InsaneJournal

Percy had essentially spent the majority of his life in survival mode. For a while, it was just his survival he was concerned about and then Vox Machina came into his life and they collectively became the heroes of Tal'dorei…and then beyond. He was used to putting his life on the line, be it in the search for the fabled Vestiges of Divergence or fighting an ancient dragon.

Derleth didn't offer more of a chance for rest and relaxation than life in Exandria did. Although, in his own world he chose to become an adventurer, a sellsword, a hero. In Derleth, everyone had to do their best to survive. And Percy was going to do what he could to help them all.

Armed, as usual, with an assortment of guns–his personal invention in his world–as well as a longsword and cloak more magical than it looked, Percy left his dorm room to meet up with Captain Pike. The captain's name tugged at Percy's heart as he thought about his Pike, the spitfire gnome and servant of Sarenrae who was back in Exandria and hopefully as safe as any of them could ever be. The Everlight did seem to shine down on Pike often.

Meeting this captain just outside the main entrance to Butler Hall, parchment and pen in hand, Percy offered Christopher Pike a small, polite smile and a nod.

"Ready?"

---

Christopher nodded and gave Percy an encouraging smile. “As ready as I can be.” Although he didn’t have his phaser or tac vest, which made him feel a bit disoriented, he reminded himself that this was like life on the ranch. Where he did his best to ignore most Starfleet tech. He was, however, armed with a dagger and the sword he’d gotten last week. Between the various trainings last week, he felt much more comfortable with it.

He glanced around the campus - although the buildings weren’t ruins like last week, it still seemed like this area hadn’t been operating normally in quite some time. “Which direction do you want to head in?”

---

Percy looked around their immediate surroundings and squinted his eyes, despite the glasses that rested on the bridge of his nose. He took a moment, looking as if he was deliberating or calculating something. After a drawn-out moment, he pointed in a southwest direction.

"That way." He somehow made it sound like he knew what he was talking about when it was really just an arbitrary direction to select.

"What should we keep an eye out for?" They weren't likely to find any food or supplies, not when everything was already so ransacked. "I suspect by the looks of the city just beyond the campus that even a river wouldn't be clean water." This world, whatever it was, had fallen into ruin and Percy imagined for a moment that this was probably what Exandria looked like in the wake of the Calamity.

---

Any direction was as good as any other, in Chris’ opinion, as long as they kept track which direction they went in. He fell into step with Percy as they headed out of campus and out towards the wider city.

“Anything that could be a threat or a resource, I suppose. Food, water, supplies…” He glanced around at the buildings that had clearly seen better days. “If there’s water, we might be able to filter it… it’d be a start anyway.”

Something was bothering him about this place but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it until he tilted his head. “There’s no birds singing.”

---

Percy paused mid-step when Chris mentioned the lack of birdsong. He was right and Percy was surprised he hadn't noticed it himself. He scanned the trees, searching for birds. It sent a shiver down his spine. This was too much like Whitestone for his liking.

"That's rather ominous," he responded and then continued to walk. But it nagged at him. Even when the world ended, life remained. So where was the wildlife? Hidden away in nests and burrows, out of sight of whatever brought this city to its knees? But what kind of threat kept even the scavengers from hunting carrion?

So Percy tried a bird call, one of several he taught himself as a young man holed up in his room studying natural history. Percy's loud, eerily accurate imitation of a crow broke the silence that consumed the world around them.

---

It was one more thing that disturbed Chris about this place. Taking the parchment and pen from Percy, he sketched the path they were taking, marking down any obvious landmarks to help make this map useful.

Chris stopped suddenly at the bird call which was frighteningly accurate and raised an eyebrow at Percy. “Does everyone from your world know how to do that?”

---

Percy offered Chris a sly smile and shook his head. "No, just those of us who spent our youth reading books and imitating birds." Percy reached over his shoulder and grabbed Bad News, a musket-like rifle that could be folded in half to make it more portable. He unfolded it and hoisted it up to his face so he could use the scope to peer out into the distance. Still no birds.

He looked away from the scope so that he could look at Chris and the parchment. "Maybe include some of these broken down - ah, what are they called again? Cars?" There weren't very good landmarks to note on the map, but they'd have to make do.

---

“It’s a damn impressive talent,” Chris acknowledged. “Probably wouldn’t be able to tell it from the real thing if I wasn’t standing next to you.”

He was grateful that Percy had his arsenal at the ready. “See anything?”

Marking down the cars was a good idea. He went over to one of them, spreading the parchment out on the hood of one of the cars, sketching out the road, the derelict buildings and the broken down cars. In the corner of the parchment, he sketched out a legend as well as a scale for the map.

He glanced inside the car, trying to see if there was anything useful. “Looks like everything has been pretty well scavenged, unfortunately. Keep moving?”

---

"Nothing of note," Percy responded and dropped his firearm to his side. If the crowing had attracted the attention of anything, it wasn't in sight yet.

Percy peered over Chris' shoulder as he worked on the map. "Oh, the legend is a good idea. You should draw directional points too." Percy looked around them to determine what direction they were currently walking. Except he wasn't familiar with this world, the landmarks, the celestial bodies in the sky.

"Uhh, if you have any way of determining what direction we're currently moving in anyway."

---

Chris took a moment, checking the time on his PADD, the sun’s position and drew a small compass rose on the map, indicating directional orientation. “Might be a few degrees off, but the sun rises in the east and sets in the west on Earth. That’ll give you basic directions during the day.”

Sketching out a few more landmarks from their current position, he glanced up, satisfied for the moment before rolling up the map and tucking the map into his bag. Setting off down the streets, he glanced around, peering into some of the shops, disappointed at how empty they looked.

---

"Oh, the sun orbits this world the same as mine. That's useful."

They walked and looked over a variety of shops and even peered into the broken windows of long-abandoned houses. Nothing particularly useful stood out, although Percy did pocket several broken scraps of metal.

"I don't think we're going to find anything. But I guess at least this map can be a process of elimination. All the locations that are picked over so nobody wastes their time."

A scuffing sound, a rattling of metal, cut through the silence and Percy stopped and turned around. Maybe there was still wildlife and rats or raccoons were scavenging through the trash.

The groans that followed, the dry mournful mutterings of the damned, sent a cold shiver snaking down Percy's spine. Those were not animals.

---

“Technically, the planet orbits the sun, but that doesn’t matter much for navigation,” he said, unable to add the basic astronomy. He was going to say more when he heard the noise, drawing his sword in his right hand and dagger in his left.

He stepped closer to Percy, turning slightly so that there was less of a chance of something flanking them or catching them by surprise.

“See anything?” he whispered.

---

"Not yet, but whatever it is, it's coming our way." Percy folded Bad News and returned it to his back, choosing to pull out a smaller, pepperbox pistol. Animus held more ammunition and from the sound of it, there was more than one zombie shambling toward them.

Percy held out the gun, ready to fire on sight. Which was exactly what he did the second he saw the first zombie shuffle into view. He aimed for the head which took the undead creature down immediately, but the blast was loud, echoing.

The groaning sounds seemed to multiply as more and more zombies shuffled their way toward Percy and Chris.

---

“Percy…” Chris said warily, not thrilled by the fact that more of them seemed to be approaching. They were moving slowly, but Chris wasn’t sure if he wanted to be in close combat with a bunch of them. “Don’t suppose you have any explosives on you?”

---

Percy took his eyes off the encroaching hoard only briefly to look at Chris. He unholstered another pepperbox pistol and handed it to him. "This is the best I got…but also, maybe we run?" Percy fired off another shot, only nicking the neck of the next zombie. "Shit," he muttered and turned away from the zombies. "Come on," he encouraged and began to bolt down the street in the opposite direction of the zombies.

---

“Running is good!” Chris answered, sprinting down the street and keeping the pistol in his hand just in case some of them were faster than they looked.

“Left!” he called, grabbing Percy’s hand and tugging him in between some buildings.

---

Percy stumbled into the alley and leaned back against one of the buildings, his breath uneven. They didn't run for long, but the sight of the zombies was enough to unnerve him.

"You know, I'm starting to think maybe guns are a bad idea with these guys."

---

“I think you’re right,” Chris nodded, catching his breath. “Not sure I want to get close enough for a sword fight though.”

Chris arched an eyebrow at Percy. “You alright?” he asked, worry in his voice as he glanced around the edge of the buildings, gun in hand to make sure they were still safe.

---

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've had previous experience with the undead." Percy gestured vaguely with the gun as if this was enough of an explanation.

Percy followed suit and peered out from the alley, assessing the situation. No more zombies had joined the already swollen horde that was slowly lumbering by. They could, theoretically, outrun them.

Assuming there weren't more coming from another direction.

"You want to head back to campus or try to shake these guys and go back to scouting?"

---

Something about the way Percy said that made Chris think it was something Percy would prefer not to repeat. Now wasn’t the time to pry, as long as Percy was okay enough to function. Later there could be time for questions.

“If you’re up for it, I vote for shaking them and continuing scouting.”

---

"I think we can manage that." Percy quietly made his way down the alley to peer out from behind the buildings on the other side. The coast seemed clear, but he couldn't be certain. He looked up at one of the buildings, contemplating it for a moment. Then he reached out a foot and took a step, walking up the side of the wall like it was nothing. He disappeared from view once he got to the roof.

Percy remained crouched as he scouted along the rooftop perimeter of the building, once again using the scope affixed to Bad News. The hoard of zombies that had been after them was shambling away from their hiding spot between buildings and no more seemed to be heading their way. Percy reached for the earring that clipped to his right ear and stopped himself just short of activating it. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed as he remembered Chris did not have a similar communication device.

Percy hurried back over to the edge of the roof and climbed back down, walking along the side of the building with ease. He stepped off onto the ground below.

"If we give the zombies about ten more minutes, we'll be in the clear. I didn't see any others nearby."

---

Whatever Chris had been expecting, it wasn’t Percy walking up the wall like it was a flat level surface. So that was a thing. He’d thought being from the future comparatively meant fewer surprises, but he’d been wrong.

He kept an eye out on the ground while Percy was on the rooftop, making sure no one managed to sneak up on them or surround them.

Chris nodded when Percy came back down. “Sounds good.” A pause. “So, walking up walls? Any other secret skills that’d be helpful to know about?”

---

"I'm pretty much decked out head-to-toe in magical items. Which may or may not work consistently given how unreliable magic is." It was a risk for Percy to walk up and down the wall and yet he didn't think anything of it.

"I have a cloak and a glove that shoot electric charges. The glove isn't magic, though, it's an invention of mine. So if we need to electrocute the undead, we're all set." The few spells he had in his arsenal were barely worth mentioning, especially in this world.

"Where to next?"

---

“Interesting. And similar to some of the tech from my world - anti-grav boots and the like. Not standard issue, of course.” Chris had a feeling Percy’s ‘magic boots’ probably weren’t standard issue either.

The glove seemed like an early version of a phaser in some respects. “Enough electricity to kill someone? How well can you aim it?”

---

"Anti-gravity boots?" There was very obvious excitement in Percy's voice. "These are quite similar in concept, but I assume the boots you're referring to are wholly tech-based. I'd love to see a pair." He would love to disassemble a pair, really.

"I don't think I could kill anyone with the glove. I'm afraid Diplomacy is something more of a prototype. Still some kinks to be worked out, you know. Cabal's Ruin, on the other hand, can do some serious damage." Percy tugged at the cloak worn over his coat to clarify what he was talking about. "It holds more electrical charges than the glove."

---

“Yeah, magic isn’t really a thing in our world, so it’s all tech of one sort or another. Different societies tend to have different levels of technological advancement. All our ships are equipped with gravity stabilization - it gets really annoying if you’re floating around on your ship the whole time - so the boots are a spin off on that.”

Chris nodded, fascinated by how nearly every item the other man wore or had on him had some sort of special ability. Of course, it might not be that different from the way 23rd century tech appeared to someone of an earlier time. “I’m not sure if electricity would work on the zombies, but depending on how strong it is, it might work? Would definitely require getting close to them, which is something we might want to avoid.”

Chris glanced back at the map and around the area where they were. “What if we kept going southwest?” Chris indicated an area on the map that still wasn’t explored.

---

"The skyships of your world must truly be something to behold. Although I suppose if they go beyond the world's atmospheric layers, it's more of a spaceship." Percy looked up at the sky overhead with a small smile. "I've been to other Planes of Existence–the Feywild, the Elemental Plane of Fire–but going to the space between the celestial bodies? Seeing the stars and moons up close? I can't even fathom that."

He stared at the sky wistfully just a moment longer before turning his attention back to Chris and the map. "Continuing southwest seems like a solid plan," he replied with a nod.

---

“You’ve got a one up on me then. We’ve had visitors from other universe, but I think that’s as close as I’ve gotten to other planes of existence.” Chris smiled as he looked up at the sky and thought of the Enterprise. “Yeah, we call them spaceships in my time. But that doesn’t always translate. But travel throughout the galaxy. You don’t really want to get too close to a star though - might destroy the ship.”

Chris glanced from the map to the neighborhood. Now that the coast seemed clear from zombies, he headed back out onto the street, heading southwest. “Nothing quite like being out there among the stars, traveling among the planets. But your world sounds like it has its own adventures.”

---

Percy gave a small laugh. "No, I wouldn't want to get too close to a star. But closer than the surface of a planet billions of miles below."

He followed Chris back out to the street, relieved to not see any more undead shambling their way. "My world does have its own adventures. Mostly because it's filled with a lot of dangers. Dragons to slay, demons to extricate oneself from. You know, the usual."

As they walked, Percy continued to keep an eye out for anything useful to the group or just to himself. He picked up a few more scraps of metal and even a few shards of glass which he carefully wrapped in a thick cloth before tucking them away into a pouch on his belt.

---

Chris smiled softly. “It is something to have the planets look as small as the stars normally look, and to see them from space. Makes you feel somewhat small in the grand scheme of the universe.”

He laughed, perhaps a little louder than he should have and glanced around. “There is nothing usual about dragons and demons where I come from, but I would love to see a dragon. See if they live up to the stories.”

As Percy picked up scraps, Chris focused on continuing to map out their exploration of the city.

---

"I've faced multiple ancient dragons. They are massive and cruel and very much live up to their stories. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't at least a little bit exciting," Percy replied with a smile. Seeing a dragon up close and personal had to be as humbling and awe-inspiring as traversing the depths of space.

Percy had hoped to find at least some tools, beyond the tinkering set he always had with him, and yet every store, every home, had been turned over already. Multiple times, probably. It was bleak, but without the threat of the undead, it was oddly peaceful. The quiet of a decimated city should be unsettling, but it didn't faze Percy in the slightest. It wasn't quite like feeling the fear thick as fog choking Whitestone under the rule of the Briarwoods.

---

Chris smiled, listening to Percy’s description. “There’s always a bit of a thrill with danger. Gets the blood flowing.”

This wasn’t the first ruined city (former city?) Chris had been in, but somehow this one felt different, more decrepit and decaying. It had been fairly well picked over and there was little left in terms of supplies or resources.

---

"There's more than a bit of a thrill in danger. Not that I'm remotely reckless, of course." Although, in that moment, Percy was happy to be clear of any danger. They wouldn't be returning to Derleth with any supplies, but the map they've drawn will be very useful.

---

“Of course not,” Chris said with a smirk. “Reckless doesn’t describe either of us.”