[Flowerwall]
In Etria the possibilities were always limited. Positions at regular workplaces like bakeries, workshops or smaller stores were occupied almost immediately and stayed out of reach for years, forcing the youngsters to join a guild and earn their living by scavenging the labyrinth beneath them. One of these hundred guilds was Trenlür, which was famous for one thing; existing only in name. Most of the members only entered to get their license for exploration, but after that many of them just disappeared and went solo, occasionally coming together again to venture deeper into the depths, accompanied by the first members Azure and Tallemy. The guild leaders were fine with that, however. As long as these newcomers paid the monthly fee they were free to do anything they wanted. But no one had any complaints on this system. After all, Trenlür provided them with the ability to visit the place and sell the treasures they've found without nagging them about guild related matters.
It was a true phantom guild.
Fortunately, some members still had the team spirit. And it was not only Azure, the red-haired landsknecht, but his step-brother Nival, who refused to leave his side ever since he joined Trenlür. No one complained, though. Reliable protectors were rare and the boy did a good job at shielding them from harm's way. The third most important member was Astra, the girl who worked at a flowershop in her free time and used their adventures to collect rare plants and stones for decorations and bouquets.
The rest of the members, like their alchemists and most of the survivalists, appeared and disappeared like clouds in the sky. All with the exception of one ranger, Tallemy, who preferred to work alone and make the best use of his skills, but never refused Azure's request whenever he wanted him to join the team.
However, today was a counterexample.
"Man, I can't believe you can't refuse this job. It's just getting some old crap from a dead loser. What's so interesting in that?"
Azure did his best to understand Tallemy's reasoning, but the word 'no' seemed to avoid his brain.
"Told you, I'm not in the mood for adventures."
"Is it that bard who was left in on the 6th floor? He is dead already, anyway," he waved. "But the job here has some really nice treats and vermin hunting is a thing we're good at!"
Tallemy didn't seem to listen to Azure, though. His mind was still making it's rounds around the same thought.
"You know, when people want me to fetch something it's usually a memento. Or a weapon. But those guys?! They want the poor soul's entire equipment!" Tallemy was usually really neutral about others, but when it came to using someone or just others seeing their fellow partners as tools, he got indescribably angry. Probably because after spending so many years alone, he couldn't understand the way men treated each other.
Who cares about a bard? He travelled with us for who knows how many weeks, but who cares about him? What about that sweet equipment? Oh yes, the general store buys it back on a good price!
Guild members were so easy to figure out sometimes, he wondered why the quest didn't mention their ulterior motives.
"I want to give a proper burial for that boy," he said at last, before stepping away from Azure. "Then we can talk about hunting down monsters and phantoms."
The knight only shrugged at Tallemy's words. "Do as you wish. Just don't forget to come back."
"Have I ever?"
"Don't even start that conversation," the knight snickered, before heading back to their guild headquarters at the outskirts of the town.
Now, what Tallemy absolutely loved at being alone is that he could easily avoid swarm of enemies, simply by hiding in the shadows or stepping out of their way. His skills came handy in the jungle where there were plenty of places to hide, and the night gave him some extra advantages since most monsters decided to stay put. He searched high and low for the bard's body on the 6th floor, but nothing caught his eyes. Not even a tiny drop of blood. He got the same result on the 7th floor.
Staying alive on the second stratum was still considered to be a hard task, especially if the person in question was a bard. Majority of the monsters that lurked there were specialized in poisoning and inflicting various status ailments on the travellers. A weak bard could never withstand those attacks, neither their additional effects ad breaking out into a song would just cause monsters to flock to them.
"But then again, where the hell are you?" he muttered to himself, looking around before making his way towards the path leading to the 8th floor. No one would be dumb enough to go downstairs, but with bards one could never know.
Clang clang clang.
A metallic sound rang through the trees. Unnatural enough to belong to a human. Tallemy stopped in his tracks, carefully listening to the noise, but it was too irregular, making it almost impossible to track down from his current spot. Desperate with impatience he looked around, fingers clutched tightly around the handle of his bow.
Clang.
He'd heard it again and before the survivalist noticed; his legs started moving on their own, following the faint sounds deeper into the woods. But as he moved forward he couldn't help but glance at his map. Based on their previous explorations, there was a wyvern nest near his location. Until now, they tried to avoid it because the drake was too much for a ragtag team like theirs. Yet, he grew curious, because this area was the only one he'd left untouched. Everything else was crossed out with pencil lines, cutting off the secret passages with a tiny note "impossible". There was no way to find those without help.
However it seemed that his suspicions were right. From behind a tree that stood at the corner of the road, he'd seen two creatures. A sleeping drake and a boy, wearing a lute on his back.
That idiot, he cursed to himself. Slowly stepping out of the shadows and dashing after the dirty blond boy before he could wake up the monster. Tallemy quickly pushed him towards the secret passage in the corner of the nest, while keeping a hand on the boy's mouth to prevent him from screaming or letting out any kind of noise. They won't be the drake's next meal. Not on his watch.
"Are you out of your mind?" he hissed, once they reached a safe distance from the nest. Now that he could get a better look at the terrified bard his anger quieted down a little, but not enough to stay inside. "You could've died out there? Who in their right mind goes downstairs in the friggin' labyrinth?!"
The boy took a deep breath, but didn't answer. One of his green eyes was covered by his bangs which comically curled upward, but the other reflected fear and disbelief.
"Have you… have you come to kill me?" Was the only coherent sentence he could utter.
"If I wanted you dead we wouldn't be standing here. Does that answer your question?"
The troubadour nodded. "My guild sent you, right? To collect my belongings and bring them back to the town."
At these words Tallemy's grip on the boy's shoulder lessened, his previously stern expression disappeared as he stood there, trying to keep the eye contact with the boy. It was a rare occurrence that people were alive when he found them. "I'm afraid so. Did they leave you in the labyrinth on purpose?"
The blond boy stared at the ground for a moment before answering.
"I don't think it was on purpose. Or more like, I don't want to believe it. A Cutter attacked us, but we managed to get away thanks to our survivalist, but then I got into a fight with our team leader because… he wasn't satisfied with my performance in battle, I think. And then those flower monsters attacked, and when I came to my senses they were nowhere to be found."
It was clear. They left him there to die. With this method, they didn't risk getting blood on their hands but still got rid of some deadweight in a legal way. Or more like, it was untrackable enough to not get suspicious when they asked the guild master to take the name off from the list. Was he left there? Did he got lost while escaping? No one could tell how the member died. However, the very bard was alive and kicking and Tallemy got angry enough to do everything he could to keep him alive.
"So, what comes after this?" he asked the boy, waving as a signal to start moving forward. "Are you going back to them and live your life, waiting to get killed off?"
"I honestly don't know. I've been thinking about this ever since they left me here, and called me idiot, but going back wouldn't solve my problems."
"Indeed." There would be another chance, another day and then his fellow guild members would probably do a better job.
"Would you mind if I said I want to stay here instead?"
What was his problem again?
"Oh no, I wouldn't mind," the air went still around them. Tallemy turned around and reached for his bow.
"But then killing you here and now would be the best thing to do, isn't it? You're considered to be dead anyway. It wouldn't make a difference. No one would know about the circumstances of your death, but me."
The bard didn't answer. He stood there as if his legs were frozen or tied to the ground. His mind was focusing on one thing. He didn't want to die. However, he couldn't voice his fear nor show any reactions.
Before the youth could say anything, Tallemy lowered his bow and huffed. "Next time you say something like this think it through. If you don't want to go back to them, then don't go back. It's simple."
"But I don't have anywhere else to stay."
"Get a new guild."
"This was not the first guild I've been a part of," he said quietly as he kept walking behind Tallemy. His lute made an annoying empty clang with each step, but somehow it didn't annoy the survivalist as much as it used to.
Because if there was one occupation Tallemy was not fond of it was the troubadour class and their carefree ways of living and earning their share.
Truth to be told, this bard was a pathetic sight; he lacked any kind of quirky and energetic aura. Tallemy could not imagine this person singing or even surviving in the upper world, let alone in the labyrinth, mostly because the troubadours he knew were usually annoying and stupid. Clingy fellows, who enjoyed leeching on the stronger members.
But as for this one…
He seemed to be the type of person who was barely connected to their world by a thread. Yet safe for the almost overly shy aura and his inability to sing something in a situation like theirs, the boy looked average at best. Probably the only valuables Tallemy had seen on him were the brown hat and the red cloak.
They were walking next to each other in complete silence and this practice would've probably continued until they reached Etria if it wasn't for Tallemy and his natural curiosity. Even if he hated bards something just drew him to this unknown fellow. Probably it was the fact that he rarely spoke.
"So… If I may ask… What is your name?" he asked, receiving a puzzled look.
"…Mormota?"
"Are you asking me?" Tallemy huffed in disappointment. This guy was truly an endless source of pessimism. Was he that scared of human interaction?
"What? No. Sorry. What I was meaning to say that my name is Mormota," he shook his head.
"Like that small forest creature?" Tallemy raised an eyebrow as he took the stairs leading up.
"Is it weird?"
"Once again, you are asking the person whose name translates as 'traveller' in some dialects of our world. But just saying the name Mormota has a quite nice ring to it. So no, it's not weird. Certainly better than Narcissus or Fido," Tallemy tried to get rid of the tension between them. "I've once met a Rhymes at the tavern. She was a bard so imagine the confusion."
Mormota was about to say something after the word dialect, but once again his thoughts were muted by Tallemy's needless and pointless ramblings about the names he'd met in his life.
"If I'm correct then your name is Tallemy, right?" Mormota tried again.
Now that was new. The short blonde boy looked at Tallemy, slight determination sparkling in his eyes as he tried to solve this small mystery. However, he was absolutely right. The survivalist could only stare at him in silence as if he was still getting over his initial shock.
"How?"
"Ah, well you've said that your name translates as traveller, and since you have a hit of lagaardian accent in your speech I thought that you might be familiar around those regions," the boy stuttered, using his hat as a hideout. He expected scolding, but nothing happened. They stood there in the meadow of the first floor, like they've met for the first time.
Tallemy looked to be deep in thoughts, until a smile made its way to his lips as he nodded to himself. While he would never admit it hat a bard could b more than an empty headed song bird, this one seemed to be rather interesting.
"Actually, your deduction was spot on. My name is indeed Tallemy, and I do come from High Lagaard."
I was just honestly surprised that a bard knows the difference between dialects and languages, to the point where they can even name the different regions. He wanted to add, but kept his mouth shut.
They had more important matters on their hands. Like registering Mormota as the member of Trenlür and finding out Cyrk's reasons for such drastic moves.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
I went back to play EO1 few months ago only to be greeted by my old characters. Actually this idea appeared in the back of my mind, when I was thinking about using someone else in stead of my Alchemist. The bard kind of matched the image of Mormota, a dear OC of mine so I decided to go with that class as my alchemist replacement.
I regret nothing. Because I not only have this champion team, but also my bard is a real beast. A strong Bravery paired up with Apollon is always welcome.