Disclaimer: I don't own DN.
A/N: This story was written for Kirienne as a Secret Santa Gift for the Secret Santa Event hosted on DN NA's Forums and Tumblr. The characters featured in this story belongs to Kirienne and his/her friend or are NPCs.
Title: The Holiday Gifts
Setting: Any time in DN's timeline
Summary: Everyone is scrambling to get holiday gifts for their beloved and I am no different. But when Archer Trainer Ajari approaches my friend and me, she sends us on a quest to find her lost holiday gift. It was on this quest that I truly discovered what my friend really meant to me.
Without making a sound, I closed the wooden cabin door behind me. The frigid air immediately sought out and attacked any exposed skin, which, unfortunately, was mostly on my face. Hoping to block out some of the cold, I tugged on the fur-lined collar of my long white coat so that it was standing as tall as it could. The only good things about winter in the marshlands was that the place didn't smell as bad and the ground felt a little more solid. Everything else reminded me of my early days back in Mana Ridge, ones that I would rather forget.
Taking a deep breath, I descended down the steps and made my way across the small town. No one was out and about quite yet, as it was still early in the morning, so it was a quiet and quick walk to the marketplace. Its owner, a rotund man named Hendrick, was still getting ready and putting all the merchandise he received from sellers onto the display tables.
Before I could say anything and without looking at me, Hendrick pointed to the table at the very far end. "The new merchandise is over there."
"I- Thanks." I blinked, a little taken aback. Though Hendrick was an aristocrat, he was usually a very nice person. I must have been getting on his nerves lately. The winter holidays were upon us and I finally saved up a sizeable amount of money to buy my companion a gift. I had come to the marketplace every day for the past four days to look for the perfect gift. However, it continues to elude me.
I walked in the direction he pointed and started browsing through the items. Weapons that she doesn't use. Equipment that she can't wear. Crests that she already has. Accessories and talismans that weren't useful. Dragon gems without enough power. Nothing again.
Sighing, I scanned the area, looking for the bearded man. There must be something else, something more that he had to sell. He was back behind his counter, though, and he was conversing with another person with long pink hair. The person, from the looks of it, was trying to push an item towards Hendrick. However, as the item was traveling across the counter, it caught the morning sun's rays and sparkled brilliantly. I hurried over and caught the end of the conversation.
"I'll be sure to put it on display as soon as I can." Hendrick nodded at the seller as he closed the lid of the pink container. However, I was able to get a peek at the item held within. A small ring with a golden band and a brilliant blue gem that matched my companion's eye color. It would be perfect for her.
"How much do you want for that?" I blurted out, startling both Hendrick and the seller. They hadn't been paying any attention to me. I glanced back and forth between the two of them.
"Two hun-" Hendrick began and was cut off by the seller's high pitched voice. "Four hundred gold, cleric."
I looked at the seller closely for the first time. Her brown eyes were staring straight into my blue ones and her arms were crossed in front of her. She was dressed in all black with an orb secured to her waist and a staff secured behind her. A sorceress, one of the Astral Coven.
"Just because I'm a cleric, I suppose." I gave her a wry half smile and winked. "Honestly, this feud between the Astral Coven and the Divine Order is getting a bit old."
Her expression of dislike didn't change and her eyes continued to bore into mine. "Take it or leave it."
I gave Hendrick a quick glance. However, he just shook his head and shrugged. Four hundred gold was quite a bit to ask for, especially when her original price was around two hundred. It would take almost all my gold. Sighing in resignation, I turned my attention back to the sorceress. "Very well then."
I rummaged through the pockets of my coat and pulled out my little pouch of gold. Dumping out the contents onto the counter, I counted four hundred gold. It had taken me months of saving to obtain all those coins, and now, they were all gone. Again. I'm only left with a few silver and bronze coins. Though this time, I spent the money without any regrets.
"Now, lad, would you like this in its original container or would you like to wear it?" There was a glint of amusement in Hendrick's brown eyes as he looked at me. His white beard moved up and down rather fast as he talked.
"It's a gift for a friend, so I won't be wearing it. Though..." I frowned at the amusement in his stern tone. "Even if I were to wear it, I doubt there'd be anything funny about it." The sorceress laughed loudly, obviously thinking differently.
"No, of course not." He pushed the pink container toward me. "Thank you for your business."
"No. Thank you to you both." I nodded at Hendrick and held out my hand to the sorceress.
"I'm not shaking nor touching that hand of yours, cleric." She turned to Hendrick and the pile of money on the table.
"I didn't expect you to. Just being polite." Chuckling, I dropped my hand to my side. Just as I was securing my newly acquired gift in my pocket, I was knocked into the counter.
"Oh my. Oh my. Kiri!" A familiar yet breathless voice sounded in my ears. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to run into you! But I've been looking everywhere. Finally, I found you!"
"Artemis?" I turned around, bewildered.
She, dressed in a short orange dress and tall brown boots, was staring at Hendrick, the sorceress, and the pile of coins on the counter. Then, she turned to look at me with narrowed eyes. "I didn't disrupt anything, did I?" There was a slight edge in her tone.
"I was just finishing up." I didn't quite understand why she was looking at me like that. Then, her urgency registered. I closed the little distance between us and I held her shoulders. "What's the matter? Is something wrong?"
Her features softened. "It's Archer Trainer Ajari! She woke me up this morning and told me that she needed help finding her holiday gift."
"Her holiday gift?"
"Yes. She said a friend of hers was coming to town this afternoon and she needs it by then."
I blinked. This request sure was strange. "What does the friend like?"
"She needs help finding it." Artemis reached up and playfully smacked the top of my head and ruffling my creamy white hair. "Meaning that she lost it."
"Where did she lose it?"
"Somewhere in Queen's Garden."
"Where's that and what's the gift doing there?" I was still trying to make sense of the whole situation.
"It's one of the surrounding monster infested areas here. She went there yesterday to vent out some anger and to help clear the area. However, during the fight she lost it."
"I see."
"Will you come with me to look? I've only been there once and for very brief a time."
"You seriously needed to ask that?" Double checking that I had everything and waving goodbye to Hendrick and that sorceress, I grabbed Artemis' hand and dashed out of the marketplace. It wasn't until I got to the crossroads that I realized I didn't know which direction to go. This town had two different entrances.
Behind me, Artemis giggled. "This way." Not breaking stride and not letting go of my hand, she took the lead and pulled me towards the west entrance. We jogged through the entrance and out into the Marina. It was a little colder out here and the air stunk a little more. There weren't any holiday decorations out here either, making it as dreary as ever. Artemis paused and I almost ran into her.
"Something wrong?" Alert, I scanned the clearing for danger.
"I just realized I didn't ask Ajari what her gift looked like."
"Artemis!" I put emphasis on her name. "How could you forget that? How are we supposed to know what to look for?" Looking up at the sky, I noticed that the sun was almost overhead. It'd be noon soon. "And when in the afternoon is the friend coming?"
"No idea." She looked a little sheepish.
"This sure was very well thought out." I pushed her gently and winked. "Well, no matter. We don't have time to go back and ask, so we'll just have to pick up every item we see. Ajari can sort through them when we get back." I started moving forward.
"Mister, you're heading in the wrong direction. Again." Laughing, Artemis strode forward, but a little to the west. I changed course and followed her.
Not too long after, we arrived at a wooden fence with an archway in the center. The jog and the walk had warmed me up enough and I felt ready. Well, as ready as I will ever be at this given moment. I had trained hard since leaving Carderock Pass. Artemis was always showing me some universal fighting techniques, since she couldn't quite help me out with my light and healing magic. However, that was remedied when we arrived in Lotus Marsh and Johan, the Cleric Trainer, took me under his wing and taught me how to hone my magic. I knew I had improved, but Artemis was still much more skilled in the profession of killing monsters.
I unbuckled my wand from my belt and slid my shield into place. Beside me, Artemis grasped her blue and white shortbow in her hand. We looked to each other and nodded. I casted my blessings and protection shell upon both of us, and together, tense and ready, we walked through the archway.
Following the path, we came upon a small bonfire. There were quite a few monsters sitting around the fire, enjoying their time and being oblivious to their impending danger. I saw that the taller monsters carried a long staff, not unlike the ones the Astral Coven uses, and the shorter monsters wielded dual swords. They even had a couple of brown tigers with terribly long fangs lounging around the clearing.
Artemis made a circling gesture and I knew exactly what she had in mind. I acknowledged that I understood. The two of us made our way towards the bonfire as stealthily as we could by hiding behind columns of vines every so often. Artemis was a couple steps ahead of me and moved off to the left. I moved off to the right.
One of the monsters with a staff let out a sharp cry. He must have seen Artemis or me in the process of creeping up on them. Without hesitation, Artemis ran forward and jumped into the air. An arrow was already nocked and, in a second, arrows with strings attached to them were flying out of the shortbow. The Marionette. It pulled all the monsters a little closer to her and to me, since I was a couple of steps behind her. Without losing momentum, she launched into a Somersault Kick, followed by Furious Winds.
I held out my wand and electricity jumped off of the wand and zoomed through the enemies that had avoided her Furious Winds. Chain Lightning was one of my favorite skills and was able to finish off many enemies that weren't caught in Artemis' attack.
After our combined attacks were over, most of the enemies were taken care off. A few staff wielders and tigers remained. I looked over at Artemis. She was a little breathless, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to. I looked more closely to see if she had any wounds. There were a few scratches here and there, but nothing serious. Anyhow, I still casted an Aura of Healing.
"Kiri! Duck!" Artemis was pointing her shortbow at me.
Instantly, I dropped to the ground and Artemis let out a Multishot. Five arrows were embedded into the chest of a tiger. It stumbled and crashed into me. I gave it a quick kick to the face to get it off me.
"Much appreciated," I said. Just as I was about to get up, one of the staff wielders decided to cast a ball of ice at me. I raised my shield just in time for a Block. However, the shield was a little off centered and some of the ice got onto my shield arm. Immediately, I could feel the ice through my coat and it was starting to numb the arm. Annoyed that I missed the block, I sent a Grand Cross savagely towards that particular monster. Artemis also shot a Twin Shot at it and it fell over.
I surveyed the clearing. There was just two more tigers left. My wand arm was still all right, but my shield arm was rapidly losing the strength to hold the shield up. I couldn't feel much on the forearm where the ice had hit.
"The bonfire! Warm it up!" She was looking at my arm. "I'll take care of these two." And without waiting for my response, she launched into a Hurricane Dance. I knew the two tigers were no match for her, so I quickly ran to the bonfire.
The fire felt good in this cold winter day. It felt even better on my numb forearm. I stood there with my arms held out near the fire and turned my head around to see how my companion was faring on her own. However, I couldn't find her and started to panic.
"Artemis?" I called out, frantic. "Artemis!"
"You could at least pay a little attention, you know." Her voice was right next to my ear. I jumped. She laughed.
"How'd you get over here so fast? It was like just a minute or two."
"Agility and speed have saved me many times in the past." She held out some coins and a butterfly hairpin. "Items from our fallen enemies." I placed my wand down and she put the items into my hand. "You keep them for now. Your coat actually has pockets to put these stuff in." I nodded and put the items away.
I peered at her. She hadn't sustained any new injuries and that was a relief. I casted a Healing Relic anyway and we both sat down next to it. The pulses of healing magic emitting from the relic felt wonderful, like a summer breeze blowing all the numbness in my arm away. It was starting to regain some feeling too.
"Ready to go further in?" Artemis asked as the Healing Relic disappeared. I nodded and picked up my wand.
Following the path once again, we went deeper into the Queen's Garden. But as we went further in, my apprehension grew. I started to see white strands of something on the trees and the ground. They looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite pinpoint it.
We stopped at the edge of a clearing. It was empty, save for a couple of spitflowers staring at us from the middle of the field. We looked at each other and Artemis shrugged. Spitflowers were not an issue. They threw things and liked to play with water in the soil, but other than that, they were pretty harmless.
She dashed forward and launched a Kick Shot at each of the spitflower in rapid succession. I joined in and casted a couple Lightning Bolts to fry them. When they were all dead, I looked around the clearing more clearly. It was then that I saw a giant wall of silky material covering far side. There were also scurrying sounds coming from all around the clearing. It was then that I realized what that apprehension I felt earlier was.
An incident that happened a while ago, when I was still at Carderock Pass. A quest with another friend of mine had taken us into the depths of the abandoned Astral Coven Laboratory. We almost didn't make it out.
I shook my head and gazed around the clearing again. Large shapes with many legs were moving around the edges and streaming forward. Huge gray spiders with black stripes across their backs mixed with smaller yellow and black ones. I froze in terror. Ever since that incident, I had come to fear spiders.
I don't know what my expression was, but Artemis must have seen it and understood immediately, because she was whispering something into my ear. I didn't quite catch it. I was still too intent on the spiders coming closer and closer all around us.
Artemis shoved me and I looked at her. Her mouth was moving and I tried to pay attention to her words. I only caught the end. Something about Bind Relic. Too terrified to think of anything else, I casted a Bind Relic and it landed right next to me. Artemis smiled at me and moved away, spinning and dancing gracefully, all the while attacking with her kicks and arrows, in a way only a Tempest could. I watched her fly around the clearing, taking out many of the spiders at one time.
She was right in telling me to use the Bind Relic. It stopped them a couple meters around me, allowing me to use Righteous Bolt to hit them from where I was standing. It was easier when I didn't need to panic about them getting closer to me. However, the Bind Relic didn't last for a long time and it took a lot of strength to summon it again, strength that I didn't have at the moment.
The Bind Relic disappeared and the spiders were coming at me relentlessly once more. All the fighting I've ever learned zoomed out of my head and the spiders closed in. I backed away and hid behind my shield. Artemis was on the opposite side of the clearing and I could see her coming towards me. I felt an instant of relief, but fear chased it away within seconds. The spiders would get to me before Artemis arrived.
"Consecration!" Artemis' voice drifted to me. "And Holy Burst!"
I blinked, unsure what she was talking about. It took me a couple seconds to realize that those were names of my spells. I lifted my wand up and casted both Consecration and Holy Burst consecutively. The spiders within five meters of me dropped dead on the spot, but more was coming my way.
Artemis was close enough now that her Marionette was able to catch most of the remaining spiders. I turned around and watched in horror as two much larger spiders, maybe the parents of the spiders we already killed, scurried across the field with incredible speed and knocked into Artemis before she could perform Somersault Dance on the ones that she caught. Artemis fell to the ground.
"NO! ARTEMIS!" I screamed. Before I knew what I was doing, I was running forward, my fear of seeing Artemis hurt driving me. I couldn't lose her too. I had trained so hard to become a better healer after not being able to save Art, a close friend that fell in Carderock Pass.
The spiders, seeing my advance, turned their attention toward me. I summoned my Healing Relic next to Artemis and hoped that it would be enough to heal her. One of the spiders took this time to rush me, just like it rushed Artemis, but I was ready. I dodged out of the way and threw a Lightning Bolt at it. The other spider, furious that its partner got hit, curled up into a ball and rolled towards me with even more speed.
Not prepared to dodge another attack in such short warning, the spider barreled into me. I flew backwards and the spider was immediately on me. It's legs holding me down and its face was right in mine. Shock and fear froze me in place once more. I had never been this close to one and it was going to eat me.
I turned my head to the side and willed the fear to go away. However, instead of seeing the open field, I saw that the first spider had recovered and was scurrying over. No doubt happy at seeing its prey cornered. Hastily, I turned my head the other way and saw Artemis in the process of getting up and using the Healing Relic as support.
The many legs of the spider that held me down was moving along the length of my body, poking it. I briefly wondered what it was looking for, but then I saw Artemis raise her shortbow and in the next few moments, five arrows were released in rapid succession. All five hit the spider that held me down.
The other spider, seeing its companion hurt, reared up on its back legs and shot its silky web at Artemis. Before she could move out of the way, the web hit her boots and she fell over. Not going to miss the opportunity, the spider moved forward.
Seeing the spider move towards Artemis, fear for her gripped me once more. I rolled onto my feet and casted another Lightning Bolt at it. It let out a high pitched sound and whirled towards me. I braced myself. The fear of the spider was still gnawing within me, but I pushed it from my mind. Artemis was hurt and I needed to protect her. I can overcome this fear. No... I will overcome this fear.
A couple of moments before the spider would barrel into me, I dodged out of the way and casted a Chain Lightning at it. The streak of blue and white light travelled faster than the spider could roll and caught up to it, electrocuting its legs. The spider fell over. However, the lightning was not yet satisfied and it bounced towards the next target, which was the other spider, laying a couple of meters away.
Seeing my spell do its work, I casted my Lightning Relic as well to cause more damage. I watched the lightning do its work and soon enough both spiders were paralyzed. It was the perfect opportunity to use Detonate. It'd blow them up into pieces. A fitting end for these two that had caused so much harm.
Just as I was raising my wand to cast the attack that would finish the spiders, I felt arms wrap around me from behind. Instinctively, I tried to bring my shield up to knock them away, but noticed that I wasn't holding it anymore. I couldn't remember when I had dropped it.
"Kiri, they are already dead." A soft whisper. "You don't need to attack them anymore."
I blinked and felt the anger I was feeling vanish. The two spiders were laying on their backs. Their legs curled in upon itself. Both of them lay unmoving. I dropped my wand and the arms around me disappeared.
I turned around and Artemis was standing there with a brilliant smile on her face. "You did it! You overcame your fear!"
"It was only fear of seeing you hurt that drove it away for the moment."
"No matter. It's the first step!" Her arms wrapped around me once more and I hugged her back. Breaking away from the embrace, Artemis moved towards the nearest one of the two fallen spiders and searched the ground for items that they may have dropped. Only looking at the ground, I moved towards the other spider.
A small pink container was laying near the spider. Surprised, I felt inside my coat pocket and discovered that my gift was gone. I fell to my knees and retrieved it. Wanting to make sure that the ring was still inside, I lifted the lid. The brilliant blue gem was sparkling in the afternoon sun. I smiled and closed it.
Just as I was about to tuck it back into my coat, I saw something else lying on the ground. A small pink flower petal. From a cherry tree. As if in a trance, I felt the inner coat pocket again and found it empty. The spider must have dislodged it when it was poking me. I reached down and, very gently, picked it up so that it rested in my palm. It was the only thing that remained, besides my memory, of Art.
A shadow fell across me and I closed my palm over the petal. I looked up. Artemis was standing over me with a small brown box in her hand.
"I think we have found Ajari's gift." She turned the box around and showed me the little tag hanging off of the box. On it was scribbled, "From Ajari."
At first I didn't comprehend. Then, I smiled. "I think it is time that we headed back to Lotus Marsh. Ajari's friend might have already came to visit." It seemed so long ago that I almost forgot what we came here for.
Just as I was about to get up, Artemis pointed to my hand. "What's in your pink container?"
I glanced down at my hand and scowled. She wasn't supposed to see this until a couple days from now. I hadn't finished stowing it away when I saw the petal on the ground.
She must have seen my expression. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing." I tucked the flower petal back into my coat before I opened the box and presented its contents to her. "It's a gift for you for the holidays. It's still early, but you already saw the container, so I figured, I should give it to you now."
"Oh, Kiri!" Artemis had her free hand across her mouth. Her eyes drifting from the ring to me and back to it. Vaguely, I realized I was still kneeling on the ground and holding the ring out to her. She was still towering over me.
Embarrassed, I jumped up and said the first thing on my mind. "Well... Umm... Do you like it?"
I watched the different expressions cross her face. She tilted her head to one side and gave a half smile, then she started to frown, but only for a second, and then she smiled fully. It took another few moments before she replied.
"I absolutely love it. I have been looking for a different ring for a long time now, but I've never found the right one to replace the one I have now." She put Ajari's box into her half empty quiver. Then, she removed one of her rings, took out the ring from the container and put it on. "This one has so much more power behind it. I can feel the difference."
I sighed in relief. "I'm glad you -"
"But I didn't get anything for you." She cut me off and her voice tinged with a little sadness. "I haven't found a gift for you yet."
Something welled within me and I hugged her. "You have already given me the best thing I could ask for. A purpose in life. When we met in Mana Ridge, I was still trying to figure what to do with my life. No one really wanted me around there. When you came up to me and asked me to help you on your adventure as a healer, I couldn't believe it. I pushed you away, remember?" Her mouth twitched but didn't say anything, so I continued on.
"But you came after me and convinced me. It wasn't until later that I realized it was the best choice I have ever made. I was able to meet you. I was able to meet so many people that cared for me, and I them. I learned from you and the others about happiness, friendship, and teamwork. You taught me and trained me in the art of fighting. I became more capable and there were people that wanted me around. It changed my life for the better. So... Thank you, Artemis."
I probably wouldn't have told this to anyone given any other circumstances, but I felt that Artemis needed to hear it. I pulled away from her and looked into her eyes. There were tears there, threatening to fall. Realizing I was looking at her now, she reached up and quickly wiped them away.
"Thank you too, Kiri. More than you could ever know." This time Artemis hugged me. We stood like that for a couple more long moments. The sun was starting to sink from the horizon.
"Let's get back to Lotus Marsh," I said. "It'll be dark soon."
Artemis nodded and broke away from the embrace. However, her hand found mine and our fingers intertwined. Together, hand in hand, we enjoyed our short walk back to Lotus Marsh.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed reading! Please, leave a review if you have time! :D