1666 Open Sesame!
Though it wasn't raining, today's weather was still cold. Yet, many didn't feel its chilliness, as the dense crowd mingled along the streets.
The crowd had a life of its own, as vibrant clothes of passerbys shone in the morning light beautifully.
If it were before, it would be hard to find people wearing colors other than black, brown and -dirtied-white. Dye before Baymard's arrival could cost a fortune.
But now people can be seen wearing all sorts of colored clothing, bringing the picturesque sights to life.
The people moved like enchanting shoals of fish.
Everywhere one looked, there was chatter between sellers and buyers, new friends made, and old friends catching up.
It was busy for sure, but the hustle and bustle was exactly what brought the scene to life.
"Ahhh! Look at the time! It's 7:16 now!" Someone commented in a hurry.
"What? 7:16 so soon? But I just got breakfast not too long ago at 6:12. So how can time fly so fast?" The man's pace grew anxious, as he quickly dashed off to the volunteer office.
Damn!
Don't think today's matter was done half-heartedly.
No way! The plan to rescue these birds had been made known to many for months now. And during this time, Arcadinian workers, alongside hired Baymardian workers, had come to the site to make a path from the city gates through the woods to the targeted rescue site.
Trees were cleared off to create 5-lane roads: 2 for heading to the site and another 2 for leaving the sight. The middle lane was for making turns, in case someone decided to head back.
There were also 2 pedestrian sidewalks too.
Just after the sidewalks, one would meet protective wooden rail-fences that didn't go higher than a vehicle's window.
The road was remodeled like a wide highway way road and also had the surrounding trees around the highway cut down too.
This way, people could see any beasts attempting to sneak up on anyone.
These wooden rail fences also had gates strategically positioned along them, lest vehicles, horses or people wanted to leave the highway altogether.
Of course, in the clearing outside the highway, there were small log cabins also built, with tall watch towers at their center.
City guards stayed in the cabins, ensuring the roads were safe. Archers also kept weapons at hand to shoot any prey that dared reveal themselves.
Still, the official time for Rescue was at 11 AM.
Don't think they had time just because it was 7:16 AM now.
Even with the road, it would take 2 hours from the city gates to get to the site. And that was if there was no traffic.
Again, one must take into account the time to reach the city gates from the zone they were in.
Luckily for the man, he was 47 minutes away from the city gates. Imagine those in zones that took them hours?
Estimating the time, including the possibility of being stuck in traffic on the way, the man knew he might be there after 3 hours or so in the worst-case scenario.
That being said, if he had already left by 7, it meant at 10 A.M he would be there, 1 hour before the Rescue officially began.
Today, even finding a cab or taxi to take one out might be difficult since a majority of people were gearing for the same thing.
Dammit!
There was no time for this!
The man dashed swiftly, making his way to the volunteer office in his zone.
There were scheduled buses for volunteers, free of charge. All one had to do was show their volunteer token, tick their names, and present their volunteer approval letters too.
The Baymardians had already provided the volunteer tokens, shirts, jackets, hoodies, beanies, cardigans, and gloves upon approval.
Hopping in the bus, the man quickly took his seat and began unraveling his burrito. Well, during such long road journeys, he was the sort to eat, drink, and fill his eyes with the newly released comics in the city.
Hey... he might be an 18-year-old grown man with a 2-year-old, but he couldn't help himself from getting drawn to the amazing world of what the Baymardians call manga. And the creation that made him so excited, was the one called 'Baki Son of Ogre'
F***! As a manly man, how can he not love the ridiculousness of Baki's world?
Damn!
He couldn't wait to get a son, so he could name the brat 'Yuujirou Hanma' A.K.A Ogre.
Yes. Yes. Yes!
His family name isn't Hanma. But so what? He was going to add it all in and there was nothing anyone could do about it.
Of course, because there were people in this world with crazy strength, Andonhad created the Baki series to display even more ridiculous strength.
For example, in one scene, Baki's father made a fierce massive boggle (whale) unconscious with one punch when he was fishing out on a single canoe in the middle of the ocean.
F***!
He wasn't in some place that was close to the shores.
No! This guy went out into the far, far, ocean to fish on a small boat that could barely fit 2 people.
He wouldn't even call it a boat or canoe looking at the images.
What was a man? This was a man!
The man on the bus was laughing and chuckling while reading. Soon, his burrito was finished, but he dared not open his pack of Lays and other snacks since they were for his time on the rescue site.
Hihihihihihihihi~
The man smiled happily on the bus.
As they say, when occupied, time seems to flash fast in the blink of an eye.
Hearing the unrest in the vehicle, the man looked up to see a vast clearing ahead.
The clearing was more like a grand Baymardian shopping center for all vehicles.
Again there were small log cabins scattered around, some were shoes selling water and snacks, while others were guard posts.
The wide clearing was also fenced in a way that didn't take away nature's stunning beauty.
And ahead of the clearing was a massive mountain of dirt caused by a landslide.
According to the news, the peculiar birds were trapped in the cave.
These birds were super rare, with only a handful of the Arcadinian population ever seeing them.
From records and investigations, these birds were most likely going extinct. They were not your ordinary birds but were a little more prehistoric.
From the drawing in the newspaper articles, they should have 4 limbs... which was incredible since birds only have feathers and legs.
Yet, these prehistoric birds had wings, as well as 2 limbs.
Some records said the first pair of limbs were hands, and other records said all 4 limbs were feet.
Either way, the good biologists and others who study animals across the UN nations, have all come together to observe and understand these strange birds.
It's said they also had multiple sets of eyes, strategically placed on their foreheads like spiders.
The grown version of these birds should be the size of a bat.
Their beaks were incredibly long and their eyes were blue.
They also had strange systems compared to other birds and humans too. But I guess that's the thing with 'prehistoric creatures.'
All beings now were evolved versions of the original. Even humans evolved from what they were before.
Thus, the systems, be it immune, digestive and whatnot, were far different.
For these birds, they hated the heat, tending to hibernate like bears during the end of Spring and the entire of summer.
They usually chose cool caves to hibernate in and could sleep for weeks without food or water. Once up, they of course had to eat. And thus, they begin eating their stored rations.
But here was the thing... Summer has long been over, and their nocturnal sleeping habit has faded.
Due to the landslide blocking their way out, they have no choice but to eat whatever they find in there or eat each other.
At least, that was what the specialists speculated. Again, if they are still alive, it means there should be some small cracks or breathable spots in the cave that kept them going.
But how do they know these birds were trapped in there? A few local hunters to the city who were more than familiar with these birds knew their habits of staying in the caves during the hit sessions.
Word went around when the hunters noticed the landslide. And because Baymard often paid for news stories like these, the hunters decided to make cool cash to report the matter.
Of course, Baymardians rushed to the landslide to confirm the matter through rigorous investigations and site equipment tastings before giving the hunters money.
The hunters never could have imagined such a thing could turn out to be global news.
What? These birds they saw once in a while during hunts were actually going extinct? ('0')
In the end, the matter evolved into a big one.
.
11 A.M.
"Alright! Everyone, gather around. Bring your hoes, shovels, and buckets, and assist in opening up the cave! It might take a few days to open to the sight, but we will not stop till we get those birds out!"
"Yeah!!!!"
