterhoof region of Newshire…

“Have you ever just lied down in a field of plush grass and taken in the scenery? Sounds nice doesn’t it? Only thing to make this better would be some really nice snacks and a few cold sparkle-colas.” I narrated aloud.

“I said, I was sorry, Sirincy!” Ferrin apologized… again.

“Well sssorry doesn’t fill our belly, now doesss it, Ferrin?” Lucy hissed from behind me.

“Yea-a-a! How I’d love that da-aisy sa-andwich right now.” Aine bleeted from my left.

“Come on Sirrin, how was I supposed to know my dad grabbed the wrong bag?” Ferrin explaining.

Adorning our quite comfortable and cliche red-white checkered blanket were several containers of pre-workout, a can of protein powder and six out of twelve hard boiled eggs. His father’s mid-day workout supplement. Lovely if you’re lifting weights at noon. Not so great if you’re trying to enjoy a nice day out with your sisters and bestfriend.

“This all coulda been avoided if you had separated our bag from his, but there isn’t much we can do about it now. We’re an hour out from Freight and it’s like..” I looked up at the sky to gauge the sun’s position… and still had no idea how Aine does this crap.

“It's two o’clock, give or ta-ake a few minutes.” She whispered to me after a few seconds of seeing me struggle.
“Yea, two o’clock!” I shouted, mentally thanking Aine.

“Alright, alright! I get it. I screwed up. I’ll make it up to you three eventually.” He admitted. Then said more to himself, “Just gotta remember to never rob a chimera of their food.”

“You're damn straight!” The three of us shouted in unison.

¤ ¤ ¤

Life out here in Freight isn't all bad. Sure, sometimes the swamp air likes to blow inland and maybe sometimes there's a few power outages here and there, but it's home and the people are like family. Ferrin was the first friend we made when we arrived. He's a dragon with dark green scales and a line of short dorsal spines with webbing in between, that start from the crest of his head and end towards the base of his tail. He’s also got a killer pair of wings that have a sunburst pattern in them! As for my sisters and I, we’re a chimera. My name is Sirrin and I’m the fur of the three. Unlike our older tigress sister, Nerris, I’m a lynx, so we probably won’t grow to her size, but being small has its perks! Aine is the horns and is a grey goat. Her left horn is chipped due to an incident we had during a game of tag way back when. Finally, Lucy is the scales and is a yellow viper with some small spikes above her eyes that look sorta like eyelashes. Together we are Sirincy, upcoming adventurers set on discovering the curiosities of Newhsire, its past, present and future. Ferrin is along for the ride, making sure we don’t get into too much trouble and helping where paws cannot succeed.

After a long walk back from a ruined picnic, we finally made it back to Freight. The two gate guards greeted us as we neared.
"Welcome back Sirincy, Ferrin. Hope you two didn't run into any trouble out there." The teal griffin guard said. His name's Bosco. He's our favorite because he was the first person we pranked in Freight. He's kinda like our cool, gun-toting, uncle now.

"No trouble today. The forest is pretty quiet." I responded.

"That's good." His feathers settled a bit. "Nerilta was looking for you earlier. Didn't say what about though. You should check in with her."

"Will do, Bosco! Keep up the good work." I praised.

Nerilta is the common name our older sister has. Like our name, Sirincy, it's a combination of their separate names; Nerris, Silva and Gūtta.

The sun was already setting behind the world tree to the west. Rays of sunlight shimmered through the leaves, letting little spots of light dance across the area. The streetlights had yet to ignite but the area was still fairly dark in the giant tree's shadow. The neon on Apricot's bar lit up as we passed the entrance, the sound of conversation, music and clinking glasses pouring through the door.

“It sssoundss busy in there tonight.” Lucy hissed, happily bobbing her head to the beat of the jazz band.

“After we check in with sis, then we can get a bite and drinks.” I explained.

“Ahww, okay.” She bellyached.

The sounds of music and bar patrons, in varying states of inebriation, slowly died off as we continued further into the stacks of freight containers that is the residential area of town. The main entrance is a fence-gated archway made of two containers leaned up into each other. Small wind chimes made of cans, stones and other random junk dangled from the top and swayed slowly in the breeze. The technicolor, light-strings tangled throughout shimmered against the shiny metals and reflected along the containers and onto the ground like a kaleidoscope disco ball. A lone abyssinian in a long coat was leaning against the containers, seemingly muttering to a rather unwieldy looking handcannon. He noticed us and simply acknowledged us with a head nod. The rest of the area was fairly cramped and more like a bazaar, no more than a few feet between two griffins’ shoulders while residents had some of their belongings or merchandise out in small porch-like sections. Maneuvering through the poles holding up walkways and containers, and the few people still closing up their various storefronts, we made our way to our set of containers, our home. The large sliding wall was slightly ajar, a flickering lantern-light illuminating the ground outside. I pawwed the wall open and it rolled as loudly as it always does. Always discouraging any night time thefts… or late night adventures. We were immediately greeted by the green constrictor snake portion of the greater whole that is our elder sister, Silva.

“Sssweet sssisterss, oh how we missed you all.” She hissed happily, giving each of us our own tight hugs. “Oh! And you brought Ferrin. How good it isss to ssee you.” She wrapped herself around his shoulders in an embrace before receding.

There was a low growl as Nerris turned her orange feline head towards us, wiping a large striped paw across her face, smears of amber across her forearm and muzzle. She went to speak but realized she hadn't quite finished what she had in her mouth. She paused for a moment to actually get it down before trying again. “You’re usually a bit late whenever we ask for you, so I admit you caught us off guard.” The smell of honey-coated meat stained her breath.

“Well this time we weren’t doing anything when you asked for us. We were actually on the way back." I responded, taking our spot beside her much larger form. "Looks like you got some of the good stuff from Mrs. Eclair?" I asked, my mouth beginning to salivate at the sight of actual food.

"Yea. We went over and took care of a few of the wild dogs that were harassing her beehives. Didn't wanna waste their meat, so we brought them back and she added some bits to the jars of honey. We’ve also got some filets.” Nerris pointed a claw to several parcels wrapped in parchment paper.

“How di-id you two’s time outsi-ide of town go?” Gūtta bleated before pulling a carrot from a nearby bucket and filling the air with a hearty crunch.

“It went alri-ight. We-e missed out on some sna-acks but the day was enjoyable e-enough.” Aine responded with her own bleated words.

“Anything out of the ordinary?” Nerris asked as she twisted the lid onto a now empty jar.

We hummed in thought for a moment before shaking our heads in unison.

“Good.” The sisterly kindness in her voice left as it turned to the usual guardian-protector tone… her serious voice. “There’s been word that the stable nearby, 2A, has initiated its resurfacing procedures.”

“Wait really? That's great!” I exclaimed.

“Except it’s not. There are several hundred individuals within that stable alone. Individuals we know very little about. They also have no homes to go to once they surface. Between Mireville and the Myriad, they don’t have many options. That doesn’t even begin to mention the kinks it puts in plans we have.” Her voice trails off in thought and she pauses a bit before continuing. “We don't mean to scare or shelter you from the outside,” She turns and puts a large paw on our shoulder, “but be very, very careful. Tell no one about this and speak to no one wearing stable barding. Ferrin, we expect the same of you.”

“Well, can I tell my dad?” Ferrin asked.

“He already knowsss ssome of the detailss.” Silva responded.

“Well, what do-o we know a-about them?” Aine asked.

Nerris released a long sigh before continuing, “We don’t want to worry you, sisters. Just remember the stranger danger part for now and we’ll let you know if things change. Just… hope for the best.”

“But.. but we wanna know!” I whined, feeling a hint of the combined interest and confusion from Aine and Lucy.

“Worry not sister, your curiosity will be sated, but in due time.” Nerris assured us.

The three of us sighed, knowing any more poking around was just going to get us swatted at, or worse, put on lockdown. “Are we good to take the rest of the night for ourselves then? We wanted to stop by Apricot’s.” I asked.

“Of course.” Nerilta said in unison.

I gave each of my older sisters a hug before heading back outside. With that, Ferrin and us made our way back to Apricot’s bar. The music hadn’t dulled any and the patrons were still as lively as ever on the inside. We pushed through the saloon style doors and were met with the old wooden floor, several large tables lining the way to the bar and more booths around the edges. To my right were the stairs up to the second story where some people paid to have private conversations. A very familiar thestral stood before the stairs, a red rope stanchion blocked the way up. His silenced pistol sat strapped to his muscled shoulder along with a sheathed kukri on the opposite one. In a quick motion, so as not to break his authoritative posture, he held a hoof out to which I quickly met a closed paw to. “Silver,” I addressed him.

“Sirincy, Ferrin,” he greeted back, not breaking his line of sight with the rest of the room.

Lucy was less inconspicuous and simply moved closer for her usual headpats. “What's the word in here?” I asked.

“Larger crowd, all the fun’s already been had and now,” he motioned to the room, “Quite fockin boring to be honest. I’ve been standing here for ten minutes!”

“Well what happened when it was entertaining? Any contests or people of interest? Spacemen, perhaps?” I teased an age-old story.

“Cal beat her sixth victim in hoof wrestling before finally breaking the table. Apricot looked like she wanted to shove a chipped glass down Cal’s throat.” Silver chuckled. “The lovebirds left a few minutes ago, Pollen looked pretty off kilter, so Crimson helped her home. Berry is still… Berry,” he nodded to the purple mare drunkenly walking about the bar, talking up anyone and everyone she thought she could bed. “I'm surprised her kidneys have lasted this long.”

“Ditto,” I agreed. “Well thanks for the low down. Are we still good for that hunting trip you promised?”

“How could I break a promise to you three?” he chuckled. “Should be free in two days or so, I’ll collect you then, deal?”

“Deal.” we said in unison.

With that, we moseyed to the bar proper as the song died out to allow another to take its place. We hopped up onto a stool and Ferrin took the one beside us. Apricot stood behind the bar, facing away from the countertop as she floated numerous different drinks and glasses to various parts of the bar. She doesn’t make eye contact with anyone unless they're new in town, or the conversion gets real interesting. How she does it is a mystery, but a beautiful one to behold.

“Hey there Sirincy, Ferrin. What brings you four into my palace of booze?” Apricot asked, floating several wooden coasters over to us.

“Just looking to partake of your good company and spirits, Booze Queen. The usual for us.” I responded.

“A spiked milk, a daffodil tea, and two dragon-apple ciders.” She recited as each of our drinks were poured before us.

“Once a-again, A-apricot, you ne-ever cease to a-amaze.” Aine praised.

“Aww, quit it kid, you’re making me blush.” She said while waving her hoof dismissively, her eyes still focused on the glass she was polishing.

“Yea, Apri- *hic* -cot! You’re drinks are *hic* the shit!” A drunken blue griffin exclaimed.

Apricot chuckled, “Thank you, Garrin, you’re a sweetheart.” she complimented back. The griffin became fluffy and hiccuped again before smoothening out his blush-feathers, attempting to regain his composure.

We chuckled to ourselves and began sipping on our drinks. Before long, several sets of very hefty hoofsteps from the second floor let us know that whatever Silver was blocking off, had finally concluded. The massive ice-white form of Caldonia, our town mayor and head of security, stomped down the stairs, followed by her equally massive daughter, Cal. Both of them are three times the size of regular ponies, in height and muscle. What's more surprising is that they’re both unicorns. Silver stood at attention as they descended.

“At ease, captain. Our business has concluded for the day. You are dismissed.” Caldonia stated simply.

“Thank you, ma’am.” responded Silver.

With that, Caldonia and Cal left the bar and Silver turned into a cloud of dark-purple mist and dispersed before recollecting on the stool beside Ferrin. Silver’s physical form materialized from it as he spoke with a refreshed vigor, “All-fockin right! Free at last, I am free at last! Apricot, can I get a shot of that new homebrew whiskey?” Silver asked, stretching his stiffened limbs.

“Can do, Silver.” Apricot called out. The amber glow of her telekinesis wrapped around a specially labeled shoulder jug sitting on the top shelf. It shook and jostled a bit before floating lazily towards a shot glass. A bronze liquid with little golden flakes spilled forth into the glass that eased itself before Silver.

“What's with the glitter?” Silver asked, lifting the beverage to eye level.

“Light her up and find out!” Apricot called back, tossing a lighter over to him. Ferrin and us looked on in anticipation as Silver ignited the spirit. The surface caught flame and to our surprise, the flame burned a brilliant purple as the flakes swirled faster and faster around the glass. Before long the glass had a small vortex spiraling at its center, the flame flinging embers around the rim. The drink calmed after a few seconds and the glitter disappeared from sight. Our little group erupted with applause and cheers as Apricot simply bowed humbly before continuing to her work. “Been working on that little number for a solid week and a half. I think I can safely say it’s been perfected as of today. I’m calling it a gold plum swirl for now, unless I can think of something with a bit more panash.”

“I thi-ink that na-ame suits it just fi-ine. It descri-ibes it perfectly without a-adding any extra fluff.” Aine bleeted.

“Ditto here.” Silver added.

“Well that's kind of you to say, guys. I really appreciate that.” Apricot replied, actually looking towards us and smiling.

Silver toasted silently to apricot before downing the shot with a grimace, “damn, that’s good,” he exclaimed as fiery embers floated from his mouth.

“I’d be careful with those. Magic infused drinks tend to be a bit stronger than most.”

“And here we were about to order four of ‘em.” I pouted.

“Don’t worry guys, I’ve got just the thing.” Apricot then proceeded to pour a larger glass of gold plum and added three extra long straws and a separate shot for Ferrin. “Now how about some flames, you two?” she prodded, looking at Aine and Ferrin.

The two took quick inhales before letting loose small jets of flame towards each glass. The glitter ignited, sending both cocktails into a dazzling display. Our straws swirled around the glass before eventually settling around the rim. Ferrin took his shot into his claws and clinked it to ours before downing it. He grimaced as it went down and let out a few embers from his nostrils. We each took a straw and sucked down a mouthful of the bitter-sweet and savory liquid. Small spots of heat trickled down our throats as the burn of the alcohol caught back up. Lucy shook herself and coughed a bit, spewing forth her embers. Aine drank and looked unphased while my nose wrinkled at the burn. With that we released our held embers back into the air.

“Ooooh yeah, that's got a good spice to it.” I said.

“Too much ssspice for me.” Lucy hissed before chasing the whiskey down with cider.

“It’s not ba-ad, not my personal preference, but still goo-od nonethele-ess. The spiced plum accentuates the whiskey well.” Aine mused.

“I’d like another, please.” Ferrin asked, trying to savor the last few droplets.

Apricot smiled at our input, putting a fully polished glass up onto a shelf before floating another to herself. “Can do, Ferrin. One sec.”

“So, Silver, about that hunting trip in a few days.” I said while sliding our glass back and forth between my paws. “Where are we gonna go?”

“Well, if you’re so eager to know,” he paused to face us, “we’re heading to Almond Lake. There’s a load of game out there, so we won’t have to waste much time.”

Lucy gasped, “That’sss the place big sisss and you always go, right?”

Silver chuckled at her enthusiasm, “It sure is kid. We’ve been hunting there for quite some time now, yet the animals just don’t ever seem to leave. Our primary quarry will be boar, but there are rabbits and pheasant, among other small game.”

“A-and the threats?” Aine asked.

“Several to be exact, roaming guana and coubra looking for their own meals. Possible bandits hoping for an easy score. There’s always the possibility of a few timberbeasts, but they usually keep to the Deepwood.” Silver informed. “But overall, nothing we can’t handle.”

¤ ¤ ¤

One semi-uneventful day passed and the next morning soon followed. Lucy propped open our room’s window and the sunlight warmed my face enough to wake me. I growled before retreating under our blanket to shield myself from the rays.

“Come now sssisters. You musst wake up.” Lucy hissed, tugging the blankets away from us.

With the blanket pulled away, I looked at the clock in our room through half-open eyes, It read, eight-fifty. “Oh come on! How can you be awake at this hour? It's not even noon yet!” I growled.

“Call it what you will, but today isss the day we’re sssupposed to go hunting.” Lucy coaxed.

My ear flicked and an eye fluttered open to look at Aine. She was still fast asleep and seemingly unbothered by our conversation. If only I could sleep that heavily. I began nudging her, “up and at ‘em sleepy-horn, we've got stuff to kill today.” There was an audible snore as she shifted further from me. “I guess I’m soloing this today.” I pulled my paws underneath us and lifted while trying to focus on Aine’s hind legs. “Ooh, ha! Pins and needles.” The feeling of her legs finally swapped over to me and I shook them a bit to get the rest of the tingling out. “Let’s see if I can still do this.” Aine’s head drooped as I lifted us from the mattress, some saliva stringing onto her pillow. We made our way down and passed Nerilta, being sure to tap Silva a few times to wake her. “Hey sis. We’re getting ready to head out. Just letting you know.” I whispered.

Her tongue flicked and she nodded but she didn’t open her eyes. “Be sssafe out there, Sirincy. Be sssure to take the walkie with you thisss time.”

“Will do.” I responded as Lucy grabbed the device. We grabbed our pack and battle harness then started sliding the door open. The wheels whined and the metal groaned as it moved. “Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry…” I quietly repeated until we were able to fit through. Closing it was more of the same before it finally sealed. With that out of the way, I propped Aine’s head onto our back and headed off..

We made it to Fee’s family workshop, our resident smiths, tinkerers and partial enchanters, who were prepping the main forge. Fee wiped a yellow hoof across her face, shifting her red mane, before looking at us and waving, “Oh hiya there, dearies. Where ya headin off to, so early?” she asked in her kind Maneeisotan accent,

“Got a hunting trip planned with Silver. We’ve been waiting a week for him to get a day off!” I told her.

“Ooh, huntin ya say? I take it you’re stoppin by Talon’s ta get your gear. eh?” she asked, motioning to our disarmed harness.

“Absssolutely!” Lucy piped up.

"We’re picking up the rifles, left them there yesterday to get some maintenance done." I added.

“Do ya need any supplies protection wise?”

I looked back at ourselves, noticing Lucy being distracted by a small rodent scurrying past and Aine still fast asleep, I took stock of how much protection we had. A few sturdy leather sections on our sides and along Lucy’s length, as well as a segmented metal stomach and back. It looked like it had been used for target practice for BB guns along with the occasional long cut or burn mark, but was otherwise intact and functional. “Nah, I think we’re good. We’ve still got that thingy too!” I said, pointing a claw to the glowing amber gem set into the chest plate.

“Ah, good to see ya’ve still got my little guarantee.” She moved closer and tapped the gem a few times, seeing it pulse for a moment. “Still working too. Well I won’t keep ya if you’re in a hurry. Remember to bring back any particularly nasty beasty parts and I’ll work my magic as per usual.” She winked at us, a small sparkle floated from her eye before we continued on our way.

Arriving at the eyepatch-wearing, dark purple, griffin’s shopfront, he greeted us with a simple nod before retreating out of sight. I lifted ourselves up to see into the space, Aine’s head drooping further down before her internal balance shocked her out of her sleep. “Ooh, a-ah!” she paused and looked around, “oh we’re doi-ing stuff… and I ca-an’t feel my legs.”

The immediate flare up of pins and needles caused our hind legs to falter as Aine began retaking control. Fuck, fuck FUCK! Our legs gave way and my claws failed to find any purchase on the shopcounter. With a dull thud we hit the earth. “Fucking. Warnings. Please.” I growled as I lifted.

“Yea-a, sorry sis.” Aine apologized sheepishly.

Talon’s head popped from over the counter and looked down at us. “You three drinking this early or did a bee fly too close?”

We gathered our footing and righted ourselves before I answered. “Nah, just… changing gears is all.” Standing up we could see that he brought our twin rifles and had it displayed alongside two box-mags loaded with .223. I unlocked our harness’ mechanical arms and let Talon affix the hardpoints.

“Alright then. So I’ve got your receivers oiled up, freshly rifled barrels and the sighting apparatus are calibrated to ninety-eight percent accuracy out to two-hundred-fifty meters.” He explained as he strapped down the ammo and loaded the belts into the guns. “You’ve got about a hundred rounds loaded onto the belts and the ammo count is in your goggles as per usual. Yadda-yadda-yadda, I’m pretty sureyou know how your guns work by now.” he rambled as he set blue-tinted goggles over Aine and I’s heads. With the world now in a blue tint, the heads-up-display within the visor flitted to life. A simple crosshair appeared at the center and tracked my eyes across the display. A separate and faded crosshair also came into view; showing where Aine was looking. The mechanical arms whirred as we looked about, adjusting our rifles accordingly. The ammo counter slid into view, counting up from zero to fifty-six for the left gun and fifty-eight on the right gun. “We’ve got a few rounds to spare, I think we’ll head to the range and make sure the belts feed properly.”

“Sounds good to me, little killers. You three be safe out there, the scouting reports haven’t come back yet.” he warned.

¤ ¤ ¤

After a quick range session and a jaunt over to the front gate, Silver finally flew in. His massive wings catching his momentum before hero-landing nearby. “Sorry I'm late, girls, I had to… settle a few things.” he excused.

I imagined a cut away of, whoever Silver beat the living shit out of, laying ass end out of a trashcan somewhere, and chuckled a bit.

“It's fine Silver. So long as this hunt goes well, we’ll forgive you.” I told him. I checked the time on my goggles which read, nine-thirty-eight.

“No ne-eed for apologies, you ha-ave your own erra-ands to attend to.” Aine added.

“Did you bring any sssnacks?” Silva asked.

With a relieved sigh and a chuckle, he pulled a bird egg from a satchel and held it out. Silva gasped and eagerly made her way over and swallowed the egg whole, before humming in delight.

Silver clopped his hooves together, “Right, so! If we’re ready to head out I’d say we get going before any of the large predators get to waking up.” Silver motioned to the gatekeeper and they motioned back before the gate started to open.

“Wouldn’t it be better to just hunt them as well?” I responded, making our way through the gate.

“Only if you feel like carrying it all back. Last I checked, we don’t measure up to Nerilta.” he chuckled.

We made our way down the long meandering road, avoiding the many husks of vehicles left to rot. The grass growing between the cracked concrete swayed and whipped as wind pushed through the surrounding forest. The trees rustled and the birds sang as we approached the intersection.

“You think Freight will grow enough to expand onto the road?” I wondered, hopping up onto an old car. The metal groaned as I crested the roof.

“We would’ve had to if we didn’t liberate Llyne. The bandits left us quite the cleanup job, but it’ll come together soon.” Silver responded.

To the left was the town of Llyne, claimed by bandits, before we took control. Ne'er-do-wells who would try to steal from you as much as look at you, even if you paid the toll for ‘safe passage’ Straight ahead was the old mall, picked clean long ago, but the wildlife seemed to love the place no matter how many times they were evicted.

“Do the-e scorps sti-ill have a-a hold of the ma-a-all?” Aine asked.

“Yea, they’re tough bastards and their burrowing holes make it hard to really get rid of ‘em all. Might have to go into the subsections to really weed them out.” Silver answered.

On the right was our security checkpoint. There were some guards stationed there to keep any would-be attackers at bay until reinforcements arrived, roads being a vital resource in keeping supplies and people moving.

“How’s Dresir and his pack doing out there nowadays?”

“They’re doing alright. Had a few problems with a monohorn that kept getting too close. They had to lure it away with a spare spark cell.”

We pressed on towards the mall and eventually abandoned the road for a dirt path that led to Almond Lake. It’s no secret about the beast that calls that place home. A leviathan made of roots, kelp and coral, all held together with whatever magics power timberbeasts. We call it a reefspine and so far, there’s only one in the area. Upon reaching the treeline, we looked out across the lake and spied a group of boars milling about, drinking from the lake or trying to sniff out mushrooms in the nearby thicket. They were a good distance away and we were downwind for the time being, so we had the stealth advantage. We closed the distance a bit before hearing the squeals of hogs along with yips and growls from a gang of coubra. They were nearby, but far enough away to not be a bother.

“We’ve got competition.” I murmured.

“We’ll deal with them if they impede our hunt. Eyes on the prize, little ones.” Silver said, motioning to the largest of the boars.

I nodded and continued the approach, being sure to keep my front paws and hind hooves from landing on anything crunchy or fragile. In moments we were only a stone’s toss away and began stilling ourselves for the perfect shot. We put our belly to the dirt and braced ourselves. The arm servos whirred as we looked at each boar through our visors. The birds were silent, the wind had died down before the safety of our rifles clicked. The faint sound of boars rummaging in the bushes was all that could be heard…

Two simultaneous shots echoed out across the lake and the boars erupted in squeals and whines as they scattered. The largest of them ran in place as it stumbled into the dirt, its body trying desperately to run away from whatever had struck it.

“Fuck yes, he’s down!” I exclaimed, the smoke from our rifles rising up into the air.

“Another well placed shot sssister. Lookss like you punched through both lungsss.”

“Nicely done, Sirincy. Let’s go finish it.” Silver praised.

The boar’s movements were erratic but infrequent as we neared. The blood pooled around it and flowed between the stones as it drained towards the water. Silver pulled his kukri from its sheath and plunged it into the beast's neck. It’s jerking stilled as its eyes glazed over. Silver then began slicing through its hide, around the neck and down its belly. It didn't take long to butcher the boar. A bit of salt on the cuts of meat and some help from Aine’s fire breath made quick work of any leftover flesh on the bones. It smelled delicious, and it's a shame too, because we weren’t the only ones who thought so.

Silver’s ears flicked and rotated quickly, “We’ve got guests.”

A torrent of hisses and growls emerged from the wood as five coubra made themselves known. We also wasted no time taking aim and firing. Two went down immediately as the rest rushed us. Two leapt into the air and I managed to shoot one before the other came down. Its claws sunk into our armor and caught my neck as we wrestled the beast. Aine kept its venomous maw at bay with her horns as I leapt up and grabbed hold of the creature, slamming it back down onto the stony shore. It shrieked before I sunk my own set of teeth into its neck, biting down and twisting as it tried to squirm free in its last moments. The last coubra had rushed towards Silver, who stood his ground and readied his pistol. The beast lunged, missing just as quickly, as Silver backstepped with a flap of his wings and put a bullet through its forehead. It ended as quickly as it began.

“I’ll never understand what they think they’ll gain coming at us in such measly groups.” I gloated, a bit of blood dripping from my maw. “It's insulting.”

Silver chuckled, “You sound like Nerris, even when you’re only half her size.”

“Hey hey! We’ll get bigger. It’s just… not growing season yet… yea.” I lied.

Silver hummed in a ‘is that so?’ manner. “Go ahead and harvest what you need from them, I’ll keep watch.”

And with that, we went to work. The time passed and the blood flowed between the stones and into the lake, mixing with its blue-green waters and creating a crimson murk. The scent of death had drawn quite the crowd of carrion birds. They squawked and cooed from the trees as I continued to postpone their meal. A few had grown impatient and picked at the corpses further away. After removing the final venom sac, we took our leave, allowing the birds their long awaited feast.

¤ ¤ ¤

Reaching the intersection, Silver stopped hard, his ears flicking and twirling before locking to the East. “What’s up Si-” He quickly shushed me.

A few more moments passed before he spoke. His voice, dead serious. “We’ve got to move now.” He began to run and we followed suit, his wings unfurling and lifting him off the ground with another burst of speed.

“Stupid wings. Why do manticore get wings and we don’t?” I mumbled, picking up the pace.

Upon returning to Freight, we were immediately greeted by way more guards on the front gate than when we left, each of them, weapons at the ready. “It’s about time you made it back Captain. We've got a situation.” Cal’s altered voice said from atop the wall, her massive power-armored figure looking down at us. The gates opened and we quickly went inside as they closed behind us. Nobody but guards and soldiers were milling about. Several trucks were being loaded up with supplies and soldiers. I looked at Silver and saw for the first time, a hint of worry on his face. “Sirincy, head home, it’s not safe out here. Plum, make sure this one gets inside!” Cal ordered one of the guards.

“Wait, what's going on?” I asked.

“Your sister will explain, just get inside.” Cal responded.

Plum quickly escorted us back to our home, her eyes glancing towards the sky as we walked. I knocked on the door and it screeched open as Silva’s scaly head peered out over us before ushering us in. The door closing shut behind us.

“Will somebody tell us what's going on?” I asked, tired of being out of the loop.

Nerilta paused for a moment before responding, “The stables are opening… all of them.”

_____¤ ¤ ¤_____

Footnote:

Hello everyone, sorry for the… delay? That feels like too little of a word. It’s been 4 years since the last chapter of Newshire and for that I apologize. I lost interest in the writing aspect, but not the world. So I ended up allowing people to run around in it through forms of TTRPGs or roleplay. Slowly fleshing out the world and still staying connected with it. Just not focusing on our little guys who were only just brought to life. This chapter is a little thank you to those who participated in making this world feel a bit more lived in. To all the friends I made along the way. I'm sure you’ll notice the small details sprinkled throughout.

As for why it took me four years to actually finish one chapter, life has just been busy. So much has happened and I had to change focus a few times, but Newshire was always tickling the back of my brain. Pulling me to continue writing. The few updates I posted were those times, but I didn’t know where to go and it eventually fell off again. But here’s to new years resolutions huh?