Iron Wasteland

Chapter 5

When Providence reached the bottom of the cliff, she joined back up with Irons and the two set off. The greeble followed them for a bit, but upon realizing it wasn't going to get any more food or attention, it ran off with a huff. The two watched it go, then continued on. After a few hours of walking, Providence was already regretting waking up that day.

"Irons, not to sound like a child, but...just how long is this going to take? Going to...wherever it is we're going?"

Irons gave a small shrug without turning around. "The wastes are vast, and direction is merely a suggestion rather than fact. We'll wind up somewhere eventually."

She put her face in her hands, groaning. "I am once again taken aback by how casually you say these things, like that isn't one of the most insane things I've heard."

"You're gonna hear a lot of stuff like that now-a-days. Welcome to the wastes!"

More walking. As they did, Irons attempted to explain a few more things he knew about the wastes.

"Some animals like pigs and cows are still around. Seems they suffered little from whatever the hell happened to the old world. Others, however, have not been so lucky."

"Others, like...?"

"Well, most birds are just kinda fucked now." He said flatly. "Some look alright, but others have been really warped."

"How can you even tell?"

"Well, we don't exactly know a lot about the old world, but 'weird eyeball creatures with wings and a single chicken leg' don't show up in any early records, so we kinda assume."

"...that is an excellent assumption. If I see one of these things, I'm killing it."

"Ha! Feel free to. It'll make hunting easier. Their meat is delicious."

"If you attempt to make me eat one, I will feed you your own tongue."

"Noted."

More walking in silence. At around noon they stopped, Irons briefly looking around. Not finding what he wanted, pulled out the last bag of rations and began to dig in. Providence leaned against a rock jutting from the ground. She created a small fire in her hands, letting it dance between her fingers.

"...Irons, I have a question." She started, letting the flame grow larger, "Can you tell me what you know about how magic works for the common folk? I'm...very curious."

"Gladly!" He shuffled a bit, getting ready to launch into a lecture.

"First thing to know, magic isn't what you might've known it from before. You sorta already know this, seeing as apparently I'm committing some sort of magic faux-pas, but it's a lot more complicated than that."

"I don't know if I'd use that word, I'd probably go with 'breaks all known laws of the universe', but you do you."

"Well, whatever it is, a lot of folks can use it. Not only that, magic seems to just...exist. It's not uncommon for a sort of 'magic storm' to roll over a place and cause havoc for a bit. Had that happen to my home town at one point. Everyone woke up, and it was raining milk."

"Milk?"

"Milk! Wasn't even good milk, tasted a little sour. It all was gone by the end of the day as well, just kinda vanishing into the ether."

"You drank the mystery sky milk?"

"Hey, if it was drinkable, that's free sustenance. Lots of things were either hard or just annoying to come by back then, so if we could get it for free that'd be helpful."