Geist hated the feeling of returning. It was an uncomfortable, prickly sensation as bits and pieces of his body reformed and stitched themselves back together.
Like a shell slowly being built to cover him. He couldn't be mad, though. Returning usually meant he had found a fine battle. That he was able to feel alive. This time was no exception.
That gunslinger…he hoped to meet her again.
Slowly his senses returned to him. He could feel grass beneath him, a clean breeze in the air, the darkness in his vision slowly being lifted.
He heard the grass rustle, birds chirping, and something else. A voice calling out to him.
He sat up, glancing down to his side to see that his saber had followed him. Slowly, he looked around, taking in his new surroundings.
Spreading out all around him was a vast, sweeping prairie. He saw a road cutting through the landscape.
Following it, his eyes finally settled in front of him, on a woman standing by a horse driven cart, several feet away. One hand on her hip, the other holding a shotgun, which she rested on her shoulder.
“Hey there mister,” the woman said “you alright there? I saw black smoke comin’ out of the grass, or at least somethin’ like it. Thought maybe you were in a robbery gone bad.”
He stared for a moment, before grabbing his sword and slowly standing up. She looked to be around middle age. Dark hair, tanned skin.
She was dressed in practical, well-worn working clothes with signs of self maintenance. He could sense from her bearing that she was fully prepared to use that shotgun with no hesitation if need be.
He took a few steps towards her, only for her to quickly point her gun at him. He paused.
“Now you take it easy there, partner. You ain't even said a word to me yet and, frankly, you're kinda makin’ me antsy.”
He knew he could probably disarm her easily, lethally or otherwise. But for once, he wasn't looking for a fight.
“Does everyone here greet strangers by pointing guns at them?” He asked
“Fella, I just found you miles from town, laying in the middle of a field, dressed in a funny lookin’ uniform, wrapped up like one of them mummies,
with a sword and a bunch of smoke or whatever comin’ off ya. So you're gonna have to forgive my suspicions.” she said, adjusting her grip slightly
He tilted his head and thought about it for a moment.
“I suppose I can't argue with that.” he said with a shrug
He hung his saber from his belt and raised his hands.
“My name is Geist. I don't know where I am or how I came to be here.”
The woman raised an eyebrow.
“So you came from out west then?” she asked
“Perhaps. It was rockier, more arid.” he replied
“What do you remember right before comin’ here from wherever you were before? Like when you knew where you were before you didn't.”
“Bright light, rumbling, a falling sensation…”
“Yeah, alright, that sounds about right.” the woman said, lowering her gun, “That's usually what folks say when they get dropped off out there from wherever.”
“It sounds as though you're familiar with this sort of phenomenon.”
“I dunno about that, I ain't no expert or anything. But I'll tell you what. I'm headin’ back to town with supplies here.
You can come with me and ride shotgun while keepin’ an eye out for trouble, and I'll try and tell you what I know. First glance aside, you don't seem like the bandit type.”
“How do you figure?”
“Well, the random roadside body angle doesn't work too great without something for your bandit buddies to hide behind so they can get the jump on ya.
And doing it alone means you could just get outnumbered, shot, or just ignored.”
“I suppose that makes sense. I accept your offer. I am in your debt.”
“Name’s River. River Belle.” She said, climbing onto and cart before turning and offering him a hand up
He stared for a second before taking her hand and climbing up. She was stronger than she looked.
They were soon on their way. After a few minutes of silence, Geist spoke.
“So I am not the only one, then? To find themselves here from somewhere else?”
“Nope. That's not to say folks’re showing up all the time, of course.
I mostly know about it from stories passed around the frontier towns from folks who have been further out west.”
“You've mentioned the West. It has some kind of significance?”
“Depends on who ya ask, I suppose. Some folks say it's a land of tall tales, other folks say it's just big empty nothin’.
There's something about it that either draws you in or makes you wanna stay far away. I guess that doesn't really explain a whole lot, it's just strange.
Sometimes things’ll make their way out here to the prairie lands, but it's a bit rare. We're sorta like a border area, I guess.
Course, folks back east in civilization don't believe a lick of any of it. Government just wrote it all off, it seems.”
“Have you ever met someone else brought here?”
“Just one, but he didn't remember anything at all, so it's a bit different.”
“And what happened to him?”
“Oh, he's out there somewhere, I'm sure he's fine as long as he's with-”
“Stop the cart.” Geist interrupted, reaching for the reins but quickly catching himself
River pulled back bringing the horses to a stop.
“What? What is it? You see somethin’?” she asked, looking around and then at him
He pointed, just off to the right of the road, some distance away, there stood a large figure.
It looked like a man, but it was clear to Geist that it was no normal person. The horses grunted with unease.
“Keep that shotgun ready.” Geist said as he hopped down from the cart and began to walk towards the figure.
As he got closer, he could see his suspicions were sound. It was large, larger than any normal man. It was turned away from him, part of its back looked like it had been burnt and charred.
Its skin was a mottled mix of green and pale pink. Dotted around its body were leaf-shaped tags of skin hanging off of it.
As if sensing his approach, it twitched slightly and slowly turned towards him. He could see traces of gunshot wounds on its broad chest. Its large hands coated in dried blood.
On its large, round head it had a pattern like a facsimile of a face. The skin on its head seemed to ripple for a moment before splits appeared.
Slowly, the skin began to unfurl into 4 petal shaped segments to reveal a red, featureless head. Featureless, save for the wide, lipless maw lined with human-like teeth.
Geist couldn't help but grin.
“Ah,” he thought, “my kind of trouble.”
The creature let out a surprisingly sharp roar and charged. It was quicker than he expected, with Geist narrowly avoiding a swipe from its powerful arm.
Followed quickly by another. He leapt back, drawing his blade before charging forward with stunning speed.
Unfortunately the creature seemed to anticipate and land a staggering blow to Geist’s head, sending him reeling.
It was quick to move on him, seizing him and smashing him into the ground. Hammering him with mighty blows. He was in trouble, but he wouldn't have it any other way.
The struggle, the thrill of the fight! This was what made him feel alive!
The creature raised its fists above its head, ready to strike, only for a loud bang to fill the air and for the creature to stagger back.
Geist stumbled to his feet and turned to see River standing there with her shotgun at the ready.
Ah, he had almost forgotten, there was someone who needed his help. He couldn't afford to be beaten and smashed to pieces and have to be reborn again. If he did, she would surely perish.
He didn't have time to linger as the beast roared, seemingly unfazed by the shotgun's blast. The creature reached for him, but he quickly slashed at it with his saber.
For a normal human, it would have taken the limb clean off. But this wasn't his normal blade, and his foe wasn't a normal human.
“It's dense, and it doesn't have blood.” he thought to himself, “A fine challenge indeed!”
He turned to River
“Wait for my signal, then unload every shot you have!”
She nodded.
Geist began to dodge and weave between the beast's swings, each time delivering a slash or stab of his blade. Eventually, he lept back once more and began to focus.
An unworldly power began to course through his arm and into his blade. He took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly, a dark mist seemed to roll out with it.
He locked his gaze on his foe, tunnel vision setting in.
With a flash of steel Geist was now behind the creature, and a great slash opened across its chest.
Turning around he cast forward the wraps covering his arms to bind the beast's own arms and, with all his might, he pulled them back.
“Fire now! Right in the chest!”
River didn't hesitate. She emptied her shotgun dead center in its chest until it was empty.
The beast shrieked and began to wobble, Geist yanked his wraps once more causing his foe to fall backwards.
He leapt up high and landed on its chest, plunging his sword into its opened chest. It roared one last time before Geist quickly twisted his blade.
It trembled, and then went still. Cautiously, River approached.
“That thing dead?” she asked
“Yes, I believe so.” he answered, stepping off the monsters corpse
He pulled out his blade and crouched down to reach into the dead creature's chest. He felt around for a moment before removing what looked like a large seed, cracked and pierced.
“A plant trying to be like man.” he mused
“That's a new one for me, that's for sure. What do we do with it?” she asked
He thought for a moment.
“Burn it. Something tells me it's not meant to be here anyway.”
“I suppose we can part with a little fuel. I’ll get the cart.”
As River began heading back to the cart, Geist lingered. He stared at the seed. He was stranded there, away from his home. But…
He crushed the seed in his hand, dropping the remains onto the creature.
If there would be more challenges like this, this world could be his home for the time being.
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