Complete Private Quest High March (Reaping Season I) Aurora Terminus

[Luthien]

Something quickly shifted around her back, immediately jolting the elf awake in the process. Cold sweat clung to her skin, dampening her shirt even as blonde strands of hair messily clung to her forehead and side of the face. She heard the pup squeak in response to their sudden movements, and her hands quickly grasped Fin before pulling the Caenis close to her chest just as Yugam tumbled to the floor.

"Ar—!"
"Yu!"

Another voice called from across the room, causing the man to whirl around and face the dark-haired woman as the elf's words died in her own mouth. Her heart was beating rapidly, almost threatening to jump right out through her throat, and she could feel the tiny hands of the small boy grasp her clothing tightly as he shifted towards Lúthien's side.

"Yu, calm down. It was just a dream."

Right... just a dream. It took a few moments for the elf to catch her breath, the heartbeats inside her chest slowly returning to normal, as those crimson eyes stared back to Yugam when the man apologized. A small nod was given in response, before her gaze trailed over the room to look at the woman that now joined them.

"You're...?"

The dream nightmare, she looked just like the middle-school girl that had been holding Ari's sister... but how could that be? Her gaze narrowed slightly, the familiarity of her face still gnawing at the back of Lúthien's head, before she finally remembered.

"... the breakfast table?"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"Yeah, we met at Camp Hope, briefly," the girl explained, clasping her hands in front of herself, before bowing slightly. "My name is Unmei," she said as she straightened her back before looking at Yugam. "And you could say I'm his...partner, of sorts."

"Uh, Unmei is my sword," Yu said, trying to not give Luthien the wrong impression. "Long story short, spirit in a weapon equals shapeshifting human, weapon thing."

"Seriously?" Unmei deadpanned, looking over at Yugam.

"What?" the man responded with a shrug. "Am I wrong?" Unmei could only shake her head in disappointment before looking at the two still sitting in bed. Approaching them, Unmei knelt before the bed and looked at Finwid. "Are you hungry, Finwid?" she asked. "Do you wanna see if there's anything we can scrounge up for breakfast?" Nodding sleepily, the pup rubbed his eyes, yawning before slowly crawling off the bed. "Alright, why don't you show me what your daddy usually does for breakfast?" Unmei asked, offering a hand to the boy.

"We have to go outside," the boy said, taking the girl's hand.

"Ok, let's go. We'll be really careful, how's that?" The boy nodded again before starting to lead the weapon spirit from the abode. As the two walked towards the staircase, Unmei turned and gave Yugam a serious look, one that said 'talk to her'.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Unmei, huh?" There was a pause as the blonde digested the words spoken by the woman, one eyebrow carefully raised as the dark-haired girl called herself Yu's partner, before crimson eyes turned back to Yugam as he quickly spoke up. "... I see."

She watched as Unmei turned her attention towards Finwid after a brief exchange with the hemomancer, the spiritual weapon slowly coaxing the Caenis pup to her side as she asked him to show what he and his dad would normally for breakfast in a normal day. Finwid moved slowly, still sleepy it seemed, as the small boy slipped off the bed before his hand grasped onto the one Unmei offered. After a few moments the pair made their way out the door—not before Unmei seemed to shoot a particular look back at the man—before giving Yugam and Lúthien some alone time for themselves.

"S-So...?"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

As Unmei cast the man a look, Yugam returned it with one of his own. One that clearly conveyed that he did not understand whatever it was that Unmei had tried to tell him. And without her typical telepathic message, the man got no further guidance as the spirit and the pup exited the room.

"S-So...?"

"Hmm?" the man hummed back, turning to look at the elf. "Oh, right. We should probably set the table or something," the man said, figuring that the girl was probably waiting on him for some reason or another. The man put his hands on his hips as he slowly turned in place to look around the room. "Where do you think they keep the plates and stuff around here?" the man wondered aloud before figuring the chest pushed against the wall by the table was a good place to start.

He pushed aside the chair that still held his coat as he knelt to open the chest. "How'd you sleep?" the man asked, his voice calm and steady, despite sensing an awkward air hanging in the room.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

That... wasn't the reaction Valeria had expected when she'd let a vague question hang in the air between them. Her brows furrowed in thought as the man turned his back towards her, the elf taking a moment to remember the convoluted mess of a dream she'd just experienced. Sure the girl looked different now, taller and older, but Lúthien was sure her gaze had been the same green eyes that had peered towards her from the thick fog...

"Y-Yeah, we should probably get everything set up for when they return."

She'd finally rolled off the bed, her feet now planted firmly on the stone floor beneath, when Yugam's voice reached over as he asked about her sleep. "It was, uuuhm, a little bit foggy I guess...?" It wasn't an issue of Lúthien not remembering, that was never an issue as she'd soon come to learn, but rather the whole dream being so convoluted that the elf still wasn't sure what the proper orders for things should've been.

"How about you, Ar—Yu? You seemed a bit shaken up..."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Fortunately for Yugam, with his back turned to Luthien, he couldn't see her furrowed brows, or the slight frown she wore on her face as the man neglected to answer the unspoken question. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the contents of the chest. This was the dinnerware alright. But what in the hell did Yu grab? What were they eating? Deciding it was better to just grab everything and sort it all out later, the man started to grab a set of bowls, plates, forks and spoons.

"It was, uuuhm, a little bit foggy I guess...?" the elf answered him. Foggy. It was Yu's turn to furrow his brows. Interesting choice of words there...'Probably just a coincidence,' the man thought to himself as he rose and moved the stack of plates, bowls and utensils to the table.

"Mind grabbing the cups outta there?" the man asked, just before Luthien asked him a question of her own.

The man frowned, his face turned away from the girl as he set the table. "Just a bad dream," he answered vaguely. "I've been getting them a bit more, recently." It wasn't a lie at least. "Don't normally get them that bad, but I'm sure it'll pass."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Yeah, I got them."

She headed over to the chest from which Yugam had gotten the plates and utensils, her hands carefully picking up a few cups before she paused as a thought crossed her mind. Do weapons... eat? A soft frown before the blonde decided it was better to be safe than sorry, four cups gathered before she brought them over to the table as Ari continued to set the plates and utensils down properly.

"I s-see..." Lúthien began to carefully place the mugs, one to each set, as the blonde mulled over how best to proceed. "... think anything might have triggered it?"

There was more she wanted to ask, so much more, but the elf just wasn't sure how to even go about and start that conversation. 'Hey, remember how I can mindsend you stuff? Well guess what, I can also peep into your dreams! She cringed slightly at the thought alone, aware of just how invasive that was... but it wasn't like she'd even done it purposely. It just sort of happened, and unfortunately for Lúthien the girl still didn't have a good handle on those elven traits that she had slowly developed...

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"I s-see..." the girl stuttered out. "...Think anything might have triggered it?"

"I dunno, beats me," the man said as he set down the last bowl and began to distribute all the utensils. "I mean, not like I got much stress IRL anymore, so, I dunno. Could be anything. Maybe my brain just finally processing shit." Ari shrugged. Wasn't like there was anything he could do about it now. But one thing still didn't make sense to him. Who were those other people he'd seen in his dream? And what was with the Spanish? He'd only had a couple dreams where he'd spoken Spanish back when he'd been taking classes for school. But since then, he hadn't had a single one. So why now?

The sound of howling winds filled the room again as Finwid and Unmei returned, quietly marching down the street with small sacks of grains. "Oatmeal," Finwid explained quietly, setting the bags down quietly on the table. "Ah, sounds tasty," Yugam lied. He'd never liked oatmeal, but the pup didn't need to know that.

"Hey Yu, Luthien?" Unmei spoke up as she set down her two sacks of grain alongside Finwids. "Can I talk to you guys really quick?"

Yu gave the woman a questioning look before looking over at Finwid. "Hey, Fin, sweetheart," Unmei said to the caenis. "Why don't you start boiling some water for us," she requested, before the little boy nodded his head, rubbing his eyes again and turning to stoke the fire again.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

A short silence fell between them as they finished setting up the table, the blonde taking a moment to process and think as she tried to find the proper words to start this conversation. Her mouth had parted with the intent of speaking, when suddenly the sound of howling winds down the hallway caught the elf's attention.

"Oatmeal is delicious, and very good for growing boys like you lil' Fin~"

She'd always liked oatmeal, out of all the warm cereal options it was probably the one that Lúthien enjoyed the most... and the girl was sure she had some cinnamon spice in her UI inventory to help with the flavoring. That and some of the peanut butter cookies—"Hey Yu, Lúthien? Can I talk to you guys really quick?" Her thoughts were interrupted as Unmei called out her name, turning away from the small pup to look at the woman before nodding slightly.

"A-Ah, sure... what's up?"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"A-Ah, sure... what's up?" Luthien had said once the three had gathered.

"So Finwid and I saw one of the other villagers," the girl began to say in a hushed voice. "He started shouting at us the moment he saw me. He told Fin he needed to throw us out. And then he started ranting about how outsiders are the reason bad things always happen to Aurora. That we're the reason for the storms."

Yu's brows furrowed in concern as he listened. They were the reason for the storms? A part of Yu wanted to say that was just superstitious nonsense. But another part of him knew that in a fantasy game like this, that wasn't outside the realm of possibility. "So what, they think think we just leave the town and then the storms stop?" the man asked.

"I guess."

"What about Fin? He say anything? Do you think he believes in that stuff?" Yu asked.

"I don't know. He just said it wasn't our faults. He said-"

"It's the Phantoms."

@Luthien

 

[Vesuvyan]

Thread; 70 Posts, The Caenis Boy Finwid has been... 'helped' to some degree.

Maybe there is more to this kid than meets the eyes?

This is not the last time you will cross paths with Finwid, his father, and the village of Aurora.

Final Rating: 50.

Both of you earn 1 Vesuvyan Gold as a result of the interaction.