The Bostaurus Settlement; Pit Stop!

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Buck would lead the newcomers on into the heart of the Bostaurus Settlement, past many cowpokes of many types. Many of them looked onto the newcomers with warm, welcoming eyes, though some of them found the two of them rather strange looking; possibly because they were the ones that hadn't ever seen their kind before, wherein many of the older ones probably had, since they dealt with the trade more often than the younger ones.

"This way!" he said, reaching a nice little log cabin house with a field beside it. This was the Wilde House.

When Tzita touched her hands to the sword, she'd find that it felt almost weightless and floaty despite how heavy it appeared to be when wielded by El or left sitting around. The red jewel embedded in its pommel flashed with a bright light as the sword began to vibrate in her worthy hands. It did this to attune itself to her magic signature, and commune harmoniously with her mind, briefly, to show her what she desired to see. A look into El's world, and what became of the man that had vanished right before her very eyes.

---

Deep within the walls of the greatest castle in the holy capital of Closa was an audience room where El was suppose to be meeting with the king in regards to the encroaching forces of their greatest rivals in the North. When El arrived however, he arrived to see the king slain in cold blood with a dagger in his chest and no one around to take the blame for it. El approached the king, pulling the dagger from his chest and doing what he could to resuscitate the fallen ruler, but it was already too late. Guards arrived, seeing El with the dagger in his hand and the king's blood splattered over his body. Accusations were in order and the immediate command was sentencing the traitor to death by the sword of his once sworn allies.  

It was a wartorn battle field outside the walls of the castle, littered with the bodies of fallen men and women alike, and the burning flag that flew above the sacked holy capital, Closa, bore the symbol inscribed into the blade of Durandal. The Northern invaders had initiated their attack far quicker than anyone had expected. The holy city's forces were overrun, outgunned and out-manned at least 10 to 1. The king had fallen and the queen and princess were nowhere to be found. Many men fought as diligently as they could, for as long as they could, before eventually they couldn't fight anymore.

Maybe it was the fatigue, or weight of failed duty and strong desire for survival, but brothers in arms turned their blades against one another, playing right into the enemies hands who promised to grant amnesty to any soldier willing to trade banners once they had taken over. Of course, there wouldn't be any amnesty, but it was a worthwhile offer that many thought they would be fools to pass up, especially if it meant that they could keep their lives and their lands.

El, however, fought against his accusers, swearing he would never turn his sword against his king. With tensions so high and the Northern invaders attacking when they did, everything just seemed too fit too well for El to be innocent in the eyes of his fellow King's Guard. Secretly, of course, they all knew of El's innocence, for they were all turncoats hired by the queen who had traded sides to the Northern forces and joined with their King. The princess was that man's daughter instead. El was the rightful heir to the Throne, the queen and king both knew it and the King, knowing his days were numbered, had been grooming El to replace him as king before his final reckoning. Unfortunately, he had been too late. Still, El had been in possession of the sacred sword of succession, Durandal, and at the king's death El was already the chosen successor by that alone.

Unfortunately, he would never see his chance to rule as only he could. He fought valiantly against the forces that he had trained to be the best, with only a dagger in his hand, until he was finally overrun and ran through with the swords of the oath breakers. In his last moments, the carefree and gentle, yet strong and dependable, knight could do nothing but weep. Not for himself, nor this painful betrayal, but for his king, for his country, and for not being able to save his people.  

Those were El's final moments, made all the more sorrowful when he remembered the brief time he'd been able to spend in the Veritas with Tzita, adventuring freely.

---

Tzita would see this all play out before her very eyes, she would be able to understand the situation and she would feel the emotions that El had experienced before he finally breathed his last breath and passed on. Durandal, the sacred sword, made sure that Tzita knew what had happened to El and why it had chosen to spirit him away to this mystical place in the first place. It hadn't wanted El to die. El's sudden return to that world was unplanned, it hadn't known that there was a being capable of fixing universal displacements.

The sword vibrated more before lifting itself out of Tzita's hands and drifting high above her before it turned upside down and fired a bright beam of light at the ground that engulfed her. In that moment, El began to manifest once more at her side. He stood maybe a foot taller, wearing clothes bearing a closer resemblance to royalty than simple knighthood, but it was fashioned to be dependable if this king of knights needed to fight with honor for his kingdom. Across his shoulders was a cloak adorned with fur around the neck and that flowed down to the ground. On either sides of his head were sturdy and thick horns that symbolized his connection to Taurus and its power, with a tail flowing back and forth obscured by the long cloak.  

Casually, one of his arms snaked itself around the waist of his summoner, and he smiled down at her with that usual wide toothy grin. "So you thought I was a nice guy, that's probably the best thing I've heard all day." He replied with a hearty and bolster chuckle that made the earth shudder, almost in delight.

El had returned!

The painted silhouette watching on from the shadows kept his form plastered upon the wall, shifting upon it like a drawing and over to a better view, yet still completely melded with the darkness as though to remain out of sight. "... Hm? A sacred item...?" he muttered, looking on at the Ankh and the Taurus, as well as the sword. "And... What have we here...?" When the Taurus finished his speech and the sword rose from the ground, the Anonymous Presence focused intently on the energy signatures emanating from both the Ankh and the sword's jewel, finding the both of them to be rather interesting. "Hm... Blessings from the Zodiac...? How very quaint... Seems as though dear sister is attempting to finish what we started long ago..." Though, he truly wondered if she were consciously aware of this, or if she were still living out her life through the shadow of her descendant. More would be found out in time, but for now, it was best to continue to look on without drawing any attention to himself.

The townsfolk, having been quieted by the Taurus spirit, all looked on and listened intently to his words once he appeared to them again. They were, more or less, settled of all of their confusion and disgruntled feelings toward the two strangers, despite all that happened. When the Taurus was awakened, his spirit returned to all of them and they would not only feel him, but also his peace with them within their own spirits as well. They also had a sense of warmth and togetherness for each other; a new found sense of community that only came from their unification through a higher power that coursed through their very souls. Each would look to their brother and nod, coming to terms with what happened very quickly, as if unanimously deciding that they were alright with this, as a village.

Still, Buck and Milly, and even Molly-Anne, were still over the corpse of Tank. Though Milly seemed distraught still, even in her amazement and tranquility, Buck suddenly seemed to straighten up and speak more sternly than ever. "... Gramps was a hero..." he said under his breath, clenching his fist, "... And if he's one with the bull now and says we shouldn't be sad, Milly... Then dangit, we oughtta show him an' tha Taurus some respect." His voice was a bit louder now, enough for some of the crowd to hear and even agree with him on that. Mildred looked up to him, finding solace in his words despite still being a bit emotional. "Bucky..." she muttered, her forlorn face turning into a slight, warm smile. "Yer durn right, Bucky..." she said, wiping away her tears. "We'll see Gramps again when we're ready. He made sure ta come tell us that much, didn't he?" Though it seemed like that speech was for the entire settlement, she could tell that a lot of it was to reassure the Wilde family. Naturally, Joe and Bessie were in that crowd and agreed after they, too, witnessed and heard what happened. Even Molly-Anne seemed a bit awestruck, but relieved at Buck's sudden speech.

"Atta boy..." Joe said, finally stepping up into the center of the spectacle from the crowd, "... Paw wanted it like this, I reckon. Else he wouldna come back ta tell us, now would he?" Joe knew that his father wasn't particularly fond of the way things were, and his time in this place was already short. He stepped to his son and stood before him, chest out and eyes just as stern as ever. "... Ya done me proud, son. Sure Paw feels the same." He pat his boy on the shoulder lovingly, keeping most of his feelings inside, despite how much even he was feeling on the inside. "Now... I reckon we ain't finished treatin' our guests, and I ain't taught ya that, now did I?" He let out a grunted chuckle, turning his head to see the newly formed El, with the mark of the bull and blessings of the Taurus clear upon his head. "I think we all know what ta get at now, don't we?"

The crowd muttered again, feeling the same way as Joe. "'Bout time fer us ta show em what we think about them comin' in our village, stirrin up a commotion an' showin' us som'n we ain't seen or felt in a good, long time." Some people snorted with vigor, before the crowd got riled up again with excitement. "Y'all still needin' them there supplies, don'tcha? Sure the cattlefolk 'round these parts can rustle ya up somethin' 'fore y'all gotta go. We ain't tryna keep ya longer than ya gotta, 'specially after y'all done so much fer us." It was the most Joe'd said the entire time they'd been in his company, but it was definitely because of how much even he was feeling at this time. He turned his head to Buck, "G'won and git, Bucky. Y'all know what we said we'd have fer em. Scoot!" Buck smiled, sticking his chest out and nodding affirmatively, "Yessir!" He scurried back to the Wilde household to collect their supplies. Each of the others in the crowd seemed to agree, and went off to go gather tokens of their own.

Joe looked down to the corpse of his father, keeping a stiff upper lip and a strong, furrowed brow, just like he was taught. "Paw..." he muttered, closing his eyes, "... Enjoy them pastures." He pat his old man's body in his final sentiments, then hoisted the body up over his shoulders. "El. Tzita." he called out loudly, staring at them both with a firm look, "... Y'all take care. Don't be strangers, y'hear? The Wilde House is always open to ya if'n ya need a place ta stay during yer trip." He and a few others, seemingly rather close to him, would start off in the direction of the open field, where they would give old Tank a proper burial.

It didn't take long for the townsfolk to return with their spoils, some having a little, some, a lot. The merchants, especially, with their wares, would bring something they believed would be of use to them in their travels, including something to carry their belongings in. Buck, too, would return rather swiftly with all sorts of milk and grains for them to take with them, all in a nice little bag filled to the brim. He, Bessie and Milly would step forward to the two of them with smiles on their faces, seeming more joyous than ever despite everything that just occurred. "Thanks, y'all," Buck said, handing over the goods, "Fer everything."

Bessie: Don't let it be too long now, y'hear?

Milly: Yeah! Sure Gramps woulda wanted it that way, too!

El knew his head felt a little heavier, though his body felt lighter and more accustom to this world's gravity. It was as if the small amount of time that had passed between when he was gone and when he returned had given him the feeling like he belonged here. He remembered what happened to him as well, and was fine in knowing that even if he had had the gifts that were granted to him on this world he probably wouldn't have been happy there. A major thing that he enjoyed was the adventure and he would have forever longed to be able to accompany Tzita for as long as she would have him do so.

He didn't stop smiling as he looked at the woman wrapped in his bulky arm, drinking in the changes she had gone through in the moments where she had disappeared from the crowd just before he vanished from the world. "I could say the same to you." He almost whispered, getting an overwhelming desire to lean in towards her dangerous close and continue, "This chocolate colored skin is... intoxicating." This was probably due to the power of Taurus flowing through him, since in some culture's symbolic interpretation of the bull, mainly Celtic, it was a virile sign for men and symbolized the power to procreate. His flirty behavior, at least until he was fully stabilized, would probably be borderline too touchy feely.

But, he recognized her question and steeled himself with a serious face as he looked on towards Buck, his family and the community of the Bostaurus Settlement. "Everything will be fine." He said to Tzita with absolute certainty and assurance in his voice. The spirit of the Taurus and the power it had given him told him so. The people of the Taurus were a strong and proud people and could overcome any hardship as it was their nature to take it head on without remorse and regret. El nodded his head, watching as Buck stepped up to the plate and cemented himself as the type of man that his grandfather had probably always wanted to see him become. El was glad he could be of help in Buck finally coming of age and growing into a more responsible and dependable man. It seemed even Joe saw this growth as well.

El hadn't been expecting to be overrun so suddenly with the abundant kindness of the Taurus people towards he and Tzita, gifting them with valuable supplies for their continued journey in finding all the other sacred spirits and animals. El laughed heartily at the gestures and offered his hand to every single one of the merchants as thanks for their generosity. He shook all their hands until finally there was only Buck, Mildred and Bessie left. He smiled to the two women, his tail making itself visible from behind his cloak, winking specifically at Mildred before offering Buck his hand for a shake.

"Your shoulders seem broader Buck, like you're standing up straighter than when we met." He said.

Tzita, more than pleased with El's sudden vigor, found herself now back to her old self again, feeling just about as open as he, yet still rather coy, as if by her Fae nature. "... Keep talkin, you might have a taste..." she whispered back, brushing her own cheek past his as she feigned an innocent hug, finally letting him go once the people started to gather. She would take it upon herself to handle the bundling of the items, considering the nature of her special trait. Despite how all of the skills that made it up were locked, she still had access to the abilities she'd learned during her time here, which was convenient considering her ability to utilize at least a bit of her chains. As El took the hands of the people, as if being accepted as one of them now, Tzita would follow behind and collect the bounty. "Ah, thank you~! Thanks very much~! You're too kind~! Hahaha~!" She had to contain her true excitement for all the nice, useful stuff she was getting, but it wasn't difficult since she was finally in good spirits... Especially about leaving.

Once the items were gathered, she'd wrap them up in the chains specially crafted by her Grand Sepulchro, nice and tight inside of sturdy cloths and separated from the perishable 'foods' and the other supplies to ensure they didn't get mixed up. Granted, with all the gifts, it was way too heavy for her to carry in her hands, but the disembodied chains that hovered around her would serve that purpose. With the two sacks filled to the brim, she would return to meet with El and the remainder of the Wilde family, of whom she was actually genuinely sad to have to leave from. Even if it was only a day, they were actually really nice, for some cow people.

"Aw. Sucks we gotta go, but I'm glad everything worked out in the end, you guys!" She waved at them, standing nearest to Buck, simply to whisper in his ear, "Hey... You know I think you had an impression on more than just your family and friends here, Bucko..." She would motion her head to Molly-Anne. "Here's a tip; don't keep a lady waiting~!" she smiled and stepped back, waiting for El to finish up. "Thanks for all your support, guys. We really appreciate it~!" Tzita, especially.

With the entire town's good wishes and tokens of appreciation taken, they would all remain in the square to see the two off, feeling somehow obligated to do so for them freeing their spirits.

Buck, who was now a whole foot shorter than El thanks to his changes, would look up to him and grin wide, settled in his heart and feeling it in his soul, too. With a firm grasp, he'd grip El's hand for a shake and nod his head, "Hyeah, well... Yer taller'nya were before, too! 'Specially with them horns!" He laughed a bit, then continued, "... Looks like yer one of us now, huh? Like some sorta... big brother, or somethin'!" He turned his head to his sister, winking at her, as well, "Right, Milly?"

Mildred blushed a bit when El winked at her, then became sort of embarrassed when Buck followed up. "Shoot... I guess so!" She was only partially pleased about saying that, considering how she wanted something more. But it didn't really get to her all that much. "Come back reaaaaal soon, m'kay!?" She leapt at El and hugged him, letting that be the way she'd express her feelings of gratitude and affection. Buck, on the other hand, after getting the advice from Tzita, would turn to look at Molly-Anne, who was already looking at him, but shyly and frantically averted her gaze the moment he looked back. He blushed and smiled. "Heh. Well, thanks a bunch, Tzita. I'll get right on that, then!" Bessie smiled, happy that her two children weren't taken the passing of their grandfather too hard, and Joe, too, actually. She was happy as long as her family was happy.

Bessie: Wish y'all could stay fer tha ceremony, but y'all best be gittin' along 'fore it gets too late, huh?

El laughed as he returned Mildred's hug, "Yeah, I suppose that's true, I feel stronger and faster too, somehow. If that's even possible." He released Mildred from the clutches of his arms, before his hands began to wander involuntarily, and he turned to Bessie with an elegant bow. "It was a pleasure to be able to spend even one night in your wonderful home." He said politely before final he turned his head back to Tzita.

"Think we should start moving then, what needs carrying?"