Black Hole: The Book of Iratus, Episode 2

Chapter 11

Iratus turned around to look at the two strangers; they had talked in his language.

Iratus thoughts, "Impossible! I know that these beings are not from my world, so did they pick it up from somewhere else? Something isn't right here, but I don't have any reason to be suspicious."

Iratus looked slightly confused as he said, "I'm going home. What are you doing?" He finished in a slightly silly tone.

Raccoonfolk, "What, you live here? Can you tell us about this world, or are ya from your own planet like us?"

Iratus, "Fasinating, more other worlds. Hey, how are you speaking my language when you're not from my world?"

Raccoonfolk, "Yea, strange stuff around here. Out of everyone I've seen, only one has not shared the same language. By the way, names Victoria, and that's Aestus."

Aestus shyly, "Hello."

Iratus, "Iratus of House Lionheart. So there are other people out here; tell me about them, uh, please."

Victoria, "I've met a badgerfolk with a wagon who was exploring and trading with others, though they themselves have not met too many people. You can see my traveling companion here. I've seen some sort of savage barbarian, some sort of skinfolk, or a being born from clay. They are the ones who spoke a language I didn't understand. Finally, there was a wolffolk man who seemed to know a lot about this world, which they called Nexus Prime."

Aestus shyly, "I've been here for ten days before I met Vicky here; oh, and you now. I've been here for twelve days now, and Vicky four."

Iratus, Well, I have only been here for almost one day. I haven't traveled too far, but have either of you two seen the monsters?"

Aestus curiuosly, "The metal men?"

Victoria, "The tree things, the mold gas things, the giant wildlife, like, there be a lot of scary things out here."

Iratus jokingly, "Sounds like this world is full of fun times."

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Chapter 12

The three were enjoying their conversation, with everyone smiling.

Victoria, "Hey, you said you had a home; want to consolidate our stuff and create a community together?"

Iratus speaking frankly, "No."

Victoria, "Why does everyone not want to team up? Do you not trust us or...?"

Iratus, "Trust is easy. A community or us working together would greatly increase our manpower and chances of survival, but I do not know you, and I won't be subjected to the two of you in decision-making. Forming a community with others is a major commitment, and I'm not willing to participate with strangers, at least not with me in charge."

Iratus thoughts, "I don't smell anything out of the ordinary from these two, and I don't sense any deception. Unless they plan on killing me in my sleep, it would be nice to have other people around. The only problem would be deciding on the allocation of resources or other things that would come with us living together."

Victoria, "Oh, understandable."

Aestus curiuosly, "Can we live nearby, doing our own thing, but still work together on some stuff?"

Victoria, "Uh, Aestus."

Iratus, "I would be fine with that. The place I've claimed is over there." pointing his thumb westward, "If you need me, that is where I'll be."

Aestus excitedly, "Let's see what you live in!"

Iratus shrugged and led them to the tower, passing only a few trees before the other two saw what was over there. They both protested and were slightly upset.

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Chapter 13

Victoria, "Hold on, you found yourself that? What makes it yours if ya just found it?"

Iratus, "True, there is no authority out here to say the tower is mine. This tower is mine because I have the willingness to fight and die for it."

Victoria, "Sounds about right. Say, you should know that where I came from, my main job was hunting, gutting, and skinning. Any experience in any of these?"

Iratus, "Nope, and I think I see where you are going with this; you'd like to rent some space?"

Victoria, "Look, I know you don't want the two of us running how you live your life; I myself have suffered such a thing in my world, but how about you give us a trial in living together and forging a pact of survival?" If it does not work out, then we can take talks from there."

Iratus paused for a moment, staring at Victoria, before saying, "I'm not going to like separating out our stuff if that happens, but I do desire companionship, so let's give it a trial run."

Aestus cheerfully, "Alright! Where do we put our stuff?"

Iratus, "Follow me. The tower locks from the inside, so I'd like at least one of us in the tower at all times to prevent outside theft. We need the ability to have a fire at any time, and I'd also like to go over the duties and skills we all have."

Iratus opened the door and explained about the floors. Everyone got to work getting everything around, setting up the kitchen, and making the storage room more organized. Iratus places a few bags of coinage on the community table.

Iratus, "This might not have any value as currency here, but for now, we will use it as such if we do not melt them down for other uses. Now then, let's discuss our skills."

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Chapter 14

Aestus, "Me first, I am a great fisherwoman, and my parents were teaching me to take over their job as the tribe's head chefs. I will cook everything!"

Victoria, "I hunt; that's about it. I was training to become a dancer at one point, but once the government changed, joining up with any theaters became practically impossible. What about you?"

Iratus, "I don't really have any skills; I was sent to have an education instead of learning a craft. I also have some professional combat skills."

Iratus looked at the stuff Victoria and Aesthus were depositing. They had two jars of water, a strange tin water container, some fruit, and a few bits of plant matter.

Aestus, "I heard a river nearby; I'll go catch us some dinner."

Victoria, "And you, take off that armor. I'm going to patch that up."

Iratus, "Already holding out information? You never said you could stitch together clothing."

Victoria, "It isn't really a skill; I'm just going to slap some patches on it the best I can."

And so time would pass; Iratus would receive his gambeson, now with rough repairs and patchwork. He would boil some water and wash his wounds. Victoria looked over the wounds and said,

Victoria, "Looks like a lot of blood, but these wounds don't look too bad, though an infection might be imminent."

Iratus, "The boiling water should be pretty good for killing infections. By the smell of the air, I think there might be a coast within a day, and though this land is all messed up with several climate lands by my perception, salt water is also pretty good for disinfection. Other than that, honey would also work."

Victoria, "What? Are you saying honey can disinfect wounds?"

Iratus, "Oh yeah, I know a lot of stuff, diseases included."

The two kept the fire in the fireplace going as they waited for Aestus to return with the fish.
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Chapter 15

The group would eat their fish and sit in satisfaction.

Aestus, "Alright, time to get to work. What work are we doing?"

Iratus, "We will need lumber, a lot of lumber."

Victoria, "We need wood to start fires, craft things, and what not."

Iratus, "There was an axe and a trowl at the cabin; I'll go grab them. If any of you can grab some wild fruits and vegetables, we will need something to eat tonight."

Aestus, "Sounds like we need a smoking rack to preserve our meat. We need tools!"

Victoria, "I'll get a workbench up soon enough. What will we be doing about the empty floor?"

Iratus, "I was just gonna make it my room."

Victoria, "The whole thing?"

Iratus, "Yeah, and just stash my private belongings."

Aestus, "Hold on, those bedrooms are small, and you're just going to take all the fourth floor and leave us with those little things?"

Iratus, "You can clean out a room or two for your own use."

Victoria, "Hold ya horses, that is a big room, and it could have more uses than just your entire room, which you most likely will never fully utilize. How about you just cut it in half and we can find a use for the other half later?"

Iratus thoughts, "This is what I was affraid of, I want something and random people saying, no. Luckily I'm not so self important to believe myself the center of the universe."

Iratus, "Alright, I'll hang some sheets or something later."

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Chapter 16

With the shed tools acquired and stashed, Iratus took a clay cup full of freshly boiled water as he told the other two about how boiling water kills the bad stuff in water. The girls were in awe after harvesting several strange fruits and vegetables that Iratus had seen in his own homeworld. There were mangoes, papayas, and even some okra.

Aestus, "Oh Iratus, you have to see the night sky. It is so crazy!"

He nodded and headed out, as the night should have been creeping up by now. Once outside, he looked up to see the sun slowly fading down on the horizon, but the sky itself was still devoid of stars and even a moon.

Once the night was in full effect, the sky was devoid of all light—no stars, moon, or anything. It was a black void, the truest sense of darkness there could be. While the oppressive darkness weighed down on the land, down on the planet it was a different story. Many strange bugs consolidated on trees and lit up the woodlands. Some flowers and even some ugly rodents glowed with bioluminescence in the night.

The creatures and plants have adapted to the absolute darkness, and they covered large portions of the wilderness in something that looked like moonlight.

Iratus, "Quite something. Really makes you realize that you are in fact in an elderich land."

Victoria added some herbs to a cup of boiling water.

Victoria, "Appearently, everyone gets sick when they first come here; you'll have a bad time by the next day. Drink this; it should make your sickness less so."

Iratus reached for his forehead and realized it was getting hot, and his head had a slight fuzz feeling to it.

Iratus, "I'm actually already feeling it. I'm going to go make my room; see the two of you later."

Iratus would drag a bed and mattress to the fourth floor while the girls made their sleeping areas and personal areas on the third. The wilderness wasn't too quiet, with large swaths of wildlife highly active during the night and making quite a number of sounds.

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Chapter 17

The next morning, Iratus stayed in bed for the entire morning. The sickness was in full effect; it wasn't too bad, but it was somewhat debilitating. Aestus came by with some cooked fish and delivered his water for him. Once it was noon, Iratus walked out to see the two girls getting ready to head out.

Iratus asked curiously, "Are you heading to check out the stone city?"

Victoria, "No, just going to grab some deer."

Iratus, "Cool, bring me back a souvenir."

Iratus would work on cutting down a tree for the day, taking breaks to cool off from his own sickness. Much later, after hunting and butchering, Victoira and Aestus would head out to search for new places to scavenge, heading westward, near the river, but came back empty-handed later that night.

On Day 2, Iratus spent his time crafting wooden spears and chopping up more lumber for firewood. His fever was dying down, and he got to know the two girls better. Iratus would create a few wooden figures and craft some dice, and they would play some war games for the day.

The third day came, and after eating breakfast, the trio would discuss their next plan.

Victoria, "Any of your wounds infected?"

Iratus, "So far, nope. Now that we have eaten, should we talk about scavenging?"

Aestus, "Yea, I want to foolow that river!"

Iratus, "I guess we could see where it leads."

Victoria, slightly concerned, "I'd prefer either the two of us scavenge together or having you go alone."

After a moment of silence, Iratus spoke again, "Oh, I see. How about the three of us scavenge together then? I'd rather leave this place empty than go out alone, and I don't want only you two having to scavenge all the time."

Aestus, "Vicky, I'll be fine; let me go with him."

Victoria, "You should be more mistrustful of males, no offense."

Iratus, "None taken."

Aestus, "We've already thrown caution to the wind when we consolidated our resources. It will be fine."

Victoria, "Not like I could stop you anyways; I'm not your mother."
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Chapter 18

The two scavengers got their gear in order: Aestus with her wooden spear and Iratus with the crossbow and his sword.

Victoria, "Bring back some sheets, even if you have to search that stone city."

Iratus, "On it."

And soon the two were off. They started by reaching the river and began to follow it downstream. After ten minutes, they found their first anomoly, a cave stuck between two hills. The cave was covered in vines and plant life, but the worst part were the two large wasps that buzzed around. The first one was the size of a domesticated cat, while the second was the size of a child.

Aestus, "Well, I'd like to explore that cave."

Iratus, "Unnecessarily dangerous. Then again, I guess we could use the bug meat as fishing bait."

Aestus, "You see, perfect. I'll get into position, go ahead, and slap them down with some bolts."

She got into a protective position toward Iratus, who was aiming the crossbow, waiting for a good shot. Once the largest one landed on a tree, Iratus fired and got a good shot in. It was a graze, but it was a chuck that was taken out.

The wasps both became very active, buzzing and whipping around the area around the cave. Iratus was loading another bolt, and the wasps were desperately searching for their attackers, who were mostly in front of them already. Iratus got another shot ready before the two wasps regrouped themselves and headed straight for him and Aestus.

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Chapter 19

The two wasps dog piled Aetus and once Iratus had a good shot, fired and had a direct hit on the lagest wasp. Then, Iratus dropped the crossbow and drew his sword with Aestus holding down the larger wasp with the smaller one tackling Iratus. Iratus drooped down on the bug before trying to rip its head off. The little wasp ripped into Iratus's graves and it stug into the padded armor, but while painful, didn't penetrate.

Once Iratus managed to cut enough to tear off the creature's head, he turned to Aestus, who managed to keep the larger one at bay quite well; however, her time was up and the creature was now close enough to repeatedly sting her side.

She held back the creature with her spear as best she could while Iratus came to her side to hack and slice away at the wasp's neck. Iratus finally grabbed and peeled the wasp off of Aestus, and once the wasp started biting him, Aestus stabbed it and forced the creature onto the ground. Where Iratus was able to finish the creature off with another strike to its neck.

Aestus pulled back, with one side of her body starting to swell up.

Iratus, "I take it back, we should not have engaged in battle."

Aestus seething in pain, "By the Divine One, it hurts a lot! Arg!"

Iratus, "Head back to the tower; I'll bring back the wasps after searching the cave."

Aestus, "Yea, yea! Don't die alone in there," she finished meekly.

She began to hed back, holding her abdomain while Iratus turned towards the cave. He walked up to the entrance, which was in between two bolders, and started to cut into some of the brush away to be able to enter it and with only one foot inside he felt the heat flow out of the cave and into his face.

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Chapter 20

Iratus walked inside and moved through a twisting tunnel until the path opened up into a large chamber that was illuminated by several glowing bugs along the walls, most likely the same kind of creatures that come out at night. In the center of the chamber was a small underground river, which made Iratus think that there must be another river flowing into the main river that he and Aestus were following. The river flowed through the chamber and disappeared into another tunnel on the opposite side of the cave.

Before following the river, he checked out several side areas in the cave. One of these side tunnels leads to a small underground lake, fed by a waterfall that cascades down from a hole in the ceiling. The lake has several bits of plant life all around it, and there were even a few small boats tied up on the shore, though they looked like they had not been used for years.

Going back to following the underground river, Iratus continued and eventually came to the final area of the cave. It was a massive hot-springs area. The tunnel opens up into a large cavern with several pools of steaming water scattered throughout. The steam would waft out of a small hole poking up to the surface. Several giant salamanders were crawling around, but they seemed friendly enough to not disturb Iratus.

With an approving nod, Iratus would head back outside to collect the wasp corpses and head back to the tower.

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EPISDOE 2: END

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Chapter 2 End Character Sheet
Name: Iratus Lionheart
Species: Mousefolk
Age: 14
Coverings: Blonde Fur, Gambeson (roughly repaired, leather patchwork)
Weapons: Long Sword, Knife
Equipment: belt, belt bag, water skin, leathercraft backpack, 2 bags, 33 oval copper coins, 7 small silver bricks, 6 gemstones
Community Stash: a fire starter, whetstone, variety of kitchen tools, small metal pot, several leather items, a lot of animal bones, a lot of animal hide, 3 glass jar, 50 oval copper coins, 1 fish net, primitive sewing kit, trowl, woodcutting axe, several wooden spears, crossbow
Wounds: flesh wounds (old), several moderate wounds (old)
Year 0, Day 3

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Special documentary on Nexus Prime
Author: [DATA ERROR]
Report #: 5
Direct evolutionary paths are a topic that comes up from time to time but is quite simple to understand. The classic example is the wolves that populate our home. We have type 1, type 2, type 3, and type 4. The first three types are basically the same thing, down to their DNA, loosely speaking, of course, even though each one came from a different planet. Of course they would; they are the apex of their evolutionary tree. Evolution tends to favor what works, as would anything else that appears on other planets. The wolf works, and so wherever their kind evolves, they of course follow the trends that work. Type-4 wolves come from a warmer and more tropical environment. They shouldn't work with their evolutionary line, but nothing got in their way of existing or thriving. Freaks will always exist as long as their freakish mutations are able to thrive in an environment that normally wouldn't allow them to exist.

This principle exists on most planets and, thus, on most life. Journeying to other planets will reveal just how mundane the universe truly is, and so too do the strangers in our home when they see plants and animals that are strikingly recognizable from their own lands.
---

Special documentary on Nexus Prime
Author: [DATA ERROR]
Report #: 15
Standard bacteria: most people fall ill from the extreme intake of foreign bacteria, but rarely does anyone die from them, as most bacteria not only follow the standard evolutionary path, but most are also universally benign, with only a few rare species actually being harmful to living animals. Luckily, most microscopic life, viruses, and other harmful diseases are rarely picked up; usually only a relatively small amount of bacteria will ever be brought forth from living creatures, with anything else being of our own design, mostly through selective breeding, to create exactly what we need to serve our purpose here on Nexus Prime.

---

Special documentary on Nexus Prime
Author: [DATA ERROR]
Report #: 155
Intentional design is one of the most controversial practices one of our kind can partake in. Our elected goal has always been the collection of all information and of all things, scouring the entire past to collect and study from. When our own brothers would create from their imaginations their own works instead of preserving what came from the past, it was seen as quite taboo and even made illegal several times, though the Head Seer of the Wardens would always release any such criminals, clearly not even worth the reeducation. I myself delved into creating my own works, though I was only able to create two of my own desires. I was inspired by a particular book series from the planet Providence. I made a small cave system with a massive hot springs maze at the end of it, though whether or not it still exists after all this time is something I should check up on one of these days.

Though the amount of intentional design works throughout our home is minimal, I always find them awe-inspiring when gazing upon them or walking through them, and it saddens me that we may never see such designs again.