It was late morning over Theltstown, the warmth of the sun chased the blanket of the morning fog away from the burned settlement, and provided the people with sight to continue their rebuilding. The sounds of banging hammers and gnawing saws were heard throughout the town. Zelotes made his way to the town’s center, he checked his ration bag. Given the current state of the economy in Theltstown, he wasn’t able to get much, but the dried meat he was able to get would support him for a few days. After that, he’d need to start hunting. He also examined his priestburn for a moment, the cracks of yellow light were closing, but it would be a few days before his soul would be well again.
He heard footsteps approaching to his left. He turned to look. Jacqué lead Tulbrik and Xiyloos to the town square, meeting Zelotes, with a few pouches, bags and water skins in their possession.
Jacqué sighed “We couldn’t get much, we should be able to get by pour cinq jours.”
“Speak in fuckin’ common ya knife-ear!” Tulbrik demanded.
“Five days…” Jacqué turned to face Tulbrik, the usual smile replaced by a scowl.
“Now where exactly are we goin’ to?” Tulbrik asked.
“Wherever we can get answers about the memories, and those paladins.” Zelotes answered. “Thing is, I’m not exactly familiar with anywhere beyond Letharis,” he shook his head.
“If I recall correctly, there may be some information in the Thaine Citadel Royal Library.” Xiyloos interjected.
“Grandmother’s Grove is also said to have a druid with knowledge of things beyond our world, so that’s also an option.” Jacqué added.
“I think we need a map.” Zelotes commented.
Tulbrik pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet, an image of the continent flashed into view. “Well, to get to that grove, it’ll be a two week walk northwest…” Tulbrik took a drink from his whiskey bottle. “As for the Library, there’s a station that should take us to Thaine that should be about six days east from here.”
“I don’t think we can afford a train at the moment…” Jacqué commented.
“There is still the option that we could do some favors for the people near the rail and earn enough money for the trip.” Xiyloos commented.
“That, or we could go to the settlement that’s near Grandmother’s Grove over there.” Jacqué pointed to a spot on the map marked as Granwood.
“I’m honestly split on this. Although, I don’t think we have enough food for the trip to the grove” Zelotes stated, looking at the map.
“We can forage.” Jacqué interjected. “Besides, I’d rather not go to that mountain yet. C’est trop froid!” She shivered.
“Can you hunt?” Tulbrik addressed Zelotes.
“Yes, but I’m not very experienced. I may have only caught one or two warthogs in the savannahs, but I’m not sure what I can do in the forests.” Zelotes answered.
“I’d prefer a library, to be honest. Chances are that we will have access to a greater set of reliable information than asking a sage in the woods. ” Xiyloos noted.
“Well…” Tulbrik took another drink from his bottle. “Thaine citadel is in the mountains, so we may run into some nasty mountain storms and we’ll need something warm, not to mention the tight security over there. As for Grandmother’s Grove, I’ve heard horror stories from there. Are ya sure that druid isn’t gonna kill us?”
“You for certain,” Jacqué snickered, “but I am not sure about the rest of us…” she shook her head
“One at least has safety.” Xiyloos commented.
“Problem is, this is the capital of Traelend. We may not even get in.” Tulbrik pointed out.
“I’m split on this right now. All in favor of the Thaine say ‘aye’.” Zelotes announced.
“Aye.” Xiyloos announced.
“Gettin’ in is goin’ to be tricky, but I say aye.” Tulbrik spoke.
“I’d feel more at home in a forest…” Jacqué commented.
“We’ll go there later, but for now, we’re going to the mountains.” Zelotes announced.
With that, the group began their trek east outside of the rebuilding town into the misty pine forests that covered the hillscape, following along a rough road of dirt and gravel that lead to the lands below. The woods were thick with spruce and poplars reaching out to the sky from the morning mists. As afternoon faded to evening, the group found a clearing to the side of the trodden road, pitching a tent and gathering firewood for the night. However, the group found the night to be fairly unrestful.
“HEY!!! Get away from that ya dirty tree-rats!” Tulbrik loudly exclaimed, waking the rest of the party.
Zelotes rose to his feet, quickly, grabbing his blade as he rushed out of the tent ahead of the rest of the party. They found Tulbrik standing half-dressed, with his maul drawn, and the bags of food they had in their tent scattered and emptied outside. A pair of racoons ran up a tree.
“Perhaps we should’ve kept watch…” Xiyloos reflected aloud.
The group returned to the tent, quiet and without words, waiting for the sun to rise in the morning.
Dawn broke, and the morning star’s red light of pre-morning was eclipsed by the golden yellow of the sun. As Zelotes completed his prayer, dressed in a leather tunic with black trim and a belt and a pair black pants. he joined the waking remainder of the group around where the campfire was the previous night. Xiyloos sat, reading a book, and Jacqué sat looking at the ashes, her hands on her face in thought.
“Those racoons stole our food. Now what?” Jacqué spoke, followed by a growling sound from her abdomen.
“Like you said yesterday, we forage.” Xiyloos stated.
“I could get us a squirrel or something.” Zelotes said.
Xiyloos turned their head to Zelotes. “I thought you were ill-suited to forest predation.”
Zelotes shrugged. “Better than doing nothing.”
“Bien, nous faisons quelque chose!” Jacqué spoke up, jumping to her feet and grabbing Zelotes by the collar as though she were about to drag him away.
“W-what are we doing Jacqué?” Zelotes asked, standing up.
“Foraging!” Jacqué said with a plain smile. “Viens avec moi!” she motioned for him to join her as she walked into the woods.
Zelotes followed. “What are we looking for, specifically?”
“My favorite of course! Mushrooms!” Jacqué answered.
“You know I’m a carnivore, right?” Zelotes paused.
Jacqué turned around to address him. “Maybe you’ll find those squirrels along the way. Besides, you can get to know the forest better so you can hunt. I can be a sort of hunter’s guide for you!”
The two disappeared into the misty morning forest on their search for edible fungi. Each with a bag, they collected a variety of mushrooms by the time the sun had just passed noon, including oyster from logs and button mushrooms from the forest floor along with a few berries. As the two began to head back, Zelotes spotted a curious looking patch of mushrooms to the side. They had purple caps with green spots.
“Jacqué, do those look edible to you?” Zelotes asked, picking one of the mushrooms.
“Hmm, I actually think they are, I saw them in a book about edible mushrooms once.” Jacqué explained. “Actually, I think I'd like one maintenant!”
“Excuse me?” Zelotes asked, not sure what Jacqué said at the end of her last sentence.
“Right now!” Jacqué stated, opening her mouth.
Zelotes reluctantly inserted the small fungus into her mouth, observing her reaction. She just simply chewed and swallowed the mushroom.
“How was it?” Zelotes asked.
“Not very good.” Jacqué answered. “Probably one of the kinds of mushrooms that needs to be cooked-” Jacqué’s eyes dilated wide. Her face turned to look at Zelotes’ for a minute. “Why is your mane made of purple snakes?” she asked, hazily.
Zelotes felt his mane, it did not feel like snakes. “Jacqué… what did I just give you?” he said looking back down at the elf.
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“You know what, I’m saving that whole patch for later…” Jacqué said, staggering over to the patch of purple mushrooms. She began speaking something in elvish, almost as though she were addressing the mushrooms.
Zelotes shook his head. Before he heard the snap of a twig. He turned around, and spotted a familiar face. “Frederick?”
“A little help here?” The brown haired boy looked up at him, dressed in a tattered white shirt made from cloth and pants held with suspenders. He was caught in a sticker bush.
Pulling the plant away from the child, Zelotes helped him to his feet. “You’re a long way from home, boy.” he told him, squatting down, doing his best to meet the child’s eye-view.
“Uh, yeah, would you happen to have anything to eat?” the child asked, looking up at the leothien.
“Well, I think we were going to save the mushrooms for later… However, I think we can spare a few berries.” Zelotes said, pulling out a small handful of berries.
Frederick grabbed the handful and gobbled them in one bite. “Do you have any more?” he asked.
“I think the rest should be saved for the group. You should go back home.” Zelotes stood up making his way to the camp. Frederick followed him. Zelotes turned his head to ask “Is your home this direction?”
“No.” Frederick shook his head.
“Then go home.” Zelotes told him. The child only continued following him. Zelotes turned around. “I said go home! It’s not safe for you here, and you will not be safe with us! Go home and live another day. Go back to your family.”
“I-I-I-I can’t. My family, I-” The child stopped for a moment. “T-they disappeared.” he finally answered shyly.
Zelotes knelt down. “What happened?” he asked, shifting to a kinder tone.
“They w-we’re there a-and then they… they were gone…” Frederick answered shyly before the hulking leothien, small tears welling in his eyes.
Zelotes looked down, recalling the days before he met Commander Razael. He remembered feeling lost, probably as lost as Frederick, but not alone like Frederick likely felt as well. “Would you like a hug?”
Frederick hesitantly stepped forward, entering the grasp of the lionfolk’s comforting arms. Zelotes stood up, carrying Frederick with him. The boy felt much heavier than what he looked.
“Would you like a ride back to camp?” Zelotes asked.
“Yes!” Frederick said, getting on Zelotes’ shoulders.
“We’ll find you a new family, ok?” Zelotes asked.
“No! I don’t want to be in an orphanage!” Frederick protested.
“We won’t put you in one then. I promise.” Zelotes swore as he began proceeding towards camp, with Frederick mounted on his shoulder. The boy started playing with his mane. “Hey, stop!” Zelotes demanded. Frederick giggled. “This is going to be difficult.” he thought to himself as Frederick turned his well-combed mane into disheveled hair.
The pair reemerged into the camp. Tulbrik was now present, seemingly rationing out his liquor. Xiyloos looked up from their book.
“What did you find and where is Jacqué?” They asked, not too pleased with the sight of the human child accompanying Zelotes.
“Well Jacqué and I found some mushrooms and berries. There was a patch of odd mushrooms that I presume she’s gathering right now.” Zelotes answered.
“And why did you bring a child back with you?” Xiyloos continued.
“Something happened to the kid’s family. I propose that we care for him until we find him a new family.” Zelotes answered.
Xiyloos sighed. “You do realize, Zelotes, that we currently don’t have the supplies to care for him. Besides, I never pictured this journey of ours being secure and the child is just something else we’ll need to protect.”
“Rebonjour!” Jacqué shouted emerging from the forest, still in her unusual state. She turned to look at Frederick, still mounted on Zelotes’ shoulders, who in turn looked down at her. “Wow, Zelotes, you found a big moth!”
“I’m not a moth!” Frederick protested.
“I promise that she’s not always like this. Just ignore her for now.” Zelotes said, putting Frederick back on the ground.
Jacqué ran her fingers through Frederick’s hair “It’s so… fluffy…” She gasped, her eyes widening. Zelotes placed the boy behind him, out of her reach. She walked over to Tulbrik, sniffing him. “You smell like roses and chocolate… mmm…”
Tulbrik looked back up at her with an expression of pure discomfort on his face. “What have you been smokin’?”
She then laid down in the grass of the clearing, rolling like an overjoyed dog. “Anyone want to join me in the clouds?”
Xiyloos placed a hand on their masked face. “Absolutely fantastic. I love the idea of working with a bunch of dolts.”
Although the group had made little progress that day, Zelotes had taken advantage of an opportunity to hunt, managing to catch a deer, surprisingly. As the day turned to eve, the group sat around a campfire once more with the deer on a spit. Everyone got a serving and began packaging the meat into rations. Frederick however, ate much more than anyone expected for his size as he ravenously consumed a whole leg of deer.
“Um… Fred?” Tulbrik asked the child, with a concerned look.
Frederick looked up, mid-bite as he was a few away from finishing the meat.
“Ya know, we have to save some for the journey, right?”
Frederick nodded, going back to eating on the piece of venison.
“L’enfant sure can eat…” Jacqué commented.
Xiyloos just simply looked at Zelotes who was sitting at the boy’s side.
“Well, I think it’s getting late.” Tulbrik said before going into the tent. Xiyloos followed.
Zelotes looked up. The stars hung visibly in the night sky, like jewels sparkling in a jewel box. The moon also hung over them, like a crescent of silver light as the moon put its darkside to the world’s view.
“How many stars are up there?” Frederick asked with a yawn.
“Oh… I don’t know. How about we count them.” Zelotes suggested. “One, two, three, four-” Zelotes heard snoring. He looked to find Frederick had fallen asleep beside him.
“You’d make a good father, Zelotes.” Jacqué said, sitting down next to him.
“Well, that’s more out of circumstance…” Zelotes said, looking into the campfire.
“Tell me, what’s been going on in your life, ZZ?” Jacqué said, elbowing Zelotes. “I want to catch up.”
Zelotes sighed. He turned his face to look at hers. “There are things that have happened that I’d rather not discuss.” He answered looking back into the flames, the sight reminding him of that one night.
“You lost someone, didn’t you?” Jacqué placed a hand on Zelotes’ shoulder.
“Multiple someones…” Zelotes paused. “A young leothien tried saving the family and well… He…. he could’ve done better.”
“I’m sorry...” Jacqué said to comfort the lionfolk.
“What about you, Jacqué? What have you been up to?” Zelotes reflected the question onto her.
Jacqué paused for a moment as though to consider her words. Her smile faded from her face. “Bien, I went to bard school, learned my music magic because mother and father wanted me to look good for the family’s image. I had some fun, and got kicked out of the family for it… so there’s that.”
“I’m sorry about that.” Zelotes said to comfort Jacqué.
“Eh… At least now I have a better start. Nobility sucks anyways.” Jacqué said, reflecting.
The two continued looking into the flames before passing out themselves. A trio slept outside the tent that night, appearing almost as a family camping. It wasn’t long before the fire tired as well, falling down into smoldering coals.