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

[Yugam]

The wind tore at their their hooded cloaks, meant to guard against the vicious currents. Whipped into a furious storm that howled and roared through High March, blue flashes of lightning illuminated the dark clouds hanging over their heads as the fought against the gale force winds threatening to blow them away.

"Not much farther!" Yugam called back to Luthien, pausing to look over his shoulder and check that she was still with him and not blown to smithereens by a stray lightning strike.

Yu had been surprised when the League had explicitly requested his presence back at HQ, and then he'd been even more surprised when he walked into the expedition brief to see Luthien as the only other member present, aside from the supervisor.

Their job was simple. Find and plot the path to Aurora in High March. One of the region's 'forgotten' villages, only recently rediscovered. And while the Astorea had a general location, they needed it mapped, and the area surrounding the village charted. To say that it was a big ask would've been an understatement. Given the volatile nature of the region, and the mysterious habit of it's visitors to forget any and all details about it's locations, Yu couldn't help but wonder if there was some kind of magical influence preventing their locations from being recorded. And if that was the case, would any map they drew survive the journey home?

Whatever the case, that was a concern for later. In this weather, they couldn't even attempt to plot a map. The village in the distance was just a chance at shelter for now, not the aim of their excursion. Pushing forward to the village, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the streets were empty, all it's residents having retreated into hollowed out stones and rusted, ramshackle buildings, shuddering with the force of the winds.

Keeping his head down and shielding his eyes, Yu made for the nearest building, hammering on the door. "Hello!? Please, we could use some shelter!" the man shouted over the wind, to no response. "C'mon," he called to Luthien. "There's gotta be somewhere we can hole up!"

Turning to approach the next door, Yu was stopped by the sight of a small caenis boy, staring at him, white cloudy eyes, sightless. And yet the boy stared right at him. The boy opened his mouth, saying something but what it was, Yugam couldn't make out. "What!?" the man called back. The boy gestured to the pair of explorer's, as if for them to follow. Yu shot Luthien a cautionary look. It wasn't like they had much of a choice but to follow, right?

The small boy led them between buildings and alleyways, shielded from the winds by the walls of fragile buildings which shook and rattled so furiously, Yugam was almost certain that they'd be torn from the ground. But that never occurred. Instead, the buildings remained firmly rooted to the ground, long enough for the three to navigate between them, all the way to a large, hollowed out boulder, with a rusty sheet of metal being used for a door. Pulling the makeshift door open, the caenis gesturing for them to enter. Casting Luthien one more glance, Yu ventured into the small building.

A small staircase was carved into the floor, and peering down the corridor, Yugam could see the faint orange glow of a fire coming from within the underground space. Descending the stairs, the space opened up to reveal a nicely sized room. In the center, a fire, with a smoke vent carved into the earth above, a cooking pot set upon it. A small wooden table was pushed against one wall with a couple of chairs pushed beneath it, and against two of the walls, beds.

Pulling his hood down, Yu looked around the room. It was simple. No decorations. Utilitarian. Or maybe this was all that it's occupants had. As Luthien and the caenis joined him, Yu looked at them both, before asking, "Is this your home? Where are your parents?"

"The Phantoms follow you, close," the caenis boy replied, dry throat cracking each syllable as he spoke. "A friend. You don't see the mistake." Yugam couldn't help but cast Luthien a confused look. 'Phantoms?' he mouthed to her.

"This is where I stay. Dad is away. He should be back soon," the caenis went on shuffling around Yugam, hobbling forward, lurching with every step. "Please uh...make home?" the boy said haltingly, turning to look at the two explorers and gesture towards the warm fire. "Make yourself home?"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Not much farther!"
"O-Okay...!"

She cried out in response, her hands grasping the hood of her cloak tightly to try and cover her head from the cutting winds— granting her some visibility of Yugam's form as the man forged a path for them towards somewhere safe... wherever that might be. Another blue flash caused Lúthien to close her eyes for a moment, before the thunderous sound that followed earned a squeal from the elf as she hurried her pace to catch up with the hemomancer.

For the first time since Lúthien had joined the League she was actually glad about the decision of her superior to pair her off with Yugam—the blonde wasn't sure she would've been able to make it all the way out here on her lonesome... much less make a functioning map to bring back for the League to use.

Perhaps that had been the deciding factor behind their superior's choice to pair them together, and while at first the blonde had been ready to chew him out a new one her demeanor had certainly changed teh second Yugam had stepped into the office with them. While Lúthien had the artistic skill for drawing she had lacked a sense of scaling and how maps worked, areas that the hemomancer had covered in turn. With Yugam's guidance she had tried a few mapping attempts as they had made their way from Finweald to High March, beaming excitedly back at the human when it had resulted in the first decent map attempt that the elf had managed since first joining the League.

Unfortunately she never got the chance to use the newly improved skills as they trekked towards Aurora, the weather having taken a turn for the worse when they had been deep in the territory—there was no time to worry about map charting when they were trying to ensure the winds didn't buffet them to the ground, and that's if a stray bolt of lightning didn't try and claim either of them first. Finally they had managed to reach the village in question, Yugam taking the lead in attempting to find them a safe place to rest as his fist pounded against the first door available—though no response was received.

"C'mon, there's gotta be somewhere we can hole up!"
"Y-Yu... look!"

She had spotted the small figure first while the man had been rapping his knuckles against the door, one of her hands holding onto the man's sleeve to get his attention before the other pointed towards the small Caenis child. Any verbal communication towards the boy was impossible at this distance due to the howling winds, the kid finally waving his tiny hands as he beckoned the pair over. The cautious look on Yu's eyes wasn't lost to Lúthien, her hand moving further down to give his a reassuring squeeze, before she nodded towards the direction the little boy had started running off in.

< It'll be fine... I think? >

Given the current circumstances the elf was willing to take a chance on the little Caenis, the small pup leading them through alleyways and in between buildings that immediately began offering some respite from the biting winds they had endured so far. Eventually their steps brought them to a large boulder, one that Lúthien was surprised to discover was hollowed out as they neared the object. A rusty sheet of metal served as a door for the shelter, one the Caenis opened with clear practiced moves, before gesturing for the duo to head inside. When Yugam looked back at her the elf gave him a resolute nod, before they both finally filtered into the interior and down the small carved stairway.

The interior was surprisingly well sized considering it all looked to have been carved out from stone and dirt, the warmth of the fire within giving it a faint sense of homeyness along with the few present pieces of furniture. Finally Lúthien was able to lower her hood, heaving a sigh of relief before she watched the little Caenis child bound into the room behind them. His attention seemed fixated mostly on Yugam, the little boy's gaze mostly looking in the man's direction although it seemed off by just a bit... perhaps that was due to the cataracts that were clearly affecting his vision?

... phantoms?

Yugam would've seen his confused look mirrored in Lúthien's face as she looked back at the man, her head tilting ever so slightly before looking back at the young boy as he continued to speak. It looked like this was indeed a home for the little boy and his father, who had probably stepped out sometime before the storm considering he was currently missing.

"Ah, thank you..." A soft smile was given to the pup before the elf paused for a moment. "... what's your name, little cutie?"

There was a long pause as the boy's gaze still lingered on Yugam—was he looking at the sword in the man's belt...?—before the eyes finally moved to cautiously regard Lúthien as she crouched to be closer to the boy's level.

"... Finwid."
"That's a very sweet name, thank you for helping us find shelter little Fin~"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"Thank you for your hospitality," Yugam echoed Luthien in response to the boy. Unfastening the drab cloak from around his shoulders, Yu quickly bundled it in his arms before setting it down before the fire. Unlike the rifle that was stored safely away in his inventory, Unmei sat fastened to his belt. Sliding it off his waist, the explorer set the weapon down on the floor beside the cloth bundle before sitting down, cross legged, on the makeshift cushion.

'Not gonna come out?' the man thought, communicating telepathically with the ghost residing within his weapon.

'No. I'd rather not...'

Strange. Unmei wasn't usually shy about making an appearance. But Yu wasn't about to goad her into it. 'Suit yourself,' he replied, before returning his attention to the other two within the room.

"Nice to meet you, Finwid," Yu said to the boy with a soft smile. "My name is Yugam. Maybe you could help us out a little more," the dark-haired man said. "We're looking for a village. Aurora. Is this it?" the man asked.

"Mhmm," Finwid hummed with a small nod. "This is Aurora. But, that is not help for you."

Again with the peculiar statements. Yu's brows furrowed as he looked over at Luthien again. "Uhm, Fin," the man said as his gaze slowly returned to the boy. "What do you mean that's not the help for us?"

Instead of answering, the boy wandered over to Luthien, his clouded eyes locked onto her. Reaching out with a small he gently cupped the side of the elf's head, running a thumb along her brow. "You too. The Phantoms follow you too."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Another odd statement, one that caused Lúthien to raise one eyebrow softly as her gaze looked in Yugam's direction for a moment—quietly confirming that she wasn't the only one confused at some of the statements the small pup made. It was then the child moved closer to the elf, his small hand reaching out to cup her right cheek and earning the blonde's full attention in response.

"You too. The Phantoms follow you too."
"W-What phantoms, little Fin...?"

She barely managed to resist the shiver that threatened to run up her spine at the words of the small boy, a hand reaching towards him instead to gently brush some of the wild and tangled strands of hair atop his head. Now with the child so close Lúthien was able to get a better look into his eyes, dark and clouded due to the cataracts afflicting them... although they almost reminded the elf of a starry Arcia night sky, a haunting beauty to an otherwise misfortunate fate.

This close she could see the gaunt state of the child, especially with the way his shoulder bones were especially prominent against the simple clothing that the pup wore. A glance was given at his tail then, the fur matter and strained to the point that the white wolf pup resembled a gray variety more instead. If Lúthien had to guess his age just by looks alone she would've assumed he was no older than five, and yet that seemed unlikely with the articulation his words held—even if he spoke few of them.

He hadn't moved away when the elf caressed his hair, though neither had his tail responded in kind like someone would expect of a young Caenis like him, a look of concern crossing the blonde's face then before an idea popped up. "Little Fin, do you like sweets~?" Her words were met with a silent confusion from the pup, and it took everything that Lúthien had to not whine in sadness upon seeing the lost look on his face, instead pretending to rummage into the pocket of her cloak as the elf brought out a peanut butter cookie from her UI inventory.

His ears had perked up at the sound of fabric being moved and swayed, his childlike curiosity taking hold, but it wasn't until the foreign scent of something sweet and nutty reached his nose that the boy's tail finally showed movement of his own—softly wagging at first before the speed increased as Lúthien placed the cookie safely into his hands.

"A yummy treat for a sweet boy~"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

Dark eyes stayed locked on Finwid as he spoke Luthien, examining the boy closely, his condition. The matted, dirty fur, shaggy hair, and gaunt physique. How long ago had the boy's father been gone? Luthien offered the boy a cookie which the caenis greedily began to nibble on, his cloudy eyes going wide as he tasted the sweet thing for the first time.

"Hey, Finwid. Where's your dad, bud?"

"Away," the pup responded as he sat himself down on the floor in front of Luthien, his hands still holding up the cookie to his mouth as he nibbled away at the treat.

"How long has he been gone?" Yu pressed, the look of concern on his face slowly growing. The boy simply shrugged in response. However long it had been, it had been long enough for Fin to have lost count of the days.

"Hey, Luth," Yugam said to the elf, before gesturing with his head to the far side of the room so they could speak out of earshot of the boy.

"The dad's been gone a while," Yu whispered, although certain that the woman had picked up on that as well. "I'm gonna go back out and knock on some more doors. See if I can find out where the guy went." Yu's eyes drifted over to Finwid, pausing as he looked at the frail child. "And if he's ever coming back," he said even quieter. "Keep an eye on him? And see if he can maybe tell you anymore about the town. Or those 'phantoms' he keeps mentioning. It's making my skin crawl, but there's gotta be a reason for it."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Her heart went out for the pup as she watched him eagerly nibble on the large cookie Lúthien offered him, having settled down on the floor besides the elf as he did so. Yugam's inquiry about Finwid's dad was met with a single word response, causing worry in the elven girl, before the blonde turned to look at Yugam as he motioned to a far corner of the room as he spoke her name. A soft pat was given to the pup's head before Lúthien straightened back up from her crouching position, following the hemomancer before they fell into a whispered conversation.

"Yeah... he's so thin, Yu." Concern was written all over her face as her eyes trailed back to the young child nibbling the peanut butter cookie, before turning to look back at the man as he mentioned going out to investigate more. "Alright, I'll keep him company and see if he'll open up a bit more."

There was a pause, a moment of hesitation, before her hand softly tugged at the sleeve of his jacket. "... be careful out there, okay?" After all this was an unknown village to them, and even if the child seemed mostly harmless the same couldn't be assumed for the rest of the residents.

Not to mention the fucking storm still raging outside, even down in this shelter a part of Lúthien could still sense the sharp and unruly winds as they cut through the air in random intervals and directions... it was unlike any storm the elf had experienced before, in-game or out of it.

She'd finally return to Finwid's side, by now the boy mostly done with the first cookie Lúthien had offered him, before the elf pulled out another one and handed it over to the boy as she sat down besides him now. "Do you like them, lil' Fin~?" A hand reached for the pup once more, this time quietly trying to untangle a few strands of hair atop his head as carefully as she could, as Lúthien tried to get a better read on the boy's physical language.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

With Luthien's agreement, Yu went to head out, taking a step towards the fire to gather his cloak and weapon when he felt Luthien softly tug at his sleeve. "...be careful out there, okay?"

Yu nodded to the woman in response. "I will," he promised. Picking up Unmei and fastening the sword to his belt, the man then grabbed his cloak, wrapping it around his shoulders before going over to Finwid and kneeling down before him. "Hey, I'm heading out for a little bit, bud. Mind keeping an eye on my friend for me?" he asked the caenis boy.

"Mhmm, I can," Fin nodded, pausing his nibbling just long enough to respond to the man, before going back to his trick.

"Thanks, Fin," Yu said with a kind smile, mussing up the boy's already messy hair a little before standing up and taking one last glance at Luthien before heading out, the sound of the winds out side roaring furiously until the door slammed shut.

---

"Do you like them, lil' Fin~?" the elf-lady asked the caenis in a sweet voice as she pulled out another of the tasty biscuits and handed it to him.

"Mhmm, thank you very much," the boy said as the elf-lady reached up and began to do something with his hair. He didn't mind too much though. As long as he could keep eating the tasty biscuits.

The boy hardly moved from his spot on the floor at the elf-lady went about her work, not even when she accidently pulled on a particularly stubborn knot in his fur.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

There was an uneasy feeling that tugged at the elf, although Lúthien couldn't quite pinpoint the reason behind that particular feeling. It had been present for a while now, nagging at the corners of her mind on the occasions that it wasn't gnawing anxiously at her insides, and it seemed to softly spike one more one she could hear the roar of strong wind gusts down the hallway before Yugam shot the front door behind him as the man went to investigate.

"Mhmm, thank you very much."

His affirmation gave Lúthien some confidence as she started to untangle some of the simpler knots found in the boy's head, and when he didn't seem to react unfavorably the elf allowed herself a moment to pull out a comb from her UI inventory. "So, Finwid, how old are you?" Her voice was soft and light, attempting to hold a casual conversation with the young beastfolk in the hopes of keeping his mind occupied.

"... eight."

He had paused his munching for a few moments, a spaced out look in the Caenis' eyes as he seemed to focus on something else... for a moment Lúthien thought he wouldn't respond, or that perhaps Finwid wasn't aware of his own age, before a simple reply was finally uttered as the pup went back to munching on his peanut butter cookies.

"So, lil' Fin, where's mommy? Is she also out around Aurora like daddy?"

Again her hands slowly worked on the mop of dusty white hair that adorned the Caenis' head, her fingers holding the strands tight at the base just an inch or so away from the boy's skull to try and minimize any tugging he might feel when Lúthien slowly worked the comb into his strands of hair.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

The elf-lady kept playing with Fin's hair as he ate. Oddly, he found her touch to be comforting, even if it hurt a little as she tugged at another knot in his fur. It wasn't long before the boy was treated to an entirely new sensation. Thin spines running through his hair, working to untangle the matted dirty mess it had become, the firm ends massaging his scalp. At some point or another the elf-lady had grabbed a spiny thing. A comb. Was that what it was called? Fin remembered some other outsider had one, his father had tried to bargain with the outsider for it, but they hadn't been able to come to an agreement. Apparently outsiders didn't like chickens.

"So, Finwid, how old are you?" the elf-lady asked.

The boy had to think for a moment. It wasn't really something he kept track of too well. Sometimes his dad would say 'happy birthday,' and tell him he was a new age now. That he was older. "...Eight," the boy finally said, remembering the last time his father had said 'happy birthday,' he'd said he was eight.

Fin's eyes caught something in the corner of his eyes. A wisp of red above the elf-lady's head. Erratically, it moved. Dancing almost, to an everchanging beat.

And then it faded away, and Finwid resumed his nibbling.

"So, lil' Fin, where's mommy? Is she also out around Aurora like daddy?" the elf-lady then asked.

"Father said she's with the dreams now," Fin stated, his ears perking up slightly at the thought. "He said she'll be back soon." And then they could all sit around the fire. Maybe Mommy would run her hand through his fur like the elf-lady, take out the knots.

"Do you like chickens?" the boy suddenly asked, shifting slightly to look at the elf-lady better. Maybe she wasn't like all the other outsiders?

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

The boy was calm as Lúthien continued to detangle the strands on his head, always mindful as the elf tried to be as gentle as possible. It would've been easier with a lotion, that much the blonde knew, but she wished to avoid startling the Caenis more than necessary... even if it meant the task would take longer in the end. After all, with the storm still raging outside, it wasn't like Yugam or her would be going out in a hurry any time soon to map the areas around Aurora as well as the village.

"I s-see..." The answer had been one Lúthien had expected, a quick look around the room had shown very little personal touches—the interior geared more towards efficiency and practicality, something that was familiar from her own youth. "She's with the dreams...?"

That was something that Lúthien hadn't expected to hear however, especially when the little Caenis pup next words said she would be back soon—was that just something the father told Finwid to make the absence of his mother easier on the young boy? Perhaps it was stories like those that had caused the Caenis to say that phantoms followed Yugam and her close.

"Do you like chickens?"
"Mmm, chickens...? Yeah, they're really cute. Do you like chickens too, Fin?"

As the boy turned softly Lúthien shifted the area she was working on in response, not wanting to pull or tug on the boy's hair unnecessarily. Her crimson eyes looked down at the face of the young boy, a soft smile on her lips before a hand softly reached over to wipe a few crumbs of cookies sticking stubbornly to Finwid's cheek.

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"Mhmm," the boy hummed in response the elf-lady's question. "They're fluffy. And they eat funny," the boy explained, as he finished the cookie in his hands. Even when he was done though, he didn't move from his spot, allowing Luthien to continue untangle his hair. "I get sad when we have to eat them. But they're tasty," the boy went on as he began to play with a whole in his pant leg, picking at the edges, gradually making it larger.

"Outsiders don't like chickens," the boy said, recalling once more when his father had tried to bargain with the other outsider. "But you're not like other outsiders. So maybe the others-" The boy's words fell short as he caught something else in the periphery of his vision again.

Hands, thin wisps of mist trailing behind the fingers, and where they'd been severed from their body seemingly emerged from behind the curtain of the physical world. They swiped at the air, as if to grab something. The elf-lady. The boy's ears fell back, his ears flattening against his head as he unwittingly let out a quiet whimper. They swiped at her once, twice more, before giving up in their endeavor and retreating behind the veil once more.

"Maybe the others will like you too," the boy finished saying, averting his eyes to the hole in his pants again. "They don't like outsiders."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

"Right? Their feathers also come in so many colors, and their clucking sounds can be very cute~"

She wasn't sure where the sudden topic of chickens had come from, but considering it had the small boy talking Lúthien was more than happy to follow along as she carefully worked on untangling another tangled mass of hair. "Yeah, it's sad when we have to eat them... but sometimes it can't be helped—and they are really yummy." Another knot was finally untangled, elven hands moving on to another spot as they spoke.

"Their eggs are really good too~"

She watched him carefully ever since the last cookie had been consumed, relieved to see the boy had stayed on his spot besides her as the ranger continued with her task. His hand picking at a hole in his pant wasn't loss on the blonde, and the overall state the Caenis pup was at tugged at the blonde's heartstrings immensely.

"Other outsiders...?"

Her curiosity was caught when the boy mentioned the prospect of others, about to ask him how often visitors passed through the village, when the sudden interruption of his words caught her elven ears. "... Finwid?" She felt the boy's tiny body stiffen, ears falling back against his skull as a quiet whimper escaped his throat, causing Luthien's hands to stop working on his hair as her right one moved to rub the back of the small boy instead.

Had she perhaps done something that upsetted the young pup? She wasn't fully sure, and when the child renewed their earlier conversation as if nothing had happened Lúthien couldn't help but frown in response.

"Finwid, sweetie, is everything alright...?"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

The elf-lady asked Fin if he was okay, to which Finwid responded with a small nod. "I'm okay," he said before standing and turning around to face the elf-lady. Plopping himself back down on the floor, the boy looked up at the elf-lady the cataracts in his eyes reflecting the firelight like stars and planets in the night sky.

Above her head, he watched the dancing red wisp above her head. This Phantom wasn't so scary as the other ones at least.

"Outsiders come here sometimes. Like you," the boy explained, answering the elf-lady's initial question. "The others don't like them because bad things happen whenever they come. They say outsiders bring bad energies." The boy's clouded eyes flicked down to the elf-lady's eyes for a moment, before reaching out grabbing the pointed ends of her shirt, fiddling with them. "I think they mean the Phantoms."

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Her hands moved away slightly when the Caenis got to his feet, leaving room for Finwid to move as he chose. She was surprised when Finwid chose to turn around before sitting once more, now directly facing her, as his unique gaze looked towards Lúthien's face... although they seemed to gaze just slightly above her?

"I see... do 'outsiders' tend to pass by often, Fin?"

Probably not given the remote area that this village was located in, but it never hurt to get actual confirmation... after all what if outsiders just meant anyone that wasn't directly from the village, and it turned out that there was another forgotten settlement not far away from this one? His hands reached over to toy with one of the elongated tips of her shirt, fiddling with the simple ornament at the end.

"I think they mean the Phantoms."
"... phantoms, huh?"

There it was again, and the mention caused the faintest of shivers tu run up the woman's spine before Lúthien did her best to ignore it. "Fin, sweetie, can you tell me more about these phantoms?" Perhaps it was just something the pup had picked up from his father and nothing more, a way to explain possible grown up disagreements to a child without going into too much detail?

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"No," Fin answered simply, still staring at the wisp above her head, watching as it briefly grew in size, before shrinking once more. The way the wisp moved, it reminded Finwid of a flame. It was pretty to watch. "No one comes here a lot. Father says it's really hard to find."

Fin tugged the end of the shirt slightly, feeling it pull back against his grip, resisting his tugs as the elf-lady asked him another question.

"I see them," he answered her, eyes still fixed on the fabric he was playing with. "They follow people. Sometimes they're scary," he said before looking back up at the elf-lady. "No one else believes me though. No one thinks the Phantoms are real." Standing up the boy ran over to his bed and got on his hands and knees, crawling beneath it to grab something. Shuffling back out and then running back over to the elf-lady, the boy plopped himself down into her lap, and set a brown, leather-bound book in his lap. "Read to me," he said, opening the book, the pages within yellowed and worn with time. Blank.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

He kept looking intently at a spot above her head, and after a moment Lúthien couldn't help but raise a hand to softly brush away at her bangs, perhaps something had gotten caught in her hair as they had rushed for cover? At least the efl preferred to think that was the reason...

"Yeah, your papa is right about that Fin," Hard to find was an understatement, especially if these wind storms were more prominent than the elf had initially thought. "Say Fin, would you like to one day travel outside of Aurora?"

The pup continued to tug at the end of her shirt, seemingly fascinated with the end piece as the metal ornament resisted his pulls, and for a moment the elf thought he wouldn't answer the original question about phantoms... until he did. "I s-see... do the phantoms follow everyone, or do they leave some alone?" She could feel a shiver run up her spine, but Lúthien did her best to not let it show as she continued to speak with Finwid—a hand brushing some of his hair strands into place before the Caenis suddenly got up and rushed over to his bed.

"... lil' Fin?"

The small boy was on his hands and knees, crawling underneath before the sound of some items shuffling caught the elf's attention. Within moments he was back out, his little feet bringing him back to Lúthien before the young Caenis plopped himself down right on her lap. She was surprised at first, before patting his head softly as the boy settled the brown leather-bound book on his lap.

"Read to me."
"Okay...!"

She assented to the request with her head, watching as the pup flipped the cover of his book open, before the blonde's eyebrows raised in surprise upon noticing the page was blank. A hand reached over to touch the yellowed parchment, carefully flitting through a few as Lúthien confirmed that they were all as empty as the first.

"R-Right... here we go, this is a good story. It's called Animal Homes."

She made the attempt to look as if she was actually ruffling through the empty pages for something to read the young pup, before pausing on one blank page and tapping it softly.

"Animals live all around us... Birds build their homes up high, and so do bees..."

It was a story that Lúthien remembered reading countless of times when she was young, the blonde having always been fascinated with animals and little bibs and bobs of information related to them. "... crocodiles live in swamps. Deers live in forests, and so do tigers!" She would pretend to be following text on the blank pages with her index finger, occasionally flipping the page when it would've been required so as to not break the illusion for the young boy.

"... but do you know what we have in common with all the animals of the world? We all build our homes in one large home: The World~"

Her arms had wrapped around the Caenis child in order to reach the book on his lap, cradling him close to her chest. As the last words of the story were uttered Lúthien moved slightly, careful not to stir Fin too much as she checked to see if he'd perhaps fallen asleep...

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

"Say Fin, would you like to one day travel outside of Aurora?" the elf-lady asked him as she brushed her own hair, glancing upwards.

The boy thought for a second, his hands falling limp in his lap as he did so. A moment or two passed before he appeared to finally settle on an answer. "Yes," he said simply. Father was always traveling. There had to be interesting stuff where ever he went if he left all the time. Maybe Fin could go with him one day to see all that interesting stuff.

To the elf-lady's next question, Fin nodded. "Mhmm. Except for the kids. Like Marianne," he explained. Everyone in the village had phantoms, just like the outsiders. Just like the elf-lady. And Yugam.

Finwid began to rock back and forth in the elf-lady's lap as she began to read to him. It was a story about animals. The boy slowly leaned back into the girl's chest, his eagerness giving way to calmness as she recited the story to him.

---

The sound of howling winds outside would announce Yugam's return, followed by the loud shuttering of the sheet metal door, and boots pounding down the staircase. "Gamato," the man swore to himself quietly in Greek. "Ola ta malakes exo ki, ke kanenas tha milisi se mas...ke ta kotes. Ta gamimena koutopola..."

Unfastening the cloak from around his shoulders the man roughly folded it up before looking over at Luthien, sitting on the floor with Fin in her lap. "No one would open the door for me," he reported to the elf, joining her on the floor, resting an arm on a propped up knee. "Shouted at me a lot. And the one guy who did open his door for me sicced his chickens on me." Seriously. Who did that?

Leaning forward, Yu peered at Fin, the boy's eyes closed. "Oh, little guy knocked out, huh?" the man said. "Want me to get him into one of these beds?"

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

She had felt the shift in the little boy's weight, light as he was, as the Caenis slowly drifted to sleep. His head and back had pressed against the elf's chest, the once tense muscles on the pup having relaxed as he'd drifted into a dream. "Sweet dreams, little Fin~" She whispered the words softly, carefully lifting the leather-bound book from the boys lap before setting it onto the side. A hand softly caressed the locks on his head, a good portion already unmatted although there was still work to be done.

It was then she heard the familiar sound of the wind as the currents buffeted into the hallway, eventually subsiding as someone closed the sheet of metal that offered protection above, before a familiar voice carried down to where she was... though she was unable to make up any of the words Yugam was currently pronouncing. A smile was offered as the hemomancer entered the room, before an index finger rose to press against her lips as Lúthien made a shushing motion.

"Seriously? Not a single one?" There elf couldn't help the slight frown on her face, remembering the words of the sleeping pup on her lap. "Wow, they really are distrustful of outsiders in here..."

Wait, did he just say chickens...?

Her eyebrows raised slightly at the man regaled his chicken experience, before the elf raised a hand to her mouth to stifle a chuckle and avoid waking up Finwid. By then Yugam had sat down besides her, Lúthien leaning in slightly to bump her shoulder against his.

"Mhmm, I read him a story and he fell asleep."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

The woman had quietly shushed the man as he sat down beside her in front of the fire. "Yeah, no kidding," the man said quietly as the elf leaned into him.

The dark-haired man stood again, gently lifting the boy out of Luthien's lap, perhaps a little clumsily. For a moment, Yu worried that he would wake the caenis up, but the boy did little more than grumble tiredly. The man carried the boy over to the smaller of the two beds in the room, pulling back the covers and gently laying the boy down. The man pulled the thin sheet up to the boy's shoulders, before gently patting the boy's shoulder and returning to Luthien's side.

"Oh? What story?" Yu asked the elf as she leaned into the man's side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, as he began gazed into the flickering fire. It made sense that the Lander's would have their own stories, folk tales, legends. The kind of tales that Yu took an interest in. He was curious what the leather bound volume beside Luthien had contained.

@Luthien

 

[Luthien]

Although the handoff of the sleeping Caenias was a bit clumsy, Lúthien herself having no experience with small children herself, they still managed to place the child into his bed. She watched as Yugam gently laid the snoozing pup down, tucking Finwid with the thin sheet before patting the boy's shoulder and returning to sit by her side.

"The story I read him is called Animal Homes."

His arm wrapped around her shoulder, the elf instinctively leaning into his side as a result, before a hand grabbed the closed leather-bound book and carefully placed it on Yugam's lap. A faint gleam of amusement crossed her eyes as she peered into the man's face, interested in seeing his reaction once he figured out the little secret of the worn book.

"Though I'm not sure if he managed to hold on all the way until the end, or if he fell asleep halfway through."

@Yugam