Fantasy Call of the Wyld (with tiffybone92)

[elusivethought]

Finn smiled. The idea of the Luminous Chancellor crying over a splinter was ludicrous. He had healing magic, of course. Finn imagined something like a splinter was next to a joke to someone with such power as he had.

At Sabina’s much more warm greeting, Finn raised an eyebrow. He shook her hand, glancing between her and Percy. Was this the secret to Sabina’s good mood?

He chewed on his lip at the next question, glancing between the three high elves. “Erm. Yes. I think so. Although I would recommend we keep some extra clothes. Nights in the mountains are, erm, quite cold.”

Finn cleared his throat. He waited, expectantly. But, since the three of them were still staring at him, he grimaced and loaded his own things into the wagon before mounting one of the horses.

“Shall we go?” he said, his voice far too uncertain even for his liking, and led the way out of the city.

 

[tiffybone92]

“Extra clothes?” repeated Sabina, looking back towards the chests of Cedric’s attire they had moved off of the wagon. “Ah, well,” she said eventually, shrugging. “I’m sure he’ll live.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine,” Cedric muttered, rolling his eyes. “I’m not that fragile.”

“Sure…” answered Sabina, grinning. “Who wants to bet that Cedric complains about the cold in two nights time?”

“One night,” Percy interjected quickly. “I’ll bet you five gold pieces he’s a shivering mess by tomorrow night.”

“I’ll take that bet!”

Cedric gritted his teeth. “Yes,” he said hastily to Finn’s question. “Please, let’s get on the road.”

Cedric could hear Percy and Sabina snickering behind him as he sat- rather closely, he realized- next to Finn near the front of the wagon. He was rather relieved that Finn had chosen to take the reins himself as Cedric, naturally, had never had to navigate a wagon. Or anything, really.

He felt a surprising pang of heartache as he watched the city he had known as his life become smaller and smaller as they pressed ahead. Would he ever see those cobbled streets again? He would be glad to never see his father’s stony face, but to never see those dungy walls of The Starfall Haven Tavern again?

He hadn’t realized until it was far, far out of sight that perhaps the place he had so truly loathed had also been a place of sanctuary and safety.

And leaving it behind left him feeling more vulnerable than he ever had in his entire life.

Attempting to ease his anxiousness, Cedric cleared his throat. “Well,” he started, his voice a little higher in tone than he had been expecting. “Where is the first location we will be focusing our efforts on?”

 

[elusivethought]

Finn looked back to the others. They seemed…amused by Cedric’s discomfort. His brow furrowed. Perhaps it was more than that, though. Perhaps there was a history behind their teasing.

“I have some clothes you can borrow if you need,” Finn said easily, “but it shouldn’t be that cold just yet.”

He leaned forward, elbows on knees. Beneath the shadow of the trees, Finn felt more comfortable. Relaxed. The tension that had risen his shoulders and clenched his fingers lifted with the breeze in the branches.

“I thought we might start at Moonshade,” Finn said, breathing deep of the fresh air. “Rumors of strange hallucinations from travelers and locals alike. Dead relatives roaming around. Animals looking a bit…wrong.”

Finn shuddered. He shook his head. “I hope we can identify the problem.” He straightened, then turned to Cedric.

“You all right?” Finn asked, frowning as he noticed the Chancellor looking a bit strange. What was that expression on his face? Finn had trouble placing it.

 

[tiffybone92]

“Oh, I’m fine,” Cedric lied quickly, clearing his throat once again. “Of course,” he added, with a slight shiver going down his spine, “‘dead relatives roaming around’ doesn’t exactly sound like a good thing.”

Cedric noticed how tan and muscular the wood elf’s forearms were as he leaned forward to steer. Cedric hastily turned to his right, watching as the trees passed by them. “So… Moonshade…” he repeated, observing as the woodland birds flew from their branches. “I’m not as familiar with that city… Do you know if it’s mostly inhabited with wood elves or high elves?”

“Urgh, I hope it’s not a bunch of high elves,” commented Percy, crossing his arms. “I’m so relieved to be out of that pretentious city I would hate to think we’re heading right to another one.”

“Might I remind you,” Cedric replied, rolling his eyes, “that you too are a high elf?” He shrugged. “Plus, am I really so bad?”

“Is that a rhetorical question?” Sabina interjected. “Or do you honestly want us to answer that one?”

“Okay, okay” Cedric conceded, waving his arms. “I may be a touch pretentious at times, but considering how I was raised, I think I turned out as well as I could!”

“That’s true,” admitted Sabina. “Perhaps even if it is full of high elves, one or two of them may be decent.”

“Let’s just hope they’re willing to take our help,” Percy said. “And that they’re welcoming to outsiders.”

 

[elusivethought]

Finn didn’t think Cedric was being honest with him. Not that it mattered. Asking had been a show of concern, not to gain intimate details about what Cedric was thinking.

It didn’t mean he wasn’t curious, though.

“Moonshade is about three days’ travel away,” he answered, sighing. “Inhabited by mostly wood elves—mostly those who have been ostracized from high elf society. Those who live on the outskirts of high elf cities in order to get by.”

At least, that was what Finn had been told. But with three seemingly friendly, helpful high elves joining his cause with few questions, he wasn’t so sure.

Indeed, these few seemed to be just as critical of their kind as Finn was. Was it a ruse? He had no idea.

Finn glanced with uncertainty back at Percy. “I’ve no idea how welcoming they’ll be. But if I speak for you, perhaps they’ll listen.”

 

[tiffybone92]

“Ooo, yeah…” commented Percy, grimacing. “It doesn’t exactly sound like many will particularly enjoy our company in Moonshade.”

“I mean, can you really blame them?” Cedric frowned, thinking of someone like Finn struggling everyday while someone like himself played courtesan and ate until their stomachs could hold no more. It made him even more glad he was finally escaping from that disconnected, unfeeling world.

“I suppose not,” Percy replied, smirking. “I barely enjoy your company as it is.”

“Oh, ha ha.”

“Three days travel, eh?” remarked Sabina, watching the trees pass beside her with boredom. “I suppose that isn’t such a long time. We’ll be there before you know it.”

“In the meantime,” said Percy, leaning against the back of the wagon, “perhaps I can get a little nap in while we ride.”

“Lazy,” Sabina called him, but she smiled slightly as he relaxed beside her.

“So,” Cedric addressed Finn, attempting to ignore the passing glances happening behind him, “have you ever dealt with anything like they’re mentioning in Moonshade?” He picked nervously at an errant thread on his pants. “You know… the ‘animals looking a bit wrong’ or the hallucinations?” He didn’t want to even think about the undead bit.

 

[elusivethought]

Finn couldn’t help but feel a little…lonely, listening to the three friends banter back and forth. They were all high elves, all from the same city, all connected by their backgrounds and experiences. He had known it wouldn’t be an easy journey and yet…he had forgotten what it was like to feel alone.

He blinked in surprise when Cedric addressed him.

“Oh. Um.” His mind scrambled to retrieve the question. “Not exactly.” Finn idly wrapped the reins around his long, calloused fingers. “I’ve served mostly as a scout. Finding these anomalies, reporting them back.”

He swallowed in discomfort. “I…have had to kill a few animals. It was like they were rabid.” His face went pale with the memory. “I didn’t dare touch them. They bled this strange…blackness, like their blood had gone wrong.”

Most people, even most wood elves, might not have been so disturbed by it. But killing an animal and not using it…it had felt like such a waste. He remembered the heat in his blood, how his vision had gone too bright, too narrow, at the injustice.

“I trust we will be fine with the four of us,” Finn said to reassure the Chancellor, and said nothing else as their wagon rolled along the well-maintained road.

By the time dusk settled over the sky, the road had turned bumpy. A few times Finn had had to jump off and move a few felled trees, each one scarred with a strange black blight where it had been severed.

Soon after, Finn nervously announced they should make camp, since no one else had spoken up. He immediately got to work in cooling down the horses, then helped gather firewood, deftly sparking a fire with flint before returning back to the wagon to prepare camp.

“How are you faring?” Finn asked Cedric as he tugged out the tents. He wasn’t sure Cedric had ever pitched a tent before, and—frankly—wasn’t sure how to ask without offense.

 

[tiffybone92]

“They bled this strange… blackness, like their blood had gone wrong.”

Finn’s ominous words had been echoing in Cedric’s mind ever since he had uttered them. What did he mean their blood had gone black?

Visions of rabid, crazed animals- foaming dark frothy ooze from their muzzles- was enough to make his stomach flip uncontrollably. Those images, combined with the knowledge that he, Cedric, was a very poor, weak mage, made him feel even more ill. He had believed Finn when he had talked about the blight- but he had not realized how dangerous it could truly be. He felt foolish- naive, even- that he had not asked more questions before suggesting bringing Percy and Sabina along.

Had his stupidity and selfishness brought his closest friends to their awful, untimely deaths?

He shook his head vigorously, attempting to dispel the awful images as he began to lay out his tent for the night. The rough, scratchy canvas material rubbed at his delicate skin, and he could tell that, despite only having worked at the tent for mere minutes, he would already have blisters on his hands from the rope.

Panting, sweat dripping down his back, Cedric stepped back to survey his hard work.

It looked awful.

Of course it did. He had never needed a tent before, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have been the one to raise it. He was relieved, therefore, when Finn came walking over to him, asking how he was coming along.

“Well…” he started, scratching at the back of his neck, “as I’m sure you can tell I’m a bit of an expert at tent pitching…” He motioned to the sad, sorry mess of rope and fabric, which looked more like a disorganized bird’s nest than a tent. “But I’m humble enough to accept a few pointers.”

 

[elusivethought]

The Luminous Chancellor was not an expert at pitching tents.

In fact, Finn would have categorized him as entirely incompetent. The canvas fabric draped awkwardly, and the tent poles struggled valiantly–but in vain–to form a proper shape. A light breeze would have been devastating.

“A few pointers,” Finn repeated thoughtfully, scratching at his chin. He nodded. “Sure.”

Finn did his best to instruct Cedric in a way that seemed like he was just tweaking the tent instead of completely disassembling it and starting over. Finn masterfully threw the canvas, easily hammered the stakes down, and casually raised the tent poles. He had done this hundreds of times–because even if he preferred a canopy of stars above him at night, sometimes it was thunderclouds glaring down at him instead. And instead of a warm, summer breeze caressing him to sleep, sometimes it was an icy chill.

When he stood, arms akimbo to admire their finished work, Finn frowned.

“This isn’t your tent, is it?” he asked, only now realizing how…normal it looked. It was a simple tent–one meant for traveling. It was modest. Nice, and well-made, yes, but unsophisticated. Finn would have expected something more…grandiose for the Luminous Chancellor.

 

[tiffybone92]

Cedric blinked as he looked from the now properly assembled tent to Finn. “Is this… not supposed to be my tent?” He frowned, thinking of all the trunks and luggage they discarded before leaving on their journey. Perhaps they had left one with his behind?

He glanced around to see Sabina and Percy's tents already pitched. It certainly seemed like everyone had their own…

“Well, anyways, thank you for your help,” Cedric said to Finn shyly, trying his best not to stare too long at how wonderfully the pinkish-orange hue of the setting sun looked upon the wood elf's olive skin. “I'll get the hang of it eventually…”

He suspected that he would be apologizing for his shortcomings many more times before this journey was over. Although he had known he would be a stumbling, bumbling fool in regards to survival skills, he had not been prepared for just how embarrassed he would feel. While Finn had most respectfully and politely guided him through setting up his tent, he had still felt like a small child first learning to buckle his shoes.

Was there truly anything Cedric brought to the proverbial table? Finn had his tracking and survival skills, Sabina her strong combat, and Percy his wonderful cooking… What did Cedric have? A decent-looking face and cheeky commentary?

And Sabina and Percy would probably argue he didn't even have those.

Putting his depressing thoughts to the back of his mind, Cedric smiled warmly at Finn. “I suppose you're likely hungry after having to deal with the likes of us high elves all day. What do you propose we do for dinner?”