It was midday. At least, they assumed it was midday, the gray dreary sky was finally starting to lighten up and the two girls could again see the ugly, destroyed landscape that was Solstheim without the help of the two lanterns their guar was carrying.
… Not that they really wanted to, mind you.
"… Are we there yet?" Nagisa whined as their guar made its casual stroll through the dense corpse of a forest; shattered evergreen tree trunks covered the landscape, nearly flash-frozen by ash. There were less mushrooms here, yet the other odd Morrowind plants remained, giving the ground cover a truly alien feel.
Kyoko grumbled, irritated with herself. They'd gone west, right? Raven Rock was to the west. They should have reached town by dawn, so… where was the town? "… I don't know," she mumbled at last, admitting they were lost. It didn't help that the sky was perpetually gray and formless so she had no idea which way the sun was moving. She yawned; the lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her and she was becoming increasingly cross.
"I thought you were good at this tracking stuff," Nagisa said.
"… I was homeless, not raised by wolves thank-you-very-much." Kyoko said flatly, "… Wait, are you going through our food again!?" she exclaimed when she heard rummaging sounds going on behind her.
"I'm hungry!" the younger girl pouted as she dug through the bag.
Kyoko rolled her eyes, "Yeah? So am I, but we're who-knows-where and I don't want to—" she froze as Nagisa pulled out a small jar of scrib jelly and then with a disgusted look tossed it aside; "You did NOT just throw food away." she exclaimed, surprise giving way to anger.
"What?!" Nagisa replied, "It's scrib jelly. It's gross."
Kyoko stopped the guar dead as she glared back at Nagisa, "Don't. Waste. Food."
"You don't even like scrib jelly!"
"I took what I could from the kitchen when I could!" Kyoko replied, "You don't always get to pick and choose what you get to eat. Now go get it and put it back in the bag before I beat your ass." It was true; she didn't like most of the food here. Granted, she didn't really like much of anything on this godforsaken island. The sooner they were away from here, the better. Just imagine: places populated by actual humans. Bright sun and blue skies. Buildings that weren't fungus. Normal goddamn food.
It was enough to make Kyoko's heart flutter.
… She would kill for a burger right now. Like, straight up murder. That wasn't even a joke.
With a pout and an irritated eyeroll, Nagisa climbed off the guar and headed over to where the jar lay in a pile of ash, "… Mami wouldn't have made me eat scrib jelly…" she muttered, just under her breath.
Clearly not under her breath enough however, as Kyoko gave her an expression of disbelief, "Now I KNOW that is a load of bullshit. If Mami were here, she'd have you eat that scrib jelly and make you enjoy it. Feel lucky that I'm only going to make you do the first part."
Nagisa grumbled petulantly, "Fine, fine."
Kyoko resisted her own eye roll, "And hurry it up, would you? We're burning daylight. Get back on the goddamn velociraptor… frog… cow… thing so we can go."
Nagisa picked up the jar and began heading back to the guar, "It's closer to a utahraptor, actually."
Kyoko blinked in surprise, "Wait, what?"
"Velociraptors were turkey-sized, while utahraptors were much bigger. Of course, raptors also had feathers, so…" Nagisa trailed off. When Kyoko's perplexed expression continued, Nagisa sighed and explained with a mumble as a blush creeped over her features, "… You learn a lot of stuff reading magazines in the hospital waiting room."
Oh, well now Kyoko felt a little bit dickish, "Oh… sorry. Guess I just didn't expect—" both of them froze as a roar in the distance punctuated the otherwise eerie silence.
"… You heard that, right?" Nagisa asked, clutching the jar of jelly tighter.
Kyoko looked around, "I felt that."
Another roar; this one closer. Kyoko's eyes widened in trepidation, "Nagisa, get on. Longstride. NOW."
Wordlessly Nagisa dropped the jar in the sack and jumped onto the guar before summoning a burst of magic to her fingertips.
A shadow passed overhead. Nagisa looked up, only to see something flying just out of sight thanks to the dead trees surrounding them.
"GO, GO, GO!" Kyoko shouted to the fat animal as she snapped the reins. The guar began to charge, fueled by the longstride spell as they (hopefully) continued west.
"How well do you think this thing can outrace a dragon?" Nagisa asked the redhead.
A monumental crashing sound came from behind them as the threat in question began to barrel its way through the ruined forest, knocking aside and splintering tree trunks as if they were cardboard. It was pissed and it was headed straight for them.
"NOT WELL!" Kyoko shouted in alarm.
"YOR TUL SHOOL!"
"KYOKO!" Nagisa gripped the redhead's abdomen as the guar rushed forwards, barely evading the stream of fire emerging from the silver-scaled dragon's maw as it flew past them just overhead.
"Nagisa, stick to the plan!" Kyoko demanded. When Nagisa didn't respond, Kyoko repeated, "NAGISA! Head in the game! I drive, you shoot!"
"R-right!" the younger girl replied, summoning another spell as the dragon swung back around. A bolt of electricity shot out of her hand, impacting harmlessly off the dragon's hide as it came in for another attack.
"Nagisa!" Kyoko shouted, preparing for another evasion. Up ahead was a rocky outcropping next to the trail, and then a thick grove of dead trees. If they could just get some cover…
"VEN GAAR NOS!"
A whirlwind of ash and smoke came flying at the girls, ready to sweep their guar off the ground just as it was the dead trees it was uprooting, until it met Nagisa's ward spell. The air bounced harmlessly off, but it didn't do anything for the large tree trunks as they sped like missiles towards them, crashing into the dusty ground all around the girls as they fled.
"NAGISA!" Kyoko shouted as she desperately evaded one tree trunk after another on the uneven terrain.
"I'M TRYING!" Nagisa shouted back. So much dust was being kicked up into the air that it was becoming impossible to see more than a few feet in front of her—made all the more alarming by all the incredibly unnerving crashing noises as each tree impacted the ground, each booming like an artillery shell as they cracked and splintered on contact. One thundered down right in front of them, turning over and down on top of the two girls.
"DUCK!" Kyoko shouted again, as they rode under the trunk as it fell over, smashing right into where they had just been. The dragon roared again, once again flying overhead before coming around for another pass. "I HATE THIS FUCKING ISLAND!"
The guar charged out of the ash-filled air back into a clearer section of the forest, but the dragon was already upon them.
Nagisa was ready. As the dragon unleashed another pillar of crimson fire from its mouth, the white-haired girl put up her strongest ward yet, allowing the flames to spill off the barrier harmlessly. Then as the dragon again flew over them, with her other hand Nagisa allowed a fully-charged barrage of electrical energy to slam into the dragon's underbelly. This one was enough to make the dragon flinch, and it roared angrily as it veered off.
"Good job!" Kyoko told Nagisa, "Keep it up!"
Nagisa was panting, "Out of magic. I need a minute."
Kyoko nodded, "Grab a potion out of the bag. I got this." The redhead pulled one of the javelins she'd taken from the armory out of the quiver on her back, ignited it with a flame spell, and then waited as the dragon crashed through more trees, trying to find a good position for another bombing run. It burst through another copse into the clearing the guar was running through, this time coming directly at the girls from the front. It let loose an ugly ear-piercing roar when it opened its jaws, ready to tear and chew.
"COME AND GET SOME, ASSHOLE!" Kyoko screamed right back, hoisting her weapon in her left hand as she kept hold of the guar's reins in her right. With a herculean throw, she sent the javelin weapon soaring through the air, jamming it into the dragon right between the jaw and neck with a force of impact less like a hand throw and more like a mounted crossbow. The dragon screamed in a mixture of surprise and pain as it immediately veered off unevenly, blood spurting out everywhere as the javelin jiggled about. Fire danced around the wound, further enraging the beast.
"Yeah!" Kyoko shouted triumphantly with a fist pump, "How do you like them apples?!"
"Uh… he's coming back around!" Nagisa said with worry, looking up after finding the magic potion she'd been looking for.
"Ward, NOW!"
"Uh—" Nagisa began to chug the contents of the potion as fast as she could, but upon seeing this Kyoko knew there wasn't time.
"FUS RO DAH!"
Kyoko yanked on the reins HARD. The guar just barely avoided the dragon's attack as Kyoko readied a second javelin, coating it in the same flame spell as the last.
"YOR TUL SHOOL!"
The dragon unleashed another stream of burning wrath. By now however, Nagisa was back in the game and again managed to deflect with another ward before launching a followup electrical attack on its left wing, and by the time the dragon was soaring over them, Kyoko was also ready and sent another javelin flying into the dragon's underside.
With a painful, agonizing screech the dragon took a tumble, crashing into the trees ahead before making a complete u-turn, plummeting to the ground with enough force to make the earth shake. Its body coasted forward on the momentum towards the girls and their guar.
Kyoko's eyes widened, "Oh SHI—" without so much as a second thought, she grabbed both Nagisa and the bag of supplies and straight up abandoned their steed when the dragon, still dragging forward, opened its mouth and unloaded more fire. The guar didn't know what hit it, being incinerated and then crushed under the dragon's weight within seconds. The two girls fell to the ground, rolling downhill away from the dragon until they were stopped by a tree. Kyoko cradled Nagisa the whole way down, even abandoning the food bag halfway.
"Impudent Joor!" the dragon wheezed as it pulled itself up, blood still leaking from the two wounds Kyoko had managed to inflict, "I will feast on your essence." It began to crawl to them, clearly incredibly pissed off.
"Nagisa." Kyoko gripped the younger girl's shoulder as she got to her knees. Her voice was deadly serious, "Get behind me." The redhead, sporting a few new cuts and bruises from the impact, pushed herself ahead of the other girl and fully stood up, wincing in pain as she did; she'd definitely hurt her ribs. Her helmet was gone; it had been thrown from her body and now lay somewhere out of reach. She pulled out her last javelin, wielding it in one hand as she cradled her side with her other as she prepared her final stand. "Tough talk coming from someone whose face I just fucked up." she taunted at the dragon.
It was a bluff, nothing more. As long as they'd had the guar they'd at least had some semblance of speed or mobility on their side, but right now they were sitting ducks in front of the much larger and far more impressive creature, especially now that she was wounded. Their magic hadn't been doing much to it, and she was down to her last round of physical ammo.
"Any final tinvaak?" the dragon asked, now towering over the two kids, ready to deliver a final blow.
Kyoko spat into the dirt as she readied her final javelin throw, "Yeah, you're ugly." In response the dragon reared back, fire forming in its mouth.
"… Sorry, Nagisa," Kyoko muttered with finality and a hint of regret back to her companion. The other girl gave her a sad but reassuring nod in return. Idly Kyoko wondered if there really was a heaven or hell. She really kind of wished she'd had an opportunity to apologize to the others. So much for that.
… And then neither girl was standing where they'd been. They now found themselves several dozen meters away, safely out of reach of the dragon's current immolating attack. It quickly ceased its assault upon noticing that its quarry was no longer in the kill zone, and upon realizing what had happened, turned its attention to figure in a nondescript brown robe now standing between it and the two girls.
"You dare use time magic against a dovah?!" the dragon roared, clearly deeply offended. It shifted its body to face the newcomer.
The man dropped his hood, revealing himself to have golden skin, brown hair, and long ears—a high elf. Nagisa grinned at his appearance. Kyoko frowned. "Apologies" he said with an even voice, "But I need these girls alive."
The dragon snorted with contempt, "For what reason? They are intruders, volaan. Their presence upsets the balance of the mundus."
"You are quite correct," the elf responded, "But if you kill them you deny them the chance to fix what has been done, and in turn left the problem unsolved entirely."
"And you think they can do as you say?"
"I dare say, they are probably the only ones who can," the elf replied. The dragon did not seem convinced, so the elf added, "I do warn you; you are wounded, while I can call in reinforcements. The Psijic Order does not desire a fight, but we cannot allow you to kill them."
The dragon paused, slightly taken aback by the elf's claim at being from the Order. He considered the situation; it was true as while he was far from finished, the girls' attacks had certainly injured him, and the threat of a concentrated Psijic assault was arguably an even worse threat than Neloth and his guards. Still, the dragon's pride made it difficult to retreat after two failed engagements against the same prey.
After a moment of consideration, the dragon finally relented with a nod, then regarded the two girls, "Begone from my island, for I shall not spare you a third tiid."
With that, the dragon turned and extended its wings, the left one clearly injured and in a mild amount of pain as the dragon flinched. After taking a moment to gather itself, the creature pushed itself from the ground, springing into the air once more and taking off—somewhat unevenly with a limp—into the distance.
With a satisfied look, the elf turned, "You managed to wound a dragon. That's no small—" he paused when he was slightly surprised to find a javelin staring him in the face. It was almost comical; a redheaded girl half his size, with armor that was clearly far too big for her. Yet her pose was experienced, and the elf knew far too well how important she was.
"Ah," he said, putting his hands up in a show of deference, "I mean no harm. My name is Valtir, and I am with the Psijic Order."
Kyoko snorted with derision, "Yeah, whatever, I can make up words too. Tell Neloth we're not going back."
"I'm not with Neloth," Valtir said, "Though I am well aware he is… difficult to work with in the best of times."
"Bullshit. You just expect me to believe you randomly found us out here? I'm not an idiot." Kyoko kept her javelin trained on the elf, with Nagisa safely behind her.
"I did not, no. As I said, I am with the Psijic Order, and I am a friend." Valtir said.
Kyoko's eyes narrowed, "Prove it."
The elf sighed. As if warding off a dragon wasn't enough? "The Psijic Order is a monastic organization dedicated to study and practice, and that extends to watching Nirn for possible threats. Further, I know where your friends are, and I know where they are going. If you come with me, I can take you to them."
THAT got both girls' attention; Kyoko's grip on her javelin slackened a bit as her glare softened, "You…how do I know you're not lying?"
Valtir motioned to Kyoko's weapon and she put it aside for now. "Madoka Kaname, Mami Tomoe, and Sayaka Miki arrived in Skyrim around the same time you arrived here. They are now en-route to the College of Winterhold. From Raven Rock, it's only a couple day trip, and you would arrive there before they do," the elf gave her a kind smile, "I cannot prove to you I am not lying, but I implore you to trust me all the same. I mean you no harm, I assure you. Quite the opposite, in fact."
Mami and Sayaka. Despite herself, despite all the lessons she'd taught herself, she couldn't help but hope he was telling the truth. She desperately wanted him to be telling the truth. They might be alive. They might be here. Kyoko repressed her tears as she felt a weight lifting off her shoulders despite her best efforts to deny his claims, "What about Homura? Homura Akemi?"
The elf shook his head, "We're still trying to locate her. Initial estimates put her location somewhere in the Reach, but she seems to have given us the slip."
Kyoko let out a haggard laugh, "That sounds like her alright." she gave Nagisa a look. The younger girl nodded back at her, and Kyoko sighed as she relented, turning her attention back to the elf as she stuck her weapon into the dirt, "Alright, let's say I believe you. Why would you want to help us find our friends? In my experience, most Good Samaritans are either frauds, stupid, or both."
"That… is a difficult question to answer, and one I would prefer to explain with all of you present. The short answer however, is that your arrival here has disrupted the natural balance of Nirn, the plane we currently stand on. We need your help to correct that."
Kyoko frowned, "… The dragon said something about that. But what the hell did we do?"
The elf gave a thin smile in amusement, "Two daedric gods burned through this world's defenses and crash-landed on this plane. That by itself would be a cause for alarm. But you did more than that, you brought with yourselves remnants of your world which, if left unchecked, could have cataclysmic consequences."
"… Remnants?" Kyoko asked, "What kind of—"
"… The meteor shower." Nagisa spoke up in realization as she put the pieces together in her head. The two girls glanced at each other, then back at the wizard.
Valtir nodded, "Exactly. As I said, we need your help and time is of the essence."
Kyoko sighed, desire finally winning over caution and suspicion, "Fine, you've got a deal. Get us the hell off this island."
The elf smiled, giving a slight magnanimous bow before motioning a direction for them to follow, "Raven Rock is about three hours northwest of here on foot. We'll be there by late afternoon. You certainly got close," he paused—the girls weren't following him.
Kyoko had walked over to where she'd thrown her supply sack away and picked it up before looking for her helmet—no sign of it, damn. She sighed and wrapped her scarf around her mouth; it would have to do.
"Oh, one more thing?" Kyoko told the elf as she re-approached him, her demeanor shifting to ice cold as she spoke lowly enough to not catch Nagisa's ears, "If this is a trick, they won't find enough of you to fit in one of those magic potion jars."
Valtir remained impassive, "I assure you, I am entirely above-board."
"Better be" the redhead muttered as the two girls found themselves in the company of an elven wizard for the second time since they'd come here. The trio headed for town.