by Lost Caravan Wed Aug 03, 2016 5:37 pmAn Unexpected Meeting
- Music:
Rain. Rain was pouring in torrents from the sky as the black haired girl quietly walked through it. She’d let out an exasperated sigh as she made her way towards the only tree she had seen in days of exploring the wide open grasslands of Lasmaria. She hadn’t expected it to rain, but it wasn’t like there were any vantage points to read the sky and the warnings it gave from the flat surface she traversed. The rain made it hard to actually study the land and scared off all animals back to their dens and holes. It wasn’t an adventures immediate wish when traveling the mostly uncharted grasslands.
Eventually though, the girl made it to the tree, sighing as she threw a warn leather pack to the side and forcefully flung herself towards the tree. A quiet thud resonating as her back hit the old bark. She didn’t really care about the pain; she was sore all over from having to walk endlessly through this horrendous storm. The cover the tree gave her was endlessly appreciated as her clothes were soaked thoroughly, any color they may have had looked pitch black from the lack of sun and amount of water they had soaked up.
A gentle purr came from the pack as the traveler’s companion crawled out and shook his strikingly red fur dry. It was a pleasant site to see something else living in the grasslands while this storm passed by. The rodent like creature, a red panda too those more knowledgeable about exotic animals, walked towards the traveler and curled up on her lap. A steady hand reaching down to stroke the animals slightly damp fur. What a horrible day this had been.
Silence permeated around the small tree aside from the constant roar of falling rain. It lulled the traveler to sleep for a few tantalizing seconds before a rather obnoxious scream forced her eyes open. Oh, yes, she hadn’t been alone out here with just her pet-companion. No, she was out here with her rather aloof apprentice. With a sigh, she’d stand up and walk towards the edge of the tree’s cover, the panda gently cradled in her arms. She’d scan the horizon until she saw faint outline of a figure madly running in random directions. That would indeed be him.
“Niiiiiiiicooooooooo! Over here!” she’d cry out in an exasperated voice. How on earth a cartographer could get so easily lost baffled her, but with an audibly loud “Oh,” the figure would dash towards the tree at a rather fast pace. He was there in a few minutes, after which the traveler would smile gently towards him before returning to sitting against the broad tree’s trunk. The blonde haired boy would sit down a little away from the tree trunk though, hastily pulling out an almost comically large number of maps from his large satchel. Luckily for him, none of them seemed too damaged. The parchment they were drawn on was thick and the ink carefully drawn over constantly each day. As far as cartographers went, the traveler though he was the best and most dedicated in her experience.
“So, misses! What do ya reckon we do afta this storm rolls by?” he’d say in a surprisingly thick accent that boded to his rather poor heritage. He wasn’t that amazing looking either; freckles, pale blue eyes, a thin and almost unhealthy physique, and clothes that you’d see on a farmer or gardener. He spelt perfectly the phrase of ‘poor and plain.’ But, his maps made him infinitely more interesting. The accuracy they had accompanied by his drive to graph the entire world made the two a most unbeatable team as far as adventuring went.
“Well…! I say we first mark that this tree is here and go directly East from here! We’ll eventually reach the sea that way, no?” the black haired traveler would say, she’d stand up after that, walking towards the east end of the tree and peer out into the distance. What secrets were hidden in the far east of these grasslands? Maybe a hidden beach! Or a crashed ship! Maybe even the scene of a murder gone foul or a nest of an unidentified species!
“’Onderful idea, misses Kaya! Is your adveturin’ blood boilin somethin fierce?” he’d ask her with sparkling eyes. He adored this woman! Born from a royal family, she left the comforts of home early in her life to explore the world she was born in! She was a great adventurer and had discovered and done things the boy could only wish of doing. Though, re-discovering everything she had found and forgot to map or tell people about wasn’t easy! No siree!
“Ah, you know it, Nico! I can’t wait to see what secrets this place holds! Can you imagine it? A who-“ she stopped mid-sentence, a chill running down her spine as an unnatural silence covered the area. Nico would stand up slowly, pulling a rather worn dagger from his belt as Kaya pulled out a sheathed stick with a ribbon on the end from hers. They stood back to back, the red panda around the girl’s neck with bared teeth.
“I bare news from the Red Duchy, Kaya Red.” an unnaturally calm voice came from directly behind them, the two travelers gasped and jumped back, a spell on the tip of Kaya’s tongue before she looked at the surprise visitor. It was her.
With a rather loud and unhappy gruntish like sigh, the girl would place the stick back in its sheath, glaring at the woman dressed in a long and quite beautiful black dress. She was tall, quiet, and beautiful in all intents and purposes of the word. Her long black hair perfectly combed and a radiant blue flower gently tied into it as if it were a bow.
“Sisters of fortune and fate! Zinnian! Don’t do that! Oh, goodness! I could have died with the frights you always give me!” Kaya would say in an obviously annoyed voice, crossing her arms as the red panda around her neck laid down where he was. Everything about this situation was notably more tense.
“Ah… Misses…? W-Who is this here lady and where ‘n a fairy’s wing did she come from?” the cartographer would ask in a confused voice, sheathing the dull dagger afterwards. He had never met a member of Kaya’s family, was this one of them? She sure did seem royal enough… And she had to have used magic to show up the way she did, right? All royals knew a little bit of magic if they could fling spells!
“Ah… Agh, gag me… This is Zinnian, my half-sister of sorts… We Reds are weird when it comes to our heritage, mind. Anyways! She’s what you would call a demon! She uses shadows to transport herself places and oh boy is it annoying when she does it all scary like!” the girl would say with a notably irritated tone of voice. It was obvious this wasn’t the first time the apparent demon had done this, and Kaya was ready to drill it into the placid looking woman’s head how annoying and rude it was. She was about ready to go on a tangent before the woman raised her hand, her face never showing emotion.
“I am Zinnian Red Shade of the Red Duchy, child. I am a shadow, a race most are unaware of. We are more akin to fairies than we are demons. Though, this is beside the point. I come bearing an important message, Kaya.” the woman would say in an eerily calm voice. She was impossible to read and she was impossible to understand! A shadow alright in all meanings of the word. Creepy, weird, and mysterious.
“If it’s from my father, I don’t care. Tell him to go shove his face into some of Paftari’s poisons!” she’d bark out, all elegance in her voice notably lacking as she fumed. Her foot was practically beating the grass into the mud as she tapped it furiously. She was so happy moments ago, just to have her family yet again ruin it all.
“It is not from your father though. It is from Anenia.” the woman would say, her figure still perfect as the words left her mouth. The fuming traveler soon stopped, a notable change in her mood. Her older sister’s name surprised her and cut her tantrum short.
“What… What does she want?” Kaya would ask quietly, unsure as to what the request would entail. Anenia was only one of few people she trusted from her family. Her obvious dislike towards Zinnian right now aside, if Anenia has confided with the shadow, it truly was serious.
“A meeting is being held and all members of our family are required to attend. Anenia is requesting your presence alongside Nilo, my daughter Rio, and her daughter Sana. It appears a most important matter is to be discussed their soon.” she’d say with an almost concerned tone of voice. Kaya knew one thing about the shadow, and that was that she worried about her daughter greatly. She wasn’t exactly the most stable person, as past experiences accounted for… It didn’t make much sense why Anenia wanted them all there though…
“I… Understand, then. Send word to my father and Anenia that I and my apprentice, Nico Nico, will be there before the month ends…” Kaya would say with a quieting tone of voice. Her apprentice was rather confused, to say the least, but this seemed really important…
“Understood. I will await your arrival then. If you have need of me, you are aware of what to do.” the shadow would say with a gentle bow before seemingly vanishing into the shadows that covered her. The boy would yelp in surprise, jumping back at the sudden use of magic without words. Is that what shadows could do?
“Alright, Nico. New plan… We leave for the Red Duchy as soon as the rain stops. Get some rest, it’s a long walk home.” the adventurer would say with a determined nod before returning to sitting against the tree’s trunk, her head gently thumping against the tree as she got ready to rest. Might as well try and make herself unconscious while resting.
“Ah… Yes, misses.” questions flooded the apprentice’s mind but he knew better than to disturb her when she was like this. It was resting time now. With a quick nod of his head he’d quickly pack up his various maps back into his bag and fall onto the grass, shutting his eyes closed tightly. He’d need every ounce of his strength for the venture to Kaya’s home! So resting was immensely important right now!
