Bulls and Boats

Neither Instinct nor Saif handled being in that empty house. The uncomfortable air made the quiet completely unbearable. His eyebrow scar twitched, his body itched. Saif picked up the documents Hylfa brought. He skimmed through them, trying to see if maybe he could read by focusing hard enough.

Without any better ideas, Saif’s first order of business would be to head down to the harbor. Although he’s unsure if he could take Laiton’s word for it, it was the only lead they’ve got.

Except, Saif had no clue where the harbor was. He pulled out his incomplete map, tracing the river to the west until it fed into the ocean. He looked closer to the south of the farmlands, recalling the salty waves where he fell.

As good a spot as any, he supposed.

Though his new cloak was long and warm, the farmlands were cold and getting colder as the night went on. Further ahead, a bonfire with its bright and welcoming flames beckoned him closer. Looks like he wasn’t the only one on the farm.

A group of monsters were camping, relaxing by the fire. They seemed ordinary enough, a pale green leathery type and dark brown slimy ones. These types of monsters were all over the capital now, one for each element, he supposed.

At first he assumed they’d leave him be, continuing his path towards the southern tip without sparing them a glance. Instinct reacted faster than he could, barely leaping out of the way when an swung an axe at him.

It was a beefy bullman, with thick and veiny muscles from top to bottom. He had the head of a bull, with dark, dull blue hair, twin curling horns and a ring pierced through its snout. It had bull-like hands and hooves, a long hair-tipped tail flickered back and forth as it analyzed him.
It wasn’t friendly.

“Cretin,” it gruffed, preparing another two-handed swing. “Was it you who disturbed our field?”

Your fields? Saif wanted to ask, shaking his head no.

“GRA! LIES!” It charged at him, Saif leaping back to avoid the attack. Another swing, then another, coming at him fast and getting faster and faster as the bullman realized it wasn’t landing any hits.

Saif pulled out his sword. Instinct wanted to take command and fight it, but Saif told him to wait. He noticed the other monsters sitting back by the fire, gargling with one another.
But no matter what he did, he couldn’t get close enough to land a hit. Instinct had to correct his landing a few times to stay out of harm’s way. Every time he tried to get close, the axe swung directly at him, threatening to crack his head into two.

Maybe he could use that to his advantage?

Saif egged the bullman on, feigning from side to side to get it to hesitate on every swing, doubling his efforts for no reward.

The bullman finally lost steam, panting as it fell to one knee. That’s good, Saif thought, finally pulling out his sword. He raised it high, ready to slice the bullman’s head off.

A monster roared, causing him to falter. When the other monsters approached them at full speed, Instinct took over. It stepped back bracing itself for the ambush. The leathery monster reached them first, placing itself between him and the bullman, turning its back to Saif. Wait, to Saif?

What?

They spoke to the bullman, gargling and warbling at it.

Huh?

The bull stood, tightening its grip on the axe. Listening intently to the monster. The slimes finally bounced their way over, joining the conversation in bubbly noises.

It eventually looked up at Saif, “Soil of Okran say you returned food to forest?”

Saif nodded slowly, like it was a set up for another ambush.

“Then why fight?

It tossed aside the axe, what, and lowered its head to him. Its body was too big for that, its muscles straining and bulging.

“Help. Our farm, destroyed. None to eat. Starved. Us too, like forest. Soil the Okran, slimes of farm vouch for you. Intellect. Kindness to all.”

Instinct forced itself forward, communicating instead of Saif. “Grant immunity. We learn. We help.”

It nodded, affirmative. “Roargan the Minotaur spreads news. You.”

It wasn’t phrased like a question, it wasn’t phrased at all! The bullman spoke as though human speech was not his language.

“Vessel of Bron,” Instinct said. That was new. Instinct even chose the naming scheme to be like them. “Bring the peace. End of devastation.”

Roargan howled, Soil and the slimes joined in.

“We retreat, Vessel.”

True to their word, the monsters turned tail and left.

Instinct was heavy to move Saif tried to take charge, but Instinct told him to wait. It headed to inspect the strange bugs from yesterday rather than following through and dropping from the cliffside right away. It found the same pile of leaves, the same bird squawked at them from a distance to not touch their food, but the bugs were gone.

Not even one was left behind. Curious.

It reeled back, leaving Saif to throw himself down alone. Instinct was being weird, but not enough to make Saif drop everything and ask.

Saif walked to the cliff, looking over the edge before he leapt this time. The entire cliffside smelled of apple blossom, sweet and delicious. From this angle, it was obvious how lucky Saif was to not have dropped directly into the water. Saif took a few steps to the side, making sure to land on the ground rather than a docking pole and put a foot up on the fence.

“Wait!” Thin tendrils shot out at him, grabbing him from behind. Saif slammed onto the dry grass behind him. What was that about?

“There’s an easier way down than this.” It was the plant from yesterday, no longer hidden within the shrubs. It had an apple for a head, with two big brown eyes shaped like little seeds. It was like the other plantfolk in that it had tendrils beside his arms, flowering and smelling of apple blossom.

Apple dragged him towards a sign not too far away, which had a maze of arrows and words neither Saif nor Instinct could read. Saif shrugged at the apple, walking back to the edge.

Yoink! “NOO, STOP!” Saif was once again tossed to the ground. “You just have to take that path there. The farmers always go that way after they pick the produce.”

Oh, that’s probably easier. Saif nodded his thanks to the apple, giving it a tap on the head before he left.

Saif took the steep wooden steps all the way down to the harbor. He got lower and lower to sea level until the crashing of the waves sent a fine mist up to douse him.

Well, he made it to the harbor. What now?

It smelled of decaying fish and grimy waters, but it wasn’t too terrible to bear. Saif looked around, finding it to be louder and busier and more alive than any city or town so far, even this late into the night.

He got closer to the water, crossing the damp wooden docks to gaze at the various types of ships docked and waiting. Saif had seen so many boats in his lifetime, he thought he'd gotten tired of the idea of marine travel all together. But here? It was like seeing them for the first time.

There were so many strange and new boats to admire. Some looked like bicycles, bobbing in and out of the water on two wheels. Others looked like the triple-decker bus on land. There were also boats that looked like a glass hamster peeking out of the water. There were more normal boats too, big, small, any size at all.
How they didn’t constantly crash into one another, Saif had no clue. They were so densely packed, it would’ve been impossible to undock your boat and sail away without first pushing aside thirty others. In the distance, he could see hulking cargo ships too massive to enter the bay sending out smaller boats to unload.

A rumble shook the docks, nearly sending Saif into the water if he hadn't gotten hold of a docking pole in time. These poles were very handy, he thought.

One of the ships close to him, with a frankly stupid amount of sails slowly rose out of the water. It went up, up, up, until it was nearly level with the farmlands’ cliff above, before it shot away. So that’s how they leave.

Woah. That was the coolest thing ever, he thought.

“Ugh, another stupid airship and its stupid sailing gear,” a human with neon orange hair sighed beside him. They were sitting on the edge of the dock, feet dangling over a long steel boat, winding up a length of rope. “These ships drop so much waste into the ocean, it takes a team of three hundred Aquarians a whole month to clean up their remains! And Aquarians are known to be even faster on water than they are on land!”

Saif blinked at them before turning around and finding somewhere else to be.