After many hours huddled together in a small room Damian emerged wearing a very simple outfit constructed masterfully from fallen leaves and well sculpted pieces of bark which made him look like one of the many woodland creatures he had seen whilst following the infuriatingly unfunny man around the past few days. That very same man stood just beside him, having been given a similar garb to wear in the meantime whilst the night, who was dubbed The Mechanic by the fellow denizens of the camp so he insisted on being called that to avoid any confusion in the future.
Damian had learnt a few things whilst being endlessly tortured by this man's poor jokes, the first thing he learnt was the name of this strange young man, apparently he went by Jest, which is just…so unfortunate given his lack of good jokes. The man quickly walked off after muttering something about wood for the one thousandth time, Damian wished the young man luck in life, for he desperately seemed to need some.
The other things he had learnt however was of far more importance to him, for starters he had learned that there were in fact two leaders in this camp, the first one was the mechanic who had been risen to his role by the people by virtue of of incredible aspect, which is what allowed him to craft nearly anything with near perfection. They had only talked briefly yet the man seemed overly serious for his age, trying his best to learn what equipment every person in camp needed most desperately. The man was busy preparing all sorts of gear, from armor and weapons to simple things like foundations and tools for better efficiency for gathering nearby materials.
The second leader was far more mysterious however, he was the other man within the small cabin, for he hadn't said a word the entire time they were inside, in fact Damian hadn't heard him make so much as a simple groan at Jest's terrible taste in humour. He was instead far more focused on the flames burning in the center of the stone brazier within the hut, according to the mechanic the man had a strange aspect and while the details remained a haze, it seemed like he could detect when something was going to happen, as if he had the power to see the future within the flames which shined with tones of gold.
He was as such referred to as, The Prophet or simply Prophet by the people, together they showed a united front in front of the masses of sleepers in order to drum up moral but Damian couldn't help but notice the silent tension in the air between the two, and with the crudely drawn map on the table depicting the river, with one side direction leading further into the woodland whilst the other opened up into a massive lake with a castle in its center towering over all the region like a beautiful mirage. Damian had seen the brilliant castle as they approached, its architecture and fortitude were far superior than anything he had ever seen in his life with the brilliant white stones standing strong for thousands of years against all manner of foes.
He had a feeling they were in disagreement about which direction to head next, sure establishing a base camp was good and all but with no clear signs on how to escape this place, it was only a matter of time until they had to make a choice. Of course they could just wander back into the woodland and hope for the best but being able to see the threats coming your way across the open plateau could mean the difference between life and death for so many people here.
The mechanic had asked him to help cut down a few trees across the border into the woodland in order to help gather as many supplies as possible over the next few days for whatever it is these two had planned for the camp.It was along the border in which Damian had spent the next few hours, using an axe he borrowed from a fellow sleeper to fell trees even as the sun began to set. Most sleepers lit small lanterns to help them see better in the dark, yet despite the other sleepers offering to share or even lend one to Damian he refused, he could see well enough in the dark as it is, not quite night vision but good enough to not worry about needing a reliable light source.
He didn't reject them out of pride or anything of the sort, in fact it was closer to the opposite in fact, he had gotten to used to the remnants of light in the cities, to the building which still held onto the power of backup generators, too used to the fires which lit the way on desolate streets, if he wanted to survive out here for as long as possible he had to get used to the dark, to sharpen his own senses against the natural world in the hopes of making it back alive.
He had become somewhat used to his new strength by now, it still made him shudder a little when he easily tore through alloy with his bare hands like some sort of monster or when he lifted his daughter and barely felt even the slightest strain. Just how far detached from the very people he swore to protect would he have to become in order to protect them, he didn't know yet and hoped that it was enough for him to bear this burden, for all of the sleepers to bear the burden of a better world. Of course he knew not everyone would be in the same mindset as him, he had already seen what a small amount of power had done to someone unstable like Javier.
He felt the choker around his neck as he continued to wonder how many more people were out there just like that lunatic, how many other saw themselves as the new age of gods descending upon humanity, probably more than he would ever want to admit, how many people in this camp alone would turn into ruthless warlords or try to form their own fringe factions in the near future it was anybodies guess.
Damian finally managed to bring the tree he had been working on to the ground with a thundering crash, yet no one seemed to pay it much mind, even actions as grand as this seemed to dissipate into the background noise if he was the one doing it, most of the other woodcutters had barely even registered he was present unless he was the one to introduce himself first, the only one less popular than him was Jest who seems to have already found himself away from the rest of the group, with only one figure keeping him company, the knightly form of the mechanic.
After finishing the preparations of the fallen tree he finally made his way back to camp proper, the sun had long set leaving the world engulfed by shadow with only the light of the fires keeping the darkness at bay, he soon joined a small group of fellow sleepers in the hopes of learning more about their travels. He spoke with many people that night learning a few things that he had suspected in the past, firstly most people seemed willing to talk about their experiences in their First Nightmare, it seemed good for them to get it out of their systems to people who all understood the pain they went through. Of course everyone's trials were different so people could only relate to a certain extent, and the second thing he found out was that most peoples aspects seemed to be of the Awakened or Ascended rank with only one person having the Rank of Transcendent. Damian and Jasper had theorised about the existence of other ranks between and above the ones they knew about already.
He had also learned more about the gods, it seemed like a common point between most but not all nightmares, nearly everyone had heard the mention of the gods in one form or another and by piecing some parts together they had come to the census that their seemed to only be six gods in this dead worlds pantheon, Damian had already known of the Gods of War and Shadow from his own experiences which brought up the memories of the Vessel of War that he had tricked into slitting its own throat. Had that been an actual god he had thought or simply a person chosen to be favoured by War God?
During his talks he had learned about the existence of four other gods from which he hadn't known before, the God of Souls otherwise known as Heart God, the God of Black Skies otherwise known as Storm God, this one gave Damian pause as their name reminded him of the armour Jasper wore by a similar name, he wondering if there was perhaps a connection between the two which the young man failed to mention. He had always been guarded about his experiences within the Nightmare only letting small details slip here and there by accident.
The third God was the God of the Moon otherwise known as Beast God, and finally there was the God of light, Sun God, all these beings showed up again and again which told them all something new, that their nightmares were in fact not isolated, they were in fact one shared story with roots spanning the course of thousands of years, in some nightmares the gods were alive and ruling over their subjects with an iron fist, in others the very same gods were long dead, their deaths shrouded in mystery only told through ancient myths and legends of bygone eras.
It was taking Damian some time to adjust to the strangeness of the revelations that had come from this, he had never been a religious man, most religions had been lost or abandoned long ago with only remnants of their beliefs still trickling through the way modern societies lived. As he was talking to his fellow sleepers he heard the sound of armoured boots behind him, turning around it was hard to miss the imposing figure as the Prophet stared at him with silent words lingering in his eyes.
Damian quickly excused himself as he approached the man who silently turned and pointed towards the captain's hut, he wasn't quite sure what the man wanted but by the look in his eyes it seemed to be of dire importance. They walked together in strange silence, the once white cloth around the lower half of his face had faded marks of blood soaked into the fabric which were not there hours prior, if it wasn't for his superior vision he would have never even noticed.
// (These will be used to indicate POV Changes going forward)
The Prophet opened the door to allow Damian to enter before quickly shutting it behind them, the stone brazier the mechanic had built for him as a token of good faith between them was starting to show shallow cracks over its surface which only grew deeper each time he gazed into the flame. Walking over to the unlit structure he grabbed a small stone knife from the center looking over at Damian. With his eyes he could see it, the faint glow of Divinity emanating from the man, the very same Divinity he wished to understand.
This older man was the first person besides himself who bore a mark of Divinity upon his soul, it was fainter than his own but present none the less, this would be a test, to see if he could peer into the fates of others much like himself. Gesturing to the man with the knife he slowly took it from his grasp and looked at it somberly, his amber eyes containing a sharpness unlike anything he had ever seen before. Looking up from the blade the man spoke,
"What..exactly do you want me to do with this?"
Prophet closed his hand into a fist before making a pulling motion with his other hand and pointing towards the brazier, he needed the man's blood after all to make use of his innate ability, it may have been more than a little unsanitary but desperate times called for desperate measures, they were already running out of time so despite the dire circumstances this needed to happen now.
The man…Damian at least he remembered that being his name simply stared at him with wide eyes before asking,
"Have you lost your mind? Why would I do something like that?"
The Prophet wished he could sigh right now, but even the faintest of noises was enough to trigger the painful restriction of his life, there was a lot he would have given up for power before but now he wasn't quite sure if it was worth it. In response to the man's rightful outburst he quickly pointed at his eyes then gestured around him, before assuming his best threatening pose…whislt trying to not actually threaten the man, he had seen what he was capable with that bow of his and didn't wish to end up on the wrong side of him.
The man spoke again, clearly trying to guess what he was trying to say
"see…everything ...danger? Let me get this right, you want me to cut my hand and bleed into this brazier so you can foresee or try to stop a coming danger?"
Prophet put a thumb up and pointed at the Brazier hurriedly but the man was not finished yet,
"This may sound rude so no offence, but would it be easier to use sign language for you?"
He looked at the man with a defeated expression in his eyes, as he made a few more gestures, the first he pointed to himself, the next was a cross he made with his arms and the last was just a bunch of random hand signs he made up on the spot.
Damian stared at the man is disbelief for a few moments, clearly understanding what he meant this time
"Okay, ill help you out, but when we have some time…im going to teach you some sign language, it will make your life so much easier moving forward."
Prophet was both stunned and flattered by the man's kind offer, he watched patiently as the crimson liquid began to flow into the bowl of his brazier, an offering to the long dead gods in order to glimpse into the future to be, gripping the sides of the structure Damian could only watch as it came to life, as golden fire burned within the stones, widening the cracks even further as a golden fire erupted in the center greedily eating away at the specks of divine essence within the offering as Prophet stared at the fire his vision quickly shifted.