Gojo jolts awake in a chair that seems just too small for his large body in the cabin onboard; that power nap wasn’t something he desperately needed but integrated into his everyday schedule as a sorcerer. Getting sleep whenever available was part and parcel of fostering the next generation of talents, wherever they might be. He glanced at the old fire lamp hanging on the ceiling; it was pretty prehistoric if you had to ask him.

Gojo guestimates it to be just a few hours since their departure and his much-needed nap. Was it a bold move for him to sleep defensively while the others onboard could do something to him? Sure. But when you’re the strongest, whatever you say, your every action demands respect. Plus, though it might not look like it, Gojo had already inspected every bag, sack, and barrel given to them courtesy of her Royal Highness, Queen Nova. Or something like that. To further add to the security, the two other occupants with him, Silverstream and Ocellus, are much too nervous and fidgety to try anything that’d earn his disapproval.

As strange as it is, it’s almost as if those two knew the powers he held. Like, he gets it. Whenever he met a superior for the first time, they were always thrown off by his goofy demeanour. Usually, they’d let their guard down and relax around him even.

Not those two, though.

They’d been on the edge ever since boarding the boat. Perhaps it was like his students said… “An aura just pours out, even if you try to hide it.” Somewhere along those lines.

Getting up, Gojo saunters to the door, needing to actively duck under the door frame to fit through. Almost banging his head in the process, alas, large problems for a large man in a small pony world.

Stepping onto the other side, the moon was high, and the calm sea breeze greeted him in a gentle hug. It would’ve been more tranquil had the sudden sensation of a beak not collided with his leg with a muffled “Oompf-!”
Looking down at the source, Silverstream was face-first deep into his leg. Pushing off him, the hippogriff took a second to steady herself and gave a sheepish smile. “S-sorry!”

“No harm done.” Gojo dismissed, “How much longer til we reach the mainland?”

“About half a day, but it’s a straight beeline from here on out.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope.”
Gojo crossed his arms, raising a hand to hold his chin. He pondered momentarily while Silverstream sat there looking up at him. He hummed, before snapping his fingers.

“Tell all the guards to get onboard. There’s an announcement I want to make.”
Silverstream looked sideways, before nodding. “Okay, I’ll get them up in a minute. What’s the announcement you want to make?”

Gojo placed a finger on his lips. “It’s a surprise~”

Silverstream didn’t know what he meant by that, but it was only a matter of time before she did. She whipped around, trotting away to the edge of the boat and leaning over the edge to call for the guards. News spread pretty quickly, the guards already springing out of the waters in a flashy transformation and landing on the large deck once they heard the order. Organising themselves into a neat 2-by-2 file without Silverstream needing to say anything. Not like she would.

“They’re all here!” Silverstream called out,

“I’m over here!” Gojo called out from the back of the boat.

Jogging over to the back alone, the hippogriff stuck her head out from around the corner, glancing around until she saw the sorcerer standing at the very edge of the boat. “Mr. Gojo, sir? What’re you doing here?”
“Earlier you mentioned that it’s a straight beeline to the mainland, correct?”
“Yeah-huh, I did.”
Gojo grins, spinning around. “Hold on tight~”

“What do you-” Silverstream couldn’t finish her sentence, as the entire boat was rocketing forward at an alarming speed. The sudden acceleration even tilts the front of the boat off the waters for a second as a deep red light shined at where Gojo was. Silverstream could hear the sudden whacks and thumps of the soldiers against the cabin walls, it was quite thin after all. Their bodies stuck to it like flies on a wall, the force of motion pinning them against their will, as they panicked in fear.

“Woohoo!” Was all Gojo roared as the boat went… even faster.

Silverstream could feel her heart drop as she slid to where Gojo was, scraping along the wooden deck with her talons and holding on for dear life. To say it was a smooth ride was an understatement, bumps here and occasionally, Silverstream could’ve sworn the boat soared briefly. The world was acting against her, all these movements and bumps, she couldn’t hang on. Soon enough, her talons gave out as her body, too, soared in the air with another bump. She’d thought she was a goner, needing to swim in her seapony form to catch up to the boat, had a lengthy arm not wrapped around her midsection, and pulled her close.

“I gotcha!” Gojo assured with a smile.

On shore, several hours later, the crew descended from the boat, their faces painted with a sickly green hue that contrasted starkly with their usual vibrant colors. Two of the guards excused themselves to hurl on the grass patch, their bodies contorting in agony as they succumbed to the effects of a Red-induced seasickness. The other two, their faces pale and drawn, tried to hold it in with little effect, their talons clutching at their stomachs.

Ocellus got off board as well, stumbling about in a daze of dizziness. The world seemed to be spinning around her, and she had to grab onto a nearby tree to steady herself. Her vision was blurred, and her head throbbed with a painful intensity. As she tried to secure her surroundings, she realized that she was standing on a small, rocky outcrop, the ocean stretching out before her in all its vastness. She could only admire the scenery for a blink of an eye before the vomit deity claimed her stomach as well.

“Well wasn’t that fun!?” Gojo jumped off the boat, jiggling whilst carrying the several barrels with one arm stacked atop one another.

Silverstream followed suit, jiggling along with the human. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy herself, it has been a few years since she’d properly had any fun. Releasing his hold on the hippogriff, Silverstream plopped onto the wet sands, shaking herself as the post-ride experience sent tingles down her back.

“It sure was!”

“H-how was that fun!?” Ocellus managed to push out before another wave of nausea hit her.

“Don’t be such a pooper party.” Gojo waved.

“It’s party pooper.” Silverstream corrected.

“Same thing.” He replied, unbothered.

“I don’t think I can recover from this…” Ocellus gargled.

“Don’t be so dramatic,” Gojo said, ironic.

“D-dramatic!?”

After managing to pull themselves together, the trio duo thanked the guards escorting them as they made their way back to Mount Aris and parted goodbyes. All the while Gojo continues to munch on the apples supplied to them but still gives a simple wave. Turning ways, the trio trenched forward, walking through the forbidden land’s dense forest. The only natural compass available to them is the river running through the place. Following the stream, it was soon daybreak, the light of Celestia’s sun piercing through the moist din of the foliage and trees.

Several hours into their trek, they managed to break past into a small opening within the forest where the direct sunlight shines. Gojo plopped the barrels of fruits onto the grass, wiping the imaginary sweat on his forehead.

“Let’s set up camp here for the day.” He said, turning back to face Ocellus and Silverstream. “It’s a nice spot, with plenty of shade but enough sun and a nearby stream.”

“Okay!” Silverstream eagerly agreed, eyes sparkling with excitement. “I’ll gather some firewood!”
“Then… I’ll help in setting up the tents,” Ocellus added.

“That’d be great!” Gojo praised, getting up and stretching his back. “I’ll go get some meat.”
“…M-meat?” the two quivered, lips trembling as they turned to face Gojo.

“Yeah, shouldn’t be too hard to find a wild boar or something out here and cook it over fire for a bit,” Gojo turned over to look at them, smiling. This was when they both realised that Gojo had fangs in his teeth. “You guys want some? It’d be a nice treat after our long journey.”
“N-no thank you!” Ocellus waved her hooves.

“Same here!” Silverstream quickly added.

Gojo shrugged, “Suit yourselves.” Before taking off his coat and slinging over the barrel, now in his black tight-fit shirt, he pulled down his blindfold before vanishing in the blink of an eye. The leaves where he once stood danced in the soft whiplash of the wind.

There was a hesitant pause in the air before Ocellus flipped her head to face so fast it was almost comical.
“He eats MEAT!?”
“I-I don’t know!?!” Silverstream threw her talons up to defend herself.

Ocellus paced around the opening, pupils shrinking as her breathing turns irregular. She was starting to feel claustrophobic, trapped in this small clearing with a potential predator.

“He’s gonna cook us.” The changeling stated plainly.

“How did out of all the possibilities, that one comes to mind!?” Silverstream retorted.
“The moment he can’t find something to eat in these woods, it’s going to be us. He’s going to cook us…” Ocellus jumped to Silverstream, shaking her with an intensity proportionate to her panic. “He’s going to cook us!”

“R-relax, Ocellus!” Silverstream begged, trying to calm her friend. “Mr. Gojo would never do that!”
“He blasted Sombra’s troops without so much as batting an eye! What makes you think he’s going to-”

“Yo!” Came Gojo’s voice from behind. The two immediately cuts their conversation, spinning back to greet him. In his arms, were two large boars, both very dead from the lack of heads on their shoulders. “Did I miss something?”
“Nope! Not one thing.” Silverstream lied through her teeth.

Gojo tossed the bodies to the floor, his nonchalant attitude was beginning to worry the two. “It’s missing something… that’s right! Stew!” Gojo hammered his fist. “Be right back!”

The hippogriff gagged, covering her beak. Seeing the battered remains of the boar ooze out crimson onto the grassy patches and painting it a deep red, it's unsettling. Their stomach begins to churn, threatening to spew out the fruits they ate on the way here.

It was nighttime, the campfire Ocellus set up crackled with each intake of sticks and wood, warding off the cold of the darkness. The space was tense. Silent. The smell of cooked meat begins to puetrify the air as sliced boar sits skewered on sticks simmering to perfection.

Silverstream and Ocellus sat on a shared log opposite of Gojo’s. Although there was ample space for them to spread out more, they decided it’d be best to stick together. They stared at the meat, its muscles sliced eerily straight despite Gojo not owning cutting equipment of the sort. They could practically imagine their bodies being fillet.

That said, they couldn’t ignore the miniature, handleless stock pot sitting directly above the fire, its content bubbling underneath the metal lid. Another item courtesy of her greatness.

While the two were sitting like statues, Gojo was rolling his head back with crossed arms, tapping his foot impatiently on the grass blades, silent thumps that signal each passing second and further driving the two friend’s insanity through the imaginary roof.

After several more minutes of this mind-wasting, non-verbal altercation. Gojo stopped tapping his foot.

This is it, their time is up.

The tall man got up, kneeling near the fireplace and removing the stock pot without the need to make physical contact. Only has to wiggle his fingers in a manner that suggests where the pot should be moved. He sets it next to Silverstream and Ocellus, opening the lid and setting it aside, allowing the fragrance to blow into their faces.

“There aren’t any bowls or plates to eat from nor any utensils we could use from what I could find, sorry, you’ll have to make do with this.” Gojo said, “Go ahead, dig in.”
Ocellus and Silverstream leaned in to stare at the stew from above, it looked pretty okay at first glance. It’s what anybody would’ve guessed a standard vegetable stew would look like, no sight of lingering pieces of meat could be found though. Playing it safe, Ocellus brought the wooden spoon over with her magic and stirred the dish in a regular, clockwise manner. Checking all possible lumps and bumps if they were meat. To her surprise, there wasn’t. So far anyway.

“Um, Mr. Gojo?” Silverstream piqued.

“Yeah?” Gojo returned. “Something the matter?”

“Is there any meat in this stew?” Ocellus asked, sweat threatening to break her forehead.
“No, there isn’t.”

“R-really?” Silverstream asked.

“Yeah, guessed you both don’t eat meat the moment I asked if you guys wanted some. So I made some vegetarian stew. This is a first for me though, so go easy on the critiques!”
Ocellus and Silverstream exchanged looks, unsure if- oh what the heck, what else could Silverstream possibly lose in this forsaken world? Snatching the spoon from Ocellus’s grasp, she shoved the spoon into the stew and took a heaping full of the dish before bringing it to her beak and taking a bite.

It’s… pretty good! It’s bland, but considering the fact that they’re in the middle of nowhere with limited supplies such as salt and pepper, it's a darn good stew.

“Wow, Mr. Gojo! It’s delicious! I didn’t know you could cook!” The hippogriff complimented, before taking another mouthful. She paused to give the spoon to Ocellus, who begrudgingly took a mouthful as well. Her reluctance quickly turns into genuine shock and pleasure, scuffing several bites of the stew on her own.

“Watched it in a survival documentary once,” Gojo explained, taking a bite of the boar. “Thought it might come in useful on a mission.”

“I can’t imagine what you could cook up if you had a proper kitchen!” Ocellus added, mouth full of stew.

“I rarely cook, but…” Gojo took another bite of the boar, eh, could be more tender. He smirked, remembering the time he brought the students to an expensive restaurant in Roppongi after a mission. The way Silverstream inhaled that stew reminded the teacher of the way Yuji would devour that ribeye in less than a minute, then nervously ask for seconds. At the same time, Nobara would try to remain as ladylike as possible, but eventually, her walls would come crumbling down as she had an eat-off with Yuji in the 5-star facility. Kinda like how Ocellus was.

“It’d be a nice change of pace.” He admitted.

They began to chat for the rest of the time the fire was still lit, eating and exchanging stories and folktales of their worlds. Laughing the night away, talking about old friends, and reminiscing about simpler times. As the fire began to die down, Gojo even shared a story or two about how he “convinced” his underclassmen to get a license instead of pursuing sorcery before calling it for the night and heading to bed.

"Well, I think it's time to hit the hay," Gojo spoke, "We have a long journey ahead of us tomorrow."

Ocellus and Silverstream nodded in agreement. They gathered their belongings and set up their makeshift sleeping bags of piles of leaves near the campfire. They practically fell asleep within minutes, their fatigue finally caving in. Gojo lay on his own pile of leaves, blindfold still on, and staring at the stars in the rich, navy sky.

After a moment or two of ensuring the two girls were asleep, he slowly got up, making sure not to make any sudden noises that Turning might startle those two awake. Sneaking over to the trees nearby, Gojo walked into the darkness, the shadows swallowing him whole as he tiptoed deeper and deeper into the forest until he was confident he was out of earshot from the campsite. Looking back one last time to double-check he wasn't followed, he pointed two fingers towards the sky, cursed energy surging in his body and whispering.

“Emerge from the darkness, blacker than darkness. Purify that which is impure.”

Author's Note

Okay, for reals. I might not upload for the next few days now for reasons already stated. (im cooked)