A Catalogue of Spring [Faine]

[Hui Ming]

A Catalogue of Spring
9th of Solace, 121 AS

The nature of travel, even among the nearby villages and farming communities that flanked the city of Kalzsi, was that it was unpleasant. In the summer the heat baked the roads into dust and every group that walks upon it kicks up vast clouds of dirt into the air, caking dirt to temples with the glue of sweat. The fall brought a milder clime but managed to make muddy roads into bogs that broke axels and stymied caravans when a rain passed through and simply would not dry up. Winters brought danger in the form of frost's bite and snow that turned to slush and then to ice. So easily tripping up the unwary and bringing forth hungry predators. Spring, like fall, had common showers, but the warm sun often dried up the remnants quick enough that endless bogs were uncommon upon the road. And the city tried, oh how they tried, to keep the roads in working order. From retaining walls to run off ditches. From light cobbling to gravelling stretches of the road. But they could only do so much when their focus was on warding away dangerous beasts and bandits over the keeping of the road.

Hui Ming would have been as happy as a clam if he had stayed in the urban city of Kalzasi. There were many downsides to living pressed among the masses of people, but if it meant he did not have to spend endless hours walking or riding in their party's wagon out to the Wildking's Forge, he would happily endure. But that was not to be, unfortunately. His mother and her team had a task for them and he had foolishly agreed to the request. This week they were off to collect samples among the forest.

The young man missed his friend, Dauntless. The awakened would have a wry observation over the human's drawn scowl. He kicked his legs back and forth over the back of the covered wagon he was resting on, watching the city in the distance slowly eclipse the rising sun. Thick skiffs of flat bottomed clouds sailed through the morning dawn sky as the mountain winds pushed them along. There was beauty in the moment, the vessels of light and form that shone in hues of pearly pink and reds with shadows of dark purple that wavered like the kindling of a fresh fire for the day. A bump in the road threw him from his reverie and the edge of the wagon and on to his feet with a stumble. The oxen hauling their gear lowed in grumpy protest as the driver urged the beast ever forwards. One of their guards chuckled as he rode by on his horse and the short man scowled at the mercenary.

With a huff and a straightening of his coat he gave one last look to the east and turned to follow in the small expedition's wake. Another day of walking. At least they would make it to the forest soon. They crested a gently sloping hill and before them sunk into pools of shadow that were slowly evaporating like the morning frost coating the nearby fallow field's ground cover were the edges of the Forge. Some level of Hui wondered at the name of the forest, was it related to the fae? Was there some wildking who ruled the lands? If there was, he hoped the truth was as fantastical as the stories that were undoubtedly told about them. Hui watched their small party sleepily stretch down the other side of the hill, the 5 researchers walking with overburdened packs were excited to be close to their destination. Their two mounted escorts and guides were bored, one trailing behind the wagon that Hui was now lagging behind, the other ranging further ahead. The only ones that were out of place was the driver, a friendly rathari fellow named Ogdin who agreed to rent out the wagon for the week's expedition. Hui was not sure what to make of the man, or if he was being uncharitable, lizard. He had the features of an elf, if that elf was squashed down to be unnaturally stocky. Hui over heard when Ogdin was chatting over the previous evening's campfire with one of their guides that the man was a varanidae dragon. Which apparently was a kind of giant monitor lizard and not actually a dragon. Hui wasn't sure if statement was meant to be some sorta boast or an aspiration because surely it was the height of folly to call a large lizard a dragon. Dragons wouldn't stand for it.

Once more he was shaken from his wandering thoughts as his eyes caught a flash of light and movement amongst the spears of light intruding on the darkened woods ahead. He squinted, eyes roving the dawn tinted landscape, searching for whatever had caught his eyes. Frowning in frustration the young man jogged to catch up to the rest of the expedition and made it to the passenger of the wagon.

Huong Ming was busy reading something from what could charitably be called a book. It was closer to a stack of disheveled papers bound in crude leather. Every so often she took a pencil from behind her ear and made a mark with the leaded tip. "Mother-" Hui began, but was cut off with an irritable "What?" by the bespectacled woman. Her dark, straight hair was bound up in a tight bun as she kept her eyes trained on whatever notes she had made that kept her attention. "There is..." he trailed of realizing how ridiculous he would have sounded by saying there was a light in the forest. He coughed, "Ah, I think there may be men in the woods ahead. I saw movement." Her scowl, like a perfect mirror to his own was leveled at her son before moving to the approaching line of trees. There must have been recent logging; stumps preceded the trees like hinterlands to a mountain range. Great furrows where the efforts of dragging the fallen trees made their mark before the poor plants were butchered into more easily transported lumber. If he had the time he might have wondered if there was a river and a mill nearby but instead he was distracted by another flash of light. "Look!" He pointed to the spot he saw, but the movement was gone. And his mother's scowl had deepened. "I see nothing." She said flatly. "If this is a joke, go tell it to the guards. This road is guarded. If there was someone there, they must be simple travelers like us." She grumbled to herself, her perfect porcelain features at odds to her grumpy demeanor. The leader of their expedition was no morning person.

Hui ming stopped walking along side the wagon and sighed. The same chuckling guard grinned down at him and shrugged. "I didn't see anything, but I'll keep an eye out, just in case." The man winked at him and raised a flirtatious eyebrow. Hui, shrugged lightly and got back to walking behind the wagon, the morning sun warming his slight shoulders as the first of the stumps came level with the wagon. At least they had made it. Now they could do whatever it was that his mother had planned.

[Faine]

9 Solace 121

Somewhere in a patch of budding weeds and grass, a Fae lay prone, mossy eyes fixed on the underside of a damp, fallen log. It was crawling with life. Worms writhed, bugs skittered, bits of earthen debris raining down as the dead wood was lifted. The disturber of their peace took a moment to breathe in all of the loam, rich and wet from the morning mist. A second to indulge, as Mother always put it, before the real work began.

And began it did. For, not only was the Fae determined to make their arduous journey worthwhile, they were also keen on quieting the increasingly frequent rumbles of their belly.

Ignoring the wiggling commotion, Faine carefully brought their free arm closer. In their hand was a small foraging knife, its blade glinting briefly before being plunged into darkness. It was difficult to see, what with the explosion of life getting in the way, but they could judge the right distance just from a glimpse of pale white caps. One, two, three scrapes and something plunked onto the soft forest floor. This went on for quite some time, undoubtedly with more than a few bugs swept free from their home, until a modest pile of mushrooms had formed beneath the raised log.

Satisfied, the hermit gave a little whisper of thanks and raked in their plunder before gently lowering the log. They sheathed their knife and beheld their tiny mountain of fungi. All they needed now was a fire and, if they were lucky, some herbs sprouting nearby, and lunch was all but served.

It was in the middle of skewering mushrooms onto sticks one-by-one when the noises became noticeable. Faine glanced up, seeing only motes of dust swirling in shafts of sunlight that poked through the canopies. They would have discounted any danger entirely, had the whisper of flora not caught their ear as well. Creaking, the trees around them shuddered. Loud. Noisy big things pulling even bigger things. They trample, they chatter. So many. Where are they going?

Unwilling to give up their lunch plans, the Fae huddled deeper into their hiding place, still skewering. They would have to wait until what ever was lumbering their way passed before making a fire. A minor inconvenience, but their stomach grumbled all the same.

An eternity seemed to pass by before the wagon and its entourage finally creaked by where Faine hid. They watched, intrigued, as a rather eclectic looking bunch ambled across their vision, which was only mildly obscured by leaves. Through the unfurling fiddlehead of a mother fern, Faine focused their right eye on the strange travelers, taking note of what seemed to be all manner of papers and equipment. For the briefest of moments, their mushrooms lay forgotten. It was illogical, they knew, to jump to the conclusion that they did. But the thought of what potentially could be a group of scholars made their mind leap...

...were they after the same thing Faine was?

Impossible, they insisted within the confines of their own skull, fingers commencing with the impaling of shrooms. There was no way a band of mismatched academics could know secrets that belonged solely to the Fae. Mother had spend decades coaxing the mystery to unravel enough for her to triangulate a location, and that was with her entire legacy and heritage at her disposal. No, these scholars had to be after something else. At least, that was what Faine tried to tell themselves.

A flash of light momentarily blinded the Fae. They dropped their skewers in surprise and pawed at their face, thinking at first that it was a butterfly of some kind that had flapped across their skin, only to realize the pale vision held no corporal form.

There it was again! Another flicker of light danced just up ahead. Faine had enough presence of mind to gather their skewers before loping off after the light, distantly aware of their path remaining parallel with the traveling wagon's. If this was what they thought it was, then there was no time to waste. They could only hope to not make too much noise, so as not to alert the other travelers of their presence.

Common ❀Valasren

[Hui Ming]

Entering into the Forge was a transition unlike any other. The instant they passed the first sentinels at the edge and fell underneath their dappled shadows the party of researchers, their cook and their guards, were plunged into muted twilight. Nevermind that the sun was shining cheerfully not 50 paces away in the open foothills that led to the mountainous Kalzasi and the lake behind it. The sounds were different, the smells. The wind was hushed and stilled and a quiet expectation was covered over the wagon and it's attendants. The excited conversation that was near constant from the city folk was brought down to awed whispers as they gazed up in wonder at the towering conifers intermingled with elegant deciduous trees. This was not the first time many of them had taken a trip like this before, exploring the nearby wildlands, but every time there was this... feeling of watchful tolerance of the intruders into the domain of the Wildking.

For an adult, a man with his own life to live, Hui Ming certainly did not feel like he had much agency. Being so casually dismissed had him sulking towards the back of their small caravan. They were here after Dread Mist tainted and undiscovered flora, something he had only tangential knowledge on. He was no herbalist, but he certainly worked with herbalists and could point out what would be potentially useful in alchemy. But to be dragged along and then dismissed? He unfortunately could not help but sulk.

Deeper and deeper into the forest they went as they wound their way through the caravan path. It was maintained, kept free of desperate growths eager to find new space to grow into. It only took a few minutes for the gentle curve of the path to hide the entrance to the forest. Looking back it appeared to be more like the entrance of a cave, the morning light bright as a forge in the contrasting gloom. Perhaps that was where the name came from? The warm blurry glow of the foothills was eventually blotted out as the curve was complete and they were in the twilight of the forest in totality. Hui shivered and clung to himself, burying himself in his own coat, this place was strange and uncomfortable.

There it was again! The flash! Out of the corner of his eye the glitter of light among the trees and quickly something else was moving behind it. He turned to track the movement, looking behind the caravan as the light flickered in and out, jumping ahead and lingering, before bobbing ahead and then disappearing once more. But it was what came behind the light that had Hui frowning and peering into the forest, squinting his eyes as if that might help with seeing. There was no rustling, no sounds but... something else. Flashes of texture changes in the slight gradations of green and browns. Hui would catch a slight change in the vegetation, lose it before catching movement further along. Whatever it was was moving at a bit of a clip. And yet, it was no common animal, if there was rustling, his admittedly city ears could not find it nor could his eyes detect much more then what he already saw. He turned his head to the oblivious party of researches and in a fit of pique pushed into the undergrowth of the forest and sought the light and its mysteries.

[Faine]

The chase was on and, oh, what a chase it was! Faine loped past leaves and bounded over fallen trees, eyes fixed on the light. It would glimmer in and out of view, always just on the cusp of reach, never close enough to see for longer than a second. A blink, and it was gone again.

On and on they chased. Until, at last, the world around them shifted.

Though the Fae was accustomed to most of what the forests and mountains had to offer, entering the Forge never failed to send a shiver down their spine. The very air felt muted; the sounds around them dwindled in hushed respect. A feeling of heaviness pervaded and even light itself seemed to grow shy.

Unfortunately for Faine, they had neither time nor breath to waste on awe and bewilderment. They carried on in dogged pursuit, every sense strained as they plunged into a shroud of mystery and wilderness.

Without warning, the light began to slow once they travelled deeper into the wild forest proper. And blessedly so, for its hunter was badly out of breath, leaning against an ancient mother as they fought to steady the pounding in their ears. Beneath their calloused palm, Faine could feel the cool texture of bark, which had to be older than any other tree they had encountered back in the Astralar mountains. Even the regular flora here seemed strangely quiet, they noted, suddenly filled with unease. But then the light flickered again some few feet farther, and the hunt commenced.

There was hardly any need to run, now. Faine followed at an easy pace, feet avoiding twigs and dead leaves out of sheer habit, eyes roaming more and more. They had the strangest feeling they were being followed; it would not surprise them in the slightest if the forest had eyes of its own.

Before they could speculate much further, however, the Fae stopped. The light had whizzed between two rocks and vanished. By the Old Crone's bones, nothing could ever be easy.

Exhaling in frustration, Faine began investigating the rocks, which were heavily coated in moss and lichen. They looked up, down, all around, analyzing every crevice. They even went so far as to strain their ears for any whispers amongst the surrounding plantlife, but was only met with disappointing silence. There was no sign of the light. Collapsing onto the forest floor, they gave their feet much needed rest as they gazed up at the two innocuous-looking slabs of stone. No doubt the ball of light was somewhere beyond...but how? It had not come out the other end, this much the Fae knew. Which meant the only logical conclusion was that it must have gone not through, but down.

Faine's brow furrowed as they glanced at one of their hands, which rested amongst new growth along the forest floor. At first, they thought they were imagining things—an unfortunate symptom of exhaustion. But when the rumbling only grew beneath their touch, the Fae scrambled back to their feet without hesitance. Something was moving underground. Something big.

It was then that a terrible noise erupted and a massive head burst through, dislodging both stones as if they had been nothing more than pebbles. Faine needed no other sign. They turned the other direction and ran for their life, sparing only a single glance backwards. Whatever the creature was, it was slowly but surely shucking its way out of a large hole in the ground, scaly body not unlike that of a lizard. Only, this particular lizard was the size of at least three horses put together. It looked like it could swallow the Fae whole.

Faine was so preoccupied with this singular realization that they plowed straight into, of all things, another mortal. Their panicked momentum sent both figures crashing to the ground and rolling into the undergrowth.

Perhaps, they realized much later, this had been a blessing in disguise. Because as soon as they stopped rolling and looked up, still dazed from the impact, they caught the impossibly long sweep of what was most likely a tail. A long, scaled tail that may very well have decapitated both onlookers had they remained upright.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp...

What ever the creature's agenda was, it sounded as though it was heading away. Faine loosed a sigh of relief before carefully sitting up and taking stock of their surroundings. Some of the younger trees were broken, their top halves snapped at sad angles. A wide clearing now circled the hole in the ground.

In a moment of panic, the Fae remembered why they were on the ground in the first place and frantically looked around for the victim of their headlong tackle.

To their utter surprise, said victim was in fact a pale, slender, and quite pretty individual—completely out of place in wilderness half smashed by what Faine could only label as a monster. It was no wonder that they had managed to send both of them flying; this curious being appeared to weigh no more than a sack of feathers. For one, delirious moment, Faine wondered if they had taken down a child. A beautiful, waifish child who had somehow wandered this deep into the Forge on their own, but a child all the same.

Alas, that made very little sense indeed. But then again, what did, after witnessing something so astounding?

Remembering their manners, the hermit coughed in embarrassment and extended a hand. "My apologies," they offered sheepishly, "for driving you to the ground like that. But I think it best if you leave; it is quite dangerous here, and I'm about to something terribly foolish before that creature returns."

[Hui Ming]

Hui Ming knew immediately that this was a mistake. The man was so far beyond his depth that the water above had turned into a second sky, forever unreachable. And yet, he was determined to investigate what was lurking and glittering in the forest. He knew, abstractly that there were predators and beasts that could harm him, but in his gut, he knew that no harm could possibly come to him. Not so close to the edge of the forest. Right? He used his hands to part branches and to carefully navigate through the thick underbrush. His coat stuck on a snarl of thorned vines that grasped at its hems. Not wanting to tear the coat he paused and carefully pried it free before looking up. He almost swore to himself. He had lost the light and whatever was following it. He knew the rough direction though.

The road was no longer visible from his position. At least, the alchemist could not see it from where he stood. Perhaps a trained forester might be able to discern it, but he could not. He would need to be careful, if he lost his direction he would be stuck among the giants holding up the canopy above. He was briefly distracted by a lone birch. He marveled at it, how could a tree so very different survive among the beech and conifers? There were some cultures that used its flakey bark as a poor imitation of paper, especially among the poor and rural communities. He gently the pressed tips of his fingers to the tree's trunk, looking up into the canopy. Dots of light filtered down from above and he closed his eyes, breathing in the scents of this deep place. He could understand the desire to be one with nature. This moment of stillness. Beyond the bustle of brisk trading and noisy and smelly animals hauling goods from place to place, beyond the calls of seagulls begging for scraps from the fishermen if not outright stealing of catches. Here there was none- "Ow!" Hui exclaimed. Yanking his hand away from the trunk.

Clamped tightly to the webbing between his thumb and index finger was an ant, wiggling its antennae and legs as it sought to vanquish the incomprehensibly large monster invading the queen's supply line. None shall interfere with her sisters in their quest to feed the queen's brood! Hui Ming scowled and shook his hand vigorously which dislodged the brave defender and sent the warrior sailing into the leaf litter. Stunned for a moment she collected herself before scurrying off to join her cohort in protecting the queen's interests.

Perhaps the forest wasn't all that great.

Shaken from his thoughts he turned to continue his hunt of the flashing light. The deeper into the forest he went, the more unsure he went however. He tried doing what he thought a tracker might do to find his quarry, he looked for tracks and broken twigs but truthfully, he had no idea what he was doing and found nothing. He was busy peering about for traces of anything when a thought he felt a little unsteady on his feat. He initially dismissed it but when the feeling resolved into the crashing and rumbling, he knew he was on the right track. Instead of doing the sensible thing and moving away from the source of the tremors. He hustled towards it.

One moment he was navigating around another throny vine, the next he was on the ground with the air gone from his lungs and his back and shoulder throbbing in pain as he came to a rolling halt. He was seeing black voids and bright spots as he gasped for air. He stared up into the canopy, the leaves rustling in an unfelt breeze. As if the trees themselves were laughing.

Dazed, he lifted himself up to his elbows. The rebellious alchemist blinked at the creature before him, only to have his aggressor overshadowed by the path of destruction going in the opposite direction. He also realized he was no longer where he originally was standing. How in the mists did he manage to get over here? Hui had no words for the situation he found himself and was still processing that when the creature, no, person grabbed his attention.

It was... at the very least man shaped. If one took a man and stripped away everything about a man and made it an alien facsimilia. It was beautiful in the way that the forest was, wild and untamed with proportions and shapes that were not normal for a person but neither was it disfiguring. Perhaps a bit to aquiline in the cheekbones, to long of limb or too narrow in the hips. The most striking aspect of the creature was their hair; it was green as moss. At first Hui thought the leaves stuck in their hair were from the fall they both had taken but it took a moment before he realized the leaves were far too green to be leaf litter. They were growings in his hair. How was that even possible?

The man? was looking at him expectantly, hand extended. Hui blinked before he reviewed the last few minutes and gave a start. "Ah! Many pardons. Uh, what?" He took the hand and regained his feet. "What are you talking about? What are you going to do?" He had many questions, and by this point he knew he was babbling but he could not help himself. "What was that?"