[Mkguild] MK: Dust X - B

[Jack Moore]

MK: Dust X
“You want to do what now?”
“I want to rebuild and repopulate Metamor Keep.” Sebastian said. “And from
there, to rebuild the world.” Emma could hear the words but it made no
sense. She rubbed her muzzle against her paws.
“You want to rebuild the world.” Emma said. Sebastian nodded. “And
rebuilding Metamor Keep will accomplish that?”
“I believe so, yes!” Sebastian said.
“Got it. You’re insane.” Emma said, holstering her gun. “Don’t know how you
got all that money, don’t care. You’re clearly crazy.” Sebastian shook his
head.
“I am not crazy.” Sebastian said. “I am trying to fix the world. The first
step is to rebuild Metamor Keep.” He stood again. “What do you know about
the Ten State Union.” The otter shrugged.
“The uniforms were shitty on fur. Our pay was always late, or overdue.”
Emma said. “They control the mages and the runes. I dunno, they’ve always
been around.”
“But they haven’t been.” Sebastian said. “They rose up after Long August,
born from Nasoj’s final war. And they’ve become engraved in our lives. You
told me you fought in Flatlands?” Emma nodded. “The fighting there was
supposed to be brutal.”
“It was.” Emma said. She turned back towards the fire, trying to hide her
eyes. “It uh...yeah. A lot of fighting there, I...I survived. Most didn’t.
Killed a lot. Had too” Sebastian tried to hug the otter. Emma let him know
she wasn’t interested with an elbow to the stomach. “Don’t touch me.”
“Sorry.” He said. “I...never mind. The tribes there rallied around Vér
Lovat because they wanted to escape.” Sebastian said. “The Union through
you into a meat grinder, putting you through a true hell so you’d kill
enough warriors and lycanthropes to leave the Flatlands weak. They fear
their subjects gaining independence. They especially fear someplace that
could give people hope.”
“And Metamor is that?” Emma asked.
“It was once.” Sebastian said. “It can be again.” The otter burst out
laughing.
“You’re kidding.” Emma said, wiping her eyes. “Metamor’s a pile of rocks.”
“Then we’ll need an architect and a stone mason.” Sebastian said.
“Yeah, and a team of laborers!” Emma said. Sebastian shook his head.
“The Keep was turned into ruins after the Winter Assault.” Sebastian said,
“And they had to put it back together themselves. They all joined together--
“What’s the Winter Assault?” Emma asked.
“Oh you don’t know!” Sebastian grabed the book from Emma’s lap and began
franticly flipping through pages. “It’s a bit of a mess I admit but still.
The year was 706 and the lutin had been acting strange-” Emma started
snapping her fingers in his face, bringing him back to reality.
“Focus.” Emma said. “We’d need a stone mason. An architect. You said they
all pulled together? We don’t have a they. Oh and we don’t have any water.”
“We don’t have any clean water.” Sebastian said. “We can work on that. We
can add pipes.” Emma laughed at this.
“Right. We have no military. We have no government. We have no farmers, we
have no food.” Emma gave an exasperated cry. “How do you plan to feed the
people here?”
“The farmer’s will come.” Sebastian said. “Everyone will come. We just need
to start building things up.” Emma shook her head.
“You aren’t thinking about this.” Emma said. “We’ve got ruins. And we’re
out here on the frontier. Ain’t no one going to save us when the Rifters
attack. Oh, and the damn valley is cursed, did you forget that?” Sebastian
shrugged.
“It has been cursed for four hundred years.”
“The curse will drive people away!”

“I disagree, it’ll bring them in but keep the Union out. We’ll make it.” He
said.
“You are an idiot!” Emma shouted. “I mean, holy shit are you an idiot.
You’re going to die out here in these ruins. You expect me to die too? What
the fuck man!” Sebastian didn’t respond. He didn’t even show an emotion,
just let her scream and spit all over him.
“And you invited me out here because what, my grandfather had an axe in
Metamor a thousand years ago?” Emma threw her head back and forced a laugh.
“Ha ha ha! What a crock.” She grabbed Sebastian by his vest and pulled him
in close. “I am not Misha Brightleaf.”
“No, but it has to be you.” Sebastian said. Emma let go of his lapels.
“Why.” She growled through clenched teeth. It wasn’t a question but a
statement. “I am just a soldier.”
“You are a scout.” Sebastian said. “I need a scout.”
“There are lots of scouts!”

“But they wouldn’t have left the money behind. They’d have left me behind.”
Emma’s hands dropped. “Emma if you wanted you could have left me for dead
in the valley and headed back the moment you lost your payment.”

“N-no no,” She shook her head, “No. I would never leave a man behind.”

“And I need someone who will behave like that to help me.” Sebastian picked
up his book again and  flipped through it until he came to one page near
the beginning. He gave it back to Emma.
“This was the Elite Fighting Force of Metamor Keep - The Long Scouts.”
Under this was a white axe and bow on a green background. The logo of the
Scouts. It was difficult to make out in the dim fire light, but what she
could see gave her pause.
“I’ve seen this before…” Emma said. “I...I don’t remember where.” She
pushed the book off, as if it were about to bite her.
“Emma this is why I want you, not just because you’re a Brightleaf. You
disarmed that debt collector in a single move.” Sebastian said. “You got me
from the Midlands to Metamor in just two days. You saved my life at the
risk of your own.”
“I was in the army.” Emma said.
“Lots of people were in the army.” Sebastian said. “Not all of them care
enough to help a complete stranger. Not everyone is so determined.”
“I’m a damn wash out.” Emma said. Sebastian could see her despair and
frustration in her dark eyes. “I am just a damn broke Keeper.
“No.” Sebastian said. “You are the head of the neo-Long Scouts.” His tone
was sincere, his voice warm. In his eyes Emma could see hope, all of which
hinged on her. “If you are willing to try, I promise you we will rebuild
Metamor Keep.”

“Promise...” Emma whispered. The man before her was an overdressed fop. His
hair went every direction and his eyebrows made him look like he’d been
electrocuted. But something about his words were starting to resonate with
Emma.

'He has no money. He isn’t doing this for a scam. He’s insane, but he’s
sincere.' All of these thoughts banged about Emma’s mind, giving her a
headache. He actually thinks I can help! Sebastian was silent but she could
tell he was bursting with impatience. What he wants is insane. It can’t be
done...can it?
For a moment Emma didn’t speak. Instead she looked around the ruins of the
Keep. There was no light out there, none except from the campfire and the
twinkling of the stars. Otherwise there was an all encompassing darkness.
It seemed to weigh over this place and drain all movement from it. But the
night was still alive. All around Emma’s ears twitched with each scurry or
snap. Danger in every direction. But right now Emma had never felt safer.
“You know I’m a damn drunk right?
“I don’t care, I need you.” Sebastian said.
“We’ll need water.” Emma said, “Before anything else. We gotta set up
flowing water.” Sebastian nodded. “And we need farmers. Which means we’ll
need some way to protect them. Which means we’ll need guards who don’t mind
being cursed. The curse is still a big sticking point. You understand
that?” Sebastian began to grin.
“I know if people want away from the Union they’ll put up with the curse”
He said to her, “I just need partners. Will you help me Emma?”
“It’s going to take a lot of work.” Emma said. “Even if we get a lot of
help we may not succeed. We may not get anyone to join us, this is pretty
damn insane.”
“I know.” Sebastian replied. “But I’m willing to put in the effort. If you
are.” Emma now grinned at him.
“Alright big guy.” Emma took her hand in his. “I’m going to die anyway,
might as well die doing something awesome. You got yourself a scout.”
The two of them sat down and discussed Sebastian’s plans. The fire crackled
and warmed them through the long dark night.

AN: I was asked a few days ago what irked me about MK. And after thinking
about it, it was that the best character in MK always felt underutilized.
Even my stories underutilized them. The best character in MK in my opinion
is the Keep itself.

I wanted to write a story where the Keep can't be removed or substituted.
In order to do it I thought up a new story in a new time period. In my head
it started with a man walking out of a dust storm, finding a descendent of
an important keeper (I was torn between Misha and Charles Matthias), and
taking them on a whirl wind adventure.

That image incidentally was why the story became named MK: Dust.

I decided I'd write up one chapter and get the thoughts of all who read
this. Now I'd like them. Is this setting worth pursing? Is this story
interesting enough? Do you want to see more? And did you enjoy this?

I know I can do a lot with this, but I want to know if it's worth the time.
Either way, thank you for reading.
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