[Exemplary] Family of Steel - Carved from the Blighted Oak

[Proto Man]

After an hour of wandering, Proto Man found himself standing in a small, overgrown area that may have once been a clearing but had since began losing the battle against the surrounding woods. Shrubs and overgrown weeds choked out the grasses, and a few shade intolerant trees were trying their hardest to soak up every ounce of sunlight before their shade tolerant neighbors outgrew and starved them.

In front of Proto Man, one of the trees in the pseudo-clearing was flashing red near its center. The overlay promptly clicked off, and the preteen robot circled the tree until he found the hatch. With a smile, he opened the bark-covered door to reveal an empty space inside the hollowed-out tree. What?

With a whiff a spear slammed into the tree trunk, missing the android’s face by inches. Spinning around, Proto Man found himself confronted by a slender, adult woman with pale purple skin and dull green hair tied back into a pony tail. Rather than exchange pleasantries, she wrenched her spear from the tree and swung it back, obviously intending to bring it back to bear on the youth. Before she got a chance to do so, Proto Man rushed forward and shoved her in the stomach with his good hand. The impact did more to disorient and unbalance the woman than injury her, so as she wavered, Proto Man grabbed the shaft of her weapon and crushed it between his gloved fingers.

Rather than relent, the boy’s attacker discarded the bottom half of her spear and came at him with the top. Falling back, Proto Man used his bum hand to parry away the chops and swipes as the purple-skinned warrior tried to get at his chest and face. What do I do to deserve stuff like this? As he tried to process the question, the woman lashed out with a slender boot and nailed him on the chin. With a dull thud, Proto Man fell back onto his haunches as his assailant’s shadow fell over him.

“I won’t allow you to spread the Blight, you fiend!” She yelled as she moved in for what she hoped would be a fatal blow. Unfortunately for her, the android had one good arm, and with a flash, the Proto Buster materialized and released a weak burst of energy into the thick leather armor over her chest. A gasp escaped her mouth as the impact drove the air from her lungs and knocked her backwards, loosening her grip on her weapon. Proto Man shoved up off his haunches and fired once again, reducing her already broken spear to ash.

Without skipping a beat, the strange woman reached down and drew a hunting knife from the inside of her boot.

Am I the only person in this place who isn’t hiding knives and weapons all over themselves?!